Riverbend Ramblings

The 2009 Scripps National Spelling Bee finals will be broadcast live tonight at 8:00 EST on ABC. We have so much fun watching this together as a family. Kennyi Kwaku Aouad is my favorite this year. He's got a lot of personality. :)

Labels: Fun Stuff

I enjoy keeping track of the little hugs that God gives me each day. Sometimes when life is especially difficult or busy I spend extra time reflecting on the things that bring me joy. This afternoon while Lil' Nut took a rare nap I jotted a few things down in my "Blessings Journal" and thought that I would share them here, too.

~~~ A few months ago the screen on my laptop suddenly stopped working, and since it's an old laptop I pretty much gave it up for dead. Today I spent a whopping two minutes researching and then trying out something to fix it. Guess what? Right now I'm typing on my laptop, and the screen is working!! ~~~This morning I spent a couple of hours visiting with a good friend who hasn't been feeling so great lately. I drove her to an appointment and helped her with some little household tasks. Just two months ago I was blessed by people who cleaned my house, prepared meals, and took care of the laundry so that I could recuperate from surgery. I am glad that my friend allowed me to help her today.:) ~~~While clearing off the table in the learning room I came across Bookworm's most recent spelling test. Check out her neat handwriting! She scored a 100% on this test. She is a very talented young lady, but sometimes I forget to let her know just how proud I am of her. ~~~Lil' Nut called me into the family room so that she could show me what she built for the prince and princess. I said, "Oh, that is such a nice castle!" She replied, "Mom, don't you know that people don't live in castles anymore? They live in houses instead." I guess she's got a practical side after all.

Perhaps before you pillow your head tonight you can take a few minutes to write down some of the things that made you smile today. Sometimes we get so caught up in the hustle and bustle of the day that we don't fully appreciate the little things that make life extra special. Don't let those special moments pass you by!

Labels: My Thoughts

I hope you enjoyed the long Memorial Day weekend. My weekend started out with a date with my handsome hubby. We went to my favorite Mexican restaurant. I ordered the usual fajita steak quesadilla. One of these days I’ll try something different, but I just love quesadillas! It started pouring like crazy while we were eating, so we sat for quite a while after our meal and just chatted while we waited for the rain to let up.

Saturday I finished a big project that I had managed to drag out all of last week: clearing out the laundry room. There is a very long counter in the laundry room that is perfect for folding clothes on; only about half of the counter is showing in the picture below. Unfortunately, I have a bad habit of not putting the clothes away as soon as they are folded. It doesn’t take long for the clothes to pile up and the room to become messy. Hopefully, with some assistance from my little helpers, I’ll keep that counter space cleared off. I also decided to put the upper cabinets to good use. We have so much closet/storage space in this house that these cabinets have remained empty since we moved in last summer. I finally unpacked a few boxes of my books and am using the cabinets as bookshelves for now. I don’t know why I didn’t do this sooner!

Curly Girl and Lil’ Nut found a VeggieTales card game that they hadn’t played with in a long time. They sat at the learning room table for over an hour yelling “Go Fish!”. Such cutie-pies. :)

Saturday afternoon we went to the spring football game and cheered our team to a 58-0 win. Go, Patriots!

Sunday was a great day in the Lord’s house. Quite a few of the girls in my Sunday school class were missing, but unfortunately that is to be expected on a holiday weekend. We had quite a few visitors in the morning service, and two ladies joined our church family. One of our former college students, who now pastors a church in New York, was in the area on vacation and brought the evening message. It is so neat to see what the Lord does in the lives of people who go out into the ministry to serve Him! After church Mr. C and I played volleyball with some friends and didn’t finish until 11p.m. That was the first time I’d really played ball in about 15 years, and boy did I ever feel it when I woke up the next morning! We had a lot of fun, though, and hopefully we’ll get to join in again over the summer.

We didn’t do anything special yesterday for Memorial Day. One of the staff members at church is awaiting the sale of his former home in a town about 65 miles from here. My hubby and a few other men spent the day helping him move the rest of his things to our town. I stayed at home, watched a few shows on TLC and HGTV, and supervised Bookworm and one of her friends in the pool. Mickey spent the day furniture shopping with Grandma, and the little girls spent the day at Mimi’s house. It was a nice, relaxing day.

This week will be a busy one once again. This afternoon I have a consultation with Bookworm’s piano teacher to discuss the year’s progress and goals for the summer months. Tonight is the end-of-the-year program and Kindergarten graduation at school. Tomorrow night is high school graduation. Thursday morning we’ll attend the kids’ awards program, and school gets out at noon on Friday with a staff luncheon to follow. I am so ready for the summer!

Labels: Daily Life, Favorite Things, Keeping the Home, The Kiddos

"Soldier, rest! Thy warfare o'er, Sleep the sleep that knows not breaking, Dream of battled fields no more. Days of danger, nights of waking." ~Sir Walter Scott Image from AllPosters

Labels: Quotes, Special Days

Lil' Nut

Labels: The Kiddos

I'm not complaining about the rain; really, I'm not! We don't need a rain gauge to measure the inches of rainfall we've been getting each afternoon; the overflowing pool is a good enough indicator. It doesn't look like I'll be working on my tan anytime soon. On a positive note, the island that had begun to form in the middle of the pond is no longer visible. Thank you, Lord, for the rain!:) I guess since it's wet and dreary outside there's no excuse for me not to head upstairs and work on tidying up the laundry room. Bummer.

Labels: Outdoor Life

FOR TODAY~ May 19, 2009... Outside my window...the sky is overcast and there are puddles on the ground. I am thinking...today is the day to tackle the mess in the laundry room. I am thankful for...rain, rain, and more rain! After months of drought-like conditions it's rained almost daily for the past week. Temps are back down in the 80's. From the learning rooms...trying to decide what to work on with Lil' Nut over the summer. I can't believe she'll be starting kindergarten this fall. From the kitchen...turkey burgers and a big garden salad. I am wearing...a denim skirt and a bright floral shirt. I am creating...a list for graduation cards and gifts. I hope the budget can handle the month of May! I am reading...in my Bible: II Samuel and Mark; just for fun: Child of the Mist by Kathleen Morgan. I am hoping...that I can stay focused on the household tasks that need to be completed today. I am hearing...Toby snoring at my feet. Around the house...vacuuming, dusting, laundry, ironing, and rotating the clothes in the kids' rooms. One of my favorite things...the smell of rain. A few plans for the rest of the week...lessons with Lil' Nut, piano lessons, a trip to the library, visit the vegetable market, and work on several projects around the house. Here is picture thought I am sharing...Zinnias are blooming in my garden.:)~~~oOo~~~Thank you for reading my Daybook! You can read more entries at The Simple Woman.

Labels: Daybook

Hi, Friends! This is the busy lady checking in to let you know that all is well at our house. I've been incredibly busy, hence the lack of activity here on the blog. Here's a little update: ~Hubby had a fantastic 9 day trip to New England and returned safe and sound. I hope he never leaves home again! Thanks so much for all of you who were praying for him and for me to keep my sanity during his absence. ~We had over 260 ladies at our Mother/Daughter banquet last weekend. It was worth the hard work! ~I just returned a couple of hours ago from West Palm Beach where our school's elementary choir (including Bookworm and Mickey) placed third in the Florida Association of Christian Colleges and Schools state competition, and the handbell choir placed second--whoohoo! This is the first time our school has ever placed at the elementary level, so we are very excited!!! We were up against some very tough competition. ~Tonight we're attending a banquet at church for all those involved in the outreach ministries of our church (bus workers, Sunday school teachers, choir members, ushers, deacons, etc). ~Tomorrow we're attending a luncheon in honor of the graduates at the college. ~Tomorrow night is Bookworm's spring piano recital. Now you know why I haven't had time for blogging! The calendar is jam-packed for the rest of the month, so my computer time will continue to be limited. Hang in there; I'll get around to visiting you all soon. Now if I can just find my Superwoman Vitamins... :)

Labels: Daily Life

"I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me."~ Philippians 4:13 Hubby's trip has almost reached the halfway point. Today he's in New Hampshire touring old churches and cemeteries. It's rained just about every day he's been up in New England. Sure wish we could get some of that rain down here! It was 95 degrees here yesterday, and today it will be the same. Lil' Nut and I will probably end up in the pool after lunch so that we can stay cool. Scorchin'! My poor garden is hanging in there. The beans will be ready to pick in a few days, and the tomatoes are getting bigger. I've been watering by hand early each morning in an effort to conserve water. I've been staying busy while my hubby is away; it helps the time go faster. Although, I guess I'm busy all the time anyway! :) Yesterday I went to a few stores and purchased the remaining items needed for decorating the church fellowship hall for Saturday's Mother-Daughter banquet. The menu has been finalized and the program is ready to be printed. Friday will be spent decorating with the help of some ladies from church. I sure do appreciate them! We're preparing for 300 ladies, so tables must be arranged strategically to accommodate everyone. A few young men from the high school will help set those up for us. Many hands make light work. Our guest speaker for the banquet is a pastor's wife from the Jacksonville area. I'm so glad that she and her two lovely daughters will be joining us Saturday, and I'm looking forward to our time of fellowship. I've fallen a bit behind with things around the house, so hopefully I'll get caught up with my housekeeping tasks over the next couple of days. If I'm super industrious, maybe I'll even get some planting done around the front of the house, too. No matter what, I know that if I keep my eyes on the Lord and seek His wisdom and guidance for each day, He will show me what I need to do. "Commit thy works unto the Lord, and thy thoughts shall be established."~ Proverbs 16:3 image credit

Labels: Daily Life, My Thoughts

Labels: Favorite Things

Today while I've been scrubbing toilets and washing dirty clothes my dearest hubby has been getting a taste of big city life. He headed out at five this morning to catch a Northbound plane. Right now he's in a city that I never would have imagined he would visit: New York City. He is with a group of preacher-friends on a Baptist history tour and is preaching in a couple of churches along the way. Not that NYC has much to do with Baptist history; it's just the first leg of the trip. I've gotten a few updates on what he's been up to--lots of really spiritual stuff. Like eating at this famous restaurant in Greenwich Village and hanging out at this high-power place. Next thing you know he'll be walking around at the Waldorf Astoria. Not too much Baptist history there, either, but what a swanky place for some preacher boys to visit! So while hubby's out on the town tonight I'm going to go curl up in his big recliner, watch one of my 19th century English favorites, and reassure myself that he'd much rather be here watching a chick flick with me than having fun in the Big Apple with his buddies. :)

Labels: Fun Stuff