Bill of Rights

This year Brian tried out for, and made the Drama Club at Sango Elementary. His first play was over the Bill of Rights as a child views them. It was really neat watching the kids take the rights and define them. Brian played the part of a police officer not letting people worship where they wanted. He also go to  arrest someone without proof they commited a crime. And as a soldier being commanded to go take someone out of their home and take a childs teddy bear. This was a really neat way to through humor, and a child's eyes be reminded of what our rights are. Ya know, before the play if someone had asked me what the 7th amendment was, I couldn't have told ya, it would have been a guess. Today, I know!

Serving - Being the Lord's Hands and Feet

There is a steady cold rain coming down in the darkness of Thanksgiving evening. The big white banquet tent is holding its own again the breezes and the rain. The white tables and chairs are ready, the volunteers all have their name tags on, and are standing in their places. On top of the tables were raw vegetables, potatoes, squash, onions, to name a few. There were several bags set aside for the folks to take these home with them also.

 

MCM Founders Kenny and Vicki York

Kenny, Manna Cafe's leader started with a testimony, and a short message from the Lord about harvest and serving, about abundance, and how God loves us all, each and every one. He then led in prayer and here they came! Each person got a ticket that when they were finished would allow them to receive a bag loaded with food for the rest of the week!  As they approached the dinner line, each humbly took a ticket, then signed on the line, and got their trays.

Tonight Sweetie and I got to be a part of an amazing Thanksgiving dinner. No, we didn't eat, but we got to watch, help, interact and most of all listen. Tonight we served our fellow Clarksvillians, the homeless ones. They filed in, one by one. What was most touching to me tonight was the children. There were whole families that had no where to go, and nothing to eat. Some were wrapped in trashbags to keep the rain off, others didn't have anything, and were just glad to be in out of the cold.

Each one had a story, and we were ready to help in anyway we could. It was so touching to see, help, and sometimes share a hug with one of these precious few that are down on their luck.  These folks were looking for work, or were day laborers, there was even a family that was still displaced by the flood. It really put things in perspective as I had spent the morning listening to friends and family plan their strategies for shopping tomorrow, where all these folks were concerned about was the meal they had now, and could they please have an extra roll for in the morning. To read more about this ministry please check out: http://www.gcomchurch.com/manna-cafe-ministries .

Halloween 2010

This years Halloween was different than past years in that instead of walking the kids all over various neighborhoods, they had their own plans, so we handed out candy on the front porch.

Sweetie wore a 80's rocker hair wig, while I donned my pirate gear.

Brian, dressed as a HALO character left with best bud Jacksen Yarborough to go trick or treating with them.
Cory went riding around on a trailer pulled by a golf cart with a certain princess that lives up the road. :)

Sasha dressed up too!

Twas the Night before Thanksgiving

Well, its that time of year again. There is a chill in the air, the brown grass is covered with wet leaves, and the traffic is horrible. The grocery stores are full , and the televisions are looping ads in hopes of a successful Black Friday.
Folks fit into two categories, those that are traveling to meet with family, and those that are hosting. (well, three - those that are working). If you are hosting, most likely your home is already starting to smell terrific, and the guest rooms are ready, as the home fires crackle with holiday warmth. If you are traveling, you long for that familiar home, relationships, and new memories to be made.
This year we will celebrate at Hunley acres , thankful that Grandpa Hunley had a successful pacemaker surgery, celebrate each others accomplishments so far this year, and share a meal prepared by loving hands.

It is something to be thankful for..each person at each place at the table, and  in our hearts this special holiday. Im so very thankful for each family member, each friend, each person that touches my life. And especially thankful to God for giving us another Thanksgiving together. I look forward to watching some of the Macy's Day Parade, football, and relaxing while Sweetie naps. Happy Thankgiving everyone!

Brians Room Makeover

As I write this blog, I'm reminded that I didn't take before pictures. I am sure that I have one or two of his "old" room pictures. He loves that his walls have gone from white to a yellow brown combo. We updated his storage, thanks to Aunt Teri!  He got a new comforter and rug to accent his room.

Previously, his room was in primary colors of Blue, Red, and Yellow. So now that he is big stuff and wanted a tween room, we painted his furniture black and in some areas orange. We changed up his shelves also, so his trophies could be seen better!  See orange is his favorite color, and if he was in charge of colors he would have orange everything! So, as soon as we have more updates, I will repost this!

Time Changes Things

Saturday afternoon we had a bittersweet reunion with a friend that I've known since Kindergarten. His sweet mom died, and as we met up at the funeral home a wave of memories washed over me. A quick flash memory of her helping her son and I get ready for our parts in a school play. I was Mary and he was my little lamb. She had helped me curl my hair in those long curls, and she took several pictures of us. She was quick to hug and if you were ever in her home, she had to feed ya something. Fast forward to highschool, she was there at graduation, smiling and taking pictures again. When Sweetie and I got married, there she was with camera in hand, and a special crystal frame for our wedding photo. Since then, the last time I saw her was when her husband died, and then it was so brief. She has since sold her home here, and moved in with one of her sons, our friend down in Florida, so it had been 6 years since we saw one another.
Walking inside the doors, memories of the past funerals I had attended here, washed a huge wave of sadness over me. Sweetie kept it together better than I did, he too having his own memories of our mutual friend and his family. Sweetie knew her as a teenager, as both my friend and Sweetie studied for their EMT certifications at his house, and were firefighters together.
After signing in, and greeting other family members we looked for our friend. After several minutes when he came out from a back room, we noticed that he had changed too. I mean we all recognized each other, gave one another grief about the few grey hairs we were now sporting, and then started to chat lightly about how peaceful his mom looked. Getting past the casket we then just stood with our friend and reminiced over how we have been in and out of each others lives ever since we can remember. We laughed, and shook our heads over how each of us has a child that will start highschool next year. Where did the time go? With us living now in different states, we don't get to see each other as often as before, but it is amazing at how easily we reconnect.
Time changes things. It seems we are either learning how to start something, or just starting to get the hang of this particular season, and boom! Another one starts up. Time moves on dragging us with it. We have the same smiles, same sparkle in our eyes, and yet we are different people. That a challenging ride it has been so far..so thankful for friends along the way to support us and in turn for us to help through the difficult times, and to celebrate the blessings with!

One Cold Little Pup!

Folks tend to have a thermometer that updates them as to what the temperature is in their home. We have a dog. Sasha, our 2 year old Rat Terrier lets us in on how cold it is as to how much of herself she leaves uncovered.  As you can see from the picture here...she must have been quite chilly.  Guess its time to turn up the heat!

To Gleek or be caught Gleeking

Okay, so the first time I heard this word was tonight around the bonfire. Yes, I asked. When there is a moment that your teen decides to ivolve you in a chat about something it is wise to be ready. I was not.
Actually, I hear Brian whine, "Mom! Cory is gleeking me!"
Me: eyebrows going up.."what?"
Cory engaged in laughter slowly turning into hysterics, as Brian starts again, "MOM! CORY IS GLEEKING ME!"
Sweetie is amused, Cory is showing off how wide his mouth can actually open when engaged in laughter. A frustrated Brian explains to me that Cory is spitting on him.

According to http://www.wisegeek.com/ Gleeking is: "In the world of competitive spitting, gleeking would be considered a stealth fighter. Gleeking is actually an acquired skill in which the gleeker rolls back his or her tongue, then compresses a sub-mandibular salivary gland until a stream of saliva is released. With enough practice and salivary stimulation, a gleeker can project an arc of watery saliva several feet in the air. The point of intentional gleeking is to find a suitable target and silently dowse it with a short burst of spit.The fact that some people can gleek seemingly at will while others cannot only adds to its appeal as a rude but generally harmless act. A talented gleeker will wait until a target has come into range and then silently dowse him or her with a spray of watery saliva. The gleeking victim may not even be aware he or she has been attacked, since gleeking is such a silent act."

Really?  Okay, so I have seen said teenager sorta rolling his tongue back into his mouth and then using his spit glands to shoot spit out the sides of his mouth. He gets great thrills out of how he is expanding his distance without getting caught. (side note, He swears that he just annoys his brother with this behavior) UHUH.
 
BIG SIGH. Sweetie is still amused, just shaking his head. He then looks at me and explains what it is.

As a lifetime, card carrying, certified girl, I will never understand the behavior of  the boy species.

Brians 11th birthday

On November 1, 1999, our Brian was born in Wilson, NC. He weighed 8 pounds 1 ounce and was 21 inches long.  Cory was so excited to have a brother to play with.
On the 1st our family celebrated his 11th birthday. His request was a Subway sandwich dinner, lunch with his Dad at school, for me to take chocolate cupcakes for him to share with his class at school, and chocolate mayonnaise cake with Oreo Cookies & Cream ice cream for the home celebration. And that is what he got!

Since his birthday is so close to Halloween, he gets to celebrate his birthday with his friends on the following weekend. So, he had his best friend, Jacksen (the one with his mouth open), and his best neighborhood friend, Alex over to spend the night, watch movies, play games. He wanted soft taco's and cheesy nacho's for dinner and then of course his cake!

The boys played, laughed and playfully shoved one another around Saturday afternoon, into the evening, then settled down to watch a movie, and all three fell asleep before it was over, they were so tired from running around all day!

At this point in Brian's young life, his favorite restaurant is Subway, he loves almost anything Nerf, is enjoying running in races, is playing his 7th year of soccer, hip hop dancing, is involved in the Drama club,

and loves helping at church ( and is involved in the childrens production monthly).

He keeps us all laughing, oh, and his favorite color is orange.

Best friend and I have recently taken up the challenge of updating his room for him. (thats another blog!)

Happy birthday Brian!

First Broken Bone

Well, we have our first broken bone amongst the boys. Thankfully it is a thumb (the right one) and not a leg or arm. The story behind it? Cory was playing with a puppet and bouncing it around in front of Sasha the puppy's face, and Brian's face. Brian swatted it out of his way, and Cory screamed. This is typical at our home, so I don't jump unless it continues or it is brought to me to handle. The latter happened and Cory showed me his swelled thumb saying that Brian broke it.
Being the tender mom that I am, I said, "What did you do to him to get that?" to which he told me Brian took a swing at the puppet he was playing with. Omitting of course the details of it being in Brian's face and Sasha's. (Sasha apparently had taken a few nips at the puppet too!) We put ice on it, and actually let it go overnight as we have suffered through many jammed fingers with the amount of sports played, not to mention all the wrestling injuries between the boys.
The next morning it was the same size and so Cory was now the victim and was pouting off things such as:  "I can't go to school, how will I carry my books? Open my locker, or write?"  He was told he could adjust as there were children that were at school with worse injuries making their way around.
Since Sweetie works in radiology at a local hospital, we took Cory in that evening after school. The xray told us what we needed to know.  Yep, broken, a little piece was broken off, just above the growth plate.
Now Cory sports a finger guard splint wrapped on his right thumb. He is liking the attention he is getting from the girls. (no way is he telling them his little brother broke it - wonder what story he is spinning?)