More of My Favorite Things

It’s been a while since I posted some favorite things, so I thought I’d share two with you today.  I am not getting paid in any way to say nice things about these products.  I just like it when someone passes good things on to me, so I thought I would do the same.

We have an inside cat, Miss Kitty.  (I have nothing to do with the litter box except monitor when it has to be changed.)  I was worried about having a litter box because I CANNOT stand the smell of an animal in my house.  We have found the perfect litter.

You don’t even know she’s in the house, except if you see her with your own two eyes!  It’s amazing!!! and CHEAP!!! 

The other thing I’d like to share is the Instant Manicure by Beauticontrol.

This is heaven in a jar!  It makes your hands (and feet) amazingly soft.  It is by far, one of my favorite beauty products.  I had never heard of Beauticontrol until we started attending our church.  Everything they sell is wonderful.  If you’re interested, you can shop around at www.beautipage.com/kristiwilliams.  Kristi is super sweet, and you’ll love what you see.

Eye Black

This year, Cade decided he wanted to wear eye black with a Bible verse each week to his games.  For his first game, he chose Philippians 3:14 - 

“I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.”

At first, I thought Rob had gotten it backwards, assuming Cade had chosen Phil 4:13.  But they both quickly informed me that all was right with the world.

This week, he came running into my bedroom and said, “Mom, what is  Faith’s verse again? I want to use that one.  I know what it says, but I can’t remember where it is found.”

I thought it was so  sweet he wanted to use Faith’s verse.

I wanted so badly to get a picture to remember his sweet words by.  However, he was not happy with me at all because I was embarrassing him in front of his teammates:)

But I got it anyway!!!

The really cool thing about his weekly eye black is that he has chosen to learn each of the verses.  He said if people ask him what they mean, he needs to be able to tell them.

He’s such a sweet boy!!!  Even if he is giving me dirty looks in the camera:)

Step Out

Sometimes it’s a struggle to fully comprehend what God is calling us to do.  Maybe we don’t understand what it is He’s asking, or maybe it’s just out of our comfort zone.

Recently, Rob and I were asked to teach the high school Sunday School class.  Can I just say that teaching IS NOT MY GIFT!!!  Rob is in his element while teaching or leading a Bible Study group, but I have always been perfectly happy just being a bystander.

Last Sunday was our first official class.  I was a nervous wreck all week, because I felt like I was a fish out of water.  When we sat down together to prepare our lesson, I could feel my heart pounding out of my chest.  I was feeling so sorry for all of the students:)  I told Rob he could teach, and I would just fill in where needed.

Once Sunday rolled around, I really prayed that the Lord would use us in any way He saw fit.  Can I tell you what a BLESSING our class was?  It was so much fun, and Rob and I talked about it all the way home from church.  Those students blessed us in ways you can’t even imagine.

I write all of this to say….when God calls you to do something, don’t be scared.  It’s probably not in your comfort zone because that would be too easy.  Step out and trust Him.  He knows what’s best!!!  You never know how you may be a blessing to someone.  You also never know the blessing you may be missing out on.

Meet Diesel

Last Wednesday, I got a phone call from my dearly beloved BFF, Amy.  She had been informed of a dog that needed to be rescued that day, or he was going to meet his maker.

I knew what Rob’s answer would be, but I called him anyway.  He said, “Check it out and let me know.”  Because Amy didn’t have any pictures, we started searching the animal shelters and the pound.  In the mean time, we stumbled across this pound puppy-

He was a mastiff mix, just like Rob’s best dog ever, Fender.  I thought he was a little scary looking, but Rob thought we should go check him out. 

After a phone call from Amy that the original puppy had found a home, we went to the pound to look at this dog.  I absolutely hate going there.  All of the puppies meet you at their gate to say, “Pick me!  Pick me!”  It breaks my heart. 

When we got to cage 24, we laid eyes on the sweetest puppy ever!!!  Rob was instantly in love!!!  Keep in mind, our kids had no idea we were even discussing a dog.

When we picked up Cade and SaraGrace from Nanny’s, we had this beast in the back of my little ole’ Rogue:

 

A 70 pound slobbering glob of puppy love!!!  We named him Diesel, and the kids were over the moon!

His pound name was Goober, and I thought it was a strange name for such a big dog.  But we soon learned why he may have been named that.  Every time you go to pet him, this is what he does:

He just rolls over, tongue hanging out, wanting some more attention.

Saturday, we loaded him up for his free vet visit.  That was a trip!  SaraGrace and me were going to handle it by ourselves so the boys could make it to football on time.  However, after some deep thought, Rob thought it was best if he went to handle him.  Diesel is still a puppy, and is full of energy. 

Not that he’s any different from our kids:)

Cade and SG were fascinated by the jar of heartworms.  Cade asked all kinds of questions, and fully educated himself on how they occur.

Let’s just say that the conversation took a turn for the worst when they took his temperature and checked him for worms.

Diesel showed everyone what a sweet baby he was, because he just rolled over every time someone showed him some attention.

Look at that face-

We are all so in love with our new baby, although I think Cade and Rob are the most excited!  Cade tells us everyday what his plans are when he gets home- play with Diesel. 

Are You Ready for Some Football?

This weekend is a busy, yet exciting one!!!  It will kickoff Tiger Football and Gator Football.  And to top it all off, we’ll finish the weekend in Fernandina.  Whew!

We are so excited for football this year.

This little fella has earned a starting position on his football team, and Momma couldn’t be more proud!!!

   I can’t wait to waddle my pregnant belly up those bleachers and scream and yell like a maniac tomorrow.

Of course, he will have his favorite (right?) cheerleader cheering him on.

These pictures are from last year, and I can’t wait to get the new ones.   They took them last night, and they were adorable!!!

Once we are finished cheering on the Tigers, we will change clothes and colors, and mosey on to the Swamp!

We all love Gator football, and we can’t wait to see them in action.  We have made lots of memories at the Gator games, and since I’m feeling a little nostalgic, here are some of our favorites…

      

  

Happy Labor Day Weekend, and GOOOOOOOOO Gators!

SG for the Gold

SaraGrace has started “real” gymnastics.  This is different than the first go around because they get to do balance beam and uneven bars.

 

Sassy got a new leotard because the first one caused her to pick out wedgies CONSTANTLY  for a solid hour.  It was driving me nuts!!!  So we got this one with the legs in it.  Of course she doesn’t like it as well, but she will just have to deal.

She is loving this gymnastics class.  She asks me everyday, “Is it junaxtix  today?”  She is always so disappointed when it is not a Monday.

Her favorite part is the uneven bars.  The item on the top of her Christmas list is:

She has high hopes!!!

Her little friend is in her class, and she loves getting to see her.

I think we have found a perfect fit for our sassy little monkey. 

Tips and Tricks- Clean Shoes

I have a board on Pinterest that is named “Tips & Tricks.”  This is where I pin all of the neat ideas for home solutions to real-world problems…like stain removers, etc.

But if you hang around the Pop Warner fields long enough, you will find that you can depend less on Pinterest, and more on the experiences of others. 

As they handed out our brand spanking new football uniforms, there were several grimaces around the room.  I couldn’t figure out what the problem could be.  Then, I realized they gave us WHITE pants.  That was bad news for Cade because I have no luck with with whites.  However, they passed along some helpful washing instructions- Cascade.  I heard them talk for several minutes, and walked away with little faith that Cascade would ever work.

Then, I had the opportunity to try it out.  SG had PE yesterday, and had to wear tennis shoes.  Because I am cheap frugal, I could not bear to buy her new tennis shoes because the ones she already had were in good shape….just a little dirty.  So I decided to give the old Cascade a try.

Now, these pictures do not do the nastiness of these shoes justice.  They were NASTY!

We use the Cascade/Dawn tablets in our dishwasher, so I filled up a dish tub with hot water and two tablets.  The water was BLACK after soaking a little while.

I was extremely happy with the results.  No they are not stark white, but they look far better than before.

I can’t wait to try it out on the football pants!  I’ll keep you posted.