PRAISE GOD IT'S POURING DOWN RAIN!!!!!!

Well, I'll be darn.........

We won our baseball game last night!!! Not only did we win, but we were losing 8-1 at the bottom of the second inning. We came back and won it 12-8!!! It was an awesome game! Eric is walking around with his head so swollen I'm afraid he's going to drift away into the clouds!

It did sprinkle a little last night........had some lightning. STILL NO RAIN AS OF THIS MOMENT!!! It is so muggy and miserable around here that I feel as if I live in the desert. Who sweats at the end of October anyhow? Well, someone other than a woman going through premenopause and I sure ain't hitting that yet!

So many of our preschool staff members are experiencing sickness, family illness, personal problems that are BIG, etc.....we all need your prayers. There are 16 on staff and 9 that have major issues in their lives right now. I am going in to work this morning, then hitting my Wednesday class, and heading back to work. I'll be all multi-tasked out today!! And I have children's choir tonight and a paper to write for tomorrow's 119 class.

Well, I'm off to tackle the boys.....

This made my day.....

Have you ever heard that a dog "knows" when an earthquake is about to hit?

Have you ever heard that a dog can "sense" when a tornado is stirring up, even twenty miles away?

Do you remember hearing that, before the December tsunami struck Southeast Asia, dogs started running frantically away from the seashore, at breakneck speed?

Do you know that dogs can detect cancer and other serious illnesses and danger of fire?

Somehow they always know when they can 'go for a ride' before you even ask and how do those dogs and cats get home from hundreds of miles away?

I'm a firm believer that animals - and especially dogs - have keen insights into the Truth. And you can't tell me that dogs can't sense a potentially terrible disaster well in advance.

Simply said, a good ol' hound dog just KNOWS when something isn't right . . when impending doom is upon us . . .

One year ago today we laid you in your grave sweet one. It doesn't seem like it was that long ago for me. It seems like it was just yesterday that you were peeping through our windows and going with me to pick up the kids at school. I sat outside for over an hour last night with such a heavy broken heart wishing that you were here. Meadow and Pugsley are wonderful puppers, but they are not you and I know that there will never be another you. Meadow is such a mess that she needs to be taught some manners from above! haha Pugsley watches over me with great vigor and I know that he is my protector (at least from Eric!!).

This morning when I woke up and took the dogs out for their morning bathroom break, I noticed a very bright and obvious star. I have never seen a star so close to the earth as I did this one and I just felt like it was a sign that you were watching down over us; waiting for us to be ushered into the King's Court one day. I picture you sitting there at the gates with your tail wagging, tongue hanging out, just waiting to pounce on me and grab my arm with your mouth. How I miss those days.

You are not physically here on earth for me to hold or touch, but you are in my heart. Your pictures are throughout our home and the scratch marks you made are still left around the front door. They will always be there to remind me of you and your presence here. I love you my dear Roxy Lou. Forever and Always. Until we are together again in Heaven. Run with T.T. and Fred now until we get there!!! And play with Luke for Ms. Trish!! She misses him too.

Pet's

Ms. Trish passed this along to me yesterday. I just had to share it since everyone knows how much I love my pets. I'm getting that itch for another one too, I can tell. It'll be a year Sunday that Roxy disappeared and a year on Tuesday that she died. Of course, the men are going camping this week-end just as they did last year during that time and my mind is already racing as to how dreadful those two days were for me. I would do anything to have her back.

TEN COMMANDMENTS FOR PET OWNERS

1. My life is likely to last 10 to 15 years. Any separation from you will be very painful.

2. Give me time to understand what you want from me. Do not break my spirit with your temper, though I will always forgive you. Your patience and understanding will teach me more quickly those things you want me to learn.

3. Treat me kindly, my beloved friend, for no heart in all the world is more grateful for your kindness than mine. Don’t be angry with me for long and don’t lock me up as punishment. After all, you’ve got your job, your friends, and your entertainment. I only have you.

4. Speak to me often. Even if I don’t understand all your words, I understand your voice when it’s speaking to me. Your voice is the sweetest sound I ever hear, as you must know by my enthusiastic excitement when your footsteps fall upon my waiting ear.

5. Please take me inside when it’s cold and wet. I’m a domestic animal, no longer accustomed to the bitter elements. I ask for little more than your gentle hands petting me.

6. Keep my bowl filled with clean water. I cannot tell you when I’m thirsty. Feed me good food so that I may stay well to romp and play and do your bidding, to be by your side and stand ready, willing and able to share with you my life, for that is what I live for. However you treat me, I will never forget it.

7. Don’t hit me. Remember, I have teeth that could easily crush the bones in your hands but I choose not to bite you.

8. Before you scold me for being lazy or uncooperative, ask yourself if something might be bothering me. Perhaps I’m not getting the right food, I’ve been in the sun too long, or my heart is getting old and weak.

9. Take care of me when I get old. You will grow old too.

10. When I am very old, when I no longer enjoy good health, please do not make heroic efforts to keep me going. I am not having fun. Just see to it that my trusting life is taken gently. And be with me on that difficult journey when it’s time to say “Goodbye”. Never say “I can’t bear to watch”. Everything is easier for me when you are there. I will leave this earth knowing with my last breath that my fate was always safest in your hands. Remember, I love you.

-- Author Unknown.

Wow! What a week it's been! So much to do and very little time to sit back and relax. Brandon started fall baseball this Friday night.........Eric is the team coach so you can only imagine the pressure that Brandon feels from that! haha Well, they didn't win on Friday......in fact, they were pounded 15-3. Needless to say, the kids took the loss well, but Eric pouted ALL WEEK-END!!! Now tell me, whose the grown up??

This week is Mid-Term week at the college for me. I only have one big one to worry about, but I think I'll do fine. If the rest of my life would settle down and get in order, it sure would help! Brandon has been stressing over his adaption to Middle School, Brittany is starting to go through that teen-age rebellion thing again, and Brady is....well, he's just Brady!

As I was studying last night in my quiet time, I decided to start reading the book of Psalms. The Lord gave me the following verse and it has stuck with me all day. I know there is a reason for it and I truly do need this verse right now.

"Oh, let the wickedness of the wicked come to an end, but establish the righteous; for You Who try the hearts and emotions and thinking powers, are a righteous God." Psalm 7:9

My battlefield right now is in my mind stronger than it's been in a while. I know that God will deliver me through it by focusing on the things He wants me to gain from it. He will give me the strength and ability to control and exercise my emotions and decision-making. I pray this will help you through your week as well.

Memory Verse of the Week

This weeks verse is from the book of Micah......in the Old Testament.

"But as for me, I watch in hope for the LORD, I wait for God my Saviour; my God will hear me." Micah 7:7