The Last Cheering Practice

Today was the final cheering practice. I guess I'm kinda' relived since it's been a bit of an additional struggle. We'll see what she decides to do next year? Am I supposed to be thinking about these things this early?

8 Wheels and 8 Legs

4 different people needing to be in 4 different places and just 2 cars made for a quite interesting day today. But we figured it out and we all got were we needed to be and back home. Doesn't happen very often, but when it does it makes the day a little complicated. Oh well, I guess we could walk if we had to. Thankfully we've all got 2 good legs!

100!

Didn't you just love to see those three red numbers on top of your paper as a kid: 1-0-0 followed by an ! ? Though I didn't see them as much as I would have liked. Charity came home with her first 100 today!! We're so proud of her. Ms. Rhodes must have eased the students into this type of grading system, because this is the first one we've seen (she previously had been doing a check if their paper was all correct). She's such a great teacher.

Her second accomplishment this week: she finished her first homework calender for the month of September. She has to turn it in tomorrow. Out of all the assignments on each day of the calender, Mrs. Rhodes asks that the children complete 10 of them. We tried to do all of them, though we didn't. Missed a few. Poor girl, her mother is such a slave driver! Actually they're pretty fun and Charity enjoyed them. We are so proud of you our little student! I hope you always love to learn, it will sure make the next 13plus years a whole lot easier for you!!

Falling in Fall

UPDATE: So I asked Charity if she made it through the day okay after the fall. It's as if I reminded her of what happened this morning. I told her I think it hurt me worse than it hurt her. But she doesn't really understand that.

Mondays. Yuck!

Charity was running into school holding hands with 2 other girls , I was just absorbing her enjoying her friends and this beautiful Fall weather when . . . SPLAT. Yep, she slipped on the morning dew'ed grass and CRASH, face first. Poor thing. She was all wet from head to toe with grass sticking to her hands and knees. As I consoled her, I told her little friends they didn't have to wait for her, that I'd take her in and they could head in. Nope, those cute little girls were determined to wait for her! They weren't going to walk in without Charity. Awwww!

Charity, those are the type of friends you want to keep around.

HELP!! Being A Mom Is Hard

Charity recently asked me if I knew the song "Apple Bottom Jeans". I told her I didn't, but she said some girls in her class sang it. I said maybe we could listen to online. . . . . but then I started to think . . . So I googled the lyrics. Smart Mom! Glad I did. Here's what I found. I made the link because I didn't want to post the lyrics on my blog. Yuck! This is scary that people are letting their Kindergartens listen to this!!!! What will these children be listening to in High School?

So after this finding, I decided I'd research the other song she was asking me about. She said Soldier Boy, which I couldn't find in all my research. What did come up was Soulja Boy. Read this blog by a mommy who obviously feels the same way I do about this song: Gettin' on my "SOULJA BOY" soap box....

I feel like emailing the school, but I know it's a parent thing. Why aren't these kids listening to the Jonas Brother and Hannah Montana? Uuuuuggg!! Times have sure changed, why when I was five my favorite tunes were on my Sesame Street record!!!

Take Time to Share Your Life

Love this little guy from Maine. I spent a little while teaching him piano lessons and he's been forever grateful. So sweet! He never forgets to thank me and I don't feel I even spent that much time at it, but it made a huge difference to him. Since we left, God has blessed him abundantly with an amazing anointing and he now could easier teach me so much more!

This Spring when I returned to Maine to visit my family, I was sadden to not have the time to visit with our church family there. However, when my family and I stopped at Wal*Mart I ran into Dan's mom, who works there (and is the greatest soul winner you'll ever meet!) and his dad just happened to be shopping there at the same time. It was God!! To run into these very special people so unexpectedly. This family is HUGE blessing to the church there and has always been very close to our family. We miss them so much! I'm so happy, Daniel recently contacted me on Everyone's Apostolic (a great place to find all your church friends.) His comment made my day!

At 12:04am on September 27th, 2008, Daniel said…
DIANA Cook, it's Dan jr. from Ellsworth Maine yea. I finally got on EA and thought of looking you up. To give you an update because you know you never come to Maine anymore, thats ok. I am with Emily in NCC Northeast Christian College in Fredericton New Brunswick. Yea!!!! Going there for music and it is all thanks to you for teaching me way back when. Praise the Lord, Amen. Add me to your friends group. Talk to you later!

Mirror Image from Maine?

I don't think so . . . Happened to catch this little news story today. Of course 2 things caught our attention, Palin and Maine. Very familiar with Channel 7 and even have a friend from high school that works there. Too funny! I'm going to ask him what he things, since he sees her everyday! What do you think?

Just Two Things

Discussion with the Small Fry this evening:

Charity: Mom, did you pray last?
Mom/me: I don't remember. (Dave put her to bed last night, meaning I would have to remember Tuesday night . . . I can't remember 10 minutes ago!)
C: Mom, you're supposed to remember.
M: Honey, do you know how much stuff I have to keep in this little brain of mine?
C: Oh.

. . . minutes later after we both prayed together . . .

C: Mom, take everything out of your brain but two things.
M: Oh, okay. ???? What two things should I leave in my brain?
C: Remember to give my crab watermelon (which I also forgot the last couple days) and who prayed last.
M: Alright, Charity, I'll try to keep those two things in my brain.

If only . . .

Yum! Yum! Fun! Fun!

Here's Charity's cupcake masterpieces. You should probably be more scared of the germs on these things than the skeletons, spiders and skulls. You don't want to know how many times I had to tell her not to lick her fingers!! But I guess that's the fun of decorating cupcakes!

Mom of the Day

Okay it might be slightly self-boosting, but I definitely don't do this everyday . . . I am awarding myself the Mom of the Day award! Why? For no reason other than for Charity's pure enjoyment, I baked cupcakes for her to decorate. And us Big Cookies certainly don't need these temping little things in the house, but I know Charity will enjoy that part of them, too!

P is for . . .

Pajamas and Pancakes!! Today Kindergarten celebrates the letter P with Pajama Day and a pancake breakfast. Yum!

We did have to make a run to Target last night and get some "public" jammies. Seems all we had was too tight, too short, too thin, or not suited for school use. Found a beautiful princess gown. Doubt she'll wear it to bed, since Mommy and Charity must match every night (I did not start this!)

Here's the P-P-P-P-P - pretty pictures of the princess!!

Yep . . . that's what I do in my P.J.'s!!

Charity and her friend, Kylie:

Too Close for Comfort

I generally try not to focus on the negative and think on things that are good. But this place scares me sometimes. May I remind you that the population of the city of Nashville is the equal to that of the entire state that I've spent most of my life in. And for the most part if you leave people alone, they leave you alone. I have never seen this happen in my parts. Yeah, we're cold and mean New Englanda's, but we don't just start shooting people at the local Wal-Mart!!

Metro Nashville Police Department
September 23, 2008

An excellent witness description and coordinated police work led to the arrest of a man who was charged with his fourth DUI last night after he fired a shot at an innocent bystander in the Wal-Mart parking lot at 7044 Charlotte Pike.

Witnesses reported that William Gill, III, 25, of County Hospital Road, appeared extremely intoxicated when he got into a black Honda Civic at 6:45 p.m. As he drove off he crashed into a vehicle. Gill then belligerently asked a man why he was staring at him. Before he could respond, Gill fired a shot at him. The bullet struck a nearby vehicle. The man fled in his car. As Gill began pursuing the victim, he struck a second vehicle. A witness was able to give police a good description of Gill’s getaway Honda including the tag number.

Officers Percell Jackson and Taylor Schmitz spotted Gill as he drove past the West Precinct at 6730 Charlotte Pike. Gill was stopped on Charlotte Pike near Hillwood Boulevard and taken into custody. A loaded handgun was located on the front seat.

Gill is charged with DUI, aggravated assault, unlawful weapon possession, driving on a suspended license, leaving the scene of an accident, and vandalism.

I'm shocked and then again, I'm not. This is at the Wal-Mart closest to us, that we frequent all too often, where I worked (in, not for) for almost a year, where I refuse to go alone from now on!! I really shouldn't even post this for fear my mother is going to kidnap me and her granddaughter and bring us back to the safe state of Maine! :)

Jesus be a fence all around me everyday!!

Cheering Practive

Our little cheerleader, enjoying practice outside in the beautiful weather, posing as a leap frog in this shot.

Tuesday Tidbit

More Juicy . . . I'm in love!

I Say A Little Prayer for You

I love it when I make Charity happy!! We picked up this book at the library, adapted from the song, I Say a Little Prayer for You. Rather than read it, I sang it to her. She's loved it so much, she made me "sing" it again!

I love you, Charity! (Only you listen to my singing for that long . . . and enjoy it!)

Sweet dreams!!!

Happy Fall Y'all!!

Today we usher in the most wonderful time of all . . . Autumn, falling leaves, football season, Harvest, hot cider, apple picking, hayrides, trick or treat, pumpkin pie, Thanksgiving, turkey, and then best of all . . . Christmas before we know it!!! Whatever you call it, however you celebrate . . . enjoy it. I love this time of year, the colors, the smells, all the good eating! What about you? I haven't met too many people that don't enjoy this season, especially here in Tennessee where the weather is still very nice. Love it!

Another sure sign of the season: we 3 Cookies have successfully polished off one bag of Brach's Autumn Mix!! Yum!!

No Gas? No Job?

Is this crazy or what? I'm just thinking . . . we live in America the land of infinite resourses. But yet I'm sitting at home because church has been cancelled due to the Nashville gas shortage, not to mention I've been unemployed for 3 months now. They say we're not in a recession. Not sure about this? People arrive daily to acheive the American dream. I do know I'm extremely blessed compared to many people in the world . . . but I'm just pondering . . . times are funny. Don't you think?

Unending Love, Amazing Grace

I love this Chris Tomlin song and was reminded of it this morning when we sang it in our worship service! I'm so thankful for unending love and amazing grace! I've never watched to video before, but this is a cool! Chris Tomlin does his typical remarkable job and filmed in an appropriate setting for this time of year, a beautiful Fall landscape. Enjoy!

Amazing Grace (My Chains Are Gone)
by Chris Tomlin

Amazing grace How sweet the sound,
That saved a wretch like me,
I once was lost, but now I'm found,
Was blind, but now I see.

'Twas grace that taught my heart to fear,
And grace my fears relieved.
How precious did that grace appear,
The hour I first believed.

My chains are gone, I've been set free.
My God, my Savior has ransomed me.
And like a flood His mercy rains.
Unending love, Amazing grace!

The Lord has promised good to me,
His word my hope secures,
He will my shield and portion be,
As long as life endures,

The earth shall soon dissolve like snow,
The sun forbear to shine,
But God, Who called me here below,
Will be forever mine, Will be forever mine, You are forever mine!

Life is So Short

The Cook Boys: Steve/Grumpy (Dave's dad), Uncle Peter & Uncle Bill

Today we remember Uncle Peter. Last month he passed away way too early and too young, the youngest of the 3 Cook boys. Unfortunately this family is no stranger to tragedy, as Uncle Peter and Aunt Carmen lost their teenage daughter, the only Cook girl, Melanie, when she was hit and killed by a drunk driver.

The last few years Aunt Carmen and Uncle Peter have been living in Florida. After their weekly wings dinner and a trip to Home Depot, Uncle Peter complained of chest pain. And that was it. Such a devastating shock.

Today the family gathered in Maine to remember his life, while we, though faraway, remember them in our prayers, specifically Aunt Carmen, their son, Dan, their grandson, Zac and Gramma Cook, who lost her baby boy.

Here's all the Cook boys at our wedding.

From left to right: Eric (Uncle Bill's son), Uncle Bill, Dave, Grampa Cook, Uncle Peter, Steve/Grumpy, and Andrew (Uncle Bill's son) in front. Missing from photo: Dan (Uncle Peter's son).

Go tell your family you love them, because life is so short!

Date Night?

I think it's been too long since we've done this, since we obviously don't know what to do. Here's our romantic evening out:

Left house shortly after Dave is out of work. Headed to Frist Center. It takes us nearly an hour to get from our house to the Frist Center, which should take about 20 minutes, except Nashville is in the middle of a gas shortage and the stations are so crammed with patrons waiting in line to get gas they're back up on the roads. We kept asking ourselves, "Why are doing this?"

Finally arrive at Frist, where we stroll through about 30 minutes, as neither of us are super art appreciator, but had a coupon for two free visitors from a friend, that loves art.

And the highlight of the evening, we opted to go to Wal*Mart and pick up groceries for the weekend, rather than head out to eat as we had originally planned.

Aren't we exciting? I think we need some help.

I guess after being together nearly 12 years, we are just as happy getting something done that needs to be done in peace and quiet, than sitting down eating a meal. (At least that's how we felt tonight.) Nevertheless, we came home happy even after the shortest, boringest date night we've ever had!!

Bliss

Weekly store ads make me happy! It's like window shopping from my sofa! Here's some of my favorite flyer finds today:

I'm lovin' all the PURPLE this season! Purple is my favorite color, always and I love it when it's style! Charity loves it too!





Love the BOWS in this Harajuku ♥ Lovers Fragrance ad!! Definitely have to put this scent on my wish list!
Cool trends this Fall from JC Penney's:

And the equestrian look . . . very fall-ish!

Almost makes me excited about digging out the sweaters and the boots!

Front Page News

Here is the front page news on last week's Machias Valley New Observer. Yes . . . that would be my MOM! *gleaming*

Since my post, Disappointments, they've confirmed my mom has a brain tumor. Rather than traveling every day to Bangor (a nearly 2 hours trip) for radiation, she will just make one trip to Boston to go under the Gamma Knife radiation treatment. We're believing this is going to take care of this thing. Mom is staying encouraged, positive about this surgery and ready to move on!

I love you, Mom! Your endurance inspires me!

Well Clad

Good deals make me giddy! :-D

Went early this morning to the consignment sale at Nashville Christian. Got Charity a school uniform: turtleneck, a long-sleeve polo, a short-sleeve polo, sweater, and a skirt! Also 3 brand-new pairs of white tights and two pairs of funky knee socks!

This is the best part . . . all for the price I paid for the one skirt new! Yippee!!

Photo + Fun = Photofunia

Yeah . . . you can only apply for jobs for so long and then you need a little break.

Go check it out and have a little fun of your own!

Mole Holes

Dave: "What are these?"

Me: "Mason's dog toys that I have to repair."

D: "You're sewing dog toys?"

M: "Yes."

D: "You know you've hit a new career low."

. . . thanks . . .

Disappointments

My mom is amazing lady. She has been battling cancer for over a year now and has been doing so well. This past week she was on the front page of the my home town local paper! Her strength makes me proud!! I will eventually scan in the actual article. Her plans to leave tomorrow for Las Vegas to do a Lung Cancer public service announcement came to complete stop this afternoon when she had a little set back. Unfortunately, they discovered brain swelling due to her cancer. She will have to begin radiation again. We are hoping and praying this will take care of it. I'm believing she'll push through. I know it must be disappointing for her and also to miss a trip that she was excited about making. God knows and we're so thankful this incident happened prior to her trip.

Please remember my mom in your prayers.

Sleep: It does a body good.

I am in astonishment as to how much I've accomplished today. I'm thinking this is due to all the sleep I've gotten in the last few days. Wow! It definitely makes a difference . . . why didn't anybody tell me this before!?!?! :-P We went to be early Saturday evening and then took a nice, long nap Sunday afternoon. Now I've nearly got the house back to pre-visit perfection. If I could just get my sleep each night, just think of what I could accomplish!

Am I Cut Out for This?

Okay . . . it's only week 2, my first week "teaching" and already I'm very clearly seeing the reasons I stopped doing this in the first place. Ministry needs to fit like a glove, I know we all have to do things we don't enjoy along the way, but if you're truly unhappy in what you're doing for the Lord, it doesn't do anybody any good. Now I know there was a day when I did enjoy teaching Sunday School, but I don't think it's for me anymore. I'm going to stick it out, I have this next Sunday off and then the next Sunday the other teacher with me will be teaching, so maybe helping is my thing . . . but we'll see.

So I've started a list:

Top 10 Signs You Know You're Still Too Burnt Out to Teach Sunday School

* Here's #10: When a parent makes some rude comments about an incident involving their child the previous week being bitten by another child under your supervision, you would like to reply, "Well, you come in watch all these 3 year-olds and see if you can do a better job!" . . . but don't! Thank God, one of us has power over our tongue!

Ummmm . . . okay, when I get to #1 I know it's time to go. For now, I'll endure, bit my tongue and wipe snotty noses.

Kohl's is coming to Bellevue!

This made my whole morning, day, week, life!! When Charity brought The Westview Paper up to me from Gramma, I was soooooo excited!! I will enjoy the new library, but it pales in comparison to Kohl's! It's one of my very favorites! And Meme just asked if we had one! Maybe we can shop there on her next visit!!

(On a unrelated side note, we're all up so early this Sunday morning since Grumpy and Meme are taking off this morning even though their plane isn't out until this afternoon they wanted to go check out somethings. We had a fun visit and we'll sure miss them!)

WESTVIEW: Wednesday, September 10, 2008 Vol. 32 No. 37
Bellevue Exchange Club Meeting Hosts Bellevue Library Information Exchange
___________________________________________________________
Monday, September 8, the Bellevue Exchange Club held their meeting and opened it up to the community at large to hear their special guest speaker, Donna Nicely, with the Nashville Library. She was there to talk and answer questions about the new Bellevue Library, which she says will be Nashville’s 6th regional library. This means it will have the same hours and days as the other regional libraries instead of the abbreviated days and hours the Bellevue branch now has. It will also have many new and innovative features.

The new Bellevue Library will be located in the downstairs area of the old Dillard’s building of Bellevue Mall. Kohl’s will be upstairs.

You can see the rest of the article and more Bellevue news by visiting The Westview Online.

I'll be expecting!!

Day 3: "Sale-ing" & The Zoo

Up very early this morning . . . Charity not being such great company. I think her tiredness was wearing on our guests, well Grumpy, thus the name!

Went to a bunch of tag sales, then went to Costco picked up some Rotisserie Chicken Salad and crescents for lunch and Grumpy also renewed our Costco membership for our Christmas present. Merry Christmas to us!

After lunch Meme and I headed out to a Flea Market we saw advertised down the street while the others rested. I love this woman! She loves tag sales and has a great eye! I bought a bunch a thread (that I can always use) for $1! Quite the bargain!

Earlier today I did find these stick-woven pumpkins, which I can't recall if I already have some or not . . . anyway. They go well with my brown decor . . . and maybe it will motivate me to did out the rest of my Harvest decorations. Huuuummmm . . .

Not a bad "sale-ing" day!

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Later we decided we adventure out to the Nashville Zoo since the ticket amount is only $5 just for today thanks to Direct Auto. Wow! Was it busy! I have never seen that many people and cars there. A good day for the zoo though! And we made it through, even at 95 degrees!

Came home around 6ish and ate dinner, of course! Dave made a Tuna Pasta Salad and Grumpy bought a Key Lime pie from Publix for dessert! De-lish!! :p Now we're headed to an early bed!

Wait . . . not without a few zoo pics!

Sweet dreams!!