Oh, Where Has My Turtle Gone?

Grice and his friend Noah found this little turtle on a canoe ride Saturday. "Stick" was spotted on a stick by Grice and Whoa! Nelly! we now have a pet turtle! They had the turtle in the garge in this little critter catcher thing which was all good. I had great intentions to encourage them to let the turtle go before the day was over. Well, little did I know that the turtle was taken to Grice's room where he was going to "live" for the rest of his turtle life. He was in the critter catcher, but as you can see in this picture that little turtle is a climbing turtle. After Noah went home and Grice went up to start getting ready for bed we heard this wailing coming from upstairs. I thought something serious had happened, and it had indeed! Stick was GONE! The fourfortenberrys instantly went on a turtle hunt. We searched the house over.....then.....who comes around the corner? Daisy.......the dog......the turtle eating dog?? The whereabouts of Stick are still a mystery........stay tuned.....

Stop Grumbling!

I thought I would share something that we talked about last week in BSF. Our speaker talked about grumbling in relation to the Israelites complaining to Moses about being thirsty as he led them out of Egypt. She mentioned a difference between expressing your needs and grumbling. When someone blames someone else for something that is called grumbling. How often do we do this? She continued to say that complaints lay right at the feet of God, and when we grumble we are grumbling against God. We have no right to complain against things because God has placed us where we are and provides all that we need, and it is always right on time. He engineers our circumstances so we will get what He wants us to get out of it. Whatever He is doing, He is fitting us for a plan. When He does provide something for us He is showing us His glory as he did for the Israelites by providing for them with water and manna. The conclusion of the lecture encouraged everyone to fast from grumbling and complaining for 24 hours. I walked out of the lecture and didn't even get down the hall when I caught myself complaining. Wow! It just shows how much we really do try to find fault in just about everything. The fasting has stuck with me for longer than 24 hours, and I am trying to stop it completely. I have had the most pleasant past 6 days!

Grumbling tears down, finds fault in everything, and keeps you from being thankful.

This is our Clubhouse!

This is a Clubhouse! It belongs to Anna and several of her friends who live near us. There are a couple of empty lots around us that the girls have staked claim to. They have gathered items to add some ambiance and have been spending a lot of time hanging out and guarding the property. No boys are allowed, of course.

The other day a neighbor from several houses down the street walked over and asked if I had seen anyone suspicious around her yard because her lounge chair was missing. She was a bit distraught and worried that it had been stolen. We discussed the situation and just came to the conclusion that the economy has led people to resort to stealing which resulted in her lounge chair disappearance. I went inside and got back to what I was doing when all of a sudden I had this feeling......you know the feeling.....a light bulb moment....a sort of hey! wait a minute kind of feeling.....like, I know where that chair might be......but oh, surely not!! I went and told Ted the whole story, and we marched right over to the clubhouse and low and behold, right there stretched out in lounge fashion for the Queen of Sheeba was that lady's chair! I did a big Motherly gasp and said, " how could they take this chair from someone's yard??" When the girls were confronted they said that the chair was found out in the middle of nowhere! Ted simply picked up the chair and carried it down the street and put it back in the nice lady's yard. She was not home at the time. That was several days ago......she has moved the chair back to the spot it was originally, but has no idea how the chair got back into her yard. The girls have been going to her house everyday after school to explain...that should be interesting to hear....and apologize, but she has not been home. They will apologize! and hopefully the Mrs. will have an understanding heart and not be too hard on them....afterall, the chair was out in the middle of nowhere!

Get Ready for Turkey!

Well, I spent the day yesterday packing up all of the Halloween "stuff".....it is just that....stuff.....
Costumes, wigs, pencils, skeleton flashlights, glowsticks that are out of glow, plastic teeth, and of course, spider rings! This "stuff" is everywhere so I have to go on a scavenger hunt through the house trying to find any little lost trinket. This must be done while the kids are at school or else I am stuck with this stuff on the kitchen counter until maybe next year! It is all put away in a big box in the attic where no one will see it until next Halloween. And it will be a joyous day when we open the big box and find the treasures that were forgotten!
But now we are on to the next celebration! Thanksgiving! I cannot believe how the year is flyng by. Christmas is practically here! We are going to be celebrating Thanksgiving "travelling style". If any of you live away from your family, you know, not in the town you grew up in with all of your relatives close by, you know that you must travel. This is just one of the cons of living far away. Every holiday is spent on the road in a car. Yes, we have travelled by plane, but this is certainly not the year to fly. It will take us about 12 hours to get home this year, but it is a small price to pay. I am so excited to see my new nephew, I get goose bumps thinking about it. And we are just ready to see our family. We love Myrlte Beach, but there is no place like home.
At 40 years old with two kids, I have never baked a turkey and wouldn't know where to begin. This is NOT a complaint. I don't really care for handling slippery, wet, raw turkeys. The food will be great and the fun will be.....FUN!

Halloween in the Neighborhood

Halloween Fun!!!

We had a fun time last night! It all started when the kids got off the bus......we rushed home and got costumes, wigs, etc. on and headed to the other side of the neighborhood where there we two parties going. Anna went to one party and I took Grice and his twin friends to the other. There were games, tons of food and just lots of fun. After all the Dads got there the kids loaded up on a trailer for a Hayride and trick or treating. I went home to give out candy. Ted , Anna and Grice made it home around 9:00. They had lots of candy and treats, and they were really tired. Around 10:00 Ted went upstairs to tuck Anna in and I went to take Daisy out to potty. This is our usual nightime ritual. Grice brushes his teeth and waits for me in his bed. Well, when I got back from walking Daisy I found Grice wrapped up in a blanket sound asleep on the rug in the foyer by the front door. I guess he was too tired to make it upstairs and passed out waiting for me by the front door. Ted said Anna fell asleep in the middle of her prayers. I have to say that it didn't take Mom and Dad long to fall asleep either. It was a fun night!