A Time of Sorrow

I write with a very sad and heavy heart tonight. I will write more at a later time.
My father in law, Nelson Madden, 87, has passed away and we are grieving. He has gone to be with his Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and for that we are joyous and praising God. It is our earthly pain and loss that is so hard. He was taken by ambulance on Thursday, August 18th and in ICU with pneumonia, kidney failure, low blood pressure, staff infection, and was very septic. He was placed on life support on Friday, August 19th. The doctors informed the family that medically there was no more to be done and all life support was removed on Sunday, August 21 at 5:00 p.m. He passed away peacefully on August 22 at 2:00 a.m. There were 9 of us with him out of his 29 immediate children and grandchildren. We are deeply hurting and feeling such a huge loss for a beautiful, Christian, humble man.  If you will, please pray for our family. I can't tell you how much I appreciate all of you as my friends. I will be back soon to visit more. Thank you again....
You can view his obituary at www.penwellgabelosawatomie.com
With love and a grateful heart,

Welcome Back to School

Whew! I made it!
Today was "students" first day back in our district! This is my 20th year teaching and I think I can say it went very well and was one of my better starts to a year! It was an awesome day! I have 20 energetic 3rd graders (12 boys and 8 girls). They were a great group TODAY...I'll let you know how I'm doing by the end of the week! HA! I wish I could show you their pictures as they are pretty cute! I have one little girl who is extremely tiny (we had to lower her desk waaayyyy down and get her a 1st grade chair) and she wanted to hold my hand all day. When I needed to use my hand, she latched on to my leg or my waist! So cute! She was not upset or scared, just loving and physical!  She also has lost her 2 front teeth!  Just priceless adorable!

I pray that I can be a positive influence on them. I hope that I can teach them academic skills to help them succeed in life, but also some character values, morals, and knowing right from wrong. I would love to teach them about Jesus and God and sing songs we sing at church. I know that I would probably lose my job if that took place, but whenever whenever whenever THEY bring up church or God or Jesus, I love it and I encourage them. I wish when we finished the Pledge of Allegiance we could have a prayer. We can't! But I will pray for these little people!

Darb started her S_ _ _ _ _ year (12th) at school. I told her not to say that word in the house...Momma can't handle her baby being that old. 

Here she is this a.m.....she wasn't ready for school (notice the bare feet!) but I had to leave for school and needed the annual pic. 

Daddy started today too. He left at 6:00 a.m. for football practice. They both have volleyball and football practices after school. They will be exhausted! Tonight for supper is Stuffed Green Peppers (Thanks Carrie at Farming on Faith!), oven potatoes, and Texas toast.  They never care what's for supper....they are too tired and zombied out and just so happy Momma has supper ready.
Speaking of which, do you say Supper or Dinner for your evening meal???? Just curious!


We got a little rain today which was nice. It greened up outside! We did get a break and got to go out for recess! HALLELUJAH!


My neck, my feet, my back are killing me!  That's the truth! I will go for my daily walk tonight and then I will beg for a neck massage tonight! HA!

My daughter, Lacey, who is expecting February 13, is gearing up for her first day of teaching Kindergarten on Thursday. She has 20 of them! Last year was her first year of teaching and she was a ESL teacher/coordinator for K-12. I just know she is going to love it! I also think she is going to be worn out Thursday night! I can't wait to hear the stories she has to tell!

Hoping all of you that have kiddos heading back to school will have a great start to the school year. How is your routine coming? Getting kids to bed, getting kids out of bed, breakfast, buses, drop offs, pick ups, running here, running there....how do we do it?
Summer is on it's last leg and we are in a new phase of the year. Ahhhh Fall is on it's way! I love Fall but I sure hate to say Bye Bye to those lazy fun days of Summer.


Can't wait to hear about your "Back to School"!

Here and There...This and That

July 28th was our 27th Anniversary....It was an uneventful day as far as celebrating anniversaries go! We worked around home all day! To be honest, we sweated all day outside!

But.................. July 31st, we got to celebrate with dinner at Cheesecake Factory and tickets to Kenny Chesney/Uncle Kracker/Billy Currington/Zac Brown Band concert!! Tickets were courtesy of our 4 thoughtful kiddos who gave them to their Daddy for Christmas! We have been waiting 7 months for it! Of course dinner at Cheesecake is ALWAYS so good...definitely one of our favorites! We dined outside on the patio....perfect weather! Then headed to the concert...we ended up being there a total of 8 hours! WOW...that's a long time for the old folks! Great seats and great time! 
(pictures taken off the web!)

July 23rd was my parent's auction. If you have ever had to go through that, you have my sympathy and thoughts. It is NOT an easy thing to do. It is NOT a fun thing to do. We have been getting mentally ready for it for a year and physically working on it for months. The 2 weeks before were pure physical work and emotional stress. It's one of those things you HAVE to do at some point but not easy. My husband, kids and I have been going through personal stuff for a while. We have been keeping those cherished things that have very sentimental meaning. We have boxed up and saved so many things. My Dad was a "project man". He did leather work/metal work/machine work/wood work .... you name it. My Mom has always jokingly told my husband and I that this day would come. His basement and his garage were full in a very organized way. He didn't have ONE of ANYTHING! He had multiples of everything. Pictures don't do justice! We had an awesome auction and we were extremely grateful for the auctioneer and his crew. They are friends of ours and they made this process so bearable. There were over 300 people that day. Everything sold very well and we were very pleased. People were there at 6:00 a.m. and the auction did not begin until 10:00 a.m. We went home that night at 8:00 p.m. truly drained! This past week we have continued to do the "aftermath" of the auction. Meeting people to let them pick up items bought/clean up/finish up paperwork/etc.


AND......


My husband and I had a epiphany (a sudden realization of great truth!) during this whole process! We have GOT to declutter/purge/organize/throw away/simplify!!!!!!!!! So this past week we have ATTACKED our home/sheds/garage/basement! We have hauled out more trashcans full than we can count. We have organized like professionals!! We feel so good! And we are not done....oh no.....there is still work to do! And I love it!  I think that the whole process of having to have an auction and go through "stuff" has made me so aware that it really is just "stuff".  I'm definitely a sentimental person and can't throw away MEMORIES easily so I do save those types of things.... but if it hasn't been used in weeks/months.....then it's history.  I bought the DVD by Peter Walsh "It's All Too Much" and it got me very motivated!
Here are pictures of BEFORE the auction ..... "stuff" had not be set out on trailors or in yard!  (Just so you know...this post will also serve as a small "photo" album to look back on...so please scroll fast if you so choose!)

 

Here are pictures the DAY of the sale....Darbey was the "official" photographer and she actually took hundreds. I will spare you the pain and just share a few!!

 What an exhausting and hot day (month) it was! There were 4 auctioneers working with a crew of helpers. I'm so grateful to all of them. We sold EVERYTHING including 2 vehicles. We were unable to sell the house on auction so it remains with the real estate agency. I am also deeply grateful to my hardworking husband, 4 kids, 1 son in law and 1 boyfriend. They are my rocks and I couldn't do anything without them! Thank You and I love you!