This is how I feel...

No there isn't anything wrong really. We are just busy and my brain feels fried! Remember that commercial...

"This is your brain...this is your brain on drugs"?....

NO...I am not on drugs (smile here!), just a little fried...homeschoolin' is tough! Funny, I'm not physically tired...thank the Lord for that.

Perhaps next week will be fall break!!!

Thankful Thursday

Just two things today. First, after dropping the boys off at Awana for the first time last night,

We:

Got a little of this:

and one of these:

Who knew Awana would make a great date night for us? So thankful!

Also thankful for my Assets, that helped me get in a pair of jeans so I could stay a little dry during our "coastal low" that we are experiencing.

Fruit Roll-ups, At Home!!

Found this recipe after a friend suggested I look for one on the web. Who knew you could make fruit roll-ups at home! I am trying to eliminate artificial coloring from my children's world to see if there is a difference in their behavior. I think Ainsely's advice to do that is actually helping. The problem is when you take them somewhere that is going to serve a snack. So, thinking I might try these and see how they go over in my home! Don't they look yummy?

Look Who Moved In To The Neighborhood!

We are the first town to get a Harris Teeter in Brunswick County! And it is two miles from my house! Now, this could be a bad thing for us. They are kind of pricey in my opinion...but when there is a VIC special, it is usually better than Wally World! So, heading to the new HT today, just to say I went!

Dilemma

Allow me to introduce my dilemma...



My 11 year old neighbor decided to feed this seemingly stray cat some milk...in my back yard! Now the cat seems to think that our home is his home!
OK, contrary to what my boys believe, I do not hate cats! They are just not my favorite. Manly Man is allergic and I have a feeling that at least one of my boys would be as well. I don't want an inside cat at all...liter boxes? No thanks.
The big problem is that this cat used to be some one's. That someone decided it would be a good idea to declaw the cat, front and back paws! And then let the cat out. He can't catch food. He can't defend himself. He can't climb a tree if he needs to! He is so scrawny. I feel like the humane thing to do is to feed it. But we all know what happens when you feed a stray. Manly Man and I are at a loss for what to do. Any ideas?

I Can't Believe I Let Him Do This!!!

Thankful Thursday

I am thankful for
...bubble wrap (getting to jump on it is a great reward for boys!).
...Manly Man being able to go back to the office today.
...Manly Man's father paying to have the transmission rebuilt in our 1995 Jeep.
...Amish Friendship bread starter that I was gifted today.
...Jacob sleeping all night last night (no potty wake ups for him, or me because I hear him).
...finally figuring out some things that help Jonathan with school better.
...coffee
...eating well, so I don't even feel the need to lay down during the day!
...reconnecting with friends from a ways back
...having Jesus.

It's Starting Again!

Guess what it is? Not the fall allergies, they have been here for a couple of weeks. Not the fall colds, they started on Friday. Any guesses?

NBC's Biggest Loser starts back tonight. I am not one to write much about TVshows, but I do love this one and have for a while. I think Jillian would kick my butt! I think Bob would to, but in a different way. I don't think I would survive one workout with them, but it would make me strong that is for sure. My only gripe with the show is that they don't talk enough about nutrition. With that said, still love it and will be on my couch, with my bowl of, I mean bottle of water watching away! (We don't even have anything to eat a bowl of!)

OK?

I thought that I should maybe change the blog a little since I do a lot of posting about myself (how self-centered can I be???), not just my boys. I also mention Manly Man every once in a while. (Love you Manly Man and glad you are finished with training for a while!!!) So, welcome to the Sellers' Express! I found a cute train background, but I didn't like that the center part where the posts were had a design on it and it made it hard to read the text. So, I opted for no train background, but got something new anyway. My old background had some reading issues I think, so please let me know if the font colors are OK...can you read the text OK? The picture is over a year old!!! Maybe the next time we get on a train (ha ha) we can get a new picture. This is from the train at Tweetsie.

Must run, my little engineers are fighting!

Hang in there

Working on a new layout...please be patient with me!

Praying For the Gulf Coast

Just wanted to take a minute to remind everyone to pray for those in the line of Ike. It looks like it could be bad...they are warning like they did with Katrina. We are praying here for your safety, and that Ike will settle himself down, a lot! How cool would that be in Ike just "fell apart" in the Gulf of Mexico? Could you imagine the weather forecasters trying to "explain" that one away?

We Will Not Forget

We were all touched by the horrible attack on our country seven years ago this morning. I had just finished teaching my first class and was walking up to the library for my second class. The drama teacher stopped me in the hall and said the trade center had been hit by a plane. I walked up to steps to the library, not really grasping the depth of what had just happened. When I walked in to the library, I understood. I immediately called Manly Man who had just gotten home that morning from the fire station. I told him to turn on the TV and asked him if his father was flying (his dad was a pilot for US Airways at the time and flew to New York some, in those big jumbo jets). He said no and got off the phone. My students and I sat there, glued to the TV. I watched so much of the coverage in the following days. I didn't want to feel numb. I wanted to feel the pain with my country, with it's people. I wanted to remember that day. I do remember. It struck so close to home, with Manly Man being a firefighter, my father-in-law a pilot, and my sister-in-law having flown past the Twin Towers, literally minutes before they were hit.

To those whose lives were forever changed, I have not forgotten. My family has not forgotten. You are in our thoughts and prayers. Your loved one was a hero.

Wordless Wednesday

Chocolate Chip Cookie Confession

I major heart chocolate chip cookie dough! In a big way. Or at least I did. So, about 5 or 6 years ago, while at Sam's Club, I had a brilliant idea to buy some cookie dough to keep on hand whenever we had friends over. I wanted to be a good hostess and have something to serve my guests. I don't know where I got that from. If anyone knew about my plan for goodies and looked in that 5 pound tub about a month later would have thought that Manly Man and I were the COOLEST people ever in the 'Boro! Man, that cookie dough was at least half gone, in only 30 days! That is a lot of cookies!!! Which means a lot of friends!!!
What is really meant is that I was a closet compulsive eater! It was there. I ate it. Raw. By the spoonful! When home alone. While Manly Man was in the bathroom. Whenever. Thinking back now, I think that this is when I first started to realize that I was a closet over-eater or maybe this is about the time that it started. Hmmm....
When I finally confessed to Manly Man what I had done, he suggested that I throw it away. Do what???? I was NOT going to waste money! But then I realized later that I needed to do just that and did. So, me and chocolate chip cookie dough...a very bad love-to-eat-you-hate-the-pounds-you-cause relationship bloomed!
Fast forward to yesterday. With the looming TS Hanna headed our way on Friday (by the way, we did fine...no problems whatsoever...pray for those in the path of Ike though!) the munchies set in. I got the chips covered. I almost got the sweets covered too, but decided not to. Then Manly Man went to the store and I suggested something sweet...you know, so I could blame him for it being in the house. He came home with the ginormous roll of chocolate chip cookie dough. We made a few cookies. Yesterday, I ate some raw cookie dough. Not a lot here, but enough for about 3 cookies. During that last slice, I noticed something. It makes my tongue feel weird. Really weird. Like prickly or something. I can honestly say that I don't like raw chocolate chip cookie dough! What an amazing blessing, for my health and for honoring the Lord!
Now, if I could just not like them baked!

Quick Update

We are hunkering down for TS Hanna, potentially Hurricane Hanna here in SE North Carolina. I will update later to let you know how we faired. A tropical storm might not seem like much, or even a cat one hurricane for that matter, but sustained winds of 70 miles an hour are nothing to sneeze at. I am sure we will be fine, and I am thankful that Manly Man won't be called back to work until at least Saturday afternoon, if at all.

And, I am feeling a little better since my last post. Thank you for your prayers!

Caro, you can try to call. If I can talk I will, if not, I won't. How profound right? Be safe driving...you will be having some wind, girl.

Wordless Wednesday

Please say a prayer for me. I am really having a tough day and just kind of want to walk out of the door for a few hours. But that would require me to leave the children home alone. I am afraid they might burn the house down while I was gone. Questioning our decision to home school today. A few moments of questioning being a mom. Please say a prayer for me.

Labor Day!

We really know how to live it up here! We even had school on Labor Day! Oh the horror! Call the police! See how exciting our day is? Manly Man is at work, so I figured we might as well have school and then play. The play was good. The boys have played really well together. School, not so great today. I was really frustrated with Jacob today because he was distracting Jonathan A LOT! I have to find something different to do with him. Maybe I need to start playing with him first, and then doing some school work with Jonathan. Any ideas of what to do with a distracting 3 year old???

PS...so excited that I finally figured out how to successfully post a video!!!