I can bring home the bacon, fry it up in a pan . . .

So we Tanner girls made a startling discovery last night. One that I'm sure will completely appall both Jack and Seth. Since yesterday was Samantha's birthday and Keith was very busy at the Mobile Mansion, we decided to have a slumber party at Auntie Janeen's house. Auntie Janeen in turn came up with a great idea about going to the thrift store and buying some old clothes and then going to the fabric store and getting some patches and beads and "stuff" to "dress-up" the clothes. After getting home with all of our goodies though we realized we would need an iron to adhere our patches and our iron-on transfers. Janeen, who is 29 and owns her own home, does not own an iron. My iron of course is packed up but if I was being completely honest I would have to say that after 11 1/2 years of marriage it has only been used once! So we called our little sister Rene' (whose been married 5 1/2 yrs) and had her bring her iron when she came. As she sets it on the counter, she says I hope you guys know how to use it because its never been used!
Sisters = 3
Irons = 2
Accumulative years since we've all moved out of our parents home = 19 yrs
Not ever having to use those irons = PRICELESS!

Thursday Thanks #5

Here are some of my very thankful thoughts for this week:

1. Sunshine - I will continue to put this on my list for as long as I can. I absolutely love feeling the warm rays of the sun beating down on my face. What a wonderful feeling!

2. Rain - Hey, the bible says to be thankful in all things right? Though I have to really, really work on being thankful for this, I am thankful for the times (many as they seem to be) when God "waters" the earth - or at least our little corner of the earth.

3. Floors and Doors - My Dad and Keith were able to get the flooring laid this past weekend and then Dad and I put in the rest of the doors yesterday. It's an amazing feeling to have these things finished.

4. Being blinded by the light - Yes, I do mean that light at the end of the tunnel. It's so exciting to be able to see this remodel project coming to an END! I can barely contain my excitement about being in our house and getting my family back into a routine.

5. Health - There has been so much sickness going around and I'm just so thankful that at least up until this point in time, I've stayed healthy. Also I'm thankful that my father-in-law went into the doctor quickly for what turned out to be a very bad case of cellulitis, staph and MRSA infections. Thankfully, his medicine seems to be working and he is slowly getting better.

6. Opportunities to relax and enjoy - I have bunco tonight and am thrilled to spend a couple hours enjoying the company of some very good friends fighting for those elusive prizes!

7. My daughters - Though they can drive me completely batty at times, especially as those tween years draw near, I am so thankful for them and the laughter and joy they bring to our lives. They definitely keep us on our toes but they are well worth it! (Look for a post coming soon on one daughter in particular!)

8. Holidays and out-of-town visitors - I may be jumping the gun a bit but this is something that I've just been thinking so much about recently. I can hardly wait for Easter, which is my favorite "religious" holiday. I've decided that I'm hosting this year whether the rest of the family likes it or not. I'm so thrilled to be able to have everyone over to celebrate the resurrection of our Lord and Saviour. I'm also thrilled to host our first "out-of-town" visitors. I've so missed my friend and her family and I'm just counting the days till we get to see them again.

9. Spellcheck - I'm very thankful the spellcheck is working again. It helps me maintain some "semblance" of "smartness"!

Do the Humpty, Hump . . . come on and do the humpty, hump!

My time goes by so quickly! Can you even believe that it's already hump day?
I know shocking, isn't it?

I am stuck on Band-Aid brand cause . . . .

So I've been pondering this whole saving money thing for awhile now. I love to get a good deal, a bargain. I love to purchase from the clearance rack but there are times when I make an exception. And here are some of the reasons why. The other day I was back at Wal-mart for what seemed like the upteenth million time to purchase toothpaste. Since we've been living with Mom and Dad we (us McCoy's) all share a rather small bathroom. So we no longer have his toothpaste, her toothpaste and the girls toothpaste. We have one toothpaste. And the toothpaste that I have found we all like is the little mini stand up container of Crest-Tartar Control Whitening plus Scope. I pay $2.46 for a 4.6 oz. bottle. And we tend to use it up quite frequently. So the last time I went in I decided I needed to find something different that didn't get used up as quickly and didn't cost so much. I ended up deciding on the Crest Pro-Health. It was $3.00 for 7.8 oz. Cost wise - a much better purchase, until I got it home and we all tried it and hated it!!! So now we have this tube of toothpaste that none of us like that is taking up space in our tiny bathroom and I had to go back to Wal-mart and buy our regular brand. So much for saving money, I should have just thrown $3 in the trash and saved myself the gas money! Also, we tend to go through the cereal. A good friend of mine always buys the big bulk bags of cereal. I have never done this because I feel if I buy something and the girls don't like it then I will have to eat it. Keith is not the normal dad who eats whatever is in the fridge or cupboards that no one else wants. He's pickier than the girls most the time. So I've become the human trash compactor. Because of this I don't want to buy something I know I won't like. But in the spirit again of saving money, I decided to try out the "fake" honey nut cheerios. These are one of Samantha's favorites. The other day I heard her complaining that there was no good cereal in the house. I told her - there is honey nut cheerios in a bag in the cereal cupboard. She looks me right in the eye and says, "Those things taste like FISH!" I, of course, have not tasted them and have no intention of doing so. I told her you love fish, what's the problem. She says, "they taste like fish with honey on it." I rest my case. Sometimes it's not worth trying to save a few bucks if you are going to end up with fishy cheerios and unused tubes of toothpaste.

MIC-KEY-M-OU-SE

In the spirit of Valentines Day, love and anniversarys I found this cute little test to help you discover what Disney character would be your "love" match. Since you all know how much I love anything Disney, especially that cute mouse, I wanted to share the test with you. So take a few minutes and "Buzz" on over, take the test and then let us know who your perfect match is!
http://disney.go.com/inside/mainattraction/080212/index.html

By the way, I had a tie. My matches would be either Woody, Mickey or Troy from High School Musical or Prince Edward, Prince Eric or Prince Phillip. I know that Prince Eric is from The Little Mermaid and Arial's main squeeze and that Prince Phillip is from Sleeping Beauty and in love with a girl with split personality disorder i.e., she calls herself Sleeping Beauty, Aurora and Briar Rose. But who is Prince Edward?

What's your name, what's your name???

Alright, so for being as busy as we are with our remodel project we still find time to get some TV watching in. Whether it's a TV program or a movie, we tend to watch. (More than we really should.) But anyway, the other day we had this conversation about the good guys or the heroes in lots of movies. That guy who might come off as a "bad boy" but then in the end -ends up saving the day. So what's that guys name? We've come to agree that most of the time this guys name is John. Maybe this comes from the original rough guy/hero - JOHN WAYNE. I'm not sure but now that I've started my "list" I need help adding to it. I'll tell you what I've got so far and then you all have to share with me whatcha know!

1. John McClane - Die Hard movies
2. John Rambo - Rambo movies
3. Johnny Storm - Fantastic Four movies
4. John Matrix - Commando
5. John Kruger - Eraser
6. John Smith - Pocohontas
7. John Connor - Terminator movies/The Sarah Connor Chronicles

So hit me with your best shot and tell me whatcha got!!! Can't wait to see all the ones I missed!

Thursday Thanks #4

Just a few things that are filling my heart with joy this week:

1. Forgiveness

2. Healing - physical, spiritual and emotional

3. Sunshine - Not my bro-in-law (though I am thankful for him) but in this case I mean the actually rays of the sun beating down on my bare toes peeking out from my flip-flops. It was a gloriously beautiful day.

4. Mine - Okay, I know that just sounds so extremely selfish but let me explain. Today after MOPs, I made a trip to Costco. I picked up a number of refrigorator/freezer items but I wasn't planning on heading home until the evening. So I went "home" (as in - to MY own home - the one in Graham) and dropped off my frig items in MY fridge. Then I decided instead of going back out and buying myself lunch I would heat up a bowl of soup in MY microwave in MY kitchen. I stood in MY dirty, dusty kitchen eating my bowl of soup looking out into MY living room and dining room and imagining where I would put MY furniture and just how wonderful it will look. Then I washed out my empty bowl in MY newly installed kitchen sink. The whole while I kept thinking - we are almost there and I'm so thankful.

5. Healthy children - I recently learned that a close friend of mine's child has a genetically inherited disease that there is no cure for. They are now going to have to do more testing to find out if both parents are carriers and if so, all of their children are at risk of having or getting this disease. How blessed I am to have my daughters that are sassy and full of spitfire and so far (Praise God) healthy, healthy, healthy.

6. More quality time with my kiddos - For Valentine's Day I took the girls to see the Hannah Montana Live in Concert 3-D Digital "movie" at the local theater. We had so much fun singing and dancing all while wearing our funky 3-D glasses.

7. In-laws (or as my Mom-in-law says, In-loves) - I was so lucky to marry into the family that I did. I was accepted immediately (well maybe not immediately but pretty soon after) as a daughter and a sister. Tomorrow we get to celebrate a birthday and an anniversay and I'm so excited to spend some quality "McCoy family time" together.

8. Love - I'm so thankful for the love I have for my family and friends and the love they give to me as well.

9. My K.I.S.A - . . ."Darling, I'll be yours forever 'cause I never wanna be without love, so darling, never set me free, no, I'm yours forever never set me free, no, no, no!" Hee, hee, hee! Figure that one out!!!

P.S. I'd be really thankful if I could get my spellcheck to work but since I can't, I apologize for any mis-spelled words.

Thursday Thanks (a day late and dollar short)

I have so much to be thankful for and yet yesterday was in a bit of a funk and was having a hard time feeling thankful. So I decided to turn to His word for remembrances of why I should be thankful. I found this verse and it spoke to my heart.

Psalm 28:7 -- The Lord is my strength and my shield; my heart trusts in him, and I am helped. My heart leaps for joy and I will give thanks to him in song.

1. God' s word. How blessed am I to be able to take comfort in the inspired word of God. No matter my mood, whether I'm frustrated, fearful or questioning; all I need to do is turn to His word and I can find rest for my soul.

2. Unexpected surprises. I know right now y'all are thinking - that's a double negative and aren't most surprises unexpected. But actually lots of surprises are expected. Usually all your gifts at Christmas and on birthdays are a surprise but it's not a surprise that you are getting a gift. So I'm talking about a completely unexpected gift, one that I was not aware I would be getting. And what an incredible gift this one is!!!

3. God's provision. I'm so thankful that as little (and big) problems seem to pop up, God provides what we need to have the problem fixed.

4. The salesman at ifloor. So we purchased our laminate flooring from ifloor about 9 months ago but just got around to installing (or trying to install) it last weekend. After spending about 4 hours trying to get just three rows laid in the smallest room, we gave up - sure that there was a major flaw in the design of the flooring. But as with most things were not confidant that ifloor would agree with our theory. So my dad took some of the material in and the salesman who used to be an installer spent quite a bit of time trying to get the pieces to click and lock together. Thankfully, he came to the same conclusion as we did that there was definitely a design flaw. We are now in the process of trying to get our money refunded so that we can get something different and easier to install.

5. The light at the end of the tunnel. Even though we've recently experienced some major set backs, I'm so thankful I can still see the light at the end of the tunnel as far as our remodel project is concerned. I'm so excited to be in our own home and having my family "back".

All I want to do ---

These lines, from a song in one of my favorite movies, explains my mood perfectly. Do you know what movie it is?



...."there are moments when I don't know if it's real, or if anybody feels the way I feel, I need inspiration, not just another negotiation"......