A month full of Thankful Thursdays

We've been so busy lately that I haven't been doing much blogging and I've missed out on a whole month of Thursday Thanks Tanks. I have been so thankful for all the fun things we've been able to do and friends we've been able to spend time with. I decided to post some slide shows to "show" everyone the things I'm thankful for. I may even post more later! I hope that you all are having a wonderful summer and are enjoying time spent with family and friends!

"Stolen" Friend Game

I got this idea from my friends, Melissa and Jane Anne. Here is a fun friend game...Leave a comment on my blog of a memory that you and I have had together. It doesn't matter if you've known me for a short time or a long time. Comment about anything you remember. Next, if you have a blog, re-post these instructions on your blog and see how many people leave a memory about you. It's actually pretty funny to see the responses. If you leave a memory about me, I'll assume you're playing the game and I'll come to your blog and share a memory about you.

Wealth of "knowledge" Wednesday

1. WERE YOU NAMED AFTER ANYONE? To be honest I'm not sure. I know that my Mother got my middle name from a friend of hers but I'm not sure if I was specifically named after her. But her daughter shares my first and middle name. ???
2. WHEN WAS THE LAST TIME YOU CRIED? July 10th
3. DO YOU LIKE YOUR HANDWRITING? It's okay.
4. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE LUNCH MEAT? Roast Beef
5. DO YOU HAVE KIDS? Yep - 2 girls
6. IF YOU WERE ANOTHER PERSON WOULD YOU BE FRIENDS WITH YOU? I'm not really sure. I'm pretty full of the drama. I don't know that I could handle being my friend!
7. DO YOU USE SARCASM A LOT? Never (ha, ha!)
8. DO YOU STILL HAVE YOUR TONSILS? Unfortunately and they are huge suckers!
9. WOULD YOU BUNGEE JUMP? Not unless someone paid me a lot of money and then probably only with someone else like on the movie Chasing Liberty!
10. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE CEREAL? Cheerios
11. DO YOU UNTIE YOUR SHOES WHEN YOU TAKE THEM OFF? Flip-flops don't have laces!
12. DO YOU THINK YOU ARE STRONG? I built a deck - what do you think? Oh wait was that sarcastic? What I meant to say was yeah, I'm She-ra Princess of Power!!!!
13. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE ICE CREAM? Chocolate Crunch from the old Thrifty's (now it's a Rite Aid) in Southern Callie
14. WHAT IS THE FIRST THING YOU NOTICE ABOUT PEOPLE? Their smile
15. RED OR PINK? Red
16. WHAT IS THE LEAST FAVORITE THING ABOUT YOURSELF? My lack of organization
17. WHO DO YOU MISS THE MOST? My sister
18. DO YOU WANT EVERYONE TO SEND THIS BACK TO YOU? I'd love to get at least 10 comments!
19. WHAT COLOR SHOES ARE YOU WEARING? My old red valentine Old Navy flip-flops
20. WHAT WAS THE LAST THING YOU ATE? Reuben Sandwich from Arby's that my husband brought home for dinner.
21. WHAT ARE YOU LISTENING TO RIGHT NOW? Fans trying to cool the house off and Sammy, Anah, Nate & Elli playing.
22. IF YOU WERE A CRAYON, WHAT COLOR WOULD YOU BE? Yellow, I may be full of drama but I'm a pretty happy-go-lucky sort!
23. FAVORITE SMELLS? Coffee brewing, food type candles, my husband
24. WHO WAS THE LAST PERSON YOU TALKED TO ON THE PHONE? James Thompson
25. DO YOU LIKE THE PERSON WHO SENT THIS TO YOU? No one actually sent this to me - I stole it. But I adore the person I stole it from and I miss her terribly!
26. FAVORITE SPORTS TO WATCH? Beach volleyball
27. HAIR COLOR? Right now it's very highlighted with lots of blond and a little bit of my natural poop brown color
28. EYE COLOR? poop brown though they are lightening as I get older so maybe they'd be considered baby poop brown now
29. DO YOU WEAR CONTACTS? only when I'm not wearing my glasses
30. FAVORITE FOOD? Pasta
31. SCARY MOVIES OR HAPPY ENDINGS? Hands down happy endings
32. LAST MOVIE YOU WATCHED? Blades of Glory
33. WHAT COLOR SHIRT ARE YOU WEARING? I really, really wanted to say that I'm not wearing a shirt but I guess that would be TOTALLY inappropriate and would also kinda revert back to that whole "sarcastic" comment thing - so . . . . . . . gray.
34. SUMMER OR WINTER? Winter
35. HUGS OR KISSES? Hugs - I love hugs. When I was younger I was such a hugger. Now that I'm older though I've realized not everyone wants to be hugged and I don't ever want to do something that would be considered inappropriate so I really don't hug people anymore. FYI - my brother-in-law Martin gives the best hugs!!!!!
36. FAVORITE DESSERT? Black rice pudding with coconut ice cream. (I know I've just shocked everybody who knows me speechless because I didn't say something with chocolate!)
37. MOST LIKELY TO RESPOND? My husband because he knows he'll hear about it if he doesn't leave a comment.
38. LEAST LIKELY TO RESPOND? I really haven't gotten much readership to my blog so I'm actually not expecting much response.
39. WHAT BOOK ARE YOU READING NOW? I just bought myself a new book at the Christian bookstore yesterday for my long wait at the airport for my in-laws. I never even opened the book but when I do it will become the book I'm reading now. It's "Controlling Interest" by Elizabeth White
40. WHAT IS ON YOUR MOUSE PAD? I'm not using a mouse pad. But I would really like a cute mouse pad! (Hint, hint!)
41. WHAT DID YOU WATCH ON TV LAST NIGHT? No TV last night. I've actually barely watched any TV this summer. Just a tad bit too busy! (Shocking - I know!)
42. FAVORITE SOUND? My daughters singing, my sister's singing, genuine laughter, & "Welcome to Starbucks. What can I get started for ya?"
43. ROLLING STONES OR BEATLES? Neither - I'm a Beach Boy babe myself.
44. WHAT IS THE FARTHEST YOU HAVE BEEN FROM HOME??? New York City
45. DO YOU HAVE A SPECIAL TALENT? My gut instinct is to say no. Unless you think that talking really fast is a special talent or driving really fast. Other than that - NO.
46. WHERE WERE YOU BORN? Upland, California
47. WHOSE ANSWERS ARE YOU LOOKING FORWARD TO? Everyones - I love learning new things about people!

It doesn't get much better than this!

This is what summertime is all about and it doesn't get much better than this!!!!

Future Ecola Grad - 2018!

Future Ecola Bible School Graduate - 2018!!!!

Independence Day

Happy 4th of July!

Thanks Tank #17

It seems crazy that it's been a week since I last posted and since our refrigerator disaster, or as my sister calls it, "The McCoy's Big June Thaw". This last week has been so crazy busy and we've managed to cram quite a bit of activity into it that I feel like weeks have passed. I had a friend ask me last night if I was planning on changing the name of my blog to Kimberly's Thanks Tank since that's all I post anymore. My answer to that was - NO! I plan on getting back to my regular "posting activities". I'm just not sure when that will be exactly! So here's all the things that I am so incredibly thankful for this week.

• getting to go to a Pampered Chef party last night with my good friend Heather. while there I won one of the raffle prizes! you just can't beat paying $5 for 6 raffle tickets and winning stoneware - a rectangular lid/bowl! i also won a cookbook as well! yeah, me!
• having our new refrigerator delivered on Friday afternoon. apparently when the freezer portion of your refrigerator goes the fridge portion follows suit fairly quickly. by the time the delivery people got here the fridge wasn't cold at all!
• the delivery people who were very helpful in getting the new fridge in and the old fridge out and helping to get our perishables back in the new fridge as quickly as possible.
• all the fun activities that my cousin and i were able to do with the kids. we went to meeker days in puyallup (my first time), the woodland park zoo, bahama breeze & the park. we also spent a lot of time hanging out on our back porch while the kids played on the trampoline and ran thru the sprinklers. we bbq'd and roasted marshmallows and made smores around the fire pit. we bought pizza from papa murphy's and then brought it home and cooked it ourselves which to a southern callie gal is unheard of. i mean you buy your pizza ready to eat as in cooked! we went and saw a movie in the theater besides all the movies we watched here at home! we ate tons of ice cream! basically we had a blast!
• that tomorrow afternoon i will be heading back up to the airport to pick-up my sister-in-law, brother-in-law and niece. we are so excited for this next week spending time together as a family and just "hanein' out"!
• for my friends that i miss SO much. missing them makes me that much more thankful for their friendships and makes me realize how blessed i am by them!
• for my family and the somewhat boring life we lead - I LOVE IT!
• that summer seams to finally be showing up and we should be hitting the 90's by this weekend - i'm hoping i'll still be thankful when i'm trying to keep the house cool!

My verse for this week is Hebrews 13:5; Let your conduct be without covetousness; be content with such things as you have. For He Himself has said, "I will never leave you nor forsake you."

Thanks Tank #16

Today has been an extremely busy day for me, and not just because I'm a procrastinator and didn't get all the house work done that I needed to before the arrival of my out of town guests. No this morning I awoke to dog poop on the laundry room floor and a freezer that was no longer freezing! My day was doomed right off the bat! But on and off throughout the day I was thinking of what I would write on my thankful Thursday list and here are some of the things that came to mind:

1. I'm thankful for my company that arrived here safely from Southern California. It's wonderful being able to spend time with family who lives far away. And it's also wonderful that in our incredibly hectic "adult" lives we care enough about each other to take time to visit.
2. I'm SO thankful for my little sister who changed her plans, loaded up her 3 yr old and 10 month old and went to the airport for me to pick up our cousin and her boys. And then went out to eat at the Olive Garden which isn't one of her favorite restaurants. I don't know what I would do without my sisters.
3. I'm also thankful for my other little sister who was willing to come early on Father's Day to help me prepare the meal I had told everyone I would be in charge of. Her salmon was DELICIOUS!!!
4. I'm thankful that even though our freezer stopped working and we lost a lot of our frozen food (mainly ice cream which is very, very sad) our fridge portion seems to be working just fine.
5. I'm thankful for my friend who told me to load my frozen food up and bring it to her house where I could store it in their extra freezer.
6. I'm thankful for the baby kittens we were finally able to get for our girls. They love them so much!
7. I'm thankful that we had the funds necessary to purchase a new refrigerator.
   
8. I'm thankful that after days like today my husband and I can sit back and laugh and know that God is an awesome God who has once again provided. How blessed we are indeed!
   

Thanks Tank #15

I'm feeling extremely thankful and blessed this evening which really is a switch from my mood earlier today. Earlier I felt stressed out and a bit angry and was very, very snippy. I'm so thankful that in my ugly humanness Jesus Christ still loves me unconditionally. That in and of itself should completely fill and overflow my "tank" with thankfulness. But because God is SO GOOD - He adds frosting (or whip cream - whatever you prefer)! Here are some of the things that Jesus "frosted" my day and week with!

1. I'm thankful that I was able to get into town today and get everything I needed to get done on my list done and get home in plenty of time before the girls got home from school.
2. I'm thankful for a chance to show the girls' teachers a bit of appreciation for all that they meant to my girls over this past year. I'm thankful for the patience that they have to be able to teach 2nd graders and 3rd graders because I know that I could never do that.
3. I'm thankful for the warmth of the sun today. It's been way to long since we've felt its awesome rays! Definitely a huge mood booster!
4. I'm thankful that my husband enjoys landscaping and yard work as much as he does. I'm thankful that he doesn't require any help or assistance from me because frankly this is something that I do not enjoy. I'm very thankful for how wonderful our yard is beginning to look.
5. I'm thankful for the opportunity we have to have people over and relax and spend time getting caught-up!
6. I'm thankful that the puppy we are puppy-sitting has let us sleep through the night w/o waking us!
   
7. I'm thankful for the bunco group I'm in and what wonderful friendships I've made over the past 9 years! It's hard to believe that is how long I've been a part of The Bunco Babes!
8. I'm thankful for the chance to hold and love on a little baby this evening. Children are miraculous gifts from the Lord!
9. I'm thankful for my two precious gifts. This evening I've been able to comfort them and hold them and give them some attention that they don't normally get from me at this time of night. Normally if they get up I want them to go right back to sleep because all I can think about is how hard it will be for me to wake them up in the morning. It was really nice to hold my youngest in my lap for awhile and let her tell me about her evening with Daddy. It was great climbing into bed next to my oldest and listening to her tell me the exact same story 30 minutes later. On to their story . . . .
   
10. I'm thankful that Keith and I have not passed along some of our "big" fears to our girls. Or so it would seem . . . . . . .
    

This is the snake that our neighbor brought over for the girls to "play with". Anah reached in her hand and pulled the little sucker out and then proceeded to let the bugger slither all over her arms and hands. And when Daddy said I need to get a picture for your mom she put the thing RIGHT UP TO HER FACE!!!!!! Who needs boys when you've got girls like these!!!

My verse for the week is this: II Timothy 1:7, "For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love and of self-discipline".

My husband is a cursor!

It's true, my husband is an electronics curser (as in someone who curses all things electronic). Back when we started our blogs, which is almost a year ago, one of his first posts was about cursing the electronics "gods". It had something to do with his computer at work and a couple of other electronic devices of his. The morning that he wrote it our laptop computer crashed and we are still working on getting that fixed! Needless to say, he deleted that post! So anyway, he has been having some major cell phone issues. Yesterday he decided he had had enough and he was going into our cell phone providers store and going to talk with someone about what they could do for him. Of course he ended up talking with someone who wasn't very friendly, polite or accommodating. He left without really getting anything resolved. I, on the other hand, have not had any issues with my cell phone. Actually, I'm on my third and have never had a complaint about my cell phone itself. So Keith leaves the store and goes to give me a call on my cell. I answer my phone but can't hear him. I'm assuming I must have accidentally hung up on him. So I try calling him back but I can't hear anything - no talking, no ringing, nothing. I start to get a little irritated. Keith texts me and says he can't stand his phone because he could hear me but I couldn't hear him. So we go back and forth he comes and picks the girls and I up and we start to realize the problem doesn't lie with his phone but mine. What could have possibly happened to make my phone not work? We assume that when the store people looked up our account that they messed something up and now I can't hear through my ear piece. Long story short we get home and I call Sprint to talk with them and apparently the ear piece in my phone went out!!!! How lovely is that? So now if I need to take a call or call someone I have to use the speaker!!! You know, everything was fine until Keith started complaining about his phone - I blame my husband!!!!!

This just in . . . . National Doughnut Day!!!

doughnuts are something that I just can't resist and if what i just read is true - i believe they might be giving away free donuts at krispy kreme today!?!?!

you'll have to let me know if it's true or not!

Thursday Thanks Tank #15

Well, I'm not quite sure what is going on but the headache I had last week has never truly went away and today it is back with a vengeance! So I'm not sure that this weeks thanks tank is going to be any better thought out than last weeks. I feel so incredibly blessed and am thankful for so many things. Here are a few of them:

1. I'm thankful that Sammy was able to pull out her own tooth last night because neither Keith or I are really into that whole loose tooth thing!
2. I'm thankful for medicine that is easily and readily available in this country, whether it's for "big" things (epi-pens & antibiotics) or "small" things (like headaches and colds).
3. I'm thankful for our barbecue and the chance to "grill out" as our Southern friends call it!
4. I'm thankful for the year I spent at Ecola Bible School and the friendships that I made there. It was really a huge turning point in my life and I'm incredibly thankful for that!
5. I'm thankful for friends who are willing to be honest and vulnerable with me.
6. I'm thankful for iced caramel macchiatoes, whoever created this drink was a genius!!!
7. I'm thankful for the opportunity to sit down with my family every night this week and have dinner together and talk with each other and laugh with each other!
8. I'm thankful for the things about each person that make us all unique and that even though we don't always agree on things we can accept and love each other for who we are.
   

scrumptious!

so this is totally for Neen and that dude, from Australia or New Zealand or wherever he is from, that has a blog where he posts pictures of all the food he has eaten for the day . . . .


my steak, rice and broccoli before getting salted, buttered and mayo'd and then after! yummo!

Now it's all beginning to make sense!

So this weekend I had two revelations that helped me realize why I am a certain way about a certain thing. My brother-in-law likes to tease me (mercilessly) about it and I take the "heat" thinking - I know your right but I can't help it. Now I know that my inclinations are deeply ingrained AND now I know why. I always had a sneaking suspicion but this weekend it was confirmed!
Anyone who has ever had a meal at my house more than once has probably caught on to the fact that when I make food or plan a meal for a group of people I always make sure that we will have more than enough. And when I say more than enough - I mean, MORE THAN ENOUGH! It probably helps that I don't mind eating leftovers (sorry, JA!). But I truly have this fear of having too many people and not enough food. Since I tend to be a people person that enjoys having lots of people around that just leads to the need for lots and lots of food.
Anyway, this Saturday my sister came over for dinner with her son and I was planning on making spaghetti. Now my dad had been around for most of the day working on our back porch. I wasn't expecting him to stay for dinner and also wasn't expecting Brook to be here for dinner. As I was boiling the noodles, I thought to myself, I always make way too many noodles and then they sit in our frig. And even though we will eat on them. I usually end up throwing some of them away. I've been trying to work on my over-cooking so I just cooked a box and a half of noodles. Shortly after I've done this we realize that Brook will be eating dinner with us and I ask my Dad to stay and eat also. Now I'm in panic mode. I don't have enough noodles! My sister, the pragmatic and unflappable one, says lets make some garlic bread and then I decide to throw on some green beans as well. As we start dishing up, I find myself giving everyone small portions because I'm afraid we won't have enough noodles. I tell Keith - I'm an idiot and didn't make enough noodles. He very lovingly tells me - you're not an idiot and there will be enough. But I've really just worked myself into a panic over this. Mind you the only extra people we have is my dad, sister and nephew. Imagine if these people weren't my family! As it turned out we did have enough food with a tad bit leftover (which Keith ate last night for dinner) but the stress of it all was not worth it.
Fast forward to the next day (yesterday afternoon to be exact). We are now all at my parents and are putting dinner together (for anyone who knows my family - on Sundays dinner is the meal eaten after you get home from church). My contribution to "dinner" is my sister-in-laws apple salad recipe that includes granny smith apples, cool whip, pineapple tidbits, snickers candy bars and peanuts. It's a wonderful, yummy salad but it doesn't really keep very well. So once again on the theme of creating less waste I've brought just enough for the 5 adults and 3 kids who will be eating. All of a sudden there is a knock on the door and then people come piling into the double-wide. I ask my mom what's going on? She informs me that dad has invited a couple of people to have "dinner" with us. AW HA! And now it is becoming so clear. My dad is a pastor, my mom a pastors wife. I grew up in this household. My mom is a smart, smart woman. She knows my dad well. He likes to bring home "strays" on a moments notice without informing the "woman-folk". Solution? Always have an overabundance of food to entertain with so that you are never stuck in the kitchen having a panic attack wondering - how am I going to feed all these people?
So now I know why I am the way I am about this particular issue. My other issues will have to wait for another day and another epiphany before we can even start to understand them!!!

Thanks Tank #14

I would be so much more thankful if this headache I've been fostering all day would go away. But it doesn't seem to want to go anywhere and I really want to post my thanks tank so I'm going to attempt it. Right now I just keep thinking - give thanks in ALL things!

• i'm thankful for the wonderful dinner we just got done eating - my hubbie b-b-q'd steak, we had baked potatoes, steamed asparagus and sauteed mushrooms and garlic. it was wonderful sitting around the table together as a family and having meaningful and precious conversations with the girls
• i'm thankful for my girls who ate their snack, did their homework, did their reading and then played quietly for two hours after they got home from school while i slept trying to take the edge off this headache
• i'm thankful for an awesome, relaxing and rejuvenating weekend away with friends.
  
• i'm thankful for the chance to hang out with my sister and mother (in-love) scrapbooking till 1 in the morning last night (hmm, i wonder where this headache came from?)
• i'm thankful for my husband
  

I have so much more to be thankful for and I know yesterday as I was composing my thanks tank in my mind I had so much more "listed". But this headache is getting the best of me. Please take time to be thankful for something and I thank you for taking time to read what has made me thankful this week. Blessings to you!

Gotta love these girls!!!

I'm going to post something that Anah wrote today for her school homework.  It made my heart melt when I heard her read it.  I'm also going to post a belated Mother's Day gift from Sammy.  It was this laminated "list" with a picture of her on it.  I love the things she wrote; probably because I feel like it shows her maturity and the fact that she is seeing "things" without being told.  

Anah's Story

I like going to my grandparents on Sundays.  It is fun.  We usually have hotdogs or hamburgers or steak and sometimes we take tons and tons of pictures.  It is fun cause we have family time and if my family didn't have Sundays we would never have family time and then I wouldn't see my aunt or uncle or grandparents or baby cousins and that is not fun.  So I thank God so much for making Sundays cause without Sundays I wouldn't get to see my family.  So sometimes at night I even thank God for Sundays and I hope my family thanks God too.

Sammy's Mother's Day 2008 List

Mom                                                            Who'd like to see

Nice                                                                  Hawaii

Funny                                                              Mexico

Willing to help people who need it

Who loves                                                    Who gives

Her family                                                      Care for her children

God                                                                  Care for her dogs

Jesus

Who needs                                                   Teacher of

A hammock                                                    Samantha McCoy

A boy baby                                                    Savanah McCoy

A housekeeper

Who fears                                                    Student of

Snakes                                                            Her Mom

Spiders                                                          Her Grandma

Bulldogs

Both of these just touched my heart.  I love them both and I love THESE GIRLS!!!

Thanks Tank #13

All I've been able to think about today is the tragic death of Steven Curtis Chapman's youngest daughter who was adopted from China. So today my thanks tank is filled with my daughters. I'm so thankful for them. I'm thankful for their health and safety. I'm also thankful that in our sadness and despair Jesus is always there. I have posted the lyrics to the song Praise You in this Storm by Casting Crowns.

I Was Sure By Now

That You Would Have Reached Down

And Wiped Our Tears Away

Stepped In And Saved The Day

But Once Again, I Say "amen",

And It's Still Raining

As The Thunder Rolls

I Barely Hear Your Whisper Through The Rain

"i'm With You"

And As Your Mercy Falls

I Raise My Hands And Praise

The God Who GivesAnd Takes Away

I'll Praise You In This Storm

And I Will Lift My Hands

For You Are Who You Are

No Matter Where I Am

Every Tear I've Cried

You Hold In Your Hand

You Never Left My Side

And Though My Heart Is Torn

I Will Praise You In This Storm

I Remember When

I Stumbled In The Wind

You Heard My Cry

You Raised Me Up Again

My Strength Is Almost Gone

How Can I Carry On

If I Can't Find You

As The Thunder Rolls

I Barely Hear You Whisper Through The Rain

"i'm With You"

And As Your Mercy Falls

I Raise My Hands

And Praise The God Who Gives

And Takes Away

I Lift My Eyes Unto The Hills

Where Does My Help Come From?

My Help Comes From The Lord

The Maker Of Heaven And Earth

A coffee quiz for the birthday bean burner!

You Are a Frappacino

At your best, you are: fun loving, sweet, and modern At your worst, you are: childish and over indulgent You drink coffee when: you're craving something sweet Your caffeine addiction level: low

What Kind of Coffee Are You?

Protest comes in many forms

They are screaming out at me protesting from deep within. NO, NO, NO!!!!! Don't do it! Anything but that! Don't hide us away in this tight, dark space!

What is protesting and why - you may ask?

The answer - my toes!!! You see they've tasted freedom and now cannot bear to be shoved back into socks and shoes!!! The weather mocks them but what can I do?

Our dessert for the evening is . . . .

You Are Tiramisu

Light and lovely, you pack a punch. You never overwhelm... but you always leave a lasting impression.

What Dessert Are You Most Like?