My Mom

Proverbs 31:28 Her children rise up and call her blessed; Her husband also, and he praises her:

Thank you mom for your walk with the Lord.  Thank you for your daily quiet time.  I always knew if I went into the living room early in the morning I would find you on your knees praying or with the Bible in your lap reading it, each an every morning.  Thank You!

Thank you mom for your example of hard work.  I do know that you can still out work me any day of the week, but by your example I learned the reward of a job well done.   Thank You!

Thank you mom for being a teacher not only as your profession but also at home during homework time.  I realize now that I probably didn't know everything even though I thought I did.  I wonder where Noah gets that trait from.  Thank you for being willing to work for very little pay so that we could go to private school.  Thank You!

Thank you for showing me the value of supper time.  Thank you for having a family dinner at the supper table almost every night.  I am sorry I took that for granted.  As an adult I now see how hard that probably was for you to work all day and then come home and cook supper for us.  I hope our boys remember supper time when they get out of the house as well.  Thank You!!

Thank you for the example you are to me today.  To be willing to work with the children of your church in Bible drill and Awana.  For you to put such a high priority in hiding God's word in your heart.  Thank You!

There are so many things that I could list that I am thankful for and these are just a few.  If one were to read Proverbs 31 starting in verse 10 this would describe my mom.  I can only hope that when my children are grown that they will look back and describe me in the same way.

Thank you mom for all you have done and do for me.  I love you and hope you have a very Happy Mother's Day.

Proverbs 31:10 Who can find a virtuous wife? For her worth is far above rubies. 11 The heart of her husband safely trusts her; So he will have no lack of gain. 12 She does him good and not evil All the days of her life. 13 She seeks wool and flax, And willingly works with her hands. 14 She is like the merchant ships, She brings her food from afar. 15 She also rises while it is yet night, And provides food for her household, And a portion for her maidservants. 16 She considers a field and buys it; From her profits she plants a vineyard. 17 She girds herself with strength, And strengthens her arms. 18 She perceives that her merchandise is good, And her lamp does not go out by night. 19 She stretches out her hands to the distaff, And her hand holds the spindle. 20 She extends her hand to the poor, Yes, she reaches out her hands to the needy. 21 She is not afraid of snow for her household, For all her household is clothed with scarlet. 22 She makes tapestry for herself; Her clothing is fine linen and purple. 23 Her husband is known in the gates, When he sits among the elders of the land. 24 She makes linen garments and sells them, And supplies sashes for the merchants. 25 Strength and honor are her clothing; She shall rejoice in time to come. 26 She opens her mouth with wisdom, And on her tongue is the law of kindness. 27 She watches over the ways of her household, And does not eat the bread of idleness. 28 Her children rise up and call her blessed; Her husband also, and he praises her: 29 "Many daughters have done well, But you excel them all." 30 Charm is deceitful and beauty is passing, But a woman who fears the Lord, she shall be praised. 31 Give her of the fruit of her hands, And let her own works praise her in the gates,

A Little Competition

So I wanted to enter this photo contest.  It was suppose to have to do with Arkansas farming.  I had a grand plan of getting a great picture of my Dad's cow dogs working.  Well it didn't work out as well as I hoped.  Let's just say the cows and the dogs could go a little faster than me.

The below picture was kinda what I was aiming for but I was just too far away for it to be clear enough.  That stick in my Dad's hand is to make his arms longer so the dogs know what he is wanting them to do.  Lilly and Tippy are not very experienced yet.  He has only had them for about 8 months.  Tippy is still a puppy and Lilly had not been a working dog before she came to live at my parents home.

Tippy is a pup of Jed which was my Dad's last cow dog.  He lost a fight with a car about 8 months ago and therefore Dad had to start the training process all over with a new dog.  It seems just at the point that they are really well trained something happens.

Both animals are trying to decide who is really going to be the boss.

Cow dog wins.

As soon as they hear "that's enough" they back off.

The dogs are a lot more brave with the calves than the mommas.  They haven't quite built their courage up yet. 

Lilly and Dad

Tippy, Lilly and Dad

"well done"

How To Build a Fire

First you need a big red tractor with a bucket to push the limbs together with.

You must have many grand kids that think building a fire is one of the coolest things ever.

An older cousin to watch the baby and keep him out of the cow patties.

A snack and a comfy lawn chair to lay in.

Diesel fuel. 

Farming lesson of the day.  If you get caught with red diesel in your regular farm trucks that you drive on the road you can get a big fine.  They will actually look in your gas tank if they think you are using farming fuel.  It is cheaper than regular diesel because you don't pay road tax on it.  I had no idea that there were different types of diesel and they actually color one of them.  So there you have it.  I am sure that everyone wanted to know that.

A papaw that will let you LIGHT matches and throw them on the diesel soaked wood. 

Grand kids that think lighting a match could be the coolest thing ever.

Long sticks to play in the fire with.

One slightly nervous mom and a dad that has as much fun playing with fire as his children do.

And that is how you build a big fire.

A Boy And His Frog

We went to our parents this weekend.  While outside we found two different frogs.  My nephew Tristin took these first two pictures.

A Frog

A Frog and A Boy

 I Love the above picture

This was the second frog.  The first one had already been lost.  A little bit after this picture was taken all the kids were going to ride the four wheeler up to the house to get a drink and I caught Andrew trying to shove the frog into his jeans pocket.  POOR FROG

Machine Pitch has Started.

Last night was Noah's first machine pitch game of the season.  He was a little disappointed because he only got one hit and he didn't get to play the base he wanted too.  We are struggling to teach the whole concept if you want something like a certain position you have to earn it and you can't let one mistake decide how you are going to play the rest of the game.  Before the game I offered to play catch with him.  He said he only wanted to play with Dad.  He didn't think I was capable of throwing the ball to him.  He did finally let me play with him for a little while ( I think he thought he might have hurt my feelings). 

The game went into two extra innings.  I won't lie I did have a little bit of a knot in my stomach and I might have begged God for at least one good hit from Noah during the game.   All the boys played so hard but we still lost.  We play again on Thursday night. 

 I am praying for self confidence and a good attitude for Noah.  He is so good at sports now if he could just mature in the area of attitude a little bit he is going to be awesome. 

Ti got into yelling for the team just like his mama.

"I don't want to wear this stinkin shoe"

He is just so dang cute though.

Batter Up

After all these years of Andrew having to go to all of Noah's game it was finally his time to get to actually play.  This was right before his first t-ball game.  He had broncitus and a sinus infection but he was so excited we couldn't tell him he wouldn't be able to play.

He played third base the first two innings.

 And everyone knows the most important part of the night.  SNACKS

Look Whos Finally Taking Steps