Hey Diddle Diddle the Cat (I mean dog!) and the Fiddle

Dakota was sick with fever when I got home from work this evening at almost 7 p.m. We were supposed to go to a Church function (prayer band service), but he was too sick to go. I took him home and he ate something and took some Motrin and started feeling better.

Emily has started back to fiddle class at school. She is doing realllllllllllly good! She has so much talent. Bo (our dog) is excited about it all too. He knocked Emily's door off the wall, literally. He likes to lay on her bed and so when we leave, we close the door. He runs at it so hard that he pushed it in. Wayne is going to have to fix it tomorrow. It is just propped up now. I got really upset with him (Bo, I mean). We put him in the bathroom for a few hours to think about what he had done. As soon as I came home and saw what he had done, he ran and hid. He knew exactly what was going on. It is like he knows when he is in trouble before you even say a word. He is too smart for his own good, but if he doesn't quit tearing our doors off the wall, he is going to become a very smart outside dog, I'm afraid.

I am having to work a lot of late evenings with my job. I have about had all I can take. If it wasn't for the wonderful people I work with, I just don't think I could stand the pressure.

Oops! The door and frame just got taken down completely! Well, Emily said, "My door looks so much bigger." That is not the way I look at it. I am not happy about this at all. :(

Wayne is off for the next FIVE days. I wish I could be too. We are looking forward to the hayrides and hopefully getting to visit Rob and Amy and Melanie and Darrin this weekend. I HATE to miss Church in Mountain View, but we will have too if we are able to go pick up Destiny, but we can go to Austin to The Church of God there.

Destiny's leg is getting better! Thank the Lord for that! She is getting sooooo tall, maybe that is why it was doing what it was doing with all the pain and everything.

Most of my neices are coming to the hayride this weekend. I am so happy about that! They are still enjoying the Bible Detective Series at Church on Wednesday nights too.

Dakota is growing some beans for a project at school. So far he has 1 sprout out of 5. That one is almost 5 inches tall in just 8 days. It is growing so fast. He has to keep a log of the progress and then turn it in to his Science teacher in a week or so for a grade. He had to turn in a Science box today. He had some very interesting stuff in it, like a snake skin hatband his dad made from a dead rattlesnake he found, some quartz, a heart shaped rock, some shells, some gourds, and other things too. His teacher thought it was great. This week is parent teacher conference. I wonder how their grades will be? Emily has only ever made one B and that was at 9 weeks, never anything but A's at semester. Dakota usually does well too. He has more trouble staying still though and sometimes gets in trouble for "duckwalking" in class and various other things boys like to do. They are so different and they torment one another almost constantly. I hope they turn out to be great friends in the years to come though.

The ladies I work with gave me some of the nicest gifts for Bosses Day. I just appreciate them so much! They are great. They are the ones deserving of the gifts- they do such a great job. The card from Sharp County was hilarious. I can't believe I get to work with such wonderful people. God has really blessed me abundantly and I am so thankful to Him.

Well, I guess I should go to bed soon, AFTER I turn off that fiddle song Emily has on repeat in her room on the CD player. It is playing the same thing over and over and over and over and is about to drive me insane! She thinks she can absorb some more of it while she sleeps apparently.

See all of you later!

Happy 35th Birthday Wayne Dixon!

I posted some more articles on the associated content site. One about the staph superbug MRSA that everyone is talking about. Check it out at http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/420112/handwashing_prevents_spread_of_staph.html

The ladies from Church are having the mission yard sale this weekend. It started today and runs through tomorrow. They had a steady stream of customers so hopefully we will raise a lot of money for missions.

Amanda and Wesley Hill are looking at a house this evening. Pray that God will lead them to the perfect house that He has for them.

I have had a hard week. I fell on Monday and hit my arm on the car and thought I had torn my rotator cuff, but it is much better. It still hurts to hold it above my head or to lie down with it a certain way, but I know God is able to completely heal it as he has before.

Emily is spending the night with a friend tonight. This is a rare thing. She normally ONLY goes with family. We have let her go home with one other little girl a couple of other times, but other than that, it is just with family. She is growing up!

Dakota is really getting into a book called the Trumpeter Swan and he even read through activity period today, which is amazing if you know anything about Dakota.

Today is Wayne's birthday. He is 35 today! Why don't you all call him and wish him a happy birthday! 870 213 6624 is his Cingular number. Don't tell him I told you too, though. :)

I finished the book!

Well, I finished A Reconciled Heart by Jo Ann Snapp. Oh, my goodness! It was excellent. I can't believe how well the book is written, especially for the very first book she has written. It is really a page turner and I had to just make myself put it down. I wanted to hurry and get to the end to see what happened, but I wanted the book not to end either. I am excited about the next book in the series. I hope it comes out soon. You all have just got to get this book and read it and pass it on. After I thumbed through some of the filth that young women I know are reading today, it made me sad. That is why I am so happy with this book, finally something decent. It makes me happy to know that there are choices out there for a young woman to read that promote Biblical values.

Sister Branscum here is one of the pictures of your girls from camp. I tried and tried to get these to post to Kodak.com but the upload failed. I finally gave up after several hours.

Sister Pam, here is a picture of Cindi and Josh. Sorry, I can't get them all on here.

We started back walking today. It rained, but we walked anyway. Some of us brought umbrellas. It was fun as usual, but I could only make it two miles this time. I was really tired and my feet and back were hurting.

Amy, Rob, and the girls left for Alabama today. I miss them already. They won't be back for three weeks and then they are going to stay at Mel and Darrins and try to find a van in Little Rock when they come back through. Rob will be staying for a total of six weeks though in Alabama.

Emily and Dakota are doing well in school. It is almost 9 weeks. They do not like to read as well as I do. I wish I could get them motivated! Maybe when they are a little older.

Sister Gosser, the Gleaner leader, is doing something interesting with them on Wednesday nights at Church. They are deputies uncovering facts in the Bible, memorizing scriptures, and having all kinds of fun. Tayler, my brother's daughter, really likes it. She has been coming every Wednesday since they started this new thing. I am so glad she is enjoying it. Tori is supposed to come this week.

Several came and helped get the trusses (is that how it's spelled?) up on the church building Thursday. It is looking different now. They are preparing to put the roof on. We are excited to get it finished in the next several months. We are still having some awesome services. Brother Farthing always preaches his heart out and God is really blessing. We had some new visitors in service last night. Hope they come back.

We are going to the Casting Crowns concert this weekend. They are really good. Wayne and I went last time they were in Little Rock. I am not used to having to buy tickets though because usually I can win some from AFR (American Family Radio) out of Little Rock or Heber Springs. I love AFR. This time though they were not doing any ticket give aways for this concert. :(

We are looking forward to the couples retreat in April (4, 5, 6, I think). It is in Branson, Missouri which is a couple of hours away and it is for couples of all ages.

Oh, I have found the absoute best salsa! It is Santitas. (It is in a jar exactly like the Tostitos brand, but it tastes soooooooo much better). It is just like in Mexican restaurants. They were selling it at the Mountain View Wal-Mart and now they don't carry it. When we were in Tennessee, I found some at there Wal-Mart by the tortilla chips, so I stocked up- 6 jars at once, but it didn't last long and we have run out and I can't find anymore. If you see it, please tell me where. :)

Please pray for my family. Most of them are not saved. Also, I told Stevie I would pray about her van. The motor is messed up and it will cost about 1200 dollars to fix. This is the way Destiny gets to and from school and to Mountain View. So, help me pray that God would make a way for it to be fixed quickly and as inexpensively as possible.

Well, I have a training to help with the next three days so I better go to bed now.

Check out my recently published article about Mountain View, AR by clicking on this link.

http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/393440/life_in_mountain_view_arkansas_you.html