Strengthening My Foundation...my New Year's resolution

It's almost 2010!
I always set these crazy New Year resolutions and never reach my goals. Well, this year is gonna be different! : )!
I have just one goal, "to strengthen my foundation".
Spiritually and Physically.....and Scripturally.

See, I am constantly adding more and more to my life and daily schedules. It really gets too much sometimes. Some things I plan on cutting back, but some things I cant ...It's just the way my life is and I have to press forward. But I know with out the proper "foundation" I cant succeed.
I need to have time with God, family time and prayer, health and excercise, friend and family time, building relationship time, nuturing existing friendships....etc. If I neglect all (or any) of this things, I will surely fail.
So, I'm going to focus each month on a different area in my life that I need to make stronger.
I don't have all the details planned out yet.
( Hey, maybe this can be a book when I'm finished......"Strengthen your foundation in one year"?? )
I will blog, twitter, facebook, pray, and study scriptures about what I am focusing on each month.

So, if this was a book.......this would be the introduction.

Coming soon...Chapter One

Strengthening My Foundation...my New Year's resolution

Fringe benefits of giving

As Christians we are called to give. To give freely...without expectations...as an act of worship.
This is why I give.
But, most of the time there are fringe benefits.
Sometimes its just a feel good feeling, the story of someone you helped, an unexpected blessing or just the thought of your blessing in heaven.

For me , it's the complete joy in being God's hands and feet. There is nothing I like more than the times I have something that someone else needs. My my neighbor needs one egg to finish her cake or a friend needs clothes for her child that mine just outgrew. Or I'm there to give a stranded person a jump, or have the ten dollars a friend needs to get by till payday. There are so many opportunities that God gives to be his hands and feet.....and I L O V E when I catch one.
Imagine the feeling when you find that perfect gift for a good friend, or the bday gift for your child that they have been dreaming about. The only pleasure and motivation for that gift is the how happy the reciever will be and how much love you have for them.

When I give, I feel like I'm giving a gift to God.

Isaiah 58 9:11
Then you will call, and the LORD will answer;
you will cry for help, and he will say: Here am I.
If you do away with the yoke of oppression,
with the pointing finger and malicious talk,
and if you spend yourselves in behalf of the hungry
and satisfy the needs of the oppressed,
then your light will rise in the darkness,
and your night will become like the noonday,
the LORD will guide you always;
he will satisfy your needs in a sun-scorched land
and will strenghtn your frame.
you will be likea well-watered garden,
like a spring whose waters never fail.

*****Then your light will rise in the darkness*****

Sometimes I am so tired, just exhausted; feeling like I have nothing more to give.
Then I find refreshment in the thought of my light rising in the darkess.
I imagine God looking down and seeing my light shining bright.
And the ultimate fringe benefit I'm hoping for , is to walk through the gates of heaven and having God smile, give me a pat on the back, and say "good job little girl !"

What are your guidlines?

I woke up this morning, with having this on my mind all night.
We are doing a financial study at my church right now, and last night this question was asked...
What are your guidlines? I had a hard time finding the words at that moment to express what was on my mind.
See, we are talking about giving, which God always challenges me with.

I currently have this elaborate system that I've created where I give a set percentage of tythes, offerings, mission, benevolents, etc... it comes out first of all my monies, its routine and set. Anything I have after that is MINE and I realized that I am somewhat putting God in a box with the access to HIS money that I am managing for him.

I've heard stories of how some people flip this idea by choosing to live with a certain about of money and ALL the rest going to God. I love this idea. Some people are millionaires and choose to live on minimum wage, while some might choose to live on $50,000 a year and the rest to God. This amount would greatly vary from one person to the next.

How could you decide?

What would be your guidelines?

How big of a house would you have to maintain, how big of car, how many cars, how many vacations , etc...

Now, currently Im honestly living over my budget...but I hope to be able to change that soon. I am going to be praying about having a budget that i am easily capable of reaching. Also, setting guidlines and if God blesses me with more , it will be all his, really.

My guidlines will be something like this:
having a house in a decent school zone
having a newer car (mini van actually)
having a/c in home and car
dishwasher
interent
laptop
washer/dryer in home
have a reasonable amount in savings and retirement plan
health insurance
weekly supply of healthy food

Now, I find my guidlines quite simple......when I compare them to others. I dont need a $500 purse, $100 shoes, $300 sunglasses, expensive vacations, expenisive jewelry, pets treated better than humans , or many other pet peeves that I see in others. : ) ! Yeah, I'm pretty good at judging people.

I also find it simple to live with less when I dont have much. I dont have to make these choices of having a $500 purse or going on an expensive vacation.......... I wonder if I need have these choices if I would be the same way or would be guidlines have to change??

But.........I ask myself this......
Would my sisters in Africa like my guidlines. You know, the ones that dont eat every day. I would be really embarrassing if i had to say..."Sister, these are my guidelines of needs/wants that i have to meet , but everything I have in excess of that I will give you a small percentage so you can feed your children some rice this week"

Come on.....really?

I pray for God to search me, really search me, keep me with a clear head and with a focus on treasures in heaven. I dont want my rewards here on earth. I want to set my self apart fand be different. I want to in what will last. I dont want to be a slave to money. Please help me to not want earthly treasures and to desire my treasures in heaven

Zealous and Convicted about God!

One of my spiritual goals in honoring a Sabbath day. Its hard for my situation because my job requires that I work weekends and my budget requires that I work 7 days. One commitment I made to honor a Sabbath is to work extra hours in 6 days and take off work one day. Its a small step, but hardly a Sabbath. Especially the amount of stuff that I have to fit in that one day off.

I have another spiritual goal along this same line. My Pastor talks about the importance of spending time alone with God as well as one on one with individuals. I know I need this, but with four kids, by myself, 54 hour work weeks, volunteering at church, volunteering at schools.........where can I fit it in?

I started this week. I committed to spend a min of 2 hours alone with God or a friend every tuesday morning. Today was my first day.

I forced, I mean forced, myself to grab a book, notepad and my bible and sit at a Starbucks for 2 hours and just read, write and pray. It was awesome! .....and as you would guess, I still got the same amount of things done today as if I didnt spend this time with God.

God spoke to me a lot about service today. I have a new favorite word now....It's Zeal.

Zeal
Zeal is birthed from passion.
Servants must be Zealous!!!!
Servants must be Zealous!!!!

Serve with joy! Serve with pleasure! Serve with Dignity!

and another favorite word....Conviction.
Conviction convinces you to do something.
If a situation doesnt move you, then you cant move heaven.

.........and know who you are serving. You are always serving God! No matter how dirty of a job you are doing, you are ultimately truly serving God.

If Im zealous about my God, with a conviction to serve him....how can I not serve anyone without joy and pleasure.......and dignity in the fact that I am serving God?

Julia is a Senior!

My daughter just started her senoir year at highschool!

Do I feel old?...yeah!

Am I proud?...heck yeah!

Sometimes it feels like just yesterday when she was born...sometimes I cant even remember my life without her.

We've been through a lot together. Poor girl...I've drug her through my life...the good and the bad and the really bad. Yet, somehow she survived! (I know the somehow : ) ) (thank you jesus!)

She is beautiful, smart, has dreams and goals. I know she will succeed at anything she puts her mind to.

I love this girl!

Silver Pines VBS/Block Party 2009

Yeah..it was hot outside, there were no near by restrooms, plenty of ant piles and lots of dirt. But, it was soooooooo......... much fun!

My church did a two day Vbs at an underserved apartment complex that we "adopted". The kids made musical instruments (some were very creative). They were able to use thier instruments during the worship. We gave them a quick, fun message. They played games. And ended with a dance contest.

We followed the VBS with a Block Party. Complete with inflatable water slides and jump houses, hotdogs, chips, soda, cotton candy, face painting and snow cones.

I must admit that I was pretty tired at the end but it was so worth it.

These children had so much fun, the smiles on thier faces will stay with me for a long time.

Besides giving these children joy, love and fun.... I learned something else during this. I learned something about community.

As I looked around that day and saw my church family all serving together, away from church....everyone hot, uncomfortable and tired....yet working together doing thier part...I felt how important is community. This couldn't have happened without the whole team. For example, I could do the arts and crafts, but I dont have a clue about putting on a dance contest. The teenagers manned the cotton candy, but they couldnt grill 150 hot dogs. We really needed everyone, the ones who know the secret tricks to opening the van doors and the ones who know how to put up the tents. And, who but my pastor could drive around on a motor cycle anouncing whats happening or drive around picking up kids in his pick up truck?

I really believe that God designed us to live in community, each of us with our unique gifts to offer. It's a fairly new concept to me...and last week I got a real good feel of it...seeing it in action!

My Perfect Gift

Amy,
Let me start by saying I love you, thank you, and I'm sorry!!
Coming back to jail is the est thing that ever happened to me.
I don't want to try to explain too much. Dont trust me but trust when I tell you that God is answering all your prayers concerning me.
I thought you might enjoy this book! I did!
God bless you, your brother,
Brian
..............................................
This is the note I recieved Wednesday night at church, in a book, from a guy whom I never met before. This guy came looking for me at church, at the end of the evening. He told me he just got out of jail and that he was in a cell with my brother.
........for those who dont know, my brother is facing life in prison for multiple things related to his ongoing drug addiction..I actually had a big part in putting him back in jail as well..therefore up until wednesday I didnt even think he wanted to speak to me........
So, this guy told me that my brother introduced him to Christ in jail....My brother gave him a book with this note inside to give to me at church.
I cant explain how much joy this gave me. It was a complete surprise, totally unexpected, could never dream of it, awesome timing, just perfect.
Although, my brothers situation has not changed, he still is facing life in prison, I have peace knowing that God has his hand on this. And i have peace knowing that he has peace and hope in God. and Who knows, maybe all of this was just to save the one guy who brought me the book, or maybe there are greater things yet to come.
I'll be waiting "on the edge of my seat" : ) !

One of my favorite things....

...NAKED BROWN BABIES!

Fun day...Bowling...lots of kids

I started volunteering at my church, with the childrens ministry. I do a weekly program. We started bringing in children from an apartment complex on the church bus. Its alot of fun. And, it didnt take long to fall in love with these kids.

After we started this, my church "adopted" this apartment complex. I was thrilled. I knew immediatley this is my passion....without a doubt. Im not sure the who,what, where or when yet....I just know Im on board. Im so excited to see what God is gonna do and how he is going to use me.

While Im waiting for a team, meetings, ideas, plans, etc.....I figured I'll just start by getting to know these kids more. I've been meeting their parents and learning their stories.

I have tons of ideas...one i hope for is to do a womens bible study there at the apartments.

So, today me and Renee (thank heavens she volunteered to come with me) took the kids bowling, mcd's and to the park. Everyone had a great day!

Anthony

The whole bunch!

(Renee, Dj, Nathaniel, Anthony, Me, Julia, Keke, Ricky, Joshua

Darius, Aj, Gabriel, Freedom, Noah)

Ke ke

A Date with Jesus

Can you remember ever going on a date....and coming home in ''dreamland''?
I do...many times. I remember coming home, laying down in my bed and dreaming. Being so happy, so excited, thinking how cute the guy was, how nice, dreaming of my whole future with him.
Not too long ago....offer me the choice of a night out with a bunch of women at a bible study or a hot date.....with no doubt i would choose the date! The bible study with the women just didnt sound that much fun.
Last night i went to my womens bible study (btw..there was no date option). I was tired from work..but still went...mostly because im commited.
..And boi am I so glad I went....it turned out to be so much fun...and a DATE WITH JESUS!
When I came home...I layed down in my bed...and my mind started swirling with thoughts. Thoughts of love....thoughts of my evening with the girls....thoughts of the words of Beth Moore...thoughts of scriptures from the bible...thoughts of hope....thought of patience....thoughts of longing....thoughts of waiting....thoughts of passion.
I feel asleep with all of this and woke up this morning still feeling Jesus!
I feel like last night I had a fabulous night out with Jesus.....a thousand times better than any date I've ever had with a man!

Plan B

I had a plan to do "Donate your tips" day at my restaurant every other month, to raise money for items and money Uganda.
We did it once and it was a success, but I had no takers when I put up a volunteer list for a second one.
So, today, I was like forget it.
Then I came home and got a letter in the mail from brandi saying how much they were able to accomplish the last trip in uganda because of donations and specifically the expression of joy Joan(my little girl) had on her face when brandi told her that her sponsor made special effort for the children.
Soooo, I couldn't be like forget it......I had to come up with plan B.

This is what I'm going to post for my servers tommorrow:

***********************************************************
DO YOU WANT ME TO DO YOUR SIDEWORK?

You guys know I’m collecting things for Africa. I am going to offer to do your sidework in exchange for donations!

I am collecting: white chalk
Crayons – crayola or rose art
Color pencils – crayola or rose art
Money

If you donate: 3 items listed above (like 3packs of crayons or 1pack chalk and 2 packs color pencils ) or $5 , then I will do your tables or sidework.

If you donate: 2 items above or $3, I will do your extra sidework

If you donate : 1 item above or $2, I will do you silver ware or windows.

I will give you coupons for each donation. I will accept donations and give coupons thru June , so hurry up!

You can donate and collect as many coupons as you like, I will keep honoring them thru July.

The only catch is you must give me the coupons at the beginning of your shift (over night people – I will take one persons coupons only when I arrive in the morning )

And I can only take a few coupons each day.

I hope you guys have fun and participate….its really for a good cause! All the money I collect will go towards a good quality sports ball set for the school at Rapha orphanage in Uganda, buying more of the supplys listed above, and of course food........and you know its gonna be fun watching me work so hard!

Amy
**************************************************************************

I pray that it works! I'll post an update at the end of the month. Sidework is close to torture so I'm sure they will take advantage of this.

Today I.....

Did all my regular mom stuff (way too many things to even think about listing).............and I also :

Made 50 cupcakes......with a baby involved.....and a 6 year old '''helper'''.....and no one got hurt!

................And me and my daughter went to get tatoos *************

Julia's

Mine

......And I didn't forget to Feed the Forgotten!

Yes! I am very pleased wth my phone.
I have a slideout keyboard, i can yahoo,twitter,and blogspot.
It was a free upgrade and im not paying extra a month.

Seeing if i can do posts from my phone

Mommy and me days

About two times a year, I give my children a special day with just me. They can basically choose what we are going to do that day. We plan it out about a month ahead, so they have plenty of time to get really excited.

Aj chose Holy Land. We went on my Birthday, so I got in free and it was only $15 for him (great deal!). We both had never been there before so we had a lot of fun!
His main goal for the day was to get a mountain dew and an ice cream....mission accomplished!

Me and Darius went to Aquatica. We have passes and been before, but I never can ride the rides with him because I always have the little ones. So, his main goal for the day was for me to ride all the rides with him................mission accomplished! We rode each ride twice, there were no lines. and no lines is not always a good thing when you are out of shape and climbing about 2000 stairs for each ride. I couldnt even feel my legs anymore. But we had a lot of fun.

Me and Julia are going next week for our day. We are going to donate blood and then get tatoos. Sounds crazy, I know.

I

.

I lost my best friend : (( !

Last night I took one of my best friends , Tatiana, and her husband, and baby Joshua in her belly, to the airport. They moved to Brazil .........permenantly. Im really, really, really gonna miss her. Really.

We've worked together for 6 years. She was a huge, huge impact on my journey to accept Christ. Everymorning , it was like we had our own bible study. I'm going to miss that terribly. We talked about everything and anything.

Worst of all, I'm going to miss Joshua being born : ( ! After we prayed for years for her to get pregnant.

We have internet and stuff, but it wont be the same.

Im really going to miss this girl!

They wont be able to return to the U.S. to visit any time in the near future. So, Im trying to think, I have to go visit her one day , but how? I've barely left Orlando in my life, and that was only to go to Daytona.

God has a plan....this I'm sure.

Its hard to explain, but this is such a new experience for me. In my past, I didnt have real relationships with people. I knew people and had friends, but it was different. I guess I didnt let people get too close. Even family. I've had plenty of people in my life move away, but in the past I was like whatever. Now, because God changed my heart I know, its different. I feel sad. This is hard for me to put in words for some reason.

I mean....I cried all night because I'm really going to miss this girl. And the fact that I cried all night is such an answer to personel prayer. A few years ago, actually a month ago, I wouldn't have cried. I couldnt cry. And a constent prayer for me has been for God to soften my heart.. and he did!

....and I really love my dear friend Tatiana, and I'm going to miss her soooooo..... much!

Praise God! ...for my health....

I Just want to Praise God for my health!
I am just getting over a flu that I suffered with this week. While I had this flu, my baby was teething and had a stomach virus. (meaning not stop crying and getting puked on). This stomach virus he gave to Darius. (the dramatic). (maeaning a lot of moaning and complaining). Then was passed to Aj. This virus bypassed my teenage daughter. It was probably scared of her because she had PMS.
I just thank God that my family is normally healthy....its not fun being sick. And i know alot of people suffering from health problems daily. I honor and admire those that still press on and serve God !

Angry at God

I have heard a lot of people say testimonies about being angry at God at certain points in thier lives. I really couldn't understand that. I mean it never had happened to me, and I couldnt imagine a situation that I could possibly ever be angry or mad at God.
that is until a few days ago.........
..............Satan found my breaking point.
This might sound stupid, but my breaking point was not having A/C in my car.
For some strange reason, I have never had a summer with A/C. I mean never! I have had tons of different cars and none with A/C. Usually they had some mystery problem that just cant be fixed, like now.
So I said "why, God? Why cant I have ?>!?!!!;.! A/C! Why? I was really mad. I cried, for the first time in many many years. (actually, im glad i cried because i though that i was unable to cry )
So that open the door for me to be mad at God about something else........................ See, I'm never at rest in my life. My mind is constantly thinking what I can do to serve God. Its like I have no choice but to do more and more. This is a good thing I know, but satan was twisting it. I was asking God, why?
why cant I just relax like other christians I know, just going to church on sundays
why do have to give tythes no matter if I can "afford" it or not
why do i feel like im responsible to volunteer everywhere
why cant i just say "thats too bad", and walk away
leading to ......
why do i have to do all this in a car with no air
and a old house in pine hills
with every thing i own used
and working at stupid ihop 40 plus hours a week
never having weekends off
leading to .....
why cant i have a great house i can have parties in
or have guests stay at
and have nice kids for mine to play with
and a decent school for them to go to
or a mom that helps with my kids

Let me tell I am one that never complains. Most of my struggles I blame on my bad choices and the rest is "just life". But satan got all this out of me, just through the car a/c.

.....................But God did answer my Whys! He clearly told me that he wants me to joyfully serve him with what I have and where i am. and that means even in a car with four kids and no a/c and a window that wont roll down.

So I called satan at his game. Im not looking forward to a hot summer, but i know with all my heart that I am in a better situation that many ( like my sisters in Africa and other countries of this world). And I know Im better off than those who dont know jesus! And I am so so so thankful that God puts thats fire in me to serve and that he gives me a brain with creative ideas. I am sorry for the thoughts I allowed satan to put in my head, but am grateful I reconized them quickly!

My 1st ever "donate your tips" day at IHOP

Today me and my co-workers had a little fundraiser. We collected all of our tips together and are donating them. We are giving the money for Brandi to use when she goes to Uganda this month. My church has sponsored an orphanage, Raffa, in Uganda. The children at Raffa and throughout Uganda are in need of much. This trip I believe the focus is pencils, sharpeners, toothbrushes, toothpaste, underwear and of course food.

Everyone had a good time today raising the money, my co-workers, the customers and myself. Im glad it went well, I am planning to do this on a regular monthly or bi-monthly basis.

Today we raised a total of $317

Erik and Tatiana

Me, Richardson and Tatiana

Kid #4 might become #1 : ) !

Nicolas, right after dumping the dogs food for the fourth time today, walked right over a grabbed the broom and dust pan. So cute! He needs a little practice, but this could turn into a good thing!

~~~I love my kids~~~

I am so so grateful that my boys are growing up knowing and loving jesus! Today my 6 year old woke up and the first thing he said was "its friday, the day jesus died for our sins. only three more days until god brings him back to life". For me, this is just so good.
Being a Christian for only a few years now, Im daily faced with what used to be and what is now. Daily, sometimes hourly, the holy spirit is making changes in my life. My daughter, 17, she sees the changes, she does........but i raised her as an atheist. She will come to jesus, i know she will with all my heart. I just dont know how hard or long her journey will be.
But my boys, they just know jesus. They dont know the before and after, they just know the after. They dont know what used to be and what is now, they just know the now. They dont know the mom I used to be, they just know the mom i am now.
The most amazing to me is when i think, how did this happen? How did we make it? When I look back at the beginning of my journey to now........god did so much.
And now when I look at my kids, and see the holy spirit in them, I can really accept how much my life has changed. They make it real!

Face painting blog!

Since I have sooooooooooo.........much spare time (jk) , I decided to make another blog. Its going to be for my face paintings. I only just started it, but I'm going to post all my designs. Hopefully I meet other face painters. Also, I want to teach people if they are interested. Eventually I'll put up step by step pics and info on whats needed to start and stuff. SO EXCITED!

............or not!

My last post was titled "I shall blog". That looks pretty ridiculous now, considering that was over a montha ago. Well, one day I shall blog..............a lot.........when I have more time!

I Shall Blog..............

.............about God's faithfulness to me. ( Brandi gave me this reminder)
Thinking back this last month or so, I can clearly remember at least three times almost jumping out of my skin over something so great that God did.
One thing was how God clearly, clearly spoke to me about my working situation. One of my biggest back and forth struggles is deciding how many hours to work a week. I feel like I need to work 7 days a week to pay my bills, but I also feel that I should work just 5 and put more reliance on God. I decided a year ago to work just five days a week, but every time things look a liitle bad I dont wait for God I just work extra, taking time away from my kids and God. Well, a few weeks ago, during a 7 day work week , I paid attention to something. See, most of my money comes from tips. I noticed that I was getting really lousy tips that week, and when I really really thought about the weeks that I work 5 days , i think I made more money. So at that moment I said to me, that I am just going to work 5 days , no matter what, unless things get so low I cant pay my electric bill. Less than a minute after my decision, I got a $20 dollar tip from 2 people, and $10 tip from one girl. The rest of the day was good, and I made more that one day than 3 days previous together.
Another thing that happened was my brother going to church, one his own accord. I'm getting phone call after phone call from him about going more often. This has been a huge prayer for me.
Another, I was chosen for the z88.3 single mom, day of pampering. ((special thanks to Jaime, who wrote a beautiful email nominating me and who taught me how to link ( if it worked this time)). I really felt like God did that for me. It was so great. My kids had a great time. And I got breakfast, a haircut, a mini facial, a massage, health screening , lunch and my car washed.
And I just remembered another...... a few years ago God called me to claim my tips to IRS. Sounds good, but it was a huge leap of faith for me because not only would it greatly effect my income, but also disqualify me for government benefits. At the same time he called me to tythe properly and give beyond that. Well, I survived. My financial situation is the same as before, God provided so much for me. And the mind blowing moment for me was when we recieved our tax statement from church. The amount that I gave last year was more than I tax money I was saving being dishonest.
One more.........during this time that i took this financial leap of faith. I prayed to God , to take care of things for me. I prayed to be a father to my kids, and to be a husband to me. I specifically prayed for him to take care of car repairs (because its not in my budget and I hate taking my car to get fixed more than anything ). Well, I realized just yesterday, that my car has not broke down or needed a repair since then. my car is a 1995 jeep, with more than 200,000 miles that used to break down monthly.

To me these are testimonies of God's faithfulness to me. To some people it might sound like everyday stuff. But, the most amazing and unshakable part is the feeling i had at these moments. I really jumped up and down, knowing with all my heart it was God. With such excitement, I knew.
But very quickly I forgot, and went on. And, thats what I dont want to do. I want to remember these moments and the unshakable feelings behind them!

Last weekend, at church, we had a guest worship leader. Jon Baur. At the end of service, he had CD's for sale. I didn't buy one, I couldn't afford it. He also challenge everyone, to choose a card of a child to sponsor for $36 something dollars a month. I didn't even look, definetly couldnt afford that.


Now, this same month, let me tell you some things that I could afford:

an $85 purse
a $22 matching wallet
$187 of clothes for me (on sale)
$120 of clothes for my kids (on sale)
about $100 + of eating out
about $25 + of dollars here and dollars there
..........................and thats just off the top of my head.

..............it just doesn't make any sense.

answered prayer

A few blogs ago, I prayed about being off work sundays. I've been praying for that continously. God answered, by starting a childrens service during the saturday night worship. I still have to leave my kids on sundays. But I found it easy to take them to grampas sometimes, or uncles, or a friend, or get off once in a while.
So, that being a major concern in my life has diminished quite a bit. I feel that God did answer this prayer. In a way I didnt expect (as usual). Actually, I feel that this prayer will be answered in full in time, he just made things alot easier until it happens.

PS - I learned how to make a link. Click here to see who taught me.

Z 88.3 contest

If anyone knows any single moms (hint, hint). Z88.3 is choosing 100 women for a day of pampering w/childcare included. You just have to go to thier website Zradio.com and click on "a single moment" and tell them about the single mom that you know. (if i knew how i would have made one of those cool "click here and here links" like everyone else does)

Lake Eola

On Monday, we spent the afternoon at Lake Eola. Me and my boys, Nathaniel, and Brandi and her kids. Everyone had a good time. So much fun with the swans and birds.


The swans were very friendly. They would
eat right from your hand. ... and bite your
finger too.



Davis was a little nervous at first, but he
soon joined in.

Darius and Nathaniel got to hold a snake that

a man brought. (fun - i guess? )

Ooopps!....someone got pooped on!

Live Bait!

I think this one wants to be a model!

picture perfect

Gracie

AJ

Nicolas