Wow............  The calendar says I am fifty years old today............  In my head, I'm still 25..............  :-)

Ponytails and Ponderings...

I cut my daughter's hair today.  I know that doesn't sound too momentous, but it was for me.  She has had long hair since she was four years old.  Before I began today, I measured it and it was 33 inches from her crown.  Thirty-three long, shiny, beautiful, light golden brown inches of hair that I have brushed and braided two or more times a day, every day, for many years.  I complained sometimes.  We argued on occasion.   There were even tears at times (mine/hers/ours) as we combed through the tangles that somehow magically appeared in her crowning glory.  But more often than not, we bonded during those hair brushing sessions.  We talked.  She talked.  I listened.  I talked.  She listened.   I told her stories from when I was a little girl.  She told me stories of her hopes and dreams.  Good times.

I understand that she wants to grow up.  That she needs to separate from me.  That she doesn't want me "doing things" for her as much as I used to do.  She wants to do them for herself.   She is twelve now, and I remember how hard it was to be twelve.   I try to give her as much freedom and independence as I can, while making sure she knows how very much I love her and that I am here if she needs me.   Cutting that long, beautiful braid that was such a symbol of her childhood was one of the most difficult things I've done in a long time.  But...

It is her hair.  Her body.  Her decision.  And I am proud of her for giving up something that had actually become part of her identity.  For years, she has been "the girl with the *really* long hair".  Strangers often stopped us and commented on the length of her hair.  For a long time, she did not want to cut it for this very reason - it set her apart, gave her distinction from other little girls her age.  Made her feel special.  But now she has decided that she no longer needs nor desires that particular affirmation.   She is amazingly secure in herself and her decisions, and for that I am so very thankful.   But I am also sad today, because I wish I could keep her little and safe for just a few minutes more, brush the tangles out of that long, beautiful hair just once more while listening to the soft-spoken dreams, hopes, and wishes of my beautiful little girl...  She is growing up...  And I am not ready...

Well, I gave it a month.   A little more than a month, actually.   In early October, I decided to add the CAPTCHA function back to my blog because I was averaging 3 - 5 (sometimes more) attempted spam postings each day.  Since I added it back, I have not received a single one.  I call that successful!   Sure wish spammers would find something better and more productive to do with their time and energy.   But since they won't, at least the CAPTCHA feature ensures that I don't have to see it!

On a more enjoyable note, I have been busy with birthdays - my son's in September, my mother's in October, and my daughter's in November - she just turned 12 and I am still in shock!!! - so we party for three months straight!  Now it is time to plan for Thanksgiving, and I began my Christmas shopping today.  Along with all that, I am steadily working on our little rig, doing the things I can right now, and trying to find a way to do the others (or the money to pay someone to do them!)    :-)   We are praying that we get to hit the road right after the first of the year! 

Word verification

Well...... I tried to post on this blog without having word verification in place.  I understand that many people do not like it, and that many have trouble reading the "words" which are required to comment .   I gave it several months and tried everything I could to block spam.  But I am sick to death of spam messages filling up my inbox and having to go in and manually delete all the junk that shows up on here.  So I am going back to word verification.  It has never bothered me to have to use it to comment on someone else's blog, and since very few people read my blog and even fewer comment, I have decided to make things easier and more agreeable for me.   To anyone who does not wish to comment since I've reinstated it, I apologize for any inconvenience and understand.  But my daughter is often standing beside me and looking over my shoulder when I am on the computer, and I will not expose her to the filth which has been coming into my inbox.    I must do what is best for us.

Yard sales and childbirth...

I've decided that yard sales are a lot like childbirth....... They both take months of planning and thinking and making decisions... a few hours of very VERY hard work... there are dozens of (sometimes very) strange people in your personal space, seeing and critiquing your unmentionables and telling you everything you've done wrong and how you should have done it right... you are completely, absolutely, and totally exhausted and can barely put two coherent words together... you swear it will be your VERY last time and that you will never ever ever do THAT again... but then some time passes, and you find yourself thinking "how difficult can it be?" and there you are....right smack dab back in the middle of it again!   I know I've had my last precious little baby, and I am fairly certain that last weekend was my very last yard sale...... Ehhhh-ver. :-)

Happy Birthday to Me!!

Today is my birthday... I am 21 again.  Not sure how that happens every year, but I'll take it!  ;-)  I had planned to be on a road trip this week to Atlanta with the Little One (she has Six Flags tickets that are burning a hole in pocket) but that didn't work out.  Now we will wait until some time after the 4th.  It seems odd that I am on the downhill side of 50 now.   I still *feel* 21.  Wish I looked it!  :-P

I haven't posted yet about Poco... I bought a little Class C RV about 3 months ago.  She is a 1989 Austen Skyline.  She's in very, very good condition - 56K miles, runs great, interior in amazing shape.  I did have a solenoid to go bad, and since it was... well... *me*... trying to diagnose it,  it took me a little while to discover the problem.  But with some help from a friend and some great guys at both Good Old RVs and a Ford forum, I got-er-done. 

We are doing quite a few cosmetic changes -  painted and put up some paintable wall paper.  Adjusted the bed platform to assist with floor space and storage.  Covering up all the (in excellent condition) blue and mauve fabric.   We're having fun with our little projects, although some are more "fun" than others.

We can't wait to hit the road.  Hope that we see you all somewhere soon, so we can say "Benvenuti a la nostra poco casa!"

Thank you!

Thanks to each of you who left a comment to help me see if I got this bloggy change correct - I am actually shocked that I did since I am so technically-disinclined.  ;-)   I have been on Blogger long enough that I don't even REMEMBER if I wanted word verification or not - had not given any thought to it all.  lol... 

@ Sandie... your post is what prompted me to check my settings!  Thank you!   Isn't it wonderful how we help each other out in Blogland? 

Hope everyone is having a great Sunday... we are on the mend - I hope - and looking forward to some nicer weather this week here in NW AL...

Have a great week!  :-)

Word verification...

I have read several posts in the past few days about the "word verification" that blogger uses.  I had no idea if mine was "on"or not, but apparently it was.  I have never had any trouble with the verification process when commenting on someone's blog - usually takes less than 10 seconds IF I remember to click the "publish" button :-) - but do not want to cause any one else to be unhappy, so I removed the "Please prove you aren't a robot" feature from my blog...  At least I *think* I did.  Could someone please post a comment and tell me if it worked??  Thank you so much!

I am, however, keeping the comment approval process intact... It is my blog and I have the right to post only the comments which I feel are appropriate!  ;o)

Happy New Year!

I hope that everyone had a safe and pleasant New Year's Eve, and that you all have a wonderful New Year!  K easily stayed up until midnight - she is a night owl like I *used* to be! - after we watched one of our favorite movies - "Last Holiday" - and ate all sorts of yummy party foods.  It was a great evening and I was so glad that everyone I love was at home, safe and sound.

I am hoping and praying that 2012 will be the year that we hit the road.  Still trying to find that elusive rig that is affordable and adaptable for us!  Wish me luck...  :-)

Missing my Daddy...

Fifteen years ago tonight, my Daddy passed away at the age of 58.  My life was changed forever that night and I have often wondered if he knew what an effect his passing would have on us, and on so many other people.  My son was just a little boy and my daughter was not yet born when Daddy died.   He would be so proud of the things his oldest grandson has accomplished and the man he has become, and he would have spoiled his only granddaughter more than she already is... she would be his little princess!

Take time to tell the people that you love exactly how you feel.  You never know when you may lose them.   Daddy knew that he was my hero and how very much I loved him, but I'm not certain he realized what a void he would leave behind after he was gone.  I miss him every single day, and so often I wish that I could lean on him or ask for his wisdom and guidance.  He was the most intelligent, most kind, most gentle person I've ever known.   

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Just want to take a moment to wish everyone a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!  I hope that you get to spend the holidays doing exactly what you want to do, exactly where you want to be, with wonderful people who make you laugh, staying safe and warm, and with lots of good food to eat!   Stay safe and remember to smile at others.  It is amazing what a genuine smile can do!!

Merry Christmas!

Kerri  :-)

Happy Thanksgiving!

I hope that everyone has a lovely Thanksgiving filled with lots of laughter, delicious food, and wonderful people, no matter where you are choosing to celebrate!   I also hope that each of us takes a few minutes to truly consider the blessings we have and to thank our family, friends, and especially our local 1st responders and our military personnel for making our lives happy, comfortable, and safe.  THANK YOU and GOD BLESS YOU!

Happy Birthday K!!!

Eleven years ago today, my beautiful little girl came into this world at 9:16 am.  She was 5 weeks early and I had a very difficult delivery,  which you can read about here http://homeschoolingsolo.blogspot.com/2010/11/happy-birthday-little-one.html

Today, I cannot believe that my little girl is eleven - standing on the brink of so many changes and adventures.  Not a little girl any more, but not quite a big girl either (although I am certain she would totally disagree!)  As I look back over the last eleven years, I remember so many wonderful times we've shared and so many things I would gladly change if I had the chance for a "do-over".   But through all the changes and ups and downs, we have been together, and we are as close as any mother and daughter can be.  I longed for such a relationship as a child, and vowed that I would make sure my future daughter would  have the chance to experience it if she chose to do so -  at least I've kept one promise that I made to my childish self.

As we begin our RVing journey soon (I hope), I look forward to discovering America with this bright, vivacious, active, questioning, beautiful little soul.  Every day brings new discoveries here in our sticks and bricks, so I have no doubt that we will have some grand adventures (and more than our share of spats and misunderstandings) while on our journeys.  Since I am an "older Mom" and she is headed toward teenagehood, we may decide to dub our rolling home "The Hormone Express" with all the changes that will occur while on the road!   ;-)  But I pray that we are able to appreciate and enjoy our time together wherever we are and whatever we are doing, and that we take advantage of the opportunities as they come along.

Today we plan to spend the day having breakfast at our special place, shopping at all of our favorite stores, having lunch (haven't decided where yet but I know it will be delicious), maybe taking in a movie... whatever her little heart desires.  Tonight we will feast on Chocolate Cheesecake - YUM!  I hope that her day is as special as she deserves, and that we build another wonderful memory for her to put into her "bank"...  My goal is for that bank to be overflowing with amazing, funny, and treasured memories by the time she becomes an adult. 

Sweetie, you are one of the two most precious people in my world and I love you more than I can express.  I am so very happy that God chose me to be your Mom, and that I have the privilege of knowing and  loving you.    "As long as I'm living, my baby you'll be..."

Happy Birthday, E!

My handsome son is 23 years old today.  I say it every year, but I simply cannot believe that he has so quickly grown from that beautiful little baby boy into a tall, strong, intelligent, capable young man.   If you haven't read my old blog entry about his birth, you can read about it in an earlier post.  It was quite an experience!

Son, I hope that you have a wonderful day.  I pray that you continue your pursuit of happiness and that your thirst for knowledge and your quest for answers never die.  I hope that you understand that life will knock you down at times, but that you must find the strength within yourself to get back up again and again, and that I will always do anything I can to help.  I hope that you know how much you are loved, no matter how grumpy you might be :-).

Happy Birthday!

Our 15th annual "We Don't Have to Go Back to School Today" day!! and Austin the Duck...

The local school systems had their first day of classes today.  Poor little ones, the weather has been atrocious all summer and today it was BEAUTIFUL!

Here is a quick run-down of our 15th We Don't Have to Go Back to School Today day - all scheduling done by the Little One!  Our day began with breakfast at Burger King, followed by... (deeeeeep breath) shopping at Kmart and Tractor Supply (duck needed food), 3 hours at Chuck E Cheese, a visit to our favorite thrift store, 3 hours at the splash pad - we had it to ourselves most of the day and again the weather was AMAZING! - then supper at Sweet Peppers Deli complete with a shared slice of their Chocolate Eruption Cake - *dangerous* stuff.  That, my friends, was a wonderfully exhausting day!   The weather was absolutely perfect for the first time all summer, and we've been promised more of the same for the rest of the week!

Speaking of duck food...  Austin the Duck is SO beautiful and we love him dearly, but he goes to his new home this Wednesday.  We found him a new home a few weeks ago, but the amazingly sweet young lady (who has agreed to give him a proper-ducky home) and I had scheduling conflicts, not the least of which involved me spraining my ankle two weeks ago, plus we had triple-digit heat for a couple of weeks and I did not want Austin to begin his outdoor life when it was so hot! 

But the time has now come and although he seems to be very happy with us - snuggling in our laps, running around the house - with one of us right behind him with tissues, making sure he stays off the rugs and doesn't eat anything he shouldn't!! ;-), swimming several times a day in the bathtub, and playing outside in the back yard, it is time to let him go.  He has been an amazing learning opportunity for us all and he has enriched our lives with his soft peeping and whistling, nuzzling bill, curiosity about everything, beautiful feathering, and comical antics.  He will be missed.  Very, very much.  Never would have believed I would fall in love with a duck...

Hello to Ken and Some Good News!

First of all, I'd like to say "Hello and Welcome" to my newest follower, Ken Wilkes.  Ken is a really nice guy who has a blog over at  HomelessZillionaire.blogspot.com.     I look forward to keeping up with his adventures as he transitions into the RVing lifestyle.   Welcome, Ken!

Another quick update on the Lucky Duck... I think that I have found Austin a permanent home!  There is a young lady in our area who has an amazing farm where she takes in rescued horses, donkeys, and other animals.  She has a pot-bellied pig, baby goats, chickens, ducks - a true menagerie of rescued animals.  I wrote to her yesterday to see if she knew anyone who might be willing to give Austin a proper home, and she wrote me back within the hour, telling me that she would love to have him!  She has 3 other ducklings just younger than Austin and 4 adult ducks, so he will have a ready-made family.   I hope that they will accept him.   Although we have become quite attached to him and will miss him, we knew that we were just his foster family and are thrilled that he will have such a wonderful home!  After I meet this young lady and obtain her permission, I will post her information so that you can see what wonderful work she is doing.

Austin will be at least 5 weeks old this Friday... we found him on a Saturday and he was not much more than a day old, so we have decided that June 24th was his "hatch day".    He has quadrupled in size and is getting some beautiful feathering above and below his wings, on his tail and on his chest.  He is sort of growing into his feet and bill.  :-)  He is going to be a beautiful duck!   He is quickly outgrowing both his "pen" and his swimming pool, so we are very happy to have found him a new home.  We hope to deliver him to his new Mom either Friday or Saturday.  As I've said before, I have no idea yet if he is actually a "he".   We will know when he/she finds his/her quack in a few more weeks.   :-)

So... other than my son's little car being in the shop again - booooo, and trying to bear the unspeakable heat and humidity along with most of the rest of the country, that is about all that is going on here in Alabama.  It is Handy Fest Week here in The Shoals - the festival celebrating WC Handy, Father of the Blues, but it has just been too hot to enjoy the festivities.  I wish they would have it in October!  The music offered is amazing and I love the Blues, but have not made it to a single event this week.   The heat is just too oppressive... I hope that next summer, my house has wheels under it so that I can chase some better weather!!

The Little One and I are gearing up for our new unit studies... This year we plan to use the American Girl Historical Characters series as a basis for our unit, and also plan to study  a different country each month.   She loves her American Girl dolls, and really enjoys the books, so we are using them as a springboard for various activities.  I am tying the "Country of the Month" unit study in with the AG books when possible.  I had planned to do an in-depth study of American history in correlation with the AG unit study, but she really wants to study other countries right now, so I'm going with that.  I hope that next year we will be studying American history by traveling around this beautiful country and visiting the locations and monuments which most children only get to read about!  So American history will wait until we can experience it in person!

Hope you are all finding a way to stay cool and enjoy your summer.  Be careful out there!

Prayer request...

One of my former students gave birth to her baby boy on Wednesday, June 29th.  Brantley had to be airlifted to a children's hospital when he was just a few hours old.  He has pulmonary hypertension and a cleft lip which is causing feeding problems.   They are worried most about bleeding in his brain.   He is in very, very critical condition right now and I would like to ask everyone to put him on their prayer lists and say a very special prayer for him and his family. 

The mommy is a sweet young lady who is only 22.   Her young husband just returned safely from a 6 months deployment in Afghanistan.  Thankfully he made it home before little Brantley was born.  She lost her Mom at 16, so she has already suffered a great deal in her young life, and now is having to watch her tiny little boy suffer and fight for his life. 

Please join me in lifting up this little family in prayer.   Thank you so much!

Lucky Duck update...

Just a quick note to update you on the progress of our Lucky Duck aka Austin... He is growing like a weed and eating everything in sight.  He is a very messy little duck, so given that fact and his appetite, I am convinced he is a male!  lol  Honestly I have no idea, but it sounds good...  He loves curly endive and Bibb lettuce (organic) but is not crazy about spinach.  He loves strawberries and peaches, but won't eat blueberries.  He adores oatmeal and cornmeal mush.  And he drinks lots of water!

He is a week old now.  The research I did tells me that he was barely 24 hours old when we found him, so he had his 1 week birthday on Friday!  He has grown almost an inch !! and gained several ounces.  He is a happy little fella as long as someone is with him, talking to him, or holding him.  He will peep, peep, peep if he is left alone, though.  I can always tell when my Little One has left the room, because he begins to cry.  He likes to watch TV, and seems to prefer to listen  Journey.  Oh wait.  Maybe that is me!  But he doesn't argue about it.  :-)   I set his tub on the bed the other day while I was ironing, and he looked as though he were watching a ping-pong game - his head went back and forth, back and forth, watching the iron.  He just likes to be wherever we are...

He settles down at night as soon as we turn off the lights, but is up bright and early letting us know he is hungry.  I leave oatmeal and lettuce bits out for him at night, but I don't think he eats very much.  He is taking almost everything he eats to his water dish now, so it is difficult to keep it clean.  We change it at least a dozen times a day, and wipe out his bin more often than that!  He also could care less where he goes potty, so we usually wrap a cloth around him when we hold him!  :-)  We put him in a small tub in the bathtub and let him swim around at least twice a day.  He does not like it very much at all, but he needs to practice.  I have to remind him that he is, after all, a duck!  After his swim, he likes to cuddle up in our hands and go to sleep.  Yes we are spoiling him and no it is probably not good for him.  But he is so cute and irresistible!

We are looking for a home for him, but my Little One will not give him up to just anyone!  Hopefully we will find a good place soon.

The VERY Lucky Duck

Yesterday my daughter and I went to our local Arby's for an early supper.   When we went in, we used the side door, but as we were leaving, I decided to go out the front.   Not sure why, but later I was really glad that I did.   We were walking along the sidewalk toward the parking lot and I heard a strange sound.  I told her that I thought a bird had a nest nearby because I could hear "peeping".  But it didn't really sound like baby birds.  I was looking up as I walked along and suddenly realized that the sound was coming from below me.  I looked down and a tiny baby duck came waddling out from under my car!  I stood in shock for just a minute, then set my things in the car and tried to catch it. 

This little fellow was heck-bent on heading west - maybe he'd heard the advice to "Go west young man" - and waddled straight for Woodward Avenue.  Those of you who have been in Muscle Shoals, AL know how busy Woodward is, especially on a Saturday afternoon.  For those of you who haven't, just picture any 7 lane street through a small city on a Saturday and you will get the idea.  Cars were heading both north and south, and since there are not any traffic lights in this area, most of them were going quite fast.  I could not get between the little duck and the street in time, and out he went into the traffic.   I was standing on the side of the street, waving my arms like a mad woman and pointing at the little guy, hoping that drivers would at least slow down to see what was happening.  I watched him until he crossed 4 lanes, then saw a line of traffic coming down the southbound lanes.

I just could not watch this sweet little bird be killed, so I shouted for my daughter to look away and I turned and walked to the car.  She and I were both almost in tears - I will never forget the sight of that tiny little brown and gold baby dodging across all those lanes of traffic.  We backed out of the parking space, and as I put the car in drive,  she yelled "There it is!"  It had made it across SEVEN lanes of busy traffic!!! Unbelievable!!!

There is a small strip mall across Woodward from Arby's, and the little duck was standing on the sidewalk in front of Austin's Shoe Store.  We were able to go across the street quite quickly, and I parked in front of the strip mall.  By this time, the little fellow was waddling down the sidewalk in front of the various shops.   My Little One was begging for me to "save it", so I got out and chased it down the sidewalk.  It went around the corner of the building and made tracks - webs? - for the alley behind.

I jumped back in the car and pulled around to the alley, got out again - did I mention that we are in NW Alabama and it is H-O-T?? - and chased it up and down the side of the alley.  I would go one way and it would go the other.  This went on for several minutes and I finally called to my daughter to come and help me.  I had initially made her stay in the car, even though she really wanted to help.  So... she came over and we cornered the little guy - who was panting by now - and she just scooped him up!  She did in 5 seconds what I'd been trying to do for 5 minutes!  Of course she is lower to the ground and much more nimble than I am!  :-)

She handed him to me - she wasn't at all sure about holding him at that moment - and we took him back to the car.  I was thinking to myself  "now what??".  I told her to open the trunk to see if we had anything we could safely put him in, and I saw the Rubbermaid tub I use to hold all the "stuff" I carry around - jumper cables, extra water, oil, umbrellas... you get the picture.  So we unloaded all the stuff out of the tub and put him down in it.  My Little One carries water everywhere she goes, so I wiped out a corner of the tub and poured a little water there, so it could get a sip, and put a clean rag in another corner for it to lie on.

We brought the baby home and put him in the bathtub until I could find a better home.  He is a fast little thing, and I did NOT want him getting loose in the house!  The Rubbermaid tub had worked well, so I grabbed another one that held some of my daughter's stuffed toys, poured them on my bed and brought the tub to the den.  Found a shallow lid to hold some water and a clean cloth to make a "nest".  Brought the baby - who I was calling "Lucky" and she had named "Austin" - and placed it in the tub.  He went straight for the water and took several long drinks while stomping around it, then proceeded to peep loudly for a little while.  He then promptly pooped and began to preen his feathers.

Now of course I was faced with the task of feeding the poor little thing.  I knew he had expended many calories on his mad dash across the highway and around the buildings with a crazy woman chasing him.  So I - of course - immediately turned to Google to find some answers.  He has since eaten quite a bit of cornmeal mixed with water, tiny bits of spinach and lettuce, hulled corn, watermelon, and crushed cat food (he loves that!).  He slept all night without a peep (pun intended!) and chirps loudly every time my daughter leaves the room.  She is beginning to understand the demands of "motherhood"!  She told me this morning that her cat and dog "weren't this much trouble"!!  :-)

I have read that ducks and geese imprint on whoever they assume is "Mom", and it seems as though my daughter is who Lucky/Austin has chosen.  She is - of course - totally in love with him too. 

Since today is Sunday, I can't call a local vet or the local Feed and Seed which sells baby ducks to get any advice on caring for him.  We have a cat, so we cannot keep him, but I do not yet know what we will do with him.   He is precious and I know she will not give him up easily, but I just could not leave the tiny thing alone to fend for itself.

By the way, I am saying "he", but of course I have no idea if it is male or female.  I am somewhat certain that it is a Hybrid Mallard, based on its markings, and that it is less than a week old, based on its size and feathers.  He is a pretty little thing, bright eyed and curious.  He will snuggle down in your hand and fall asleep quite easily, and seems to be eating well.

Any suggestions on care and feeding would be appreciated.  I'm making sure he stays warm and as dry as you can keep a duck.  :-)    I want to make sure he gets a good home where he can live out his days just enjoying being a duck.  I think that after yesterday's adventures, he has earned it!  He is definitely one Lucky Duck!

Happy Father's Day!!!

My Daddy was a big man in every way.  Tall, large-boned, heavy-set, brilliant, with the biggest heart in the world.   Any time I had problems - which seemed all too often for one so young - he was there with assistance in any form needed.  Although at times I bucked against the advice he was giving me, he had an annoying way of being right about so many things, and would readily admit when he was wrong.  Although he was definitely not perfect - and never tried to pretend that he was - he was a wonderful person and a great Daddy.

Daddy has been gone for over 14 years now.  He died the day after Christmas 1996, and I don't think a day has gone by since that I haven't thought about him and wished that he were still here.  He was a wonderful Granddaddy to my son, who was 8 when Daddy died.  My little girl never got to know him - she was born almost 4 years later.   She is the only girl in her generation and Daddy would have spoiled her rotten!  She has no contact with her father or his family, so she has really missed out on a positive male role model, which worries me very much.   Every girl deserves to be Daddy's Girl.

I would give almost anything to see my Daddy again.  To hear his voice, even if I didn't want to listen to what he was saying!  To hug him and feel his strong arms around me, reminding me that as long as he was around, I was safe.  I don't think I've truly felt safe since he went into a coma a week before he died, and wonder if I ever will. 

How I wish that my children had a father like I had.   All I can do is love them and let them know how special they are, regardless of someone elses choices.  

To every man out there who has stepped up and done the right thing by his children, grandchildren, step-children - whenever and how ever a child has come into his life - to the man who takes his responsibilities seriously and loves and protects his family - you are an amazing human being!  I pray that each and every one of the great dads out there got an extra hug and kiss today, and got to hear "I love you" from the hearts of those for who they have provided an example of how a REAL man lives.    Happy Father's Day to each of you!



I want to say "Hello" and "Welcome" to my newest follower, Four Windows with a View.  Thank you!  I really enjoy your blog and I am looking forward to following you on your adventures!