Better

Blog now has a cute header. ~whew~ But if what I just had to do is an indication of what I have to do EVERY time I upload a new picture, my blog may feature a lot less pictures in the future. Good grief!

But for now, I'm cute. :-)

VLB service tonight came together amazingly well, considering how preoccupied I've been with Ladies' Retreat stuff. I'm not a very good multi-tasker, you know. And for goodness' sake, would SOMEBODY please remind me that I do NOT have to teach a class or do devotions or anything like that next year?! I'm the director; that means I have the power to DELEGATE and should take full advantage of the privilege. I'd enjoy Retreat way more if I didn't do the other stuff! At least this year I did dish out Fun Time and have roped Sister Washburn into providing half of the brunch stuff. Actually she volunteered, which is way better than having to rope her into it. ;-)

James has had a happy week. He went to Tuscaloosa on Monday to check out a store called Dirt Cheap that we'd passed recently, bringing to his remembrance that Brother Powell had told him about it ages ago. He must've called home 3 or 4 times that day, giddy as a school boy. "Bec! I just bought a Jack LeLanne Power Juicer for $6.50!!!" They are usually about $130 and he's been wanting one for YEARS, but never found one cheap enough to make him willing to buy it. He sees them all the time at flea markets for $40-$60. He's now kicking himself for not buying ALL of the Jack LeLanne Power Juicers for $6.50 at Dirt Cheap so he could sell them off for $50 apiece. ;-) Apparently this store gets lots of close-outs from other stores, or items that were returned and couldn't be sold. There are things with tags from Wal-Mart and Target and Kohl's and all sorts of places. He got a t-shirt with a picture of hot chocolate on it for Joe (the hot chocolate king) that he'd recently seen for $15 at Target... for $1 at this store. And a polo shirt for .25 cents. I can't remember what all he drug home that night, but he was just way too excited. We can't afford to save money like this though, because he's going to be spending way too much in gas to drive all the way down there to spend more money on great bargains for things we didn't know we needed but can't pass up. Ha! It's okay. There are worse hobbies to have. Some guys go bungee jumping or sky diving to get a rush. My husband goes bargain hunting. In fact, he called me later that afternoon to tell me that he was at the OTHER Dirt Cheap--apparently he discovered a second location in Tuscaloosa. Gre-e-e-e-e-eat. ;-)

The kids have been doing good in school and the complaints are still minimal. I'm so glad! Sam begs out on occasion so he can run around town with his Dad, but he makes up for it later on. He is so much LIKE his Dad and has all of those same bargain hunting genes--and seems to get the same thrill out of a great deal that James does. I'm glad they have such a good time together. James usually takes him to the auction with him on Tuesday nights. A few weeks ago Sam bid $3 on a whole set of golf clubs in a big leather golf bag. It looks to be a really, really nice bag to me, but of course I don't really know. Some other guy tried to bid, but the auctioneer just shook his head no and said, "Sold for $3"! It pays to be little and cute sometimes.

Before I go I'll experiment a little bit with adding pictures through the new and miserable method that seems to be required (unless I want to pay $2.50 per month... and I don't) if I intend to upload anything here. So without further ado, here are some of Sam's creations...

The Lego Home Depot...

The Lego Gun Shop & Lego Restaurant...

The Lego Jail, with a full line-up of prisoners-to-be...

The Lego Hotel...

And the reason for the horrible burning smell every time we turned the oven on for a week or two...

I thought something had spilled over--and I never think to clean the oven until it's ON and I'm smelling the burn. Turned out to be this piece of garlic toast with mozzarella. I think it's done now. :-)

That's it. I was right. Adding pictures was a nightmare. I've GOT to find a better way. Or maybe $2.50 per month doesn't sound so bad after all! This was NUTS. I can figure out HOW to do it, but I'm pretty sure it's not worth it. Especially for burnt toast. Anyway, this will be farewell until after Retreat. I'm so excited!!! Please pray for God to have His way in every part.