Dave Ramsey is my enemy!!!!!!!!!!

Okay.. Skip and I signed up for FPU which actually stands for Financial Peace University. I won't tell you what I think it stands for.. Perhaps Freakin' Poor now University. Now, I know the program has some good ideas. It wants to help couples get on a budget, get out of debt, invest properly and save for retirement. On the surface, what could be wrong with that??? Well, I will tell you what is wrong with that.. You can't live for the time period you are doing the 'baby steps'.

Onto Baby Steps.. that's a joke too. Baby Step 1 was to save $1k. It should be set up as an emergency fund. That was fine and the idea is fine. We just did not have it separated which is a DR must. Baby Step 2, get out of debt. We haven't gotten to that part of the course but I read ahead out of anxiety. When he means debt, he doesn't mean your Target card (which I actually don't have, proud to say), Visa or even Car loan. He means it all. I think you can graduate from Baby Step 2 when you only have your mortgage left, that means no car loan, no debt whatsoever. In order to get to Baby Step 2, you are to do what it takes. He has a saying on eating just rice and beans. Now, I am a starchy sort of eater. If he said bean burritos from Taco Bell, rice with thick butter, pasta and mashed potatoes, we would be in business. He also says no vacations. If anyone out there knows me.. I like to vacation. In fact, I proudly call vacationing my hobby. That ain't gonna happen Dave! Baby Step #3 is to save for 3-6 months of your salary for emergencies. Sounds reasonable if you survive Baby Step #2. I haven't read #4 or on because I am a nervous wreck over the first 3.

I am a shopper, a spender, a bargain hunter, a go out and have fun, have a party, book a flight sort of gal. In fact, I can't think of a hobby of mine that is strictly free. Maybe I should taken up hiking? But don't you need fancy shoes for that? Maybe I should take up Bird Watching, oh yea, I saw THE BIRDS in 3rd grade when I had a fever and never really liked the feathery creatures since then. Maybe I should take up sewing, nope.. gotta buy stuff for that. So.. Here I am.... looking for a new hobby, missing my last hobby, planning a trip to Alaska in June (shhhhh), and eating starches.

Here is the ironic thing about Mr. Ramsey... As Waverly put it "He wants to help people save money but you have to spend $110 for his book?". Yep, that dude is making millions off us po' folks. But I tricked ole' Dave.. I bought the kit on ebay for $50. So what if it is 3 years old and doesn't EXACTLY follow the course. Check out his website header:

Does anyone else see anything wrong with that. I even found the Dave Ramsey store on ebay. I didn't notice much of a deal there.

So.. don't be surprised if you see more posts about me ranting/raving about Mr. Ramsey. I will admit that his program is sound, it just doesn't seem to fit my personality. Stay tuned.. we will see if I mature through this torture or if I just get sneakier.

PLAY BALL....................

Our precious nephew's, Levi Gilcrease, little league team made it to the World Series. Levi probably doesn't want me calling him precious but he is such a great kid. My brother-in-law, Doug, is one of the coaches. The Doug Gilcreases are very athletic. Mom- Stephanie- had a full ride tennis scholarship at Michigan. Dad-Doug- had a full ride at Auburn for baseball and then went to the Kansas City Royals. He now is the chaplain for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

Levi's team, Southeast, plays today at 2:00 on ESPN.
Here is a link to the schedule:
http://www.littleleague.org/series/2008divisions/llbb/series.htm



Here is Levi (see isn't he precious):


Doug looks a lot like Skip, doens't he?


Cheer for the boys!!!!!! GO LEVI!

Game 1, Southeast 10 Midwest 0
Southeast plays again on Sunday. Here is a photo from ESPN of Levi.


Southeast lost Sunday to Hawaii. They won last night against the Northeast 8-2.
They play again Thursday night, 8:00 ESPN.

Great pitching Levi!

Check out this awesome photo from the Tampa newspaper of Levi catching a potential homer.

Summer 2008

School started this morning... Great time to reflect on the summer... This summer was filled with fun, excitement and hard work. Our family was dedicated to A Fresh Hope and the Back to School drive this summer. I thought I would write some thoughts about this summer:
* My church is an incredible church with a heart for Outreach
* Kendall is more compassionate than I gave her credit. She has really jumped on board with A Fresh Hope. She even feels bad if we walk into a store and don't buy anything.
* My parents are fantastic grandparents. They are 100% on board with A Fresh Hope and Waverly's dreams.
* People like to support kids
* Cardboard boxes are hard to crush
* We need fundraising ideas
* Peoples lives were changed this summer
* Follow-thru is important.. we need to connect with the back pack kids at Christmas
* An SUV holds approximately 100- 104 back packs
* Pencil boxes are $.77 at Target, $.57 at Wal-mart. Filler paper is $.50 at both places. Reinforcement labels are $.99 at Target and $1.69 at Wal-Mart
* It is hard to get money from large corporations for local outreach projects. Waverly delivered letters to many large stores and grocery stores. She received less than $100 total from all her deliveries and follow-up calls. That was disappointing.
* I wish we had more coupons in the goodie bags for the Back to School Drive. We will work on that for next year.
* My biceps are more defined than they were in May.. Still nothing to write home about but a little improvement from toting back packs.
* After looking at thousands of back packs, none were quite what my son was looking for. We eventually gave him $20 to use the same back pack for the 3rd year in a row. It is all about negotiating.
* Friends rally behind your children. Hillary Clinton may not be a hero to a lot but it does take a village to raise a child. Our village was incredible and I thank God for our friends and family.
* We you have a cart loaded with school supplies, people ask you how many kids you have or if you are a teacher. Happened more times than I can count.
* We went to Rockmart to look at coats and winter clothes for our next project. Rockmart is beautiful. Love the mountains.
* I worried about the Back to School Drive too much. I should have let God do His thing.
* I did not talk to my friends as much as I would have liked this summer. I will make up for it this fall.
* We need mobile back pack delivery next year. See the Fresh Hope blog for an incredible story.
* Little kids love back packs with characters on them.
* MY HUSBAND ROCKS!!!! He has been there every step of the way. He has carried more heavy stuff than I care to imagine.
* We did a community make-over project at a friend's home. It blessed us more than you will ever know. See Crumbs in my Butter blog for photos.
* Waverly is still 10. As much as she appears older at times.. I would go downstairs to see how the back packs were going and she would have a Barbie house set up. It is hard to step back and let her be a kid but it is necessary so her heart will not burn out. We want her compassion for others to stay strong.
* You cry a lot when serving others.
* You cry a lot when you get very little sleep.
* You cry a lot when you give a beloved dog away. See prior post.
* I cried a lot this summer.
* Waverly and Kendall's friends were so supportive. A friend from church even had a lemonade stand to help A Fresh Hope.
* KIDS CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE.
* As adults, we need to follow our hearts blindly as kids do.
* Jamie Sizemore is a wonderful woman who has a heart for others.
* My neighbors are incredible... You know who you are!
* Kids love to get school supplies. They love to open a back pack and see goodies inside.
* More people in the community need help. There are more hurting people in a 15 mile radius from our house than I ever dreamed. It comes with a feeling of guilt.
* Stacy Brown is a great woman who is taking A Fresh Hope to a new level and starting a ministry for teenagers. We need prom dresses. More to come....
* We met some great folks this summer.. Tytus and Kim at Bargain Station in Rockmart.
* Grant stuffed 2 back packs this summer. Yep, 2, not a typo. It is not his time.
* Jane Swanson was so awesome with the signs.
* The Haights are the best folks... They will do anything for anyone.
* It is hard to be on a radio show.
* From Waverly "Coats will be more fun to shop for than back packs". From the mouth of a girl.
* I read THE SHACK. Unbelievable. It cleared up a lot of questions for me.
* Pastor Paul Richardson is such a Godly man. He has the purest heart for people. All people. He is a mentor to us all.
* Pastor Brian was so wonderful allowing A Fresh Hope to partner with West Ridge.
* If you don't go to church, try West Ridge one Sunday. I'll help you get there and get your kids in the right place. I'll even pick you up. It will change your life.
* Panama City is too crowded on July 4th. Too many crazies with fire works. Watch out..
* We did our annual boat ride. Always a great time!
* A Fresh Hope is now established. Watch out for more.

Deer v. Jennifer

Deer 1
Jennifer 0

We had a great Community Makeover this past weekend. It was with 8 churches where we were all sent out on Community projects. We did a mini-home makeover on our friends home, the Mucinos. More about that later. Well, this wonderfully crazy weekend ended Sunday night with a Celebration Service. Over 6000 people were in attendance. It was awesome: Great music, Great Message, Great energy, Great friends.... see www.engageatlanta.com

I had to go to the bathroom so badly during the service (TMI-probably). Waverly and I decided to go through Taco Bell Drive-thru, knowing I really had to go.. We were in the drive thru 27 minutes. I was really put off by this point, hungry, tired, and urgently needed a rest room. We pulled out of Taco Bell and then 1 mile later.. Boom... A huge buck jumped out in front of me.. Bam.. Me and the deer collided. My car immediately started smoking. Thankfully, we were not hurt. The deer ran off. I tried to find it. Skip asked me if I was going to give it Mouth to Mouth.. I probably would've tried. I was very concerned about the deer. Our delay at Taco Bell may have made this scenario just a property damage inconvenience. Any other type of impact could have been tragic.

So here is the picture.. 11:00 pm, Sunday night, Hwy 92, Waverly in a smoking car, me on the side of the road looking for a dead or hurt deer and Scott Roma comes walking down the street. Yep, I was crying.. My daughter did not cry but I blubbered.. that seems to be a common theme in the most recent posts. My buddy, Angela called to reassure me the deer was probably in a coma.

The damage to my car was over $5k. Here is a photo:


Here is the evidence:

Good-bye Judd

After years of our kids begging.. we finally caved in to the dog request. We adopted Judd (I use the term adopted casually as they charged us $400 for the creature) in June 0f 2006. He has been a wonderful dog. We have taken him on vacations. My family adores Judd. I didn't think I would really care about Judd but I found him to be my companion during the day when Skip was at work and the kids were at school. If he could only talk, I would have a lot of apologizing to do to a lot of people. Just kidding but it is nice to have a great listener that loves you unconditionally.

Our house is always full of kids. I am not complaining because it is wonderful to hear kids laughing. I am the type that would rather have my kids here with friends over than my kids other places.. call me crazy... Well.. over the last few months, Judd has gotten hurt a few times and has become more and more aggressive towards other children. He is great with our children but he has been snipping at other children.

So... we had to give Judd away today. Fortunately, my step-sister, Beth, has agreed to take him on a trial basis. This is the best solution because my kids can still see him regularly. It was a sad moment when Judd left today. He did not seem bothered at all. Grant cried for a few hours. We thought Grant didn't care at all about the dog since Judd ate an integral LEGO piece (of his new Star Wars X Wing Fighter) his first week as a Gilcrease. Kendall adores animals. She seemed to actually understand why we had to allow Judd to be in an environment more fitting. Waverly was upset but she went to my dad's house so that will provide a good distraction. I cried and cried.. In fact, I will cry if I think about it. Must be turning 40 that did this to me.

Judd is visiting Beth on a trial basis. We would not be terribly surprised if we don't find a basket on our front door with a cute dog wrapped inside a blanket. Aunt Beth.. thank you for providing a home for Judd.

Junebug is 9!!!!

Kendall turned 9 this week. She actually turned 9 while at Camp Glisson for 5 night. yes, I am the mother that forgets your child's birthday is during a week and schedules them for camp. I felt better seeing a photo of her in a sash and crown given to her by the camp counselor. I am sure this will come up at age 17 when we are in a spat about something.

Kendall wanted a spend the night party for her birthday. I agreed because Waverly had a sleepover when she turned 9. I must have had a amnesia. I forgot how loud and caotic it can truly be to gather a group of sugared up, tired, 9 year old little girls together. But.. I have to say, they were all in bed by 11:00. We had very little issues.

Skip and Grant went to the Braves game to escape the fiesta.

Sweet Kendall..

Pool Party

Our wonderful friends and neighbors.. the Dennehys have a pool in their back yard. They will have us over to swim. I am sure it has nothing to do with the fact my children sit in our yard looking pitiful and hot. Donna will make incredible munchies and sweet tea.

Most moms sit under the cabana sipping iced tea (not your regular sweet tea- I know I mentioned sweet tea earlier but it is so good- it deserves several highlights), chatting, and watching the kids swim. Not my pal Angela.... she gets into the pool and organizes cannon ball contests, belly flop contests, etc. The kids love it!!!

Here are a few photos from a recent pool party.. How fun!!!!!