Kirsten Faith Passmore

Happy Welcome to the USA Anniversary!

It was this night, many moons ago, that we first welcomed this bundle into our lives. Before Oct 31 all we had were pictures! But than the van drove up and out stepped Brett with my niece! She was tiny and beautiful! I will never forget seeing her for the very first time and holding this little brown Asian bundle in my arms!

We love you Kirsten!

God found you for us...

A few years ago today

we had an answer to a prayer

when we finally received a call

to say that *you* were there.

'Though holding only a photo,

ours hearts were lost that day

to a tiny girl in Asia

half a world away.

The baby face and tiny ears,

the lovely almond eyes,

the chubby oh-so-kissable cheeks

held power to mesmerize

.

Adapted (original by Jill Work)

Vacation...

We are going on vacation. Yeah. We are headed out today for the Texas Hill Country! Every year, with the exception of last year, we have gone on a yearly trip to Garner State Park! It is wonderful, relaxing, refueling and simply wonderful. The park is beautiful and we just chill! We stay in a group camp, it has a huge dining hall and kitchen and 5 bunkhouses that hold 8 people each. We have our own access to the river and bathrooms. I love it. The first year we went Kaitlin was about 11 months. She was just barely tottering! We have family and friends join us so every year someone different is there and we have a great time!

I was asked to guest post!!!

So here is my post over at Who Put Me in Charge of These People... Texas Mama is working real hard vacationing in Florida so she asked me to guest post for her!

Financial crisis???

So I am watching Fox News today and they are interviewing a couple who is suddenly going to marriage counseling because they started fighting about money. So they said the never fight about any thing other than money and with the economic crises things have gotten so bad that they are fightinng all the time. So the wife says, we have a beautiful four bedroom home, we have gone on all these vacations but if we KNEW this economic crises was coming I am sure we would have been more prepared.

um duh.

Isnt the point to be prepared, period!

I know things happen spontaeously, your husband gets laid off. You are at fault in a car accident. You have car repair, house repair and doctor bills all at the same time. I know things happen that make you tight but that is not what she is implying! She is implying that they dont have any savings. Now I dont have much savings either to be honest, but we work at and and strive for it! We dont buy a four bedroom house and go on vacation everywhere and blame the goverment for economic crises! I just dont understand. I think every person should have to go through marriage counseling- like it should be a rule! But they should also have to go through financial counseling- REAL financial counseling. Becuase we screw so many things up!

Dave and I have debt. Most people do. But it has been literally years since we have used a credit card! Everything we do is cash purchase! We are proud of this fact. We work hard to have enough and still save and still buy things we want! But if our financial situation changed and suddenly Dave and I were arguing about money I would just simply give up something! I would know that for a season I cant buy this or I cant buy that! It is called being a grown up! But this lady was talking about financial difficulties on TV to the point of marriage couseling and they were eating out at a restaruant where they got interviewed!

Sorry I am ranting but what she said just unerved me! It sounded so irresponsible. The couple said many things that just made me ache for their family situation! But than she said, "If we knew financial stuff was going to happen, I would have beenprepared!"

That is why you prepare before the stuff happens! Or at lease be on the right path!

People I implore you, take a Dave Ramsey course! Hear what the man has to say. I certainly dont do everything he says to do, and would be much better off if I did! But at lease implement some of his teaching and you will be so much better off than others!

Finances do not control us, we control them!

The new Indiana Jones Movie...

okay, I just now finally saw this movie. They had me at Hello to begin with.. I mean a new Indiana Jones, with Harrison Ford in it! Yeah. I just didnt happen to get around to seeing it at the movies, but I knew in good time I would see it in the comfort of my own home.


Well. I like the first part. I liked the second part okay. Um the third part was not so good!

I mean come on... Aliens?

Him surviving the nuclear blast in a refrigerator was more realistic than aliens!

I am sadly disappointed in ol' Indie!

I have ALWAYS been an Indiana Jones fan, I have seen them all! I have seen them all MULTIPLE times. But ALIENS! Really.

I did however enjoy Indie and Marion getting back together, I thought that was a nice touch!

Mom and Conner

To participate or not to participate... to discuss or not to discuss

So I had every intention of blogging about how we dont participate in halloween. I dont like to use the word celebrate because I think few people who participate in halloween actually celebrate it! But anyways. So as for me and my family we do not participate in halloween. We dont dress up, we dont give out candy, we dont visit church fall "festivals", we dont do anything. So I was already to blog about this and We Are That Family beat me to it along with about a hundred other blogs! But We Are That Family had some interesting links and some even more interesting links in her comments which last I looked was over 40 and they were worth reading. I will admit I was offended by a few of them and I had my say too but my problem is I feel judged for NOT doing halloween even though I dont judge people who do? How fair is that?

But I think I changed my mind... this is Prairie Chick's comment

I just convicted about writing that after having made a conscious decision last year to not discuss this topic ever again with other people based on Romans 14:22 "your beliefs about these things should be kept secret between you and God" (and the whole chapter). I think this is something we should all shut up about because the more we talk about it, the more damage appears to be done. having said that, can you please delete my earlier post? Thanks!

okay, I am a little confused by the post. I did not know that scripture meant to not talk about your decisions with people? Does it? If it does mean that than I feel convicted too and will try to not do it in the future. But I sometimes work things out by chatting with people! Dont you? The point being we shouldnt chat with people we should look at the Word and find the truth for ourselves???? Wow, I just wonder if that is what it means and I will be pondering about this for awhile!

I am not convinced the scripture means this and there might be a hitch to it, like dont discuss it with unbelievers? dont discuss it with a foolish person? dont continue discussing if it seems to be an issue? I am unsure! I would love your thoughts??? Or would that be not okay to ask for thoughts? I am at an impasse because I have always talked things out! Isnt that what we do??? Oh well I will ponder it on my own and let you know what I come up with! My dh is pondering too!

Fitness Friday

Okay here we are a week later! This week seems to have been a little harder. I dont know why though. I wanted to snack! It must have been last weeks snack post! Brenda you done me wrong!

No, really I dont think it was the post, it was just that kind of week. I pretty much stayed with my goals minus the water! Just cant seem to make myself do the water no matter how bad I want to! Hey Brenda maybe we should have a water drinking contest! I am competitive! I ate more carbs this week but they were during legitimate meals and still were no where in the ball park of what I would have eaten!!!

My goals this week are as before: but and here is the big but!

I am making water a rule! (I am a rule follower!)
I am also adding that I have to eat breakfast- it is to easy to skip and say I'll have a bigger lunch? That is defeating the purpose, completely!

So Brenda's topic today is if money and time weren't an issue what would you do to exercise. Well this isnt hard at all because I would hire a personal trainer! Someone to tell me what to do all the time! They would have to be really mean and have an accent! As all good personal trainers do!

No really I thought and the first thing I came up with is I would buy a gym membership. Um wait, hold on let me check my bank account..


Okay, I'm back. Yep YMCA just got taken out of my bank account. man I hate that, everyone month about this time money for the YMCA gets taken out of my account! I should really call the bank about that...Oh wait that's my GYM MEMBERSHIP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

So the next thing I took into consideration is time... yeah I cannot stand when gyms are really far away, and you spend more time driving to them than actually working out! That is a real pain.


Directions from A to B:
1: Start out going NORTH on HUCKLEBERRY LN toward EVERGLADE DR. 0.7 mi Map


2: Turn RIGHT onto PASADENA BLVD. 1.5 mi MapAvoid


3: Turn LEFT onto JASMINE DR. 0.4 mi MapAvoid


4: End at 1716 Jasmine Dr Pasadena, TX 77503 Map




Estimated Time: 6 minutes Estimated Distance: 2.58 miles


Okay I guess time isnt my issue! The problem is not money and it isnt time it must merely be ME!

I will work on that this week. You know what I am talking about...what I have to work on...my.laziness.

Tagged

Fiddledeedee tagged ALL of her readers with this...

Here are the rules:

Use the 1st letter of your name to answer each of the following questions.
They have to be real places, names, things. nothing made up!
You can’t use your name for the boy/girl name question.

1. What is your name? Carrie

2. A 4 Letter Word: coke

3. A Boys Name: Carson

4. A Girls Name: Catherine

5. An Occupation: coal miner (read this blog about a coal miners wife!)

6. A Color: coral

7. Something you wear: cotton???

8. A Beverage: again coke

9. A Food: cold pizza!

10. Something found in the bathroom: cotton balls

11. A place: Chicago!!!!!!!

12. A Reason for being late: caught on a phone call?

13. Something you shout: “Carry some groceries! Will ya!

Okay, I tag all of y’all.

Wordless Wednesday...

I gotta a haircut!

Um, can you guess which is the before and after pic????

I am so happy!!!!

25 Things about me...

1. I have lived in Texas my whole life.
2. I three kiddoes
3. I home school
4. I have been in a boat with piranha's in the water around me
5. I was induced 5 times with my first born- yes she is her own person
6. my hubbie and I went to high school and church together, we didnt date then!
7. I lost my wedding ring and wear a fake one
8. I have never been stung by a bee, wasp or any flying thing (knock on wood)
9. I worked on the Year book in high school and loved it (dh was on staff with me)
10. I am really, really bad at math and science
11. Yes I still home school
12. That is what I have dh for, he is genius!
13. I really love blogging!
14. I gave my wedding dress away ( I want my girls to pick their own)
15. I went on a lake cruise for my graduation/ non prom thing
16. I was married in Galveston at Moody Gardens
17. I have never smoked, done drugs or gotten drunk
18. I LOVE chocolate with nuts of any kind
19. I love kittens and puppies but not cats or dogs
20. I love to watch penguins and could do it for hours
21. My son is the last of the his Thompson line (he better have a boy)
22. I want braces
23. My dh is the first and only guy I've kissed!
24. My favorite fast food is Chick - fil - a
25. I dont really love reading the classics--I do it because I'm supposed to.

Patience...author unknown

Give me patience when little hands,
Tug at me with small demands,
Give me gentle words and smiling eyes
And keep my lips from sharp replies,
So in years to come when my house is still
Beautiful memories it's rooms may fill.

Pumpkin shot, Pumpkin shot, whereforeoutthou pumpkin shot...

Do you share my love of getting kids pictures taken amidst pumpkins lying in a muddy grassy area next to a busy street just so we can desperately feel "fallish". It is just plain silly! I dont know why I do it every year, but every year I am determined to get the perfect pumpkin patch picture. One year I went back twice, when the first batch didnt turn out - this was pre digital camera. I need a good pumpkin patch picture! It is necessary to my well being as a mother! But the why is what bothers me...and I cannot answer that question!

So yesterday we packed up and headed out, all the way across town to the "local" pumpkin patch! I gave my kids the talk- smile, look my way, move how I ask, look at the camera, be cooperative...it goes on. Than I promised them treats! You know cold hard cash if they would just give me my precious pumpkin picture I so coveted.

But alas, no "PERFECT" picture this year, I got some really cute ones. The kids did try pretty hard to be honest- they squinted and held their hands to their eyes as I moved all around in circles to get the sun behind them...do you know the sun doesnt move during the day but my kids insisted it was coming from all directions! We got together pic and some separate ones. I am happy with them and the more I look through them to find a "perfect" one I disappointed with myself... I wish I was content with my pretty good pictures. It was mentioned that it wasnt understood why I dont find my kids beautiful, all their pictures are beautiful. That is not it, nor is it my intent. Of course I feel all three of my kids are absolutely beautiful and they are beautiful in all these pictures but that isnt what I have issue with. I simply wanted that one perfect shot. Sun blazing down but giving me the perfect light, glancing off their blond hair and perfectly highlighting their beautiful angelic faces. their faces slightly turned upward, each with their eyes trained on the camera - you know the kind of pic where you think you can see what they are thinking... hands folded and in the perfect spot so that everything looks right. Just a perfect shot...but that rarely happens. I know they are kids... I know. What no one unless you feel the same way as me seems to understand is how important pictures are to me! I remember because of pictures, they are like my journal. I love all the funny, crazy ones that remind me they are kids and what they are like in that moment! Those are great! I just everyone once in a while -the photographer inside that desperately wants to come out---sees an opportunity for a perfect shot and I try to take it. Do you know a lot of wedding photographers take thousands of shots to get 20 good ones! The perfect shot is hard, it is almost unattainable but once you get it! You have it forever! It is captured. It is unending. It is perfect. But I love my pumpkin patch pictures and will proudly post them...but in the back of my mind and I am still waiting for that perfect picture! Maybe the camping trip, or Christmas or just a day at the park???

Fitness Friday

I didnt forget, I just simply had no time so I am breaking what I am sure is a bloggy rule and I am writing this on Saturday but going to change the post date in my post options so it will show Friday! But I am admitting what I am doing so I am sure I will be forgiven!


Anyhoo...Fitness Friday

I am doing pretty good actually. I did eat something fried, one eggroll one day and a few seasoned curly fries another day but no guilt! I dont like breaking rules so I will from now on refer to them as diet "guidelines"! I stayed on task other than that. I have definitely lost some weight or at least feel like I have in the -how my jeans feel department- so that is awesome! I bought a new pair of jeans at WALMART, so for any fat (I know that word is not politically correct but lets call it what it is) who has shopped at Target or Walmart know that their "fat" sizes are fake out sizes. A 3x is really like a 2x in a real fat store... So needless to say it has been quite awhile since I have shopped in their clothes departments. Well they have since gotten some new sizes that are larger but until recently I could not even fit into those sizes. Well I did yesterday! I got into a pair of blue jeans from Walmart. This feels to me like triumph!!! BTW I felt the need to stated that is not me in the jeans! It is a walmart model!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


Okay onto goals for the week and my diet "guidelines"...

approx 45 carbs a day (not counting some carbs if it like an apple or green beans at dinner.
drink water!!!!!!!! (still not doing this! Have to!)
no desserts even sugar free ones ( for first 6 weeks)
exercises ( still need to work on this)
no fried foods ( will try really hard not to do this but will if I can remain in calorie and carb range or close to it)


Okay for my Fitness Friday post...

What I am snacking on...

I am really trying hard to not do much snacking but when I do snack I get fruit, nuts, cheese. Those are the most common. I have tried to warm up real food as a snack if I was really hungry. I dont have some great new idea for a snack... which I did! I am drinking my diet coke now more for a snack/treat than a beverage all day long. Wow I am a boring snacker!!!

Um I couldnt possibly wait for another Wordless Wednesday, it was to good!

Picture credit

How do you like my new look???

Wow I think Shauna at SeeMyDesigns did a great job! Go check out her other blog makeovers! And she does Christmas cards too!

Okay, in honor of my blog makeover I am giving away a popcorn tub from the Big Popper, a company out of Branson, MO! We found it on vacation there and LOVE it! This popcorn is sooo addicting!

So the winner is...............

Heather at the eo

Heather has two rockin blogs Life is a Highway

and The Extraordinary Ordinary

Go check her out.

Thanks for all who played! Contests are fun so I plan to do more!

I won, I won, I won.....

I entered a raffle at Blah Blah Blog , she had a raffle to earn money for a car repair! With impending car repairs myself I paid the dollar raffle price and entered the contest! I figured if I planted seed money than God would bless us with the money to afford our own car repair. Over a few days I entered the raffle I think 4 times. This contest lasted a long time and I did not go check on it again, just the other day I remembered the contest! Well I won! I am the proud owner of a blog makeover by Seemydesigns.com I am so excited!!!! I was supposed to get a blog makeover from my hubbie for my birthday but Ike busted that idea! So not only did we have the dough to pay for our car repair (which was a transmission) but I won the raffle on top of it all! She got hold of me today and asked me for my ideas and already has my new header put together! Did I say I was excited!!!! So very soon in the future I will unveil a brand new blog! Yeah.

In honor of my blog look I have decided to have a give away! Leave me a comment any time between now and the unveiling and I will put you in a drawing (once for EVERY comment).

The give away is.....drum roll.

A popcorn tin from the big popper! Trust me this is a treat to be reckoned with! It is addicting! In fact if my mil is reading this blog, this prize just might possibly be reason enough for her to figure out how to leave a comment! (hint)

On this day in history...

Although I am grateful to Columbus for his mistaken route and inevitable finding of the wrong "continent", this is not who I am going to recognize today! I am giving props to Al Capone! It was on this day in history that Eliot Ness (although this is not proven, there is a possibility that Ness never even met Capone) got Al Capone on TAX EVASION. I love the 20's! I love gangsters, bootleg liquorr, Tommy guns, mistresses, the "Family", Chicago, pin stripped suits, armored cars! I love it all! I have always felt drawn to it! I love reading about the Valentines Day massacre, thinking about Las Vegas back in 'the day'! So I am going to talk about this day, the day the "man" was taken down, by a pencil pusher!

To be fair Eliot was an awesome man in is own right, he had righteous anger! He really didnt take down Capon, Frank Wilson did. Frank Wilson was a member of what is now called the IRS. During a search of a warehouse a desk with papers were found and Frank came up with mail fraud because they could not nail him on any other conviction! Capone served around 7 years in prison most in them at Alcatraz (which I desperately want to visit!)

Before Capone was imprisoned although he was the leader of this ruthless band of gangsters... considered himself an important part of the community, in fact he considered himself a leader of the community! He opened clinics to help ward off Rickets and during the Great Depression he opened up soup kitchens. His club, The Cotton Club, was visited very often by Bing Crosby. As the years passed by with more and more violence becoming known to the citizens, Capone became less of a celebrated figure and more commonly known as Public Enemy Number 1.

You wonder why I would choose this day in history and his life to celebrate, but its not about being proud of him or what he did or how he acted...its just a fascination with a man and this time period just simply amazes me, it was surreal.

Everything is just a choice...

Do you know what takes up most of our day? Choices. Everything is a choice. What we eat. What we drink. What we do. How we react. Who we call. Who we dont call. What TV we watch. How we handle our children. Where we drive. What we get done. It goes ON and ON...


We are just constantly making decisions, choosing. How do we ever know if we are making a good decision or even the right decision. Do you assume you made the right decision if things turn out okay or good? What if you had made a different decision and things could have turned out even better?

I have said before that there is no right or wrong choice, just a choice. But obviously we make wrong choices ALL the time. I have made millions of bad food choices or I wouldn't be so overweight. I have made tons of bad choices in the raising of my children (hey can I still correct that?) and probably will make tons more. I have made bunches of bad financial choices and am constantly paying for it!

But are they just bad choices or mistakes? What is the difference?

I think the difference is heart. I think the difference is intent. I had a discussion with a relative the other day about our decision to not read certain books or see certain shows. I have such a hard time with this! I mean we havent cut out all books and shows and sometimes our decisions to watch one show or read one book contradicts with our choice to not read a certain book or see a certain show. But my heart to make a good choice for my kids is absolutely at the forefront of my decision. I want to make the best choice. I struggle to make the best choice even though I know sometimes it will be the wrong choice.

So bad choices are inevitable.

The real critical moment comes when it turns out that you made a bad choice, that you deal with it and turn it around.

Yeah it is Fitness Friday

Well I have running around like a chicken with my head cut off, we had a garage sale today, Book club at my house and my kids still got some school done so I am feeling good! On top of all that at lunch time my family (except me) ate McDonald's! ( For all those who havent gotten the message the AFA has ended the ban and McDonald's has made some better business choices! So we rewarded them with our money after over 5 months of not doing business with them! But I was good and did not eat McDonald's! So anyway I did pretty well this week, one night I had the "I wanna eats..." but I banished them with a good food choice!

My goals for this week are as follows:

I will continue with my rules which are

no fried food

approx 45 carbs a day (I am deciding to not count all carbs, some items that are naturally high in carbs but God wants me to eat them like apples, banana's and lentils, I will not count)

No desserts even sugar free for the first 6 weeks

water ( I am just Not doing this but I am counting 4 cups of herbal tea day into my water count! Hey that is the best I'm gonna do folks!)

I would really like my goal this coming week to get out of the house and go to a park or for a walk a least three times! On Wednesday we walked to Walgreens (my reward was a diet coke). The kids after we reached our destination thought it was kindof dumb and asked why we didnt just take the car! Oh well I got a diet coke and I walked really far!

This week's topic was: What are you doing differently at mealtimes?

Well I am eating different foods, I am eating different amounts, I am aware of the foods I am eating and I am trying to not make food the reward!

Alot of times I just have no idea how much food I consume but here is an example.

What I would eat at Taco Bell

Mexican Pizza 213 calories 46 carbs

taquito's 128 calories 37 carbs

sour cream 43 calories 4 carbs

rice and beans 138 calories 19 carbs

large drink no calories or carbs just death in a bottle

Total= 523 calories and 106 carbs

Or what I would eat at Wendys

Chicken sandwich 330 calories and 34 carbs

large fries 550 calories and 73 carbs

large drink no calories or carbs just death in a bottle

Total= 880 calories 107 carbs

So think about that when I tell you I am basically eating around 15-25 carbs a meal!

Now that is doing something different!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Pride and explanations

So there was a great post on the Domestic Accident today. She talked about the media's intention to sensationalize the economic crises. She referred to a story that headlined and there are so many others like it. Men killing themselves over losing a house. I saw this headline yesterday and said to my dh how sad that it was that he would kill himself over losing a house. But it isnt just the house that he lost...he lost his pride and apparently that was worth killing himself over? I know that I am not that prideful but look at the history of America and especially the time of the Great Depression, during the market crash men threw them selves off of buildings downtown. It was pride.

How much pride do we really have...

Who can throw the most expensive birthday party for their kid?
Who drives the most expensive car?
Who has the most square foot in their home?

Now most people that I personally hang a round with are not like that, they dont attempt to keep up with the jones'. For the most part anyway or at least not in the excess of hundreds of thousands of dollars!

But yet they are still prideful, it is just in smaller numbers. If you dont have cable you feel like you need to apologize for it. If you dont have a somewhat new vehicle you explain why to everyone. If you dont go on a vacation and a friend does you feel the need to explain why you arent. Why is this? Pride.

We dont try to out do people neccesarily, we just show them we can do it just as well or here is our reason we dont... Always with the explanations. Why do we always feel the need to explain our situation. I personally always feel the need to explain my choices. I rarely can just say we decided blah, blah, blah and leave it at that. Now sometimes a choice basically requires an explanation or you want to give an explanation to describe something but generally the explaination job is to show why we made"x" choice so people will understand and agree with our choice.

Why when I have cable, do I not feel the need to explain my choice to a person without cable? I mean I dont go on and on about why I need to spend the extra money? Technically in truth they are making the better decision for whatever reason they are making it but I dont explain myself to them.

Now if a person is bragging that they dont have cable because of "x" reason I might feel compelled to explain why I do but its not always about pride, it might be about my repuation--I dont want this person to think i have cable for any reason other than Animal Planet and Fox News, or they will think I watch trash! Nope wait, that is pride too!

We all have pride, it is just a matter of how much pride.

But no matter what we own, no matter what choice we make or how much debt we are in (or how much debt we are NOT in)...we should not feel so much pride that we lose hope. We should know that there is nothing material we could ever lose or do without that is worth life.

Praying for my prideful heart today and for the families already in the midst of their own economical crises and that they find the hope of Jesus Christ.

Wordless Wednesday

picture credit