Mission Impossible

Go ahead take a second and hum the theme song in your head...

(dum, dum, dum-dum, dum, dum...)

You can't help it, can you? Funny, but not the point of this post. The actual point? I have decided to do the impossible! Well, to try to do the impossible. In the season of sweets, treats, and gluttony in the name of Christmas cheer I, Amie Sexton, being of feeble mind and somewhat disproportionate body, do hereby and not withstanding solemnly make known my intentions by means of declaration to be administered on this 30th day of November 2007; thus and such and so forth, yadda, yadda...to lose 6 pounds by Christmas Day.

Yeah, yeah, I see you rolling your eyes and scoffing my efforts but I will not be deterred. Here are my reasons for insanity.

1. The mirror. 'Nuf said.

2. The Biggest Loser -I LOVE this show! Tim and I watch it every week and it inspires me. It inspires Tim, too, in his own special way. He can't seem to watch it without suddenly craving a bedtime snack. Bizarre, I know. He's watched an entire episode while downing Hershey kisses that are lovingly tucked inside marshmallows. Gives new meaning to the show title. =)

So why 6 pounds? Hmmmm. Because five seemed blase and 10 seemed unrealistic. But six feels just right. The Biggest Loser people are dropping 6 lbs in a week -never mind the 24 hour gym access and personal trainers. I won't be discouraged by reality. Speaking of reality, a big shout out to Michelle Woolverton. I wasn't expecting to bump into my conscience in the WalMart aisle but there it was, embodied by Miss "state the obvious". I had just reached up and grabbed two (yes two) 1/2 pound bars of Hershey's milk chocolate. I tried to explain: "I know myself well enough to know that I need an out, of sorts. Just a little treat to keep me from over indulging." With eyebrow raised, Michelle said "and that's why you need two of them?"

Just between us, I never really liked those Woolverton's. ;-)

I give you all permission to hold me accountable for the next four weeks. You can ask me the hard questions (i.e. Did you exercise today? Have you already eaten the entire Hershey bar? etc.). And I will try to keep you posted on my progress.

My starting weight is ... 125 lbs! You didn't really expect me to give you my REAL weight, did you? Heck no! But this pretend weight will do for our purposes. Wish me luck and supernatural self-control. Say it with me: sweet potato pie is of the devil...pumpkin pie is bad...cheesecake is...is...I'm gonna have to pray about that one.

Revisiting the barn

You may recall from our barn-dwelling days, the vast amount of wildlife we got to endure, er, enjoy. You may also remember this post regarding our mystery creature. We took the guesses of our reading audience and in the end awarded Mrs. Bobbey Sakoman the crown for recognizing a woodchuck and Leslie for being a rodent behind expert. Ladies I hate to tell you this. We were wrong. All this time later it took public television reruns of Marty Stouffer's Wild America to set us straight.



It turns out that we had a Fisher (sometimes known as an American Marten). Good ol' Marty and his wife took in two orphaned fishers and we got to enjoy watching them grow and learn to hunt and all the time I was thinking, that looks so familiar. So, we do regret to tell Bobbey and Leslie that your title must be revoked. We hope you've enjoyed your 7 month reign and all the perks that went with it. Please return your tiara's and sashes back to us within the week.
;-)



And now, a new queen must be crowned! Drum roll, please.

Congratulations Kris Meadows!

How foolish we were to doubt you when you even included a photo link in your comment. You are wicked smart and we offer our deepest apologies and highest regard for your wildlife prowess!

Happy Thanksgiving

What a day! I don't know about you guys but I'm beat and I don't think the crash point from WAY too much sugar and carbs has even hit yet. We had such a great time enjoying food and fellowship with friends and neighbors. We had about 10 adults and 14 children for lunch plus 4 adults and 4 additional children who just came for short visits. Yet somehow ye old double wide is still a-standin'. Here are some pic's and commentary on the days fun.

Mamoune and Jayla helped me make pecan pies and cheese cookies the day before. They were pretty good helpers and were kind enough not to eat all the ingredients before we could get them cooked. And they took great pride in wearing the evidence of their hard work. Jayla's grandmother lives across the street and when they aren't fighting like sisters these two are great friends.

Isaiah was much more interested in playing outside with Nathan and the other boys while the work was being done. Yet somehow he showed up just in time to lick the bowl. He has a sixth sense about these things. Don't even try to unwrap a piece of candy within a 100 miles of this kid. He will come outta nowhere with ears cocked at alert and ask (as if he doesn't already know) "are you eating something?"

You've heard the expression "barking up the wrong tree"? Well, this is what happens if you do that at our friend Roger's house. It was a beautiful morning to skitter around, gathering nuts and acorns for the winter months to come until... BAM! (and I don't meant that Emeril Lagasse style) Don't tell me we're the only ones to boast of our traditional Thanksgiving squirrel?

Just so ya know, I took a bite. A tiny bite. But having just been listening to Alvin and the Chipmunks singing "All I want for Christmas is my tooth front teeth" (which in and of itself is ironic given their propensity toward large incisors) I couldn't shake the image of this little guy scurrying about the yard with his fur still on. shrug.

Here's the adult portion of the crew (adultness based on chronology not maturity =)) plus Elijah. Bella was napping and the rest of the entourage of younguns was outside playing and we were not stupid enough to call them in for the picture. Thus the smiling faces.

And here we have evidence of a startling discovered made today. Apparently, overeating promotes hair growth. Just two more pieces of pie and Tim could've busted out his best Cher impersonation. If only he could turn back time. ;-)

Lastly, Bella and I were missing from the photos today because I tend to be behind the camera and she tends to nap. So, here's a day before shot of us.

Only a truly sweet baby girl could manage a smile while a nose is being driven through her eye socket and penetrating her cerebral cortex.

I do want to say on a serious note how incredibly thankful we are for our families and friends and for our Amazing God who blesses us beyond anything we deserve. And lastly, you've heard mention of my grandmother (Mamabel) several times if you read this site. She is a very precious lady to me. Thanksgiving is a bittersweet time for both her and my father and uncle because my grandfather passed away on Thanksgiving Day just a few years ago. After his death, I compiled some of the stories they had shared with us over the years (my Papaw was quite a story teller) and created a short book in their honor. I am going to download it chapter by chapter on my "literary dumping ground" site for anyone who might be interested. You can click here or use the link to the right. Also, I will try to download it in the correct order so that you won't have to scroll and read from the bottom up. Hopefully that will work. It's a great story (the real one not so much my writing of it) and I hope you will say a prayer for Mamabel during this season of sweet and sad memories.

We love and are thankful for each of you!!!

Filler

A little trick I learned from the master blogger Livesays. When you don't have time to write something clever -fill in with pictures.

Preparing for her breakout session at next year's Women of Faith conference.

Stashing her liquor (that she doesn't want the Women of Faith people to know about)

"It's apple juice, people. Really."

What do ya mean "walk a straight line"?

Our friend Gloria and her 11 month old, Elijah, have been staying with us for a couple of weeks. Elijah is one of three children that I have had the pleasure of seeing come into the world. The first was my nephew, Jordan. The second was TJ, the son of really good seminary friends. And then came Elijah last December. It's so cool that I've gotten to see this miracle so many times without ever having to personally hoist my knees behind my earlobes. ;-) God is good.

Elijah and Bella are buddies. And despite waking each other at crazy hours, occasional hair pulling, and pacifier snatching, they have been enjoying each others company. Elijah greets Bella in the mornings with his signature "uuuuuuhhhhhhhh!!!!" Which I assume translates into something really sweet like "good morning, sweetheart." Then, when I lay her on the floor for her bottle, he will crawl over, gently kiss her on the head, and then rip the bottle from her hands and try to guzzle it down before the adults come to her rescue. It's a love/hate relationship.

And while we don't normally promote pre-marital coed bathing, here are some fun pictures of them getting cleaned up for church.

For you, Heather!

My friend Heather, who is in France (cryingoniontears.blogspot.com) has ever so subtly asked me to update the blog. =) I guess you all have been looking at Nanny McPhee for quite a while, huh?

Things have been hectic around here. Lots of needs, lots of opportunities to serve others. Oh, and lots of completely selfish thoughts like -if you have a question, need help, need encouragement, need prayer, or just need a sympathetic ear -TOUGH! I'm all tapped out so back off. Yep, real Christ-like ain't it? Well, clearly I haven't said this to anyone and on most days am not quite ready to peel my skin off my own body but it remains true that serving is hard. It requires a certain level of sacrifice, and sacrifice requires a certain level of selflessness, and well, selflessness doesn't leave much time for self. And that is where it all comes down, doesn't it? I'm a loser.

But I'm fighting my loserness and I suppose that's worth something. I will be teaching/sharing at a class tonight at church and am rather nervous. You can say a prayer for me if you think of it.

Heather/Cammie -I know this wasn't much but hopefully it will hold you over for a day or two. =) Love you.

Halloween Fun

There are lots of different opinions about Halloween out there and I have no desire to debate the issue on this blog. Let's just say it falls under Romans 14 and we will "let each be firmly convinced in his own mind." That said:

What do you think? Not bad for last minute thrown together stuff from the Goodwill. The hat (which I had to spray paint) wasn't quite black enough; my moles were backwards; and my tooth was a bit longer than necessary but you gotta give me credit...I was working that uni-brow. =) Nanny McPhee is one of my heroes. I love the movie and HIGHLY recommend it. It's like a parenting 101 class. This is what I love about her:

-She expects children to behave

-She uses very few words

-She carries a very big stick

What's not to like?

Last year, I dressed up as another of my heroes --the wife of our Pastor of Counseling, Louise Thornton.

Fun, fun. I think I enjoy this holiday even more now than I did as a kid. I have no pictures of the kids in their costumes. Loser mom. Sorry. Partly because they had stripped out of them (they were clothed underneath) within 5 minutes of getting to our church carnival. You can't slide down big blow up things while wearing capes and light sabers. shrug. It was quite a night though. There were 2 adults and 5 kids in my van. And two adults and eight children in the church van that Tim drove. Here are some random pictures of the crew as best I could keep up with them:

Angela -the bee keeper

Nathan on the mechanical bull.

Javon on the bull.

Princess Gloria

Spider-Elijah and Yoda in the background.

Tim went dressed as a Pastor. Original. Oh wait, he wore his Panthers hat. So, that made him a pastor/Panther's fan. He goes all out for these things. =)