UPDATED WITH SCRIPTURE: Wednesdays in THE WORD...

There have been some things swirling around in my mind... in my circle of friends, in my extended circle and the one after that...

Wives...how are you treating your Husbands? Do you respect him? Do you show that out and about? Do you show it in private when you are alone and the kids are screaming or you are running here and there?

How am I treating my OWN Husband?

I really think that God is laying on my heart sharing some wise insights from my BELOVED Pastor P who has since passed away...but he was my Pastor for 19 years that made it through my teen years and then married me to my best friend... I think he saw a LOT :)

Starting next week and I hope for the next few (8ish) weeks after that I'm going to share with you some notes I took during a sermon he preached LONG before Husband and I ever GOT together about ladies RESPECTING your Husbands... it now is a little skriddy piece of paper in Husband's Bible and I ran across it a couple of weeks ago right after witnessing some "newlyweds" not treating each other quite right...

Now do NOT mistake this for Country Mouse having it all together... that is BY FAR not the case... it is only just little nuggets of truth that I don't want to hold onto just for me and also a GREAT reminder for me... you also need to understand that I LOVE LOVE. Literally... anything that has ANYTHING to do in the Bible about me being a better wife I am ALL ABOUT IT... I love LOVE.... Ruth... yeah... pretty much one of my fav. stories... :) sad how she lost her first Hubby but COME ON... getting Boaz... he sounds fairly hot to me and what a sweet sweet romantic story :)

Let me know if this is striking a chord with you. Leave me a comment. Open yourself up and examine your own marriages. Those that are not married... tuck it away. Trust me. I did. You'll need it later. Those that were married in the past...and sadly are not anymore... leave a comment about what worked for you and what didn't. You still have MUCH to share with those of us who are in the thick of it right now with kids, homes, jobs, in laws, etc. Share. Let us learn from you.

Next Week: Do you speak to your husband in a condescending tone?

Proverbs 21:19 (NIV) Better to live in a desert than with a quarrelsome and ill-tempered wife.

Let's discuss.

Happy 7 MONTHS Minnie!!!

Minnie,

The past month was a BUSY one for yah!! You went in the lake and the pool for the first time... we have OFFICIALLY cut through TWO bottom teeth and you are working on the ones on the top, your dog passed away, you had your first "professional" photo shoot AND they used your picture in their store and you spent 5 days away from your Daddy...

You slept away from home with us for two nights and you did GREAT...you had play dates and started your summer vacation! Whew! You still love to sit and play with your toys and your FAVORITE place to be is OUTSIDE. You love it outside!!!

TiTi and I weighed you with Sky this month and we think you are around 16lbs and Auntie J.T. and I measured you and we're pretty sure you are 27 1/2 inches long but tough to tell since your favorite thing to do is wiggle and pound your legs into the ground.

You are still hit or miss with sleeping through the night...but the nights where we are up for hours are few and far between. (THANK GOODNESS. MAMA LIKES HER SLEEP!) Your naps are still sporadic and sometimes you go down for and hour and 40 min and sometimes a 1/2 hour... tough to tell with you. We still rock you to put you down and I know that's probably "bad" but you are just so high strung that it takes a lot to get you to relax enough to sleep. You fight it like nobody's business. Aunnie LuLu (Laura Jane) and I talked about that when she came to stay while Daddy was gone... trust me little one... you will LOVE sleep later on...

You don't have any real FAVORITE toys yet though I keep trying to get you to fall in love with your stuffed mini-Rebound for obvious reasons. :) Anything you can stick in your mouth and chew on is good enough for you.

I bought you a cover for the grocery cart and you are a BIG girl sitting up in them now looking around the stores at all the lights and things to buy. Don't get to crazy, Uncle L is the one who will buy things for YOu :) hee hee hee

You are wearing 3-6 month bottoms in order to fit around the waist and 6-12 in order for length. Tops are 9-12 months if they are going to be long enough. Shoes? What shoes? It's summer... :) You are still in size 2 dipes but we did buy a box of size 3's.

So far on your palate has been: Sweet potates, avacado, oatmeal and rice cereals, carrots, green beans, peas, applesauce and peaches. You were DEF. not psyched about the carrots but I think that's because Mama forgot to cook them before GA put them through your food mill :) whoopsie. We'll give those another try. Green beans are your fav along with your oatmeal cereal. If I want to get you to eat rice cereal I have to mix it with your oatmeal. I've made you all your food except your green beans, peas and applesauce and Daddy and I are taking a trip to Whole Foods to stock up on more things so that I can make other tasty treats for you.

Your first camping trip is coming up and we are hopeful the fresh air and busy-ness of your cousins will be enough to wear you out for naps and bedtime... but you are a tough one when it comes to sleep so we'll see... and so will the ENTIRE campground :) I'm not worried though... when all else fails we'll have Auntie the Entertainer and TiTi the baby-whisperer with us :)

6 months was so much fun Minnie Daddy and I can't WAIT to spend the summer with you. We love you lots and lots and get excited for each new development AND challenge :) Happy Birthday Baby Girl!!!

Introducing Minnie to Paradise...

On Tuesday Minnie and I drove 3+ hours NORTH to meet up with Husband coming off his guys week of fishing... we met him in my paradise and THIS time it was SO MUCH BETTER :) Remember LAST time?? :) Not a bad view from the back door of our "motel" room...

Minnie made new friends while Husband and I ate dinner and admired the view that is in the picture above... that's Mia on her right (the little white one) Marley the Pug and didn't catch this Sheltie's name... there was another one be-bopping around but he was a little more independent...

Snuggled up with Minnie's mini-Rebound even AFTER she had left the party

I'm pretty sure she thought it was paradise too... I mean... there were swings... and we all know how she LOVES the swings...

the lake... and HER DAD :) She was a REALLY happy girl... not a bad view from her swing...

"Maxin' and Relaxin'" as Titi says :)

Nothing is sexier to me than Husband playing with his girl :)

This is titled is "Uncle L, you BUY ME somethin'" ??

In the afternoon we took Minnie on the boat for the 2nd time...she looks happy enough...

until the dreaded SAFE life-jacket...

NOT.A.FAN.

Stud.

Minnie also got the opportunity to meet Aunt Audrey :) This is Grampa's sister and they are like two peas in a pod... it was neat to hang out with her and we hope to get up to see her again this summer...

GREAT TIME!!! :) Minnie slept through the night both nights and she LOVED paradise :) Lucky US! :)

Minnie LOVES the lake!

On Saturday Laura Jane and I took Minnie to spend the day at Joyce's lake... my girl is a fan. Lucky her. Lucky us. :)

She was NOT psyched about getting "out" of the lake :)

She is SO blessed to have an "Aunnie LuLu" that will get right down and dirty with her in the sand and water...LJ is NOT afraid to get dirty that's for sure :)

Me and my "OTHER" girl :) LOVE her, her generosity at letting us crash at her pad and blessing me...

is there ANYTHING better than a sandy beach bum?? :)

Sky and the Lake...

On Thursday evening Sky slept over to keep me company...Minnie was in bed before she got there so she was THRILLED to see Sky when she woke up... oh yeah, and I taught her a new trick since Husband has been gone... "Where's your nose?" :)

EVERYONE needs a Sky :)

I foresee many more convos with faces like this... "really? that's what you REALLY think Sky??" :)

Photos BY Sky...

After we got ready we picked up Daws and headed to spend the day at Tracy Michele's lake with Glory and her boys... you know I LOVE the lake :)

and so did these two...

this one loved it so much she fell asleep on the ground :)

it's kinda like "Where's Waldo".... "Where's Minnie"??

Dock splinters... nothin' like 'em :)