This Mop is Sweet!!!!!!

This is not a paid endorsement…….as if there are thousands of people reading this and the Shark company is jamming my email with offers.  Sorry for the sarcasm.

For the people who are reading this blog, I had to share my enthusiasm for this mop.  I’ve never been one to use a bucket and mop.  I used the kitchen sink and I rinsed the mop after each pass on the floor.  I couldn’t imagine that dunking a dirty mop into dirty water then smearing it across the floor would result in clean floors.  If I was feeling really industrious, I got down on my hands and knees and wiped down every inch.  While I was down there I was praying to God that He would send His cleaning angels from Heaven to clean the floors.  That didn’t happen.  There probably aren’t any cleaning angels, because Heaven doesn’t get dirty. 

Our home has a lot of tile, hence my search for an easy, effective way to clean hard floors.  I’ve been using the Shark for a month.  The fact that I have actually USED it 3 times in that month is proof positive that it is awesome!!  It’s no big deal to get this baby out and glide it across the floor.  If you choose to watch this video….believe it!!!  Everything it says is TRUE!!!!

I also like the fact that I don’t need cleaner.  There is no chemical smell after I am finished.

I think you need one :)

 

Stuart & Peyton, a.k.a. Stuart

I believe I’ve mentioned before the fact that Peyton was nicknamed Stuart by his rodeo friends.  This was no accident.

Stuart Mazanec went to Heaven April 26, 2006, a year & approximately 8 months before Peyton. 

I think the similarities are striking.  Both long and lean with a love of the outdoors, hunting and fishing with their dads.  (and they love their mommas too)  Their last similarity was rodeo.  Stuart liked the bucking broncs and Peyton liked the bulls.  Stuart was at a bronc riding clinic when he had his fatal accident.  Peyton was bucked off a bull.  I found Stuart’s story on the internet when I “googled” rodeo deaths.  I believe God led me there.  I was compelled to read Stuart’s story because of the nickname. 

I read the article over and over, even looking at his myspace page regularly over a six month period.  Finally, I wrote his family.  His mom and I started emailing each other right away, sometimes several times a day.  Within a few months, Tom & I flew out to meet them.  I had never done anything like that before.  It was totally out of my comfort zone.  I anticipated the visit so much.  I had to keep telling myself over and over that I would not be meeting Stuart when we got there.  Even now, I miss a young man I have never met.

This picture is of the jacket of the guy who named Peyton, Stuart. (the birthdate is wrong, but it doesn’t matter)

Here is a decal that another rodeo friend had made.

I took these pictures with us on our visit, so Stuart’s family would know this whole “Stuart” thing was real and I wasn’t some crazy stalker.  They would have never thought that but I took them anyway. :)

We have a bond with this family unlike any other.  We love them and we love their son. 

I wrote all this to say, God is good.  He gives us promptings and leadings to bless our lives.  God prompted Peyton’s friend to call him Stuart.  I knew God wanted me to write Stuart’s family.  What if I hadn’t?  My life would be less if I did not know them. 

Right now the enemy is whispering in my ear, ‘why didn’t God warn you of Peyton’s accident?’  ‘why didn’t He tell you not to let him ride?’  I don’t know.  It doesn’t matter.  What I do know is that God loves me and cares for me in ways that I cannot fathom.  Satan would like it so much if I were to doubt God.  It’s not going to happen.

Please do not comment that “everything happens for a reason”.  I wrote how I feel about that in this post.

Here’s a few more pictures, just because.

Oh Stuart, I wish we were ALL there.  I know you and Peyton are having a great time.  I can’t wait to meet you.

Summer Re-cap

I read some tips for a successful blog.  One of them was to write………everyday……………I don’t think that’s going to happen.

I haven’t told much about our summer around here.  It was hot.  It was very hot.  It was very hot and humid.  (see how the creative juices are flowing?)

Tom grew a garden.  Not his greatest, but like I said, it was hot.  I found out homegrown broccoli is the best thing ever!!

 

The watermelons were very tasty too.  It was hard to wait

for them to ripen.  I was told no watermelon is going to be ripe before the 4th of July.  So I waited, and it was worth it.

 

 

I pickled some banana peppers. (sorry, no picture of those)  It was my first time to try these and they turned out pretty good.  We also froze some of the broccoli and it is good too.  I have zucchini & yellow squash frozen to put into some soup this fall and winter. 

Burke found a baby raccoon.  It’s mother had been run over, so he took the baby home to raise it.  Jimmy the raccoon is bigger than this now, but these are the most current pictures I have.

 

I took out my contacts one night, turned around to go to the bathroom and saw this in the floor.  It’s a snake, a small snake, but still a SNAKE, IN MY BATHROOM!  Tom came to my rescue and got it outside and put an end to it’s menacing creepiness.  I guess I wasn’t too scared, I did take a picture of it. 

Those are the highlights of our summer.  Anyway, those are the things I have pictures of.  Our summer was quiet and blessed.  Teenagers popping in periodically, cookouts, homemade ice cream, family dinners, good books, great church, baby sitting :) etc. 

I hope your summer was blessed too.  I am ready for fall and all the things it brings, hunting, football, bonfires, potato soup and all things delicious.

I don’t know if writing something everyday is for me.  I like to have something to say when I post, but sometimes you don’t know you have something to say until you get started.

Thanks for reading :)

Mouths of Babes

Yesterday, Tom went to the track to get in his 4 miles.  When he got there, he saw a friend and his 10 yr old son in the parking lot.  The dad was talking on the phone so Tom went to the son’s side of the truck and began talking to him.

Tom:  You going to shoot a crossbow this year?

Boy:  Yes (with big smile on his face)

Boy:  Do you have a boy?

Tom:  Yes

Boy:  Where is he?

Tom:  In heaven.

By this time the dad had finished up his phone call and he told his son, “you know who it is, he was a bull rider.”

Boy:  PEYTON JACKSON?  He’s famous!!

That boy will never know what that did for Tom.  I know Tom’s been having a hard time as hunting season gets closer and closer.  He’s been scouting some and I know he misses his favorite partner so much.

God knew what Tom needed at that moment and he used a 10 yr old boy to provide it.  He loves us more than we can comprehend.