Just a quick somethin'-somethin'

Hello Pals. Long time no blog.
Let's see...where to begin. Since we last spoke, I have taught school every day, gotten re-certified in the proper way to restrain "out of control" kids, tried to be a good wife, a good mama, a good teacher, failed miserably at all 3, and painted about 45 of those Trick-or-Treat buckets. Yeah, that's right. The buckets are taking over. I told my pal Kristin (from The Family Fields) that all this crafting, while once fun, is now for the birds. Shawn and I got the bright idea to have booths at the local MASSIVE Cotton Pickin' Festival at the Old Baker Farm this weekend. He sold boiled and parched peanuts, I did my bucket thing. Until Saturday, Shawn had NEVER boiled peanuts, and I am not exactly known for my craftiness. Long story short, Shawny-Boy sold ALL of his almost 200 lbs. of nuts and I painted buckets until I grew sick of looking at them. People kept coming up to his booth asking for his secret recipe, telling him that they were the best peanuts they'd ever eaten. All I can say is "Thank you, Jesus." I was on the verge of hysteria Thursday night, bc he had NEVER practiced or cooked a trial batch, but we had 200 lbs of peanuts soaking in our garage. He ran his first test batch Friday and brought them to school to the "car-rider" ladies for a taste test. They LOVED them. So, he boiled. I painted. I stayed up until 2:00 am Sat. morning, and got up at 5. We were at the farm until 5pm, went to Mom and Dad's to eat supper, watch the Bama game (ROOOOOOOOOOOOLLL TIDE!), and get our sweet boys. Back home, straight to bed, up again at 6 , I got the boys ready for church, took them to Mom and Dad's, then back to the farm. While I am thankful for the money that we made, I am literally exhausted. I told Shawn that I seriously considered getting a sub for today, I needed a day off from my real job to recoup from my side job. But I went to school and taught. On fumes. Here are some lessons I learned this weekend while on the farm.
#1. I have awesome parents. They kept my boys all day Saturday and Sunday. My Dad played outside with them, my mom helped them make dough Christmas ornaments and let them paint them. They are great parents, and EXCELLENT Gigi and Grandaddy.
#2. It sucks not taking your kids to church. We NEVER miss church. NEVER. But I have now missed 2 Sundays in a row. Last week, I took Griffin to the after-hours dr. with an earache. This week I had the farm. As I was getting my boys ready to take to my parents to take them to church, I felt uneasy. It just wasn't right. I knew that we had this commitment that we made to The Bakers, and that it was a 1-time deal. But it isn't right, not taking your children to church. I am THANKFUL that my parents ALWAYS took me to church, and that Shawn and I always take our boys to church. Griffin showed us the picture he made in Sunday School. Oh, how I wish I had a video link to share. It was of a queen standing before a king. (OT king and queen) He said, "Mom-tee...I GOTTA tell you 'bout this. This guh (girl), she is Es-tah (Esther). And dis boy, he's da king. His name is Nez-a-bess-nevah (Nebuchanazzar). I LOVE IT!
#3 I may have a little craft in me, but I am a teacher. It's like I told Shawn and Kristin, I had fun, but I'm not going to go running of to join the craft show caravan any time soon.

Poor Jennifer Hudson. I like her so much, and now she's lost her mom, her brother, and her sweet nephew. I can't IMAGINE. Please say a prayer for her, and for her sister, Julian's mom.
More to come...I need to go to sleep.
AGM:)