….no, my trips to the Little Debbie thrift store have not caused me to have cavities!  LOL ;o)

Happy Tuesday folks!

Monday morning held a schedule that was out of the ordinary.
It was my semi-annual teeth cleaning and check-up day. I started going to
Hamilton Family Dentistry almost a year ago, and I really like Dr. Bradley Brewer
and his staff. When I asked him when he suggested bringing in children, he
recommended that they be at least 3 years old. Now, Carter and Ammon did not
have their teeth cleaned, but I wanted them to go with me yesterday to build
their schema for their future trips to the dentist.

Mamaw accompanied us, and for about the first 10 minutes,
Carter and Ammon did great. They were very interested and watched what the hygienist
was doing. I was very proud of them. However, Mamaw decided that they were getting
to “wired up”, and she took them out in the lobby for the last 10 minutes. The
morning wasn’t over after my appointment. Carter, Ammon, Mamaw, and I all had
lunch together, and we headed to the house. Before we returned home, Mamaw decided
that she wanted some Little Debbie snack cakes, so we dropped by their thrift
store. I learn so much from watching grandparents. Mamaw allowed Carter and
Ammon to choose their own boxes of snack cakes, and then she gave them the money
to pay for them. Ammon and Carter seemed so grown up handing their money to the
cashier. I am so glad my children have their Mamaw to help build their life
skills and more importantly their character skills.

Ammon and Carter have been helping pick up toys for over a
year now. They can also clean tables and chairs with towelettes. We have very
rarely made cleaning into a game, and they seem to understand that it is a
chore that has to be done. I was so excited today when I decided to recycle
some water that was put into Carter and Ammon’s turtle wading pool on
Wednesday. On Friday evening, I decided to take several buckets full of water
to our rose bushes for watering. These have to be the HARDIEST roses I’ve ever
seen. Mamaw got them for me on my 39^th birthday which was also my
first birthday here at this house. The pink rose bush has even been mowed down,
but praise the Lord had established good roots! Okay, so I simply asked Carter
and Ammon to help me, and they did! In total, we carried three buckets of water
(per rose bush) to the roses. I was so proud of Ammon and Carter for helping. I
am sure some of you have children and grandchildren who do far more than this,
but it was so nice that they volunteered to help. I bragged and bragged and
thanked them several times! I hope and pray we will never have chore issues
here, but I am preparing myself if we do. I hope everyone has a wonderful
Saturday.

P. S. We also want to let our friends and relatives know
that we are praying for very little property damage and no injuries or loss of
lives during the East Coast’s Hurricane Irene weekend. God bless you all!

No Ammon and Carter = no Sponge Bob, Yo Gabba, Gabba, Dora, Fairly Odd Parents, etc.

Carter and Ammon are spending more with their Mamaw. I
always miss them so much while they are gone, but like my good friend Claire
Lane (a wonderful mother I must say) said a few days ago, “Babies need a break
from us just like we need a break from them.”  I do get several chores completed, articles
written, and UTC teaching responsibilities taken care of while they are gone,
but one thing I get to do that rarely happens while we are together is to watch
the television shows I want. You know what the sad thing is? I crave to watch
the news!  Arrrrrrrrrrrrrrrgh! I remember
when I was 13, would visit my Nanny Caylor, and be bored out of my mind for an
hour when she watched the news! LOL

The autumn of 2008, I had started teaching online for UTC,
and I was also preparing the house for the birth of Ammon and Carter. It
was also, unfortunately, national election season! I had become so disgruntled with
the mainstream media’s coverage of the election until a good friend told me to watch FOX News (nationalcable not local). This is not a promotional for FOX News by no means, but from the logical, analytical, and pensive mind of Haven, its news is the best for me.
Now, three years later while Ammon and Carter are out of the house, FOX  News stays on while I am in the house
cleaning. The news casters are almost like family now. I am a Facebook friend
with one of them, and the last time we were in New York City staying at 46^th
and Times Square (two blocks from the FOX News building), I got up at 6:30 am,
ran over to the building, and shouted “Happy Birthday” to Brian Kilmeade (FOX
and Friends) who shares a birthday with me. He was doing an interview outside. I
really like FOX News, and I highly recommend it.

Who needs a swimming pool? (Carter-8-23-2011)

It sure has been hot, but it is summer! Each season has its
fun and wonderment. We are looking forward to cooler weather, hay stacks with
pumpkins, leaves of different colors, and the anticipations of frosts,
Halloween, and Thanksgiving; however, we will miss the fun and frolic of
summer. We took these pictures of water fun on Tuesday. It was hilarious watching
and listening to Ammon and Carter enjoy the water hose and mop bucket, and I
wanted to snap some photos and share the moment with you all. Have a great
Thursday everyone, and try to gain some sort of enjoyment out of our heat wave.

Ammon & Carter's water hose fun (8-23-2011)

On April 21 of this year, I wrote to you all that I would
not bother you all again regarding the number of views I had on the blog until
I  reached 5,000, and HERE IT IS! Woo
Hoo! On April 20, I had reached 1,000, and I was so proud. Well, I am so
excited with 5,000 views as well: Excited, humbled, and grateful. These six
months of sharing with you all have been so fulfilling. My heart and soul are so
filled by all of you who have encouraged me and thanked me. I thank you all,
again, for coming to the blog to share in my life. My next goal is 10,000
views, and I will let you know when we make it! Love, Haven

If someone you know and love has gone back to a
college or a university this semester, be sure to wish them luck and pray for
them. It may be you returning to school! A good friend of mine, Remell Hall, who was also my adopted grandmother did not get to see me complete my doctorate; however, she did help me get
through my all my class work before my dissertation (all that research,
collecting data, and reporting on the data). She died in 2003, and I defended
and completed my dissertation in 2006. Because of the prayers she as well as
dozens of others lifted up to God on my behalf, God helped me get through those
years.

Some people are blessed to not have to work and can devote
100% of their time to their studies, but some of us have not been that
fortunate. I always worked part time during my undergraduate degree, but during
my masters, specialist, and doctorate degrees I worked full-time. It was so
difficult. The worst was the last two years of my doctorate when I was 700
miles away from my supervising professor, and it was ALL UP TO HAVEN to
complete it. Oh, well, I made it, and I know it was with the help of my dear
friend, Remell and all the others who were praying for me. I would also appreciate you letting me know if you are one who is returning to school as well. I will definitely add you to my prayer list.

My Dear Friend, Claire Lane

For several months I have wanted to write a few words about
my friend, Claire Lane. She has been an educator for nearly 30 years. She lives
and teaches in Hamilton County. She is a spectacular lady, educator, and sister
in Christ. In November of 2007, Claire helped hire me to work at Hixson High
School. I was hired to finish the school year in a Spanish position abruptly
left vacant! I loved working with Claire. In February of 2008, I explained to her about
the in vitro fertilization process I was going through, and she was so
supportive!

Since the birth of Carter and Ammon, I didn’t see much or hear much from Claire until I found her on Facebook several months ago. Now, God has put us back in each other’s paths. Claire is so wonderful with children and Ammon and Carter are crazy about her. She is also contemplating worshipping full-time with St. Martin’s Episcopal Church
where Sean, Ammon, Carter, and I attend. Claire sat with us during worship
yesterday, and it was awesome. Singing, praying, listening to a gospel sermon,
and taking communion side by side with Claire was such a spiritual boost for me. When
service was over, Ammon grabbed Claire’s hand, dragged her to the foyer, chatted with her, and enjoyed her company. Okay, I could write and write about Ms. Claire. We love her and appreciate her dearly. Claire, we hope you don’t mind the photo. We will change
it if you wish ;o)

I cannot believe the courage Carter and Ammon have! They can
be apprehensive and cautious, and I really like that; however, they can be such
dare-devils! We went to Julie, Caden, and Kobe Stoke’s house on Saturday
evening to swim, and they have pool slide that when you climb to the top, it is
about 7 feet tall. Neither Carter nor Ammon “blinked an eye” when they slid
down into the pool where Sean was waiting! When Carter came up out of the water
he yelled, “Do it again!”, so he did over and over. Ammon did it as well. I am
so glad they are not afraid of the water, and I’m glad they are braver than I
was a child. Have a great Sunday everyone!

During the past 10 days, Ammon and Carter have been
practicing being doctors. They have treated Sean at the hospital for the
hiccups, driven to work to their doctors offices in their “Flintstone” cars, and
actually helped take care of Mamaw’s wasp sting the other day. On Friday, I
remembered a Christmas gift each of them got last year: a doctor’s coat with
doctor’s instruments. They had not seen it in 8 months, and they LOVED IT! Will we
have two more doctors in the family in about 27 years? It’s possible. I hope
everyone enjoys their Saturday! Take care.

Dr. Carter (8-19-2011)

Dr. Ammon (8-19-2011)

The summer of 2008 I made several charitable contributions
to some Chattanooga organizations. One of them was to the Partnership for
Families, Children, and Adults (The office on McCallie Avenue is our hub). The
day I went to Partnership I met a wonderful lady named Ann Gunter. Every time I
make a donation, I prefer to go in person so I can talk with Ann. She has been
my friend since before Carter and Ammon were born, and she has watched them
grow these past 3 years. She is a wonderful lady, and we appreciate her work at
Partnership. She is also so loving and giving to Ammon and Carter.  On Thursday when we visited, Ann gave them a gift bag with stickers, fun straws, candy, and snack sets for
snack time! They love it all!

Partnership helps so many people. I cannot begin to list
everything they do, but I have donated to help abused children and to the elderly
in instances where an older person is still independent but needs a helping
hand with buying groceries, postage stamps, paying a utility bill, or whatever,
Partnership provides that assistance. Thank you Partnership for all you do, and
thank you Ann! You’re great!

www.partnershipfca.com

423-755-2822 (Main Office)