Everyone in our area stay warm on this cold day. At our house this Sunday morning it was 18 degrees.
Athens, Greece
Acropolis: The Porch of the Maidens (Ocbober 14, 2011)
The day had a nice coolness to it, the sky was blue, and the sun was shining. It was a pretty day in the city of Athens, Greece. However, it was so CROWDED! They may be in an economic crisis, but tourism is alive and well. The sites are ancient and wonderful, but it is so hard to step back and absorb the history that is around you.
Haven, Ammon, Carter, & Nana on the Acropolis
Acts 17:16-34 tells about Paul’s experience and sermon there. I particularly like verse 28 when Paul says concerning God, 28 ‘For in him we live and move and have our being.’ The living and moving doesn’t come from Zeus, Apollo, Hera, Athena, Thor, Quetzalcoatl, Chac Mool, money, cars, television, or any other “gods”.
On our tour that day we also had some delicious, traditional foods: moussaka and baklava. It was quite an educational day.
Ammon & Carter: Christ United Methodist Church
Jumping for Jesus
Carter, Ammon, Sean, and I just placed membership at Christ United Methodist Church in East Brainerd. Christ Methodist has been Carter and Ammon’s preschool since September, and it has been such a blessing for all of us especially for Ammon and Carter.
The video is with Mark Flynn, the pastor. I hope you enjoy this wonderful, short video. His Sunday sermons are equally wonderful.
The preschool experience at Christ Methodist this year has been AWESOME. The director, Kathy Lookabill, is an educator, a mother, a grandmother, and “works well with others”. It is not beneath her to direct traffic, carry children, pick up garbage, run errands for her staff, or any other such thing. She attends worship on a weekly, regular basis, and she is involved in BOTH the Sunday school program and the preschool program .
Kathy invited us to church last October, and we decided to go to see what it was like for Carter and Ammon. They love it, and we love it for them. The Sunday school teachers have helped with potty training, they have Bible lessons, and they sing church hymns. The parents and the children are so friendly, and we all seem to be connecting well together. There was also a special Christmas Eve service just for families with young children. EVERY child (member or visitor) who walked through that door was given the opportunity to be in the live nativity play. It was WONDERFUL. Ammon was an angel, and Carter was a shepherd.
Please wish us luck and prayers on our Christian walk especially the Christian walk of our beloved children, Carter and Ammon.
Hot Lemon and honey
Not doing well, but on the amends! Happy Tuesday!
Colds/Sinusitis/& an Answered Prayer
After reading about colds & sinusitis, come back and enjoy some of my latest works.
http://www.manaboutworld.com/?p=2266
http://www.manaboutworld.com/?p=2590
Okay, winter colds/sinusitis…. I have a crappy cold right now. booooooooooo!
Since I started my blog last March, I must not have had bout of sinusitis, because to my knowledge I haven’t written about it. The more I think about it the more I do believe it has been two winters ago since my last experience. The family and I had taken a cruise in the Southern Caribbean (St. Lucia, Barbados, Puerto Rico, St. Croix, etc.), and when we transitioned from warm weather back to cold weather, my sinuses had a “meltdown”.
I think my most incredible year that I escaped a cold and sinusitis was the winter of 2008-2009. During the work week, I had decided that the babies and I would sleep in our living room. I slept on the couch, and Carter and Ammon were nearby in their bassinets. That way Sean would not be disturbed, and he could wake up fresh for work. We would feed the babies around 10:30 at night, and put them down to sleep. Around 2:30 am, one of the two hungry babies would make a peep, and I would dash off of the couch, grab the baby, change it, feed it, rock it back to sleep, get it in back in the bassinet, and whether it was awake or not, do the same for the other baby.
One night after I gotAmm on and Carter back to sleep, I had a scratchy throat, and I was a little fatigued. I remember standing in the utility room bathroom praying, “God, I CANNOT get sick right now. I have to take care of Carter and Ammon.” 24 hours later I was fine! It was an answered prayer. This cold I have right now started like that one, but God helped me “erase” that cold because I couldn’t bear it and do what I was doing with my babies. I was so blessed and thankful that God answered my prayer.
For all you people who are experiencing winter colds, I am totally empathetic. Let’s all pray that we get better soon.
Christian Worship
I hope you all can find somewhere to worship today, or by the time you read this you will have worshipped. The fellowshipping, the singing, the prayers, the communion/Lord’s Supper/Eucharist centering on Jesus Christ…it’s all for our Christian fortification because we need it as we face our daily lives and jobs.
Hebrews 10:25- “Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another–and all the more as you see the Day approaching.”
Have a Blessed Sunday, Everyone!
Santorini, Greece
Welcome Santorini Fans! Isn’t it an exceptional & unique place!
October 18, 2011
On Friday evening, I was skimming through my photographs of last October’s cruise, and I could not believe that I had never shared about Santorini, Greece. It is a Mediterranean marvel. About 4,000 years ago, it was a complete, round island. However, a volcanic eruption blew off half the island and caused a huge caldera (a volcano crater).
Sean, Carter (can you believe he was napping?LOL), Ammon, & Haven
Our tour of the island was very enjoyable, and it included a black-sand beach. We also had a very good lunch, breath-taking views, and a tram ride back down to the ship that was phenomenal.
Notice the Star Princess anchored in the caldera
I hope you enjoyed this practical, real-life, look at Stunning Santorini. If you have a penchant for European Destinations, check out some of my other entries.
Give me a Google “Haven Caylor” for some of my other works and enjoy a few links as well.
Dollywood (Country Music Singer’s Theme Park) in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee
Old Dogs= New Habits
Carter gets a Kiss from Ferd: Carter, Ferd, & Ammon 7-18-2011
Once again, I am down to 3 coonhounds. At any given time in the past 8 years, the most I have had at one time is 5. Since 2006, Josh the daddy Coon hound, Marshal, our baby who lived in Hixson from 2004 until 2008, and Caleb have all died. When we first moved to our new home with the mountain, the dogs would sometimes stay out for 18-24 hours and would “worry the hair off of me” until they came home, but they always did.
Katie the mama coon hound will be 10 this year, and Ferd and Sissy will be 9. Praise the Lord, they are in a habit of going out anywhere between 7:30 am to 10:00 am, and they return before sundown. They will even go to their home in the barn, lie down, and wait for supper. It is such a BLESSING. I know a “true coon hound” will stay gone for many hours no matter how old they are, but my sorry coon hounds come home for dinner. LOL
Seriously, I am truly thankful to God that my canine babies come home like that. It is one less thing I have to worry about, and with Carter, Ammon, my house, my yard, and my new part-time job with Sean, I have a lot to worry about.
I love my dogs, and I pray for their health and well-being every day. They are blessings from God. Just a reminder….dog spelled backwards is God. Happy Friday.
All the below pictures are from July 18, 2011
Katie
Ferd
Sissy
Carter question…”Does Adele eat ham?”
I have had weight issues since I was in 1st grade, and I love to eat. I’ve had double chins, man boobs, pants that would not go over my butt, my gut hanging over my belt periods in my life. I also have stretch marks on my stomach and gluts where the ebb and flow of growing and shrinking fat cells have stretched my skin. Taking away a lot of fats and carbohydrates from my diet combined with jogging about 50 minutes a day help keep the weight off now. It’s hard!!
Okay, having said all that, I’m not poking fun at chubby people in this blog. Our household (Ammon and Carter included) like the music of Adele (“Rolling in the Deep”, “Set Fire to the Rain”, “Rumor has It”, etc.), and everyone who knows her can see how lovely yet portly she is.
Wednesday evening, Sean, Carter, and Ammon were watching an Adele video while I cleaned up some dinner dishes in the kitchen. I heard the music and then Carter says, “That’s Adele.” Sean then said she was heavier a few years ago. Carter asked, “Why is she fat?” Sean said, “Bless her heart. She is like us: she likes to eat.” Without skipping a beat Carter continued the interrogation with, “Does she like ham?” Sean and I burst into laughter! As we were laughing, Ammon added, “Does she like green eggs and ham?” like from Dr. Seuss. It was a priceless moment.
Ammon & Carter: Tuesday’s Learning Day
I truly enjoy watching Carter and Ammon learn. For over a year, I have written the ABCs in chalk in our driveway. I put them in a circle so we can run across them, jump on them, bounce a ball on them, or now drive tricycles and electric cars over them.
I also place their names in chalk and in huge circles as well, and Ammon started spelling her name Tuesday as she drove over the letters with her tricycle. I was so amazed. Carter came up, looked at his name and said, “I have two R’s in my name!” I nodded and said, “That’s right Carter!” Letters make words, and I can tell during our reading times that they will be reading soon. They are so blessed with good minds, and I am so grateful to God.
Have a great Wednesday everyone!
