I'm not superstitious, but some things do make you a bit more anxious or on the alert. I won't write a book like I usually do, but I'm feeling the pulls on my heart tonight.

TWENTY years ago in Sept 1991, my dad died. I just can't believe it has been that long. Still miss him and hate that he has missed so much of our lives. TEN years ago in 2001, Sept 11 happened. And now I'm hoping the wildfires burning across Texas tonight are the worst of Sept 2011. Praying for everyone affected so much by the drought and now the fires.

May God have mercy on the physical distress as well as on our spiritual state,
Sharon

Wonders never cease. After 19 years of marriage and thinking I know my husband pretty well, we have a CAT in our house tonight!

Even in the past 2 weeks, I have told 2 different people that we would never have a cat because Toby does *not* want one. Anytime the subject of getting a cat has ever come up, he has said "Nope" as fast as you can finish mentioning it. Since I am a dog person who happened to have cats most of the time growing up, I enjoy a cat but was just fine without one, so I never pushed the issue.

So, today he calls and says there's a stray kitten at his work--and now it is at my house, totally Toby's decision! Ha!

We insisted Toby name it so that when he is hating that cat I can say it is ALL his cat ;-)

So, the little starving blue-eyed Siamese mix is carrying the name "Naji", which means "Survivor" in some far East language.

This little kitten survived the hottest August in Texas, and today was his lucky day. Let's hope he is good at pretending not to be a cat so he doesn't make Toby change his mind!

Wishing you all some rain this weekend...
Sharon

I'm having a late-afternoon snack of some of the cornbread Michaela made for us last night. We were having left-over chicken soup last night and I was thinking of what we could put with it, when she offered to make cornbread for us. So, while I made grilled cheese sandwiches, she mixed up the cornbread...and it is yummy! (Of course, I like to top it with a little honey :-)) She did everything except pour the batter in the pan and put the pan in the oven. Not bad for a 6 yo! ETA: I forgot to mention that it was not a packaged mix...she mixed it up "from scratch."

And Justin helped me do the yard this morning :-)

I do not typically do the yard anymore, but Toby is very busy with work and has little time for the yard. We have learned how embarrassing it is to have the yard that sits between two houses that have their yards done professional every week *year round* (they even seed the winter grass so their yards are green all winter...sigh...our standards are going to have to go up!). So we asked the landscaper who does our neighbors' yards, and it is more than we want to pay someone else, so we've decided to train Justin and get a two-fer. He learns a good skill that he can use to make some cash over the next few years, and a skill of doing his own yard well as a grown-up, and we eventually pay him alot less than we would pay the professional. For now, he's going to help me until he can eventually be trusted to not whack big chunks out of the lawn with the weedeater LOL (which he hasn't done, but I'm right there with him!). He did a great job this morning, and I look forward to him being able to do more and more of it and the yard being maintained *weekly year round*!!!!

Just had to share the fruits of a few years of training!

Hope you're all well,
Sharon

We are thrilled to announce to the world that our son was baptized into Christ this morning!!!

We were cautious due to his young age, but there is no doubt that he understands. We've spent alot of time answering his questions and looking at scriptures to ensure he understood not only the "why" of it, but what the commitment is, and the consequences if he turns away from serving the Lord later. I am confident that he will not ever need to worry about whether he really understood at this age because there was no way we could keep him from it based on his answers.

When our preacher Charles Willis was satisfied that he understood, he tested him by asking when he would want to be baptized. Justin answered, "Right now!" so Charles said "What if the water is really cold?" and Justin said "I don't care!"

The water *was* really cold, and he didn't care.

Welcome to your walk with the Lord, Justin!

O, happy day, happy day, when Jesus washed your sins away!

God bless,
Sharon

I've been inspired to write an update here. It seems that pleonast has faded in the limelight that facebook is enjoying. I still say I prefer pleo-type blog entries over the short-and-sweet style of fb, but what can you do? Haha Overall, I am thankful for whatever methods of keeping a small amount of updates and contact with old friends who we are not in direct touch with. I love to see others' families grow and know how fellow Christians are doing.

So, we are settled into 2011 after a very eventful 2010. Thankfully, it was a quiet hurricane season, so not nearly as eventful for us as the two preceding years, but busy in its own rights. We are thoroughly enjoying our current home, and are enjoying sharing it with others whenever we can. I was very honored to have a friend tell another person lately that she has been to our house alot and "loves going to the Dunn's house." That is a huge improvement over the years of me working from home while homeschooling and my house never being presentable enough to even think of having anyone over. I highly recommend a full focus on homemaking...it is very fulfilling!

Toby's work is still worrisome at times, but it is hanging in there and seeing some improvement in sales in recent months, so we are guardedly optimistic that things will begin to look up for them. Like so many businesses, they have had a merger and several rounds of layoffs in the past 2 years. We have not seen a raise in several years, but we are grateful to have a job and--dare I say it-- not to have to move anywhere for another one!

Justin is in 5th grade and is just an all-around good student. He has an amazing reading level for his age, and is handling real Shakespeare fairly well, and is enjoying books such as Robinson Crusoe (he asked if we can read that one again sometime) and Oliver Twist. He is also recently enthralled with all things military and on his own probably knows more about World War II than I do! He is also crazy about Nerf wars. His continued interest in reptiles has finally reaped the rewards of a pet leopard gecko. He did all the research while he waited to save up his own money for everything he needed, and he takes care of it all himself. So, welcome "Rex" to the family!

Michaela has taken off reading, and we decided to begin her 1st grade work in January. She is doing well with it, so I guess we'll be half a year off schedule for her. She turned 6 in December, so I do not feel she is too young to be a bit ahead. In the meantime, we are preparing for her to have a real kindergarten graduation with her homeschool group in May. Michaela gained a new beta fish while we frequented the pet stores. His name is Charley. Last Saturday, Michaela had her best chess tournament ever, winning 4 games out of 5 and bringing home a big ol' trophy for tying for 2nd place.

Ike, the dog, is still around and is looking forward to his 2nd birthday next month. He is also sporting quite a winter's coat that I'm sure he will enjoying shedding all over our house this spring. :-) But I still love collies! He recently survived his first ear infections...I think that came from when I let the kids give him a shower instead of a bath...bad idea... but we home remedied with diluted vinegar twice a day, and it worked wonderfully.

Let's see...I'm too busy for anything for myself! As usual, I am trying to maintain an exercise program. This year it is crunches/situps every day with other toning two days a week, and walking on the treadmill every day I can fit it in somewhere (this week that was one day, last week it was three!). If I can just maintain *something* through these busy years, I can ward off the old-age feeling a bit! My latest busy-work is crocheting and knitting. I usually only have time for that as a passenger in the car and at chess tournaments. I'm working on a late baby gift that is a crocheted blanket. I think they could have used it this past week...gotta get that finished!

We enjoyed seeing all of my siblings together for the first time in several years on New Year's Day. All 8 cousins were together, and had a good time. The oldest will be graduating from high school this year, and Michaela is the youngest and will graduate from kindergarten this year. Where does the time go?

I'll try to get pictures to include next time, but I'm too lazy for now!

I wish you all a very happy 2011!
Sharon