I've Moved

I have finally made the move to the dark side. After over three years on Blogger I am now blogging at wordpress. Please join me over there. If you don't, I will be very lonely and will probably cry. www.bridgetbabione.wordpress.com I can't wait to share my new place with you all!!! Bridget

Divine Life

(* I am completely over blogspot right now. I did not write this post as one long paragraph. But when I publish it, blogspot changes it and I don't know how to fix it. UGH.) I used to think that the Eternal Life that I was given through Christ Jesus meant that after my physical body died my spirit would live forever with Him in Heaven. That His sacrifice gave me the ability to live MY LIFE forever. I have since come to understand something quite different and much more beautiful. You see, I was reading Scripture with myself as the focus. Every story I read I tried to fit myself into. Every letter of Paul's I tried to figure out how it pertained to MY LIFE. Here's the rub: Scripture isn't about me. It isn't about you. Scripture is solely about one person. Our magnificent Lord Jesus. From the first page to the last, it is all about Jesus. God is enraptured with one Person, His Son. Jesus Christ is the thing that is always on God's mind. And Since Scripture is God-breathed, the only thing that God talks about is His Son. "All Scripture testifies of me." -Jesus Every story in Scripture is a picture of Jesus. I used to read about people in Scripture and try to see how my life fit with theirs or hoped that the Lord would use me in as grand a way as He used them. I was so focused on me. On MY LIFE. Now I realize that all those people in Scripture are pictures of Jesus. There are aspects of our Lord in those people and those stories. They aren't to be read to figure out MY LIFE. They are to be read to know our Lord more. God wasn't thinking about me when He inspired Scripture to be written. He was thinking about His Precious Son. And He wrote Jesus onto every page. Now when I read the Bible, my focus isn't on how this pertains to me or how I need to change MY LIFE to fit. And since I have started reading the Bible to find Jesus in it, the Scriptures have opened up amazingly. The depth, the clarity, the beauty; it's all Christ. After understanding this, a new revelation dawned. For you were buried with Christ when you were baptized. And with him you were raised to a NEW LIFE because you trusted the mighty power of God, who raised Christ from the dead. Col. 2:12 Since you have been raised to NEW LIFE with Christ, set your sights on the realities of heaven, where Christ sits at God's right hand in the place of honor and power. Let heaven fill your thoughts. Do not think only about things down here on earth. For you died when Christ died, and your REAL LIFE is hidden with Christ in God. And when Christ, WHO IS YOUR REAL LIFE, is revealed to the whole world, you will share in all his glory. Col. 3:1-4 When I believed on Christ and confessed Him as my Lord and was baptized something amazing happened. I WAS BURIED WITH CHRIST. Bridget was buried. We don't bury things that still have life in them. We bury things that are dead. I was dead. Dead in my sin. And I was buried. But God in His infinite mercy and grace gave me NEW LIFE. He gave me HIS SON. I now have Christ living in me. Christ is my life. He is the ONLY real life. Because He is living in me I am now alive in Him. And here's the rub, It's not MY LIFE anymore. I am now living by another life. Christ's life. He is living HIS LIFE in and through me. It's not about me. It's always about HIM. And it's not MY LIFE anymore. It's His. His beautiful, glorious, powerful, peaceful, joyful, restful LIFE. The only REAL LIFE. DIVINE LIFE. "Christ in you, the hope of glory." -Paul

Paint Update

Sorry it's taken so long to show you my painting progress. I've been painting small sections at a time so it's taken a while for one room to be complete. The kitchen is finished as well but it isn't clean so I don't have any pictures of it yet. Soon. The office before: The 'office' is actually just a wall in our dining room. This works great though because we do school at the dining table so if I'm on the computer then I'm very close at hand for the kids. The after: basically paint and organization.

The dining room before: you know how on those infomercials where they show the before of someone without any makeup on and no smile so that the after is even more dramatic. Welcome to my makeupless and smileless dining room.

The after: I painted stripes on one wall. I love them. They add a little somethun - somethun, you know? I also changed out the curtains with some I had in a box. Fabric is a weakness of mine so I have lots stored just waiting to be used.

Don't forget-you can click on the pictures to see them bigger.

Bridge

Lazy Day Lasagna

Bobo helped me cook dinner last night. We made lasagna. Lazy Day Lasagna. The reason it is called Lazy Day Lasagna is because this is a lasagna recipe where you don't cook the noodles before you assemble the lasagna. My kind of cooking. First you brown the hamburger meat. We used about a pound and a half. While the hamburger meat is browning, add one carton (15 oz) of ricotta cheese to a mixing bowl.

Then two tablespoons of Parmesan cheese.

One teaspoon of Italian seasoning.

And combine.

Once the meat was browned we added one and a half jars of spaghetti sauce. (about 40 oz)

Now assembly time. First start by putting about 1.5 cups of sauce/meat on bottom of casserole dish.

Then layer on your uncooked noodles.

Then add half of the ricotta cheese mixture, spreading to cover the noodles.

Sprinkle 1 cup of mozzarella cheese on.

Then start the process over. 1.5 cups of sauce/meat.

Noodles.

Ricotta and mozzarella.

Finally, pour the rest of the sauce/meat mixture on making sure to cover the noodles and sprinkle with even more mozzarella.

Bake at 350 for 40 minutes.

Let cool for about 15 minutes

And serve with some garlic bread.

Yummy!

Bridge

Daddy Daughter Date Night

Chick Fillet had the brilliant idea of hosting a Daddy Daughter Date Night. When R.C. saw the advertisement he signed right up.

Princess had a blast. As did R.C.. Chick Fillet actually hired a limousine to bring the guests to Chick Fillet. When you signed up you were given a time for your date. If you wanted the free limo ride you had to be in the Best Buy parking lot 15 minutes before your time. (The Best Buy parking lot was across the street from Chick Fillet. The limo driver took a longer than necessary route to Chick Fillet, but it was still a short ride. We thought it was a really fun idea and nice touch to the evening.)

These pictures were taken by the photographer at the restaurant. I think they are priceless. This is definitely the first of many.

Bridge

Blogging in Real Time

It's Tuesday afternoon. We actually accomplished school today for the first time in two weeks. (Yesterday we graded everything and got caught up) Also, Yesterday morning Popeye came to me and asked what he could do to help me. Not really having anything that I could think of that I wouldn't have to help him do I just threw out there, "You can make my bed." I wasn't sure if he would reply that he didn't know how, but instead he smiled and headed up stairs. What a blessing. And it never even crossed my mind to remake it. It was beautiful to me. (anyway, if I'm ok living with it unmade why wouldn't I be fine with it like this?) So, after we finished most of our school today (yes, we still need to grade math and read science) we headed to Michael's for some fun. I needed to get out and so did the kids. I gave them each a budget of $2.

Popeye found a snake that came with paint. His favorite color, too.

Princess found a horse that came with markers in pink, purple, and yellow. Every girl's dream.

Bear also got the snake. I'm gonna make him write a story about it. Bobo opted to wait till he could add his own money to the $2 and buy something a bit more pricey.

After Michael's we hit up Walmart. I'll give you two guesses as to what I bought and the first one doesn't count.

Yup.

I've lived with the white walls for a week and a half and I just can't do it anymore. (it doesn't help that they are dirty and scuffed up pretty bad.)

I plan on starting tomorrow evening.

=)

Bridge

I had forgotten what this feels like...

...being sick, that is. Yup, round numero cinco. We are moved and I had hoped to have some pics of the new digs up by now. However, my body had other plans. Princess is still down as well. Yesterday was probably her worst day, but she is better today and as long as she keeps improving we won't be taking her to the doctor. But as soon as she seems worse we are there. Suffice it to say, I don't have much energy for blog writing. Thanks for being patient with me. I promise, I will invite you all to the new place soon. Love, Bridge *I don't know why blogger is putting my post in this way. This is not the way I wrote it (all in one paragraph) you guys know I don't write like that, even when I'm partially out of it due to sickness. Whatever.

Going Four Rounds

Popeye started his fever on Sunday.

Bobo started his fever on Monday.

Bear started his fever on Tuesday.

Princess started her fever this morning.

It seems to hang around for three days and then is gone. All have congested coughs, runny noses, and aches. And like most coughs, they seem to linger longer.

But, in better news: R.C.'s parents fly in today! WAHOO!!

Things are about to get crazy. We move on Saturday and Toby and Brenda move on Sunday. And while I should be busy packing things and organizing things I can't seem to get anything done. Does anyone else do that? Like the day before you are going to be really busy do you just sort of shut down? My mind just turned off yesterday. I literally accomplished nothing but meals and a shower.

Today, however, is go, go, go.

We are taking a friend to her doctors appointment, picking up Ronny and Susan from the airport, taking R.C. some lunch, picking up some pictures from Walgreens (have to have a pic of the cat and dog for the landlords), and picking up Brenda's kids from school.

I am putting the travel tv in the car. We are going to spend most of the day there. And, sick kids can sleep or chill in a car just as easy as they can sleep or chill at home.

I hope to keep posting during the move, but I'm not sure when our internet is getting turned on. So this might be adieu for a bit.

See you on the other side. =)

Bridge

The Love of Our Life

R.C. and I celebrate our 13th wedding anniversary today.

Our marriage began with the odds stacked against us. I'm sure few thought we would ever make it 13 years.

Our marriage is a miracle. Neither R.C. nor I claim to have anything to do with making this work.

But one thing I know: We have found the Love of our life.

And it is not each other.

I am not the Love of R.C.'s life.

He is not the Love of mine.

Our soul mate is another, and His name is Jesus.

We are madly in love with our Lord. And He is madly in love with us.

And it is His Love that makes us madly in love with each other. Christ in R.C. is completely captivating to me. I am passionately attracted to Him.

And the more I know Him, the more I love him.

And today I am even more smitten then I was the day we said 'I do'.

Christ is All.

Bridge

Doctor, Doctor, Give Me the News

We move into our new place on Saturday. Life is very busy with all the things that go with moving.

It is also very busy with sick kids.

Yup.

Brenda's son was sick all weekend. Fever. Sore throat. Aches.

Popeye started his fever last night.

Bobo started his this morning.

And Bear, while not running a fever, "doesn't feel well. I am coughing and stuff."

So, this morning, the boys are laying in bed watching movies, while Princess and I take care of moving stuff.

At least I can pack boxes instead of doing school.

Oh, and R.C.'s parents are flying in on Thursday to help!

Thank You, Lord!

Bridge

Turner Field

When we made the trek from Oklahoma to Florida we decided to break it up a bit. And since the Atlanta Braves were having a series at home we figured that was a great place to stop and stay awhile.

Well...two days awhile.

We bought R.C., Bobo, and Princess Braves t-shirts. Bear and Popeye were disappointed, but they already had baseball t-shirts in the right colors so we made do. And I, of course, wore whatever I wanted. (Don't worry, it was navy. I still represented.)
We got to the game plenty early. The stadium is beautiful and the atmosphere was exciting. R.C. has been a Braves fan for a very long time. He has been to a handful of Braves games, but never one at Turner Field. This was a big day.

And let me give you a little more perspective on our love for the Braves. We took this picture of Dale Murphy's number because our precious little nephew is named after him. And not just that, but his first name is also after another old Braves player. David Justus and Dale Murphy: meet Justus Dale. =)

I'm completely serious, people. Ask his mother.

The weather was gorgeous and we had great seats. This was the last home series of the season and because the manager, Bobby Cox, was retiring they were running a special. We couldn't pass it up.Our seats were so good that they actually had "waiters" for our section. They handed us menus and then would take our orders. The food was delivered to us at our seats. The waiters were available till the 8th inning. It was awesome! Here is Bobby receiving some special gift. It will be different next year not seeing him in the dugout. Have I told you how awesome my camera is? =)(check out the ball in the upper right corner) Here's another just to make sure you understand.The stadium wasn't too full, but it was a weekday, afternoon game. That's to be expected. And we actually enjoyed it not being crazy packed. The kids really enjoyed the game. I took this picture to get the WELCOME TO TURNER FIELD. HOME OF THE ATLANTA BRAVES. See, people. I wore navy. I have been to three Atlanta Braves baseball games before this one. One in Dallas and two in Houston. It really is different when it is a home game. Once again, a shout out to my camera.

Popeye looks precious in this picture, but you have to notice Bear, too. Hehe.This is the closer, Wagner. They make such a big deal over the closers when they come out of the bull pen. It really is something. I thought it was cool that I could get a picture of him in motion and his name on fire. Oh, and I have no idea what his first name is and I only remembered his last name bc it is in the picture. A girl can only go so far in supporting her husband"s team. Especially now that they aren't on TBS everyday.

According to this part of the fence the Brave's organization is "the longest continuously operating franchise in Major League Baseball". That's pretty cool. And we capped the day off with a win! I know that most of you who read my blog get on here to see the kiddos. So, here you go. We got into Atlanta the night before. We slept late that morning, had lunch at Chic-fil-a, (thank goodness for restaurants with playgrounds) and then spent the rest of the day at Turner Field.

It was a great experience and I'm so glad we took the time to do it.

Bridge