Sneak Peek at Sue's Wedding Photos

The Joiners were wonderful! They sent me a few photos to pick from in order to include one family photo in our Christmas Kappenman Chronicles. So - I'm sharing with all of you! (I'm pathetic - we rarely have a family photo taken so I rarely have one to send anyone!!!)

From left to right:

Our daughter Alyssa, Curt holding Gideon, Isaiah with Phoebe standing in front of him (she was a flower girl), me next to Isaiah, Susan (the blushing bride!) and standing behind her is Joey, the tall and gallant groom in gray; my son, C.J. in the black suit, my daughter Ginni in the back, my daughter Eleonore in the front, and Ginni's husband, Scott, holding their daughter, Danica. The only immediate family member not present in the photo is Ginni's son, Austin, who was unable to attend the wedding.

REDNECK YARD DECOR

I couldn't help myself. It began with an idea, then it verbalized itself as a joke. The next thing I knew, we were planning it out. Then CJ was off and running the execute the plan while Elly Jo was saying, "I cannot believe my family is going to do this!"

We've never done anything like this before. We may or may not ever do it again. But we did it this year. For those of you reading this post who are unfamiliar with our neighborhood, we live in a quiet residential area where each home sits on at least 1 acre of ground. The homes range in size from 1,400 sq.ft. to 2,400 sq.ft. The homes range in age from 30 years to brand new. There are no mobile homes here and they are almost all well kept and tasteful. Those who choose to decorate their homes exterior do it in a nice manner, as we have done in years past.

And then came The Idea.

Behold, our Redneck Christmas Sleigh. It begins with "Rudolph," our rototiller, swathed in red lights. The bicycles, lawnmowers, and other yard implements are all "reined" in together with strings of lights. The trailer, where we throw our trash until it goes to the dump once a month, is covered in netting lights.

No end of comments have been forthcoming since the arrival of the Redneck Sleigh in the Kappenman's front yard. The neighbors who have offered an opinion have laughed and said it's great! One of the guys from the fire department loves it. He said sometimes he drives by and just slows down to look at it. hee hee hee. I have to admit this is worth every laugh. I have no shame.

Two days ago, a red and white pickup pulled up in the driveway. Two gentlemen climbed out. The larger of the two greeted us with, "Are y'all the ones selling the lawnmowers out there?" We laughed and said no, that they were part of our yard decorations. He said, "You ain't sellin' them? Well you owe me a half a tank o'gas - I drove all the way from Spartanburg 'cause I heard you had a yard full of lawnmowers you were sellin'. Your sign out there says 'For Sale.' " Well, we explained that the HOUSE is for sale, not the lawnmowers. Disappointed, they drove away.

Well. That's it for now. Greetings from the Redneck Sleigh people!!!

Catching My Breath

Well, this has certainly been a busy and exciting past few weeks.

We worked a LOT on decorating and sewing and making sure everything would be perfect for Susan's big day - and it was! It was one of the lovliest weddings I've ever been to. Everything ran quite smoothly and I even got to watch them open their gifts!! How about that?! One of my pet peaves is that nobody opens their gifts at weddings anymore. But they did, and I was glad to be able to see what they received.

One of the sweetest things was watching them kiss after Pastor pronounced them man and wife. Prior to that moment, they had never kissed. They never even held hands while they were dating, believing the Scriptures to be true when it says it is good for a man not to touch a woman (who is not his wife). I believe God will honor their respect for one another during their courtship.

This topic actually was brought up recently among several young people with whom we are acquainted and/or related. Elly and one of her male cousins could honestly say they had never kissed anyone yetm surprising some of the others in the room. But both of them believe it will be the most special thing to wait and give their very first kiss to the one they will be with their entire lives. They are both waiting on the Lord to show them who that will one day be. Would to God more young people would feel the same way! I pray each of them will continue to stay true to their convictions. So many of us made so many mistakes when we were young. Now we see the error and folly of doing things our way instead of the way the Scriptures teach. Yet, there are still young people who refuse to learn from the mistakes of their elders, and simply repeat history's mistakes. It is very sad. Perhaps that is why in Scripture Wisdom is said to be such a prize - so few actually seek it.


We've been printing away on books for Martha - her Homekeepers Yearbooks are very popular, but they really only sell between November and February, so this is a busy printing time for us. I've also been happy to obtain several new editing clients!

Elly got her driver's license and has been driving herself everywhere! She works twice a week at GBS Lumber, so it's a blessing for her to be able to drive herself to and from work. CJ has his learner's permit and is looking forward to April - in SC there is a 6-month wait between permit and license.

Well, I've got to get supper on the table - it's Wednesday and prayer meeting will be in 45 mintues. There are number of things to be very thankful for tonight! My good friend, Gena, was robbed at her place of employment in broad daylight! They took her purse and the company's deposit. Praise the Lord she was not harmed!!!! Also, today, another friend from church, Marc, was driving on the highway and a semi changed lanes too quickly, causing a chain reaction in the drivers behind him. Marc didn't hit anyone else, but he did run into a cement wall in trying to avoid a collision. His car was totalled, but he is fine!! Praise the Lord again for His protection!!!

Til the next time....

SUPER SALE going on at: http://frommeandmyhouse.com

Hey everyone - there's a great sale going on from November 15-30th at the website of Me and My House, a great homeschooling resource, specializing in L.E.D. (Lifestyle Education through Discipleship). Plus, they are giving away a bunch of bonus gifts for ordering this month. Go to their website and check them out! They are big on bonuses - so if you've been looking for a good deal, time's a-wasting - head over to http://frommeandmyhouse.com today!

FREEBIE THIS MONTH!!!!

Hey Folks ~

I'm a big believer in celebrating one holiday at a time, and the next one is Thanksgiving. We each have much to be thankful for, and I encourage everyone to make a Blessings List and then sit down with your family and thank the Lord Jesus Christ for all the wonderful gifts He bestows on each of us.

So...I'm having a Thanks and Giving Giveaway! I'm truly thankful that the Lord has blessed our business this year. The extra editing customers I've picked up have been a real blessing to our home, as well. As many of you know, my husband was let go from his school district job this past June. He has decided to go back into business for himself, but as many of you also know, that can take a while to build clientele. So - the money we are making from editing and selling books and ebooks has really come in handy! SO --- since I'm thankful, I'm going to give something away!

I know many are thinking ahead to the holiday of Christmas, and because many do not have a lot of extra cash floating around for buying gifts, I thought I would help someone make a Merry Christmas for someone else! I may even do this a few more times between now and Christmas, with different products!

Between now and the end of November, I'm going to be collecting names for a drawing.
I'm going to be giving away a FREE BOY'S HANDYBOOK (value $19.95) to someone on the last day of this month (November 2008). Here's how to enter your name for the drawing:

Simply go to my website, www.kapandpen.com, and find a product you think looks interesting, or suggest an ebook idea you would be interested in seeing offered, and then leave me an email about it at kapandpen@bellsouth.net. In the subject box, put NOVEMBER FREEBIE so I can put all the replies in one folder. Make sure you sign your name so I know who goes with what email address!! One name will be chosen at random. Make sure you tell all your friends, relatives, co-workers, customers - whoever! - so they can participate, too!

If this goes well - look for more giveaways in December! The more emails I get....the more I'll give away!!!! Tell everyone!!!!

Going with God

Recently, there was a dear 69-year old lady in our church who passed away due to lung cancer. Mrs. Barbara Thompson was a tremendous blessing and an example of Christian character all the way to her last conscious moments.

Going to and from her radiation and/or chemotherapy treatments, she trusted the Lord He would do what was best for her - regardless of whether or not it was healing. She fully knew and understood that it might be God's will to allow this disease to bring her into His presence, and she accepted that with grace and dignity.

She told me once a few weeks ago that when she went in for her radiation treatments, there were all these sad and down-in-the-mouth cancer patients up there with her, waiting or receiving their treatments, too. She understood their sadness, but did not wish to participate in it. She said she'd march in there and say things like, "Hey - put on a happier face - we're gonna beat this together!" She said she tried to make the others smile and think about things beside the disease that was slowly killing them. She tried to tell them of the Lord and all that He's done for her.

Mrs. Thompson's trust in the face of death reminded me of another dear lady I had the privilege of knowing many years ago. Her name was Theresa Bartlett and she was one of the most godly women I've ever known. She developed leukemia when she was in her mid-40's. She would try and witness to the nurses and the doctors while she was in the hospital. When she wasn't really conscious and would mumble in her sleep, the nurses said she quoted Bible verses. I have a tape somewhere of her singing, and it still causes me to cry - I still miss her, and I can't wait to see her again!

What a Friend we have in Jesus - what joy and peace in knowing we will see our brothers and sisters in the Lord one day. As this old world becomes more and more ready to receive a decieving one-world leader, (anti-Christ), we know each day brings us closer to our forever home with Jesus! What a glad day of reunions that will be - seeing all our loved ones who died of diseases like cancer having brand new glorified bodies and running the streets of heaven!! And we'll have new bodies too-no more creaky joints and arthritic hands and glasses and dentures and whatever else we may have to deal with - everything will be new and maintenance-free!!!

If you think of it - please pray for Mr. Thompson. He's almost 89 and he's an incredible man, but he deeply misses Mrs. Thompson, and this time of transition will be very hard on him. I think he shows incredible character and strength...Barbara was his second wife; he buried his first wife when she was only 50. I couldn't help but think how terribly difficult it must be for him...having to go through the loss of a spouse not once, but twice in his lifetime. He's a very dear man - we are thankful we have the opportunity to know him and be his friend!

I wonder...

I wonder, Why do people use milk in their cold cereal and then throw away the milk? Do they do that with soup, too? Just eat the veggies and meat and pour the broth down the drain? What do they do with cream soups? Hmmm.

I wonder, Why do people sweat the little things? Why have a nervous breakdown over whether or not the purple shoes match precisely with the purple purse?

I wonder, Why cats scratch on the glass to be let in, and then turn around five minutes later and scratch on the glass to be let out? Can't they just stay one place or the other for a while?

I wonder, Why do dogs like to tear up trash bags and spread the contents around the neighborhood? Why can't they be happy with the food they receive?

I wonder, Why do Greenville technical colleges give passing grades to people who turn in papers with improper spellings, words that are not even words, missing punctuation, sentence fragments, sentence run-ons, and other general grammar mistakes?

I wonder, Why can't I ever find a pair of baby shoes? I have one baby in the house. He's not quite two. He owns several pairs of shoes. Well...that's not quite accurate. He owned several pairs of shoes. Now he owns several individual shoes that do not match. Where does the matching shoe go? One is a camoflage tennis shoe. I guess it's hiding from me.

I wonder, Do other moms wonder the same things? I suppose if my life was devoid of dogs, cats, and children, much of my wonderings would not exist. However, I wouldn't enjoy life if I had no children, so that's not an option. (The dogs and the cat, I have discovered, I could definitely live without. Especially when I had to lay out mouse traps recently. Helloooo? Cat? You are supposed to be earning your keep around here!!!)