Tiger Cub Thursday

The last few days have been spent working on Matthew's boat for Scouts. First choosing the paint color, then the theme, then building it, painting it and applying the stickers.(Thanks Dad!) Finally the finished product; a bright blue boat with an "American theme"(based on the upcoming election). He is SO excited, It is perfect, tested and ready to go........

Matthew walks into my room; "I'm home Mommy, and I lost"..... "You lost"? "I stink, Mom, my boat was not fast enough". I try to console him and tell him that his boat is great, I tell him that it is okay to lose, as long as you tried your best. Dad says, a 4th grader won...I tell Matthew this is your 1st year in scouts and a 4th grader has had lots of practice....

Matthew is such a sensitive child, he is also at the age where it is either win or lose and no in between. Apparently he was not the only sad one, there were 2 other 1st grade boys, who actually cried at the race. Bless their hearts, you hate to see them hurt, but know this is just another one of the many life lessons ahead.... I tucked him in and kissed him goodnight and said " I love you, and Mommy is so proud of you!" "I love you too Mommy" he says.....

Thank goodness the Pinewood Derby is not until the spring!

Wordless Wednesday ( well almost...)

As many of you may know, today is the National Day of Remembrance for pregnancy and infant loss. This includes all babies who have died because of miscarriage, stillbirth, SIDS, or any other infant death.

I will be praying for so many people I know, that have suffered a loss including myself-

(Our tubal pregancy- baby-7.5 weeks in December of 2003)

The Lord is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit

Psalm 34:18

Tuesday and Trips...

Last week, Matthew was off school for the day, so we decided to take advantage of the beautiful fall weather and visit the bird sanctuary. We had so much fun! Then we drove through the part of the park with buffalo, they were standing RIGHT next to the car and in the road. It was really cool! The boys loved it! Afterwords, we met Daddy for a quick lunch. It was a great day off school, looking forward to the next one :)

I had a wonderful time on Matthew's field trip today to the Symphony. We went to see Peter and The Wolf. The kids really seemed to enjoy it. I had fun being a driver & chaperon and getting to spend some "day" time with my sweet Matthew!

After school the boys and I headed to Michael's to look for craft projects...We bought all kinds of little projects and this, tune in tommorow for updates and pictures of the "finished product"....

I just have to say that I feel SO blessed to be able to have days like these with my boys! I am thankful to my wonderful husband for working SO hard, so that I can stay home with our boys!

I love you!

Bits and Pieces

An excellent movie! Every couple should see it...

Click on link below for a slide show from the birthday dinner

*(make sure to scroll down and pause the blog music first)

http://www.slide.com/r/-Yk0RBpK4j9P2b24BwWJSSIuibDwBBfO?previous_view=mscd_embedded_url&view=original

Hannah

We have been very busy around here...Soooo I will try to update on a few things :)

David and I saw FIREPROOF last week and LOVED it! I highly recommend it. We also just started a Sunday night small group bible study this weekend and for the next 6 studies, we will be using the FIREPROOF Sessions for our study. We really enjoyed the 1st one and are looking forward to next week.... (The song is from FIREPROOF.)

I decided to have 1 more yard sale this weekend, besides staying up late and getting up at the crack of dawn, it went okay. We have cleaned so much our of our basement; we actually have empty space! Those who know me/us , know this is unusual, because I am a pack rat!!!

On Saturday night we had a small dinner party for my Dad's birthday. It was 3 guys that he works with and their wives. My brother came too. It was a fun night, I made 3 different kinds of chili, SPICY( recipe from our friend Brent), Steak-n-Shake & White Chicken Chili......WE had fun hanging out, playing Wii, and some Bingo. The boys love when people are over, they had a blast!!! It was a good dinner with great friends!

On Sunday we did not go to church, instead we did a fundraiser walk for our 7 year old neighbor Hannah. She was diagnosed with Raynaud's when she was about 4 years old. (Learn more about Raynaud's at http://www.raynauds.org/) Since then, the Raynaud's been discovered to be a secondary condition, orindicator, of a more serious disease. This disease is Juvenile Scleroderma. It is rare and different from adult-onset Scleroderma. Hannah has Systemic/Diffuse Juvenile Scleroderma which involves the hardening of her skin and early internal organ involvement including heart, kidneys, muscle function and joints. (Learn more about Juvenile Scleroderma athttp://www.jsdn.org/aboutjsdn.htm). We felt like it was important to do the walk as a family. It was a warm fall day, but a beautiful walk, with neighbors & good friends for a wonderful cause!

WAY TO GO HANNAH'S HERO'S!!

Today was a typical Monday, BUSY! I caught up on lots of things and made dinner for a family at church. Michael had soccer practice and I had a Mom's club meeting...Someday we will slow down, right???

From our bible study:

So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.

Genesis 1:27

Today I am thankful to God for his precious gift to my wonderful friend Lucy her husband George and their daughter Magnolia. They are having a baby, due in April!!! Many of you know Lucy's story and what an incredible person she is! The Lord has blessed her in so many ways, but she has traveled down some very long roads to get where she is now. I am SOO excited for her and her family and will be praying for them ALL the way through their journey to becoming a family of four :)

Congratulations & Love

to

Lucy, George & Magnolia

Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight.

(Proverbs 3:5-6)

A miracle in the making....


The Proud "Big" Sister-Miss Magnolia



George, Lucy & Magnolia

Lucy & I from our visit in July

This post is dedicated to my Dad who turned 60 years "young" today.....My Dad is a wonderful man. He loves the Lord! He was a wonderful husband, he is a wonderful father to my brother & I, a great father-n-law to David, and he is a wonderful Grammpy to Matthew & Michael. We are so blessed to have my Dad in our lives, he is a very wise man, who is still teaching me/us new things all the time. I hope he knows how proud of him I am and how much I love him!

Honor your father and your mother, as the LORD your God has commanded you, so that you may live long and that it may go well with you in the land the LORD your God is giving you.

Deuteronomy 5:16

Graduation

Mom & Dad's Wedding Day-March 5th, 1971

Me & Dad 1977

Me & Dad -My birthday 1980

Uncle Gary(Happy Birthday today too!) & Dad 1981

Our Family-Easter 1982

David, Dad & Me for Dad's 34th Birthday-1982

My Dad & Mom in 1987

Dad and our old dog Sassy

Meeting Michael Daniel in 2005

Meeting Matthew James in 2001

60 things about my Dad…..
1. He is a very picky eater
2. Still works full time
3. Contracted polio when he was 4
4. Very good at Math
5. My son Michael is named after him: Michael Daniel
6. Generous
7. Has a very strong faith in the Lord
8. He is Baptist
9. Was in a near fatal car wreck in 1980
10. Was an only child
11. Loves peeps
12. Loves finger Jell-O
13. Has a better television than me
14. His middle name is Revis (his Grandmother’s maiden name)
15. Loves pancakes
16. Does not like going to the dentist
17. Saw Fireproof already and loved it!
18. Loves to watch “sappy” movies
19. Used to work PT at a gas station
20.Used to go to 6 Flags, EVEN on crutches
21. Not as easy to “trick” as my Mom
22.Pretty strict growing up
23.He is “saved”!!!!
24.Has a really cool audio Bible
25.Spent months sitting day after day with my Mom, when she was sick
26.Just lost his Mother last month
27.Loves music from “his time”.
28.Loves to watch my boys
29.Likes video games
30.Follows my blog
31. Likes his “alone” time
32.Loves to read the Sunday Paper
33.Likes spice cupcakes
34.Loves hamburgers & turkey burgers.
35.He is a wonderful Dad!
36.Knows everything about computers
37.Has worked at the college in computers, since I was born
38.Used to drink Coke like crazy
39.LOVES sugar cookies at Christmas
40.Sings, Presents, Presents, Present..
41. Used to “tump” me in the toilet J
42.Has a wonderful heart
43.Helps others
44.Took me for my birthday, after my mom died to buy a piece of jewelry to remember her by, it was something I will never forget!
45. Was married to my Mom for 37 years
46.Used to collect bears
47.Loved shopping and wrapping Christmas presents for my Mom when I was little.
48.Used to visit my Grandmother at the nursing home all the time
49.Never drink alcohol
50.Used to love jelly beans
51. Used to love Chuckles(see 16)
52.Had good manners
53.Loves pot roast
54.Likes rice crispies
55.Loves white & cherry iced donuts
56.Drives a huge red accessible van (very well)
57.Reads A LOT!
58.Has many wonderful friends
59.Is going to vote in one month for…..
60.Is 60 Today

Happy Birthday Daddy!
I love you!

A Wonderful Weekend.........

The perfect pumpkin....

My artist :)

Lined up "crazy" shoppers :)

We had a very busy and fun weekend! Friday night, I went to happy hour(s) at a really cool wine shop, with my "1st Mom's" club. It was once again a really great time with some awesome women!

Then home to stay up until 1:30 AM pricing the rest of our stuff for the Baby Sale on Saturday...

Saturday we were up at 5:00 AM! Rushing to get the school to have our stuff set up and ready for the crazy 4 hours ahead... We had two full parking spaces of stuff, so did Natalie & Brent and sold almost ALL of it! It was just NUTS! People were everywhere. Dave left me to work the sale and headed home to take the boys and my niece(Jennifer) to Michael's soccer game. After Michael scored a goal and they finished their game, they came over to help me wrap things up, we did a little shopping for the boys, a Pokemon sleeping bag for Matthew and a "foam shooter" for Michael. Then we packed up and headed home, where my good friend Vicki who is in town from Tennessee, met me to go to lunch. She has two little girls, Elizabeth(6) and Lauren(3), they stayed with David and played with the boys while we went and had an awesome lunch, roasted beet salads with chicken, goat cheese, walnuts and spinach tossed with a pomegranate vinaigrette. Plus two yummy coffees...It was so great to see her, I wish she was still living here!

After hanging out at home for awhile, Dave and I decided to take advantage of our niece Jennifer being here and met Natalie & Brent for an early dinner. We sat on the patio next to the heater and we had a wonderful time with great friends!

The we headed home to take Jennifer back home so she would be able to attend her confirmation classes on Sunday AM. We ended up meeting PaPa and Penny, Emilee, Lauren & Josh for ice cream(Mom & Dad were out of town celebrating 15 years-congrats, Tom & Steph). The kids had soo much fun! Then home to bed at 10:00PM to CRASH!

This morning I woke up at 8:00AM to do my bible study before my boys were up. I enjoyed silence, a cup of coffee and then got ready for church. The three of them were STILL snoring at 9:15, so I decided to attend church solo. I really enjoyed my bible study, it was a good one today!

After church, I headed home to have brunch with the boys. We ate, then David took off to a golf tournament/fundraiser and the boys and I went on our own adventure, to the local fair. There was pumpkin painting, car building, FRESH apple cider and much more for the boys to do. Plus, 4 tents FULL of local people selling their things, like food, flowers, jewelry, soap, wine....The boys and I had blast sampling tons of things and made lots of fun purchases to make and eat later.
After we finished the fair, we ran home, changed and headed to dinner with My Dad & Brother for my Dad's birthday.(I will have a special post for him tomorrow). We came home afterwords, had baths, stories and straight to bed! Well some of us..I am still up writing this :) I hope all of you had a blessed weekend like we did and I hope you have a wonderful week!