This is the Christmas card that most of our friends and family got this year from us (others got one that featured just the kids). All of the pictures were taken by Emily Dobson Photogrpahy and the card was also designed by her.
Earlier in November, we had our family pictures taken by Emily of Emily Dobson Photography. Now if you know me personally you know two things about me. One is that I LOVE to take pictures; doesn’t matter who or what it is I probably have taken or will take a photo of it! And two is that I do not like my own picture taken; I have very few pictures of myself with my family or alone. And if you see one of me, someone else probably took it and it was either done without my consent or I was forced! LOL! But back to the subject at hand. We had pictures done and I spent a few weeks agonizing and searching for coordinating clothing for my family of four. Finally I had everything the way I thought I wanted it. Figuring that it was in November and that it would probably be chilly, I put us all in long sleeves. Wouldn’t you know, it was hot and we were sweating! Oh well.
Anyways, we got our pictures back and they were AMAZING! I loved pretty much all of the ones that she took for us. But these are my favorites out of the lot!
She took 3 different family shots (I think) and this ended up being my favorite out of them all. My other favorite has us all standing but I chose this one instead.
My favorite one of Sarai. I love her pose; she looks so sassy!
This is actually my second favorite of Micah The one that I loved of Micah had him looking down but Josh and Sarai like this one so they vetoed me!
And this one is one of my favorite non-posed family shot but I really like the other one better. Only problem: Josh’s head was missing! So of course he vetoed that one! Oh well this one is a good one too (i think!).
This is my absolute favorite picture of my husband and me! I love this picture so much. And to clear something up, I am only taller than him when we are sitting down! Normally he is about 3-4 inches taller than me, but when we sit down I get to be taller!!
So if you like the pictures and live in the Macon Missouri area, you should definately give Emily a call! You won’t be disappointed in the pictures that she takes of you and your family!
You have to head on over to Simple Mom and check out this great giveaway that she is sponsoring! I can just imagine these candleholders sitting on my mantle or my kitchen table. Or maybe I would take them to our church (when we get one) and have them displayed there. I would probably even leave them out all year long! That is if I win. The contest ends December 11, 2009 so hurry over and enter!
But even if I don’t win (or you don’t either), I am thinking that I will head on over to DaySpring and purchase a set for myself! If you are interested you can learn more about the Nativity Hurricane Trio here.
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Time for another entry into the I ♥ Faces weekly contest. This week it is all about Sun Flare. I always thought it was not something “professional” photographers had/kept in their photos. However, me not being a professional I actually have quite a few photos with sun flare “problems” that I have tried to fix! But there are usually one or two of them that end up being my favorites! So this is the perfect chance for me to show off a recent one. And I think the subject is pretty cute too! (NOT that I am biased or anything!)
Micah playing outside
i love my kids! both of my kids (as are all kids) are miracles of life! most don’t know but it took us almost 3 years to conceive Sarai and her birth was touch and go for a bit. we lost a baby one and a half years after Sarai was born. and then it took us another 7 years to conceive Micah. i am so thankful that i have both of them in my life. so i wanted to share with you some of the things we, or I should say they, have been up to lately! enjoy!
And here is one of my favorites taken recently of both my kiddos
Sarai and Micah
A favorite of Micah:
Micah
A favorite of Sarai:
Sarai getting ready to go down the slide
On Sunday evenings at our church we have discipleship classes. Most of them are a book study, some focus on financces or marriage. This quarter I signed up to take part in the Brokenness class. For the class we are using the book Brokenness by Nancy DeMoss. To be quite honest, I only signed up for the class because I didn’t want to take any of the others. Well, I did want to take one but with my husband previously helping with the youth group on Sunday nights and now taking on the Children’s ministry duties I felt that it was not beneficial to take the marriage class. I personally feel that a husband and wife should take it together if at all possible (unless one spouse is a non-believer or unchurched). And as my husband has not had any full-time or steady employment in the past year and a half, I figured it was needless to take the Crown Financial class. Not much you can do with your finances when the bank account is typically below $100!
So here I am, in a class on brokenness. Not saying that I don’t need it; just saying that I am not sure I want it. We have already had 3 weeks of classes and there are a few things I really want to share. But not sure yet (this also speaks to something that I have already learned/relearned from the class, but more on that later). So for now I want to leave you with this:
Let me find thy light in my darkness,
thy life in my death,
thy joy in my sorrow,
thy grace in my sin,
thy riches in my poverty,
they glory in my valley.
~from The Valley of Vision: A Collection of Puritan Prayers and Devotions
It spoke to me. How many times have I been in sorrow but not seen the joy of Christ? Or been in a valley and not seen God’s glory? And how much more do I need to die to myself so that Christ may give me His life?
This has been my prayer for the past 2 weeks:
Pass me not, O gentle Savior,
Hear my humble cry,
While on others Thou art calling,
Do not pass my by.
Is that your prayer? I hope that you will make it yours. More to come!
Today is the 6th Annual Pro-Life Day of Silent Solidarity
Since January 22, 1973 over 50,000,000 babies have had their voices silenced through surgical abortion in this nation alone.
Over 4,000 children have their lives taken each day in the name of choice.
Over 4,000 women are emotionally damaged every day.
On October 20th, people from all over this nation will give up their voices for a day in solidarity for these children. Red arm bands and duct tape will identify them as taking part in the Pro-life Day of Silent Solidarity. They will carry fliers explaining why they are silent and educate others about the plight of the innocent children we are losing every day.
While I can’t take part in the day, I will be praying for these students/young people and for those that they will be in contact with. I will be praying for the lives that they can and will change because of their stand!
Today, 4000 of my generation will be silenced.
Today, 4000 of my brothers and sisters lives will be ended simply because of their age.
Today, I will stand up and share my dream, my idea, and my vision with the world.
Will you stand with me?
I wanted to share something out of my Brokenness study that has really hit me. I so want to be able to say that this is 100% true of me and right now I can’t. Pray for me as I strive for this in my life.
“I’m not going to tell you that I have it all together. I will tell you that I have needs and struggles. But I’m learning to acknowledge my need to God and others, and to be open, honest, and transparent. My attitude used to be “I don’t need you, but you very much need me.” I was willing to help, but I was not willing to unmask and be helped. Now I know that when I humble and unmask myself, then, and only then, can I truly experience God’s grace and be victorious and free.”
~Brokenness, Nancy DeMoss, page 35
This week over at I ♥ Faces it is Pink Week in honor of Breast Cancer Awareness Month!
Here is my picture for the week:
Ok, so this is not a great picture at all, obviously I have not retouched it or done anything to it. But it is still special to me. This is my mom. In 2008 she was diagnosed with Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma and began months of chemotherapy. She lost a lot of weight and there were times she was extremely sick! Two weeks before this picture was taken she was declared to be cancer free and given a clean bill of health! I love all the pink in it from her bandana to the cotton candy; and her pose is priceless! She is enjoying herself and life! Plus being at the fair with 3 of her grandkids probably isn’t hurting any either, especially since she is just a big kid herself!
I have always thought that Children’s Ministry is a pretty high calling. While my husband has been a Youth Pastor for over 15 years and I have worked along side of him with the teens, my first love has been children. I even went to school to be an Early Childhood/Elementary Ed major; I wanted to either run my own day care or teach K-3 grade. But then I had my own children and I am content to stay home with them.
I really never gave more than a passing thought to my husband doing anything other than Youth Ministry. So when about 8 months ago, he came to me and said that he felt that God was urging him to start looking at Senior Pastor positions, I was a little taken back but told him I would pray to that end. And over the next month’s God really spoke to me and eased my heart and mind with this new calling. I am actually looking forward to being a Senior Pastor’s wife! I can’t wait to have a congregation to love on and lead! (Those that know me, know that only God would be able to put this attitude and acceptance into my heart!)
However, since we are still searching imagine my even greater surprise when my husband came home from prayer meeting one morning and told me that our Senior Pastor had approached him about taking on the position of Interim Children’s Pastor! I think I was a little speechless. Not because I don’t think my husband can do it or that he wouldn’t be good at it; but because this is a direction that neither of us had thought of taking in the past. We both spent a lot of time in prayer and discussion. And in the end, Josh accepted the offer. This past week marked his first week as the Interim Children’s Pastor at our church! He has a lot of work ahead of him; hard work but I know he can do it and will do it well! Of course, it is only temporary but who knows how temporary. It depends upon the church finding the man that God is wanting them to hire or God leading Josh and I to the church He wants us to Pastor. But in the meantime, I know that my husband is doing what God wants him to and enjoying going into the office. Although I am sure the already long hours he has put in are not too fun!
Please continue to pray for:
Well, I have decided that we are going to start potty training sometime in the next monthish! I know that Micah is ready as he has been telling me “yuck” and “dipe” when he needs a diaper changed for about 4-5 months now. Plus he now says pee and now that is what we do in the bathroom. Today I set him on the big potty and he didn’t get scared so I think that is a good sign. And he kept saying pee pee when he was sitting on it. Not sure if mom is really ready as I know it will be some work!
Of course it has been about 9 years since I did any potty training and never have I potty trained a boy! So any advice or tips that anyone wants to share would be greatly appreciated!
Nope, no sadness here! Just the theme for the next I ♥ Faces contest!
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New week, new contest over at I ♥ Faces. This week the photos need to be candid shots, no posing allowed! So here is my entry for the week.
Micah enjoying his first Oreo!
Check out this great way to help out this family and be entered to win some great prizes! Head on over and check it out!
There is a little boy, named Dakin (who’s almost 2), that has a terrible disease called SMA. This disease is the #1 genetic killer of children! Many people have never even heard of this horrible disease.
Dakin’s mom, Devon, is trying to raise money for the research of SMA. We thought that we’d give her some help and donate a $10 gift certificate to our store (Bouquet of Pixels). She’s also got some other nice donations, too: 1) a gorgeous bow set from Littlest Boutique and 2) Three lovely sets of earings.
You can win one of these great prizes by simply doing one of the following:
1. Blog about the contest
2. Post about the contest on Facebook
3. Tweet about the contest on Twitter
Then send the link to your post (to be entered in the drawing) to Devon at: poundoutsma@gmail.com
You can find all the rules to the contest (and find out more about SMA) at Dakin’s website.
Contest ends October 1st, 2009.
Let’s help Devon get the word out about SMA!!!
(Thanks to Joni for spreading the word and setting up this great blog post for us to use!)
Over at Brown Paper Packages, Sarah is having a give away that is great for moms of little girls! She is giving away a $25 gift certificate to My Princess Party To Go! Head on over to her blog to check it out and get entered to win. But you better hurry as the she will be naming the winner on September 25!
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So the theme over at I ♥ Faces this week is Contemplative.
thoughtful observation; full or deep consideration; dreamily or wistfully thoughtful: a pensive mood; expressing or revealing thoughtfulness; quiet modes of apparent or real thought;
Here is my photo for this week.
A candid of Sarai (my favorite of her)
Believe it or not this is a candid shot of her. I just happened to turn around as she was sitting in the field and when I went to take the picture she was looking my way. Not even 10 seconds later she was off and running through the field again! This is one of my all time favorite photos of my daughter.
Patrick Swayze passed away today. That makes me sad. I grew up watching his movies and loved him. He is probably one of my all-time favorite male actors.
Patrick Swayze
Well, I changed the look of my Digi Scrappin blog the other day and decided that I like it so much that I wanted my personal blog to match! So I changed my look. Hope you like it as much as I do. Of course who knows how long I will keep it. We shall see!
No I don’t mean people who are falling down, tripping, spilling things or other crazy stuff that most normal people don’t struggle with! I am talking about the maker of those fabulous craft books that I, err my daughter loves! Well if you love them as much as we do then you will want to head over to The Crafty Crow and enter their give away! But hurry, it doesn’t run much longer!
I know that I will never forget that day and the days that followed for as long as I live. It has been 8 years and I still am brought to tears looking at pictures, reading things on the internet, and watching videos from that day. My heart still aches for those who lost loved ones; fathers, brothes, husbands, mothers, sisters, wives, children. And at the same time, I am thankful that my children and I did not have to experience that.
Please take a moment today to remember and reflect on the attacks of 9-11 and how they have changed your life (good or bad). And take a moment to pray for those who are still dealing, struggling, living with the lose of their loved ones and be thankful for what and who you have in your life today.
(P.S. comments are turned off, not because I am not interested in anything you might wish to express but simply because I know (and you do too) that there are those out there that can and will disagree with my post. And honestly, I don’t feel like giving them the time of day!)
On this day 35 years ago my husband was born to his parents Jane Ellen Swinehart (Fountain) and Gary John Monda! I am so glad that he came into the world and into my life (several years later). I still remember the day that a friend and I were walking across a bridge in Bethany Missouri discussing guys that we like. She said to me one day I am going to marry Ray and I said to her one day I am going to marry Josh! And we both laughed and probably in the back of our minds didn’t believe it was going to happen at all! But I can happily say that we are both now married to those men!
This year Josh and I celebrated 13 years of marriage! We have had two great kids in those 13 years and many, many blessings. We have moved 5 times and he has had 2 full-time positions at 2 different churches. Of course, we have also had the trials that come with life in general. But God has kept us through that time. So I just want to say Happy Birthday honey! I am so thankful that the Lord has put you in my life, especially that he has given you to me to be my help meet and stand by my side throuhg it all. I love you more today than yesterday, and I am sure I will love you more tomorrow than today!
Our beautiful miracles!
I decided to throw together a simple collage of the back to school pictures that I have of Sarai this year for the I ♥ Faces Back to School Photo Collage contest. I just picked 4 pictures that went through that morning and put them together. Here you go:
Back to School collage
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I ♥ Faces theme for this weeks contest is “Back to School” So I figured since Sarai is starting her 3rd week of school this week, that I would enter one of the photos that I took on her first day. I love this photo not really because it is a great photo but because I witnessed the emotion behind it. The girls were so excited to see each other and were hugging and giggeling and talking about their summer and the new clothes they got! It was so cute to see and it really brought back the memories of when I was in school and couldn’t wait to see those friends that I hadn’t seen in a while.
Sarai and a couple friends on the first day of school
As I was browsing around the internet this morning, I came across a link to this article on Ministry Best Practices “10 Deadly Sins of a Dying Church.” I thought it looked interesting so I clicked over to read it. It was pretty accurate in what it was saying. I have seen churches that this is true in and have experienced some of these before. Here is just a small excerpt of the article.
5. Personal Conflict
Church people have found a way to make an argument out of almost anything. Political power struggles rule the day.
6. A Priority Of Comfort
Dying churches refuse to reach out beyond their own comfort-zones. When any real ministry does happen and dirty, sinful people walk in among the righteous, it upsets the apple cart. It simply isnât comfortable.
8. Hording
It amazes me the amount of money many dying churches have in their saving accounts. The thought is that they are saving it for a rainy day, but I wonder what God thinks about this? Will he be happy if we, like the man with one talent, have not invested his Kingdom resources in the Great co-mission work when returns. Which would be best; Die rich, having saved our resources and done as little as we can get by with, or Die broke with the knowledge that we have done all we can.
9. Failure to Follow
Too often pastors are treated like hirelings and not called, anointed people of God. The pastor is forced to walk on eggshells to avoid losing their job.
10. Idolatry
You may think this is absent from todayâs Church, but it is very alive. Beloved programs, versions of the Bible, furniture, paintings on the wall and the placement of objects have caused more quarrels than I care to mention. We have taken these items to god-like levels in the church and forgotten the main thing.
Hope you will jump on over and read the rest. And I pray that this does not describe your church. If it does, realize it and take the steps necessary to correct it! There are tons of resources and many, many good, solid Bible-based organizations our there that will come and help your get back on track.
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happy birthday old friend. wish i could tell you in person but that is not possible. hope your day is special.
5 years ago today Hurrican Katrina hit New Orleans and the Gulf Coast. It brought with it utter destruction and devastation. Many people lost their lives and many more lost their homes. The area has been rebuilding ever since then and they continue to do so. I will never forget the impact that visiting the area and seeing that destruction had on me. It was a very profound moment in my life. It really made everything else that I was dealing with that week and before seem small and insignificant. I have not had the opportunity to go back but I have wanted to with my whole heart and soul. Thankfully, there have been those who have felt the call to go even when I have not been able too. Hopefully (prayerfully) I will get to go down and minister and help rebuild lives and homes again soon.
This is my favorite picture from my trip down there. It was such a bright spot in an otherwise bleak and depressing area.
Sunflowers in Lower Ninth Ward New Orleans
Although you may not be able to go down and help in the rebuilding of peoples homes and lives, please continue to pray for the teams that are able to go to New Orleans and the surrounding areas. And also pray for the ministries and churches in those areas that have weathered many a storm and are continuing to further the kingdom of the Lord.
So that you may never forget:
Well, last month I had pictures of Micah and Sarai taken by Emily of Emily Dobson Photography. I got to pick them up on Wednesday night and they are amazing! I love them! Most of you probably know Emily as our new Youth Minister, Wade’s wife! She is an amazing photographer and if you are looking to have pictures taken of you, your kids, your family, whatever it is you need to go see her! And if you feel like it tell her I sent you! Thanks. Here are the pictures! Thanks Emily for the great memories of my kids and making them look even cuter than they are! And for putting up with Micah who was being a bit difficult for you!
WoW! This is a great giveaway over at Mommy PR!
They are having a giveaway for a brand new, not yet released HP Photosmart Premium with TouchSmart Web printer – the world’s first Web-connected home printer offering people simple, one-touch, wireless, on-demand access to free, popular Web content including coupons, maps, recipes, calendars, Sudoku puzzles, coloring pages and more. How awesome does that sound!
Do you want one? I know that I do!! So for your chance to enter and win, go check out the giveaway at Mommy PR!
Over on MommyPR they are having a give away for a Christmas Club card with $100 on it to get you started towards your Christmas shopping! I had never heard of the Sears and Kmart Christmas Club so I had to visit their website and learn more! This is an amazing offer and you need to head on over to MommyPR to read more about it and get entered to win!
This is a great little invention in my opinion! Wish I would have known about it before and that they would have had it when Sarai was little. Go over to my friend Emily’s blog and enter to win one! Plus while you are there take a look at the amazing photos on her site. She is an excellent photogrpaher!
What do you think, is 15 months too young to start potty training???
My son is really not even 15 months yet and probably for the past 3 weeks he has started telling me “yuck” when he has pooped and he will crawl to our room and say dipe when he wants/needs to be changed. To me thats amazing! However, I am really not ready to start potty training him. And hoestly, i don’t think he is completely ready. Guess we will see how the next couple of months go.
**if you were here earlier you might have read a different post. it is private now. sorry for that. this is the one you were supposed to get!**
Today a new site is opening up and I am really looking forward to checking it out! It is called (in)courage! I love their little tag line. Take hope to heart!Although it is few in words it is great in thought!
So what encourages me? A lot of things really; my husband, my children, my relatives, my friends, my church. I could probably add another 10 things to the list or get real specific and take up an entire blog post naming people. But instead I am just going to pick something that has been encouraging me lately. I will try to keep it concise, but I give you fair warning, it may get long and ramblely!
It is safe to say that I am an encourager. I am the one among my friends and family that typically remembers all the birthdays and special days in a persons life. I am the one that sends out cards for those occassions or just because. I am the one that does little gifts for no reason at all. I don’t say this being prideful or so that you say wow about me. I say this because I feel that God has blessed me with an incredible gift and it is only right that I in return use it for Him and His glory. I love encouraging people, sending them cards, giving them little gifts and doing things that will just brighten their day. You never know what someone is truly going through and what it will mean to them. I also find that regardless of my mood or state of mind when I sit down to do my cards/gifts/etc, when i am done I am in a much better place. It encourages me to encourage others.
Having said all this, I want to point out that encourages are often not encouraged! Or it is far and few between the times that they are. So if you have someone in your life that is always seeming to remember the little things or is good at sending you a note every so often, don’t foget to return the favor. Yeah, they might not expect it (or even want it) but it will make them smile and feel good. And it may just keep them encouraging others. Of course you don’t have to do it every day or every week, just every know and then would be good.
This past year as been a little hard for my family. A little over a year ago, we had a lot take place in a few months time; one of those being that my husband resigned from his Youth Minister position that he had had for 9 years! Within a month of that resignation, I had our son and we then moved our family 1100 miles! We have also lived with my mother-in-law for 14 months! While it has been trying at times, for the most part it has went very smoothly. The hardest part is my husband not having a job.
It is not that he has not applied at churches,nor its it that he has not been offered several positions. It is just that the Lord has not made us feel and know that those churches are where He wants us. Josh has done some different things to have income come in, like pulpit supply and substitute teaching. But it has been a challenge not having a steady income. Not to mention my own home and our own schedule.
The thing that has most encourage me over this last year is two-fold. The first part being my husband. His resolve, determination, and faith this past year as spoken to me immensly! This past Sunday he preached at a small church about an hour away from us and his message was titled God is in Control. It was about the sovereignty of God and what it means to truly believe that God is sovereign. Not only did the message speak to me, but the fact that I can look at my husbands life, not only this past year, and see that he truly believes it and lives it. Don’t get me wrong, there are times when he gets discouraged but it doesn’t last long and he always looks back to God for the truth and His guidance.
The second part has been the Word of God. Not only through my own husband’s preaching but through my pastor. I have so enjoyed going to church and listening to Pastor Tim deliver God’s message to us each week. I have learned so much in the last year and I am so grateful to Pastor Tim. Also in my quiet time with the Lord he has been speaking to me and helping me see where I need to grow more and areas that need to be worked on so that when the time comes I can be the best Pastor’s wife and mom that I can be.
This past year, while tough in some ways, has been so instrumental for me in my growth as a person, as a pastor’s wife, and as a follower of Christ. It has also been instrumental in my healing.
So what encourages you? Head on over to (in)courage and take a look around! Hope to see you there!
The boys always say: “LoCash is a way of life. It doesn’t mean you are poor or have no money. It just means that some of the best things in life are free – or LoCash. It’s remembering who you are and where you came from.”
Tonight I got to watch LoCash Cowboys in concert at the Bevier Homecoming! I enjoyed there show although it didn’t live up to my expectations. I had previously seen them rocking in the New Year in Times Square on tv. That was great and very high energy. And while tonight at a lot of energy, it was a little lacking for me. Now I will be honest and say that I went to the early show, there were technical difficulties, and the late show probably was better. In the early show they did a lot of talking, introductions, covers and only a little of their own music. But hey, I got some decent pictures and enjoyed it. And I still like their music and would go to one of their concerts again!
Here is a video if you have never heard them. I have one of my own that I am going to upload later.
And here are my pictures from tonight!
hat’s right! You read correctly! If you visit I ♥ Faces you can enter the contest up to 5 times! So what are you waiting for? Get over there and enter! Below is a copy of part of their blog post!
We’re SO excited to be giving away one of these… (WOW!)
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For Canon or Nikon DSLR users.
If you use a different camera, Tamron will substitute an appropriate prize.
Must have a US Mailing address to win.
Wouldn’t you love to have this kind of zoom???
So head on over to I ♥ Faces and get entered to win! And if you are the lucky winner, come back here and tell me!
Sorry it has taken me so long to post this! I have had a pretty full week and now the family is back home! All the pictures are at the bottom, so if you just want to view them and not listen/read my rambelings, scroll down!
So last week, I went to the zoo with Sarai and Micah. Joining us in our car were the Sadlers, Michele, Elijah, and Ali. We had a great time riding together. Also joining us on the trip were Trish Johnson, her mother-in-law, and kids, Shane, Alivia, and Kalissa. Plus Lisa Woods and her boys, Braden and Noah. The morning started out with me planning to pick up Michele at her house at 7 am and then swing by Trish’s and then head out of town. St Louis is about a 3 to 3 1/2 hour drive from us. So I got to Micheles about 7:15, not bad considering I had a one year old who usually sleeps until 8:30 or later! When Michele got in the car, she said that Lisa had called and was planning on meeting us in Moberly. But not until 8:30! So I was like wow. The last I had heard from Lisa was that she wan’t going to be able to make it. I was glad that she was joining us. So we got to Moberly at 7:45 and Michele and I decided to run to McDonalds to get the kids some breakfast and Trish said she needed to go fill up with gas. Then Trish called me and said that they had decided to go on ahead because they needed to stop in Coumbia so I said ok and I will meet you at the Zoo.
We waited for Lisa and while we were waiting Trish called back and said that she thought that she had left her wallet at the gas station and asked me to run over there and check. So we drove over there and thankfully it was sitting on the post next to the pump she filled up at! So I called her back and let her know. Lisa arrived and we took off from Moberly at about 8:45. A little later than we planned put all was good.
We didn’t have any more trouble on the way down, unless you count Micah having diarrhea and having to change clothes as a problem. And the fact that Michele and I were talking so intently and laughing so loudly that we did not hear the GPS tell me my exit and the next we knew it was telling us to make a u-turn! Then we ended going through town because the highway that runs next to the zoo is pretty much completely shut down for construction! But we finally made it to the zoo and parked. And again I had to change Micah because of diarrhea! At this moment I was starting to panic. We hadn’t even really begun our day and I had already ran out of baby wipes, was putting his last outfit on him and had 2 diapers! Oh Joy!
So we got into the zoo, bought our Safari passes and met up with Trish and her family. The first thing we did was ride the train. Micah seemed to enjoy it and my favorite part was that we got to see a up close and pretty cool view of the Tiger cubs! It was amazing watching them lounge and play. After the train we ventured into the River’s Edge which houses the elephants, rhinos, hippos and other animals like that. It was fun walking through there and looking at the animals. One of the best parts was the pretty close-up view we got of a parrot! Got some great shots of the kids looking at the animals and some of the just the kids being silly! One of my favorite was of Sarai and Ali ip under a rock cliff!
At the end of River’s Edge there is a water feature and of course the kids had to get wet! At first Elijah was the only one that was really into getting wet but before long the others followed suit. I even wheeled the stroller close enough for Micah to get a little wet. But he really wasn’t too into it as he was not feeling that well. But I did get a cute group shot of the kids!
After there we headed into the Insectarium and Butterfly House. The Butterfly house was amazing! Check out my pictures below of the blue butterfly, he was beautiful! Several times Sarai and Micah both almost had a butterfly land on them. I could have stayed in there for hours just watching the butterflys and taking pictures of them.
Our next stop was the Children’s Zoo. This is always a favorite of the kids because it is so hands on! And today was not exception. They had so much fun. Especially at another water feature (more wetness!) and the playland. The slides were so fast and the kids loved them. One even went through the otter exhibit, although Sarai said that she didn’t see any otters when she went down because it was too fast!
Then we ventured towards the Bears and Penguin exhibit, but decided to eat before we did anything else. Lunch was nice and pretty relaxing. After lunch we visit the bears and got some great shots of the Grizzlys. Then we headed over to Sarai’s favorite exhibit, the Penguin and Puffin Cove! This exhibit is amazing and so fun. You can literally come face to face with the penguins and puffins. Although today not many of them were in the water. It is also nice to visit the exhibit when it is hot out because it is kept at 40 degrees inside!
As we were exiting the exhibit it started raining! We decided to wait a few minutes and then when he didn’t seem to be letting up we went ahead and ventured over to the carousel. It was coming down pretty hard so we let the kids ride on the carousel. Of course becasue of the rain, one ride turned into about 10! But they had a lot of fun. Micah finally feel asleep at this point. Poor little guy was still not feeling well. And I was now down to one diaper and worried that he was going to have an accident while he slept. So the rain started to let up and we decided to venture out into the zoo. We made to the Chimpanzee exhibit before it started pouring again! We didn’t even get to see the chimpanzees! The we hightailed it to Build A Bear as that is where i told Sarai she could get something from. At this point Lisa, Michele and their kids took off for the South Entrance Gift shop before it closed. After we finished up, we met them there and headed out to our vehicles.
Wouldn’t you know that he decided to quit raining as we were leaving the park! But that didn’t last long. About as long as it took us to drive from the zoo to the airport and then it started pouring again! We had quite the adventure on the way home but I am going to save that for another post as this one is getting super long! We finally made it home about 10 pm! And went straight to bed. It was a long day but tons of fun and I would do it again in a heartbeat!
Enjoy the pictures! Ok I am having some issues getting the pictures to upload, so I am going to include a link to my facebook gallery and hope that you can see them. If I can get the pictures to upload then i will update this page or post a new post! Sorry
Facebook Album- St Louis Zoo
This past week while most of the family was away on a missions trip to Daytona Florida, I had a small amount of extra time on my hands. So I did a little project at our house. Nothing big or complicated but it was nice to see it done and it does make things easier.
There are two small pantry cabinets in the kitchen and then one pantry closet in the hallway. The only thing that I don’t have a before picture for is the large pantry closet that I also cleaned out. Lets just say it was worse than the other two cabinets combined! Here are the pictures
For some reason I don’t have a picture of the upper small pantry organized or I can’t seem to find it. Sorry! But still, you get the idea.
An Open Letter to Youth Minister Search Teams
Could very well apply to any ministry search teams! Very valid and real points. I am not going to copy and paste, so click the link and go and read it!
Eliminate the CHAOS at Dinner Time: Take 2!
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Ban on Texting While Driving Sought
A new measure would require states to ban driving while texting or face the loss of highway funds.
This is a push to have to become illegal in all 50 states to text while you are driving. If it goes through the states will have 2 years to make the ban into a law or they will lose federal money for highways.
I say go for it! It is about time and something that will potentially save lives. Texting while driving is dangerous and should be illegal!
So what are your thoughts on this?
Over at I ♥ Faces they are having an great give-away! You should go over and check it out!
They are giving away some Photoshop Templates from Simply Couture!
Have you heard of Simply Couture Designs? Well, they have some great photoshop templates for photographers and they are beautiful! Visit the Simply Couture website to see all their great designs. And then head over to I ♥ Faces to enter their giveway!
Today we head to the St Louis Zoo with the Sadler’s and the Johnson’s! I am so excited and looking forward to the adventure! It will be Micah’s first zoo experience and I can’t wait! I have 2 digital camera’s each with a 1GB card in it, needless to say I will have plenty of pictures to post and scrapbook with!!
Check back later in the week for zoo pictures!
One show that I love to watch is Design Star on HGTV. It is fun to watch the designers and see what they come up with. And of course pick my favorites! And so far my favorites are Dan and Antonio! I love both of them and their styles and think that they are both very strong. I don’t see either of them going home any time soon (but who knows!).
Last nights (Sunday) episode was the Kitchen Challenge. This is always an interesting challenge to watch, as it is ever rarely finished. It was a good challenge and it is always neat to see how appreciative the family is about getting their kitchen redone. I would love if they would come redo my mother-in-laws kitchen. Believe me, it needs it!
Ok here are my thoughs on the show.
The Kitchens
I think that the Boucher kitchen was ok. It is amazing that they finished! I LOVED Torie’s backsplash and it was a simple choice that allowed them to have the kitchen finished. I didn’t like the color choies! I would never have allowed that blue to be put on the wall along with the red and the yellow! Vern Yip (on of the designer judges) said “it looks like a rainbow thre up in there” and I agree! I like the red, although I would have went a little darker with it, not so rose. And the yellow was ok, but there I would have went a shade or two darker. And they didn’t even look bad together as you do see those colors in moroccan and even italian color palettes. But adding the blue ruined it for me.
The Johnsons kitchen would probably have been nice IF they had finished it! I could see the design and where they were headed. I think a big part was the lack of accessories! It needed them to add the warmth and finishing touches to the room. I understand they were pressed for time, but how hard could it have been to realize you only 30 minutes left and to start putting them out! Even if they weren’t perfect at least they would have been out on the counters and adding another layer to the room.
The Decision
I DO NOT agree with the judges decision at all! Tashica should have been sent home! Especially when you have every other team mate, except one, saying that she was the weakest memeber of their team and that her skill set doesn’t add up to what she has boasted about and can really do! I thought it was very honest of Amy to say that she didn’t do as good as a team captain as she should have. I felt her biggest mistake of the show was choosing Tashica in the first place! I really couldn’t believe that Amy picked her to begin with after last weeks performance. I would have chosen Torie (I lover her backsplash!) before Tashica.
I thought Amy did an ok job being captian, yeah it could have been better but she didn’t deserve to go for it! She formulated a plan, she set it in motion, she helped make critical choices. And she even recognized a team members advanced skill in an area and had them completing that taks. I do think that Dan did step up and become like a co-captain. But I really didn’t see him doing any more than Amy.
My favorite part of the show was the look on the other contestants faces when Tashica walked into the room after the elimination ! That was priceless! I hope that Tashica either does a super amazing job next week or goes home!
I can’t wait for next weeks show! The White Wall Challenge and first individual challenge! Now we get to see the designers on their own and what they are really going to bring to the table!
It has been forever since I have done a Fun Monday post! But this one goes along with something I am actually working on this week. Here is your instructons:
That’s why I just want to know what you call a messy place and put a picture of it in your post. It’s just to compare, if I am messy …
It can be a room, your basement, the attic, a drawer or whatever, but it has to be messy !
Those who are the perfect housewives or men, please leave one room or other place untouched for 24 h !
So here are the photos of the messy place in my house. (Well it really isn’t MY house, but it is the hosue I am living in!)
Come back in a few days to see the results of the project I am working on!
Oh yeah, go here to see the other participants!
Last night after our spaghetti dinner, Micah needed a bath but I didn’t feel like filling the tub and the having to sit in there with him forever. He loves baths and likes to play for a while in the water. So instead, I stripped him down and stuck him in the sink. Then I took a video of him! Sorry if you catch a view, I tried to avoid it.
Here are some pictures too!
Here are some pictures of yesterday. Enjoy!
That is how long my husband will be gone!
Today he and 34 (I think that was the number) of others, over half being teens, left for Daytona Beach Florida. The will spend the next 10 days, minus travel, working with World Changers doing work in the area. I know that Josh’s group will specifically be doing roofing. His moms, Jane, group will be doing painting. Nathan and Rachelle also went on the missions trip and will doing work as well.
So it is just Micah, Sarai and myself at home! Today we spent the day in town swimming and playing at the park, plus we went to Wal-Mart and grocery shopping. Nothing on the agenda for tomorrow, but early next week (Tuesday to be exact!) we are going to the St Louis Zoo with the Sadlers (minus Tim and Maya), the Woods’ (minus Wesley) and the Johnsons (minus Matt). There might be two other families (the Clements and the Fannings, minus their husbands) joining us but I have not heard one way or the other from them yet. But regardless, I am really looking forward to the spending the day at the zoo with my kiddos. And getting to spend time with the other moms and get to know them better!
Not sure, but I may try and go see my mom towards the end of next week. It has been a while since I have gotten up there to see her and I miss her. She told Josh earlier today that she thinks she may be done with her chemo, depending the test results! Praise the Lord if she is! And praise Him if she is not! She has done well through out the entire ordeal and He continues to strengthen her and bless her with contentedness and a peace. But that is another post!
This is a neat little contest! The prize is a package of reuseable baby wipes. Even if you don’t have any in diapers, think of the great shower gift it would make. I entered and if I win (doubtful, but you never know) I am going to give them to a friend of mine that is having twins! I am sure she will be able to find a great use to them even other than diaper wipes. Especially since she already has two boys in the house! Here is a little about the contest (from the website):
Bummas knows exactly what I am talking about and has created their brightly-colored eco-friendly baby wipes from 100% Cotton. These soft wipes can be used for a variety of purposes from patting that lil bum dry or using as a reusable wipe vs. the wipes we so quickly grab and throw away. I can say I feel more confident using Bummas Wipes to dry off the girls’ sensitive skin and put less worrying into “Where’s the diaper cream?”, knowing they are getting dry skinwithout the ingredients put into disposable wipes.
So head on over and check them out. And get entered to win!
Our church held their VBS, Boomerang Express last week. Sarai enjoyed going although she missed Monday night since we got home that night from Michigan. This past Friday was their VBS Program and then after that was the Family Swim at the Macon Pool. Here are some pictures from the program and pool party. Maybe also a video if I can get it uploaded. Enjoy!
Oh where to begin telling you about the things that my boy is doing now! He continues to amaze and astonish me!
This post I am just going to tell you about something new that he is doing. This just amazes me! Here is the feat:
Now, I know what you are thinking. Why does this amaze you, all babies learn to do this? This amazes me because we have no stairs in our house! None that he can get to anyways. The first time he was at stairs was in Michigan and for the longest time he sat at the bottom of them crying for however was going up to take him. Finally after a little bit, we noticed that he was gone and sure enough he was about 4 stairs up! These pictures are only about the 3rd time he has climbed stairs and I think he does pretty good. He is pretty fast too!
As you may remember, we went to Michigan at the beginning of the month to visit Josh’s side of the family and for their reunion. This is an annual event and we have been doing it with our family for the past 4 years. It is almost always a good time.
This year I was really looking for to it for a totally different, non-family related reason! A BLT with 1 POUND of BACON!!! Yep, you read that right. A FULL POUND of BACON! I know, that is a heart attack waiting to happen. But I wanted one and of course you can’t forget the Banana Split made with 13 scoops of ice cream! I first heard about this sandwhich while watching the Travel Channel. Josh likes a couple shows on the Travel Channel so we watch it occasionally. And this time I just happened to catch part of the program about a place called Tony’s Restaurant in Birch Run Michigan. As soon as the show was over, I had Josh looking to see how far Birch Run and Ionia are from each other. Only 1 1/2 hours! Thats not too bad. So of course, I set about trying to plan how I could get the family to go what would be a total of 3 hours out of the way just so I could see and eat this sandwhich. Here is a picture of the sandwhich:
BLT at Tony's in Birch Run Michigan. A pound of bacon!
Doesn’t that look yummy!
So anyways, back to getting there. On Tuesday when we arrived, Linda asked if we would like to take a trip to Frankenmuth on Thursday to go to Bonners Christams shop. I got really excited because you go through Birch Run to get to Frankenmuth! Yes, I was going to be abe to go to Tony’s! So we said sure, asked if she cared if we stopped at Tony’s and told her why. She said she didn’t think that would be a problem. I was excited and could hardly wait.
So Thursday morning came and I made sure that I was ready and had my camera. This was a picture opportunity waiting to happen. So we leave and head out to Birch Run, where we are actually going to meet some other family memebers. So we pull into Tony’s to wait for them. And I can hardly contain myself!
Tony's Restaurant Birch Run Michigan
To make a long story (and frankly boring here on) shorter. This was as close as I got to my one pound BLT and 13 scoop Banana Split! I was a tad upset. Due to whatever (not really sure the reasoning) we ended up eating at Burger King in Frankenmuth. I was very disappointed. Hopefully next year I will make it to Tony’s! That is my goal.
At least Micah enjoyed his Burger King, or I guess more accurately the ranch dressing!
Micah enjoying the ranch dressing at Burger King
We made it to our destination in Michigan on Tuesday night about 8:30 pm. That is not too bad considering we actually didn’t get on the road until about 9:30 am and we loose an hour coming. And don’t forget we were traveling with a 1 year old who is not used to long car trips.
Only downside is that I can’t upload my pictures (unless I put them on Josh’s laptop, which I might). More updates tomorrow
Thanks for stopping by to visit us, hope you found something that you could enjoy! I am currently on vacation visiting my husbands family in Michigan. We will be home next week! And then I will have tons of photos and probably lots of funny stories to tell you! So make sure you come back sometime after next Tuesday to see whats new!
Ok, tonight I discovered one thing that I miss about Pennsylvania that I never really thought about before. Fireworks shows! Maybe it is not so much that I miss this about Pennsylvania as much as it is that I live in a small town and the next town over while larger is still not that big. So tonight is the first time we have ever went to the city sponsored fireworks show. First time in the last 15 years, since we have lived in this area. We have always had our own out here at Jane’s. And it was always pretty good for a amatuer show. Of course we usually spent between $200-300 and that would get us between $400-600 worth of fireworks and here in Missouri you can buy some pretty big stuff to shoot off. However, this year we decided not to do our own show at all. Money is an issue for all of us right now.
So we went to town to watch the show. And while I am glad that I got to see fireworks, I will say that it was kind of a letdown for me. Here is the rundown of our night
8:14 pm- leave our house in Atlanta
8:36 pm- arrive and park at the Macon Fairgrounds
8:58 pm- 10 minute warning shot fired
9:11 pm- the show starts
9:31 pm- the show is over
9:36 pm- we are exiting the fairgrounds
9:54 pm- we arrive home
So as you can see the time we spent driving to and from town and waiting for the show to begin was longer than the actual show. The finale of the show here was what typically led up to the finale of the show we usually watched in Pennsylvania. Oh well, it was kind of nice to just get out! Even if Micah did sleep through the entire show!
Here are a couple of pictures for you though.
Hope you enjoy your Fourth of July with your friends and family! Be safe while you play (whatever you are doing)! And remember to thank those men and women who have served and still serve our country today. Because we all know that freedom is not and has never been free!
Here are some songs/videos to help you celebrate the 4th of July. These are some of my personal favorite USA songs! Enjoy!
I love to take photos! Of anyone and anything! Rarely do I leave my house without one of my cameras. Actually I only have one camera, the other belongs to my 9 year old daughter who at a very early age developed her mothers love for photography. She has said for years now that when she grows up she wants to be a animal photographer! But that is a bunny trail! Anyways, although I love taking pictures I am no where near a professional like my sister and brother-in-law or our youth pastors wife. Check out their websites and see some amazing work. But I do think I can take pretty good pictures when i set my mind to and decent ones most of the time. I think this true with the majority of scrappers, we are just amatuers doing what we do best: documenting our families lives. Our skills in photography are developed over the course of years and often by trail and error.
However, there is one thing or event that I love to take pictures of and try to get great shots of each year and FAIL! What is that you ask? Fourth of July FIREWORKS!! I love fireworks but most of my pictures, to put it bluntly, suck! Ocassionally I will get a good one and close to never get a great one! I have tried a lot of different tips and usually end up with bad pictures still.
So when I found these tips, I thought I would share with you. Go read them and gear up to take some (great) fireworks pictures! And come back and link them to me so I can see your works of art!
Although, I know that my husband loved the gifts that the kids got him. What man, especially one who loves the outdoors as much as Josh, would not love to receive a couple spinner baits, some worms and hooks as a gift?!?! He did love them. But on Sunday night, he got the greatest Father’s Day present anyone, especially Josh, could ever ask for.
Daddy, Sarai and Micah examining one of the spinner baits they got him for Fathers Day
He got to baptize his own daughter!
Josh baptizing Sarai
Our church had it’s Baptism at the Lake on Sunday night. There was a great turnout for the picnic and the food was so yummy! There was even a smoked hog for us to enjoy! But the best and most amazing part of then entire night was that 20 people professed Christ and followed in Believers Baptism! AMEN! And one of them was our daughter, Sarai.
The yummy smoked pig!
About 5 months ago Sarai accepted Jesus Christ as her Savior in Kids Cove Worship (the childrens program at Macon FBC; its amazing!). Since then we have talked to her about baptism and what it means and why she should do it off and on. She had never really been excited about it or said “lets do it” so we didn’t push. Josh didn’t really push her that much either because he was hoping that we would be in our new church and that he would be able to baptize her himself. But since we are not close to accepting a call yet and they were having this one now, Josh asked her and she said that she would likt to go ahead and be baptize. So we called the church on Thursday and let them know that she wanted to be inlcuded. Josh was a little bummed because he didn’t think that he would be able to do the baptism. In prior discussions with Pastor Tim they had concluded that it would be better if Tim led the baptism and Josh assisted. And Josh was ok with that. However when they got into the water Sunday night and it was Sarai’s turn, Pastor Tim told Josh to just go ahead and do it. What a surprise! Josh was so excited and I cried! Enjoy the pictures!
This post is a little tribute to my husband, Josh. He is one of the best father’s I know and I am so thankful that the Lord has allowed our lives to be spent togther and has blessed us with two little miracles in our children. So Happy Father’s Day Josh! I love you more each day!
Ok, so this is kind of random. I received this in my e-mail from a friend and was pondering it. So read it and let me know your thoughts on it. I may be back to expand on it later, maybe not.
Today something happened to me that I really thought would never happen to me!
I DROPPED MY SON!
I am still in shock and just keep saying to anyone within hearing distance, “I can’t believe I dropped him.” It is said with a kind of disbelief in my voice, like maybe it was a dream. I remember a couple years back there was this big uproar because some photogrpahers captured a moment on film when Brittany Spears was walking with one of her sons and she stumbled a little and almost dropped him. I can still recall the uproar that surrounded that moment and how it was used to point out what a bad mother she was. I can also remember telling Josh that I could see that happening and that I am sure many mothers have experienced something similar. And then today I actually dropped my child! Good thing I am not a celebrity or you could imagine the uproar surrounding me!
Here is what happend. My mother-in-law asked if I wanted to go check the mail and I said sure. Micah had been wanting to go outside (he loves being outside) for a while, so I figured I would take him along with me. I have walked the same path to the mailbox and back several times with no problems. So he and I set off on our little adventure. I am holding him on my left hip with just my left arm around him, we are walking along and chatting; no cares! The next thing I know I step into a hole and twist my left ankle. As I am twisting my ankle and falling to my left hip, Micah is launched into the arm and lands about 2 feet from me on his left side, thankfully he didn’t hit his head. Immediately he started screaming. So while I am crying and trying to crawl to him and he is screaming, Josh looks down and asks if I am ok. I told him no and he comes running down to help. By that time, I had picked Micah up and was trying to make sure nothing was broken. Josh’s step-dad was also outside and came over and took Micah from Josh while he helped me get up.
Thankfully neither him or I are any worse off. My ankle is still sore when I walk on it and my hip/back hurt. Micah quit crying right after I took him back from granpa. Then came in the house and preceded to take about a 15 minute nap. No bruises or anything that I can see. I am so thankful he wasn’t worse!
Oh what an eventful day!
Micah actually drank a measurable amount of milk yesterday! Yes, i said measurable. And yes it is a big. You see he hasn’t had any breast milk, formula, or cow’s milk in the past 2 months. Yes I said 2 MONTHS!! I never pulished the post about having to wean him, honestly because it was an emotional time for me. To make a long story short (maybe I will publish the original post) around the beginning of March I hurt my back. Have no idea how I did it. I kept thinking it would get better on its own but it didn’t. Finally on April 2nd Josh took me to the emergency room because I couldn’t get up on my own or put any weight on my left leg. So the ER doctor gave me a prescription for a muscle relaxer and a pain medicine and told me I had to choose between the back pain or the pain of instantly weaning Micah. So we weaned. It was rough. But it got better.
However, at that moment Micah would not drink formula. He would actually gag when it touched his mouth and then we wouldn’t take the sippy cup at all. Bottles were out as we had not used one of those since he was about a month old and wouldn’t even put it in his mouth. Let alone he had no idea how to make it work if he did put it in his mouth. We would take a couple drinks of milk from sippy but then within 30 minutes he would throw it back up. We think this was more because his stomach couldn’t handle it and not because he didn’t like it. So I tried regular milk, 2% milk, lactaid, and soy milk in vanilla and chocolate. I also tried PediaSure in Banana and Chocolate. And we even tried the new Gerber drinks (like PediaSure) in Vanilla. I even tried to give him regular milk with chocolate and strawberry syrup in it. He would not drink ANY of them!
He would, however, drink the milk off your cereal on a spoon on occasion. So yesterday after I had eaten my cereal (Frosted Shredded Wheat) I poured the milk from it into his sippy cup. It was about 1/4 of the sippy cup full. He drank ALL OF IT! So I poured him another cup about 1/3 to 1/2 full and added a teaspoon of sugar (the nutrionist at WIC and the dr said to try this). AND HE DRANK IT ALL! Again!
So this morning, I poured him a 1/2 cup of milk and put some sugar in it. And he has already drank 1/2 of what I poured him! I am so excited. Plus he is not throwing it back up, which is great. I am hoping that in another month or so, I can stop adding the sugar all together and get him to drink just regular old milk! I plan to decrease the sugar amount over time so that it is less and less in the milk. If this doesn’t work, I guess we will go forth with allergy testing. But I am optimistic that this will work and by the time he goes back to the doctor and WIC, he will be drinking milk!
Today Josh set up Sarai’s slip-n-slide for her while she was at school. So she was really excited when she got home and of couse wanted to go in it right away. So excited that when she came storming into my bedroom she woke Micah up! So I went ahead and slathered him up with sunscreen (my lily white child) and put his trunks on him (they are so cute!)
Getting sunscreen on
He hated me putting it on him and cried!
Stop momma! That is what he is saying to me
After he got outside he forgot all about the sunscreen and how much he hated it. Both he and Sarai had a so much fun with the slip-n-slide. Here are some pictures of their fun!
Saturday night and last night our church did a 2-night showing of “Fireproof” for the congregation and community. We are getting ready to start the study that goes along with it and wanted to make it available to everyone. So we had soda and popcorn and showed it on the big screen. It was nice and I always enjoy when they do this (although I had already seen it!).
They offered nursery service for children up to 3 years of age. So I took Micah back and dropped him off, realzing that since we have not attended a service in our church for a little more than a month now that he probably was not going to do well. And he cried but I took a pager and told them that if he didn’t settle down to page me and I would come back and get him. Poor guy just loves his mommy. Well since there wasn’t anything for older children, Sarai sat and watched the movie with us, which was fine. About 3/4 the way through my pager went off so I went and collected my soon who was very upset and wanted his mommy. He was dirty, not sick, not hungry; just needed mom. So he watched the remainder of the movie with us.
After the movie had ended, Sarai asked if she could take Micah up in front of the stage and play with him. I told her yes and said make sure you watch him and all the normal instructions. She really does a pretty good job as a nine year old when it comes to watching him. However she does get bored with him easily at times. So they went up to the front of the church, which was only 3 rows from where Josh and I were sitting and talking about a decision he needed to make. I had stood up because I was going to get Micah and Sarai so we could leave. As I was standing I noticed that he and Sarai were sitting on the step and that she had turned her back to him. In the same instant, he decided that something was pretty exciting and started bouncing up and down. So I started saying her name, “Sarai, Sarai, SARAI!” and about the time I got to the third one he took a header off the step onto the floor!
I think in my mad dash to get to him, I pushed a couple of people out of my way and I probably should go back and apologize to them for it! It only took me probably 15 seconds to get to him and by that time another mom had picked him up. So I took him from her and then realized that my daughter at took off out of the sanctuary upset. So I went to look for her. Everyone was fine, Micah is no worse for the wear; Sarai was reassured that she was not a bad big sister (look at moms track record!) and although yes it was her fault, it was an accident and they happen (i am sure we will have many more!). But still, it added another owie to his growing arsenal. Here is the damage this time, not bad just a skinned nose.
Micah's latets owie, his poor little rug burned nose!
Today I struck out on a new adventure! I made a strawberry rhubarb pie for the first time in my entire life! It was fun. I don’t like strawberry rhubarb pie but my husband does. So I made one for him just to see if I could do it. He loves it and he has his favorite ever. It was made for him by a lady that attended the first church he was a youth pastor in. She has since went home to be with the Lord. But she was a dear sweet lady and he claims that her strawberry rhubarb pie is the best he has ever had. I didn’t set out to make it so that he would like mine better than hers. Nope my goal was just to see if I could make one and also to give him a special treat. The entire time we lived in Pennsylvania (9 years) he didn’t have one, so I thought what the hay. Here are pictures of my adventure! Enjoy
So, here is the consensus on the pie. It looked great. My mother-in-law thought it was good. My husband thought it was ok. He felt that there was something off about the taste of it. And that it was maybe a little too sweet. So, I guess I will be using a different recipe next time.
So if you have a great recipe for a Strawberry Rhubarb pie and don’t mind sharing I would love to try yours! Or maybe it has been in your family for generations and passed down to you, please send it my way! Thanks so much!
He is crazy! Like his daddy or maybe his momma, depending on who you ask! LOL! Here are some recent pictures of him. He is getting so big and I can’t believe he is already 1 year old! I am so thankful for the blessing that he is and the miracle that God worked in our life through him. I can already tell he is going to be something else!
Micah at Josh's Ordination
He is fearless, absolutely fearless! Let me tell you about all the falling he does! He has fallen off the couch twice, once when Sarai was watching him and once when I was sitting right next to him! He has fallen off the bed 3 times! One time he landed on his bottom sitting up, how I do not know. The second time, he actually rolled off the bed in our comforter and landed nice and soft! And the third time was while I was reaching over to grab him, he slipped off the side head first. He has a nice big bruise on his head (in the same place the first couch episode landed one) and his eye is a little puffy and kind of bruised around it!
Standing in his wagon!
He has started scooting/crawling. I have tried to get a picture of the way he scoots but have had no luck so far. Usually when I go to take the picture he sits up and cheeses at me! But he is very mobile now and goes pretty much where ever he wants unless we stay on top of him. The other day he was in our room with me while I was picking up stuff. I turned around and the next thing I know I could hear him our in the kitchen talking to Josh’s mom! It took him all ove 30 seconds! He loves to stand and cruise at the coffee table and couch and he even will let go and stand on his own for about 5 to 10 seconds. And every know and then i will catch him tripoding or trying to get into a squatting position! He is very active.
On the go!
He absolutely loves balls or anything shaped like a ball! He has so many balls in different shapes and sizes! And his daddy is loving this about him. He wants so badly for him to like sports and want to play sports. And I think he will. He loves to throw his little balls (they are acutally hackie sacks but thats ok!).
Micah and one of his many balls!
Josh was Ordained this past Sunday night at our church, along with our Worship Pastor John Snider. It was a great service. Here are some pictures that i took.
Yesterday I went on a field trip with Sarai’s 3rd grade class. It was an interesting and fun time. We went to Hannibal Missouri and went on the Mark Twain Riverboat. Here are some pictures from the trip.
Gotta take Micah to the dr so I will add more when I get back. Enjoy!
Here are some pictures from Micah’s birthday on Tuesday.
High- Sarai had a field trip today to the Mark Twain Riverboat in Hannibal and I got to go along!
Low- I had to drive myself
High- Sarai rode home with me!
Low- it was hot and the car has no air!
High- can’t wait for season finales tonight of American Idol, Criminal Minds, CSI: NY, and something else (lol!)
Low- come home to learn that my brother-in-law hit the satellite while mowing and knocked it out! no finales for me
High- TURKEY HILL ice cream! this is the absolute best ice cream and since hannibal kroger is the closest place that sells it i picked some up today!
Low- i ate too much and now i feel sick!
laying in bed!
One year ago, I was laying in a hospital bed coounting down the days and hours until Friday. That was the day that my dr planned to induce me. That was the day that my husband and I would meet our little boy. However, God and my son had other plans.
Hooked up to the monitors!
8:45 p.m.- watching t.v., something on Food Network. getting hooked up to the monitor for my nightly one-hour monitoring session.
9:30 p.m.- nurse comes in to unhook me from the monitor, asks me if i am feeling and having more contractions than usual. i tell her not really, but they do seem a little more stronger. she makes a comment that i was having more than i had been and they are stronger. asks if she can get me anything.
11:15 p.m.- I decided that I would once again try and stay awake until the new nurses could come in and get my vitals. I had been doing this for the past week. It didn’t make any sense for me to fall asleep around 11 or so only to be woke up within the hour by the night shift nurses.
11:30 p.m.- realized that I was probably not going to make it until the new shift came in, decided to turn the t.v. off and go to sleep. Instead I laid there awake listening to the quiet sounds of the nurses visiting other rooms on the hall. I drifted in and out of sleep.
12:20 a.m.- the nurses finally came in, i had been drifitng in and out of sleep and barely noticed them taking my vitals. I remember them asking if I needed anything, but I didn’t so they left as quietly and quickly as they came. And I was able to go back to sleep.
3:30 a.m.- I woke up needing to use the restroom. After returning to bed, I sat there for about 10 minutes feeling like I needed to do some stretches. I remember my body feeling like it was restless and I remember thinking that I had not slept well in the 3 hours that I had been asleep. It had been a very restless sleep. Finally I laid back down to try and sleep.
4:00 am- my body jerked awake as my water broke. I remember laying there for a moment while my mind tried to realize what just happened and what it meant was to come. I remember that there were no fears or apprehensions, just a calm peacefulness. i called josh and he answered on the 3rd ring. i told him my water broke and he asked me what the nurses said. i told him i didn’t call them yet and he wanted me to call them and then call him back after they came down and checked me. so i hung up and called the nurses station.
They came down and cleaned my bed up, helped me to the bathroom and got me a new gown. they asked me if i was having contractions and i said no. so they told me to go back to bed and they would come check on me in a little bit. i called josh back and he had already left home and was almost to the hospital. he asked if i was having any contractions and i told no i wasn’t. I asked them to please let my doctor know that my water had ruptured since she was on call. They assured me I had plenty of time. I then urged them strongly to let her know.
4:30 a.m.- Josh and Sarai arrived. Josh asked if I was having any contractions and I told him that I had just had one. So he started timing them. They were lasting about 2 minutes in length and were coming every 5 minutes. I told the nurses this as they had come back in the room and said that the doctor would like me hooked up to the monitor for a little bit. So after hooking me up to the monitor, they left. Josh kept timing my contractions and they were still lasting about 2 minutes but were about 3 minutes apart. The nurses came back in about 10 minutes and said that the doctor would like me moved to Labor and Delivery. So off we went!
5:15 a.m.- after being moved to Labor and Delivery, the nurse decided to put an i.v. in my hand incase they would need to later. It hurt so bad and I actually cried! I went to the bathroom and on the way back had to lean on the nurse as I was having a pretty strong contraction that lasted about 3 minutes. I had also started throwing up and had to have my gown changed once.
5:30 a.m.- my doctor came in and checked me. she said i was good to go and could start pushing anytime. the nurse said push on the next contraction, do i did. i really didn’t feel the need to push and i told them that. she said to go ahead and push with the next contraction and i did again; once again telling them i didn’t feel the need to push. the nurse kept encouraging me to push but on the next contraction i did not. she asked why and i said that i didn’t need to or feel the urge to push. my doctor said that was fine and to just listen to my body. so about 20 minutes passed, i pushed two more times with no luck and when she checked again the doctor said there was still a small lip of cervix there and asked me to roll onto my right side. once i did that my contractions got really strong and within a few minutes i felt that i needed to push. so she asked me to roll back to my back, but i couldn’t at first because i could feel Micah’s head coming out. when i was finally able to roll to my back, i gave one good push and his head came out. the doctor told us that she had the head and to go ahead and give another strong push at the next contraction. so i did and out popped Micah!
Micah John
6:17 a.m.- Micah John was born at 33 weeks 3 days gestation weighing 9 1/4 lbs and measuring 17 1/4 inches. His APGAR scores were 8 and 9. The NICU team and nurses cleaned him up, wrapped him in a blanket and placed him my waiting arms. And I cried! He was beautiful!
holding my baby for the first time!
Just a quick post to say goodby to a dear friend. Michelle is leaving us this week on Friday as her family moves to Virginia Beach, Va. Her husband just returned from Iraq and will be stationed in Virginia Beach. I know that she is looking forward to moving there and that she will miss all her friends here in Missouri. But I just wanted to let her know that I will miss her too! I am so thankful that God has allowed me the opportunity to get to know her and her family and that He placed her in my life. It has been great getting to know her and becoming friends with her. We had a going away party for her this past Saturday; here a few pictures. Enjoy!
All I am gonna post tonight is tha I am very mad and disappointed at American Idol. The results were bogus in my opinion. The person sent home should have stayed. And one that stayed should have went home.
Grrr!
Ok, so my husband and I are planning on going out of town on Saturday night. So I thought I would find us a nice hotel at a reasonable price. As usual, I figured Priceline was the best place to start. I have always had pretty good luck with them and have gotten great hotel rooms at great prices.
Well not tonight! I tried at least 10 different times to get the hotel room. They have the name your own price option and that is what I typically use. When you do this, you can usually get the room for 50% off (sometimes less). So the area we were going had 2 2-star hotesl, 1 1-start hotel and 1 unrated hotel. It said that the median price between the 2-start hotels was $77. And the median price for the 1-star was $68. I tried getting the 2-star hotesl for $30, $35, $40, and $45. So, I know that $30 is less than half, so I get why that didn’t go through. Half of $77 is $38.50 so I can maybe understand why $35 didn’t work although I have gotten rooms for more than 50% savings. But I don’t get why the offers for $0 and $45 didn’t go through. So then I went back and choose the 1-star and 2-star option and tried all the above prices again. Still wouldn’t accept any of them! I have never had this happen to me. I just don’t get it.
Then my husband went and found an area close to where we were going and looked at the hotels there. He then tried to get a room offering $35, 40, and 45 as well since their median prices were also around the other sites (also 1 and 2-star places). Nothing! So I am not sure what we are going to do.
The area does have some nice cabins and lodges, but not sure if I want to deal with that . The prices are pretty reasonable, I found one for $35 and one for $45. I would have to take my own bed linens, plus it is a more rural area and I am not sure of resturants and stores. Not too mention that I maybe would have to book 2 nights and we are only needing a one night. This option seems like a lot of hassle for one night. So I have no idea what we are going to do.
I have a question for you. If you ask a person what they believe about an issue shouldn’t you be prepared to hear an answer that may not match yours? And then when you hear that answer, do you have the right to tell that person they are wrong? And should it cause a big uproar and have people saying they are saddened by what the answer was?
I ask this because of this article. Go and read it, watch the videos and then come and weigh in. I am not trying to start a fight or even hurt anyone. But I think that when you ask someone what their beliefs are you should be prepared to hear and accept an answer that may or may not line up with what you believe. This does not mean that you have to accept that their belief is true or even change your belief. But you did ask them a question that is basically an opinion and one that possibly could have many people answering it in many different ways.
Here is part of the article that is causing such an uproar
When asked by judge Perez Hilton, an openly gay gossip blogger, whether she believed in gay marriage, Miss California, Carrie Prejean, said “We live in a land where you can choose same-sex marriage or opposite. And you know what, I think in my country, in my family, I think that I believe that a marriage should be between a man and a woman. No offense to anybody out there, but that’s how I was raised.”
She was asked what she believed on the subject. And she answered what she thought her beliefs where. End of discussion. If she had answered the opposite of what she did, there would be no furor over the answer. Or perhaps there would be from those who oppose gay marriage but then they would have been written off as extremists. Funny how our mainstream media and society works.
We have a soceity that screams for tolerance and the end of prejudices, but yet if you don’t agree with their stand on things then there is no tolerance for you. How does that work? Isn’t that hypocritical? Just wondering.
So what do you think? Is it such a big deal that she answered the question the way that she did?
This is a hobby that I have been into for a while but had gotten away from. Well, I just started getting into it again and wanted to invite you all to view my layouts! My favorite subjects are my kids, but you will see some other things there as well. You can find it at my blog dedicated to all things digital scrapping (mostly mine right now!). Come visit me!
Butterfly Gypsy Designs- my blog
Butterfly Gypsy Designs gallery- specifically my gallery
Ten years ago today 13 people were killed at Columbine High School in Colorado. The world cried out and called it a massacre.
Ten years ago today almost 4,000 people were killed in abortion mills across the country. The world called it choice.
Ten years later 4,000 people are still killed every day in abortion mills across the country.
When will the world cry out for the blood of these innocent children? When we give them a voice and show the world the truth, that’s when.
Be a voice today -www.standtrue.com
The deadly shooting that happened at Columbine was certainly a sad and terrible thing to have happened. The testimonies that came out of that terrible event will have forever changed the nation and perhaps the world. I am in no way trying to discount or make less of what happened there on that day or the impact that it has had nationally or globally. The point is that in our society, we see the end of thousands of lives each day and it seems to bother very few people. This post is to get you to think of the impact that abortion has had and continues to have on our world.
Well, while I was in the middle of typing the previous post Funny Story we had a little catastrophe happen! Sarai had got home from school and was in my room talking to me and Micah and telling us all about her day at school. She then asked if she could watch tv and I said yes. We were the only ones home and that is when she really gets to watch what she wants. So she goes out and then comes back in and asks me if she can take Micah out to the couch so he can watch tv with her. I tell her that is fine, planning on going out in a few minutes and sitting with them. So she gathers up some of his toys and takes them out to the living room. Then she comes back in and gets Micah. A few minutes pass and all of a sudden I hear a huge thud, her scream “Micah” and then him crying! Of course by the time he starts crying I am already headed for the living room. She has already picked him up and is starting to bring him to me. So I take him and notice that he has a pretty good size bump and bruise starting. Then I have to deal with him screaming because he is hurt, her crying because she is upet that he fell off the couch while she was watching him and having to try and see if he is bleeding or if anything else is wrong.
He seemed to be fine except for the bump and bruise. But I called Josh just to make sure he didn’t think I needed to call the pediatrician or take him to the dr or anything. It took him a while to stop crying and wimpering, but he seems no worse for the wear now and is playing happily on my bed once again. I am trying not to let him go to sleep, just in case. But he doesn’t even really act like he is tired.
Here is a picture of his bruise. This is his first major injury! Although he did get a scrape and little bruise on Easter. Also from his sister (see Easter posts for that story and pic)
Micah's bruise!
I have to tell you a funny story that happened to me last night. We left from church and I had asked my mil, Jane, if she would mind stopping at McDonalds so we could get something to drink since large drinks are only $1. For whatever reason I was really thristy and my throat was very dry. She said that was fine and away we went. During the 2 or 3 minutes it takes to get from the church to McDonalds, I discussed with Sarai what she would like to drink. I told her they had Coke products so that she would know what her choices were. Well I pulled up to the speaker at the drive-thru and proceeded to have the following conversation with the employee taking orders.
Me: I would like 1 large sweet tea with little ice please
McD: anything else
Me: yes, I would like 1 large Diet Coke with a small amount of Sprite in it please (that is the way mil orders her drink)
McD: we don’t have Sprite ( we have been coming to this McD regularly forever!)
Me: what?
MIL: since when?
McD: we have never had Sprite
Me: it is on your menu
McD: oh, that is supposed to say Coke
MIL: what do you mean you have never had it? yes you have
McD: we don’t have Sprite. anything else?
Me: 1 large Orange please
So he tells me my total and I pull around and pay him. Then we proceeed to the next window to pick up our drinks. I look in as the other employee is filling them and see that there is indeed still a Sprite button on the machine. So I ask him if they have Sprite. He say they do. So I ask him if he would mind putting little in the diet coke. He does and gives me my “mixed drink” as he calls it! We go ahead and leave, laughing in disbelief.
They really should train their new employees a little better!
I am sure that you all can relate. Life has been life and things have been busy. I hope you will check back because I am getting ready to upload a lot of new pictures, publish quite a few posts, and I think you will enjoy some of them! So check back!
Sorry, but I will not be posting for little longer. I know that I have been MIA for a bit now, but things are hectic around here. This time it is me. I hurt my back somehow about 4 weeks ago and it is still not better. Long story short: can’t get into dr until Monday, last night was very bad, had dh take me to er this morning and got pain medicine. However, it hurts to sit at the computers, so that is why I will be MIA
Thanks for understanding. And please continue to pray for my mom and her chemo. And my aunt Linda as she copes with losing her husband. And for me and my back.
Just a quick post to ask you to continue to pray for our family. We found out this morning that my mother-in-laws sisters husband died today. He had cancer and hadn’t been doing well, but it was still a shock to us. We are making plans to leave Friday morning to be able to attend the funeral.
Also please continue to pray for my mom. Her bone marrow test lat week came back clean. So the cancer is Stage 1 and they are pretty confident that they caught it in time. The doctors did giver her a 70% recovery rate. She also starts her chemo this Friday and then goes every 3 weeks.
Thanks so much for all your prayers and encouragement.
Just wanted to let everyone know that I have added a new page to the site. It is a Picture Gallery page and is mainly for all of my friends and family that come and visit my blog looking for new pictures of the kiddos! So enjoy all the new pictures of Micah and Sarai (I promise I will add more of Sarai soon!).
I must say that writing yesterday’s post was probably difficult for me for reasons most wouldn’t suspect. It wasn’t hard so much becuase my mom has cancer, or becuase I was really scared or upset. Both of those statements are so true. I think it was so hard for me to write mainly because I am a person who does not open up and share that easily with others. I am a private person. And it usually takes me a long time to get to know someone and feel that I can trust them enough to share meaningful and deep things with them. Or even share whats on the inside, my fears, joys and such.
But after writing the blog post, then posting a note on my facebook and then sending out an e-mail to a group of friends and family i was so encouraged by the outpouring of support and love. It amazes me that I have people that care enough to take an interest in my mom and to actually pray for her.
So thank you very much! I appreciate it.
This is not an easy post to right and neither is it one of the hardest that I have written. But it is very emotional for me. Its about my mom. She is and has always been one of my best friends. I am so lucky that we have always shared a very close relationship and although there have been some pretty tough times in our lives and even between us, that hasn’t changed. I love her so very much and am so thankful that God allowed me to have her as my mom. I really wouldn’t change a thing about my life.
Back before Christmas, I got a phone call from one of my friends from high school who still ives in the town I grew up in and is now a nurse at the local hospital. She was calling to tell me that my was in the hospital and that they wer transferring her to a larger hospital in the city nearby. She said it wasn’t serious but I did need to call her and she gave me the number to that hospital. I waited about an hour so that they would have time to get her there and settled in. Finally when I talked to her she said that for a couple of weeks now her stomach had been hurting and she had started coughing up blood and having blood in her stools. The doctors felt that she had an ulcer or upper GI bleed, so they were going to take a look. She said she was fine just not feeling to well. So I let her go and then called back the next day to find out what was going on.
They met with the doctors and it was decided that they would cauterzie the ulcer and that would stop the bleeding and when it healed it would be fine. So they did that, she came through fine and all was well and she was released after a couple of days. Fast forward to Christmas, we went to visit. I could tell she still wasn’t herself. She was very pale and very tired. She said that she was still having pains although she was following her diet guidelines and such. So she figured she would go back to the doctor again. And she had started to cough up blood again.
She went back to the doctor and explained all of it. They took another look and told her that the cauterization didn’t work and it wasn’t healing that was why she was still bleeding and having pain. So it was determined that she would need to have surgery to remove the part of her stomach that had the ulcer on it. The surgery was scheduled and they went in and removed part of her stomach with the ulcer. She came out of the surgery and was in a lot of pain as you can imagine. She was in the hospital for quite a while recovering. And even when she went home she was still in pain from the surgery but was already starting to feel so much better. Even friends of mine that I talked to that had seen her said she looked so much better than before.
Well, she had a follow up appointment last Friday with her doctor. I guess she didn’t know it but the doctor had sent the ulcer off for futher testing although he didn’t think it would come back as anything. (I think it is standard procedure to do so) He told mom at the appointment that it was not an ulcer that they removed from her stomach but was actaully a tumor and it could be cancerous. So she was scheduled for further testing today.
When mom called me to tell me that she had a cancerous tumor and that she had to go for more testing, I really felt like someone punched me. I don’t tend to go to extremes with my thoughts and I know Who is in control of all things, but this was my mom. And I didn’t want to lose her. Especially not know that I finally lived so close to her again and could see her pretty much whenever I wanted. (We recently moved within 2 hours of her after living over 16 hours away for 9 years).
So I prayed and told God that I was afraid of losing my mom and that I really didn’t want to lose her. But I knew that if He chose to take her home (my mom knows the Lord as her Savior) then I would be ok and make it through and I would understand that He had a greater plan. One of the passages of scripture that I was drawn was this one:
Now if you are ready at the time you hear the sound of the horn, flute, harp, lyre, and psaltery, in symphony with all kinds of music, and you fall down and worship the image which I have made, good! But if you do not worship, you shall be cast immediately into the midst of a burning fiery furnace. And who is the god who will deliver you from my hands?”
Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego answered and said to the king, “O Nebuchadnezzar, we have no need to answer you in this matter. If that is the case, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and He will deliver us from your hand, O king.
But if not, let it be known to you, O king, that we do not serve your gods, nor will we worship the gold image which you have set up.”
~Daniel 3:15-18
My favorite part is when they tell King Nebuchadnezzar that God will deliver them but if not, they still would not worship the golden image or his gods. That became my pray, Lord please let my mom be cancer free and live, but ifnot, i will still serve You. This was the second time in my life that this scripture has come into my prayer life. The first was when my daughter (who is now 9) was just a day old baby and fighting for life in the NICU. I believe that understanding that God is soverieng and in control of everything and through every circumstance is key to “surviving” or “handling” that circumstance. Does it make it any less hard or difficult, maybe but maybe not. But it allows you to go through that circumstance with a peace that is not understood by the world and sometimes by other believers. It allows you to handle those circumstances and situations and the people involved differently.
We got a text message from mom about 45 minutes ago. My mom has Non-Hodgkins Lymphoma. I don’t know what kind or what stage it is in. I do know that she will be beginning Chemotherapy treaments every 3 weeks for 6 to 7 months. She also has to have a Bone Marrow test done next Thursday. I don’t know how it will effect her but I have heard the horror stories of how people are effected. But I do know that God is in control and on the throne. And I know that I will be there with her through it, praying for her and loving her. And if the time comes that I have to say goodbye because of the cancer, then I will pray that God gives me the strenght to be strong for her and be an encouragement and witness to my family that does not know the Lord as their Savior.
Please pray for my mom as she walks this path. Also pray for her husband and my brothers who do not have a realtionship with Christ, that this will draw them closer to Him. Also pray for the doctors that they have the wisdom that is needed. And pray for me to have the strength and emotional peace that I need to help my mom and be a witness to my brothers and my mothers husband.
Sorry, I know that I have not posted in a while. Things have been busy around here and to be quite honest I have not felt like posting.
I have needed some alone time with my hubby for a little bit now. Seems like life has a way of getting in the way. And tonight I get it! He is taking me out to dinner (not sure where) and hopefully we will have some great conversation that is much needed! But it will be hard because we are leaving Micah at home with grandma! So it may be a little rough for me! But hopefully not for Micah or grandma.
I will post tomorrow or Monday on some other news in our lives. Thanks for reading. Have a great rest of the weekend.
This post if based on one that I read earlier this morning over at Delightful Home. It was a great post and made me remember an incident this summer. So here is my Love Note post.
This summer we were in Michigan for the annual family reunion that my husbands mothers side of the family holds. It is pretty much held right around the 4th of July, this year however it was held towrds the end. One of the highlights this past summer was being able to attend the Ionia Free Fair! It was a blast. I am not sure of the dates for next years reunion, but I sure hope it is during the Free Fair again.
But on to the purpose of this post. In the above referenced post it talks about finding a heart shaped rock. Then it linked to another blog that called them Love Notes from God. And I thought how appropriate that name was. Here is a Love Note from God that my daughter found this summer while we were in Michigan.
Sarai and her love note from God. found in Ionia Michigan
“Because he has set his love upon Me, therefore I will deliver him;
I will set him on high, because he has known My name.
He shall call upon Me, and I will answer him;
I will be with him in trouble;
I will deliver him and honor him.
~Psalm 91:14-15
The LORD your God in your midst,
The Mighty One, will save;
He will rejoice over you with gladness,
He will quiet you with His love,
He will rejoice over you with singing.
~Zephaniah 3:17
A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another.
~John 13:34
Today is a the day when people around the world celebrate the love they have for each other. Whether it is a passionate love or a friendly love, today is the day you let people know how much they mean to you. So Happy Valentine’s Day to all my readers. Thanks for reading me!
But did you know there is One who loves us more than we will probably ever know or realize? He loves us so much that He sent someone so special to take our punishment for us, His Son.
For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.
~John 3:16
God loves you and wants to have a personal relationship with you through His son Jesus Christ. If you have a Bible and would like to read additional verses here are some that will help you.
John 3:16
Romans 3:23
Romans 6:23
2 Corinthians 5:21
Romans 10:9-10
Romans 10:13
Also if you don’t have a Bible you can look the verses up on Bible Gateway or visit this website. If you want to know more about Christ and a personal relationship with Him, just ask me. I will be more than happy to help.
Ok, I am sorry but this is going to be a petty long post. Mainly because instead of posting every week like I had originally planned at the beginning I waited until now to post. So it is going to contain a lot of my thoughts for the past several weeks! Sorry!
Overall Thoughts
I really enjoy watching the show, feel it is a good show and its fun to watch also. I do have problems with how mean they seem to be sometimes. And I am not talking about telling someone they can’t sing or that this is not what they should be pursuing in their lives. I am talking about the comments that come out, the laughing, that is just mean spirited. Actually Simon is my favorite judge and I think he typically gives the contestants honest and helpful advice that if they truly step back and listen to they will do well to implement it. I would also have to say that Paula is my least favorite judge. Typically her advice has nothing to do with the person’s singing ability and there a lot of times that I really have trouble following what she is trying to say. And Randy is just there, plus he drives me crazy with how many times in one show he says the Dawg! It is insane! And since they have added a new judge this year, I am not sure about her yet. She seems to give helpful advice but I haven’t really formed an opinion on her yet.
The people that I get the most disgusted with however, are the family and friends of some of the hopefuls. I am sorry but the family and friends are either downright mean or they have a serious problem. If someone came to me and told me they were going to try out for American Idol and I knew they could not sing I would do everything I could to dissuade them from trying out. Why would you keep telling that person that they are good, have a shot, and to go for it when you know that they are just going to be humiliated? I can’t fathom that. I wouldn’t want it done to me and I would never do that to someone.
City Auditions
Here are my favorites from their city auditions. Of course this will probably change when it comes to Hollywood Week, as I will get to hear more of them and see how they hold up under pressure. But these are my favorites right now (in no certain order).
I do have some that I think should not have gotten through. I am not really sure what the judges saw in them. They are Tatiana Del Toro, Katrina, and some other ones. I have a feeling that they won’t make it past Hollywood week because when you put them up against contestants from other cities, they pale in comparison. And there are those that I felt should have been given a chance and put through but they weren’t.
Then of course you have Nick Mitchell or Norman whatever his name is. The guy is hilarious and should really consider going into stand-up! I loved him. However, the most surprising thing was that when he really tried and put his mind to it, he had a good voice and could sing. I think he will surprise us for sure.
Hollywood Favorites
Here are my favorites after the first day. If ones listed above are not listed below it is not because I don’t like them anymore. It is probably because I forgot to write them down or I just figured they would carry over.
Hollywood Week- Group Day
This is always one of my favorite parts because it is interesting to see how everyone forms their groups and works together (or doesn’t work together). And this year was no exception! Here are my thoughts on the day.
Out of all the groups my favorites were White Chocolate (who were the first to perform) and Rainbow Coalition. Of course it doesn’t hurt that they have two of my favorite guys in the group, Danny and Jamar. Both of these groups did an awesome job.
I felt sorry for Rose being stuck in the Diva’s group; it was not a group that she was comfortable in and you could see that. I think that Bikini Girl (Katrina) should have never made it through. And these clips showed why she shouldn’t have. I thought that Lauren should have been kept along with Jasmine. And although I understand that Rose forgot her words and that is part of why she was cut, I think that she should have been kept and is better than others that were kept.
I can’t remember what the name of their group was, but I really think that Tatiana should have been sent home. She really gets on my nerves and I am just dumbfounded when they keep putting her through. I personally do not feel that she is that great of a singer.
Hollywood Round 3
Ok, here are my picks so far as to who I like and think should go through.
Matt Giruard
Adam Lambert
Jamar Rogers
Danny Gohke
Anoop Desai
Scott MacIntyre
Michael Sarver
Stephen Fowler
JuNot Joyner
Matt Breitske
Michael Castro
Stevie Wright
Lil Rounds
Mishavonna
Alexis Grace
Jasmine Murray
LeNeshe Young
India Morrison
Jackie Tohns
Final Judgement
The final judgement night proved to be interesting, especially with the sing offs that they had. I really felt sorry for the sing off that included Alex and I can;t remember the other kids name. But that was sad, especially since they had become such good friends. You could tell it was hard for both of them. As for Jenn and Kristen, I think I wish they could have both went through. I think Jenn can sing, she just chose the wrong song for that moment and you could tell she was really nervous. And it is no secret that Kristen can sing. I was very, very dissappointed that they did not advance Jamar Rogers. What were they thinking??? That dude can sing! There are at least 3 and maybe even 5 other guys that I would have traded spots with him, one of them being Nathaniel! It was also heartbreaking to see Danny’s reaction to the fact that his friend did not make it through. I can not for the life of me see why the chose to advance Tatiana Del Toro. There were at least two other females I would have said yes to instead of her, Jenn being one of them. I am not going to bother listing the entire 36, I figure that you can go to American Idols website and see them if you want.
And then the surprise that they are dividing them into 3 groups of 12 to perform for us. Does that mean that they are then only going to advance 6 from each of the 3 groups on to the final part of the competition? And what is up with Group 1? It looks to me like the stacked a lot of the stronger singers into this group, which is then going to take them out of the competition way to early! And I noticed on the website that there is a Wildcard group. What is it? Will this group allow some of those cut early to come back and compete again? This could prove to be quite interesting or then again maybe not.
In Group 1, here are my picks to advance. I am sure on 5 of them and torn between 2 others.
Alexis Grace
Anoopi Desai
Danny Gohke
Michael Sarver
Stevie Wright
Jackie Tohns/Stephen Fowler
I would probably lean more towards Jackie at this point mainly because I have liked her performances more and she has a unique sound to her. Of course it will depend on how they perform! And that as we know could change everything.
Ok, I think this post is long enough so I will end for now. Check back next week for more ramblings!
(This post was first written on 9/25/08 but was never published until now. I probably still feel this way a little bit but it is not related to anything that has happened in my current church. I know I may have some readers from the church and I want to make that clear.)
Below this post you will find some lyrics to a song that I really like and that I relate to very well. I also think that I am not the only one that battles with this or feels this way a lot of times. And I wonder why so many people struggle with this. Isn’t church supposed to be a place we can go and be safe? A place we can go and openly admit our struggles and sin and find encouragment and love, not condemnation and judgement? Why are we afraid to really share our struggles with our brothers and sisters in Christ?
“Stained Glass Masquerade”
Is there anyone that fails
Is there anyone that falls
Am I the only one in church today feelin’ so small
Cause when I take a look around
Everybody seems so strong
I know they’ll soon discover
That I don’t belong
So I tuck it all away, like everything’s okay
If I make them all believe it, maybe I’ll believe it too
So with a painted grin, I play the part again
So everyone will see me the way that I see them
Are we happy plastic people
Under shiny plastic steeples
With walls around our weakness
And smiles to hide our pain
But if the invitation’s open
To every heart that has been broken
Maybe then we close the curtain
On our stained glass masquerade
Is there anyone who’s been there
Are there any hands to raise
Am I the only one who’s traded
In the altar for a stage
The performance is convincing
And we know every line by heart
Only when no one is watching
Can we really fall apart
But would it set me free
If I dared to let you see
The truth behind the person
That you imagine me to be
Would your arms be open
Or would you walk away
Would the love of Jesus
Be enough to make you stay
I have decided to enter this photo into a contest at IheartFaces. I love it and hope that others enjoy looking at it too!
One of my favorite pictures of Micah. I love his eyes!
I know that it is not what would be considered a great photo but I love it because of his eyes! They are so bright!
Here are some pictures of Micah enjoying his dinner. We had spaghetti the other night and I decided to see if he would eat it. So I cut it up really small, made sure there were no large chunks of meat and that is was cool enough and let him go to town! This did a couple things for us:
And of course I got to get some great pictures! I threw a couple pictures in from a previous dining experience. I can’t remember for sure what he was eating, but I think it was mashed potatoes. Enjoy
I have very strong feelings and convictions concerning abortion and its legality. Here is a quote from Mother Teresa, three videos (one that I felt warranted reposting) and some websites I recommend checking out. Oh yeah, and some pictures of my two miracles!
But I feel that the greatest destroyer of peace today is abortion, because it is a war against the child – a direct killing of the innocent child – murder by the mother herself. And if we accept that a mother can kill even her own child, how can we tell other people not to kill one another? How do we persuade a woman not to have an abortion? As always, we must persuade her with love, and we remind ourselves that love means to be willing to give until it hurts. Jesus gave even his life to love us. So the mother who is thinking of abortion, should be helped to love – that is, to give until it hurts her plans, or her free time, to respect the life of her child. The father of that child, whoever he is, must also give until it hurts. By abortion, the mother does not learn to love, but kills even her own child to solve her problems. And by abortion, the father is told that he does not have to take any responsibility at all for the child he has brought into the world. That father is likely to put other women into the same trouble. So abortion just leads to more abortion. Any country that accepts abortion is not teaching the people to love, but to use any violence to get what they want. That is why the greatest destroyer of love and peace is abortion.
~Mother Teresa
National Right to Life
ProLife
Abort73
Stand True
Silent Day of Solidarity
Life News
Rock for Life
I thought this was an interesting and insightful video.
Is not so little anymore! I can hardly believe that he is 8 months old today! Here are some recent pictures of him and me
He is doing great. Not sure of his recent measurements just because he haven’t been to the doctor or WIC for a bit. But he is wearing 6-9 month clothing and is in stage 3 diapers. He is still breastfeeding like a champ and he enjoys the occassional baby food. He actually prefers table food to baby food, so he gets quite a bit of that at times. He sleeps through most of the night (from about 10 pm to 4-5 am) and then the rest of the night he sleeps with me in the bed. Which is really nice and makes things so much easier!
I made two new videos on animoto.com (actually I think I already shared one!) and wanted to share them with you! Here they are, enjoy!
I absolutely love this song; it has to be one of my all-time favorites by Rascal Flatts. It is title Here and I think that the reason I love it so much is because it is really perfect for my relationship with my husband. Not necessarily because I had relationships that didn’t work out before him, I did. And not because it took us a bit to find each other, it did. But mainly because we have been through so many things that the world would look at as ups and downs in our marriage and we have made it through them together. And because no matter what, i would do it all over again just to get to here and be with him. I am thankful for the tears! Listed below is the chorus of the song. And below that is a video of the song in case you have never heard it.
And I wouldn’t change a thing
I’d walk right back through the rain
Back to every broken heart
On the day that it was breakin’
And I’d relive all the yearsAnd be thankful for the tears
I’ve cried with every stumbled step
That led to you and got me hereAnd I’d relive all the years
And be thankful for the tears
I’ve cried with every stumbled step
That led to you and got me here, right here
One of the blogs that I have recently started reading on a regular basis is titled Confessions of a Pastors Wife. It is a great blog and there have been some of Lori’s posts that have caused me to stop and think, to reevaluate things, and sometimes just say wow! I have really enjoyed it. On one of her recent posts, she said the following and it really hit home with me considering the recent changes in circumstance that Josh and I have been going through.
Well favour and blessing takes on different forms than we anticipate. We thought it would look like what we wanted when we wanted it but it has come in the form of character building, trust, and surrendering control. Some may argue whether that is really the favour of the Lord but I am sure that it is. When God builds character in us through our circumstances that is His grace on our lives, teaching us and equipping us for exactly what we need to accomplish His purposes.
The first two sentences in the quote really struck me. The paragraph as a whole really struck me. Just because something is not what we thought it should look like or feel like does not mean it is not from God or that His hand isn’t on us. I have always known this and I have always tried to put this into evidence in my life.
I believe in a sovereign God; one who has a plan for my life and regardless of the route that plan takes is in complete control and is always by my side. Sure there are times when I don’t like the route the plan is taking or I hit bumps in the road that I wish I never had encountered but who am I to question my Lord. I can sit and think back through the times that I have encountered hardship and trials in my life since becoming a believer (and even before) and see God’s hand and leading. I know that He is firmly in control. And I can honestly look back and say that there is not one thing in my life that I would change. Mainly because those times have drawn me closer to my Savior and allowed me to have a sweet fellowship with Him.
Yes it is hard sometimes to see that God is in control when we are in the shadows and the valley. But if we truly have a faith that is grounded in Him, we can hang on to the truth that He is on the throne and in control and we will make it through. Over the next couple of weeks I plan to share some of the shadows and valleys that I have encountered and how God has seen me through those times. I hope that you will come back to read them and I pray that they will draw you close to your Savior or if you don’t have a relationship with Him that you will seek one out.
The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want.
He makes me to lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside the still waters.
He restores my soul; He leads me in the paths of righteousness for His name’s sake.
Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,
I will fear no evil; for You are with me; your rod and Your staff, they comfort me.
You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies;
You anoint my head with oil; my cup runs over.
Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life;
And I will dwell in the house of the LORD forever.
~Psalm 23
This is something I came across as I was surfing the internet looking for new sites on organization, meal planning, and the like. So it sounded interesting and I thought I would give it a try. Check it out and join in the fun!
Whats for dinner this week?
So here is my meal plan for the week:
Monday- tacos
Tuesday- chicken and rice
Wednesday- dinner at church (soup, salad, and dessert)
Thursday- deer steaks
Friday- beef stir fry
Saturday- pizza
Sunday- roast, potatoes and carrots in the crock pot
Have you not known? Have you not heard? The everlasting God, the LORD, The Creator of the ends of the earth, Neither faints nor is weary. His understanding is unsearchable. He gives power to the weak, And to those who have no might He increases strength. Even the youths shall faint and be weary, And the young men shall utterly fall, But those who wait on the LORD shall renew their strength; They shall mount up with wings like eagles, They shall run and not be weary, They shall walk and not faint. ~Isaiah 40:28-31
For he who sows to his flesh will of the flesh reap corruption, but he who sows to the Spirit will of the Spirit reap everlasting life. And let us not grow weary while doing good, for in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart. Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all, especially to those who are of the household of faith. ~Galatians 6:8-10
Looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. For consider Him who endured such hostility from sinners against Himself, lest you become weary and discouraged in your souls. ~Hebrews 12:2-3
I am weary. I am physically, mentally and emotionally fatigued, although it is mostly mentally and emotionally and not so much physical. The past 18-18 months have been some of the hardest months of my life, but the past 10 or so have been the most trying.
If you did not know, we have been living with my mother-in-law since June. It has been a long 7 months! Please don’t misunderstand, I love my mother-in-law and we get a long great. Out of most of my adult girlfriends, I would say that we have one of the best relationships. But adult children were not meant to live with their parents. Especially not when they have been on their own for over 10 years. And especially not when they have a wife and two children of their own. I am so grateful that my mother-in-law took us in when my dh had no job or income. And I am so thankful that she has helped us stay on our feet these last months. But it is still very hard to live here. I don’t feel like I have my own house; I am not comfortable cleaning or rearranging things; I don’t cook dinner anymore. I can see a huge difference in my 9 year olds attitude since we moved in and it is not a good change. There are days that I just have to take the baby and retreat to my room. And there are days that I feel that that is all my life as been reduced to, a room! And although I am so thankful and appreciative of my mother-in-laws support I will be so glad when I once again have my own house (may be soon!).
My husband still does not have a job. Or maybe I should say once again he has no job. Because he had a job and then they had to downsize and since he was one of the newest hires he was one of the ones let go. It was kind of bittersweet. On one hand it was hard becasue we could really use the income as our bank account is low; lower than it has ever been before. But on the other hand, it was a blessing because we have really started to see God work in this area. We both feel that God is telling and showing us that it will not be much longer before Josh is offered a position. We just aren’t sure where He is telling or showing us that that position is! At this moment we have 3 churches that have narrowed us down to their final candidates. At one church, we are one of four. At one of the other churches we are in their top few as well (not sure where) and we just sent them our family introduction video. And at the final church, we are their main candidate and will more than likely be going for an extended weekend shortly. And then there is another church that has actually thought about hiring Josh as the interim while they are searching. So God is beginning/continuing to work and it has been great to see!
I am weary. But I will not give up or give in. I know that the Lord will give me strength and guidance to persevere. Isaiah 40:28-31 tells me so and I believe it! He will renew me, He will give me wisdom, He will give me strength, and He will give me understanding when I need it. I am trusting in the Lord!
I received this e-mail prayer from a lady that I really only know a little and have limited contact with. But it really touched me; that she would take the time to respond to me and to actually pray for me meant a lot. I have printed it out and keep it tucked inside my Bible where I can pull it out and read it when I need reminding!
May the Lord continue to bless you and your husband and guide you in your every decision. I offer up this prayer for you from Eph 3:16-21 in the Amplified Bible:
Lord, may You grant Tzigane, out of the rich treasury of Your glory, to be strengthened and reinforced with mighty power in her inner man by the Holy Spirit Himself indwelling her innermost being and personality.
May Christ, through Tzigane’s faith actually dwell, settle down, abide and make His permanent home in her heart! May she be rooted deep in love and founded securely on love, that she may have the power and be strong to apprehend and grasp, with all God’s devoted people, the experience of that love-what is the breadth and length and height and depth of it; that Tzagane may really come to know practically, through experience for herself, the love of Christ which far surpasses mere knowledge without experience; that she may be filled through all her being with the richest measure of the divine Presence and become a body wholly filled and flooded with God Himself!
Now to Him, Who, by the action of His power that is at work within Tzigane, is able to carry out His purpose and do superabundantly far
over and above all that I dare ask or think-infinitely beyond my highest prayers, desires, thoughts, hopes, or dreams-to Him be glory in the
church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations forever and ever.
Amen-so be it!
My super cool husband found this website and then sent it to me to check out! It is a great website and I think you should check it out. I can see pretty much everyone having a use for it. It is free to an extent and then to go further you would have to upgrade, but even the free parts are great. I think that if you really had a use the upgrade seems pretty reasonable. So head on over and check it out. But first watch the short video I created. And it only took me about 5 minutes!
I am often amazed at the power of the internet. This isn’t a post about that, but it does amaze me on a pretty regular basis that I am able to surf around the net and find people that I will probably never meet in real life and learn about them and from them. Lately I have been doing a lot of blog surfing. I find a blog that I enjoy reading on a regular basis or maybe just that one time and then I click through a couple of the blogs they are reading or recommend. Now, I realize that this could pose problems and I could stumble across something that I don’t want to read or see. But I can honestly say that I have yet had that happen. However, what has happened is that I have came across some blogs that have great insight and wisdom on them. Or they have some hilarious story about a situation that I have been in. And I have even come across some that have made me stop and rethink a position and have caused me to cry and my heart to ache for that person. I have even came across some blogs where I do not agree with the person’s belief system, but still have found some great information on their site or some tidbit that I can take away and learn from.
All that to say that recently on one of the sites that I read on a daily basis, I came across this post and it hit me. Because she could have been describing me or becase I could have wrote that post myself. Here is what she had to say:
Because (and I’m confessing now) this is the truth …
I would be more willing to provide meals for someone for an entire month, than sit still and chat over a cup of coffee.
I would be more willing to paint a room or move furniture or do someone’s grocery shopping than sit still and chat over a cup of coffee.
I would be more willing to teach a Sunday school class, put together the platform flower arrangement, make a sign-up sheet … then sit still and chat over a cup of coffee.
This is something I’ve always understood about myself and like I said, it always kind of bothered me because I thought as a PW, I should be willing to sit and chat (at least over a glass of iced tea, if not coffee.)
But maybe that’s a wrong take on it. I know there are people who excel at listening, wide-eyed and totally captivated with what the other person is saying.
But maybe those people aren’t as willing to prepare food, do dishes, move furniture and teach a Sunday school class.
Paul writes that we are given gifts: We have different gifts, according to the grace given us. If a man’s gift is prophesying, let him use it in proportion to his faith. If it is serving, let him serve; if it is teaching, let him teach; if it is encouraging, let him encourage; if it is contributing to the needs of others, let him give generously; if it is leadership, let him govern diligently; if it is showing mercy, let him do it cheerfully.
As I sat there reading her post, I just remember thinking wow is she in my brain. But then I realized that there are probably plenty of pastors wves out there that feel the same exact way. And although it is not a bad thing, in a lot of churches we have been made to feel like it is not enough to do. And that we are in the wrong if we don’t sit and listen intently to every congregation member. I agree that do need to listen and be there for our congregations, whether they are adults or teenagers. But I also think that our congregations need to realize that we also have gifts that God has blessed us with and they aren’t going to be exactly the same as everyone else’s or even the previous pastor’s wife or maybe even the other pastor’s wives on staff.
It has taken me several years and many many learning experiences to realize that there are some gifts I have and a lot that I don’t. I know what my gifts are and I know that God has given them to me for a reason. And that reason is to bring glory to Him in everything I do. I also have realized that for many years I tried to fill or fit into gifts I did not have or areas that God did not mean for me to be, and that was wrong. I allowed what others thought I should be doing mean more and bother me more than knowing where God wanted me and not being there. And that was sin on my part. I am so glad that God forgives and gives us second and third chances.
It is so important and I know now that I have to focus on using the gifts that God has blessed me with and using them to the best of my ability to bring glory to Him. I also know that I do need to make myself stop and take the time to listen to those who need me to listen to them. And although this is not something I am real comfoortable doing, I need to do it to the best of my ability.
So what do YOU think? I would like to know your opinions, leave me a comment. Or if I don’t make any sense, then tell me that too! Its ok, I won’t cry (too much!)
I wanted to post another site that I have been reading lately because I think it is interesting and is something I am going to try when we get back out on our own (and not living with the mother-in-law!).
Tomorrow she is having a huge “party” on her website and she has some great prizes lined up. Take a peek now and then head back on over tomorrow!
Click image to join the party!
I plan to be there as much as possible tomorrow after I get done running from appointments with the baby! See you there!
I stumbled across this site early this morning (isn’t it great how you can do that on the internet!) and thought I would share. So far what I have read on the site seems to be pretty good. Anyways, I thought this was a great giveaway and wanted to share it. I am going to just use the Jaydee’s own description as I am not sure I could do it as eloquently as she did. So head on over to her site and enter for your chance to win a great prize worth $25!
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I do not know anything about the personal lives of the girls in this video/story. But I think you can take thier example and ask yourself if, as a Christian, you would be willing to do what they did? Regardless if it was for another believer in Christ, a non-believer or even some one of a different religion that disagreed with you. Would you be willing to step over to them and carry them; help them get through whatever they were going through? Just something to think about.
I was recently having a conversation with my brother-in-law Allen, who is a professional photographer (you can check out his work here) about photo editing software, Photoshop and the cost of the program. He told me about a free program called GIMP and how good it was supposed to be; very comparable to Photoshop. I was of course skeptical because 1. it was free and 2. i am a huge huge fan of photoshop. Well earlier today I finally had a chance to search the internet for the program, check it out and decide to download it. It took it a bit to download and install and I have only played with it a bit but I think I am really going to like it. It seems to have pretty much everything that Photoshop had (or at least the last version I played with) and maybe even more.
I was able to do some changes to this photo of my dad and Micah. I wanted to select the background and then take out all the color. I figured it was going to take me forever. But I selected the tool and within 5 minutes I had completed all the enhancements to it that I wanted to do. It was so easy. I will post more about it in the future so that you can see more of my fun work and learn more about the program.
Grandpa Harold and Micah
Just a quick post to say that I really hope that you have a great new year and that 2009 brings you lots of joy and blessing.
I will post more later, I know I have been mia for a bit but I am sure that you understand with the holidays and all that come with them.
Generous Wife
