Ornaments and Snowman

Here is the link for the Ornaments. They say to use Pie Plates. I thought you could get more out of Cookie Sheets. The templates are included.
FamilyFun: Pie Plate Ornaments - and More Family Fun

And here is the picture of the snowmen.
The one on the left is Lanas's. She is using it to hold "special" stuff.

Christmas Craft Day

Make a slideshow!

Thanks to all of you who came out and helped with Craft day.
I think all of the kids had a good time.
It was nice to get together and hang out with everybody.
Plus, we proved that our kids are socialized! ;)
Enjoy some pictures of all your kids having a memorable day.
Oh, and Heather...We really missed you and the boys!

Grace, Grace, God's Grace...

I love that song. I've had it in my head for days now.
A family at our church lost their 22 year old daughter in a car wreck early Friday morning. My heart has been breaking for them. I can't imagine the pain and the sorrow they feel right now.

I've been thinking about a lot of people lately that have lost children.

The O'Neill family lost 16 year old Sarah 11 years ago.

The Pearson family lost their 14 year old daughter and their 16 year old daughter had an extensive stay in ICU after a bad car wreck 2 years ago.

The Hinson's lost 3 year old Madison going on 6 years ago.

The Bookers lost their 3 hour old baby 3 years ago.

We knew a family that lost there 5 year old son on Christmas day in a car wreck.

The loss of a loved one is a terrible hard thing, the loss of a child, I can't even bear to imagine. It seems to be magnified if it happens during the holidays.
I have seen these families that have lost children. Some I have been closer to than others. But all of them, I have seen Gods grace completely cover them. I have seen them morn, but with hope.

I have heard the story of Jeff O'Neill witnessing to two teenage girls at the graveside of his only daughter and leading them to Christ.

I have read accounts of the Pearson family giving all the Glory to God for giving them their daughter for the time they had her.

I watched Mandy Hinson graciously ooh and ahh over my baby daughter, months after her little girl passed away.

I saw Christy Booker live out her faith every day, living in a new place far away from the comfort of old friends, as she prepared to deliver a son she knew would not live.

All of these people have had a dramatic impact on my Christian walk over the years. As I have seen these great children of God persevere through the unimaginable trial of losing a child, I have marveled at the grace that God gives to them to withstand the trial.

My heart breaks for the lost person that loses a child. Where is the hope? Where is the grace? Our pastors have really been driving home the fact that we need to be outward focused. Focusing on sharing the Gospel with the lost. I can feel the Lord burdening me in that area. I recently left a party where we had been with unbelievers. I left sad for them. Sad to see the emptiness in their lives that only God can fill. And not "God" in the way that our society portrays, but God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit. The God that sacrificed His Son for the purpose of redeeming me, a stupid, sinful, wretch of a person. The God that sacrificed His son, felt that anguish, and therefore has reserved a special kind of Grace for those that lose their own child.

I have seen Gods grace in my life more this year than I think at any time in my life. He gave me grace at a time in my marriage when I couldn't have stood up if not for His grace. He has continued to show Himself to me even when I buck Him and think I can do it on my own. How foolish of me to ever think that I can do anything apart from Him.

I am sometimes gripped with fear of losing a child. And while I pray that God blesses me with raising these 2 beautiful younguns for a long long time, I know that they are not mine alone. It was His grace in the first place that saw fit to entrust me with this responsibility. It is by His grace that I daily strive to raise Godly children and that I fight my flesh to be a Godly mother.
I am heartbroken for the ones I have known that have lost a child. But I am thankful that they allowed God to minister to their souls. I am humbled by their example and I am amazed at God's Grace.
Grace, Grace, God's Grace, Grace that is greater than all my sin.

MISSING

One Chrismtas wreath.
Green with Blue and Silver ribbons and balls.
If you were the person that drove by my house and stole it please return.
I will not press charges.
I will not scream at you.
I will even bake you a batch of "special" Christmas cookies...
You know, to thank you for bringing it back.
Hope to see you, and my special wreath soon!

Special Day

Dec 7th 2007. My husband turns 36. He is such a great & likeable guy. Do you know what I mean? Some people you can just say that about.
I think my husband is like that. He has such a nice personality. It's hard not to like him. He makes me really mad sometimes, but then again, I make him mad sometimes too.
He's what I need though.
He knows how to encourage me.
He knows what I'm thinking.
He knows my quirks and still lives with me.
He makes me feel pretty and desired.
He makes me laugh. One day we were somewhere and he said something funny and I laughed harder than anybody. It made us both feel good that I thought he was so funny!
He thinks I'm funny, even when I'm not. Which is never of course because I am always funny, but if the day comes when I am not funny he will still think so!
He appreciates what I do.
He humors me on things like decorating and silly stuff.
He works so hard for our family, rarely doing much extracurricular stuff for himself.
He cares about my feelings.
He doesn't care if I sleep in or take it easy.
He is a wonderful dad!
He has taught me so much spiritually. More than I know probably.
He respects the Gospel. That sounds weak, but I guess I mean he holds it dear and he points us to it.
He is real. He's not afraid to say he's weak or he's struggling with something. Probably because he can take himself back to the Gospel.

So to sum up...I love him a lot. God has brought us through some pretty rough spots this year in our marriage, but I truly believe it has made us stronger as a couple and in our relationships with Him. I am proud of him in so many ways. I am thankful that the Lord can bring together two fallen people and sustain them through a life that can be hard. I'm thankful that He gives us the grace to not quit sometimes and too love each other more.
Mostly I'm just thankful that God gave me the Godly man that He knew I needed!
So today I will celebrate the birthday of a great husband and try to make him feel like the special man that I think he is!

It's Been 7 Years...

Actually if you want to be exact, it's been 7 years, 5 months, & 8 days. Since what you ask? Since I have been to the bathroom by myself! Oh yes...that was my thought today when my children, who had been playing quietly in their rooms for an hour, suddently needed me as I sat on the toilet. I sat there and calculated it. 7 years, 5 months, and 8 days. That is 2,715 days with someone either watching or talking to me whilst I do my thing. I figure I use the bathroom at least 5 times a day...so 2,725 x 5....well that makes 13,575 that I have had no peace while peeing, no privacy while pooping. Granted they have outgrown the age of being in there with me. But you'd better believe, someone is knocking on the door, yelling for Mom, or crying because "I didn't know where you were!".
Is it comforting for them to hear me pee? Does it remind them of being in the womb?
The sad fact remains...I'm not half way through. My youngest is only 5 1/2. So I still have 12 1/2 years of this to go. That is 4,565 days more. That is 22,825 more trips to the bathroom with interruption.
Maybe if I just start sitting in my chair and peeing on myself noone would bother me!

Funnies

These are some of the funny things that my children have said this week that have made me laugh.


Lana-
Last night while putting up the Christmas tree:
"We cannot have Monkeys in our Christmas tree because they will break our tree and beat us up!" ( in her typical southern draw)

When things don't go her way:
"This is the worssess day of miiii liife." (more southern draw)

When I tell her to put on some jeans:
"Its just that I don't look pretty in jeans." ( This I must put a stop too. Today she wears jeans!)


Logan-
In regards to the Salvation Army bell ringers:
"Why do they have to ring those bells anyways?" (in a grumpy old man voice)

In regards to our churches "Hanging of the Green" Service:
"Why do the same people have to sing the same songs every year?" (still in grumpy old man voice)


Regarding shopping:
"We got what we came for, can we go now?" (typical grumpy old man out shopping voice.)

And P.S. We did hear back from Buddy Davis. He sent a very nice email and was very encouraging to Logan. Made his day!