Guess Who Liked Her Present!

Merry Christmas!

One of my favorite artists, Travis Cottrell, singing one of the most awesome Christmas songs ever. Hope your Christmas is filled with joy and peace.

Lots of Randomness!

I really did not think we would wake up to a warm house this morning. The power was flashing before we went to bed and the storm had just begun. But we woke up snug and warm to this...
Snow day today for Olivia's mommy, so I will have to just enjoy this from last week.



Lastly for Melissa--the baking/decorating is underway...

How About Some Good Music

The following is a song by one of my all time favorites Steven Curtis Chapman from this year's Billy Graham Christmas special. I hope you enjoy it as much as I have.

Another Good Idea

This video was made by a friend of a good friend of mine. My friend Mandy and her husband are missionaries in Malawi. The people who made the video run the orphanage down the road from them. I think it is a clever way to get the message out that we can make a big difference for starving children with a pretty small sacrifice on our part.

Here's a Good Idea

My friend Heidi from Freehand Scraps posted this link and I thought it was too good not to share.

Almost Done

No time for blogging lately...every spare minute has been spent decorating. Each year when I begin, I wonder if it is worth the time spent, then I get it all in place and am always glad I took the time. I love spending a little time in the evening with just the soft Christmas lights and some Christmas music, it is so peaceful and good for my spirit.

I changed up a few things this year, partly to move some of the Dicken's Village up a little higher because of a certain darling 16 month old's curosity, and partly because it was time to do something different to the mantle. Since we have been here, we have hung the stockings on the mantle. This year I have moved them around the corner and (thanks to blog inspiration) made a garland.



We used to have the Village all set up on either side of the fireplace, but have moved it to several locations this season.


I have a few things yet to do, but right now it is time to get off the computer and go make some supper for my sweet, hungry hubby.

Another Thing That Makes Me Smile

Makes Me Smile!

I was cleaning out some old files today, not having a ton of fun, until I came across a piece of random memorabilia...

Apprently it made me smile years ago when my darling girl left it for me since I thought it important enough to save and I'm glad I did.

Twenty-Nine Years

Twenty-nine years ago today, we pledged our love to one another forever. We believed in love and each other and the faithfulness of God. We were so young and had so much life yet to experience. Life filled with ordinary days, with moments too wonderful for words, and a few days almost too difficult to bear. I can truly say not one day has passed in these twenty-nine years that I have not thanked God for so wisely choosing you for me.

Today we are much older and hopefully much wiser and still believe in love and each other and know much more fully the awesome faithfulness of God. I love you so much more today than I knew was possible and can't wait to begin twenty-nine more years of tomorrows...

The More I Seek You

To end a busy week and start a busy weekend... Just listening to the beautiful music and lyrics I can't help but feel relaxed and surrounded with peace.

Trying Something New

I decided to try something new by making a page with ScrapBlog. I am very much a traditional paper scrapper. I LOVE the process of creating with paper as much as the finished project. However, I am intrigued by digital. I thought this might be a way to get my feet wet without investing any cash. The jury is still out...

Election Day-- I Voted, Did You?

The following is a post from the Living Proof Ministries Blog by Beth Moore. I LOVE what she has to say about today and tomorrow...

A few things I'm so thankful for on this election day, regardless of the outcome:

*We live in a democracy where we have the right to a vote and a voice. We have the God-given responsibility to use both wisely and in the way that best reflects what God conveys through Scripture.

*God "works out everything in conformity with the purpose of His will" and "according to the plan." Ephesians 1:11

*Not only does God work out everything in conformity with His will, He has promised to work out everything for the GOOD of those who love Him and are called according to His purpose.

*God sets up kings and deposes them and gives wisdom to the wise and knowledge to the discerning. Daniel 2:21

*We, the beautifully diverse family of God, are never - not at any time - powerless. Nor are we ever victims of a system. Believing prayer takes us through doors we'll never be invited to enter and into judges chambers we'll never grace. Take a look back at Genesis 18 once again with astonishment over the dialogue between God and His servant and friend, Abraham. Rejoice that God is ever mindful of a faithful remnant. The Judge of the Earth will always do right.

*Even if persecution should await believers in Christ or harrowing circumstances hound us, God will use hardship to bring unity and purity to a people who need it desperately. The best of circumstances do not always produce the best in the Bride of Christ.

*The living God is firmly established upon His Throne and there at His holy feet we can always find grace and mercy in our time of need.

*No matter what happens today, we are GOD'S elect. He has elected us to show His heart and to walk in His ways in the culture that surrounds us. We are called to walk in the challenging balance of grace and truth.

May we be filled with Christ's Spirit today and our mouths given to praise and to believing, receiving prayer. God IS faithful and He has us firmly in His hand. We will not fear. We will not doubt. We will not hate.

"Let the beloved of the Lord rest secure in Him, for He shields him all day long, and the one the Lord loves rests between His shoulders." Deuteronomy 33:12

Here is another link to a post with the perspective we need entitled Walk Peacefully With Me from the blog Your Word is Life to Me. It is worth taking the time to read.

Because our God is big enough...
Terry

Happy Birthday Sweet Girl!

Just time for a quick post to wish a very Happy Birthday to the special girl who stole our hearts away 26 years ago today!

Happy Birthday sweetie--we love you bunches,
Mom and Dad

Little Cook

Olivia and I had so much fun on Friday. We brought up a tub filled with Melissa's old Fun with Food toys and Olivia LOVED them! She played literally for hours. We cooked and tasted everything. I love the Mmmmmmm...


Olivia and Papa shared apples...


We made cupcakes...



We had corn...


And soup...


The little cook comes back in the morning for another day of cooking and tasting and I can't wait to see what's on the menu!

While I'm Waiting . . .

We have been to see the movie Fireproof twice and LOVED it. If you haven't seen it--you should. While the movie had an awesome message concerning marriage, the part that touched me the most was a song by John Waller called While I'm Waiting. God used this powerful song to speak to me about something that has been weighing heavily on me for quite some time. See if it doesn't speak to you as well...

WHILE I'M WAITING-John Waller from The Blessing

I am waiting; I’m waiting on You, Lord
And I am hopeful; I’m waiting on You, Lord
Though it is painful
But patiently, I will wait

I will move ahead, bold and confident
Taking every step in obedience

While I’m waiting; I will serve You
While I’m waiting; I will worship
While I’m waiting; I will not faint
I’ll be running the race
Even while I wait

I’m waiting; I’m waiting on You, Lord
And I am peaceful; I’m waiting on You, Lord
Though it’s not easy, no; But faithfully, I will wait
Yes, I will wait

And I will move ahead, bold and confident
Taking every step in obedience

While I’m waiting; I will serve You
While I’m waiting; I will worship
While I’m waiting; I will not faint

I’ll be running the race
Even while I wait

I will move ahead, bold and confident
I'll be taking every step in obedience, yea

While I’m waiting; I will serve You
While I’m waiting; I will worship
While I’m waiting; I will not faint

I will serve You while I’m waiting
I will worship while I’m waiting
I will serve You while I’m waiting
I will worship while I’m waiting
I will serve You while I’m waiting
I will worship while I’m waiting
I will serve You while I’m waiting
I will worship while I’m waiting on You, Lord

Two Posts in One Day!!!

I rarely post twice in one week, but I managed two in one day today. We took Olivia to the park this afternoon and had a ton of fun! She LOVED the slide and wore us out! Gotta take advantage of this beautiful weather while it is still here.

Buddies

So Papa is in the pits of dispair about his beloved Cubbies and their dreadful post season showing so far. One of the few things that can generate a smile is--you guessed it--a visit from his sweetie girl.













Olivia and Annie played ball this morning for a long time. They both had a lot of fun. Every time Annie would get the ball Olivia would squeel with delight. Then she would grab the ball and run with Annie fast on her trail. Papa and I enjoyed it every bit as much as they did. Annie is not too fond of children as a rule. They move too quickly and she is very cautious around them so it makes us very happy to see them becoming buddies.


When she wants Annie to come, Olivia stands and pats her leg, just like Papa does when he wants Annie to come.

Now There's a Smile!

Just time for a quick picture from Monday (I promised Great Grandma). We found an old stuffed puppy that belonged to Aunt Melissa when we were dealing with the water. So of course, we had to bring it up to Olivia's toy box. As you can see from the smile, she loved it.

What Did We Do Today??????

We played in a box!

Perspective

"Simplicity, simplicity, simplicity! I say let your affairs be as one, two, three, and to a hundred or a thousand... We are happy in proportion to the things we can do without." (Henry David Thoreau)

Fun at the Hog Day's Parade

For the few who haven't totally given up on me ever posting again...
August has been a VERY hard month. I have had to say goodbye to a couple of women who have meant a great deal in my life. Cancer takes so much from us.

On to happier news. We had a time fun time in Kewanee Saturday at Hog Days. Yes there really is an event called Hog Days. When you grow up in the "Hog Capital of the World" it is quite normal. Olivia joined us last year, but she was only one month old, so she probably doesn't remember much....

She certainly took part of the whole experience this year. My family has an odd (but explainable) tradition of a picnic in a funeral home parking lot near our parade seats. We enjoy awesome pork chops (cooked on huge grills in the center of town of course), chips, soda and oatmeal pies (same menu every year since I can remember)! Olivia just sat down on the ground and started eating with the gang--she didn't miss a beat.

She liked the parade. And for your random information file, Olivia's mama decided to keep count this year of tractors vs. queens (princesses, runner's up etc). The surprising tally had the royalty edging out the tractors. The stunning totals...51 queens --- 42 tractors. Every pagent winner from every county in the area sends their winners to the parade, so we knew there were alot, but the total was somewhat shocking. I guess we have to have enough pagents so that every girl can be crowned queen of something. And we wonder why our girls have trouble seeing value in themselves outside their looks....But I digress...........

Olivia got to be part of the whole parade experience--she smiled through a sucker, two freezy pops and a tootsie roll. What is a parade without saying MMMMMMM to some of the junk they throw at you!!!

(A note for Aunt Melissa's enjoyment): I provided entertainment for the parade crowd by falling flat on my face (didn't see a random step in the middle of the sidewalk by the little green house). I hit the ground hard....50 year old women don't bounce!!! I am sore everywhere today, including my pride!

Birthday Girl!

Not much time to post. I spent the day with my at the hospital with my mom who had shoulder surgery and I'll be going back in the morning, but I KNOW Aunt Melissa is patiently waiting for pictures. The party was fun. Olivia and the rest of us had a great time. As you can tell she LOVED the cake and the wagon was a hit!
More later...

Here We Go Again!

No new pictures, it is too dark, but the fence vs. flower saga continues. The property behind our house belongs to Walmart and they are to be fixing our fence from the storm damage over a week ago. We have been in contact with the City several times to get them to push to get someone out to fix the fence. It took 4 days to get someone to even come look, then when they came, they just propped up the broken panels and slid the broken posts into the existing holes and have not been back for 5 days. We have complained again to the City about this hopefully temporary "fix" explaining that it was another problem waiting to happen. Well..... tonight when I got home from a 12 hour day at work the fence was back on the ground. Actually not on the ground, but on what we had salvaged of my flowers and shrubs. We were very patient the first time and were not asking Walmart to pay for the damage to the yard since the storm wasn't their fault, but this time the damage is directly related to their irresponsibility and we will be asking them to replace some of the damaged items. Once again, not anything to worry about in the big picture, but I needed to VENT!

Guess Who Is One Year Old Today???

Olivia turns one year old today (and I guess Grammy does too!) It hardly seems possible that it has been a whole year; it has flown by and been one of the most fun ones I can remember.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY DARLING GIRL!!!

Starting With a Bang--Day 2

This morning started out to be nearly as eventful as yesterday. Much quieter, but eventful none the less. Last night as we were trying to see what we could salvage from the storm damage, my sweet hubby had a little accident. To make a long story short, a piece of steel fencing (kind of like chicken wire, but little squares) fell from its hanging place in the garage and punctured his left hand in 8 or 9 places. The metal that did the puncturing is not small and pointy like a needle, but fairly big around with blunt tips. While he could not be convinced to go to an ER last night, the pain and swelling through the night and this morning convinced him that we needed to make a trip to a Prompt Care facility. His hand is very swollen and it hurts alot to bend his fingers. He of course, got a tetanus shot and was sent on his not-so-merry way. He could not hold the pen to write which should be interesting as he is out of town the rest of the day on appointments that may involve alot of writing. On Tuesdays I am at the church from 9 a.m. - 9 p.m., so I could not go along to be his "secretary" for the day.

Currently in my Ladies' Bible study we are doing the Beth Moore series, "Wising Up" which is a wonderful study in the book of Proverbs. Todays lesson is on the Proverbs 31 woman, specifically about having wisdom as a wife. It is a POWERFUL lesson and I have felt a huge burden to get as many women as possible to attend and hear this message. I sent out cards to the class and some others who are not attending this summer telling them that I thought the message was so very powerful that Satan would do anything he could to distract them from attending . . . My sweet hubby pointed that fact out to me this morning as we were rushing to get to the Prompt Care and get me to the church on time to start the study. I wasn't couting on me being the one with the distractions.

I am looking forward to tomorrow morning with some fear and trembling! Here's to a quiet, uneventful morning.

Today Started With a Bang!

This picture is not posted sideways--it is what I saw first thing this morning. I woke up abruptly to wind whipping somewhere around 60-70mph. Stuff was hitting the side of the house and then I heard a loud crack and crash... Four sections of the back fence came down and when we lifted them later this is what we found...

We had just talked a couple of days ago about getting a picture of the dark red lilies, because they were more beautiful and bountiful than they have ever been. I think there is a lesson in there about not procrastinating! We also lost a lilac bush that I have been babying for the last 10 years. It makes me sad to look out there...

Created for our Enjoyment!

We planted a new rose in our bed this spring and I love it--here is a close up one of the blooms in all of its splendor.

A Couple More Garden Shots

Not much time again, but wanted to put up a few more garden shots, especially for Aunt Melissa and Uncle Jason.