Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving

What a great day. The weather here was beautiful and the house was full of food, family and friends. Life doesn't get much better than that. Here are some shots of our day. All the dishes were amazing and Levi our little stuffing maker changed up his recipe this year and it was awesome. It was cornbread sausage stuffing and he did a great job. Garrett's corn casserole was yummy. I tried a new dessert Pecan Pie Trifle....WOW. My mom even brought some of her homemade noodles there were none left! It was so good. After dinner the ladies had a little craft project...I was supervisor and go to person. It was funny listening to the non-crafty people claim they had no talent in this area and I think they all did a great job.

Hope you all had a wonderful day too. Now it's on to the Christmas festivities. We are putting up the tree and hanging lights. I better get back to work.

Twilight

Twilight

Hubby went to get our girl and I got to go with the boys and 55 other middle school kids to see Twilight. I was excited to finally see it after reading along with the kids. I loved the book and well, the movie was good but not as good as the book. My boys were never into reading at all but this 500+ page book captivated them. Most girls love it for Edward.But my boys couldn't stop reading it. One night I read for over two hours to them. It was so much fun discussing the book and hearing their take on it. My daughter has always been a reader and they can hardly wait for her to read the book. They think she can get it done in a day.
I must tell you it was great seeing so many teenagers so into a book. They had to pass an AR quiz to attend the movie with the group. They were awesome at the theater and at dinner. How refreshing to see our young behave and be well mannered. The teacher got a lot of backlash by offering this extra credit project. A lot of parents felt as a Christian it wasn't appropriate. I did a lot of research and after reading the book I'm not sure why that is. I love that this book shows two teenagers with a lot of self control. We all have to do what we are lead to do.
So, as I mentioned our girl is home and I must tell you it feels so good having all my kids a sleep in their beds.

I needed this

Pray Please

Well, the ugly C word (cancer) had to rear it's ugly head. Our family has been so fortunate for years not having to face that word and all that goes with it. We had many years that it felt like it was consuming our family. Loss after loss and finally freedom from it. So dear ones I am asking for prayer for my dad who was diagnosed with cancer and will have surgery in the coming weeks. Not sure of his prognosis but we are hopeful and so is his Doctor. I know God has glorious plans in all of this. I'm not always good at sharing my hurts or concerns. I always try to be head cheerleader but this time I need a cheer block of my very own praying for our family and lifting us up.
So, this Thanksgiving like so many others I will be thankful for our health , our loved ones and that we can gather together.
Thank you prayer warriors and you sweet faithful friends.

Banner

I love the word BELIEVE and this banner was created for the upcoming holiday season. I only have 4 and if you would like one. Let me know. $19.95 plus shipping

Fabulous Friday

I love Fridays. It means family time and maybe a visit with a friend. It's very cold here and that means a warm toasty fire tonight. We had game night a couple of weeks ago and we had so much fun. You know we get so busy sometimes and think our kids would like to go somewhere or do something but it reminded me that they love time with us. It's that simple. Sitting down and hanging out in our home is refreshing. If you have teenagers don't think they wouldn't love some family fun time. They may sigh and act like you are torturing them but trust me they love it. I sub a lot in Middle school and you would be amazed at the stuff I hear. Especially when they don't think I'm listening. I actually heard a student say "my parents would never sit and play games". We have parents checking out of their kids lives. I mean literally. So make tonight a fabulous Friday for your family. Yes, you can order pizza!

Have a warm cozy weekend.

Crafty

Well, our girl has a masquerade ball this weekend and of course needed a mask. I kept thinking about the scene in Phantom of the Opera where they sing masquerade and found my motivation. I have never done anything like this but I think it turned out pretty well. There are some flaws and I would have done things a little different but all and all I am pleased. Hope the girl is.

Neat Opportunity

This past Friday I had the opportunity to have lunch with Congressman Mike Pence's wife and it was great to meet her. She spoke on the importance of using the opportunities we are given right now to be a doer. She said her husband could be out of office at any time and the doors that open now won't open when he is out. She is working with Riley Hospital in Indy to get Art Therapy available to all the sick children that stay there. She even had us do a quick exercise. We had to draw a self portrait but with sunglasses on. In those sunglasses we had to draw in the reflection something that we love or a place that makes us happy. It was fun to see every ones reflections. One older gal put a man with a horse. It was one of her favorite memories of her father. It was just neat to see how a simple drawing can say a thousand things. So I went away asking myself, am I taking advantage of opportunities I'm being given right now? Am I a doer?

As we enter into this season of giving I hope we can reflect on what Gods plans are and who he would like us to help.

If you have not read this book Christmas Jars check it out. It is such a simple way to be a family of doers.

Longevity

Had a very interesting evening last night. Went to hear a gerontologist speak. Wow, have you ever heard of that one? It was so interesting to hear this woman talk about how we are not preparing for our longevity. The life expectancy is now 90, that's thirty more years. She talked a lot about how people live short and die long. Process that and really think about those words. A lot of the reasons people are living longer are lifestyle. No smoking, seldom drinking, good nutrition, staying connected and engaging. Our spiritual conncetions are essential as well. When we get older we tend to disengage. People that are staying active and volunteering and moving are staying healthier. People that are stuck in nursing homes truly didn't think they would live as long as they have.
She showed a picture of Tina Turner and man she's 69 now. Not that we can all look like her but here is a woman that turned her life around and takes really good care of herself.
It really made me think of my longevity and what I'm doing to prepare . My weight loss journey has been slow lately and I can't give up on that. I love to move and we love to have adventures and I'm so glad my hubby and I aren't waiting till we retire to do that. I really think that's why I am as healthy as I am. We explore, connect and want a life of significance.
When I speak at churches I often remind women that no matter our age God still has plans for us. I sometimes forget that. He will use us and push us and teach us no matter the age we are.

No matter how long I'm here for this life my goal is to hear this when I enter into heaven "His master replied, 'Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master's happiness!' Matthew 25:21

So have a great weekend and add some fun to whatever you're doing it keeps us young!!

Getting Ready for Thanksgiving

Here's an easy recipe my mom gave me years ago and I always like to make it for the holidays. It makes a wonderful gift and I give it to all our Thanksgiving guests. Bonus is it tastes yummy!!

Made the name cards for Thanksgiving. They were very easy and work great.

Only 2 weeks till Turkey Day.

Recipe:

1 Large can applesauce

2 1/2 cups packed brown sugar

1/2 cup white vinegar or apple cider vinegar

1/4 t cloves

1/2 tsp cinnamon

Bake for 2 1/2 hours @ 350. Your house smells so good. Fill clean jelly jars and place . Turn the jars on their tops and they will seal quicker. Enjoy!

Special Needs

Well, I have been subbing in the special needs class this week and can I just say WOW. These kids are great and I do enjoy them but they can be exhausting. The teachers in this class are truly amazing and such a gift to these kids. It made me want to ask you all to pray for the families of these children, the teachers that teach them and please let these kids find a way into your prayers tonight.
I get upset when my boys forget to do their homework. Can you imagine the mom that would love it if her child could have homework? I mean it's a big deal for some of these kids to speak and make it through the day. It makes me want to push my kids a little bit more because they are so capable. I don't know what all the answers are but I am so hopeful for these kids as well as my own.
Hope your week is going great!

Truly Amazing

What an amazing afternoon. I can't even begin to tell you how good it felt watching my children work so hard and we had a good time doing it. I'm going to be honest my hubby was not thrilled to be there but man did God use him. He ended up at the sealing station and was laughing and having a great time. I had a friend come with all her teenage children and they worked so hard. There were young children that did their part, older folks that put in time. To see all the activity and to hear when we hit the 200,000 mark...the cheers went out. They had Christian music playing the whole time and we had prayed before each session started. God was in that place. We learned that it was more then a bag of rice. They had a scoop of soy and veggies, chicken seasoning and all in all it comes away with having 52 grams of protein. I thought that was great. I just hope we hit the mark for our shipping.

I am so glad we had an opportunity to serve in this way. We truly have so much to be thankful for and I think our boys realize that more than ever after today.

Born Learning

I have been blessed with an amazing job. (it's one of 4) I am a Born Learning Coordinator and we are working on some awesome projects. Children are born learning so we put tools in parents hands to help with that. One of the latest projects is called a Born Learning Trail. I wanted to share this because any community could do this. We are also starting literacy book parties where the hostess would get a basket full of books for her home. Totally free. I love books and know how important it is to get them in our children's hands. We are not given a handbook when we become parents and some of us are better at it then others. That's why these types of programs are so helpful.

I am also researching playgroups. If you are in a playgroup I would love to hear your thoughts.

Here's a view of the trail. Each post has an activity to do with your child while you walk the trail.

Helping the Hungry in Haiti

Please pray . Our church like so many churches believes it's so important to bring the mission field right to the churches door. So, this Saturday November 8th we will be making 285,000 meals for the people of Haiti. This is a huge undertaking and takes many people (800). We are a little shy of our goal and need more people. Please pray that there are more than enough volunteers come Saturday and that all the shipping expenses are met ($33,000)
If you would like to donate to the shipping or want to check out what we're doing please visit
http://www.parkchapel.org/
What's great about this is that they encourage kids to come help. We are going as a family and at first it didn't receive much enthusiasm but now the boys and hubby know they can truly make a difference and there is nothing better than working for Jesus. I will try and take pictures so you can see God at work. I am so excited!!

Word of the Week

GRACE !!! Have you ever been called on to give someone a big old helping of Grace? Did they disappoint , let you down, give up on something you really needed them to do? Did you answer with grace? I know this can be tough but ladies God shows us his love and mercy everyday. Did you know grace is a virtue? and the influence or spirit of God operating in humans to regenerate or strengthen them. Boy could we all use a big dollop of that.

So this week choose Grace.

Parent Day

It was a beautiful November day in Southern Indiana. This is one of our favorite spots at Hanover. You can see the colors are changing and the Ohio River was calm and steady. We got to see our girl and she loved her dresses. We went to lunch with her and her very best friend and BFF's parents. It was nice getting to know this family. Emilee and Kyra spend a lot of time together. We also checked out the sorority she is going to rush and we were pleasantly surprised. It is a beautiful house and the girls have very high GPA's. We'll see how things go. We got to attend a home football game and did I mention it was 72 degrees? It was a lovely day. Hubby and I enjoyed the drive and spend quality time together. Just like the old days. It's so nice that after 25 years of marriage we are still best friends. We talked about everything.

We came home to a wonderful fall party at a friends. Bonfire, hotdogs and hayride included. What a wonderful weekend. Hope yours was a treat!!