Best Thanksgiving yet!

I have to say that I had the best Thanksgiving yet! We, actually my mom and mother-in-law, decided to do things casual this year. A few people made the usual turkey and ham. Everyone brought a simple side dish. And we went to the park and had sandwiches at the park. We played the traditional tennis baseball, a game that evolved over the past few years. You use a tennis racket and a tennis ball and then you run around the bases, like baseball. Adults must use the opposite hand to make it fair. And then we came to the house and the men got to watch their football game. It was simple and full of family fun, just the way I like it!

Summer is 2!

Today is Summer's Birthday! She is 2 years old! We adopted her last year on November 17 and had a huge celebration for her adoption and birthday all in one! This year we just had a quiet celebration and then we will celebrate with family on Thanksgiving, because I know I will not be able to do that in the future.

So here is where I brag about my Summer. As many know she had a rough beginning of her life. She is a survivor baby. Anyone who has had a struggling preemie or an infant with health issues understands what I am talking about. She is incredibly persistent and, even though I do not like the word, strong-willed. I have to remind myself it is those characteristics that kept her alive. She loves her brothers and I think she thinks she is one of the boys, because she does not want to wear a shirt around the house anymore, just like her brothers.

She brings life to our house and I can not wait to see what God has in store for my strong child!

Of course I had to make a pink cake with pink icing!

Homeschooling Follies

These are actual events that occurred at my dining room table.

My three beautiful boys were sitting at the table diligently working on their math work. I am not sure the exact words, but there were words that were exchanged between #1 and #3. The next thing I knew a pencil was flying over the table hitting one on the shoulder. At which point a marker was lobbed in the other direction, missing it's mark but toppling over the ketchup bottle that was still left on the table from lunch. And then there was a melee of small objects being thrown in different directions. All of this happened in mere seconds. And then this thought occurred to me, "I bet Michelle Duggar NEVER has this at HER dining room table!"

And so goes my homeschooling!

National Adoption Awarenes Month

November is National Adoption Awareness Month. Following is the press release for the event. This is very special to us because we adopted Summer last year at this event. If you are interested in adopting please attend.

'National Adoption Day is a collective national effort to raise awareness of the 129,000 children in foster care waiting to find permanent, loving families. For the last eight years, National Adoption Day has made the dreams of thousands of children come true by working with the courts, judges, attorneys, adoption professionals, child welfare agencies, and advocates to finalize adoptions and find permanent loving homes for our children.' (www.nationaladoptionday.org)

Please join the celebration as we raise awareness about children who are still waiting, and build relationships within the community to make each child's and teenager's wish come true!

Community Partnership for Children and Calvary Christian Center will host an adoption awareness and celebration event on Saturday, November 15th, from 10:00am to Noon. The event, which is open to the public, will be at Calvary Christian Center, 1687 W. Granada Blvd., Ormond Beach, FL.

Selling Jesus

Warning: I am posting a pet peeve.

I have a pet peeve. This really bothers me to the point of making me nauseous. So here it is: I do not like it when people try to sell Jesus!

I am not talking about the gimmicky T-shirts and bumper stickers. Even though that can be over the top sometimes! No I am talking about preachers and the sort who do the hard sell for Jesus. You know the kind I am talking about! The preacher says, "You really need Jesus. You need him and let me tell you why?" I always want to ask this guy, "Are you trying to convince others or yourself?"

So then I thought about the sales men in our world. What are they selling you that you need ? There is the proverbial used-car salesmen. Then the insurance salesman. Then the "oh-my-goodness-why-didn't-I-think-of-that-gadget" salesman. All of these things are products or services. My God is neither of these things. We should not have to convince anyone that they need our God. He is not something to be "bought into".

The bible says that we should be a "light on the hill". No one who lives in darkness should be convinced that they need a light. So what are we selling Jesus for? If we, who are called by His Name, are being the light that those who dwell in darkness need, then those who live in darkness will want our light, we will not have to convince them. Am I making sense to anyone?

Crabs from Heaven?

Where else can you hear these words, "Mom, there is a crab walking down our street!"?

And sure enough, I went out there and there was a crab walking down our street! Of course we had to bring it in! We looked it up on the Internet to find out what kind it was. It was a blue land crab. We also learned it was a "vegetarian", according to Shane.

So the way I figure it, if the "economic crisis" gets worse , we can always have crab for dinner!

(I am not sure why the picture is sideways. I tried to rotate it but it did not work. Any suggestions?)