MERRY CHRISTMAS.

HAPPY NEW YEAR.

Love,
Janet

Coventry Carol

We had a beautiful advent service at our church last night. Our gifted pianist explained the history behind the Coventry Carol and then played it for us on the piano. It's dark and yet filled with hope. I hope you enjoy listening to these two versions.


This excellent website is filled with interesting information:

In The Pageant of the Shearmen and Tailors, this gentle lullaby was sung by the women of Bethlehem to their babies, urging them to "Be still, be still, my little child," just before the unwilling soldiers of King Herod came to slaughter their infants in Herod's attempt to eliminate a competitor, the newborn King of the Jews. In the liturgical calendar, those children are commemorated on December 28, the Feast of the Holy Innocents

The lyrics:

1. Lullay, Thou little tiny Child,
By, by, lully, lullay.
Lullay, Thou little tiny Child.
By, by, lully, lullay.

2. O sisters, too, how may we do,
For to preserve this day;
This poor Youngling for whom we sing,
By, by, lully, lullay.

3. Herod the King, in his raging,
Charged he hath this day;
His men of might, in his own sight,
All children young, to slay.

4. Then woe is me, poor Child, for Thee,
And ever mourn and say;
For Thy parting, nor say nor sing,
By, by, lully, lullay



The Cambridge Singers:






This is a beautiful rendition by Phil Keaggy:

Merry Christmas Bloggy Friends

Photo shoot 2008.

It was much less painful this year. A certain boy in this family decided to smile. tee hee.

My neighbor is so talented. Just look at the lighting and pay close attention to the fence in the background. Isn't that cool? I'm also happy that (for the most part) we are all smiling and looking like ourselves. Not an easy task with seven people. It also helped that it wasn't 40 degrees outside like last year.

Here is the link to Jen's business web site.

And here is the link to her blog. She is really excited about launching her new blog some time in January. I'll be sure to let you know when she does.

Sisters and bro, yours are in the mail box today.

So Funny!

Fox News is our homepage and this was the headline first thing this morning when I sat down at the computer.


















It's fitting, don't you think?

=)

My 22 Word Story

Abraham Piper at 22 Words is having a contest.

Write a story using only 22 words, post it on your blog and his readers will vote for the best. The prizes are two very nice children's books. I don't have either.

Don't worry, we don't have the flu right now. This is what happened last year:


If a five year old with the flu sneezes on your face on Monday morning, you will have the flu by Tuesday.


Challenging and fun!

I Was Forced To Do A Craft

Oh, you know I kid!

A sweet mom from Lauren's kindergarten class is putting together a scrapbook for the teacher as a Christmas present. We were each given one piece of scrapbook paper and told to decorate it however we liked. Of course, it would have been nice to actually have Lauren write something to her teacher but I procrastinated and did it at the very last minute. I sat there this morning and thought; what would Lauren say to her teacher. Most Kindergartners I know would say "I love you" to their teacher so that's what I decided to write/stamp/peel (whatever). I think it turned out well enough but I didn't see any of the other pages and I am very glad about that. It will be a sad day when I do actually see the others. LOL.

~~~~~~~~~~~


















Donna told us to post a picture of the oldest ornament we could find on our tree. This dates back to 1984 when I was a freshman at the University of Arizona. Do you wonder why a young lady of 18 would receive an ornament of a football helmet as a gift? Ok, I'll tell you. I was an athletic trainer for the U of A's football team, assigned to the defensive linemen. You can stop laughing now. Here I was a naive, 18 year old girl from Wisconsin weighing all of 120 pounds spending all my spare time on the practice field and game day with giant 300 pound linemen. It really was fun and if it weren't for terrible home sickness I would have stayed with the intern program and gone on to great things in the athletic training field. Ha! I'm kidding. The guys were very good to me. They told me who NOT to date. :)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Happy Friday!

A Piper Post

Finally Alive, a new book by John Piper (pastor at Bethlehem Baptist Church in Minneapolis) is set to be released in January.

John Piper:

The term born again is very precious and very crucial in the Bible. So our main concern is to know what God intends when the Bible uses this language, so that by his grace we may experience it and help others do the same. It is of enormous consequence that we know what being born again really means.

The Desiring God ministry is offering the book for only $5.00 in a pre-order sale!

Call 1-888-346-4700 for your five dollar book. I was hesitant to ask if I could buy more than one (didn't want to be selfish, you know) but the young lady offered so I bought five! Oh, and I got the "library shipping" and it was FREE.

Desiring God ministries has a blog too with several contributors.

John Piper's son Abraham has a blog. It's called 22 Words. And yes, his posts are all 22 words short. I counted. Don't think for one minute that they are boring or worthless because they are short. He's very funny and clever.

Abraham's sweet wife, Molly, has a blog called The Pipers. She is a young mommy of 3 (2 here on earth and 1 in heaven). I just recently found her blog and commented (of course) and she emailed me back thanking me for the comment. Isn't that sweet?

One more thing.

The Gospel in 6 minutes.

Listen to it.

"Exceedingly Great Joy"

" This is the donkey with precious load
trudging the long and weary road..."


"This is the Christ child, born to be king
While hosts of heavenly angels sing...."


Lauren is sick today with the stomach flu and this was the first book she chose for me to read to her. It really is lovely.

Matthew 2:9-10 (New King James Version)

9 When they heard the king, they departed; and behold, the star which they had seen in the East went before them, till it came and stood over where the young Child was. 10 When they saw the star, they rejoiced with exceedingly great joy.

My "Sweet" Apple Pie

It was delicious!

















Pretty? Not so much.

I need to post this for my own sake/memory and thought maybe someone else might benefit from having these recipes.

I am going to make another apple pie for Christmas. James, my nephew Spencer and I loved it and we must have another one.

Martha Stewart's Foolproof Pie Crust

2 1/2 C. all purpose flour
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. sugar
1 C. unsalted butter, cut into 1 T. pieces, very cold
1/4 - 1/2 C. cold water

Put the flour, salt and sugar into a food processor and pulse once or twice. (or put it in bowl and stir it). Add the butter and process until the mixture looks grainy. Then slowly, while pulsing, add the water until you can form the dough by pressing it between your fingers. Decant (I had no idea what that meant but I kept going) the loose dough onto a piece of plastic wrap. Using the wrap, fold the loose dough towards the middle and press with the back of your hands to form dough. Split into two pieces (I'm OCD and weighed mine) and wrap each and chill for at least 4 hours before using. Dough can be made ahead for up to one week.

I admit I had a little meltdown while rolling the dough and transferring it to the pie plate. Dave was talking, the TV was blaring, I had music on in the kitchen, children were talking and skipping and singing, the dogs were circling and it was only 8 AM. I screamed at Dave to stop and ordered everyone out of the kitchen. Ugly, I know. :-O I even cursed Martha.

















Classic Apple Pie
America's Test Kitchen

4-6 McIntosh apples, peeled, cored and sliced
3-4 Granny Smith apples, peeled, cored and sliced
3/4 C. plus 1 T. sugar
2 T. all-purpose flour
1 T. fresh lemon juice
1 tsp. grated lemon zest
1/4 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. nutmeg
1/4 tsp. cinnamon
1 recipe for double pie crust
1 egg white, lightly beaten

1. Adjust an oven rack to the lowest position, place a rimmed baking sheet on the rack, and heat the oven to 500 degrees. Toss the apples with 3/4 C. sugar, flour, lemon juice, lemon zest, salt and spices and set aside.

2. Roll out the top crust to a 12 inch circle. Spread the apples in the unbaked pie crust bottom, mounding them slight in the middle. (I used a slotted spoon) Lay the top crust over the apples, seal and crimp the edges, and cut four vent holes in the bop. Brush the crust with the egg white and sprinkle with the remaining 1 T. sugar.

3. Place the pie on the heated baking sheet and lower the oven temperature to 425 degrees. Bake until the top crust is golden, about 25 minutes. Rotate the baking sheet, reduce the oven temperature again to 375 degrees, and continue to bake until the juices are bubbling and the crust is deep golden brown, 30-35 minutes longer. Transfer the pie to a wire rack and cool to room temperature before serving.

Enjoy with vanilla bean icecream!

~~~~~~~~~~

Here I am being goofy, waiting for my pie to come out of the oven and acting like Ree:

Silly Boys

James and two of his friends (who happen to be brothers) were hanging out in the living room the other night. I thought it was nice that they were visiting and enjoying the newly purchased and decorated Christmas tree.

However. (You knew that was coming)

Mom's can always tell when something is out of place.

Here is what I found yesterday.




































This ornament was removed from the tree and is now hanging on a little nail in the big picture window. And.....






















I noticed something unusual about the top of the tree. First of all, the tree is a little too tall for the room but I will be able to bend the fake branch and make it work. I still won't be able to put a star or an angel on the top though.






















I definitely know I don't want Obi Wan Kenobi to be the topper. :-)

~~~~~~~~~~

And now for some sweet 6 year old decorating.

Wow. I count 9 ornaments in one spot.


















Is your tree up yet? Decorated?

Happy December!

Blog That!

That is what Janice said to me last night when I said something she thought was funny.

She also gave me a high five, which is a really big deal for Janice because I didn't know she knew how to give one.

And then she said, "we are such twins, I didn't know that about you and I couldn't agree more".

I offered to loan/give her a DVD off our shelf.

So, what did I say??














I said, "Here Janice, watch "The Bipolar Express"*.

And that's all I have to say about that. :-P

* James gets all the credit. He's witty like that.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Steph was just talking about this hymn a few days ago in the Quiet Life comment section. We sing it regularly at our church and it is one of my favorites.

Listen and sing along here.

"This song of praise was originally written in 1597 to celebrate a Dutch victory."

We Gather Together
Adrianus Valerius

We gather together to ask the Lord’s blessing;
He chastens and hastens His will to make known.
The wicked oppressing now cease from distressing.
Sing praises to His Name; He forgets not His own.

Beside us to guide us, our God with us joining,
Ordaining, maintaining His kingdom divine;
So from the beginning the fight we were winning;
Thou, Lord, were at our side, all glory be Thine!

We all do extol Thee, Thou Leader triumphant,
And pray that Thou still our Defender will be.
Let Thy congregation escape tribulation;
Thy Name be ever praised! O Lord, make us free!


~~~~~


Thanksgiving
by Edgar Albert Guest

Gettin’ together to smile an’ rejoice,
An’ eatin’ an’ laughin’ with folks of your choice;
An’ kissin’ the girls an’ declarin’ that they
Are growin’ more beautiful day after day;
Chattin’ an’ braggin’ a bit with the men,
Buildin’ the old family circle again;
Livin’ the wholesome an’ old-fashioned cheer,
Just for awhile at the end of the year.


Greetings fly fast as we crowd through the door
And under the old roof we gather once more
Just as we did when the youngsters were small;
Mother’s a little bit grayer, that’s all.
Father’s a little bit older, but still
Ready to romp an’ to laugh with a will.
Here we are back at the table again
Tellin’ our stories as women an’ men.


Bowed are our heads for a moment in prayer;
Oh, but we’re grateful an’ glad to be there.
Home from the east land an’ home from the west,
Home with the folks that are dearest an’ best.
Out of the sham of the cities afar
We’ve come for a time to be just what we are.
Here we can talk of ourselves an’ be frank,
Forgettin’ position an’ station an’ rank.


Give me the end of the year an’ its fun
When most of the plannin’ an’ toilin’ is done;
Bring all the wanderers home to the nest,
Let me sit down with the ones I love best,
Hear the old voices still ringin’ with song,
See the old faces unblemished by wrong,
See the old table with all of its chairs
An’ I’ll put soul in my Thanksgivin’ prayers.

~~~~~



















Happy Thanksgiving my friends!

It's Risky

1983 Tom Cruise




I showed James this clip so he could understand the context of the new commercial and then told him that he should never watch the movie because it's inappropriate. You have to love this scene though.

Fess up. Did you love this movie in 1983? And maybe now you hate it. :-P

~~~~~

2008 Micheal Phelps, Tony Hawk, Kobe Bryant and A-Rod for Guitar Hero, World Tour.





How cute are they??

Micheal has a more hip hair cut. Yea, Micheal.
Tony Hawk on his skateboard and wearing a helmet. How funny is THAT?
Kobe in his long basketball shorts! Maybe his wife made him wear those. teehee.
A-Rod. I knew it was him because of his eyes. Not kidding.

Fall In Arizona

It is cold and rainy today and that is very special for those of us in Arizona! It really feels like Fall and especially Thanksgiving. The big kids are off to school and my little Lauren is still sleeping soundly in her warm bed. Poor baby, we really wear her out at times.

I would crawl back in to bed but my conscience would get the best of me. I have plenty of work that needs to get done today. I will make my Sweet Potato Casserole and Apple Pie this afternoon. I need to pick up 4 dozen homemade dinner rolls at a wonderful, local kitchen store. And this morning, I will get caught up on house cleaning and of course several loads of laundry. I'll sneak in a shower too. WooHoo.

Here is a lovely poem I found at The Common Room. It describes our day perfectly.


The Fall

I like the fall
The mist and all
I like the night owl’s
Lonely call
And wailing sound
Of wind around

I like the gray
November day
And dead, bare boughs
That coldly sway
Against my pane
I like the rain

I like to sit
And laugh at it
And tend
My cozy fire a bit
I like the fall
The mist and all

Dixie Willson

The Funny Pages

Click to enlarge.

Good point, eh?

I'm looking forward to my free gas and no mortgage payment. ;-)

Old Navy Jeans

I gave up on them years ago!

You know, after I gave birth to five giant babies. :)

However....I did not want to spend $165 on jeans from Macy's or $65 at Coldwater Creek so I decided to try Old Navy again.

This is the first pair I tried on.





















Three words;

Muffin Top

and

Ew

I marched out to the girls (who organize and straighten jeans) and said "I need some jeans that will fit a real person, a Mom."

And she pointed me to these:






















Women's Classic Rise Boot-Cut - "The Sweetheart" Clean-Front Jeans

Size 8

Yea, whatever. ;-)

Seriously though, they fit quite well and Hannah said they are more hip than my Coldwater jeans. She also added that my Coldwater jeans were, you know, too short, and that the style now is just a little longish. My kids approve and that says a lot because now that they are teenagers they have volumes to say about what I wear.

More importantly, they were only $34.00

My Mad Skilz

One of our secretaries takes Wednesday's off so my husband got the big idea to bring me in to help out a little bit.

My job was to answer the phone.

I haven't worked down there since our secretary was on maternity leave 2 years ago and since then The Boss changed the phone system and is using a new walkie talkies. 10-4 big buddy.

I walked in the door, put my purse down and the phone rang. The Boss looked at me and said "Well, what are you waiting for? Answer it." I almost threw up a little bit but I obeyed the mean ole Boss and answered the phone.

I am, like, sooooo good at answering the phone.

"Good Morning, Interstate Batteries" :)








I've got skilz my friends. Skilz.


The rest of the day went something like this:

"Ma'am? Can you please help me find a battery for a 2004 Kia Rondo"

Me: "No, not really"

~~~~~

"Hello, what is your address"

Me: "Um. Just a sec."

~~~~~

"Yea, what time do you close?"

Me: "Hey, Dave. What time do we close?"

~~~~~

"Yea, lady, I need an xyzpdq 123 battery. Do you have those in stock?"

Me: "Warehouse line 1. And quick."

~~~~~

"Can you give me directions?"

Me: "Ha! Whatever you do don't go down Grand Ave. I always get lost and turn the wrong way down Grand. And what is it with those 3-way intersections? They scare me."

~~~~~

Besides the phone calls, I had to work the walkie talkie and poor J had to show me 12 times how to page someone.

I also made The Boss get me a refreshing drink from the refrigerator. He's not used to the hired help getting bossy.

One other thing I did in my spare time was roll enormous wall calendars and wrap them with a rubber band. I told you I have skilz. :-P Our guys will keep them in the trucks and hand them out to our accounts for the new year.


Speaking of calendars. I have a feeling you'll like this beautiful calendar over our Interstate Battery calendars. Go have a look. You'll be pleasantly surprised. They make lovely gifts, you know, so buy a few.

Over and out.

Literally LOL

How about you?

Does this kind of humor make you laugh?

I think it is hilarious. Especially since my least favorite part of Thanksgiving is dealing with and roasting the turkey.

Blessed

There are some traditions I absolutely love.

Here are two of them.

Doxology

Praise God, from Whom all blessings flow;
Praise Him, all creatures here below;
Praise Him above, ye heavenly host;
Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost.

Listen

We sing the Doxology every single Sunday after the offering is received. It never gets old.

~~~~~~~~~~

Glory Be To The Father (Gloria Patri)

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost;
As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be,
World without end. Amen, Amen.

Listen

I wish we'd sing this more often but it is always a joy when we close our service with Gloria Patri.

Have a blessed night and a great Monday.

New Music

A big shout out and thank you to BooMama for always recommending the best music.

This time she out did herself because today it involves old, soul, R & B music sung by the very talented Seal.

You can go to his site or iTunes and listen to a sampling of each song.

So far, my favorite is "I'm Still In Love With You" which was originally done by none other than Al Green. I have my sisters to thank for even knowing who Al Green is and for knowing every word to this song.

Here is Seal singing "Change Is Gonna Come":




I can't resist. Here is Al Green singing "I'm Still In Love":




For the record, Seal and I don't see eye to eye on politics but I do appreciate his music abilities.

Also for the record, the Rev. Al Green is a Jesus loving, preaching the Word kinda man now....and I agree with that. :) Can I get an amen?

Prayer Request

Will you please pray for dear friends of ours who do missionary work overseas. I need to be vague as the situation is very sensitive. God knows exactly what I'm referring to and He will hear our prayers no matter how vague. Thank you.

Fun Fieldtrip

We spent the morning at Tolmachoff Farms in the middle of Glendale (AZ). It's family owned and has been in the family for four generations. (We know some of the cousins). It is a special spot surrounded by housing and other development. I'm glad they haven't sold off the land to developers! The new Arizona Cardinals stadium is only a few miles away from the farm and the area is being built up like crazy. It was a beautiful morning and the kids had a great time.

Here we have the kindergartners:

















Lauren pulling carrots from the ground:


















A corn maze:






















Me trying to be an artistic and creative photographer. HA! It's chives:


















Here is what happens to corn in Arizona during the very hot summer months. It pops. It's not a joke, I asked:

















Oreo the kitty followed us all over the farm. What's wrong with her nose? Isn't she cute:


















My favorite picture!! MOOOOOOOO.

No Bake Cookies

Can you believe this is the first time I've ever made these delicious cookies?

Donna has written about them and probably posted a recipe but I was too lazy to look for it in her archives.

I found my recipe on Food Network. (I love that place).

No Bake Cookies
Food Network

1/2 C. butter
4 T. cocoa
2 C. sugar
1/2 C. milk
1 T. vanilla
1 C. peanut butter
3 C. oats

Melt butter, add sugar, cocoa and milk. Stir and bring to boil. Boil for one minute, stirring often. Add peanut butter and vanilla and mix well until blended. Add oats, stir. Drop on to wax paper using a cookie scoop or icecream scoop and let sit until firm.

Enjoy. Unless you're on a strict diet. And in that case just admire from afar. :)

Godly Wisdom

I've tried several times to post some thing today but each post was depressing and snarky so I deleted all of the posts.

I just received an email from a dear man at our church and it had this excellent article by Dr. Mohler attached.

Now, this is worth posting and reading.

America Has Chosen a President
By Albert Mohler

Still, we must press on as advocates for the unborn, for the elderly, for the infirm, and for the vulnerable. We must redouble our efforts to defend marriage and the integrity of the family. We must be vigilant to protect religious liberty and the freedom of the pulpit. We face awesome battles ahead.

America has chosen a President. President-Elect Barack Obama is that choice, and he faces a breathtaking array of challenges and choices in days ahead. This is the time for Christians to begin praying in earnest for our new President. There is no time to lose.

Here is the entire article.

Argh

If I don't get off the internet and stop reading about this election I am going to have a stroke.

One more thing before I go.

A 38-year-old Montana man has come under fire after parking a trailer load of manure across the street from a Democratic campaign office to protest Barack Obama.

I'm ok with this.

Hello Beautiful

I used to just swear by my New Balance.

Until I tried these Asics on the other day.

They have so much more arch support and are incredibly comfortable.

My shoes are light pink and silver and they are very cute. I couldn't find the exact picture but these are the shoes I bought and love. Asics Gel 1130.

PS. I don't run. I walk.

Wise Words from John Piper

It's almost seven minutes long but please take time to watch the whole video.




Here is a blog post by John Piper written today. Again, it's worth your time.

Dress-Up Fun

Much to my sister's dismay my kids have never been trick-or-treating. :) We have always participated in a Fall Festival at one of two local churches. Last night we went to the church where some of Dave's family members attend. They have a very nice, safe festival and our kids have a blast! I haven't always allowed them to dress up but this year I was feeling feisty. teehee.

Lauren:





















Sarah recently re-watched Holes and was inspired:





















Things went downhill quickly:


















Snow White, busted!

















Aw.





















We have a ridiculous amount of candy in this house right now.

The Baby Ruth's are just calling my name.

Keep callin' Baby Ruth. I dare ya.

A Little Taste of Fall

Picture from net.

Apple Crisp
Pillsbury Cookbook

6 C. (6 medium) peeled, sliced cooking apples
1 T. lemon juice
1 T. water
3/4 C. brown sugar
1/2 C. flour
1/2 C. oats
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 C. butter

Heat oven to 375. Place apples in 8 or 9 inch square pan. Sprinkle with lemon juice and water. In small bowl, combine remaining ingredients until crumbly; sprinkle over apples. Bake at 375 for 40 to 45 minutes or until apples are tender.


Why I torture myself by baking delicious treats when I can't partake is beyond me! :) Seriously though, I really enjoy baking. Cooking, not so much.

I took one little taste of one little apple so I could decide if I liked this recipe or not. I LIKE IT. :) My husband LOVED IT. I served it up with a big scoop of vanilla bean ice cream and he went back for seconds.

I think I will make this for Thanksgiving since Great Grandma can no longer make her absolutely perfect and most delicious apple pies. This will have to do. And at least we get to have the traditional apple dessert on the table.

Speaking of torture. It's paying off. I'm down 34 pounds and the nurse challenged me to lose 12 more by Thanksgiving. GIVE ME A BREAK. I set my goal for 10 pounds by turkey day. Sheesh.

Need Encouragement?

I sure do.

2 Corinthians 12:9-10

9 And He said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. 10 Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in needs, in persecutions, in distresses, for Christ’s sake. For when I am weak, then I am strong.


2 Corinthians 4:7-9

7 But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellence of the power may be of God and not of us. 8 We are hard-pressed on every side, yet not crushed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; 9 persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed


Dueteronomy 31:8

8 And the LORD, He is the One who goes before you. He will be with you, He will not leave you nor forsake you; do not fear nor be dismayed.”


1 John 4:4

4 You are of God, little children, and have overcome them, because He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world.

~~~~~

I'm tired.

It's difficult parenting so many.
("many" is a relative term, I know)

Spot On!

If you have young children and/or teenagers in your home please go read this article at The Wall Street Journal dot com:

The 'Trophy Kids' Go To Work

Thank you BooMama for the link!

I would love to hear from you after you read the article.

Tell me what you do in your home to try to avoid such thinking.

Here are a few things that came to mind:

We don't give our kids an allowance (except for over and above).
They all have many chores.
We encourage them to tithe/give.
As a family we serve and pray for others.
We allow them to fail and help them through the process.
We talk til we're blue in the face about how God has blessed us and all we have (health, family, material, spiritual) is from His good and gracious hand.
Sin = consequence (and this comes in many forms now that we have teenagers)
Seeking forgiveness is not only Biblical but it also teaches them how to humble themselves before the one they have sinned against.

Your turn!

UPDATE: Go here for a few more comments and discussion.

Lauren's Jammies

These Nick and Nora jammies are Lauren's favorite!

I bought her first pair (purple with kittens) last year for Christmas and when I saw them again I just couldn't resist. She absolutely loves them and I love cuddling with her when she has them on. :)

You can find them at Target right now.

I Aim To Please

I think Donna asked me for a picture of my brother-in-law's dog (in the last post).

I was doubtful I could even find them much less post them because these pictures were on the Mac.

Lookie here! Not only did I find them and post them, THEY ARE EDITED. A few easy steps on the Mac and the photo is brightened, darkened, sharper, more vivid and the contrast, whoa let's talk about the contrast. LOL.

You know, I kid.

Here is our old dog, Dillon. He is 10 years old and weighs 135 pounds. He is my protector and loud barker. Good Boy! He's a grumpy old soul most of the time but we love him anyway. I have a feeling he will die soon.


















This little fella is Cosmo. Keith named him during his time on drugs so I'm sure it has something to do with that. We think it's a cute name and don't ask about its origin. I'm just keepin it real people. Cosmo is 4 years old and will be living with us for a few years until Keith can buy a house with a nice backyard. He is a Flat-Coated Retriever. Isn't he pretty? We like red heads here....2 kids and 2 dogs.

Meet Mo:

















Dillon has taught Mo how to bark like a big boy. When he came to us he had a quiet little puppy bark. Now? A "get away from my house you bad, bad burglars" kind of bark.

Good boy!

There you go Donna. Glad I could be of service.

Brazen

We had a scary morning yesterday. My neighbor discovered her home had been burglarized (after being gone for only 35 minutes). She had entered her home from her garage and the burglars entered and exited from the front door. She spent about 45 minutes in her home, nursing her baby and playing with her on the floor before she discovered the front door closed but the casing from around the door laying on the ground. That's when she panicked and realized a plasma TV was missing from her living room. She grabbed the baby and ran to my house in tears, understandably. I helped her with the baby and we called 911.

The robbers kicked the front door open. Deadbolt and all. Isn't that brazen?

Our dear neighbors (and our family) have learned a lot in the last 24 hours. While there is nothing she could have done to stop these guys there are a few things that they could have had in place to help the police and investigators and cut down on their loss.

1. Write down all the serial numbers to all the electronics in your home and keep them in a safe place. The police have a way of dealing with pawn shops and can often recover the stolen items and ultimately track down the burglars. FYI, they took a laptop, a plasma TV, jewelry and cash.

2. Hide any cash you have in your home. These guys went straight for the master bedroom and opened all the dresser drawers including the nightstands.

3. Hide your jewelry box.

4. Insure items that will be difficult for you to replace. A few years ago I received diamond earrings from Dave and I finally decided to insure 3 pieces of jewelry that are costly and special to me. It took one phone call to our home owners agent and it's very cheap.

5.Install and use a security system. The previous owners of our house had a system installed but we have never activated it. I will be calling today. My neighbor's door may have been broken but the alarm would have sounded and scared them off. Their security system will be installed on Thursday.

When the first police officer arrived he stood with us at my house until two other officers arrived. They needed to search the house and apparently they do that with three officers. It was very humbling/scary when we watched them draw their weapons and start yelling in both English and Spanish as they entered the home. A shiver went down my spine.

I was on edge all day yesterday and still today. It is very unsettling to know that she was being watched and they probably knew her daily routine. This wasn't random.

I have heard several times that dogs are a great deterrent for burglars and I am encouraging my 135 pound pup to bark all he wants and he has taught the young pup to be a big boy and bark like a man. Honestly, the dogs may be the only reason I didn't get targeted. And for that I am very thankful.

I am comforted that God is in control of all things and that He is sovereign. I have nothing to fear.

So, So Funny!

This photo is funny to me on so many different levels.

Isn't that a great job of photo-shopping?

Doesn't it really look like them and their pretty bodies?

I needed a good laugh. :)

HT: Elizabeth Esther

Very Good News

Something we have that cannot be taken from us.

This gives me such peace.


Redemption in Christ

Eph. 1:3-14

3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ,

4 just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love,

5 having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will,

6 to the praise of the glory of His grace, by which He made us accepted in the Beloved.

7 In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace

8 which He made to abound toward us in all wisdom and prudence,

9 having made known to us the mystery of His will, according to His good pleasure which He purposed in Himself,

10 that in the dispensation of the fullness of the times He might gather together in one all things in Christ, both[a] which are in heaven and which are on earth—in Him.

11 In Him also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestined according to the purpose of Him who works all things according to the counsel of His will,

12 that we who first trusted in Christ should be to the praise of His glory.

13 In Him you also trusted, after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation; in whom also, having believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise,

14 who[b] is the guarantee of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, to the praise of His glory.

Amen.


Have a good, nice, beautiful day.

Janet

Robbed

We payed our tax bill yesterday (filed an extension) and boy did that put me in a foul mood.

Punish the hard working Americans who happen to make a little money and give it to the illegals (and others) in the form of free health care and welfare.

I followed a link over at Amy's and this is what I found. Click to enlarge.









Isn't that funny? And true?

If you are hard working and happen to make a little money you are EVIL.

I need a beach and a stiff drink. Ha!

*jk*

Six Year Old Sweetness

Lauren made her Daddy a birthday card.

He was delighted.

















We are seven. She got it right.





















I'm thinkin' this is Dave based on the amount of hair on this stick figure's head.


















Lauren is learning D'Nealian Handwriting in school. The 'U' looks good. :)

A Few Updates

James head is healing very well! He played in last night's game and everything stayed in tact. Except now his arm is scraped and scratched and bruised and lumpy but not broken. Happy day indeed. The freshman boys on this team have played together for 3 years and last night was their first loss EVER. They played hard and fought til the end but the other team was fast and big and better. It is good to eat humble pie once in a while. That's what my husband says.

~~~~~

Great Grandma is going home today. Her lungs are in bad shape so she will be needing oxygen 100% of the time and she will also need breathing treatments every day. Dave's siblings made room for a hospital bed so Grandma will be able to get in and out and sit up comfortably. I know 'hospital bed' and 'comfortable' sounds like an oxymoron and actually it is...but in her condition it is what will be best.

~~~~~

Here is a great article by Dr. Albert Mohler. He shares his thoughts on Sarah Palin for VP and the motherhood debate. It is very good and balanced.

~~~~~

Anita asked if I quit eating in yesterday's comments. I $paid$ her to write/say that. :) I have good news. I have lost 26 pounds. I am doing a medical weight loss program and having great success. This particular program suits me very well and I love it. I am sticking with it until I get waaaaaay down and definitely through the holidays. I feel great and I'm very happy. Update: here is the link for my program. Medi Weight Loss

~~~~~

Thank you so much for visiting my blog and more importantly thank you for praying for Great Grandma.

My (not so normal) Children

It's been a fun homecoming week.

Take a look:




































































~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
WARNING. GROSS PICTURES AHEAD:



























The only reason I posted this picture is for the look on James' face. He's holding the first staple we removed. He was very surprised at the shape and size. It's shaped more like a 'C' than your average household staple. Our friend Mike did the honors, Dave and I were the assistants. I kept feeling very sorry for James because it was a painful process but then everyone in the room reminded me of how he did this to himself and I agreed....

Mike and I cleaned the cut well with hydrogen peroxide, let it dry completely and then painted a line of SUPERGLUE over the nicely healed scar. James practiced on Saturday morning and wore his helmet for the first time all week. It went well and he gets to play on Monday. Priorities. ;-P


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Off to church.

Have a blessed day today.

News

James was goofing off and jumped in a door way hitting his head in the door jam at school. I took him to urgent care and he ended up with seven, small staples. Doesn't that sound lovely? STAPLES. Fun stuff. He's fine but will probably have a splitting headache when I see him again in a few hours. He has the best sense of humor....as we were pulling up to school to drop him off for his team meal he exclaimed: "Mom, I forgot to get a doctor's note!" And I told him to bend over to show the coach. He has one coach who is particularly grumpy and mean who he thought wouldn't believe him. I think he will. As you can tell from reading my Twitter updates, I was really hoping for a very short haircut. No such luck. :-P James will probably have to sit out two games. Consequences are great.

On a more serious note. Great Grandma is in the ER with shortness of breath and extremely low blood/oxygen levels (40%). I would really appreciate your prayers for her. She is 93 years old and suffers from lung issues and breathing problems. She is the matriarch of our family and blesses us with her daily and fervent prayers for our families. She has treated me like a real grand-daughter since I entered the family 18 years ago. She has the gift of encouragement and blesses me every time we are together. Right now she is surrounded by the men in our family. They are there to lend support to Great Grandma and Aunt Patty. Please pray.

Thank you. :)

They Say It's Her Birthday

Happy

@!st

BIRTHDAY

DONNA!

Go wish Donna a happy birthday. She always has a big blog bash on her special day.


Donna, go have one of these ON ME.