Thankful Thursday

This week for Thankful Thursday we are meeting at Grace Alone.

I am thankful for...

~ time laughing, talking, and praying with my husband.

~ snack day with my funny little boy! Oh how he makes me laugh with the funny things he says! It was such a pretty day yesterday we went to the park for a little bit too.

~ the beauty of fall. It is such a wonderful season for so many reasons....the cooler temperatures, beautiful colors, upcoming holidays, and pumpkins.

~ that tomorrow is October and we are going to move to our new house in October! I'm so excited to get there and keep thinking about decorating for the holidays there. We are just waiting on the paperwork now and praying all that is done on time.

~ the blessing of being a stay-at-home Mom. I'm often reminded of this and have thought about it several times this week.

Have a day of blessings!

2010 Book #31: Take Four

I have been listening to the audio version of Take Four, the final book in Karen Kingsbury's "Above the Line" series, which I borrowed from our local library. I'm so glad they carry the audio versions of these because I enjoy listening as I'm driving.

In this book, producers Keith Ellison and Dayne Matthews have made a deal to have Brandon Paul star in one of their movies. There are some problems though that Brandon's reputation could negatively impact the film. Can Brandon straighten up or should the producers just look for another leading character?

Another aspect of this story is the pregnancy of Andi, Keith's daughter. She has decided against having an abortion and is leaning towards giving her baby up for adoption, but she has doubts about this.

As with all of the books by Karen Kingsbury that I have read thus far, I have found that these stories are about real life. I think there is something in her stories that can touch and bless everyone.

Have a day of blessings!

Our weekend!

We had a fun time over the weekend making happy memories together.

Friday after school and work we headed to Dallas. We stopped off for a yummy supper at Spring Creek BBQ. We were all hungry and really enjoyed our meal. The manager came by and saw all Caleb had eaten and gave him a dish of Blue Bell ice cream too.

Saturday we went to the birthday party for our niece (who turned one earlier this month) and her cousin (who will be one in a couple of weeks). It was fun to watch them open their presents. They both liked the ripping the tissue paper out of the bags and throwing it in the air to have it fall on their faces. My sister-in-law made the cakes, and the kids were cute eating them. A just touched hers and licked icing off her fingers, but T really got into it and made quite a mess.

After the party we headed to the State Fair. It is a tradition we have! When I found out the party was going to be on the 25th, I checked to see when the fair opened. I was glad we could do both on the same weekend (since in the coming weekends we'll be busy packing and moving).

We arrived to the park about 4. It had been rainy all morning, but it cleared up by afternoon and we didn't get rained on while at the fair this year. This was the first year we didn't take along the stroller. Caleb was really too big for it last year I know and maybe before that, but we took it anyway to give him a break from walking. Plus the bottom of it held our drinks, camera, and other junk. Caleb didn't complain about walking. At the very end he wanted Daddy to carry him. I was surprised he walked so much!

We watched the pig races and went to the petting zoo. The auto show is always a favorite for the boys, so we spend quite a bit of time there! I like to try out the new vehicles too. We did a test drive for a few vehicles. Caleb wanted to ride in one of the big trucks so we did that one too. We are going to buy a new mattress soon so we tested some out at the Mattress Firm booth and found one we really liked called Rhapsody by Tempur-pedic. I have no idea if we'll get this one but it gave us something to compare to when we try out others. Then the salesman let us try out a massage chair. I could easily imagine getting used to having one of those in my living room! It had slots where you could insert your feet for a massage too. We were all tired by the time we left at 10 but had a great time. Caleb was so big and had fun. He was glad he got his cotton candy!

We slept late Sunday and then came home. Fall is in the air! Hooray!

Have a day of blessings!

2010 Book #30: Amish Proverbs

I recently won the book Amish Proverbs Words of Wisdom from the Simple Life by Suzanne Woods Fisher on a blog giveaway hosted by Mocha With Linda.

I have enjoyed this little book and the proverbs. The proverbs are divided by theme and each chapter begins with a brief introduction story or information about the Amish. Some of the themes include money, work ethic, and handling adversity. The photographs are beautiful and really added to my enjoyment of this book.

Last week I posted some of my favorite proverbs from the book as my Facebook status. Many friends really liked them and wanted to buy the book themselves. I think these proverbs are appealing because they are so true, and we can all relate and apply them to our own lives.

Have a day of blessings!

Prayers and Promises Week #39

For this week's verse for the last week of the theme "glory" in September, the verse is Psalm 24:9,10--

"Lift up your heads, O you gates; lift them up, you ancient doors, that the King of glory may come in. Who is he, this King of glory? The Lord Almighty--he is the King of glory. Selah."

Please join me in prayer for the following:
~ Shortybear (Denise) as she waits on her results from her MRI.

~ family of Wes. His funeral was Sunday.

~ Kate and Alexis and their families as they face many questions. They both had scans recently that left them with many questions and uncertainty.

I hope you have a wonderful week ahead as September ends and October begins.
Have a day of blessings!

Flashback Friday: I love books!

This week is a great Flashback Friday about books.

My Flashback:

Books have always been important to me. I always loved reading and always had a lot of books.

I still have the Golden Books from my childhood. I like that my Mom wrote my name in them along with the date and who gave them to me. Some of them are very worn, I can tell which were my favorites. There was one (and I can't remember the title, of course), but it had a picture of a little girl laying in a barrel. This made me want my own barrel! My Dad fixed one for me under my slide. I don't know that I really laid in it, but I thought it was neat to have one like the girl in the book. Now that I am grown these books have been a treasure to have to share with Caleb.

During school we got to do book orders. I was always so excited to look through these order forms and choose some books. This really added to my book collection and I had so many. The funny thing is I don't know how many of those I ever read! When I have gone through them over the years, many of them I don't remember reading. We went to the library in the summer, and I always participated in the summer reading program. I still remember the smell of those old library books! I loved books by Beverly Cleary and also the Babysitters Club by Ann M. Martin. I owned a ton of both and borrowed them from the library.

Because I had so many books and because I loved libraries, I categorized my books and made my own little library. I still have some of those chapter books today, and it makes me laugh to see my labels and numbers on the inside. I remember one group was comics or joke books. So I'd write Comics, #9 on the inside cover along with a stamp "From the Library of...." I was trying to keep a list of how many I had.

In high school my favorite book was To Kill a Mockingbird. I also enjoyed Huckleberry Finn my junior year and the projects we did while reading it. I found my copy of that book during our move, and it was neat to go back and look at what I had marked and written in the margins. I want to reread both of these along with The Scarlet Letter.

As an adult books continue to play an important role in my life. I've also shared my love of reading with my husband. He reads all the time now too, which he didn't do when we dated and in our earlier years of marriage. He likes to find new books on the sale rack at Mardel or at the annual library book sale. I've wanted to pass our love of books to our son and he has always had many books. It makes me sad when children don't have books at home to read and use. We went to the library story time before he started to school and still make a weekly trip to the library. It thrills my heart when he gets an idea of a topic in his mind of a book he wants to find at the library. This week it was hurricanes. I love to look through the book order forms he brings home now and can usually find one or two for him or to give as gifts.

Thanks to Linda for another great topic this week.

Have a day of blessings!

Thankful Thursday

I'm so glad it's time for Thankful Thursday once again! This has been a different week because my hubby has been out of town. But it went fast so that is good!

This week I'm thankful for...

~ my sweet husband got to attend his meeting this week, and it ended up he didn't have to stay gone all week like we thought when we first found out about it.

~ my time with my sweet boy this week while Daddy was away. We had a fun time together one night playing with his bicycle (I don't mean riding it, I mean spinning the wheels!)

~ our free mobile-to-mobile cell phone minutes. This has been so wonderful this week! When my hubby first got his cell phone we didn't have this so he called and had them add it. I'm so glad!


~ being able to volunteer at my boy's school.


~ the kind words people have shared with us as they find out we are moving.


Have a day of blessings!

(Join us for Thankful Thursday today at Grace Alone.)

Mixed feelings kind of day

I've had so many thoughts and prayers running through my heart today.

I found out first thing this morning that the Mom of one of my friends was admitted to the hospital last night and in ICU with heart problems. Then when I logged onto Facebook I saw where a young man named Wes from my hometown had passed away last night. He had been in a terrible wreck last Tuesday evening. I never knew him but it made me sad for his family. Also I knew today was the day that one of my little friends fighting a brain tumor was having an important MRI and her parents were very anxious about it.

And at the same time I feel thankful. My husband was coming home last Tuesday night and called to tell me about the delay because of a bad accident. Later I found out that it was Wes' accident. So today I just felt thankful that my husband's timing hadn't been any different. And I wondered could it have been him in that accident? I felt so thankful it wasn't but so sad at the same time because another wife doesn't have her husband tonight.

Today I've been reminded that we are not guaranteed tomorrow or even another breath. Things can be going along as normal and then suddenly everything changes. Please join me in praying for these families. Pray that God will heal and bring His comfort and peace. These are three very different situations but all three families are hurting and need God to help them in their time of difficulty.

Have a day of blessings!

Book Review: That's Where God Is

I received this book a while back and have not shared it with you. It is a children's book called That's Where God Is by Dan & Ail Morrow with illustrations by Cory Godbey.

A young boy asks Grandpa a question that many of us may have wondered ourselves: "Where is God?" Grandpa encourages the boy to look for God in the coming week. As the boy goes about his daily life he finds God every day...with the animals He created, when we share, and when we forgive. At the end of the week the boy shares with Grandpa where he has found God.

This book is appropriate for preschool through early elementary aged children. Besides the spiritual message, this book also incorporates the days of the week. Also, each day has a different verse related to the place that the boy found God that day. The illustrations were not my favorite for a children's book. The layout and font were easy to read. Overall I enjoyed this book.

Thank you to David C Cook book review program for providing me a review copy of this book.

Have a day of blessings!

Prayers & Promises Week #38

This week I chose a verse to use that I've used previously this year for a different theme. It is Ephesians 3:20, 21.

"Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen."

We are so thankful for all God has done for our family and how He has worked everything out with our move and my husband's job. We could not have done this on our own. To God alone be the glory! We are excited to begin the next chapter.

Do you have any prayer requests this week? There are so many sick and battling ugly diseases, both physically and spiritually.

Have a day of blessings!

Remember when...

Hope you will join me today at Laced with Grace for a devotional entitled "Remember when..."

Have a day of blessings!

Flashback Friday

This week we are talking about bedtime when we were growing up.

My Flashback:
I remember that we had the same routine for bedtime each night. My Dad would read from the Bible and then we'd pray. I had my own room. My favorite bed was a motionless water bed (I think that is what it was called). I had a doll I always slept with named Holly Hobby. I got her from my aunt and uncle. She was a very loved doll. Her clothes and body became tattered shreds. My Mom made many repairs on her, giving her new legs, torso, arms, and bonnet. She had a dark brown spot on her arm where she had had a band-aid at one time when I took her with me to a health fair. One time we found a new Holly Hobbie....to this day she is still in the box. I couldn't replace the old one! I still have her (no I don't still sleep with her!), and I always liked how she fit in the crook of my arm.

I always hollered out in my sleep. Sometimes my Mom would come check on me to see what was wrong and I'd just be talking or making noises. I still make these random noises when I sleep.

Have a day of blessings!

Thankful Thursday

It's time for Thankful Thursday and my heart is just overflowing with thankfulness. We have waited approximately 9 months and now this news is official. It wasn't how we expected or what we had planned of how we thought it would happen. God has taught us so much through this process and I'm thankful for that too. I am going to write it all down sometime because there are so many details about the whole thing that are just amazing.

We found out last Tuesday my husband was promoted to a new position. He called and told me and then we had to keep the secret until it was official! What a hard secret to have! They made it official today so it was announced. We'll be moving sometime in late October.

Today I'm thankful for...

~ my husband and his job and how he's a man of integrity and such a hard worker to provide for our family and so much more! He's such a blessing!

~ my sweet boy being so obedient. I've noticed lately how he's been doing things I ask with a good attitude and without complaining and grumbling. This is something we've been working on and it makes me smile.

~ great books to listen to while I drive. I'm listening to Take Four by Karen Kingsbury right now.

~ smelling a roast cooking in the crock pot for supper.

~ ALL the lessons God has taught me the past 9 months about patience!

Have a day of blessings!

Prayers and Promises Week #37

This week's verse is Psalm 96:3--
"Declare His glory among the nations, His marvelous deeds among all peoples."

Please remember the following in prayer:
~ family of Levi. Levi was born this week and went home to Heaven shortly after he was born.

~ my cousin as he recovers from surgery. He had a kidney removed last Tuesday. He's had some trouble so please pray for everything to function as it should so he does not have to have another surgery this week.

~ Also I have a praise for many new babies born this week. I had several friends who have had babies in the past couples weeks or are about to have the babies. I'm thankful for these new children!

~ those dealing with issues from flooding here in Texas. We just received a lot of rain here, no damage or anything.

Thank you for stopping by today. I hope you have a wonderful week!

Have a day of blessings!

Flashback Friday: TV

For this week's Flashback Friday we are talking about TV!

My flashback:
We had one TV in our house in the living room. I never had one in my bedroom.

My favorite show of all time was "Little House on the Prairie." I used to pretend I was the girls. Remember the introduction where Mary and Laura go running down the hill with the music playing in the background? I'd try to mimic them. I have a funny story about this show too. One night I kept getting up out of bed, I don't know why. My Mom had told me not to get up anymore and if I did I couldn't watch "Little House." Well I got up again and the next day I didn't get to watch it! It makes me laugh to think of that now!

Another favorite was "The Price Is Right." I liked to pretend I was a contestant on that show. We watched "Wheel of Fortune" sometimes too.

On Friday nights I watched "Full House," "Family Matters," and "Step by Step." On Saturdays I liked to sleep late but get up to watch "Saved by the Bell." I imagined the characters as kids from my school. Then Saturday nights I loved to watch "Dr. Quin Medicine Woman."

Have a day of blessings!

Book Review: One Hand, Two Hands

I warned you this was going to be a week of book reviews on my blog! I have a sweet children's book to share with you today. Be sure to check out the previous post as well to see my review of Max Lucado's new book Out Live Your Life.

One hand, two hands,
Five fingers, ten.
God, thanks, for my hands.
Please, use them again.

I am happy to share with you a new children's book by Max Lucado called One Hand, Two Hands. It is written with rhyming text and shows children a variety of ways that we use our hands every day all day long. The illustrations by Gaby Hansen are really fun and add to the enjoyment of this book in my opinion.

If you have a special little one in your life, I recommend this book for them. You will enjoy it together.

Have a day of blessings!

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher through the BookSneeze.com book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising

2010 Book #29: Out Live Your Life

I had the opportunity to read a new book by Max Lucado called Out Live Your Life.
From the publisher:
These are difficult days in our world's history. 1.75 billion people are desperately poor, natural disasters are gouging entire nations, and economic uncertainty still reigns across the globe. But you and I have been given an opportunity to make a big difference. What if we did? What if we rocked the world with hope? Infiltrated all corners with God's love and life? We are created by a great God to do great works. He invites us to outlive our lives, not just in heaven, but here on earth. Let's live our lives in such a way that the world will be glad we did.

My thoughts:
I always enjoy reading anything by Max Lucado. I appreciate his writing style and the message he shares through this writing. This book focuses on the book of Acts as a basic thought for each chapter as a guideline for how we should be living our Christian lives...caring for others, seeing the needs of people, and praying to name a few. At the end of the book is a discussion guide for personal reflection to apply what you have read to your own life.

One thing I didn't particularly like was the different Bible versions quoted. I think I would have preferred him stick with the same version throughout.

I saw this book on sale at Mardel if you are interested. Also it is important to note that 100% of the author's royalties are going to World Vision and other ministries. I enjoyed this book and am glad to be able to review it.

Have a day of blessings!


Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher through the BookSneeze.com book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

Thankful Thursday

This has been an interesting week for us! With Monday being a holiday, both my boys were home. We had a nice relaxing day together. Then Tuesday most of the day I was at the hospital because my cousin had surgery. And I got sick in the waiting room (so embarrassing!). I had donated blood, and it was close to lunch time. I think I should have donated closer to when I ate breakfast or waited till after I'd eaten lunch. I felt kinda "blah" Wednesday morning too, probably a little dehydrated because I felt better after having some juice and Powerade. And it has been raining and flooding. I didn't realize how much rain we were receiving around us until I saw it on the news reports.

What are you thankful for this week? Here is my thankful list for this week:
~ my amazing husband. Oh I love him so much! We were able to go out to eat (just us) at On the Border (love their chips and salsa!) Monday night with a gift card my Dad gave us for our anniversary. I enjoyed our time together.

~ my sweet boy and being able to hear his stories and questions. I like to hear him talk and figure out how his little mind works!

~ the rain and safety while driving in it.

~ a successful surgery for my cousin. He had to have a kidney removed. He is in the hospital for a couple days of recovery before he goes home. It was interesting to hear the doctor talk about the surgery afterwards and what they had done. I'm thankful for that knowledge doctors have and our amazing bodies that can heal after such a surgery.

~ God's timing and answers to prayers.

Have a day of blessings!

2010 Book #28 : Shades of Blue

Looks like this week will be the week of book reviews on my blog!

I borrowed the audio version of Shades of Blue by Karen Kingsbury from our library and finished it last week.

Brad Cutler and Laura James are about to be married. They are weeks away from their dream wedding actually. Brad begins to have some unsettling feelings though....not about his love for Laura or his decision to marry her but rather about some things he has carried with him from his past. He decides he has to go back and deal with his past and seek forgiveness from his high school love, Emma Landon.

Since I listened to the audio version, I would also like to add that the narrator did a wonderful job with this book. I enjoyed listening to her as she used many different voices for the various characters.

I was touched by this book as I always am when I read a book by Karen Kingsbury. I always appreciate the life lessons that any reader can take away from her books. In this particular book she takes a very difficult topic and addresses it so well from both the woman and man's perspectives. I am happy to recommend this book to you. If you have never read a book by this author, you really should!

Have a day of blessings!

Book Review: The Butterfly Effect

I had the privilege of reading a new book from Andy Andrews called The Butterfly Effect. I have read other books by Andy Andrews, such The Noticer, so I expected this one to be good. I was not disappointed.

From the publisher:
Speaker and New York Times best-selling author Andy Andrews shares a compelling and powerful story about a decision one man made over a hundred years ago, and the ripple effect it’s had on us individually, and nationwide, today. It’s a story that will inspire courage and wisdom in the decisions we make, as well as affect the way we treat others through our lifetime. Andrews speaks over 100 times a year, and The Butterfly Effect is his #1 most requested story.

My thoughts:
This is a beautifully designed gift book with an encouraging message. We may not realize it in our daily lives but our lives do touch the lives of other people. Our lives really do matter. We may not see it now but the choices we make and things we do have an impact on others through history.

This book would make a nice gift because of both it's physical beauty and valuable message for readers.

Have a day of blessings!

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher through the BookSneeze.com book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

Since we've moved

I am so thankful we were moved and settled at the duplex before school started. While we were surprised our home sold so quickly, we know it was all part of God's timing that it happen in the summer and not once Caleb was in school. It is nice not to be stressed with packing and cleaning for a big move right now as we are getting back into the swing of school.

I am thankful that we are content here in our duplex. Some people have asked how we like living here and if it's okay. Yes it is different from our home. There is less room and many other changes, like no back yard to play in, no yard to mow, and I don't have a clothesline to hang our clothes. We aren't looking at these things as negatives though.

As I look at what we have here with us and think about all that is in storage, I continue to wonder if we even need all that stuff and if I want to really unpack it once we move again. So much of it just takes up space. There are some things I would want to keep like my Precious Moments, teacher stuff, and Christmas decorations. There have been a couple things here and there I've missed (like why did I pack away all my pie plates, something I realized last week when I was going to make a pie for my husband!). But for the most part I haven't felt I was missing anything major. That just goes to show you that it's not the "things" that make me content and happy...it's the two wonderful people I am living here with that makes it home.

Caleb has adjusted very well. I'm so proud of him! He continues to surprise me with the creative games and imaginative things he comes up with to play. I always laugh at all the uses he has for yarn! I told my Mom I could write a book called "101 Uses for Yarn."

As far as the laundry, I do miss my time at the clothesline. I have an alternative though...a collapsible drying rack we bought at Walmart. I have figured out when to wash the clothes so I can hang them to give them plenty of time to dry so most nights they aren't all over the house when my husband gets home. I could use the dryer but I like to save on electricity this way.

Speaking of electricity, we got our first bill for living here a month. We were pleasantly surprised at the cost! We weren't sure how it would compare to our home because we didn't know the energy efficiency of the windows and appliances here. It was low and that was for August in Texas too!

A funny story about our move...The guy who is living in our old house has the same last name as us! I told the ladies at the post office when I turned in our card to forward our mail. We have received some of his mail in the past couple of weeks. One day I even had something from AT&T that was his name with our address here! (Not sure how they messed that one up, but they've messed up pretty much everything we asked them when we transferred our service so it wasn't too surprising to see this mistake from them!) Who knows how long this will take to get straightened out!

We are continuing to wait and pray about what is next for us. We are very excited to hear something and are really expecting to hear in a few weeks about one possibility. Please pray with us. I have a whole list of things I'm praying about as we wait. God's worked out all the details of this story up to this point and we continue to trust Him.

Have a day of blessings!

Prayers and Promises Week #36

Here is the verse for this week:

"Now if we are children, then we are heirs--heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in His sufferings in order that we may also share in His glory." Romans 8:17

Have a day of blessings!

Flashback Friday

Today's Flashback is a fun topic: movies!!

My Flashback:
I do not know how old I was but I remember the local movie theater showing special kids' movies in the summer. I'm not sure how many of these we went to, but the one I remember is "Benji." I don't think we went to the movie theater very often.

A movie I loved was "Charlotte's Web." "Where The Red Fern Grows" and "Old Yeller" are other favorites. I still like these movies today.

Other movies I remember from my childhood are "ET" and some Disney ones like "The Little Mermaid" and "Beauty and the Beast." "Parent Trap" was fun to watch too.

Have a day of blessings!

Thankful Thursday

Happy September! This week we are at Grace Alone. Please join us!

We have so much we should be thankful for. Many times we don't stop and give thanks though, do we? That's why I like Thankful Thursdays. It causes me to stop and reflect. I normally limit my list to 5 things, but I could easily go on and on!

This past week for example....
I saw in the newspaper a photo of a fire at an apartment complex. It was the same complex where I had looked to possibly rent. It made me feel thankful that we weren't there. I don't know which apartment it was but seeing that photo made me thankful to be here where we are now.

This week I am thankful for...
~ the sweet care of my sweet husband when I had a headache Monday night. He massaged my head and that helped me relax. I love his gentle touch and caring ways. He was truly concerned about me.

~ a special feeling I had from a shared moment with my sweet boy as he whispered a secret in my ear, turned back and said "don't tell anyone" and then ran up the sidewalk to school with a smile on his face. It makes me smile to think of that little moment. Another moment with him....this week he came to my bedside one morning and whispered "Good morning my precious little sunshine." It made my day! I wake him up like that some mornings, so it was cute to hear him say that to me!

~ All the lessons God is teaching us in this time for our family! I think I could write a book about all of this! He is faithful as we wait on Him....cause really that is what we are doing. I really am thankful for the things that have happened and how they've happened.

~ The fun of a Friday night football game! Seeing all the fans, watching the cheerleaders, hearing the band....I like the feeling of that excitement that fills the air at the start of a new season.

~ Lunch with my forever friend. It's been a few weeks since we've been able to get together. I enjoy seeing her and catching up.

Have a day of blessings!