Thankful Thursday

Today we are meeting at Grace Alone for Thankful Thursday.

This week I heard this song on the radio and I remembered to look it up to share with you today.  I really liked the lyrics.  It is called Thank You by 33 Miles.  I had not heard it before.




This week I am thankful for...
~ having a husband who understands me and cares about the things that are important to me.

~ my boy's heart that cares for others.

~ my blooming flowers.  Caleb was so excited to show me yesterday!  Back in the fall Caleb and Gramma had planted these to surprise me.  The first ones opened this week as you can see in this picture.

~ fruit to eat.  It is nice to have the bowl of grapes and strawberries in the fridge as well as the "Cuties."  Do you eat those?  Caleb really likes them and I do too now.  I like that they are so easy to peel.

~ my Mom.  It was her birthday this week.  I'm thankful for her and that she is my Mom.

Thanks for stopping by on Thankful Thursday! 

Have a day of blessings!

Wednesday Hodgepodge

Each time I type that title I am afraid I'm going to misspell it!  Welcome back for another week of Wednesday Hodgepodge, today on 12-12-12.  I have enjoyed participating these past few weeks and enjoy thinking about my answers to the questions.

1. So, when did you last take a walk in the woods? A stroll along the beach? A drive going nowhere in particular in the car?  I walked around at the deer lease in November, not really the woods though.  I don't remember the last time I've been to the beach....maybe when Caleb was 2.   

A recent walk I do remember was one weekend it had been raining all day.  It had been so long since it had rained like that.  When the rain stopped in the evening, we took a walk around our neighborhood together with Caleb riding his bike back and forth through the puddles. 
 

2. Are you sending Christmas cards this year? About how many do you send? Photo card or something more traditional? How do you display the cards you receive?  Yes I send Christmas cards.  I have not sent ours  yet this year but plan to do that this week actually.  Normally I send around 60 cards with a typed letter about our year and include a family photo.  I am not sure if I am doing a letter this year.  I usually have a "theme" from the year in mind and do not have one yet this year so I am thinking I may not do my normal letter. That feels kind of weird for me, and I wonder if anyone would even notice for me not to do it.

This is how I display the cards we receive.  My cousin made one of these boards last year and posted it on Facebook.  I copied her idea.  When it got full last year I started putting them on our hallway closet door.  My Mom and I made one this year for my Meemaw to hang on her door.  It had red material and a snowflake bow.  These are very easy to make. 
   

3. What's a word you've heard too much of in the past week?  killed....It makes me sad to hear of those killed because of the shooting in the mall this week and the death of the Cowboys football player in the car with his teammate who they say was intoxicated.
  4. December 13th is National Cocoa Day-are you a fan? Plain or flavored? Marshmallows or no marshmallows?  Yes I love drinking hot cocoa, plain with marshmallows. 

5. What is something you do to help alleviate the hectic pace of the Christmas season? I plan what needs to be done and do what I enjoy doing and don't add things to the calendar just to do them because "every one else does it." 

6. Besides jewelry, what's a favorite sparkly-glittery item in your home or closet?
I knew my answer immediately when I read this question.  I received this ornament last week as a gift from one of the ladies at our church.  It has little bells in it as well that have a soft jingle when you shake the ornament.  I just loved it and was excited to put it on our tree. 

7. Share a favorite line or two from any Christmas carol.
      Joy to the World , the Lord is come!
      Let earth receive her King;
      Let every heart prepare Him room......
      And Heaven and nature sing,
      And Heaven and nature sing,
      And Heaven, and Heaven, and nature sing.
8. Insert your own random thought here.
I am taking an online class for my continuing education credits to keep my teaching certificate. I have a free gift certificate I received from a class I attended while I was teaching.   I chose one on Singapore Math.  It is SO interesting and just  makes so much sense to do math this way.  So far I've had lessons on number sense, addition, and subtraction.  Next comes multiplication and division. 

Have a day of blessings!

Police birthday party!

Every year my boy has a plan for the theme for his birthday party.  He usually knows the theme months (or sometimes even a year) in advance. 

This year he chose to have a police birthday party.  I looked for ideas, decorations, etc. online and thought I'd share what we did.

We had two parties.  The first was with some friends from church.  We met at Schlotzsky's in an extra room they have.  The boys ate and played with the pretend jail we'd made, had cupcakes, and played another game to get the "robber" in the jail.

Here is our pretend jail.  I've included two pictures so you can see both sides.  It was a group effort!  My husband found the box at work in the trash pile.  It worked out perfectly.  He cut the bars and they wrapped them with foil.  The other part he covered with duct tape.  I made the poster on the front.  Caleb wanted two guards and one dog.  My husband drew the dog and the Barney Fife guard and my Mom drew the blue guard.  Caleb was pleased with how it turned out.  It made for fun photos at his party as he put family members in the jail and someone could put their face in the holes to be the guards.

 

 

Here is the game we made.  I'd seen an idea on Pinterest using a similar idea (they did theirs outside with a whole village and didn't use straws).  Caleb and I made a box to look like a jail.  We cut a small hole in the front for a door.  I put it on the floor in a corner.  The boys got on their hands and knees with a straw (new straw for each boy by the way) and had to blow the "robber" (a small plastic ball) into the jail.  They all had fun with this and it was more difficult that you'd think! 

For this party we made cupcakes.  Caleb and I made them and decorated them together.  I made cupcake toppers with a badge and an "8" in them and the other side had "Caleb."  I decided to put them in the shape of an "8" too. 

For the goodie bags, we had a little notepad, pencil, plastic police badge, and crocheted handcuffs for the boys.  My Mom made these from another Pinterest idea I found.  They turned out so cute I thought! She made most of them gray but did a camo pair for Caleb too.

We had a family party at our house.  For decorations my husband and I hung blue and black balloons in a line down our front hallway (another Pinterest idea).  It was super easy to do this and did not take too long either once the balloons were blown up. 

(not sure what happened with this picture, it messed up in the upload)

I also printed these (that I found on Pinterest) and lined them down the two sides of our cabinets along with badges from the Dollar Tree.  My husband drew the police car.  Didn't he do a great job on both the car and the police dog? 

Here is the birthday cake. (I blacked out his name which was above the pocket.)   My Mom made it too.  It turned out great!  Caleb was excited to keep the plastic walkie talkie, handcuffs, and baton too.

It was a very fun birthday, and I'm appreciative of the help from my husband and Mom to have things like Caleb wanted.

Have a day of blessings!

Snow Day

Our back yard down back porch steps

When my hubby got home from work Monday, we got the boxes scooted out of the way in the garage so both vehicles would fit in there for the night. I'm glad he worked so hard to get the garage cleared out over the weekend!

We had a thunderstorm with rain and hail in the evening and then it turned into sleet. My hubby got up at 6 to find out road conditions and talk to others to make the decision about closing his offices. Caleb woke up about 6:15. He was ready to go play! All of the schools here are cancelled for the day and some are already saying a late start tomorrow.

Here are a couple pictures of our beautiful snow! The weatherman is saying we aren't getting above freezing until Friday.

Have a day of blessings!

Walgreens special!

This week Walgreens has an 8 x 10 collage print for 99 cents. It is very easy to make a collage and would make a great gift also. I know many of you out in blog land take many pictures! You can choose a color for your backgrounds, with or without text, and up to 20 pictures.

Log in at the Walgreens site. Create an account if you don't have one already. Then click on the photo tab to upload your pictures. I've found it easiest for me to find all my pictures I want to use first and put them into one file all together on my computer. Then when it's time to upload I can easily see which ones I want to use. Sometimes it pops up and asks me if I want to create a collage. If it doesn't you can choose collages under the "Gifts" tab on the photo page. It will give you a few options and then put the collage together for you. You can edit it, shuffle the pictures, and change the text if you like.

The coupon code is COLLAGE99. Enter this at the end before you submit your order. I believe this coupon is valid this week only.

Have a day of blessings!

fPhoto Friday

Last week during some of our trips to the hospital we drove around for Caleb to rest and nap in the car. We stopped at a park a couple of days. One day it was so beautiful and we let him out to go play when he woke up. I just love the pictures I took that day.

Also, it is a nice picture to post on this Friday for my husband's birthday. I'm so thankful for him and the wonderful husband and daddy he is. Happy birthday sweetie! I love you!

fPhoto Friday

This picture was from our trip to the Abilene zoo last Friday. I like how it shows his long neck and its tongue is sticking out!

Visit Married to the Preacher for more photos. Have a great weekend!

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"God made the wild animals according to their kinds, the livestock according to their kinds, and all the creatures that move along the ground according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good." Genesis 1:25

fPhoto Friday

This is a gift I received from my husband. His boss creates a variety of things(bird houses, bird feeders, tortilla warmers, candle holders) with gourds. I asked him if he had any snowmen this year, and he had this one and one with a blue scarf/mittens. I chose the blue one to give to my Mom. My husband surprised me by buying this one for me. I think it is so cute! I plan to buy more for gifts next Christmas too.

See a variety of other photos today at Married to the Preacher.

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"As for God, his way is perfect; the word of the Lord is flawless. He is a shield for all who take refuge in him." 2 Samuel 22:31

fPhoto Friday

I took this last Saturday when we visited the campus of ACU after the football game. I thought the multi-colored leaves surrounding this statue were pretty. I should have taken a close-up of the statue as well but didn't. It is a father and mother holding up a child. I can't remember the title.

fPhoto friday

Natalie over at Married to the Preacher has started this fun photo meme. I have been wanting to participate and keep forgetting. I took this picture earlier this week. Caleb thinks it is the funniest thing to get my purple blanket. He loves me to tickle him for getting my blanket!

Yesterday Caleb saw a butterfly on my rose bush and we were going to try to take a picture. It flew away before we got outside though. We did take some other pictures. I laid down on the walkway to take this one. I wasn't sure what it would look like but now I think it looks like an angel.

State Fair

We had a wonderful time! I'm trying to catch up on my emails and blog reading.

We arrived Sunday afternoon to our hotel. It was one we had never stayed at before, but we (my husband, I had nothing to do with finding it!) found it okay. We unloaded and went to visit my brother-in-law and his wife and see their new home. After that we went to have supper at a BBQ place. We got way too much food! Caleb and I should have shared. I wanted a BBQ sandwich and wasn't sure he'd eat it. I should have just shared a kid's plate with him; I couldn't believe the meat portion they gave on a kid's plate! It did work out nicely though because we had some leftovers that we put into a plastic bag in our ice chest for another time. After we ate we waited for my friend to come over. She was my college roommate, and we like to get together if we can. She brought Caleb a set of (toy) fire fighter equipment set, and he was thrilled! The set even had a whistle, crow bar, and fire extinguisher. He's never had those so he was excited to play fireman! Caleb took this picture of wood while we were sitting outside. He thought the stacked up wood was so neat!


My husband and I didn't sleep much that night. It was too hot, then the fan went off, then his CPAP wasn't working. I heard Caleb at 6:30 so I went to his bed and he told me he was "shivering cold." A few minutes later he whispered, "Mom, the sun's up." I went and showed him it wasn't the sun, it was actually a light shining outside. I told him he could come lay by me and rest some more. He didn't go back to sleep though! It was raining outside too! We had breakfast and headed to the fair ground. We arrived before 9:30.

We loaded up the stroller and headed to the gate. On our way we stopped at McDonald's and I found two trays sitting on an empty table. I asked the people at the next table if they belonged to them; they did not so I took both of the tray liners for the coupons. I was glad I didn't have to buy anything to get the coupons! So we got in for $22 again this year with the coupons.

We were disappointed not to get to see Caleb in the Pee Wee Stampede this year that he loved so much last year. The arena was nice and muddy! He didn't know why he couldn't just have it in the mud! He did get to be in the Backyard Circus though. We were walking by and realized it was going to start in about 10 minutes. Caleb surprised me by marching up to the front on his own and sitting with the other group of kids on the green carpet. I went up and told him the man might ask for volunteers. If he wanted to help he could but he didn't have to. So he raised his hand right then and a girl beside him told him not yet! The Backyard Circus is a little show for the kids to use their imaginations. They put an orange shirt on him that said TIGERS. He was looking at me like I don't want to do this so I went up and told him what was going to happen while the girl did the tight rope act. When it was his turn, he was ready to go. He was the last one of the group to jump through the "ring of fire."

We went to see a cow milking demonstration, toured the barnyard petting zoo, watched a dog show (Caleb made me laugh there as he was clapping and cheering with such enthusiasm!), checked out the vendors, and listened to the amazing US Marine Drum and Bugle Corps. We all loved this show! We got there right as they were starting and found three empty chairs on the front row. It was very moving to hear them play. They played "Battle Hymn of the Republic" as a tribute to veterans and those currently serving our country. During one song the drummers came up to the front. I noticed the one on the end staring directly at me. At the end he reached in and gave Caleb five and shook his hand. Caleb was so excited!

We enjoyed some "fair food" too. Caleb and I shared my chicken sandwich and his corn dog. We had a funnel cake in the afternoon. In the Food & Fiber Pavilion they were handing out ice cream cones. The past couple of years they passed out yummy little rolls. We couldn't figure out why everyone in the place had ice cream until we got up to that booth, expecting rolls and getting ice cream instead! We also had roasted corn as we were leaving the park. I had been wanting one so we finished up our tickets on that.

We rode the Ferris wheel together also. I asked Caleb as we were walking if he was sure he wanted to do it. I told him it was really tall and much taller than the other Ferris wheel he'd ridden. He loved it and was excited the whole time!

We all slept that night, and after doing some shopping and having lunch, we came home Tuesday afternoon. It was a fun trip, and I look forward to going each year! I'm glad we have this tradition. I've put together a slideshow. I hope it comes out okay. I've never used Picture Trail. Let me know if you have trouble viewing the pictures.

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"I have set the Lord always before me. Because he is at my right hand, I will not be shaken." Psalm 16:8

Hurricane Ike

Have you seen these pictures of the damage left by Hurricane Ike? I received this link in an email today. The pictures gave me chills to view all the destruction. Picture #2 is amazing. It was taken 220 miles above earth aboard the International Space Station.

Click here to see the pictures. And remember to pray for all these lives that have been turned upside down as they still lack normalcy in their lives.

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"Do you not know?
Have you not heard?
The LORD is the everlasting God,
the Creator of the ends of the earth.
He will not grow tired or weary,
and his understanding no one can fathom." Isaiah 40:28

Pictures!

We had Caleb's pictures made, and they came back last week. I was surprised to get the call that they had already arrived because I was not expecting them until this week. We have them made each year after his birthday. They turned out cute I'd say. I ended up with three different poses....one with him sitting with his hand on his knee, one standing with his hands on his hips, and another of him leaning over. The leaning one is a close up of his face, and he was laughing so I liked it. I have been cutting them apart and writing his name and age on the backs of them while we're at Mom's. Now I need to make my list and figure out who will get which pose and which size. My Mom was so good about this when I was growing up. She was consistent in giving the same sizes each time we had pictures made it seems....the grandparents always got the 5 x 7s, we kept the 8 x 10, etc. I intended to do this too ,but I haven't with the packages they print now. We'll have enough to give everyone but don't buy extras just so everyone can have whatever size they had last time. Oh well! I hope no one cares what size of picture they receive of our boy!

We'll be going soon (at the beginning of November probably) to have our family picture made for Christmas cards. I did see some Christmas cards on the rack today at Dollar General. That surprised me!
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"Memory is a child walking along a seashore. You never can tell what small pebble it will pick up and store away among its treasured things." ~Pierce Harris, Atlanta Journal