The holidays are upon us!

Can you believe it's December already?!? As always, there's a bunch of stuff happening at our house - and now it has a lovely holiday soundtrack :) Some random ramblings:

• Our son was running a fever starting Saturday night, which meant that I missed church for the second week in a row. That stinks! It wasn't any better yesterday, so he missed his first day of school. He woke up fine this morning, and rather wired (which I'm attributing to all that rest yesterday), so I was quite happy to send him off this morning :)
• I do love seeing homes decorated up with lights and such, but dislike those big inflatable thingees, particularly when people have multiples up. Blech. And on a side note, I also find it amusing when people have some huge Disney display in their yard, then a tiny little manger scene off in the corner. Not quite sure what message they're going for...
• Oh, how I adore Christmas music. Casting Crowns and Sara Groves both released albums, and they both get an enthusiastic "thumbs up" from me!
• Coffeemate Caramel Apple creamer is delish. It's out for a limited time, but someone told me that it can be frozen; I'm seriously thinking about stashing a bottle in the back of my freezer.
• Our tree isn't up yet (pout, pout). The situation will be remedied by the end of the weekend.
• We are done shopping for the kiddos. Hooray! I scored some fabulous deals on eBay back in October. I also found a special ornament for each of them - a little tradition we have that somehow reflects something about them from the past year, but I sometimes have a hard time finding something.
• My hubby is wonderful. A few months ago, he told me that he wanted to get me an iPod for Christmas. And as part of my gift, he would get my huge music collection into iTunes. Now we're talking nearly 1,000 CDs here (yes, I know I have issues). Anyway, the CDs are nearly done, and the iPod should be delivered this week. I'm now working on putting the CDs in storage envelopes and organized in special storage boxes. Anyone need a few hundred jewel cases?

And finally, a praise/prayer request for our family. As many of you know, there was a good possibility that we were going to be relocating as part of my husband's job. Well, it's now official: we'll be moving to south Texas in '09. Don't know the exact timeline, but it will be by July (so we have some time to settle in before school starts). We'll be in the Brownsville area, and hubby will actually be working in Mexico several days a week. It will be blessing for us in many ways, but I also know the next several months will be stressful. The company will take care of the packing and moving, but first we need to get our house ready to go on the market (gulp!) And then there's simply the fact that I've never dealt with a "real" move before (went from my parent's house to college, then got married and lived in an apt for 11 months before moving into this house). Organization is not something that comes easily for me (stop laughing, will ya?!) but will need to hone those skills in the months ahead. So anyway, bottom line is that I'm asking that you'll pray that we use our time and resources wisely (deciding what's worth fixing around here, being able to let go of things that simply aren't worth moving, etc.) Will keep y'all* posted!

*See, I'm already getting ready! :)

Full of Thankfulness

Art Project courtesy of our son D

Can't believe that tomorrow is Thanksgiving - our day is going to be relatively quiet, which I'm actually really looking forward to. We'll be getting together with some family on Saturday, and I know we'll have a ball.

In the meantime, though, I am trying to focus on having an attitude of gratitude... cuz seriously, we have soooooo much to be thankful for. A brief list:
- Our health. Something we take for granted, but such a huge thing. And we have access to doctors, pharmacies, etc. when needed.
- Food. In fact, we have this in abundance. How crazy is it that I'm actually paying an organization to help me lose weight?! Definitely not an issue in many parts of the world.
- A warm home. Bedrooms for everyone. Two bathrooms. Clean, running water anytime I want it. Appliances to help me carry out my duties. Wow.
- Our family. I have a wonderful husband who loves us all so much, and two children who constantly amaze and humble me.
- But most of all, our Savior. Where to even start? What an amazing thing to serve a loving, patient, merciful God.

Still here...

I know I haven't been posting much lately - not for lack of stuff to write about, but because my days have been rather full.

- Our son has early dismissal starting this past Thursday and running through Wednesday for teacher conferences. Already had ours, and I'm happy to report that he's doing well. Apparently he's not perfect, though (hee hee)
- I'm trying to be more intentional about calling/spending time with friends. This is particularly true for those from church - we often chat for just a couple minutes before or after service, but haven't had a real conversation for months.
- I went out to an informal crop on Friday night so had a few hours all to myself to play with paper. Bliss!
- We went to our township's holiday parade yesterday. It started off at our son's school, so we bundled up, made the five minute trek, then admired the marching bands, lost count of fire trucks, waved to Santa, and gathered candy off the ground (incidentally, about half of it was obvious Halloween leftovers, which totally cracked me up)
- We're all fighting off colds. I was feeling pretty decent until about 7 PM last night. I camped out on the sofa with a couple blankets and watched No Reservations (OK, but not as funny as I'd thought it would be). Still feeling pretty lousy this morning, so that's why I'm here typing rather than at church.
- Still doing WW - the pounds aren't exactly melting away, but I am noticing a difference in the way my clothes fit. Hallelujah!
- Still chipping away at all the "stuff" in the house. The sense of urgency has definitely increased as it now looks like we'll be putting our house on the market come spring. More on that later.
- On a more somber note, I had emailed a casual scrapper friend of mine and was wondering why she hadn't gotten back to me... I just learned that she had a stroke. Thankfully she seems to be recovering quickly, and has already been transferred from the hospital to a rehab facility. Still, it's definitely a reminder that we never know what the future may hold.

Finally, a verse that I refer to daily, but is taking on even more meaning now. These ten words pretty much cover it all:

Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer. Romans 12:12

I love that it starts off by reminding us to take joy in the everlasting hope we have in Christ Jesus - it has absolutely nothing to do with circumstances. It doesn't matter what the balance in the bank account is, or who's been voted into office, or how well our spouses are treating us, or anything else. I'm so thankful for My Rock, My Redeemer. And it doesn't matter what we're going through, either - we are to hold fast and endure. And lastly, we can always turn to our closest friend, pouring out our heart and knowing He's never too busy to listen. Wow.

Friday Funny

Our son got his school photos back this week. I opened the envelope, eager to see his cute li'l grin. This is what I found. Oh. My.

How's that for a memento?!? My only hope is that he's gotten that one dreadful school picture out of the way so soon - mine happened in fifth grade (frizzy home perm, zits on the chin, ill-fitting dress in a color that made me look jaundiced, and a smile that would frighten zombies), but I digress...

The Day After

First off, an update on the car: it has a new battery and everything is now shiny & happy once again. Hooray for handy hubbies! :)

And then we have the election results. Not quite so excited about that, but I'm still proud to be an American and will be praying faithfully for our leader. Sue shared some good thoughts over here.

And finally, words from a song I was listening to this morning (on this CD)

"You Are Still Holy"
(words and music by Rita Springer)

Holy, You are still holy
Even when darkness surrounds my life
Sovereign, You are still sovereign
Even when confusion has blinded my eyes

Lord, I don't deserve Your kind affection
When my unbelief has kept me from Your touch
I want my life to be a pure reflection
Of Your love

And so I come into Your chamber
And I dance at Your feet, Lord
You are my Saviour
And I'm at Your mercy
All that has been in my life
Up 'til now
It belongs to You
You are still holy

Holy, You are still holy
Even though I don't understand Your ways
Sovereign, You will be sovereign
Even when my circumstances don't change

Lord, I don't deserve your tender patience
When my unbelief has kept me from Your truth
I want my life to be a sweet devotion
To You

And so I come into Your chamber
And I dance at Your feet, Lord
You are my Saviour
And I'm at Your mercy
All that has been in my life
Up 'til now
It belongs to You
I belong to You...

So much for those plans...

Big day today - whatever the outcome, at least the political calls and mailings will end!

Anyway, I woke up feeling less than stellar... I've been fighting off a cold, and even though I went to bed early I still felt wiped out this morning. We had a full day planned: vote (as long as the line wasn't too long), MOPS, lunch with a friend, then home (or back to vote if I hadn't been able to do it in the morning). Our son was excited to join in the fun since he has no school today. I briefly debated staying home, but knew I'd regret it if I did.

The kids and I were in the car by 8:22. I put the key in the ignition - and NOTHING.

Stink.

I called my friend to reschedule lunch (pushed to next Tues, when the kids are off school again for Veteran's Day), then called another friend to let her know I wouldn't be at MOPS. We took care of a few things here at home, then walked over to the school shortly after 11:00 so I could vote. I'm delighted to report that there was very little wait (and there was a long line this morning, at least according to the ladies working the registration table). So I did my civic duty, and we celebrated by stopping at 7-11 for slurpees.

So while things didn't go quite like I had planned, it was still a pretty good morning. I now need to finish putting away dishes (my kitchen was seriously in a deplorable condition), sort through a bit of paperwork. I'm guessing that our evening plans will now include purchasing a new car battery; we'll see what hubby discovers when he comes home from work. And through it all, I'm continuing to pray for our nation. Thought I'd share a blurb from a great email I received yesterday. Here are 10 things we can count on, regardless of the results of today's election:

1. The Bible will still have all the answers.
2. Prayer will still work.
3. The Holy Spirit will still move.
4. God will still inhabit the praises of His people.
5. There will still be God-anointed preaching.
6. There will still be singing of praise to God.
7. God will still pour out blessings upon His people.
8. There will still be room at the Cross.
9. Jesus will still love you.
10. Jesus will still save the lost when they come to Him.

Amen.

Halloween Recap

Our family really doesn't do a whole lot for Halloween - I really dislike all the "spooky" and frankly rather evil aspects of the holiday, but we do let the kids dress up and trick-or-treat on our street. This year we even decided that they should have new names for the day... so I hereby present "Sir Strongheart" and "Lady Lillianna"

Hamming it up, while waiting for big brother's school parade to start

The knight was quite excited to take part in the festivities


I would love to say they'd gotten into tainted candy at this point, but I'm afraid that's just pure goofball coming out!