Golden Compass

Perhaps you've already heard a bit about the movie The Golden Compass due out in December. It stars Nicole Kidman, and is being billed as a children's fantasy film. It's based on the first book of a series written by Philip Pullman, an outspoken atheist who wrote the books as an alternative to The Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis. While much of the anti-religion sentiment has been removed from the film, many have expressed concern that fans will read the books and be influenced by its dark messages. Read more for yourself here and here.

Whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. Philippians 4:8

Vacation?!

So my hubby had today off of work. We had originally planned to have a little family excursion somewhere. But it was not to be. A couple weeks ago he announced that the clutch in his car was in baaaad shape. We got the parts, but he was unable to find a block of time in which to actually install it. The latest plan was to do it this past Saturday - but it was pouring rain. Not a good time to lay under a car. So it was pushed back to today. The bad thing about that is that the only help he had was ME. As he's trying to maneuver the transmision back into position, the only advice I could offer (while peering down into the void next to the engine) was that "the flared part is getting hung up on that bracket that's sticking out." Not exactly helpful instructions when he's trying to finagle 120+ pounds back into place. But he managed to get it done in spite of me... Hooray for handy husbands! Anyway, thought I'd share our latest "vacation" photo :)

In other news, we had our big MOPS fundraiser over the weekend, too: Antiquities. We had nearly 140 sittings, so hopefully our group is now set for the next two years. Whooopeee!

And finally, a bonus funny for today. Our son has been exceptionally tired the past couple weeks, so has had a few night-time accidents. Well, I was stripping all the beds today, and decided it was time to wash our mattress pad, too. As I was bringing it all downstairs, he was sitting on the floor playing cars and noticed what I was doing. His question to me: "Who had the accident - you or Daddy?"

Friday Funny

Sometimes you've just got to ask for help!

Catching Up

So what have we been up to this past few days? Well, there was our church's Fall Fest, complete with over 200 pounds of pork roasted on an open fire, crying children (let's just say our daredevil son went down a rather large hill. backwards. on a big wheel), kids' activities and a bonfire. There were also family pictures (always a joy when there are young children involved). And yesterday was just too nice to spend indoors, so we went off to the beach (the first time on a "sandy" beach for my folks). Oh, and one last story with Grandma, too.

Friday Funny

Today's humor is courtesy of the pianist from our church worship team. This is the actual email (names removed) that he sent out last week announcing that their new baby had arrived:

Hey Everyone! Well, she decided not to wait til the 22nd. She walked the halls of the hospital, doing little bobs and bounces and bearing the pain to get the baby to come out. After about 9 hours of extreme heavenly bliss....at least I THOUGHT it was heavenly. She seemed like she was praying...or yelling, not sure. I WAS going to say things like,"Oh suck it up...it's not that bad!" Or "hey...I'm ready to have another...how bout you?" oh and the best comment..."Just do your deep breathing exercises and it will go away." Also, she did the entire thing totally drug free. It just happened that way. My personal policy is: The wife may or may not be given drugs--depends on the mother. The father, however, can have anything he wants. I asked for vicodin...they said no. I just didn't say a thing! Baby came at 4:12 AM and...oh yes...4:12 AM for those who were all snuggly wuggly in their beds!

What's up?

I know I haven't been posting quite as frequently as usual these past couple weeks. I've already mentioned that we're pretty busy. My parents arrived last week; they've been staying with my brother the past few days, and will be "moving in" here later this afternoon. I still need to get some more cleaning taken care of before then. The kids are really excited to spend more time with Grandpa and Grandma.

We had our second MOPS meeting yesterday, and our pastor spoke on loving our husbands. Well, actually he spoke on how our husbands need our respect. Always a good reminder! Another very good meeting, and thankfully our childcare situation was much better, too. Thank you, Lord!

I finished up my first round of samples for the stamping design team I'm on and got those mailed off on Monday, and now I just have to decide which sets I want to work with for the next quarter.

We're pulling things together for our church's Fall Fest this Saturday. I'll be dragging my Mom out tomorrow for a shopping trip. And I have nearly 200 pounds of meat to pick up on Friday! We're expecting a good turnout, as this is the first time in "OUR" building, so we've invited neighbors, families from the day care programs and MOPS, and pretty much anyone else from the community that happened to make eye contact :) Seriously, though, we're very excited about this. The temps are feeling more fall-like, but it's still a bit warmer than average - perfect for an evening out with the family. Crafts and games for the kids, songs around the fire, yummy food and fellowship.

Oh, and did you notice the new profile pic? Yes, not only have I cut my hair but I've colored it as well. Problem is that the color didn't take evenly (I think my hair is just too coarse for "natural" products. Bring on the ammonia, baby!) Need to find time to take care of that as I'm planning to have my Dad snap some family pictures for us. Here's hoping that our kids can make it through the next few days free from major facial abrasions!!

Friday Bonus Humor

These kids continue to crack me up! Our son had a "bleed" under his nose (mild allergies lead to lots of nose wiping!) and he decided he needed a bandage. While I was distracted (changing sister's diaper), he climbed up into the cabinet and got one for himself. Yes, I was ticked off, but I had a very hard time containing the snorts of laughter that were welling up when I saw the results of his doctoring.

Of course now he doesn't want to take it off - and I really need to run out for some groceries. But there's no way I'm taking him out with this ludicrous strip plastered across his face and his sister's smattering of purple blotches (which thankfully are healing pretty quickly).