Pictures-Hallelujah Night

So instead of trick or treatin' we went to visit Paw-Paw Doc at the nursing home and still came home with a HUGE bag full of candy and went to the Hallelujah party at our church. We had tons of fun I must say so.......

This is Meghan......one of the chicks at our church that Gabe has a crush on ;) We love her!!!

Playing games......the country guys do it best!

The Pratts demonstrate how it's done correctly ;)

And Mrs. Pratt welcomes us in to church...the Theme was: Workers for Jesus

So Ellie went as a cowgirl and spent the first part hiding behind Daddy's leg....actin' all shy....cuz this cute lil fireman was sittin' on the same bench.....

And let's just say a WHOLE NEW Ellie is emerging ;) She officially turned the flirting up another notch tonite much to our dismay (but it was cute too)

And the longer the night went.....the closer she scooted on that bench.....

Until the fireman began to lean in towards her!!!! Yikes ;)

So buddies Gabe and Brandon both went as Fire Chiefs....we decided one for each neighboring town so there was nothing to fight over ;)

And by this point....the kids were tired of getting their pictures taken, can't you tell???

But at least I got some good ones before the party!

Being onery......life wouldn't be normal without that word in it here at our house!

Waiting....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u3b2jw1rjBc

I'm waiting I'm waiting on You, Lord
And I am hopeful I'm waiting on You, Lord
Though it is painful But patiently, I will wait
I will move ahead, bold and confident
Taking every step in obedience
While I'm waiting I will serve You
While I'm waiting I will worship
While I'm waiting I will not faint
I'll be running the race
Even while I wait I'm waiting
I'm waiting on You, Lord
And I am peaceful I'm waiting on You,
Lord Though it's not easy
But faithfully, I will wait
Yes, I will wait I will serve You
while I'm waiting I will worship
while I'm waiting I will serve You while I'm waiting
I will worship while I'm waiting
I will serve You while I'm waiting
I will worship while I'm waiting on You, Lord

John Waller (Psalm 37:7, Psalm 40:1)
© 2007 Travelin' Zoo Music (ASCAP) (admin. by EMI CMG Publishing)


Song Description:
"The explanation for this song is simple, I was waiting on God and I was hurting when I wrote the lyrics. I probably wouldn't have written a song if my friend, Mike, hadn't encouraged me to document what I was going through during that time. I'm sure there are few people who can't relate to this song, but the important thing to remember while we're waiting on God is to not just wait but to actively wait. Serve, worship and be faithful with what you have, where you are... "even while (you) wait." - John Waller (2007) "This wasn't one of those songs that the revelation preceded where I was, because I had been truly already waiting 15 years at the time when I wrote the song. I wanted to pose the question, 'What do you do when you are waiting on God?' The answer is you continue to be faithful where you are. You continue to serve and worship while you are waiting. I never dreamed "While I'm Waiting" might end up in a movie. I didn't even find out it was being considered for FIREPROOF until it was already done. Everyone who hears it finds it to be a 'me too' kind of song." - John Waller (2009)

WHAT DO YOU DO WHILE YOU'RE WAITING??

5 Surprising Spots for Germs

My mom thought it important to share this article with me.....so now I shall share it with you ;)
Found at: http://www.qualityhealth.com/


Refillable liquid soap dispensers. These range from basic plastic to ultra-fancy models that match other bathroom accessories. And they're much classier than a grimy bar of soap. Unfortunately they're also a magnet for fecal bacteria. "[The bacteria] love to grow in the soap," says Dr. Charles P. Gerba, a microbiologist and professor at the University of Arizona. "In one study of soap dispensers, 25 percent had fecal bacteria growing in them, and one-quarter of the samples had E. coli growing in them." Your best defense? Use only nonrefillable containers if you like liquid soap.


TV remotes. This makes sense—everyone in the household touches them, possibly multiple times a day. According to Dr. Gerba, one study showed that in homes with children suffering from the flu, 60 percent of the remotes harbored the influenza virus. Clean and disinfect remotes regularly.


Cutting boards. Get ready for this one: The average kitchen cutting board has 200 times more fecal bacteria on it than the average toilet seat. Surprised? The main culprit here is meat, which is often contaminated with fecal bacteria from animals (and unhygienic people who handle it). Home cooks often cut meat on cutting boards and then fail to do anything more than wipe them down. They need to be disinfected regularly, ideally once a week. Try diluting one tablespoon of bleach with a quart of water, soaking the board for five minutes and rinsing it. Or mix one part vinegar with five parts water, and do the same.


Sponges and dishcloths. Wipe down your kitchen table with a previously used sponge or cloth and you could be spreading germs around. Try throwing sponges in the dishwasher and/or microwaving them. Cloths can be laundered in a bleach solution. It's probably best to simply replace your sponges and dishcloths regularly.


Your purse. Yes, that purse you carry around from store to store is a surprising magnet for nasty little germs such as fecal bacteria. The worst offenders are women who place their purses on the floors of public restrooms—up to one-third of bags become contaminated this way. But even if you don't drop your bag, it still picks up bacteria wherever it's placed. Clean it with an antibacterial spray or disposable wipes, or wash it down with a soapy washcloth.

ANOTHER POOP STORY

OVERHEARD IN OUR BATHROOM TONITE:

(AS GABE WAS TO BE IN BED.......HE INSISTS EVERY NIGHT ON POOPING WHEN HE SHOULD BE SLEEPING. )

Me Standing at Sink with Towel on my head:
"Gabe, hurry up and go poop so you can go back to bed."

Gabe sitting on throne chatting away to frogs on shower curtain:
"I want you to take the towel off yer head, Mommy."

Me: "How about you go poop then I'll take the towel off my head?"

Gabe now grunting with much expression then farting/pooping noises:
"Ha! I beat you Mommy! I pooped!"

Gabe looks quickly into potty:
"Oh Mommy, there's my lunch! There it goes!"


Now how is it that that boy can catch onto the way the digestive system works so
quickly (after me only explaining that ONE TIME to him) and retains that info
but he can't seem to figure out that if he would listen better and obey, he
wouldn't get so many time outs and spankings?!?!?!?!?!?!?
WHEN.I.TELL.HIM.MILLIONS.OF.TIMES.DURING.THE.DAY???

REASONS FOR "STUCKAGE"

*From the desktop of Pastor Steven Furtick:


Recently I completed a personal evaluation exercise in my journal. I wanted to uncover the 3 main factors that keep me from moving forward and embracing new paradigms in my life and leadership. In other words: why do I stay stuck?


From my journal to your computer screen, here’s my short list. Hope it helps tow your truck out of the mud.


1. Complacency-Change is hard. Positive change is just as hard as negative change. Sometimes it’s easier to stay stuck than to move forward. Often it’s more comfortable to stick with something that’s tolerable and familiar than to embrace something that’s preferable and unknown.


2. Regret-I really don’t know how to explain this, except to say that my regrets often overpower my ambitions, causing me to remain in a state of paralysis.


3. Distraction-It’s hard to tell how many major adjustments I’ve avoided making because I was busy tending to insignificant side items. It’s tempting to divert attention from the big thing that God wants me to change by slam dunking something that ultimately doesn’t matter at all.
I don’t want to stay stuck. I don’t want the storyline of my faith to be eclipsed by a shift I was unwilling to make.


If you’re feeling stuck, as I so often do, here’s a prayer to pray…if you dare:
God, help me move forward at the speed of your direction and intention,no matter how painful the transition may be.

http://www.stevenfurtick.com/uncategorized/3-reasons-i-stay-stuck/

15 Years Ago Today....

15 Years ago today......I gave my life to Jesus and committed to walking with Him the rest
of my life.

It was the best decision I ever made. Has it been easy? Nope.......But hard is good.
Because hard means you dig in even when you want to give up. And you find, that
everywhere you turn, everywhere you look, feel, see, hear......God is always there.

God is a Father that never leaves you......and I'm so very blessed to be where I am today.
I can't imagine life without walking beside Him. Because for every hard step......there's been ten
zillion more easy steps and hundreds more steps that He simply carried me.


ISAIAH 46:3,4 (msg) "I've been carrying you on my back from the day you were born, and I'll keep on carrying you when you're old."

I don't usually read the Message Bible, but found this verse tonite and really liked it.
God is such a good, good God.........

Praise Report

Last year in November/December....Gabe looked like this: You could count all his bones, he had no fat and he had a bloated little tummy. In November, he threw up for a solid month...at night time only. Then he began to have smelly gas and awful diarrhea. Then he started becoming lethargic and laying around the house. Then one day he started saying his tummy hurt really bad and cried all day long. We decided after a month of this and months of our little boy becoming irritable and not happy anymore......something was not right.

So we spent a week at an amazing hospital with amazing doctors taking great care of Gabe.

After much testing, they figured out Gabe had more major allergies than we realized. We already knew he was very allergic to dairy products but now we found out he was allergic to wheat, soy, nuts, eggs, gluten....and many, many environmental. So we put him on a strict diet, put him on allergy meds every day, tore the carpet out of his bedroom, and did everything we could think of to make him a happy boy again.

Now almost a full year later, our happy boy is pictured above..

We did bloodwork on him again. And get this:

EVERY.SINGLE.THING he was allergic to came down in numbers. MEANING: He is growing out of and being healed by Jesus of all his allergies!!! Oh my goodness!!!!!! AND GET THIS:

1-He now shows NO ALLERGY to wheat, soy, nuts, and eggs!!!!!!

2- His dairy allergy which was very close to deathly came down 55 points!!!!!! Yahoooooo!!!

The tree disease/leaf mold allergy however only came down .10 points so we're gonna attempt to cut down some of the limbs of the tree right by his bedroom that has the disease and pray that makes a difference.

We are very very very thankful to God for this praise report!!!!!

Pictures--Kiddos

The thumb only comes out when monkey is near.......I do believe monkey is going to have to take a trip somewhere far away soonly!

This is what happens when someone sneaks the monkey out of bed...where he is to stay.

Playing with their friend Jack and Gabe attempting to tie his shoes.

Being fishes.....they are so creative!

Telling us she wants to wear big undies like Gabe.....so we have been sitting her on the toilet

but no luck yet......she is petrified!!!

Go proclaim.....

"The Spirit of the Lord is upon me because He has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind,to set at liberty those who are oppressed,
to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor."
--Jesus, Luke 4:18-19

The Heart

"God breaks the heart again and again and again until it stays open." Hazrat Inayat Khan

Pictures-Party Continued

More party pictures from Jason's big night......here is either Jason Alan (like my Jason Alan) or Jordan.....my aunt & uncle's adorable twins that I can't keep apart. Our kids love them and love to hold them. Wish we saw them more often ;(

They were in the cutest monkey jammies ever!!

And here is a stuffed/mounted woodchuck.....the new trophy of our friend Alan: AKA: Woodchuck is his truck driver handle so when he hits this poor critter, he brings him home ;)

So, Woodchuck & Woodchuck came to the party too ;) Gabe wasn't too sure about him....

The two woodchucks posing ;)

Ellie is so my kinda girl.....not prissy at all ;)

My brother Isaac's buddy, Tevin (another "adopted boy" into our family) was home from basic and showed up at the party for awhile.....was so good to see him home again!

Was a super fun night!!!!

Pictures-The Surprise Party

Well, we pulled off the surprise...kinda..........It seems Jase found an email I left on the computer but wasn't sure on the date of the party.....so, we still surprised him ;)

And he had no words to say to the shed full of people.....

We had way too much food....but better too much than not enough......

The mischievous monkey brothers.....

Jason's family....

The 30 yr old hat.....

My hubby with the "partied out" look ;)

*Thanks to everyone who helped make his 30th unforgettable!!!! What a great night!!!

We are so blessed with so many family and friends!*