Psalm 127:3-5

Our Sorrow

Mixed in with our week of joy and celebration (the birth of our Savior and the birth of our oldest child Kate-4) we have experienced great sorrow. We've suffered the miscarriage of our 4th child.

We recently found out that we were expecting and were filled with such joy. We had begun discussing baby names and room arrangements to make way for our new child. We already loved our new child. I went to the doctor twice this week, once on Kate's Birthday and once on Christmas Eve and that's when it was confirmed that we had miscarried.

I'm just so sad. I wanted my baby....I wanted to hold my baby.

The Lord has been ever so gracious to me. Rick was home all week which has been a tremendous blessing. We've had dear friends watch the children so Rick and I could be alone for a little while. We've had family and friends bring meals. All of these acts of love have shown God's care and comfort. I know God's word is true as I feel His comfort and peace. And I know that while I am weak, He is strong.

Christmas Gift Ideas

Here are some Christmas gift ideas. If you are on my list...don't peek :)

First up, the Hug Me Pillow! Here's my favorite review but you can read them all on the website:

"I bought this pillow to keep my company on nights when my husband, a correspondent for the Trans-Alaskan News Network, was out of town. The pillow exceeded even my wildest expectations. I'm told the pillow was modeled after Brad Pitt, and I believe it! When I first nestled against the soft, but firm chest of my new "husband" I slept better than I ever had before. Now I don't mind when my husband goes out of town!"

Next, the Snuggie blanket. Fun for all! (This one comes with a free book light!) :)

Cleanup Contest

My friend, Tricia, is having a cleanup contest (well actually, it'll be over in less than 3 hours.) Here's my before and after. This is our junk drawer in our kitchen. I know...it's horrific. Well...it WAS horrific! :) It was fun and took less than 10 mins. Most of the junk I threw away!

Compliments by Claire

(While we were driving in the car)

Claire: Mommy, you are a VERY good driver.

(While Rick was putting the Christmas tree on top of the car)

Claire: Mommy, Daddy is the strongest boy in the whole wide world!

Conversations with Kate

Kate: Mommy, is it going to snow on Christmas?

Me: I don't know...it normally doesn't snow on Christmas day but you know who is in charge of the snow

Kate: God!

Me: That's right. You can pray and ask Him if he'll make it snow and if it's in His plan, He'll make it snow!

Kate: Well, what if it's not in His plan?

Me: Then it won't snow

Kate: Well that's OK...if God won't do it...Jesus will

I've been tagged

I've been tagged by my friend Lorelle (and really by my friend Meredith too.) I was supposed to pick the 4th picture folder on my computer; choose and post the 4th picture; explain the picture; and tag 4 other people to participate. This picture was taken of Claire last year on the day before Henry was born. We were on our way to church. She had this smile for about 6 months and her eyes are closed in all of my pictures from this time. She's 19 months...

I tag:

Melanie Henningsen, Erin Stephenson, Katy McCay, Jessica Mure

A Letter to my Children

Kate, Claire and Henry,

I am writing you this letter today, November 20, 2008 because your great-grandfather went to be with the Lord this afternoon. You are all so young and I know you will have no memories of him but he loved you all and I wanted you to know. He came to visit each of you in the hospital when you were born. He held you all as babies and loved you. He would make you french fries and milkshakes when you came to see him. Henry, you never got to have those snacks but you would have loved them. Claire, a few times you choose to have English peas but most of the time, you had fries. :) You all came several times to visit Dadoo in the hospital in his last few weeks and you weren't bothered by the oxygen tubes or the hospital. I know he is with the Lord now and he is perfect and happy and I pray one day you will be in Heaven as well and will be able to meet him again.
Dadoo was a father, grandfather, great-grandfather, lived through the great-depression, fought in WWII, owned his own business, volunteered and was generous with him time and possessions.

His wife prayed for 27 years that the Lord would draw him to Himself and He did. Dadoo led his own father to the Lord. He was very interested and involved in his entire family and he loved us.

I know he would want you to know that he loved you.

I love you all too-

Sisters

Henry, what's it like having 2 sisters??

Hmm....let me see:

They talk so much I can't hear myself think:

They tell me funny jokes:

Sometimes they make me cry:

Most of the time I love them:

But sometimes....

Will Christians Learn the Lesson?

I read this blog post today, and it pretty much sums up everything I've been thinking over the past few months. I was duped as a young voter when Bush ran for President. That will happen no more.

Will Christians Learn the Lesson?


I also encourage the reading of the following information:

The Constitution Party

How does the constitution party differ from the libertarian party?

"Boo" at the zoo!

Our children call my mom, Boo and we all went to the zoo together today! Here are some pictures:

Boo!

Claire 2

Kate 3

Henry 11 months

Henry Scott 11-3-08 11 moths old

To my son at 11 months,

Henry, you are a great joy to our family. I can't picture us without you. My heart swells when I think of you. You are already talking a lot and can say "mama, dada, baba (bottle), bye-bye, hi, no-no-no" You even said "Da-da bye-bye" the other day! You are starting to cry now when I am not with you. This is a change from your easy-going, friendly personality. I don't mind though. You won't be like this forever. Your sisters are still head-over-heels for you. There is a sweet bond between brothers and sisters.

People say tomorrow is an historical election. (McCain vs. Obama) Was it? I personally have never heard people sound so fearful about the outcome. Remember in all of life that God is sovereign...we need not fear. Proverbs 21:1 says, "The king's heart is a stream of water in the hand of the Lord;he turns it wherever he will." People say we should fear what the country will be like when you are grown. No matter what it is like, trust in the LORD, fear Him and not man. Lead your family to do the same.

We are here if you need us.

I love you with all of my heart now and always-

Mommy

The "Lesser of 2 Evils" doesn't make it right

http://www.visionforumministries.org/issues/ballot_box/sanctity_of_life_voter_guide_1.aspx

http://www.baldwin08.com/

Breakdown in the free market system?

In this article, contains a quote from Alan Greenspan that says:

Greenspan, who stepped down in 2006, called the banking and housing chaos a
"once-in-a-century credit tsunami" that led to a breakdown in how the free
market system functions

I'll admit I may not fully understand the depth of this "financial crisis", but I am tired of people saying the free market failed. We do not have a free market. Our government's hands are all over the latest problems and the solution is to add more government interference. The free market has not been free to function in and of its own will in quite a long time in this country.

I am thankful to live in a country where we are free, but I am greatly saddened by what we are leaving for future generations. Previous generations left us welfare and social security among the many great programs that are now failing. We are generating more of the same to correct issues generated from past decisions.

We can argue why goverment programs fail, but what it boils down to is that government programs are quickly abused and they often if not always run into financial problems. Our government needs to be drastically shrunk rather than simply slowing its growth. I see no hope for this occurring anytime soon.

The one thing I am most thankful for is that God is the one who gives government's their authority. We have the luxury to debate the ignorance of decisions made in our government without fear of penalty, and by the grace of God we have the promise of eternal life that renders everything I've written above inconsequential in the long run.

2008 Presidential Election

If you are like me, the election next month is less than exciting. It is frustrating and useless. I keep receiving emails telling me that I MUST vote for John McCain so we do not turn into a socialist society, but I cannot help but wonder if there is really a large difference between the two candidates...

Ron Paul's campaign for the republican nomination forever changed my political views and now I can only laugh at politics in this country. We are a fickle people in this nation, and we seem to be stuck in one of those revolving doors they have a nice hotels. Every four years we have this huge debate as to whether we're going to walk slowly or walk fast, but we're always going in the same direction. I'm ready for a candidate that says he is willing to walk the other direction and reverse much of the nonsense we have accepted as normal (put into law) in our country.

There is an interesting article on LewRockwell.com about Joe the Plumber that provides a good example of what I'm talking about. The last Presidential debate discussed Joe's plight with the proposed tax system of Obama, but neither candidate was willing to step back and acknowledge that Joe has more fundamental issues that need to be resolved. Our country is much like someone trying to free themselves from an addiction, and they try several help groups, but never recognize their offense against God and they never repent to receive the benefits of Christ's death and resurrection.

Conversations with Henry...yes Henry

Every time I go into Henry's room, he points at me and says, "HEY"!!!

Then I change his diaper. The minute that cold wipe hits him, he says, "BURRRR!!!" (He needs to be the spokesman for a wipe warmer company.)

When we leave his room he waves and says, "Bye, Bye"

When he sees the TV remote, he points at it and says, "no no"

He also says: light, mama and dada

He's fun

In other news, I finally bought my OWN blush this past Saturday...I had no choice...I ran out of Kate's play one...

Baby Girl and Baby Boy

What's wrong with this picture?

Sunday morning I was getting ready for worship and was totally out of blush...I mean totally out. Without hesitation, I called Kate into the bathroom and asked if I could borrow hers (the one she uses when we play dress-up.) Well, she thought that was just great and ran off to get it. She said, "I'll let you keep it in here mommy in case you need it again."
So yes, I wore my 3 year old's play make-up to church and the sad thing is, I've been using it all week.

God's Faithfullness and the Holy Spirit

I've always shared the gospel with Kate when I discipline her....we need Christ. We are sinners and can do nothing good apart from Him. We could never earn our way to Heaven. We are hopeless without Him.
Last week after I talked to her, she said, "I NEED to ask Jesus to forgive me of my sins. I'm a sinner."
So we prayed together and rejoiced together. I know only time will tell if it was real but I pray that God has given her a new heart and that she will never remember a time when she didn't love and trust Jesus.

Today I was telling her about the Holy Spirit and that he lives inside of her. I said God has given him to you since you believe and trust in Jesus. I explained that He would teach her and help her to obey the Lord and show people His love.

She said, "He's living inside of me???? When's he gonna GET OUT!"

Explain This!

Rick is taking a marriage counseling course in seminary this semester. I guess I should have told my sister BEFORE she saw this book on our kitchen table!!

Conversations with Kate

Kate saw a black and white picture of Peggy and I today, and she looked at Peggy and said, "You need to paint those pictures."

Camp Hutchinson - Day 5 - Last Day

Today was the last day of Camp Hutchinson. We were supposed to have "Water Day" (thanks Carol) at my mom's house but my uncle Kelley (Carol's husband) had to have a heart procedure done at the hospital today so my mom went down there. Thankfully he is OK! So...water day was moved to our house! We played in our little pool, bought a slip-n-slide and threw water balloons. The girls LOVED throwing them at Henry (see video below.)
Camp was GREAT fun and we are going to do it again next year for sure!! I asked Kate what her favorite activity was and she said, "I liked Water Day! Oh and Oak Mountain. And the McWane Center and the zoo. AND Jump Zone! Well...I just liked everything!" That about sums it up...

We're Off! (Sort of) Slip-N-Slide

Water Balloons
Getting ready to throw WBs at HHFun in the pool
Slip-N-Slide Fun
HH loved the pool which is funny because he HATES the bathtub

Popsicles in the Pool

He was laughing hysterically until I got the camera out...Oh well

Camp Hutchinson - Day 4

Today Rick got to join us again! We all had a great time. I think today was my favorite day. We were going to go to Critter Creek Farm (thanks Brianna for the idea) but I saw on their website that they were closed this month because of the heat! We went to our state park instead. We went to the petting zoo, played in the lake, and flew a kite! It was SO much fun!!

This morning before camp. I think I've worn everyone out! We're Off!
At the petting zoo
Kate loved all the animals' ears
Walking with the donkeys
The animals were sad to see us go
Henry at the lake
Claire at the lake
The girls playing
Kate flying the kite

Claire flying the kite
Me flying the kite - look at that form!
At lunch
H at lunch