A little early for this...

Just a few minutes ago, I heard Noah sucking on something. I found him sucking on the soap dispenser from the bathroom. What a silly boy! I think it is a little early to being washing his mouth out with soap.

I distinctively remember getting my mouth washed out with soap one time when I was little, I know that I never said that word again!!

Hope you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving!!

Saturday Fun in the Leaves!

Bless the Lord

Psalm 103:1-5

Bless the Lord, O my soul and all that is within me, bless his holy name!

Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits,

who forgives all your iniquities and heals all your diseases,

who redeems your life from the pit, who crowns you with steadfast love and mercy,

who satisfies you with good so that your youth is renewed like the eagle's.

God forgives not some, but all my sins. He has redeemed me out of the pit of sin and crowned me with love and mercy, that is only found through Christ. What a lofty goal, not to forget all his benefits, here's just a few: salvation, steadfast love and mercy, being satisfied, a relationship with my Savior, no fear of death, amazing grace, etc.

It also says he heals all your diseases, now we now that this doesn't mean that we, as Christians, will not die from sickness or have a chronic illness all our lives. We must read this verse in light of other Scripture, we are called to suffer, and Deuteronomy 32:34 says, "See now that I, even I, am he, and there is no god beside me; I kill and I make alive; I wound and I heal; and there is none that can deliver out of my hand." God is speaking in this verse, so we know that he uses diseases and sickness to sanctify us.

Thank you, Lord, for forgiving all my sins on Calvary. Thank you for reminding me of my need for you and the gospel today and every day. O, to love you more than yesterday is such a sweet thought! Thank you for your grace and for opening my eyes to your truth in your word!

More to come on the rest of the verses!

Whinning and God's grace

How much whining and fussing can a mom take? How is it that it seems to last all day when my children are whining or crying about everything, but oh the sound of silence, except the dryer and washing machine running! Silence is golden if only for a few moments or an hour. In the midst of my children's whining, I am overcome sometimes by my own complaining nature. I hear Karis voice or scream her desire over and over, especially when I have already told her no. I realized today that I am like this so often: selfish with my time, complaining about my circumstances, ready for the next big thing instead of living in the moment just thankful for each day.
Through these long whining fits, God has really showed me my continual need to cling to Him and His grace to teach Karis how to respond to her circumstances without getting angry or whining. He has reminded me that she is sinful and cares only for herself, which is exactly who I was and would still be apart from my saving knowledge of Christ's sacrifice and my won sinfulness. I am teaching her what her sin is, and God is showing me my own sin.
Thank you Lord for the gospel and allowing me the daily opportunity to preach it to myself and my children. Oh what marvelous grace!

I CAN DO IT!

Noah at 8 months old tackles the slide in our backyard, he is just like the Little Engine that could!

Okay, here goes, I can do it!

I'm trudging along nicely!

Whoa! This is harder than I thought, I'll try again later.

Hope everyone has a wonderful weekend!

Chicken, I mean turkey!

Karis and I have started our fun fall crafts, here is the one we did today!

Karis wrote "Happy Thanksgiving" all by herself, it is a little too spaced out!

She colored a turkey at the Y this morning, and she kept calling it a chicken! Close enough I guess!

Late Birthday Visit with Parents!

I have noticed lately that I do look just like my mom, what a blessing, she looks so good to be 62 years old. I love sharing a very close birthday with my mom, which also makes it difficult not having her around for my birthday. Thankfully, my parent still got to come visit.

We had a wondeful late birthday visit with my parents. Because of hurricane Ike, my parents did not get to be here for my mom's and my birthday in September. Their trip was delayed over a month, but it was well worth it. They were here for a week. Here's a recap of all our fun!

They flew in on a Thursday around lunch time so we ate lunch at the mall in Raleigh and went jeans shopping for me, this is always a task for me. We then came home and enjoyed being together, playing with the kids and off course going to the grocery store.

Friday, Justin and my dad played golf, so Mom, the kids, and me went to the outlet mall. We had a successful trip and ate good food at Zaxby's and ice cream at Dairy Queen, both kids were very good.

Saturday, it rained so we just stayed close to home! Sunday was church and more fun together. Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday, we spent going to the park, going back to the outlet mall with my dad along this time, eating at Chili's for our late birthday dinner, and being together. I love just spending time with my parents and so do my children! Here are a few pictures of our fun week.

Clarification: There are not very many pictures of Karis, she is in the no pictures stage right now!

BubbleShare: Share photos - Find great Clip Art Images.

Tagged !?!

This is the second time I have been tagged, so I guess it is time to pay my dues! Sorry Lori, when you tagged me I think Noah was like a month old, now you can read my random thoughts.

So thank you Courtney for tagging me!

Below are the rules.

1. Link to the person that tagged you
2. Post the rules on your blog
3. Share six non-important things/habits/quirks about yourself
4. Tag six random people at the end of your post by linking to their blogs
5. Let each random person know they have been tagged by leaving a comment on their website.
6. Let your tagger know when your entry is UP.

Here are six random things about me:

1. I knew since seventh grade that I was going to marry someone in the ministry, be it a pastor, music minister, etc. Somehow, the Lord showed me early in life!

2. I have a terrible fear of roaches and spiders, especially since at one time or another, I have had both in my hair, not on the same occasion. One very early in the morning and one while my poor little girl watched me scream my head off!

3. In high school, Courtney (my friend who tagged me) and I had an Anne of Green Gables and Anne of Avonlea marathon in the spring and a Gone with the Wind marathon during the Christmas holidays every year. We would watch them in a single setting, eating popcorn and tuning out the rest of the world for that one Saturday. What fun times!

4. I love Blue Bell ice cream. They don't have it in North Carolina so I eat a lot of it when I am in Texas. Almost every Saturday night, unless I had a tournament, my dad would go down to the store and buy us each our own pint, I usually got Mint Chocolate Chip, Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough, or just plain vanilla. Those times with my dad were very special! We would eat our ice cream and watch a movie together.

5. I have never been snow skiing but hope to one day.

6. My favorite color has always been pink, even though I am not a girly girl! My bridesmaid can attest to this and so can my close friends. Too this day, my eye always gravitates to pink when clothes shopping, however, I have never wanted a pink car or house, which I have seen both!

Sorry my friends, but it is your turn to be tagged, I will probably be tagging some of you for the second or third time!

1. Mandy
2. Tiffany
3. Laura
4. Shelley
5. Michelle
6. Keri

You will have to excuse me, I am not very computer savy when it comes to linking to others blogs or sites. Hope you all enjoy my random thoughts. I have my husband to thank for showing me how to do the links, maybe this time I will remember!

I also pray that everyone has exercised their right to vote! Voting is important!