About half way through starts the pictures from today. Ashton had a costume parade at her school. Lexi had "On the Farm" day. And we also carved our pumpkin (in swimsuits and shorts...only in Florida!) Tonight we went Trick or Treating. Here are some Fall Fotos of the girls!
Daddy was Indiana Jones. And my costume...I went as Mother of Cowgirls and Wife of Indian Jones!
So if you live locally, PLEASE come! Our church is hosting its 2nd annual Treasure Quest Fest. It's going to ROCK! Hayrides with hot cocoa and our crazy youth worship leader playing kidz songs on the guitar on the hayride, lots of games and crafts for the kids to enjoy, lots of candy and prizes. I just went and picked up FOUR Toys R Us gift cards which will be door prizes! And Cary is going to perform an episode of Kidzchurch, which will kind of showcase what we do on Sunday mornings for visitors to see. It also goes along with the Treasure Quest theme. Everything is FREE! Even the yummy food...hot dogs, hamburgers, pulled pork BBQ sandwhiches, popcorn, cotton candy! It's gonna rock! The weather is AWESOME...sunny, clear, breezy, lows in the 40's tonight, a perfect night for an event like this. If you don't live locally, please pray for this even to be a total success from beginning to end. We only have a small handful of opportunities throughout the year to really reach out to our community in such a big way like this. For some folks, this is a chance to maybe find a church home. But for others, it's a chance for them to just see, "Hey, this place is not so bad after all." And maybe they'll come back and maybe they won't. And for some who already have a church home, this is just a fun family night to be blessed by a church that has been so richly blessed by the God we serve. So just pray that all goes well and if you're in my neck of the woods, the fun starts at 6!
I've been craving homemade lasagna for WEEKS but I really hate to cook. I figured out why I don't like to cook. It involves sweating and standing. Two of my least favorite things. But yesterday I finally made that special trip to the store just to buy homemade lasagna ingredients. I think a trip to the Olive Garden would have been cheaper. But not nearly as yummy! And last night, I made the mother of all lasagnas! It was NINE heavenly layers! Yes, NINE! It was absolutely divine. So good in fact that I had to have it for breakfast because the thought of waiting till dinner to eat leftovers was just not gonna do it. And guess what Lexi and I just had for an afternoon snack....lasagna! Once again, the thought of waiting till dinner to eat leftovers was just not gonna do it. I'll be glad when the pan is gone so I can stop eating. This is why I don't make homemade lasagna very often. Can anyone say "weight watchers"? On a side note, Lexi ate all of her broccoli but left some lasagna on her plate. Not sure which planet she's from.
And another love of mine...Target. Oh Target! Red dot bliss! I love that place. Walmart who? Today after Ashton's 6 month neurologist appt, since I was in Orlando, I decided why waste all that gasoline on just a trip to the doctor, let's make the most of it and do Target while we're here! Okay, back up, it's like a high of 63 here today???!!!! A windy, sunny, beautiful high of 63! BUT I'M FREEZING! And my Floridaized body owns nothing but flip flops and shorts and t-shirst. So we were in desperate need of some closed toe shoes, although I hate closed toe shoes. My feet feel all claustrophobic and whatnot. My toes are gasping in there, "Must have fresh air!!!! Top of shoe messing up beautifully pedicured toenails!!! LET ME OUT!!!!!" But anyways, I got stride rite caliber shoes, little mary jane's for Ashton in both brown and navy blue for...are you sitting down...$6.98! I ended up buying 5 pairs of children shoes and what deals I got! Of course I didn't buy myself any closed toe shoes because once again I hate closed toe shoes and this is Florida where you can wear flip flops every day of the year and no one will look at you strangely like you're breaking a cardinal rule of fashion. (This DOES happen in Dallas. I promise!)
Well, we're off to gymnastics in our new Target gymnastics outfit that I got for $9.98! And then back home for another plate of lasagna for dinner!
It's a good thing she's so cute!
As I was reading a friend's blog today about the Christian origins of Halloween, it caused me to think about my own feelings for the day. Though it may have had Christian origins, Satan has certainly distorted this day into a day that glorifies evil. The images are all around us. If I see another commercial during prime time television for Universal's Night of Horror, I'm going to lose my mind! But in our home, we have refused to allow Satan to steal the joy away from our children over something they don't even understand. And if I didn't let them participate, I may be just fueling the fire to rebellion later. To them, it's all about wearing a cool costume and getting candy. That's innocent enough. However we don't live under a rock, so I know they will be exposed to the evil images and the witches, ghosts, goblins, spiders, and the other eerie creepy visual reminders of how Satan has yet again taken away the glory from God on this holiday.
Because we can't escape the season, why not embrace it in your own way? You CAN focus on the God who has given you much to be thankful for during this season of thanksgiving and harvest. You may have seen this pumpkin carving illustration before, but I think my children are finally old enough to incorporate this tradition into our halloween plans, a little modified of course.
Being a Christian is just like a pumpkin! Let me try to explain, I brought this pumpkin here to help me illustrate what I mean. (Proceed to carve the pumpkin.)
First, God picks you from the pumpkin patch and brings you in from the field. The Bible says He selects us out of the world. We are in the world, but no longer of the world.
He then washes all the "dirt" off the outside that we received from being around all the other pumpkins. All the outside influences of our former life must be cleaned up. Old things are passed away and all things are become new.
Then, He carefully removes all the "yucky stuff" called "sin" out from the inside. Look at this! Yuk! Sin will not have such internal power.
He then changes us from the inside out by the Power of His Word. That's why it is important to go the church and learn about God's Word.He carefully removes all those seeds of doubt, hate, greed, and fear. He replaces them with the seeds of faith, hope and love.
After Jesus is invited inside, you begin to experience the changing power of God's love in your life.Then He carves a new smiling face. Our countenance is changed by the power of His presence in our life. We then become so grateful. It can even show on our face!
Now we are going to light this candle inside. Look! This pumpkin now reflects the light from inside out. So too, when Jesus, who is called the Son of Light, lives inside of us, He shines through our life for all to see. We can let His light reflect through us to reveal His presence. "Let your light so shine before men that they may be able to see your good works and glorify your Father, who is in heaven."
So you see, we Christians are really like this pumpkin! We will never be the same with Jesus inside of us. We can say like this jack-o-lantern, "Thy presence, my light!"
You can also use this prayer in conjunction with it. You can also have them draw pictures of their pumpkin and share the gospel with their friends. We love to do this each year after the pumpkins have outlived their outdoor decorating potential.
The Pumpkin Prayer
{cut off top of pumpkin}Lord, open my mind so I can learn new things about you.
{remove innards}Remove the things in my life that don’t please you.Forgive the wrong things I do and help me to forgive others.
{cut open eyes}Open my eyes to see the beauty you’ve made in the world around me.
{cut out nose}I’m sorry for the times I’ve turned my nose at the good food you provide.
{cut out mouth}Let everything I say please You.
{light the candle}Lord, help me show your light to others through the things I do.
Amen
By: Liz Curtis Higgs
TOMORROW! That would be my mom...a.k.a. the Queen Mum, Irm the worm, Santa Claus....but most importantly....Granny! The girls are on fall break tomorrow and Friday so Granny is coming to spend the long weekend with them. And to cut their hair! My mom is a great hair cutter. She's never been to beauty school. She's not a professional hair cutter. In fact, I think her job title is something like Software Engineer Consultant or something of that nature. But she can cut a mean head of hair! So we've decided that Granny must see the girls once a month, if for no other reason than to cut their hair. It's a good excuse, don't you think? The girls are so excited. We're going to Ashton's fall festival at her school on Friday night. We're going to take the girls trick or treating at Seaworld some time this weekend. Granny has a season pass too! We might even see if we can talk Granny into the Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party at the Magic Kingdom while Cary and I go on a date night to Blizzard Beach. Heeeheeee.
Off the subject, Lexi got a 100 on her first spelling test last week and she has another one today. Although, her teacher is far more gracious than I would be. She spelled the words correctly, but she wrote them in the wrong order. I don't get it. How does that happen? The teacher calls out the word, they write it down. How did she do that? Who knows. All that matters is that she got ice cream on Friday! Since this was a short week of studying, I hope she can do as well today.
This morning when Daddy was getting the girls in the car, Lexi said, "I eat breakfast at school EVERY morning. (this is news to me) It's my favorite...cereal and bananas and milk!" She said that her friends invited her so she started going. Uh....hello....HOW is this possible? She gets there like RIGHT on time, how does she have time to eat? And why am I just now hearing about it? So she's eating TWO breakfasts every day! Okay, this kind of explains why we've noticed she's been kind of beefin' up a little since school started. I've been making sure to pack really healthy lunches and snacks and Daddy has been taking them on bikerides and jogging and to the park to play soccer because we thought maybe being in school all day has made her more sedentary and she just needs more activitiy because God help her, she has my genes. Poor thing. Now please don't think I'm just being shallow for noticing when my child packs on a few pounds. There are things I am shallow about, but this is not one of them. It's just that I've had a weight issue my ENTIRE life so I'm very sensitive to the fact that I don't ever want my children to endure what I went through as an overweight child. I just want them to be healthy and fit!
Okay, so I'd better quit wasting time and get busy cleaning this house, which is what I was supposed to start doing an hour ago and it's still not happening. When will they invent a self cleaning house? I wish I had a magic wand.
I kind of sort of maybe just a little teeny tiny itty bitty bit perhaps maybe might be thinking that I want another baby. It all started about a month ago. Up till then, it was NO WAY, NO HOW, NO CHANCE, AIN'T GONNA HAPPEN! And then I don't know what happened, but all the sudden my heart began to change and there would just be these little longings here and there. It took me about 3 weeks to get up the guts to tell my husband. And he responded exactly like I knew he would...."WHAT are YOU smokin?" I guess I should explain that we always wanted three kids but somewhere during the midnight hours of sleeplessness and poop and wet sheets that needed to be changed at 3 a.m. and the thought that our bank account could nearly double if I went back to work full time we finally settled on the fact that maybe just 2 lil darlins wasn't such a bad plan after all. And that was that. It was settled. No more kids! In less than 2 years, I could go back to work and all would be well in the universe. But I can't help these feelings that have overcome me lately. And I will be 35 soon. "I ain't no spring chicken," as my grandmother would say. But my husband is still in denial that I ever even mentioned the hint of a possibility of another. Which means, God would have to do a heavy duty overhaulin of a work on his heart if this is meant to be. We do serve a God who is in the miracle business thankfully. And I am on the pill. I call it my happy pill. For a reason. If I stop taking it....um....I won't be happy if you catch my drift. It keeps me hormonally sane. Whew...those 4 days of placebo pills at the end of the month are just about enough to put me over the edge. And then when I think about the finances and how we are SO stinkin close to financial bliss, it just makes my head spin to think of starting over with a newborn and FIVE MORE YEARS of being at home! I do work part time. But my teaching salary in Texas was more than three times what I currently make.
However, I once heard a very wise woman whom I adore (Lisa Welchel) say, "When making a difficult decision, take finances and fear out of the equation." Because we do serve a mighty God who makes things happen in His way and if this is His will, He will continue to provide for us faithfully. And I guess this also means I should go back on Weight Watchers so I can LOSE weight BEFORE I gain it! Makes perfect sense doesn't it? Well, I mean, just in case. You know.
