CanDy, LeAveS and WheAt BerRiEs

Geesh, what kind of parent lets their children play in the freeway traffic? Look at those cars zoomin' by!! YIKES!!
Ok, it's really a parking lot as I'm sure most of you already knew that but it looks a bit odd in this pic. :)

Here are my 3 beautiful daughters getting ready to pounce on a bunch of candy bowls at the Journey of Joy. Just what we need...an EXTRA night of gathering all the sweet cavity producing junk. Emma and Reagan had fun but Livie really got into it. It was loud in there so she was yelling "thank you" with all her might every time someone gave her candy.



Had to get some fall pictures. Yesterday after school the girls started raking and jumping in the leaves. It's nice to finally have some real leaves in our yard. The GI house had pathetic little trees. Today I spent time scrubbing grass stains out of knees. You might notice they all have slacks on not jeans. And Olivia has on her brand new shinny black church shoes. ha ha She loves them and I just couldn't make her change.


Christmas is not that far away, so those of you who have saved up your pennies over the last 10 mos, you now can to go spend that money on your loved ones. The rest of you...start saving for next year. You think the economy is bad now, try it with a bunch of unpaid credit cards. Be smart people! This holiday is about Jesus Christ coming to earth to save us all from eternal death, not "let's see who can buy the biggest, baddest toys and then spend all your time away from the family working just to pay for it." Love you all, just needed to get that out of my system.

So If I had wheat berries I might go grind them to make some fresh bread. Instead, I'm going to grind some of the yummiest coffee beans, set the coffee pot timer and head off to bed. One more random thought...is it kind of quiet where you are sitting? Where did my music go?

Thought of the day:
You know if you have a pride issue when you are NOT ok with someone else taking the credit. Not my words/idea, something I heard Beth Moore say this morning. She said it more eloquently and with bigger hair! :)

Not Older...Just Better

Isn't 36 the new 26? I don't feel like I'm closer to 40 than 30 but maybe that's because I'm not defined by a number, rather the way I live my life. blah blah blah

ANYWAY....




Thursday was my birthday...it's been a wonderful weekend. So many friends have sent cards, emails and posts, thanks for the bday wishes. I am all about birthday's being special. It doesn't have to be a big expensive celebration but certainly a special event. Thursday I had a great day with Olivia, we even went out for lunch with my girlfriend Susan. (Thanks for lunch!) That evening we did the cake thing with some neighbors. No pictures but there were LOTs of candles to blow out.
Friday I met Kimberly and Susan in a nearby town for lunch, shopping and visiting. Mostly we sat in the kiddie play area to watch our babies play so we could have some peace. It was wonderful! I got back into town just in time to pic up the girls from school. We dumped them at Nana and Papa's house and went to Ted's Nebraska Grill. OMGosh, it's fabulous!!! (aka Ted's Montana Grill) You've gotta go.
Today we watched the Huskers play :( with some friends and now I have a little time to myself. I was so blessed by my family this week, what a lucky girl!






















Somewhere in that birthday weekend I happened upon a scrapbook store that I didn't even know existed. Look at what I bought today with my birthday money. Precious Treasures carries everything...I am in love with the store. I found Teresa Collins, Jenni Bowlin and she even accepts competitors coupons. SWEET!!!

Alright friends, I'm going to curl up and read some more of my new Karen Kingsbury book. I need to know what happens with the Baxter's and Dayne Matthews. ha

Prayerfully consider your responsibility in the upcoming weeks. We have an important election coming up. It's hard to live without money or in this crazy economy however don't settle for things of this world. Do you really think one candidate over the other can fix your problems? They can't! Let me suggest that we take responsibility for our own actions...good or otherwise.

It's a New Look!

So what do you think? I like this new layout but it's a little busy. Guess the header needs to change. Oh there's only so much I can do in one day. haha

I'm so into the 21st century. I have a blog. I do facebook. BUT I don't text. It's so tiring trying to keep up with all this technology. Just smile and nod!

Leave me a comment so I know what you think. Just click on the little pencil down below this post, you don't even have to have a blogger account. Just leave your name at the end of the post if you will please.

hugs!

Awww, School Pictures

My little darlings are not so little anymore and honestly sometimes they aren't so darling but don't tell them that I said so. haha No, I love them dearly...as if I really needed to say that. When I was in elementary school we couldn't wait to get home to cut apart the little trading pictures and take them back to school the next day. My girls have never done that. How odd. Apparently this is just one more thing that has changed since I was a kid.

Is it just me or does anyone else here have a comment on how old Emma looks. Geesh, I'm scared! Middle school is just a few years around the corner. It's just not right.

All kinds of stuff going on in the lives of my friends. Right now life in this house is pretty quiet...I like that. Ok, it was big news that I lost my child in a zoo and that our furnace was so bad that it could have burned down our home but other than that...WE'RE GOOD! What a relief! :)

Is it obvious that I really have nothing to say tonight? Chris and I are watching a little football. He loves the Broncos and I love football so it works.

Here's a shout out to my Grand Island friends. I miss you guys.

Thought for the day:

everything costs more here...even getting my eyebrows waxed. YIKES!

Lost Child

We love going to the zoo. Infact, since May we have been there 5-6 times.

This past week while the girls were out of school my friend Julie and I decided it would be fun to try to earn the "Mother of the Year" award and took our 6 (collective) children to the zoo. See right there it sounds like a bit much, huh?

It was a fun afternoon until we lost these 2 beautiful children in the gorilla house. I don't know if I can recap the terror for you. One thing I am certain of is this...there was a host of angels surrounding, protecting and guiding our daughters to safety. When they couldn't find us they decided to walk more than half way across the zoo to customer service. This is what they told us, "We remembered that the front was close to the Desert Dome and then we saw the water ball and knew that was close too. We just went some more and got to the front." Unbelieveable! What smart little girls! In the meantime I had called the zoo office so everyone could start looking. By the time the girls reached the front, zoo personel came up and asked if they were the 2 lost little girls. Their response, "no, our mommies are lost!" Ok, how precious!

See.....I will not win the award this year! DANG!

I've been a bad blogger lately. This past week we had 3 days off of school, parent-teacher conferences, zoo trip, garage sale, dance, soccer, headaches, sick kids, christmas card making, living room decorating (thanks Mandy). Who has time to blog with all that and more going on?

Tonight Chris and I are going to the movie Fireproof. I hear it's a must for everyone, can't wait. We might even get to go out for dinner. Yikes, that's very close to a date! Hmm, maybe even a little pre-birthday celebrating. :)

Do you wonder sometimes if people read your diary? Todd knew just what I needed to hear, today's sermon was about Love...agape. I Cor 13 is used in weddings all the time but do people really mean it when they say they'll be patient, kind, will not envy, not keep record of wrong? This was the perfect reminder for me, sometimes I need a real kick in the butt. Unconditional Love...I'm telling you that's the hardest kind to give, but because of what happened on the cross it's available to us all.

October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month

Here is the website that you can click on to support breast cancer awareness. Tell all your friends to go here....

http://www.thebreastcancersite.com/

It's free for you and could make all the difference for someone in need.


October is also pastor appreciation month. Don't forget those pastors in your life who work LONG hours all week (not just Sunday morning). They minister to everyone in the church and seldom get ministered to themselves. Remember, these guys and gals are just like everyone else, they need a pat on the back, a hug and for once a positive comment instead of a complaint. We miss our pastors from GI. Hugs go out to you Scott, Josh, Nick, Drew and Lora!


My last bit of information....
I finally talked to the doctor's office about Olivia's EGD last Tuesday. The doc is out of town until Friday...grrrr! The nurse said the biopsies look good but we'll wait until the doc reads the results. Praise God, He is good! So...finding nothing is good but then where does that leave us?

My words for today: rejoice trust and serve

Scrappiness!

What a good feeling to get some scrapping done today. I was planning on meeting with a couple of people but it didn't work out so instead I did laundry and scrapped. Really, isn't that making the best of a wasted day?
This first LO is of the girls when Olivia was 9 mos old. I bought these matching outfits before Olivia was even born. ha ha I'm always trying to get a good deal. My girls will probably hate me some day but I love to dress them in matching/cordinating outfits, especially for pictures. Notice everyone has bows in their hair. Yep, those days are over too. Emma has her own style, I don't always like it. I bet my parents weren't always crazy about the way I did my hair either. I have several LOs of my family reunion that need to be completed. This is page #3. I don't know when we'll all be together again so I cherish these pictures.
Ok, time to get the girls in bed. Nighty Night friends!

My thought for today: cherish the ones you love and tell them often that they are special.

My Little Pumpkin

Yes, this is an old picture of our littlest pumpkin. Olivia was only 9 mos old here. I have been working on organizing my pictures in the computer and ran across this picture. It must be one of my all time favorites. This is Olivia but one day when we look back at it we won't know which one of our 3 girls this is...they all look so much alike, especially between the ages 1-2.

I'm ready to hit a local pumpkin patch. We'll have to do that one of these days soon. Happy fall day to you all!

What a blast!

Here we are at the Husker Volleyball Game.


The girls wanted their pictures taken before the game started. We got to the Colliseum about 45 minutes early. The girls had their snacks eaten BEFORE the game even started.

The huskers beat Colorado in 3 sets. It was pretty amazing, I know I didn't ever hit like that back in my day.

Thank goodness we went to the volleyball game and not the football game. YIKES! The game didn't start until 8pm and the Missouri Tigers KILLED us. So sad!


My BIL and SIL are in town for the football game. Talking to Angie (who works for Homeland Security) is so interesting. She has such an incredible knowledge of what is really going on in the US and abroad. I hope everyone out there has registered to vote...pick your ticket carefully!


Happy Birthday to my dad!
Eric and family, we are thinking about you!
Enjoy the rest of your weekend. I know we will!

Husker Volleyball

This is what Emma, Reagan and I are about to go see. Chris scored some Husker Volleyball tickets for this afternoon. I think the girls are going to love it. It's been 15 yrs since I have been to a UNL volleyball game. It's in a new location, I've heard it's just awesome! Can't wait!!! Oh it'll take me back to my college volleyball days.....ha ha ha ha ha.

Painting Progress

Ok, here it is so far. YIKES! The purple is DARK but I think it's going to be awesome. Obviously I have lots to do still, I couldn't tape over the fresh paint to finish up the edges of the purple. This is maybe a 1/3 of the wall and it took me all day to tape and paint this. (all day minus taking care of Olivia, meeting with the firemen at the house, pasta feed for the softball team and catching up with the girls after school) :) I like it but it just isn't perfect. Reagan on the other hand thinks it is PERFECT. That's all that really matters.

I am scared to death that Olivia is about to be done taking naps. This just can't be. Today she layed in bed for 2 hrs+ and NEVER fell asleep. Yesterday she didn't take a nap at all. I am just not ready for this! One day when she is a mommy she will understand the situation she is putting me in.

Just a brief note on the economy...Pray hard people. Our national leaders (good and bad ones) need wisdom that only God can give. Dave Ramsey has a great plan, don't think they are asking him what to do. DANG! (edited this to prevent getting yelled at!)