Lots...

This has been such a busy, but fun, week! My mom is here and that has been great, dad was here last weekend but sadly he had to go back to work. He'll be back for Christmas though. It is so nice to have an extra set of hands around to help with Michael - he is a very reasonable baby, but you can get a lot more done if there is someone else to help too!

We had a surprise shower this week for our friends who are having a baby in about a month. It was really fun and we had a good turnout. It is so nice to have such good friends, those to plan fun things with and those to surprise with something. What a blessing to have a church family - how would we get along without our brothers and sisters?!?!?

This week some friends of ours are going to China to pick up their new daughter they are adopting. I can't imagine how they will be feeling the next few days before they leave - I don't know if I could even sleep if I were them! It will be such a fabulous thing for them to meet her, she'll already have some real personality, laugh, cry, and quickly learn to love her forever family. I get choked up and so excited every time it even crosses my mind!

Hope Rach doesn't mind me posting this (tell me if you do girl!) But, please pray for her family as her Grandma is going through cancer right now and is having a really tough time. Please pray for them to have strength through these difficult days.

Last night Chad and I had a date - the first one since the week after Michael was born! We went to a beautiful wedding at church - loved the white Poinsettias and the Christmas trees, and then we went to eat at Red Lobster. It was a nice evening, I had never left Michael for more than 2 hours without Chad or I being here before, so it was really nice to have mom here to do the baby sitting.

So, since the surprise shower has occurred I am down one secret. Just about 147 left to go in the next week. Do you think I can handle it? :-)

Here's one of my latest musings...it's a serious one...
Today we had the most wonderful sermon about the things we say. About how we should replace things like coarse jokes, sarcasm, and other negative words with loving and honest words. This fit right in with a conversation I had last week with mom. I had really been thinking about how people have such a hard time being honest with each other - do you change your words or not tell the real truth so not to hurt someone's feelings? Isn't it ok to say what you think/feel and want your thoughts and opinions to at least be listened to - to know that when you say something maybe it is also the listener that should be concerned about your feelings? "Honest" - I think it means truth sprinkled with kindness. What do you think? We know God says we must be kind and loving - does that mean we should be doormats with no opinion? I really don't think so! I think it means that when we speak we should first think about what we are about to say - is it true, right, noble, lovely? and then say whatever it is in a way that will be received by the hearer.
Do you think about how what you are saying will be received? Maybe that thought is on my mind because I am a therapist. You can tell the honest truth in a way that people will receive it instead of getting angry most of the time. It's the difference between "Shut UP!" and "Could you please be quiet?"
Any thoughts on these ramblings? What can we do to make it easier for other people to be honest to us? How can we try not to take things so personally? That is a hard one - do we really think people are "out to get us"? Sometimes maybe they are, but aren't some things people say just dumb because they forgot to think before they spoke? It doesn't always make what they said easier to take, but it might be something to think about...
And, lastly, what do you do if a friend make s a bad decision? How do we talk ourselves into confronting someone with the truth? Is confrontation a bad thing, or just a hard thing? Do we accept the criticism/correction with grace or defensiveness? Do we confront with graciousness or offensiveness?

Ok - enough ramblings. Not sure if any of the above makes much sense. I must say that in the world of confronting people/being totally honest I may be the worst - It's easier to confront clients, they come and go, not so easy for the people who mean more to our hearts... Funny, I am not even sure about posting this because I might hurt someone's feelings or make them worry that I am talking about them. That's pitiful! (Oh, and by the way I am not talking about anyone in particular!! Just general musings!!)

God bless your week - send me some comments! :-)

I haven't gotten lost!

I am still here, really! We have been busy and our computer has been dead - I think it has crashed 3 times since last Friday - oh dear! Things are good here - dad and mom were her last weekend which was super nice! Dad had to go back until Christmas, but mom stayed for the next couple of weeks so we can make and send treats to all of our family scattered about and keep me company while Chad is working so many hours before Christmas. Better go check on my boys - just wanted to give a little update!

Secrets

OK - I have so many secrets from people right now that I almost can't talk to anyone for fear of 'spilling the beans' in one way or the other!! Some secrets are not so huge, like what people will get for Christmas - that's how huge the other secrets are that telling what present someone is getting pales in comparison!! My poor little head is spinning!! ha!

Let's have a discussion - any of you out there have people that are insanely difficult to buy Christmas gifts for? I think we have gotten all of ours almost finished, but if any of you are struggling and want to post a comment maybe the rest of us can give you some ideas.

So, Michael tried green beans this week - that was a major disaster! But, today he tried peas for the first time and that seemed to go ok. He's not exactly sure about them, but he at least ate several bites. I think that only leaves us carrots until we start fruits - good gracious! He is growing up so fast!!

Have a good evening!

Grammar Geek

I am afraid that's what I am...a Grammar Geek. There are just certain grammar rules that, if not followed, really bother me when I am reading. For instance, the use of the words your and you're and the words their, there, and they're. Oh dear - I know it's silly, maybe the reason it drives me so crazy is because I know how many worksheets I had to do on how to use these words properly in elementary school. I was telling Chad the other night that my favorite part of English class was diagramming sentences. Scary thing is that sometimes I still diagram sentences in my head just to see if I can still do it. Oh well, at least that's one thing I will be able to help Micahel with when he is in school.

Things around our house have been busy the past few days, not doing anything terribly important but staying busy anyway. The usual laundry, cooking, Christmas shopping, grocery shopping, etc. Yesterday we cleaned out the nursery at church - there were some pretty old toys in there so some of them got tossed. Most things were able to be organized so now it feels a little better in there. We had a shower to stock the nursery last week and received several wonderful things that will make the nursery easier to deal with. Lots of sanitizer is a good thing!

We are still stuck about what to get Michael for Christmas. So far he has stocking stuffers and a Veggie Tales Bible Story Book. Both sets of his grandparents are getting him some cool things so we aren't sure what to get. If anyone has any ideas let us know. It seems like a lot of the fun toys will be for when he gets a little older.

I actually thought of some more compelling questions about life the other night that Chad said I ought to put on the blog, but now I have forgotten them. Oh well - I guess that's the 'dizzying' part of the intellect! ha!!

Cake

Well, here is the finished product - it turned out ok I think. Decorating cakes is a hard job! Or maybe time consuming is a better word for it. Sure am glad I didn't need to do anything fancy on it or we would have been in real trouble - ha!

Cutie Pie

Here is a picture of our cutie pie. He is a very happy baby and we are so thankful for him!! He does new tricks almost every day. He can sit up by himself on mommy's lap, but not on the floor just yet. It is so fun to watch him learn new things! He is at such a sweet stage, thank you God for baby smiles!!

Winter

Well, I am afraid winter has arrived with gusto! We are seeing a few snow flurries here this morning, but nothing like what people have had to deal with west of here. Jeremy and Rachel were even without power for several hours due to the ice in Springfield, MO yesterday. Chad gets so excited about snow, and really wishes we could have just one big snowstorm. I, on the other hand, would prefer to have 6-7 inches of snow for one day and then be able to wear sandals and it be 75 degrees the next - ha! I'm a Spring and Fall kind of gal.

Besides the cold weather, there's nothing much to report from our end of the world - today I am decorating the cake that a friend asked me to do - pray that Michael takes a good nap so I can get it done!!

If you want something done right...

Our house...I am so thankful for it - we have the best view in town, and really we love the area we live in. But, I must say that if you want something done right in a house you just about have to do it yourself! We have replaced and/or fixed a lot of things here - and they are all still working well, hopefully that will continue! (You wouldn't believe some of the strange things we have had to fix here! Like the pipe to our shower not being connected and all the water just went right under the house - eewww!!!) But, the things we haven't fixed/replaced are all deciding to have issues in the past two weeks. The dishwasher, the heater and the water heater. I mean, it is Winter after all - all the things that get warm in our house have had/are having issues. The Gremlins must be out!! The heater is fixed now, so we are super thankful for that, and maybe Santa will bring us a new dishwasher and we can fix the water heater. I'll keep my fingers crossed!

In other news - I think I about have my Christmas shopping done. Hopefully anyway - I have several stocking stuffers yet to get though. It is fun shopping for fun little things for people - I always recommend chapstick/lipgloss for a quality stocking stuffer.

Also, for the first time in my life, someone has asked me to make a decorated cake for a party they are throwing...yikes! I have practiced and hopefully they will like it. The big day is Saturday, I'll let you know how it turns out.

Thanks to all of you who post comments on the blog - makes me feel important! ha! Hope you have a lovely Tuesday!

Bad day for football...

Well, Arkansas didn't do so well, and they had to lose to yucky ol' LSU - terrible!! And, Texas lost to A&M. Maybe today will be better!

Today we are putting up our Christmas tree and putting away the fall decor. Should be fun! Chad had to work today though, so we will start our fun around 3:00 when he gets off.

Nothing else much exciting happening - this blogging thing is fun! Sending thoughts out into cyberspace, not writing to anyone in particular but getting to "talk" and say things that are on your mind anyway. Pretty cool...

Happy Late Thanksgiving, etc.

Hi to the two people so far who know I have a blog - ha! We had a nice thanksgiving with Chad's parents, sister and her boyfriend. The usual eating and then playing games - which the girls won by the way! :-)
Things here are fine, but do you sometimes wish as a grown up there were signs in the road of life telling you which way to go? How to encourage the people who mean most to you? What decisions would be best for your family? I guess that's just part of growing up and maturing - realizing that sometimes you just have to take a leap of faith and trust that God will work all things out for good - even if you make a bad decision you will be blessed if you are seeking Him. That is such a comforting thought!
Here is a prayer request - a guy I went to graduate school with is in his last few days of life due to cancer - he and his wife have a 6 month old little boy. That is an overwhelming thought to me to lose your husband, much less to lose your husband when you have a little one. So, please pray for the McCord family as they are glad that Keith will no longer be in pain, but so sad that he will no longer be with them.
Ummm...on a happier note - we can start to celebrate the Christmas season now! Definitely have to hold off until after Thanksgiving, but now we can wear cute Christmas clothes, put up the tree, put out the presents that I've wrapped and start wrapping the rest. It's fun to think about something special to get the people you love most, something that they might not spend the money on for themselves. That's super fun!
Football - Arkansas plays LSU this afternoon, all I have to say is...Woooo Pig Sooie!!!
More later...

First Blog...

Hi there all you blogging friends! I have finally been talked in to doing a blog - hopefully I will be able to make it semi-entertaining and thoughtful. Like I said in the blog description, I have so many questions about the world but only a few answers. Life is just one big question after the other - especially being a new mom and a fairly new wife - there are things that are just beyond me sometimes! And then again, some of the questions I have are just silly! Like one I had the other night - we were on our way home from our early Thanksgiving trip and we stopped at a gas station to get a drink, etc. While I was in the restroom I noticed that there was one of those cheap perfume machines on the wall - pay $.25 and get "an exquisite replica" of some expensive perfume. So I wondered - does anyone really use those machines? What about the real perfumes they don't even make anymore like "Sunflowers" - how do you make an exquisite replica of something that doesn't exist? OK - there's just a taste of my silly-ness, you can all shake your heads - I don't mind! I'll also try to post some pictures of our cutie boy on here sometime when I figure out how to do that. More later...