. . . a glimpse into my heart.

Here are a few signs that you child has been watching too much Food Network: 1. He makes any toy into a cooking tool. 2. He speaks with words and frases like: "it's so alisious", "yummy", "mix it", "add some salt", "a little pepper", "sheet pan". 3. He is mezmorized while watching Guy's Big Bite, or whatever that show it called

Dave's pretty bogged down with school and work. Poor guy. He is working on his masters degree and Lord willing he'll be done in May. WOOHOO!! I promised him I would take him on a weekend away to celabrate once he graduates. He is so good at his job, his classes and studying, being a father and being a husband. I would call him an over achiever but I would never want to imply he bites off more then he can chew cause he ALWAYS gets it all done and well too. We're all getting colds. The past two days Gabriel has been taking short naps and he's fusses most of the time. He woke at 5:30 this morning to nurse which is earlier then normal. He woke an hour later crying bloody murder and nurse another whole feeding. Poor kiddo! I think he's not only sick but also going through a growth spurt which makes for a bad combo. ---- I hate it when Dave and I get sick at the same time. It makes it hard for either or us to baby the other. We both just wallow and have no one to take car...

Did you know that some scholars think that King Darius and Cyrus the Great were the same man? A little back ground: Daniel chapter 5 is all about King Belshazzar. He sees the writing on the wall, Daniel tells him that it says the writing basically says his days in reign are numbered and his kingdom will be divided. THAT very night king Bel is killed. King Darius takes control of Babylon. Chapter 6 is the story of Daniel and the lions' den. Well, the last verse of chapter 6 says, "Daniel prospered during the reign of Darius and the reign of Cyrus the Persian." Scholar Joyce Baldwin explains that the word 'AND' in that verse is used often in the book of Daniel. It could be said as 'namely' or 'that is'. The writer could be saying that those names belong to the same person. Daniel 6:28 could read "Daniel prospered during the reign of Darius, that is Cyrus the Persian." Interesting.

Dave and I (and the boys) drove to Montrose today. We ate some fabulous pizza for lunch. Liam ate a whole piece and needed no promting cause he loved it. We went to Russell Stover Candies and bought a bunch of cheap Valentine's and Easter candy for our upcoming Oct 31st lock-in for the high schoolers. Yeah, I know, it's funny that we're giving away candy for totally different holidays then the one on which we're having the lock-in. It'll be funny to have a chocolate bunny eating contest on Halloween. :-) Last Tuesday I missed my Daniel Bible study so I downloaded the audio for it and Dave and I listened to it on the drive home. It was very encouraging to our hearts. It's awesome how every week I feel like God is speaking through Beth Moore to me and my heart. It was cool to share this weeks audio with Dave too. It was on Daniel 6 which is when Daniel was found guilty of praying to God rather then the king. He was then thrown into the lions' den. God delivere...

So, we had a late night last night. We had a bunch of high school kids here to watch the Broncos loose. I didn't get Liam to bed till 10:30 and Dave and I probably didn't actually fall asleep till around 1am. Dave had to get up early for work. G-man woke me @ 7:40 but after nursing he and I both went back to bed. Liam and I didn't get up for the day till 11:30. I know, lazy bums! But it was wonderful to sleep so soundly. Praise God for a refreshing night's sleep. Doesn't happen often. Our pastor's daughter is in the hospital after a bicycle accident. She will be ok in the long run but there was a lot of ingury and it will be a long and painful recovery. We haven't been able to visit her yet as she JUST today got out of the ICU. My heart really hurts for her. This will affect her classes, her job, and her basketball season which should be starting soon. I wish there was something I could do to help. Things like this make me appreciate my life even more. It...

Sometimes it's a miracle that I make it to church on Sundays but once I'm there I always feel blessed by something. This morning I felt touched by a couple songs we sang and some verses the whole congregation read together. I really felt like I was resting in the arms of the Lord. It Is Well With My Soul When peace, like a river, attendeth my way, When sorrows like sea billows roll; Whatever my lot, Thou has taught me to say, It is well, it is well, with my soul. Though Satan should buffet, though trials should come, Let this blessed assurance control, That Christ has regarded my helpless estate , And hath shed His own blood for my soul. My sin, oh, the bliss of this glorious thought! My sin, not in part but the whole, Is nailed to the cross, and I bear it no more, Praise the Lord, praise the Lord, O my soul! And Lord, haste the day when my faith shall be sight, The clouds be rolled back as a scroll; The trump shall resound, and the Lord shall descend, Even so, it is well with ...

I have known Alisa since I was 5 years old. That's a 22 year friendship. That's a long time. We went to coffee today and it was so wonderful to just be able to talk the way we did when we were 15. Being able to share our hearts and lives with each other right now is a blessing. She has always been available and I regret that some years went by without us seeking each other out. It's been 22 years but within those years there was a lot we didn't share. I've realized that I don't want things that way anymore. I care so very much for her. She seems to always be there when I need her the most. I thank the Lord for such a true and loving friend. Alisa is truly an old AND lovely friend! If you read this, Alisa, I love and cherish you. Here's a couple pictures of our fabulous high school days.

I am so thankful my relationship with the Lord is stronger now then a couple months ago cause I really need Him. He sustains me through so much. Life has been over whelmingly hard this past week. There's been a lot of tears and many emotions. I wish I could spill it all but it would leave a terrible mess on this little blog. I just thank GOD for being faithful and consistent because so many others in my life are not. I CANNOT wait till Dec. 22nd when we board a plane and leave for 2.5 weeks. Being in Seattle is always refreshing to me and is good for my soul. I am not totally sure why we don't live there. . .hmm? Oh yeah, we have a wonderful church that has emplyed my husband. He's their first paid Youth Pastor and he's doing some wonderful things with the youth program. Parents are thrilled and kids that would come once in a while are now coming regularly cause they love it. It's been very encouraging and THAT is why we're here. God wants us here.

I LOVE cold weather. It has been chilly lately which is a nice change. This morning there was frost on the grass. However, I am struggling a little bit. Our grass is in now and just lovely. :-) It still needs some time to thicken up but it's so green and very exciting. A little part of me wishes I could fast forward to next summer when my boys will be running around together in the grass while I sit under our pergola at our cute little patio table reading and listening to my miniature men laugh and play together. I know I would miss so much if we could skip this upcoming season. I wouldn't skip it if I could. But I am very excited for next summer. 2009 will be a wonderful year and there will be a lot of super exciting things going on and new experiences and the 3rd birthday of my first born and the 1st birthday of my youngest. However, I MUST also live in the moment. Speaking of THE moment. . . Gabriel is still working on the crawling. He's been all over our living room flo...

Dave bought me a couple long tables for our office when we moved into the new house. I set up my area but it was never very organized. I finally made some skirts for the tables to make it look a little nicer and to hide the storage underneath. I had a wire rack but it didn't fit everything I wanted under the tables. So, Dave built me a little shelf that would perfectly fit my large cutter, papers, photo albums etc. I got baskets to hold all my embelishments, scissors, envelopes etc. I am so pleased now and excited to start making Christmas cards. Here's a couple ideas I found for cute Christmas cards. The first one is just a little snow man but I thought he was awefully cute! teehee! This is the one I just made. It's missing a cute little ribbon around it's neck for the scarf but I don't have any Christmas ribbon right now. This one is a didgital picture of bells but I thought it was very classy. This is a picture of it out of a magazine. It's got some little si...

So, I think Liam is potty trained (for the most part). He still wets during most naps and over night but he will go all other times in the toilet with the exception of a few accidents. HOWEVER. . . and that's a BIG 'however, he will not poop in the toilet. He poops right in his big boy underware making a terrible mess. What do I do to break this?? He doesn't seem to mind the mess. There were a few times early on in potty training (granted, that was only two months ago) that I could catch him in the act and he would finish on the toilet. I am not sure what's changed but I can't even catch him any more. He will almost always tell me AFTER he's pooped but NEVER before. Any tricks I can try?

So, I just sent Dave to the store. Here's the shopping list: Prune juice Pencils Sleeping aid pills size 3 diapers goats milk dish washer soap I just thought it was the most random shopping list ever and I had to share cause it makes me laugh. I know, I need to find better things to laugh about.