Count Your Blessings Sunday

It's time to count your blessings! I truly believe that if you take the time to focus on what you do have rather than what you don't you can change the way you look at your circumstances. Here we go:

1) Yohn, my husband, the love of my life. I can't believe how much my life is blessed by having him in it.
2) My kids, Elisha and Bethany. They help me to see life in a new way.
3) That Bethany's birthday party went really well. Thanks to everyone who came and blessed her big #6.
4) All of our needs are met.
5) Despite not having as many hours and thus not as big of a paycheck we are able to get by, better even I think, because I am learning to budget and watch my account and our spending.
6) My children have been given (almost) new clothes from friends and I will not need to go out and buy any pants for them this winter.
7) I'm Alive!

Now it's your turn! What things have you been blessed by this week? If you'd like to participate, just grab the button to the left, post your blessing on your blog and them come back here leave your name on MckLinky so we can all see how you have been blessed.

Happy Birthday Bethany!

Today is Bethany's sixth birthday. We're going to park that has a huge swimming pool (I'll take a picture and show you later) because that's where she chose to go.

This is a picture of her on her birthday last year. I just wanted to say Happy Birthday to my beautiful little girl who's getting so big so fast!

Thursday's Playlist

It's Thursday's Playlist time! This week's got a theme - love songs. If you'd like to join in this fun blog carnival, just click on the picture above.

The song I chose this week is "Man and Wife" by Michelle Featherstone. A few years ago I discovered this song one day while watching slide shows on the Pro Show Gold website and fell in love with it. I then used it for a song on a slide show I did for our friends' 25th wedding anniversary. Some day I'll use it in a slide show for Yohn and I too. If you'd like to hear it just click here. NOTE: I do not know the people on this slide show, I just used it to show off the song.

A Few Funny Moments

Yesterday Elisha and I were going to Target to get Bethany a birthday present. We were talking and as we drove past the park he stops and says, "Mama, I'm going to put this conversation (yes he used that word) on pause for a minute because I want to tell you something else." And so he "paused" the conversation to tell me something about what he saw at the park and then continued on with what we were originally talking about.

Last week, Elisha and Bethany were fighting (what else is new) while they were supposed to be getting dressed. Bethany came muttering out of her bedroom, "I'm going to wear the shirt that says It's My Brother's Fault because I am so mad at him and it's his fault I am mad." I don't think she knows I heard her, but I couldn't help but crack up.

A Day at the Marina

Actually it was more like a few hours at the Marina but it was still fun, and cold, and sunny, and cold, and windy. It's the middle of summer but it felt more like fall had come already.

See the white caps on the water? Yes, the wind was really blowing. Birds were everywhere. Some wanted to be fed but others just wanted to sleep.

Elisha enjoys the view.

Bethany was in high speed from the start. The cold air must have certainly charged her up. Everywhere she went she was running (no she was not at all like Forrest Gump. Okay maybe just a little).

The kids were very cooperative when it came to taking pictures and they even asked for me to take their picture a few times.

Yohn had Elisha take this picture of us. You can really see the wind just whipping my hair around in this picure. Like I said we did not expect it to be so cold out and so we dressed for summer. Luckily the kids had something warmer in the car, but I had nothing. So I borrowed Elisha's Cars blanket.

We walked around a lot on the trails that wind through the park. The kids really liked the easy to climb trees.

I really liked this wood bridge and fortunately did not have to convince the kids to take a picture on it. They loved this bridge.

Bethany discovered mud on one of the small side trails. Isn't that lovely? She kept running back and forth through it. I told you she was in high gear.

Benefit of having a camera with a long distance lens. I can be several feet away and still get great pictures.

We layed on the grass while the kids played on the playground.

Do you know how hard it is to take a picture of a humming bird? I can't tell you how many shots I deleted because I kept taking pictures of just the sky and the leaves of the trees.

Life Lessons from Daddy's Princess: When your brother picks on you start crying and bypass Mommy because she'll just ignore you anyway. Go to Daddy using your best Daddy's little girl voice and tell him all your troubles. Let him know just how rotten your brother is and get all the hugs and kisses and sympathy he offers.

Watch with a smile on your face as he folds your brother into a into a pretzel.

Get jealous because Daddy is now paying attention to your rotten brother and get in on the action as well.

Leave him needing a nap and his blankie. Mission accomplished!

Not My Child Monday

Welcome to a special edition of Not Me Monday called Not My Kids Monday. This week you get to tattle on your children's outrageous antics proving that children are just as imperfect as their parents. What didn't your child do lately? You can click on the button above to take you to the site where you can join in as well. It's a lot of fun don't miss it!

Okay so once again my story is a little old, but after Mckmama was talking about Small Fry's tantrum the other day it brought up memories of when my own sweet princess was a dreaded "terrible two." This particular incident happened at a friend's house. Said friend had one of those kitchens that have openings on both ends (you know two different sides lead to two different rooms) with the living room on the opposite wall making it possible to run in circles through the kitchen and the living room (I hope you get the picture). Now I really can't remember what started Bethany's tantrum but it probably began with her not getting her way (since that's usually what started it up in the first place). She was crying and screaming and rolling around on the floor. We ignored her for a while and then she finally got up and asked daddy to hold her. The second he held out his arms to pick her up she did not run away yelling, "No! No! NO!" He turned around and walked into the kitchen. She then did not chase him into the kitchen shouting, "Daddy! Daddy! Pick me up!" When he turned around she did not once again yell, "No! No! NO!" and run in the opposite direction.

There was not a revolving pattern started that went something like this: if he would try to pick her up she'd yell and run away. If he walked away she chase him and ask to be picked up. He (being the joker that he is) did not think this was great fun and literally run around our friend's kitchen and living room with Bethany chasing him laughing the whole time. That would just be mean. We did not all just sit on the couch and laugh hysterically as the two would run by, her yelling, "Daddy! Daddy! Pick me up!" and then running away shouting "NO! NO! NO!" I am certainly glad my friends did not think that we were a little bit looney tunes.

I Heart Faces Photo Contest

Okay so it's not quite as good as other photos on the I Heart Faces photo contest but since this week's theme was nostalgia I thought it was fitting. This picture of my daughter reminds of many, many summers spent at the Snake River with my grandpa, uncles and later on (step)dad, fishing and boating when I was a kid.

Count Your Blessings Sunday

Welcome to Count Your Blessings Sunday. I was inspired to start this blog carnival because I have a friend who has a habit of focusing on the problems life has instead of the blessings. We've actually been discussing this for some time and realized that a lot of times when life throws lemons at us some of us just look at the lemons and cry and if they hit us really hard we may say ouch! and then stand there and cry. So the point behind this very long rambling is to take a moment and find the sugar in your life that might just help you to take those lemons and turn them into lemonade, because we all know leomonade is much better than just a plain lemon.

So here goes...

I'm counting my blessings:

1) My husband, the love of my life. God knew what He was doing when he sent Yohn in my direction.
2) My children, the apples of my eye. They may keep me on my toes but I love them to pieces.
3) My husband and I both have jobs. I know there are a lot of people struggling to find work, so I rejoice that I have a job.
4) My children were very sweet and thoughful of each other last night. It's always one of those moments I should appreciate more.
5) The ants have not yet invaded any of our food (only our trashcan, don't laugh), and hopefully what I did this morning will send them packing.
6) I had fun scrap booking with friends yesterday. I'm learning not to take these days for granted because you never know when we'll get to do them again.
7) I am going to church this morning.

Now it's your turn, are you ready? Just grab the button code on the left side and paste it in your post. Then write about the blessings in your life this week. Let others know that if they click on the button at the top of you post that they can visit my blog and participate as well. Publish your post then come back here and put your name and blog address in the MckLinky. I hope you'll join us!

A Little Visitor

On Sunday evening we had our God son come visit us for a bit because his daddy had to work and he couldn't get a hold of his momma to drop him off with (long story). So this is Josiah and, of course, I had to take pictures of him. Once you see him you'll know why I couldn't resist.

Josiah is three years old and they think he might have autism, but despite all that there are two things I know Josiah really likes: playing with our kids and jumping on the trampoline. And if he can do both then he's super happy!

Thursday's Playlist

It's time again for Thursday's playlist! This blog carnival was started right here so if you wanna do it to head over there and learn how.

This week I'm doin' an oldie but a goodie. Okay so it's not that old, but you know it's back from 2002 or 2003 or something like that so it's not a new song. It's called Meet With Me by Ten Shekel Shirt. Just click on the song title to hear it. I hadn't heard this song in a while then one night I got on Napster and saw that my husband had been listening to Ten Shekel Shirt and I listened to this song and fell in love with it all over again. Hope you enjoy it!

Amazing

My kids have truly been off the wall lately. I think it's because the non-scheduled joys of summer have started really catching up to them. I mean they are not horrible but when my seven year old screams his way to his bedroom because he is told no he cannot play video games right now, maybe later, you just wanna... well, I don't know? Laugh at him? Because it's something so trivial that he throws a fit about you're just kind of taken off guard.

Anyways, back to the amazing part. Well, even though my kids' behavior hasn't been great and they can't keep their hands off things or keep from hurting one another or keep from throwing tantrums God can still use them. I mean I know this already, but sometimes I think God needs me to get the point that He uses us even when we don't think He can or expect Him to.

Case in point, every Wednesday a group of guys rents the gym to play volleyball. Said group of men are Hindi or Indian (from India) I don't really know because I'm not good with all that, so no offense at all to them I just don't know. They are always very nice and polite but it's very obvious they don't share our beliefs they just like our gym and that's okay because they are respectful and polite and clean up after themselves which is more that can be said for a lot of other groups who rent our gym. Well this group also brings their kids every week and lately the kids have been playing outside the gym on the grass. Elisha and Bethany also decided to play outside today because let's face it hanging out in The Source (the bookstore) in the evenings really is no fun. Since I was busy they were out there until about 6:30 tonight. Somehow they (at ages 5 and 7 years old) struck up a conversation about beliefs and God with these four boys who range from about 5 to 10 years old. They tell them that Jesus is the only way to heaven and that He died on the cross for their sins. Then Bethany comes running in the store and asks Yohn to come out and talk to the boys about Jesus. Elisha followed saying they went back in the gym but that one boy said he liked his god better but the other boy said that from now on he would only believe that Jesus is his Savior. These kids I'm sure will have a lot of questions, but I am excited that a seed has been planted. We prayed for the boys and then reminded the kids that they needed to make sure to pray for them in the days to come.

Now who knows what's going to happen next but Wow! Amazing!

Powerful Skit

I had originally saved this on my e-mail when it was sent to me a few years ago. I stumbled upon it again when I was doing one of my random, "Why do I save all these e-mails" reviews. It almost made me cry...again. Our church youth group actually did this skit a few days before it was e-mailed to me. I thought it was so good that I would post it here for all to see.

Not Me Monday

It's time for Not Me Monday a blog carnival started by one smart lady who wanted nothing more than a way to admit her short comings in a way that would make others smile. It's fun and I hope you'll join in. Ready, here goes...

A few weeks ago we got a new (used) refridgerator. Our friend told us it worked perfectly and so we brought it home (The door sprung on our old one causing us to use a 45 lb weight to keep the contents in the refridgerator cold) and hooked it up. The freezer worked just fine right off the bat but the refridgerator side was lacking. It got warmer and warmer as the days progressed until finally I did a little internet research and discovered that I had not gotten a little too hasty and turned the fridge up too high too fast (apparently you have to start it at factory settings for 24 hours then turn it up if it's not to your liking. We did not have to take everything out of the fridge to defrost the vent that goes between the freezer and the fridge. We also did not have to borrow a giant cooler full of ice to keep all of our food from getting ruined in the 90 something degree heat.

I did not send my daughter outside in her underwear to paint her "paint me" lizards because I didn't want to deal with what would happen if she got it on her clothes or the table or anywhere else. Our son did not beg to go outside in his underwear with her.

I also did not catch my beautiful little girl sticking her underwear clad butt in the dogs face. Why would she do that. When I asked her why she would do such a thing she did not reply, "because it's funny that dogs do that."

So there you go! What have you not been up to lately? Click here to see what other people have not been up to if you need a good laugh.

Community Picnic

Prepare yourself because it's gonna be another long post with lots of pictures (more than last time if you can believe that!). You know me, Ms. Picture Crazy who can't decide which ones to post so chooses all her favorites and makes it a sight to see!

Last Saturday (August 8th) we went to the Baptist Church's annual picnic. This year I knew about it in advance so I invited friends, who were also scrapbooking with me at our church (which is right next door too). It's a great event to attend because #1 it's free and #2 it's fun and with that combination you can't go wrong.

The kids loved the pony rides a lot. The best part being that you could do it as many times as you wanted. When you have a kid like Bethany, who loves all things horses, you'd think that's where she spent most of her time, but then she finds...


...the petting zoo and wouldn't leave that for quite some time. Did I mention she likes all things animal too?

Hannah claimed that she had never petted a bunny in her life and spent a lot of time in the petting zoo with Bethany.


Everybody loved this happy little puppy.

Here are the kids getting their faces painted. Elisha and Bethany knew the teens who were painting their faces because they had just spent the past week at their VBS, Boomerang Express. Yes, that's right, they attended a second VBS. This one was way easier for us because the church is right next door to our house. Our pastor is friends with their pastor too and he was excited to see our kids there.

Showing off the finished products! Oh, by the way, do you like Elisha's hair cut? I did it!

The VBS kids all got to do a performance of the songs they learned all week. I didn't exactly dress my kids to match each other on purpose, it just worked out that way.

They played lots of games like tug-of-war, and potato sack races, but the only one any of us participated in was the water balloon toss. Here's me and my friend Becca. We played twice and on the second time we got second place. There were no prizes for second but that's okay because there really weren't any prizes for first place either.

Elisha and Yohn got in on it too.

So did Mike and Harmony.

I love this picture of Elisha! After they did the children/parent teams they told the kids to come up on stage and then explained to them that they'd do it one more time only this time they were supposed to throw the balloon at their mom or dad. Can you tell he's just a little bit excited about that? Yohn, of course, had no idea (yeah, right).

The climbing wall was the favorite of all the kids and they did it many, many, many times.

After Jamie's mom returned to scrapbooking, Jamie escaped from me went back and rode the pony one last time before the picnic was over and it was time to go.