Sunday, October 29, 2006

What an amazing blessing!!!

We found out on Thursday that we needed to make a trip to Chicago back to where we moved from to take care of some paperwork. We were unsure what to do and how to handle the situation, so we decided to embrace it and have a mini-vacation with the fam! I cannot tell you how glad I am that we decided to stay a couple of days and visit with friends! The biggest treat was being able to spend Sunday at our former church, New Hope Baptist in Naperville. We love our church in Norway and know that it is the Lord's will for us to be there, but there is something so special about our church in Chicago. The Lord used each of the messages in a special way in my life. A simple discussion about worshipping the Lord in spirit and truth from our hearts (as opposed to just an outward, fleshly reaction) was such a challenge to me. Why do I do the things I do? The Lord is most concerned about the state of my heart, not the actions I take. And the special time with old friends was priceless! We were able to spend some time with our pastors, the McGeochs and the Alberts, too! And our kids had such a good time playing with the Albert kiddos, too! So sorry that their oldest, Kristina, was sick and couldn't get out much! Our lives have changed drastically since the Lord moved us to Northland, but being back in Chicago made us feel as though we were back home! I praise the Lord for the chance to visit, and of course the realization that we don't have to deal with that crazy traffic every day anymore! I'm pretty sure that we've seen more cars in the past 2 days than we've seen total in the past 2 years up North!!! :-) It was great seeing you, too, Leslie!!! How we miss everyone!!! Thanks for receiving us back so warmly!

Friday, October 27, 2006

Our First Artist Series

I know, I know, I know...I had every intention of getting a picture of Brent and me in with the kids before artist series tonight, but it did not happen!!! I spent too much time on Hannah's hair (she really wanted curls!) and Brent was working on getting Daniel's manly tie tied to look right (it's still too big for him!) We were 5 minutes late leaving as it was, and my makeup was still undone! So you get pics of the kids only! But we're told after all that most people only care about the kids anyway!!! So with all that said...we all went to artist series tonight at Northland. The SMS Men's Chorus came and sang for us! It was a wonderful time! They mixed in a number of traditional sacred stylings with some spirituals, and there were even a few classic barbershop numbers. The kids had a great time and even sat still through the entire program! Brent was so kind to surprise us with tickets! It's actually the first time Brent and I have gone to an Artist Series together as well...so it's special all around!

Thursday, October 26, 2006

How Ironic is that?!?

Just the other day I sent an email to my friend, Marsel who lives in Atlanta, talking about our lives here and how the Lord has allowed me to adjust rather easily...even for a city girl living in the middle of the Northwoods. I told her that we see several deer just about every day in our yard, but thankfully no bobcats, bears, or wolves yet this year...that we know of. But, last night as we were pulling into our driveway (we have a rather long drive) after church, a bobcat shot right in front of our van! It was booking it, but we got a clear look at it, and there's no denying it...a bobcat! As we drove up to our house, a mouse ran in front of our van and we saw 3 deer take off, as well! I told Brent about the email to Marsel and that I was definitely going to be on the look out for those bears and wolves, now, too! And one other thing that I saw the other evening at dusk was a bat...they are so common around here that people actually gather on top of some hill just over in Michigan and watch them swarm out of caves come spring time. Bears? Wolves? Bring 'em on...but no matter how common they are, I'm not sure I'll ever be okay with bats! or mice for that fact! 94 days and counting!!!

Tuesday, October 17, 2006

Am I really still that far away for "D-Day?"

I put the counter on my blog to encourage me...but let me tell you...everytime I look at it, I still can't believe how much longer I have to wait to meet our baby! My pregnancy is going relatively smoothly right now, but I can't believe I still have 103 days!!! I'm hoping it works like our engagement time went...once we hit 100 days left, the time flew by! But I do have to say that there's a lot that will happen to me physically before the 100 days are left until "D-Day!" My kids keep asking me how much bigger I'm going to get (as if they can't imagine me getting any bigger than I already am!) Daniel thinks it's really funny that he can't get his arms around my waist anymore...I'm not so humored, to say the least!

But on a happier note, we're getting our new furnace and water heater today! That's a huge blessing to see the Lord replace our 28 year old furnace with a brand new, much more efficient, propane furnace. Our old furnace is fuel oil which is dirty and needs much servicing...God is so good to meet our needs and provide us with a new propane water heater, too. The men say that it should cut our electric bill each month by $40-$50!!!

As an ode to my "City-Girlishness" the biggest dilema for me was where to place the big white propane tank so it would be seen the least amount...everyone here has a huge white propane tank in their yard...it's as common to see those as it is deer! But the men who set up the tank told me I could put a cute little white fence with flowers around it to hide it if I wanted. They even said we could paint a scene on it if we wanted (they clearly don't know that I will probably end up doing just that!) The kids and I decided we'd do it half princess and half hot wheels to make everyone happy! Now...just to convince Brent that pink and purple with hot wheel flames is better than plain white! Like that will ever happen!!!

Wednesday, October 11, 2006

Some helpful info to help you out!

There are definite perks to being part of a techno geek family! One of them is being able to ask your husband just about anything you want to know about the internet, and he has the answers! Here's my latest question and the answer that I thought you might find helpful and interesting. It didn't take a rocket science to figure it out, but I wasn't sure what to google to find the right websites...enter my knight in shining armor!

There are some very helpful websites to aid in wading through the email warnings you get. There are some really sick people in the world who are willing to do whatever to scam you...who's not aware of all the phishing expeditions people go on!?! But there are also some very well-intentioned people who send on fake warnings or promises of riches from huge companies that are absolutely not true! I've included some websites Brent suggested that will tell you whether or not the email is valid. They all seem to want you to subscribe to their site for a fee, but you can search for free. They'll give you the info you want without a subscription. Two user-friendly, don't need a degree in computer science, websites to use include:
http://www.truthorfiction.com
http://scambusters.org

Hope this info helps! I plan on using these sites often, mostly out of curiosity than trying to make millions from Microsoft!

Thursday, October 05, 2006

Saturdays are the best!


Yes...I realize it's Thursday, and I'm a bit behind on the posting! Humor me...I'm pregnant! Anyways...We had such a great day on Saturday! We slept in, watched cartoons, put legos together, played croquet, and then ended up at Dairy Queen for blizzards (as if we won't get our fair share of those soon enough, heh?!?) The highlight I think was just spending the day together doing activity after activity as a family! The weather was beautiful, too. Grandma and Grandpa Kelley bought Daniel a croquet set for his birthday and we were able to play several games! Must admit I didn't do too badly for my first try. Of course, Brent won...he always does...it's no fair! but I came in second...not bad unless you consider I beat a 7 year old and a 4 year old! Our coordination levels are pretty much the same (the kids and I...not Brent and I!) It was such great family time--and it was all free to us! We had coupons for Dairy Queen BOGO Free and gift certificates! You can't beat that!

Sunday, October 01, 2006

I'm all for being unique, but perhaps I should not encourage this!

Hannah decided that her capris and t-shirt were not unique enough the other day, so she decided she would add her own touches to her wardrobe. Yes...those are striped capris, a polka-dot skirt, her slip, a hot pink long sleeved t-shirt and a sweater! She was quite proud of herself when she came into my room to show me her latest design! Daniel and I got a kick out of it...You know you're into blogging when your kids suggest putting something like this on our blog!

Everything's On Fire!!!




I LOVE THE FALL AROUND HERE!!! That's a huge change from what I usually have to say, ("Where in the world are we?!?") I forgot how beautiful the colors get right about now! On our way to church in Norway seems to be the best! Coming over the hill and then crossing the Menominee River into Michigan is breathtaking. (Yes...not only do we have to go to another state to do our grocery shopping, but to get to church, too!) The kids and I agree that the colors are so bright and varied that it looks like the trees are on fire.

This is probably the last week or 2 before the leaves fall and raking begins, so I thought I'd drag the kiddos through the dew laden grass and get their feet good and soaked before we left for church this morning. It was hard to get them to stand still...they kept getting giddy about the fun they'll soon be having jumping in the leaves! (Sounds like another blog entry in the making!)

These pics were taken in our back yard this morning...no matter how super-imposed they look!