Friday, December 25, 2009

Thursday, December 24, 2009

They've been begging and begging...


I don't get what the huge draw is, but Daniel and Hannah have been begging and begging to sleep in the tent that Aunt Sheri gave Daniel last year (2 years ago maybe?) for Christmas. It's intended to be used as a one man sleeping tent outdoors, but it stands up on it's own without being staked down. And the kids LOVE it! It takes up most of the living room floor and drives me crazy, but I put up with it during special times like Christmas break. Daniel and Hannah have both slept in it the last 2 nights, and Sarah has played in it during the day. I guess it's like their own personal playhouse. I'm making them take it down tonight, though, since we'll need the room in the morning to finally be able to open the presents that have been taunting the children for the past week! Sarah wakes up every morning wanting to know if this is the day she gets to open presents. I can't wait to see her reaction when we finally get to tell her "Yes...It's Christmas morning!"

Finally a successful gingerbread house!

The finished product!
Daniel can be such a goofball at times, and this expression definitely shows that!
Sarah doing a great job cleaning up all the extra candy...
No gingerbread house making would be complete without the gingerbread man apron from Aunt Suzie and her guys last Christmas!
What the house looked like before we started decorating it...

We have tried to make gingerbread houses in the past, and they have always been disastrous. We have always purchased the Wilton kits, and no matter how determined I was, they have always failed miserably! I could never get the royal icing to set up hard enough to hold the pieces together. The difference this year is the glue. My friend, Susan Smith--God bless her for this wonderful tip--told me to melt sugar and use that as the glue--and lo, and behold, it actually worked! I had found a wonderful recipe for gingerbread cookies a couple of weeks back so I used that along with the dimensions for a house "form" online. I'm still in shock that it actually worked! It started off as just Hannah and I working on it, but I pulled Daniel and Brent in to help smoosh the marshmallows for the roof shingles. It turned into a great family activity when Sarah joined in. Her main job was "clean up." She went around to every pile of candy and helped clean up that pile! It definitely turned into a fun time--very unlike previous attempts!

Monday, December 21, 2009

Our very first Jammie Drill

We had our first Jammie Drill Monday night. We put the kids in bed rather early for a Christmas break night. Brent went in about 5 minutes later blowing a whistle and yelling "Jammie Drill! Everybody in the car! Go! Go! Go!!!" The kids had no idea what it was all about, and their reactions were quite funny. We found out later that Daniel thought it was a fire drill and even thought there might be a real fire...that's my boy...always creating a catastrophe in his mind if at all possible! We ended up driving to Arby's in town (about a 25 minute drive) and got milkshakes for everyone. We then drove around looking at all the Christmas lights and then it was back home and in bed for the kiddos. What a great time we had...and we definitely plan on doing this "Jammie Drill" thing again. Check out my facebook page for a hysterical video of the start of it all--I couldn't figure out how to get the video to be smaller and couldn't wait for gazillion of hours for it to load both places!
This is what Hannah did for every picture I tried to take...not sure why, but maybe she thought she looked too bad for film being in her jammies and all!

Notice Sarah's Jammies...the zipper split while she was trying to get them off in bed so she ended up running through the house trying to get them done up before she could be part of the jammie drill.
Brent ordering milk shakes from Arby's for everyone.

Sarah realizing that "Jammie Drill" is a synonym for "Milk Shakes at night!"

Tuesday, December 08, 2009

could make for an interesting evening and day tomorrow...

...BLIZZARD WARNING IN EFFECT UNTIL MIDNIGHT CST WEDNESDAY
NIGHT...
...WINTER STORM WARNING IS CANCELLED...

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN GREEN BAY HAS ISSUED A BLIZZARD
WARNING...WHICH IS IN EFFECT UNTIL MIDNIGHT CST WEDNESDAY NIGHT.
THE WINTER STORM WARNING HAS BEEN CANCELLED.

* SNOW WILL GRADUALLY INCREASE IN INTENSITY THIS EVENING BEFORE
BECOMING HEAVY WITH NEAR WHITE OUT CONDITIONS OVERNIGHT AND INTO
WEDNESDAY MORNING BEFORE DIMINISHING WEDNESDAY AFTERNOON. THE
HEAVIEST SNOW SHOULD FALL BETWEEN MIDNIGHT AND NOON ON WEDNESDAY.

* 10 TO 14 INCHES OF ACCUMULATION IS EXPECTED.

* THE COMBINATION OF SNOW...WINDS THAT COULD GUST AS HIGH AS 45
MPH LATE TONIGHT THROUGH WEDNESDAY AFTERNOON...AND NEAR ZERO
VISIBILITIES WILL LEAD TO BLIZZARD CONDITIONS AT TIMES AND MAKE
THIS A DANGEROUS WINTER STORM.

Sarah's been having bad dreams...

Sarah's been obsessing recently over some bad dreams that she's been having. She's quite the imaginative one, so I didn't think much of it until yesterday when I spent the day filling trash bags cleaning the kids' rooms and came across this doll in Sarah's bed that Grandma and Grandpa Griffin gave her for Christmas while they were here over Thanksgiving. It has little plugs that you can push into holes in the doll's head to give her "hair extensions" The extensions have not held up well at all to a 2 year old's playing...as you can see! I looked at the doll and it's actually a bit scary looking to me! She loves it, but I'm wondering if this might be the cause of her bad dreams! I'm not being serious, just wanted to share how scary looking this doll has turned into. Am I the only one thinking it's a bit scary here?!?

Thursday, December 03, 2009

Jammie Drill

here's a fun idea that I hope to try this Christmas Break. It's called a "Jammie Drill." It might prove a bit challenging and will have to be more thought out since we live half an hour from the nearest fast food restaurant and the winter roads can be a bit challenging at times, but should prove fun, nonetheless. The idea is to get the kids tucked into bed in their jammies, wait about 5 minutes, then run into their room and yell, "Jammie Drill!!!" Pile into the car and head out to the nearest fast food place for milkshakes. I'm thinking it could really be a lot of fun...especially the first time since the kids won't know what's going to happen...but after that, it'll be fun since they can look forward to the milkshakes once a jammie drill has begun. I'll be sure to post pictures if I can sell Brent on how fun it could be!

Sunday, November 29, 2009

Visit with the Griffin Grandparents over Thanksgiving Break

Here are some random pictures from our time with Brent's parents over Thanksgiving. I didn't get too many pictures taken, but here are enough to give you a good idea of the fun we all had. I wish I had thought to take pictures of the adults playing Monopoly Deal, the card game. We played a couple of nights after the kids went to bed...it really brought out different sides to all of us that we're not used to seeing! It's a fun game--and not nearly as long as the Monopoly board game!
PLAY DOH!!! Both Hannah and Sarah love to play with play doh! Grandma Kelley bought them a whole bunch of new cans when she was here at the beginning of November, and then the Griffin Grandparents gave Sarah the ice cream play doh factory for Christmas! They loved it!

All of the Griffin men are looking thrilled here...obviously, they are looking more tired than anything! They gave Daniel an erector set for Christmas, and he and Grandpa set out to put one of the 30 motorized options together. Daniel chose the crane which took a very, very long time to put together! Daniel was the parts man--gathering all the parts together for the next step while Grandpa put the crane together. It's a great set, but it might turn out to be a better Daddy/Daniel activity rather than a Daniel-figure this out by yourself-activity for a while!
Praying together before opening Christmas presents. Grandma and Grandpa wanted to see the kids open the Christmas presents they bought for them which meant getting to open them early since we won't be able to be together for Christmas. Sarah squealed and screamed with delight when she saw her play-doh ice cream factory and cabbage patch doll baby. Hannah got a neat little art/drawing toy and a Lee Middleton Collectable doll (I'll get pictures of her with that soon) Daniel received the erector set and a Star Wars computer game that he wanted.
More play doh! Sarah could play with this stuff for hours at a time!
Wednesday was Grandparents Day at school. It was such a treat for the kids to have their grandparents there. This is the first time in 3 years that it's worked out for any of them to be here for it because both sets live so far away.
Daniel's imaginary castle they had to build to wrap up their study of C.S. Lewis' Lion, Witch and the Wardrobe. Notice Sarah had to get in on the action!
A funny thing to notice about this picture...Daniel's pens in his chest pocket. He LOVES to wear shirts that have pockets at the chest so he can be like Brent and keep a pen in his pocket. Interestingly, Brent's dad does the same thing (not so he can be like Brent, though!) It's funny how something so little can be such a big deal to Daniel! I guess it makes him feel grown up?!?

Tuesday, October 13, 2009

playing catch up with the blog...

I've posted several of these things on Facebook, but have neglected putting them on the blog so now I'm playing catch up.

Hannah went to Artist Series with Brent October 2. My sister, Sheri, had given us a dress Claire never wore which was a perfect artist series formal for a 7 year old. Brent had never seen the dress, and Hannah had a great time playing it up to him about how beautiful she was going to look in it, and how surprised he was going to be by it. I must admit I had a few pangs as she built it up to him, and then as I helped her dress and fix her hair. I thought about her wedding that seems so far off...I know the time will fly by and I wondered if I would remember getting her ready for her date with daddy when she was 7 as I help her get ready for her big walk with daddy down the aisle...sappy, I know, but a bit of a pang in my momma's heart none the less!

Here are some of my favorite pictures of the evening.

Brent refused to make a silly face knowing it would end up here on the blog...this is as silly as he would get!

Love those eyes! They were blue until she was about 18 months old...I was sure she was going to keep her blue eyes and dark hair, but they changed to a beautiful shade of green which is still quite stunning in my humble opinion! :-)
Can you believe the eyelashes on this girl?!? I'm so thankful that both my girls have very long eyelashes. Brent has really long lashes, too, but Hannah reminds me of my sister in these pictures, especially pictures of Sheri about this same age. I've always been envious of my sister's lashes...at least my girls got that Kelley gene since I couldn't have it show through on my eyes!
She loved getting all dolled up and was quite patient as I put ringlets in her hair. She was THRILLED when I put a bit of lip gloss on her, too...real make-up!!! A 7 year olds fairy tale dream come true

SNOW!!!

Yep...it snowed all day yesterday! Big white pretty flakes...all day long. The ground was warm enough that it pretty much melted as soon as it hit the ground, but about 3:30 yesterday afternoon, it started to accumulate, and then it froze. I was trying to figure out why this first snow looked so different than other snowfalls we've had the last 5 winters here in the Northwoods. I realized it's the first time I've seen snow on leaves! We've never had an accumulating snow before the leaves have fallen off the trees before. Most of the time I look at snow as it sticks to bare branches, but most of our trees still have leaves on them, so the trees are really pretty with the beautiful yellows and reds showing through the white snow. We've never had snow this early here before...I hope it's not a foreshadowing of the rest of our autumn!
The kids had to wait for Brent to open the car door since they were frozen shut. Hannah got a kick out of wearing her snowflake dress from last winter.
There's been heavy frosts several times already, but this is the first true ice and snow accumulation Brent's had to scrape off.
It was beautiful when it started yesterday about 10:00...but it was also sad...so very sad to think that we're already facing the snow. Winters are very, very long here...but add another month to it by starting so early is really, really sad...:-)

Some really helpful thoughts

I follow the blog of a friend from college who is quite a remarkable mom. They homeschool 9 children and she seems to do with grace! Some of my favorite posts of hers are called "Not Me Mondays." Each Monday she recaps events from the past week that are somewhat surprising, and she words them like, "I did not let my son eat earthworms" or "We would never allow..." It's really entertaining and encouraging to see someone being so transparent and admitting to things that others would never admit to. Here's a part of her post this morning that was a really good reminder to me and gave me some things to meditate on:
  • If I believed, really believed, that God is in control then I wouldn’t worry about tomorrow, I would be content to wait on His timing.
  • If I really believed that He loved me, I would not ask “why me?”.
  • If I believed that He rewards obedience and punishes disobedience, I wouldn’t be tempted to take things into my own hands, I would be content to be obedient and faithful and allow Him to deal with others as He sees fit.
  • If I believed that he was all powerful, I wouldn’t be tempted to fight for His honor and glory through means that He has not ordained.
  • If I believed that He was all that I needed, I wouldn’t ask for more.
I'm especially convicted by the first one and the last one!

(Marsel...you would love her blog...it's full of great ideas for homeschoolers and unique ways to implement schooling into every day life!)

Tuesday, October 06, 2009

She loves to help me cook!


Sarah has taken to "helping" me when it's time to cook...anything...or she thinks I'm getting ready to cook...anything...somehow she manages to squeeze in between me and Hannah and get her chubby little hands into whatever it is I'm making...every time I'm in the kitchen...any time...it's not because she loves to cook. No, she has no interest in actually making the things to eat. She simply wants to get first dibs on the spatulas or beaters that I hand out for licking! I made peanut butter pie for Brent's birthday Sunday and she managed to snatch the whip cream spatula before I realized it. She also managed to get it all over her face. The picture's not the greatest, but it sure captures that mischievous glint we're seeing way too much of recently in her eye!

A Great Sense of Fashion


Sarah came to me the other day wanting to go on a trip. She was all ready for the adventure. She had her favorite things all ready to go: her bug boots (hand-me-downs all the way back from Daniel at this age but are still a couple sizes too big), her Dora back pack full of match box cars (her latest infatuation to keep in her back pack) and her baby doll on her back in it's special back-pack style carrier. She was quite the sight!

Saturday, September 26, 2009

Can he really be 10?!?


I can't believe my boy turned 10 today! It dawned on me the other day that if he leaves for college at 18, our time having him home is already half gone. That's quite the sobering thought. How I beg the Lord to give me wisdom in knowing how to train him to be a godly man who loves the Lord with all his heart. My friend said something the other day that struck a chord with me as well. She said in reference to me rolling my eyes because I had to have Daniel pick up his clothes and things he left out when he left for school that morning, "His wife will thank you!" That wife is still years away, but I'm starting to get a glimpse of just how fast that time will fly! Oh that I would see each moment with Daniel as an opportunity from the Lord to disciple him and train him in the nurture and admonition of the Lord.

Wednesday, September 02, 2009

First day of school...

Hannah yawned right before I took a picture, and I laughed. Sarah decided she wanted to make me laugh, too, which is usually her response when someone laughs at anything. This is such a typical thing for Sarah--she is definitely our family clown!
Before the yawning episode!
Hannah loved her first day of school dress! I found it on clearance at Lands End. LOVE that site!!!
Sweet Mrs. Norris. We are so thankful to have her for another great year! She's one of my all time favorite teachers because she so clearly loves her students and instills God's Word in them consistently.
Such a pretty girl! and she's a bit on the sweet side, too, for the most part!

Such an ornery 5th grader! He hates to show his teeth when he smiles so I am always trying to get him to laugh so he'll have a genuine smile. He is just stubborn enough to try not to laugh no matter what I say!
Daniel's teacher, Mrs. Raught. She is the daughter of our pastor from Chicago. It's quite uncanny to watch her because she looks so much like him and has so many of his same expressions! We've not had her as a teacher yet so I can't mush and gush about her...yet! :-)
He's growing up so fast! He's really starting to mature in his thinking and his sense of humor. I loved teaching 5th grade because they could really think and carry on deeper conversations without having that 6th grade know it all personality. Definitely one of my favorite ages for kids!

Monday, August 31, 2009

A prayer request for sweet friends of ours

Please be praying for Adrian and Susan Smith. Adrian is the head of technology here at Northland, and they attend church with us in Norway. Susan was 38 weeks pregnant and found out that their baby died sometime this last week. I don't have any other details, but I can only imagine the grief and pain they are experiencing. I know the family would appreciate your prayers. And please pray for us as a church--we are really experiencing some tough times right now--all in the Lord's providence, but tough none the less!

Sunday Picnic







Brent had to head in to work right after church Sunday, and I made the executive call to skip the church picnic/baptism service at one of the area lakes. I choose my battles carefully these days. I decided I did not want to take a 2 year old who LOVES playing in the water to the lake to watch other people get in the water knowing full well I would not allow her to play in the water and battle that all afternoon by myself! The fellowship might have been sweet, but I'm convinced I would not have been able to enjoy it! So the kids and I took our lunch outside and had a picnic of our own under our weeping willow tree. We had a great time telling stories about when I was little and talking about school starting this week. Here are some of the better pics from that great end to the summer. BTW...it did officially end this morning about 5:00 when Brent finally came home from work and had to wait for the defrosters to melt the ICE off his windshield. Apparently he did not have an ice scraper in the car with him. That'll teach him, heh? We will now be carrying ice scrapers in the car starting in August. CRAZY!!!

Sunday, August 30, 2009

A quick update on the database system

Not that anyone really cares much about databases and whatnot, but I thought you might like to know the Lord worked out some kinks for Brent, and they are planning on going with the new system. This is a huge praise, but a huge prayer request at the same time. They are working like crazy now to get it so they can be ready to register the students as they begin arriving this week. Please pray for wisdom for Brent to be able to see the problems, the solutions to them, and the understanding to deal with things quickly. This week is the culmination of 6 months of work on this project. Please be praying especially for this week.

You've got to be kidding me!!!

COOL AIR ACROSS THE REGION...COMBINED WITH LIGHT WINDS AND MAINLY
CLEAR SKIES...ARE EXPECTED TO LEAD TO WIDESPREAD FROST ACROSS
NORTH-CENTRAL WISCONSIN TONIGHT. CLIMATOLOGICALLY COLD SPOTS COULD EVEN FALL BELOW FREEZING FOR A FEW HOURS.

This is the actual frost warning for tonight. Yes...you read it right, but you might want to go back and read it again to make sure you read it correctly. It's August 30, and it could get below freezing tonight. Let's just think hypothetically here...if it were to get below freezing and there was enough moisture in the air...it could snow. Just looking for a bit of sympathy here, folks. that's all...just some sympathy over the loss of the summer that never was...

Saturday, August 29, 2009

I will gladly clean up her messes...

Click Here for an amazing story of a family who is really going through the fire right now. I must say that I don't have a clue who they are. I didn't take the time to research his doctrinal stand. I'm not endorsing anything. I found his website through a blog of a blog of a blog...you know how it is. They have a beautiful 5 year old little girl who is battling a rare and agressive form of brain cancer for the past6-9 weeks or so from what I can tell.

As I sit typing this, Sarah came up to find her blankie to snuggle with while she watches Curious George. I, of course, was bawling like a baby, and she just looked at me strangely. I asked her for a hug, and she so sweetly obliged. I know that I fume and fuss quite a bit about the trouble she gets into, but I just want to go on the record as saying that I have so much to be thankful for. I will gladly clean up her messes and give her a gazillion baths a day after reading about this sweet girl and her family's godly response to the trials they are going through. Thank you, Lord, for the good health you have chosen to bless my children with. It is more than I deserve.

Something to pray about

Just a quick note to ask you all to pray for Brent and the implementation team he's leading right now at Northland. He's been working since before January to get to this point he's at now--actually today! The school is switching to a new database that involves any and every sort or record and tracking they do for any and every one involved in any and every sort...all that to say it's a really big deal...HUGE!!! They took the old database off line on Wednesday and today is the day they take the new system live. Brent will make the decision this afternoon/evening to stay with the new system or go back to the old system (if there are too many hitches with the new system, they'll go back to the old and have to start all over)

Although Brent doesn't do much with the technology department anymore, he's the one with the most experience in this sort of project management so he's been leading this one. It really is crunch time right now and for the next week. Brent has this amazing ability to look at situations and see potential problems that could arise, and that's exactly what he needs right now. Please pray that he will be able to foresee any difficulties that would be show stoppers when the students arrive. He's been working incredibly long hours this last week, and he needs the Lord's strength and help now. Your prayers on his behalf would be greatly appreciated.

Wednesday, August 19, 2009

all is quiet...is that a good thing?

Not much has been happening on the Sarah frontier as of late. Unless you consider her dumping an entire box of powdered laundry soap all over the carpet in the basement exciting. Or perhaps you think it's interesting that she also pulled out a great deal of clothes that I was storing in rubbermaid totes and strew them all over the laundry room. She has finally stopped covering herself from head to toe in washable markers that are not actually washable after all--next time I'm going for the cheaper kind since neither of them seem to come off her squishy arms! She went into the church nursery for the first time since June without screaming and having to pry her fingers off the door jams. That was exciting--dealing with a screaming 2 year old every time we went to church for the last 3 months...but that behavior has stayed away for 3 church services in a row now. Sarah's vocabulary is definitely increasing and she is able to tell her brother and sister exactly what they are doing that is annoying her. She shook Hannah's hand tonight in the car and very clearly said, "Good to meet ya!" She gave us an ever so slight glimmer of hope when she put her "stinkies" in the commode for the first time a couple of days ago (is that too much information?!?) that's ONCE in the last 2 months of potty training--I'm starting to view the big girl panties as cloth diapers...at least they're washable and saving us money over regular disposable diapers. Daniel finally stopped sleep walking after 3-4 times a night for 3 weeks straight. Yep...it's been pretty boring around here the last couple of days. Suffice it to say that I'm holding my breath for what she's storing up for us...I can pretty much assure you it won't be nearly as cute as you all think it is!

Monday, August 17, 2009

An all-time record for me!

I went to Kmart tonight to shop the sales taking advantage of their double coupon event. I am so very excited about all that I brought home. You can't see everything in the picture so let me just list it all--it makes me feel so good to take so long to type such a long list! :-)
2 jumbo pull-ups
2 mega easy ups
2 containers of lotion
2 containers of window cleaner
2 furniture polishes
4 huge containers of shampoo
2 bottles of men's body wash
2 men's deoderant (I'm getting tired of typing...I'm starting to take short cuts!)
barrettes for Hannah
toothbrush
large bottle of dish soap
1 hand soap
dryer sheets
1 laundry soap
2 toilet bowl cleaners--will last for 12 weeks if I use one a week as suggested
8 rolls of tp
4 boxes of fruit snacks (legos!!!)
jar of jelly
4 big boxes of poptarts (12 each)
4 mega size pringles
6 boxes of cereal
2 boxes of baggies

Now for the exciting part... I added up the retail cost (not the sale prices, but what the actual price tags said) and it was $199.38 before tax. The sale prices after tax was $179. After the sales, the coupons, rebates and Kmart credit towards my next purchase, I ONLY SPENT $54!!! I came home with $200 worth of merchandise for only $54!!! I'm just a bit excited, can you tell?!? Couponing takes time and a great deal of effort and organization, but after a night of shopping like this, it is so worth it! (all the extra exclamation points are just for you, Pastor Albert!!!) And when you think about it this way...$26 of the $54 I shelled out was for the pullups/training pants for Sarah. So I only paid $28 for that entire list (minus the diapers). There were many items that I wanted to purchase, but couldn't because our Kmart has a very limited grocery section and doesn't stock some of the things I had coupons for and was hoping to get for free after the double coupons...so it could have been even more! Gotta love shopping nights like that--and gotta love a great husband who's willing to keep the kids even after a very long day of work so I could focus on the coupons--what a guy!

Tuesday, July 28, 2009

You'd think I'd figure it out by now...

When Sarah wants to get out of bed she usually yells, "I done!" meaning, "I'm done sleeping and want to get up." We dont' let any of our children when they are this age get out of bed unless we give them permission...well, that's the goal at least! We want to have some sense of security that they aren't running around the house in the middle of the night when we are sleeping. Sarah has yet to learn this lesson. I should have learned by now to get up and go check when I hear something unusual, but I clearly have not. All the windows are open since it's in the 70's here and is quite breezy. I thought I must have heard the neighbor or someone on the highway since there is construction along 141 right now. But no...the noise I heard was the one and only Sarah getting into the pantry to get Triscuits to eat in bed, or maybe it was her getting into her sister's markers or her coloring sheets, or maybe it was her getting cups of water to pour back and forth into each other while sitting on her bed (so thankful we purchased that waterproof sheet for her bed for multiple reasons!) I am amazed at times by how loud a 2 year old can be...and today am equally amazed at how quiet she can be when she's sneaking around the house. Speaking of...it's awfully quiet now...I'm really hoping there's nothing eventful to post about now!

Friday, July 17, 2009

I'm just wallowing in the green pastures...

and that's a good thing. Let me explain. I'm finishing up my study on the names of God by Kay Arthur and have been so struck by some thing she included in her section about the Lord as our Shepherd. One of the things that a good shepherd does is leads his sheep to green pastures to feed until they are completely satisfied. The sheep can lie down in green pastures and not desire anything else because they are completely full. I know that is what the Lord does for me continually, but have been convicted by my attitude. It's very easy for me to look around and see my life as anything but "green pastures." I've been so convicted about my lack of contentment recently and have been asking the Lord to show me in such obvious ways how He provides so that my heart is reminded that I truly am lying in green pastures (or am I laying in green pastures...I can never get that grammar rule straight!)

The Lord reminded me in amazing ways this morning that He has led us to the greenest of pastures and provides for our every need. We had a clothing exchange at church this morning. As I was talking to one of the ladies, I looked down and noticed some really nice men's leather loafers. Brent really needs shoes for this fall...these were L.L. Bean tan leather loafers in a size 13 in practically brand new condition. The bottoms barely scuffed--maybe worn once! I was also able to find some clothes for Hannah for back to school--a beautiful Sunday dress from Land's End for this winter that is in brand new condition as well. I also found several tops for myself and a jacket for Daniel for this fall. It's been amazing to see the Lord provide for our needs in such over-the-top ways--much more than we need or could even have hoped for--I love LLBean and Lands End things (but Elissa and Esther...you know I love Lands End more than LLBean and always will, right?!?)

But the Lord did something else for us, too, this morning. Our kitchen sink has not been draining for several days now. Brent has tried everything imaginable to fix it. (do you know how very disgusting a kitchen drain pipe can be? If not, trust me when I say you do not want to know!) Brent's been running things by his dad, who is a master of all trades, and neither one of them could figure out why the drain would not, well...drain! Brent spent all evening Thursday working on it and all morning today as well. He decided to run the snake through the pipes one last time even though it has not done anything to resolve the problem before. But this last time, something was different and the drain was clear. There's no human answer...he's run the snake through the pipes (quite a nasty thing to have to do, let me say it again!) countless times to no avail. But this time something changed, and the water now runs freely. I am convinced it was the Lord's doing, not the snake...but the Lord who cleared our drain for us. And we are praising the Lord for not having to call a plumber to come out and look at it. The Lord truly provides, our Jehovah-Jirah, and as our Shepherd, He leads us to such green pastures that we can't help but just wallow in the lush grass!

What we've been doing this past week..

We've been going to one of the local church's Neighborhood Bible Time each evening this week and having a great time! Tonight was the final program, and it was really enjoyable. (Said in a way to do my best to hide the surprise in my voice) The kids both worked very hard this week memorizing verses (some of them were really, really long...I even had trouble with them!) and came away with a load of ribbons and some other awards, too. Hannah said the most verses for the second graders and had the second highest amount of points, and Daniel said the most verses for fifth graders and had the highest points. They were both very proud of their work and the rewards given for memorizing God's Word.