Thanks for sharing, Teddy!

On the list for today...kleenexes and cough drops for the rest of us who are starting to feel the effects of cold germs.  We just have to make it through tomorrow's convention.

Preparing for junior convention...the cookie baking category!

 I talked Alisa into "doing something different".  We are making Grammy's recipe for ginger crinkles...our first batch of this season.

 Ashlynn wanted to make chocolate cookies with mini M&Ms and mini chocolate chips.  I made some a week ago and "they were the best ever, Mom!  I want to make those ones for junior convention."

 Oh my nerves!  I needed a Pepsi after all the dough mixing, questions, and chatter.  I think...one girl...one batch of cookies...one year at a time...would help me out!  They know their way around the kitchen...and maybe I should have just walked away...but I felt compelled to supervise.  Other people are going to eat these...I needed to know all was well!

 Ashlynn's presentation...My Lunchbox Favorite...and we pulled out some things we had and added a fake apple and empty milk bottle.

 Alisa's cupboard...Grammy's cupboard...with her little pans, rolling pin, and cutting board.  Thank goodness for the internet to print off labels...I could not remove any labels from our jars without destroying them!

It is always a bummer when a cookie gets wrinkled or smooshed!  Gave this Mom a cause to see if they really tasted good!  I was wondering...when Alisa was mixing the dough...we found out we had used up all the ground ginger (too many batches of pumpkin muffins)!  We had to grate some fresh ginger we still had in the fridge.  Turns out...we like the taste just fine!  Maybe even better!

What once was noisy...is now quiet!

 Yesterday morning, the tear off of the roof began at 7:30.  By the time I went to pick up the girls from school, the men were cleaning up and waiting for the boss.  God gave a beautiful day for the men to work on replacing the roof!  An unbelievable thing...there was no damage to the wood...the men kept shaking their heads and muttering things in a language unknown to me...Albanian?  Not sure...but they were very hard workers!

 It was a very noisy day to be home sick...again!  Teddy has been coughing since Sunday afternoon.  Last night...his fever spiked again.  Poor kid has been miserable!  Nyquil has been the only thing to provide some relief from coughing.

This morning...he seems a little better.  We worked on make-up work for awhile, and now he is resting in the chair again with Beaver.  It is quiet today...and rest seems to come easier without the pounding on the roof.  We are grateful for a warm, dry place to call home...and Nyquil.

Singspiration

What a treat to be in the Lord's house tonight!  We heard testimonies and favorite songs of fellow believers.  I loved watching one little boy and his little sister sing his request, "I Sing The Mighty Power Of God" on the front row.  I am thankful for the power of God-honoring music!  Our kiddos were able to sing with their cousins with Uncle Brad playing the guitar for them.  Mari and I had the privilege of singing "Give Him The Glory" together.  One family sang "What A Savior, What A Master!". Our hearts are full of thanksgiving for a wonderful day.  God is so good! 

A Saturday at home...with all of us!

So very restful...yet productive...two air conditioners that had been caulked, wedged, and screwed into place were successfully removed.  We met two of our neighbors...finally, after two months!  Lots of people with long work days and commutes equals a keep-to-yourself-kind-of-community!

We enjoyed a treat of hot apple cider...made the house smell so good! 

I snuggled up with a good book!  A smaller place to live...not as much housework!

We are settling in to enjoy an extra hour tonight.  Tomorrow promises to be busy!  I really enjoy our Sunday schedule.  Tomorrow...SS small group, morning worship service, dinner with the Pastor's family, music practice with the cousins, choir, Singspiration...a day worth getting up for!

This week promises to be busy!

Shingles were delivered this afternoon for the roof.  It is going to be noisy around here Monday and Tuesday!

Junior Convention all day on Friday for the kiddos.  And we have some projects to finish and polish.

Good thing today was slow!

"There is always a choice!" we said and then just looked at each other. "Hmmmm!"

We are on lesson four of the cupcake-on-the-cover-book by Terrie Chappell, The Choice Is Yours.

I have had the thought swimming through my head all week, "There is always a choice!" Mari and I sat and talked about our SS class on Tuesday morning.  "I can't get past that thought.  I always have a choice." I told her.   Big choices, little choices, one choice, or twenty choices.  It is amazing the choices that we do make!  Sad to say, I don't always make the right (or the best out of good and better) choice...and then there are the consequences lined up with the choice I made.  We don't get to pick those!  This week has been full of reminders of choices that are made, have been made, need to be made, should have been made, or need to be made over again.
Choices aren't just for the kiddos!  We like to spend most of our energy on training them to make the right ones.  We act like we are always making the right ones...and we are not.  Ask your kiddos...they know!  I do believe the choices that we make as we grow older (maturing gracefully, if that makes you feel better) carry more responsibility and accountability with them!  I believe those choices also affect many more people. 
People are always watching us.  Some we invite and welcome.  Some we wish didn't.  Some...we wonder why they even care.  Maybe...some we wish would watch.  Others...we don't even realize are watching.  No matter what...God is always watching those who belong to Him.  He knows who they are.  He calls them by name.  And He call them His disciples.  He gives them a choice...always!
I am thankful that God leads me to read and study what He does...when He does!  Today's thought in My Utmost For His Highest, once again reminded me that each day I have a choice...and this one is important!  Saying one thing...and living out another thing...speaks of the choices I make.
John 14:15 "If ye love Me, ye will keep My commandments."
"...whenever Our Lord talked about discipleship, He prefaced it with an IF – you do not need to unless you like. “If any man will be My disciple, let him deny himself,” let him give up his right to himself to Me. Our Lord is not talking of eternal positions, but of being of value to Himself in this order of things, that is why He sounds so stern (Luke 14:26). Never interpret these words apart from the One Who uttered them.
The Lord does not give me rules, He makes His standard very clear, and if my relationship to Him is that of love, I will do what He says without any hesitation. If I hesitate, it is because I love some one else in competition with Him, like...myself. Jesus Christ will not help me to obey Him, I must obey Him; and when I do obey Him, I fulfil my spiritual destiny. My personal life may be crowded with small petty incidents, altogether unnoticeable and mean; but if I obey Jesus Christ in the haphazard circumstances, they become pinholes through which I see the face of God, and when I stand face to face with God I will discover that through my obedience thousands were blessed."  Oswald Chambers
People are watching...and they can see whether your choices are bringing heartache or blessing.  We make choices according to the Spirit that worketh in us.  If we are one of God's children, we have the Holy Spirit working in us.  There are fruits that are displayed as we yield to the Spirit...visible fruits.
Some call this judgmental, but I believe Scripture teaches this principle...a cause and effect, if you will..."...by their fruits ye shall know them." Matthew 7:20.
My choices are my choices; and I alone will be held accountable for my choices!   Your choice are your choices; and you alone will be held accountable for your choices!  We will be affected by our choices...and often...by the choices of others.  I know...when I stand before the Lord...I will only have to give an account for my choices!  And that can bring either heartache...blessing!  Every single day...there is a choice!

It seems as though it is always about food!

He said to buy some treats.  I didn't realize how good these were!  I should have sent the leftover treats to ride in the car to work with him.  A bit of chocolatey-carmel-goodness with a swallow of hot coffee on a cold day...OH. MY. WORD!

This picture is for my sissy!  She said we needed to make donuts.  My cookbook has been sitting on the counter with the page opened to this...it shares a page with the pancake recipe.  Last night...all of a sudden...seemed like a good donuts-to-go-along-with-breakfast-for-supper night.  I substituted the milk for apple juice.  Oh my goodness...cinnamon sugared goodness.

And right after supper...another planning session phone call...that included more food needs!

It is always about food, I'm telling you!

 

No tricks...just treats!

A warm comforting smell wafted through our home today...homemade applesauce!

And another warm comfort...my mother's voice...all the way from Canada!  I've been wondering how their trip has been going sans her suitcase...and now cancelled flights.  What a bummer...having to stay longer in a place that has wonderful memories...and her sister!  After spending all Monday with my sister...I just had to giggle!

Sweets to usher in the new month...some to share and some to...not share!

Our small impact from Hurricane Sandy

Wind...wind gusts that made us wonder if our house would blow away.  Rain off and on.  Snow...snow on the steps and on the van Tuesday morning.  More wind and cold temps...and then quiet.  We have so much to be thankful for!

I spent the day with my sister...watching the storm unfold while we folded laundry.  It struck me how much I take for granted every day!

A fun weekend with Papa and Grandma

The kiddos were surprised after school on Friday!  Papa and Grandma got in much earlier than we let the kiddos know.  Lots of hugs and smiles...and of course...treats.

This pretty much sums up how the kiddos feel every day after school!  It was just a little more fun with two dogs to roll around with.

It is always fun to sit around and talk.  Ted shared his adventures of his trip...and had us all laughing...again! 

Supper had to have a dessert!  "We have company!"  Pumpkin face brownies by our little artists.

We went to the Henry Ford Museum on Saturday.  What a neat place!  It was perfect for our car-loving guys!   Trains, planes, fast cars, history, inventions....so much to see!

Remembering and telling about a car Dad had when he was younger.

There was something for everyone to enjoy!  The girls liked the doll-houses.  "Oh, wouldn't it be fun to live in there...just for a day?"

Playing with the interactive computer screens...listening to the music through the various car eras.

"This was a fun day!  But let's eat!  I'm starving!"  Kiddos...all they seem to want to do some days...is eat!  We shared our new favorite place...Backyard Coney. 

It was fun to share another page in our new chapter with Papa and Grandma. 

For Alisa

The tree the kiddos stood under on Monday...almost empty!  I took this pic for Alisa.  She is going to do a colored pencil drawing for the junior convention and we are talking about doing a fall tree.  She wasn't so sure she knew how to draw a tree.  The neat thing...with our new phone...my pictures are readily available to post to the blog!  Thanks to my husband for pointing out yet another feature...photo stream.  I have too many pictures of colorful trees from the last few days...I don't know why I take them...trying to remember how pretty they were...before we are left with just the brown, bare branches.

The winds of change...

are blowing away all the leaves!  The clouds are beginning to dot the sky in preparation for "the cold front".

I got my "change" back in the form of a ticket after doing the first can/bottle return since our move.  It was a good thing I went early this morning...I had two bags...worth $12.20.  I think the kiddos will like to do this next time!

It has changed a lot since we lived in Michgan!  They once had people counting and throwing cans in totes.  Now...feed the can or bottle in and push the green button when you are done.  Then...wash off the sticky hands with the complimentary hand sanitizer.  How nice of them to provide that!  It still smells just as rank as I remember! 

I picked up a treat.  It was BOGO...and Papa and Grandma are coming tomorrow!  I just know one will taste good with our coffee, right, Mom!?!  I had one...with my coffee...just to make sure they were ok to serve our guests.  Oh yum!  Too bad they are just for a limited time!