Just one day

Today, my girls & I went to Sandy Hill Cove beach with one of my BFF's, Viv. It was a perfect day to go. The temps were suppose to reach the 90's and most schools aren't out for the summer, so I wasn't expecting the beach to be packed. We packed a lunch, packed up the girls and off we went. It is about an hour drive from my house to South County, which is the southern part of RI. When we got there it was still a bit overcast. But we set up our blanket, umbrella & let the girls start playing. They started out building a sand castle. Auntie Viv as my girls call her, is quite good at building these. She knows that the sand has to be the right consistency of wet sand to stick together. After building our sand castle we went in the FREEZING water for a little while and then sat down to eat our lunch. After lunch, Rachel wanted to go back in the water, while Emily wanted to continue to work on the sand castle. Going in the water & jumping over the waves won out over the sand castle. We then talked the girls into walking down the beach to collect shells to decorate their castle with. It was during this time that this post was inspired. I'm not sure when it happened, but somewhere along the way I lost what was important. I LOVE THE WATER; I grew up on a lake & before that by the ocean. I don't remember much about the ocean other than we used to go crabbing. It was so absolutely beautiful today. I loved watching the innocence of my six year olds playing in the sand, jumping over waves and walking down the beach looking for shells and rocks. When we first went in the water if any splashed on their faces they would make pseudo spitting noises and say, "Blek, pthuhy." It was kind of comical. At one point when we were walking down the beach, Rachel found a shell covered in sand, but as she ran into the water to rinse it off she tripped and fell, getting her face wet, bringing about the obligatory, "Blek, pthuhy." She lost her shell & I think some of her pride. We found a lot of clams, several scallops and many of my favorites. I don't know their name and couldn't even find a picture of them. All I know is I've always called them 'banana boats.'
It truly was a beautiful day. It brought me back to the fact that although being at the ocean is sticky and sandy, I really love it. And most of all I loved watching the innocence of my children. Unfortunately, I didn't take a camera today to capture any of what I saw, so I can only rely on my memory. Words can't begin to describe the thoughts that were going through my head. Everything from, I miss my mom, to "Footprints in the Sand," to the innocence of children, my children, to the joy of spending time with one of my BFF's, who loves my girls like they are her own flesh and blood, and many others. I forgot to mention how we started out the day. The girls were asking me what kind of animals live in the ocean. I think they were afraid of something nibbling on their toes. I didn't have the heart to tell them about jelly fish. But I told them crabs and whales live in the ocean. Then we talked about who made the earth (God), who made the animals (God), who made Adam & Eve (God), and that God put Adam & Eve in charge of all the animals. Thank you God for your beautiful creation.

Happy Valentine's Day & Happy Anniversary

Today is my 6th wedding anniversary. It is hard to believe it has been 6 years already. Most days it seems like just yesterday. A lot has happened in 6 years. We birthed twin daughters, my mom passed away, my husband lost his job, my 25 year old nephew passed away, and many other things in between, but these are just some of the major high lights. They aren't all negative, I've also had a new nephew & niece as well as a great nephew born. The things that have happened have made our relationship stronger.

"Made your relationship stronger?" you might ask. Yes. Has it always been easy? NOPE! But it has been worth it.

We met when we worked together at a big box store and he was my boss. There was always a chemistry there, but I was seeing someone else that I was engaged to at the time (thankfully that relationship ended before the marriage). Bill and I went our separate ways; he left the company, but our soon to be sister-in-law still worked there, so I was able to keep tabs on him. Two years later he asked me out to brunch, on Valentine's Day. I must have scared him off, because it took him several more months before we got back in touch with each other. That was in 2003, and by September 2003, I felt pretty confident this was the man God had chosen for me and we became engaged. We got married on Valentine's day, 2004.


The other day I went down to babysit for some friends of mine and the song Pina Colada/Escape by Rupert Holmes came on the radio on the way to their house. I grew up on this song, but this time, it made me think about my relationship. I think there are points in our lives where we all get a little bored. I mean let's face it, if every day is the same old mundane thing, chances are pretty good we would get bored. We've only been together 6 years, but some of my friends who've been together close to 20 years tell me variety is truly the spice of life. This song said something to me; is my marriage so boring that my spouse has even thought about stepping out on me? (just for the record, I don't think he has ) More importantly, what am I doing to keep up the spice in my marriage so this never happens? How well do I really know my spouse and his likes and dislikes?

So my love, I'm looking forward to growing old with you, learning more about your likes and dislikes and keeping things spicy.

Love, George

The vote heard around the world

An open letter to the new Senator of Massachusetts, Scott Brown

Dear Senator Brown,

You made history today. The Democrats can't take that from you. You campaigned well; honestly and avoiding negative campaign ads. You are the people's person. If I lived in MA, I would have voted for you. From what I saw and heard, you are the type who is really sincere, not afraid to roll up your sleeves, dig right in and get a little dirty. I know there were some die hard Democrats in MA who voted for you, not necessarily because they believe in you, but because they wanted to send Washington D.C. a message; maybe more specifically our President, Barack Obama. Listening to your victory speech, I hope you keep your word. You said it wasn't the Republican's seat or the Democrat's seat, but the people's seat. In one of the bluest states in this country, for one of the seats that was held for the longest time, the people of MA spoke their voices today and they elected you. Apparently Barney Frank said this was a "popularity contest." Maybe it was, maybe it wasn't. I think your opponent made several major gaffes, one of which was not being able to spell the state she was running in.
I could wax philosophical or political all day, but I won't.
I'll simply say congratulations on your victory, and on a race well run. I will be praying that you continue to run that race well.

Sincerely, -Gail P.

A timeless classic for the Christmas season

The movie "Mary Poppins" was on ABC family channel tonight. My husband knows this is one of my all time favorite movies, so he told me the time and channel before it started. I got busy playing on the computer and doing laundry and forgot all about it until about the last 5 minutes of the movie. So I turned on the last 5 minutes.

I think this movie is such a timeless classic because of the message it portrays. Not of a nanny who whips two bratty children into shape, but that the presence of an earthly father figure is important to the family dynamic. God designed the family unit to be just that a unit~ a mother, a father and the children. I understand that things happen in life to rip that unit apart, but just watch the end of the movie. The family is going to the park together to fly a kite. And the dad gets it! He realizes that it is important to the children to spend time being with them. Not to take them to the park so they can do it on their own, but to be an active participant involved in their lives. And Mary Poppins and her umbrella (the talking parrot head) even have that conversation. The bird says something about the children going off with their father and not saying goodbye and Mary says, "Just as it should be."

Can I just tell you how blessed my girls and I are that we have an active, participating daddy in our lives? He is so good with our girls. He'll take them to the library to pick out books and videos. Then come home and read to them or sit down and snuggle as they watch a video they brought home. He'll take them to the park or start a tickle fest with them. Sometimes all he has to do is be his usual goofball self and they'll just crack up at him. And I don't know about you, but there is nothing that puts a smile in my heart more than listening to a child's sincere, belly busting laugh, the kind that come up all the way from the toes.

So, it is the Christmas season. We celebrate Jesus Christ coming to earth to be fully man, yet fully God. What an awesome gift God gave us in his only son Jesus Christ. I bet Joseph had moments like those above in teaching Jesus how to be a carpenter. What an awesome gift God gave me when he blessed me with the perfect husband for me and 2 beautiful daughters for my husband and I to parent. He chose us to be their parents. May you see the wonders and gifts all around you this Christmas season.

been a long time

Don't know if there's any one who even still looks at this, but....I'll give it a shot.
Yes, it's been a long time since I've been here. Life has been crazy~ I'm sure you can't even begin to relate(watch out for dripping sarcasm). Yes, life is crazy for all of us, some of us just manage it better than others.
So for those of you who prayed for my nephew, Adam, he passed away just over a month ago. In fact, a month ago today we were at his calling hours(wake, for some of you). It just seems so surreal.

So, I started cleaning at my church this week. This is not a volunteer position, rather a paid position. This is the first job I've had since I became pregnant with my girls. Well, I babysit for my landlord at least 1 day a week, and have been doing that since my girls were about a year. But to me that doesn't really count.
So 3 people on staff at my church said to me, "I started out cleaning, here." In my mind, I'm saying, "GRRREEEAAATTT!!!!! God, what are you trying to tell me??? That I'm going to be on staff here in the near future???" I certainly don't feel that calling, although God did call me out of a massage therapy career to go to Bible college. Hmmmmmmmmmmm

Change is definitely in the air in my life. And while I don't feel like it is to be on staff at my church other than the cleaning person, I do feel like God is calling me to a new level. He's been trying to deal with me in regards to my marriage~ on many different fronts. (Honey, if you're reading this don't worry, it's all good!) And about my personal life, how I am eating, spending my time, etc.
Some scriptures he's been giving me: Matt. 6:21 ~For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. And today he gave me Col. 3:23-24 ~Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving.

My Pastor came & talked to me today while I was working. He just wanted to welcome me and in not so many words re-iterate what the Lord had already been telling me in Col. 3:23-24. It was nice to hear the encouragement and reinforcement.

God is soooo good. Hope you are having a blessed life. (btw~ that doesn't mean it will be trouble free.) I am praying for you.

Oh, yeah & just so you didn't think I forgot; it is amazing to me that it has been 8 years since 9-11. I was getting ready for work when all the commotion started, yep, life can definitely be surreal at times.

HAPPY RESURRECTION DAY and another pet peeve, and some shout outs

Hi There! Bet you've been wondering where I've been. No? Well, that's okay. I'm going to tell you anyway. I have been sucked into the proverbial waste of time called Facebook. One of my other bloggy friends called Facebook the lazy person's blog. And to some degree that is true. It is a bit of an easier way to keep up with people other than reading a bunch of blogs. I don't like that I have allowed myself to be sucked into spending sooo much time on Facebook; yet on the other hand, I have connected with people from grade school, high school and beyond. To me, that is awesome. People I haven't seen or heard from in over (gasp)25 years! (where has the time gone? didn't I just graduate from high school only a few years ago???)

So today is Easter! HAPPY EASTER! HE HAS RISEN INDEED!!! Thank you Jesus for dying on the cross for my sins & saving my life.

Are you curious what another of my pet peeves is? No? Guess what, I'm going to tell you anyway. Why? Because it is my blog & I can write about what I want.

Like I said a paragraph above the previous one, today is Easter. This is 1 of 2 important "holidays" or holy days in Christianity (the other being Christmas, celebrating the birth of Jesus Christ.) Why? Because Jesus Christ died on the cross for ALL of our sins & then rose again 3 days later. There is not a gosh darned thing any one of us can do to earn, work or otherwise cajole our way into heaven. You either believe it or you don't. If you don't, you may want to ask yourself what would happen to you if you keeled over & died while reading this post. Where would you go?

This brings me back to my pet peeve. People will say to me, "Oh, so you are religious?" RELIGION & RELIGIOUS, YES, THAT IS MY PET PEEVE! NO PEOPLE, I AM NOT ANY MORE RELIGIOUS THAN YOU ARE.

While some "denominations" have "religious" services, Christianity is about a relationship. A relationship with Jesus Christ. Do I do religious things? Absolutely! And I bet you do too! Do you brush your teeth regularly (on a schedule)? Then you do that religiously. Take a shower, go to the bathroom, or eat a meal at a specific time of day? You do those things religiously. I could go on & on, but I'm sure you get my drift. A relationship with Jesus Christ; what does that mean? It means that you believe he was man and God; was born of a virgin; crucified on a cross, died & rose again 3 days later & now resides in heaven at the right hand of God, the Father. Now you may be saying, okay, I've never seen him, how do I know he exists? Have you ever seen the wind? You've felt the wind, you've seen the wind move the trees, but have you ever seen the wind itself? So how do you know the wind exists? For me, I just know! But if you doubt- ask Him. He'll show you. You may be asking how do I have a relationship with Him? How do you have a relationship with your friends? You have to talk to them right? So talk to Jesus. Ask Him to come live in your heart. He will do it. He did it for me, & he did it for the thief on the cross next to him so many years ago. And He has done it for many other people. Does that mean I don't sin any more? HECK NO! I sin daily, but He will forgive all of our sins. This might seem all too simple for you, I promise you it really is that simple.

Okay, I think I'm done ranting about my pet peeves. Now for some shout outs!
Well, since it has been almost 3 months since I last posted, there have been A LOT OF BIRTHDAYS! A couple of the ones more dearer to my heart- my nephew, Adam- turned a quarter of a century, my nephew, Dylan turned 8, my baby girls turned 4!!! And there are many others, who I hopefully wished happy birthday to on their special day. Also my niece, Lyla, made her way into the world and a special friend, Andrew James, made his way into the world- I got to witness this one! Oh how beautiful it was. To read more about,click here .

I guess that about wraps this up tonight. I hope you had a joyous day celebrating the resurrection of Jesus Christ. If you have any questions, feel free to ask me. I don't purport to have any of the answers, but hey maybe we can figure out this thing called "life" together. God Bless.

Things going on

You may have noticed I added a new blog to my list of "blogs that inspire me." I've been reading this blog for quite awhile actually & should have added it a long time ago. Forgive me for not doing so, but I am now going to encourage you to go check out Joe Sangl. My girlfriend nick-named him "Dave Ramsey lite." Either way, whether you read Joe or you need a lot more detail & need to read Dave Ramsey - go do it. This stuff works- well, it works if you are at your "I have had enough" point.
Let me just tell you it has all been God, but my husband has been unemployed (and is still) since the end of June, and we have managed to drop debt even during this very difficult time.

On another note, another blog I read that is usually very comical is Because I Said So; she has 6 children, 3 of each. She has a review blog & well, a lot of people read her. She's kind of like the next "Erma Bombeck." She posted a few weeks ago about a giveaway on another blog, so I hopped on over to check it out. And guess what happened?! I WON! I WON!! I WON!!! (Great,~ now I have another blog to add to my list of blogs I read. Just kidding, Rick!)I won a doodle drawing from Rick over at Organized Doodles. He posted rules as to what we could pick for a doodle so I picked this one titled: Holy Ghost Riders ~Doesn't it look great!~

I have to explain, my husband & I both ride motorcycles; a passion I got my husband into. In fact I created a monster, but it is a good one. We are also Christians, meaning we believe in & do our best to follow Jesus Christ & his Word. So I thought that while ALL Rick's drawings were great, Holy Ghost Riders was the most apropos for me. The original post has this scripture -Matthew 3:11. Unfortunately he left it off the doodle he sent me, but that's okay. Thanks Rick! I absolutely love the doodle & when the finances return I plan on getting more.

Busy week and a half

I've been wanting to post this since last week, but I wasn't going to do so, until I could get my husband to dump the pictures from his camera onto the computer. Finally after much nagging asking nicely, he got it done today! YAY! I guess I could learn how to do it myself, but that would be too easy. So without further ado, here's what's been going on in our busy lives. The Friday before Christmas we finally got our first 'real' snow of the season. It snowed into Sunday, with a bit of a reprieve here & there. Alas, Friday & Saturday it was a powdery fine snow, not good at all for making snowmen, but the girls learned how to make snow angels. By Sunday afternoon, it started turning to rain; good enough for packing & making a snowman. WOOHOO! Well, Saturday, late in the afternoon as it was turning dark we let the girls go out and play in it. This picture is my 2 girls and the landlord's daughter who's a few months younger than mine.
L-R Emily, Rachel, Maddie

And unfortunately, we didn't get a picture of the snowman, but he was about 6' tall. As he started to melt on Tuesday, my husband said he must be an Obama supporter. I asked why, and I shouldn't have. He said, "Because he's leaning left." I married this comedian.

Tuesday morning came and we loaded up the van and headed up to Lunenburg, MA to visit my cousin, Chriztine and my aunt Nita, who had just flown in from Ohio. Boy what a trip that woman had. Here she is 82 years young, they cancel her flight Sunday, due to weather. Monday, they let her sit in the Cleveland airport for 4 hours(she's from Columbus), try to reroute her to Boston(she was suppose to fly into Manchester, NH)and then lose her luggage. It showed up Wednesday morning at 1:30. UGH!
We were going up to bake Christmas cookies, visit, (I hadn't seen my aunt since my mom passed away almost 2 years ago) do a little sledding since they had almost 2 feet of snow there and go eat some lobsta'. Here are some pictures from the day at Chriztine's.
these are the sugar cookies, the girls & I decorated.
this is my Rudolph
this is Emmy's gingerbread woman she decorated, she was a bit heavy handed with the colored sugar.
L-R my Aunt Nita, me, my cousin Chriztine
this is me as I just crashed into Rae, at the bottom of the picture you can see Em's bum

Christmas morning came, we read the girls the story of Jesus' birth and then tore into the presents. At this particular time in life, my girls are into Cars & princesses. In case you couldn't tell from the pictures. Emmy all excited that Santa brought her Mater socks.
the girls in their new princess robes & lightning "the queen" slippers (this what they say instead of McQueen)
After all of the excitement of opening presents, the girls & I said a fond farewell to their Elmo slippers that were getting too small & had holes in the bottoms.

Emmy's in red & Rae's in black, yes, Em can be my clown at times, but they both have their moments.

I hope you and your family had a very MERRY CHRISTmas.

Wisdom

I think I've made this confession before, I am addicted to blog reading. Some of the blogs I read are my friends & it allows me to catch up on the comical things going on in their lives. Most of them are other Christians, who many times have great words of wisdom to share. I really enjoy reading Perry Noble's blog, as he usually has great things to say. As do Lots of Scotts & Bring the Rain. But today Perry linked to another post, the title is a bit shocking, but the post itself speaks great truth to those of us that are Christians. It definitely made me say OUCH! So without further ado, hop on over & read this.

Things my momma taught me(a little tribute)

I know, I know, don't faint that I'm doing 2 posts in one day. Actually wanted to do this one last year, but just wasn't in the place to do it. And I didn't really ever call her momma, it was always Mom, Mommy, or as I got older & if I was annoyed with her it was Mother(spoken with an attitude & heaviness on the ther). But my girls call me momma, so thus the title.

Probably first & foremost, my mom pounded into my head & heart that "God always provides." Seeing as how we are still among the unemployed, this is truly a good thing to know & have heart knowledge of, not just head knowledge. She taught me the principles of giving (and receiving, but I'm not always a gracious receiver). She taught me honesty and integrity. She taught me that if I'm going to do things to do my very best, do it right the first time & you won't have to do it over again. And she taught me that can't never did anything. Huh? you may be saying. If you say you can't do something you are right- you can't & you will never do anything in life if you continue to say "I can't do____."
She told me that wait broke the wagon down & makes it too hard to carry. No that isn't a typo- she wasn't talking about weight, but when I was little & would say "wait, mommy, wait!"
As a teenager & young adult in my early 20's, my mom and I had open and honest conversations about sex. My mom knew I tried many things(sex, drugs & rock n' roll) after the fact and she didn't necessarily condone them, but she loved me none the less.
She almost always let me sit in her lap; even well into my 20's. I remember I had gotten one of the Beatrix Potter books at the gas station & I sat in her lap & she read it to me. She was the coolest mom. I remember when I turned 21 & she took me out for my 1st "official" drink. But she didn't want me to drink & drive & so when I went out for my 25th b-day & was too drunk to drive, she came & picked me up.

We didn't always have the best relationship. I remember shortly after my folks got divorced and I must not have been too happy with the rules at our house. I wrote her a letter telling her I wanted a divorce too. She kept that letter in her wallet, I think until the day she died. I remember when I realized that going to church wasn't just something we did on Sundays, but it was about a personal relationship with Jesus Christ; I said some not very nice things about my parents and how they had raised me in "religion" and not taught me anything. I later realized that what they did teach me gave me the foundation I have today. I remember her not being very happy with me when I told her I wanted to be baptized again, because it was a choice my parents had made for me. It wasn't a very good conversation & shortly after that conversation she thought I had joined a cult. Thankfully, she realized that I hadn't joined a cult & we repaired our relationship.

I hope I can be as good a mom to my girls, as my mother was for me. Miss you lots, Lucy!

Birthday shout outs, and other miscellaneous rants

I have a WHOLE LOT of birthday shout outs that I'm combining into 1 post, so here goes. Today is/was(which is proper-since she is deceased?)my mom's b-day. She always told me she shared her birthday with Beethoven & Bach, but in researching it, I didn't find Bach; & that the Boston tea party happened on her birthday too.(wow, that seems like a nice run-on sentence.) I was always a bit envious, because the only somewhat famous person/object who shares my b-day is Bugs bunny. Well, today is also my good friend Dawn's son's b-day. So Happy b-day W-bear. To see a picture of the over the top cake she did for his b-day go here.
In other b-day shout outs, my sis-in-law, Jess, turned 30 yesterday. Yep, I posted her age, 'cuz she's just a young whipper snapper. :) Some dear friends of mine, Tim & Melissia(who also happened to whine about turning 30), their b-days are the 21st & 10th respectively. Also, my BFF Renae's daughter, Jill's b-day is the 9th. My step-mom's b-day is the 19th. And I certainly can not forget the Christmas brigade of b-day's either. My cousin, Amy's is the 24th, my good friend Hollie's is the 25th, & my big brother, Mikey's is the 26th. It is kind of cool that my cousin & brother are exactly 2 days apart and their 1st born children are about 1 week apart. There are other b-days, but some of these people I haven't talked to in awhile, so I won't bore you with listing them.

Missing my mom. Emotionally, I'm okay, most days. But I miss just being able to pick up the phone & whining about telling her how the girls are doing; what funny things they have said or done lately. I miss the fact that my girls won't really remember "Mimi Lucy." Lucy was my nickname for my mom & the girls call my mom & my mom-in-law "Mimi;" they couldn't really say Grammy, so it turned into Mimi. They know that Mimi Lucy is with Jesus in heaven.

I know I was going to post about some other stuff, thus the title for this post, but for the life of me, I can't remember what it was. I hate when I lose my mind. So, I guess good night for now.

'Tis the season

My husband & I usher at Providence Performing Arts Center(PPAC). We have been doing this for 3 years now. It is good, because we get to see shows for free & on occasion have a night out on the town together, all for very little cost. (gas money if we have to pick up my mother-in-law, who doesn't drive) This weekend is the "annual" Nutcracker ballet. I had to work tonight & I passed out programs. The area of the theater we work in changes for each show if you want it to. I like working on the door, because you get to see everyone come in & their outfits; from blue jeans with holes in them & ratty, untied tennis shoes to very fancy outfits. Tonight an adorable almost 4 year old came through my door and I gave her a program, not because she can or can not read, but because maybe someday she'll want to put it in her scrapbook. Her name was Ella & she ever so politely said thank you with no prompting from mom or dad when I handed her the program. (I found out her name after the fact, as they left early.) But it just amazes me some of the outfits I see coming in there. Fussy's fight the frump would have a field day! fussypants.typepad.com
Sorry I didn't feel like doing the whole little link thing.
Time for bed.

Cute things your children say

Wednesday my girlfriend Dawn agreed to watch my girls, so Bill & I could go Christmas shopping. We stayed out way later than I planned, but part of that is we got such a late start on our day. Went to leave and couldn't locate the gift cards we had been given for Christmas shopping. They weren't lost, only temporarily misplaced; in fact they were right where I always put gift cards we have. Then when we finally got everyone in the van, it wouldn't start. Ended up having to jump it and got the battery replaced the next day. So, I had originally told Dawn we'd be there about 10:30 but it was closer to 11 by the time we made it.
I tell her to give the girls quiet time on the couch, if they fall asleep great, if not that's okay. Well, Rachel still getting over her laryngitis falls asleep for about 1/2 hour until she slumps over and Emily starts yelling at her to get out of her space. Great! Now Rachel is awake. Again, not the end of the world, but the nap would have been good for her.
So we're driving home after picking up the girls and I ask Emily about above story. She says she didn't wake her sister up, Rachel says she did and the did not, did too's start! I quickly stop this and say it isn't a big deal, but from the back seat I hear Rachel say, "But, God knows." It was kind of said under her breathe, but loud enough that I could hear it. OH MY GOODNESS! It was all I could do to not bust out laughing.

busy weekend

Well, our thanksgiving weekend was busy. Thursday we went to our friends, the Kerr's, for Thanksgiving. Her brother & his family were in town, as well as her folks. Ken(her brother)made some absolutely lovely shrimp on the barbie, as an appetizer. Dawn always tells me the secret to moist poultry is brining your chicken or turkey. She is soooo right. The entire meal was delightful and afterward we played a little Mexican train dominoes.

Friday, I was hoping to accomplish various things around the apartment, but instead ended up helping hubby & the girls put up our Christmas tree. We do every other year here at home, so last year we were away. It was a bit bittersweet to be decorating our tree & combining a lot of the ornaments we had with ones my mother used to use/I grew up with. I did get a few things done other than that & in the afternoon, Daddy made snowmen ornaments with the girls. I was impressed to say the least.

Saturday dawned, and Daddy had mentioned going to La Salette to see all the pretty lights. We called our friends, the Kerr's to see if maybe they wanted to meet up and go with us. It was a done deal. Afterward we went back to their house for dessert and hot chocolate and I was hoping a game of Norwegian dice(some may know it as Farkle). No such luck on the dice.

Sunday was church obviously. My mother-in-law needed a ride to the bank and we all came home after that and took nice long naps. I should have known something was up with Rachel at that point, when she took an almost 3 hour nap and went to bed without a fuss when we got home from having dinner at my mother-in-law's.

Monday came and Rae was not 100%; I could tell(as us moms always can). She had 2 episodes Monday night of a croupy sounding cough within a couple hour time span. The second one scared me a bit, but thankfully we avoided the ER and she went to the doctor's this am. She has laryngitis, but the doctor said at their age, when the vocal cords get inflamed, it can make it difficult for them to breathe. She had a one dose shot of steroids and other than not wanting to go to bed tonight is doing much better.

I hope the busyness of this past weekend is no indication of what the month of December is going to be like.

Counting our blessings/ What an awesome God I serve

Phillipians 4:19 NIV And my God will meet all your needs according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus.

Matthew 6:25-26 NIV 25"Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes? 26Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they?

With this being Thanksgiving week & in light of what happened to us yesterday at church, I just wanted to share a few things.

My husband left retail in 2006 after many years in it. We toyed with the idea of keeping it part time. "Just in case." Just in case, you may ask? Just in case what? Just in case the job he took didn't work out, or our finances became too tight, or fill in the blank with your just in case scenario. Well, we felt God leading us NOT to keep the retail job part time, so we didn't. Fast forward 9 months. My husband calls me on a Friday afternoon, while the girls and & I are in NY helping clean up my mother's estate, with the news that he just lost his job. God provided for us by giving us distributions from my mother's estate, along with unemployment. In the fall he got a photography job, but the conditions were not as good as they seemed. Now we are at the beginning of 2008. He got a temporary job at Staples corporate, well that ended the end of June, and we have since been unemployed.

Now here is the good news of how awesome God is. ALL of our bills are current. That is not saying our financial situation is not tight! It is beyond tight & I feel like I am constantly trying to juggle our money around to pay bills. We have NOT used any credit cards since Bill lost his job in June. And God has been blessing us in other ways that may seem small, but are really huge.
A friend blessed us with much needed groceries- I'm not talking just dry goods, I'm talking meats-chicken, pork, hamburger, fresh fruits and veggies, etc. We received money in the mail, as well as a grocery store gift card, 2 separate occasions. And Sunday at church we received more cash along with 2 gift cards- 1 to Walmart & 1 to Toys'r'us. The cash was absolutely huge as I was wondering how we were going to come up with our rent money. This just took a huge chunk out of it.
And we also had a 2 week period the end of September of NO unemployment or other funds coming in. A big thank you to God's servants who listen to him & are obedient.
GOD IS TRULY AWESOME & FAITHFUL!!!!

Mind boggling things I saw today

I had a doctor's appointment this afternoon for a checkup. As I was driving to it, I saw several things that boggled my mind. If any of you reading in bloggy land have ANY insight to the following things, please do share.
Bumper sticker on a car. First of all let me just say I like to read bumper stickers; yes, I can read them and still pay attention to the road. This bumper sticker was a fish- like the Christian fish; but it wasn't the Christian fish. And it wasn't the darwin fish either. Inside it had the word WITCH, on it's head it had the little pointy witch hat & underneath the fish was a broom. I had to call several people to see if they had any inkling, the best I got was from Supra at our church. She told me it must be a fishwich & that maybe the person put it on their car for the halibut!
Okay, you know you cracked a smile at the halibut part. But I am honestly not kidding about this bumper sticker. One of the nurses at my dr's office is into wiccan, but it was very busy in there today & she wasn't my nurse so I couldn't even ask her. I do pray for her though.

As I was getting off my exit there is a bicycle store right next to my exit. On the outside of their building they had a sign that said: "electric bicycles." HUH??? Wouldn't that be a moped? or a scooter? Wouldn't electric defeat the whole purpose of pedaling/exercise???

I come up to a major intersection. On my left is a 24 hour Walgreen's, across the street on the other left corner is a 24 hour CVS, across the street from CVS on the right corner is a Rite-Aid, and on my right is Dunkin' Donuts. Three MAJOR drugstores & 2 of them are open 24/7. Am I the only one this strikes as odd? Are there so many people in this neighborhood who get sick that they need 3 drugstores on opposite corners from each other??? WOW!!!!

In other news today, for my few faithful readers, who have been praying for my nephew, please continue to pray for him and his mom, my sis-in-law. Adam ended up in the hospital with a blockage in his bowel. They say there is no evidence of cancer stuff, so don't know what is causing the blockage. Also due to all the other stuff going on with him, they can not use all of the traditional methods to clear out the blockage, so if they can't get it cleared he will have to have yet another surgery! Obviously my sil is stressing about all of this & I can't say as I blame her, but she fell Monday night and cracked 3 ribs so she isn't doing to great herself. Please pray for both things to be resolved quickly.

Well, it is late & I must be off to bed. Hope y'all have a good evening.

Good news, bad news

So, thinking just maybe Rae, doesn't really have an ear ? infection, but it's just a little clogged; we administer said anti-inflammatory, the girls play a little play doh & then she lays on daddy with the heating pad. All per the on-call triage nurse. (okay, not the play doh part) Sunday dawns and we decide not to say anything about above incident, figuring, if she really is in pain, she'll say something. Not a peep out of her.
However, today we are sitting at the table at lunch & notice Emily's ear inside, but not down in the canal, is bright red. I need to back track a bit here. A week or so ago, she had scratched her ear so hard she made it bleed. We started monitoring it & putting a bit of neosporin in it to keep it soft & help it heal. Great, all gone! But she keeps asking for the medicine in her ear. Even last night(Sun.); so Bill puts a dab of my face moisturizer on it and to sleep she goes. I call the nurse to get her opinion, as I'm not one of these people who likes to bring their child(ren) in for every little sniffle and sneeze. And as I've posted before, we are a relatively healthy family, in terms of illnesses. Lo and behold, they see her this afternoon. At some point, either from when she scratched it or before that, Emily got an infection in there. So she is now on topical & oral antibiotics.

On a different front; some of my "doing life together" ladies & I got together for an afternoon out. Trader Joe's just opened here in RI, so we decided to go check it out, do lunch, and a few other stores, after church yesterday. We had a lovely time, thanks to all the hubbies for watching the children while we did this. But the best part was reading about what Bo Hunkmeister did. I'm only mildly envious, because my first b-day we were together, my husband put 37 helium balloons in my apartment with 3x5 index cards attached with 37 reasons/things he loves about me. (I happened to be out of town for said b-day & came home to this.)

GO BO! Hold that bar up high for the rest of the men!

A trip to mecca aka IKEA

So, a little while back (the exact time frame escapes me)my good friend, Maria sent me a link to enter a contest through IKEA. I'm all for entering contests if I'm not going to get more junk snail mail or spam e-mail. So I enter said contest & get a notification back that I won one of their instant $20.00 gift cards. Give them all my info & a few days later, in the snail mail WA LA(is this how you really spell that? Noah Webster must be turning over in his grave!), said gift card arrives. It has been hanging around for a while now as mecca IKEA is about a 45 minute drive heading towards Boston, from where we live. Now, not being a "true" New Englander, this doesn't really bother me. But especially with gas prices as they were(we are down close to $2.00, here), this is not a trip you make any old time or every day. So I say to the hubby after his bible study this morning; "Honey, do you feel like going to IKEA today?" His response? "Why absolutely, oh beautiful love of my life!" Okay, so he wasn't really that sickeningly sweet. But he did agree to load the girls up & head out with us. He had never been to mecca IKEA.
We get there, walk around for a while, then went & had an early dinner. As we sit down, Rachel says, "my ear hurts." Bill asks her if she wants him to pray for the pain & she in her pitiful voice says, "uh, huh." As Bill walks around the table to pray for Rae, we hear Emily say, "In Jesus' name, AMEN!" and then promptly inform Daddy that she just prayed for Rach. (as she has recently taken to calling her.) So she feels no one else needs to pray for her. Then, on the way home I called the peds office to see what I should do, as my girls don't generally get sick. Give her some ibuprofen & a heating pad when we get home & call them in the am to bring her in. Emily, again informs us that she/we already prayed for Rachel & she doesn't need any medicine, but "mommy, can I have some too?" So we tried to explain that we can all pray for Rachel's ear pain & that sometimes God wants us to use medicine to help us get better. We will have to see how she is when she gets up, in the am. I'm just praying it isn't an ear infection or strep.

Oh yeah, as we are pulling out of the parking lot, I could sense he wasn't impressed with wasting his afternoon his visit to IKEA. So in my ever observant & un-filtered way of saying things, I stupidly ask him what he thought. He says, "It reminds me of a high-end Job Lots." (I think he might have meant bldg. 19, but I could be wrong)

In the meantime my friend, Dawn, aka "the domestic goddess" & martha stewart, jr. calls me, ME!!! to ask me a recipe question. Okay, so it was on a recipe that I had given her, but still. I'll have to get it back from her to post on recipeasy. I got it from the owner of my local meat market, but since my family wasn't crazy about it, I just gave her the entire recipe.

btw- thanks Maria, for hooking me up with the IKEA give away!

Life & my nephew Adam

So, I've had several posts rattling around in my brain. (my husband would tell you, that's probably all that's rattling around in there.) But, at this point in the game, I'm like, aaahhh, too late to post them now- irrelevant. I just saw a recipe on a blog that I read that looks really yummy. I might have to try it. (I'd steal it & post it on recipeasy, but it's on Emily's sister's, Holly, blog.) Wanted to post on the election, but seems irrelevant at this point. Did get an interesting e-mail from a friend about 77 days of praying for the president. Check it out here if you want: www.presidentialprayerteam.org. I'd do the little linky thing, but I am NOT technically savvy. You show me what to do I can do it. Try to figure it out on my own, not so much.
Wanted to post about halloween, but again, seems irrelevant at this point.
Guess I should give my dad a belated b-day shout out. His b-day was Saturday the 8th. In typical Gail fashion, I bought his b-day card on October 21st,(this year); but when I went to mail it I couldn't find it, so it didn't get mailed until the 6th when my darling husband found it for me.

I do want to say THANK YOU to ALL the veterans out there who served our country. Whether you pushed paper across a desk, or fought on the front lines, it is all still important. And my family & I thank you, because we appreciate our freedoms. May God bless America, & may that be a phrase that NEVER dies in this country. Too many lives have been lost in order that we might be able to say that.

I'm really slacking in this department. My nephew, Adam, had a PET scan last Tu. & then met with his oncologist on Fri, 11/7. According to the doctor, at this point he is considered in remission!!!!!!!!!!!! CAN YOU SAY YAHHOOOOO!!!!! The PET scan came back with no signs of cancer & his tumor markers are normal. He still has to finish out his chemo, of which he has 2 more rounds. He should be done mid-January. 4 weeks after that they'll do another PET scan to make sure still no signs of cancer & then 4 weeks after that, if all is going well, they'll reverse his iliostomy & repair the hernia he got.
What is almost as awesome as that, is we as a family have been praying for him when we put the girls to bed. Well, Wed. nights is our bible study nite & my awesome girlfriend, Viv, comes over to spoil babysit the girls for us. When we came home, she asked me about Adam & said that Emily said we didn't have to pray for him any more, 'cuz he was all better. I didn't get the above report about remission until Friday. Odd?? or God! I personally like to think God.
So a huge thank you to those of you in bloggy land who have been praying for Adam. Please continue to pray for the rest of his treatments & anything else the Lord may lay on your heart.
Well, I think that is about all for tonight. It is late & I must go to bed.
Have a blessed rest of the week.
-Gail

recipeasy

So, Karen, who fixed my blog so lovely, also belongs to another blog, called recipeasy.
Well, the ladies over at recipeasy just let me join their ranks. There are some really yummy recipes on there. Just a couple I've tried and people have raved about is "gooey butter cake" and the no bake cookies. I just added my first post, so hop on over & check it out. You just might find something yummy for dinner(or another meal).
Here's the link: recipeasy.blogspot.com
Hope you enjoy.
-Gail