Thanksgiving

Food...Fun...Family...Friends...Did I mention FOOD?

Over the years, Thanksgiving has slowly become one of my favorite holidays. Growing up, it was viewed as just a day where you get together with other people and eat until your stomach hurts. We never prayed, never thought about WHY we were celebrating. I grew up not really understanding the true meaning of this special day. It wasn't until 2009 (when I got with my husband), that I really began to see why Thanksgiving is a day to truly celebrate. 

Travis and I made a small feast in 2009 and 2010. In 2011, we attended a community feast in our neighborhood. Even though those events were fun, they can never compare to this year. Travis and I (and our boys) worked together to make a nice big dinner. Oh, and by the way, this was the first time I've made pumpkin pie. Granted, the pie came from a can, but still, I had to mix it with other ingredients and pour it into the crust myself! That can be considered "from scratch", right? ;) 

Travis had a "first" this year too. He made some delicious deviled eggs (not in the picture), and they were amazing! I think I had maybe one or two (or ten). I love cooking with my husband, and I love when we do "firsts" together. It makes for a wonderful bonding experience. 

We invited a couple friends over and had a great time. We asked God to bless the food, and enjoyed the company of friends (including Jesus). All in all, it was a great day, and one that I will remember for a lifetime. Here is a picture of our wonderful feast! Maybe next year, YOU can join us! :)

Blessed by Him,

Adrienne

Robbie at Liberty Christian

Robbie got accepted into Liberty Christian School. He starts Tuesday. I'm so excited! I really feel that this will be a good fit for him. I can never seem to find enough time throughout the week to teach him about God, so now I can feel better knowing that while I'm at work he'll be learning in a Christian environment. Right now, it seems as though he's nervous to talk about God in public school, and when I tried to pray with him outside his classroom, he tried to hurry me up. It was almost as if he was embarrassed, which made me really sad. I don't want him to be ashamed to pray. At Liberty, the students and staff pray together every morning before class starts. It's a school-wide prayer. I love it! Maybe now he'll actually like praying and won't feel embarrassed. 

Also, when the Principal did his placement test Saturday morning, he scored at the 3rd grade level for Math, but a beginning 5th grade level for Reading! It was actually stated as "a 4th grader in the 9th month of school", but if you think about that, there's only nine months of school. So basically he's reading the same as a 4th grader who just finished the 4th grade and is getting ready to go into 5th (after summer break). He just started 3rd grade so I'm super proud of him for being such a great reader! My little man is growing up to be such a wonderful person, and I couldn't be happier.

Robbie's 8th Birthday!!! :)

Today is Robbie's birthday. I can't believe he's already 8! Where did the time go? He got to go with me to work today as a special treat. It was fun! I told him he no longer needs to sit in his booster seat, but he's still in it, LOL. I think he's gotten so used to it that he doesn't want to give it up. Maybe tomorrow!

Happy New Year!!! :)

Well, I don't know about you, but for me, last night was AWESOME!!! We rang in the new year at church and it was so much fun! The evening started off with food and a movie (Facing The Giants was our choice for the evening). We ate chips, chicken, mushrooms, cupcakes, brownies, pizza, macaroni salad, potato salad, and my favorite....fried pickles! Pam always makes them sooooo delicious. She also made the fried chicken and fried mushrooms. If this sounds as good to you as it does to me, you should contact her and ask her to make you a bowl...or two...or fifty. I don't think she'd mind. Really, she would LOVE it! *Notice the sarcasm?*

So after filling up on this food (I was already full at Pam's house before we left!), I decided to relax for a bit. We played a card game while I had a few more bites of brownie. Okay, okay, I know what you're thinking, but it was begging me to eat it! It kept looking at me and whispering my name. You would've heard it if you had been there...at CHURCH...where you SHOULD'VE been!

So, after the card game (which lasted more than an hour, for ONE game) *Still loved it though!*, we put our stuff away and headed upstairs to count down the seconds to midnight. I have always watched the ball drop on television, but we don't have cable at our church. Pastor felt bad for me *more sarcasm*, so he wadded up a sheet of paper and threw it up in the air to welcome the New Year. Can you imagine people's expressions in New York if their ball suddenly got thrown into the air? HAPPY NEW...AHHHHHHHH!!!!!!! RUN FOR YOUR LIFE!!!

Okay, back to reality. After our ball "dropped", we listened to a quick sermon, sang a couple songs, and went home. It was so exciting celebrating the new year with God and family. Maybe next year, we can use a bowling ball...or not.

What Women Fear

I attended the "Women of Faith" conference in Indianapolis this past August. For those that don't know what that is, it's an event for Christian women to come and spend a couple days in fellowship with other women, and listening to various speakers about important issues. All the speakers did an amazing job, but the one I felt the most connection with was Angie Smith. She lost her daughter just a few short hours after birth, and as most of you know, I lost my daughter two weeks before my due-date. Angie grew up with a lot of fears that consumed her, and so did I. 

I bought her book "What Women Fear" at the conference. I have been reading a little bit here and there, and finally finished it tonight. It normally doesn't take me four months to read a book, but I have been swamped with life, and often don't have time for reading. That reminds me, I need to add that to my list of 2012 "commitments": Make more time for reading!

Okay, anyway, this book was very amazing. She mentioned fear of storms, public speaking, fearing God and many others. I don't want to spoil it for those who haven't read it, so I'll stop there. I encourage all women to read this book if you haven't already. Angie is a wonderful person with a great personality. She's funny, kind, and just an awesome person to listen to. You will be amazed at how great of a job she did with writing this book. You won't want to put it down! 

She also has a blog if you're interested in taking a look. Bring The Rain

Thankfulness

Have you ever stopped to think what you're truly thankful for (besides on Thanksgiving)?
I know most of us thank God for the big things, but what about little things? I want to encourage anyone who reads this, to come up with 20 things that you are thankful to God for TODAY. Not yesterday, not last week or last month. TODAY. Here is my list.

1. eyes
2. feet
3. arms
4. Zach's affection
5. clothes
6. food
7. pets
8. winter
9. having 2 weeks off from work
10. dishes to eat on
11. christmas tree
12. good friends to talk to throughout the day
13. God!
14. Joyce Meyer's Confident Woman Devotionals
15. air
16. car
17. laptop
18. water
19. church family
20. washer/dryer

Some of these may seem unworthy of mentioning in your opinion, but when you thank God for each one of these, and you acknowledge him for blessing you with each item on your list, he smiles! He also sees that since you thank him for the small things, you can be well trusted with the big things.

Christmas Clean-Up

Christmas went well. We all enjoyed our gifts, but the most special gift of all was being able to be with family and celebrate Christ's love for us. We went to church, and then afterwards, went to Pastor Thomas and Lynna's house for Christmas dinner. I know that a lot of people like to be with just their own families for Christmas, and there's nothing wrong with that, but I enjoyed being around Christian friends while celebrating the true reason for the season. To me, it was a very special day. 

Now it's time for clean-up. Fun, fun! We have boxes galore in our living room for the tree and other miscellaneous decorations. We also have a box full of trash that needs taken to the curb (wrapping paper,  bows, etc. that the kids tore off their presents). After the decorations come off, it's time to take down the tree. I think we're going to throw this one away since we've had it for a while, and get a real one next year. I've never had a real tree, so this should be fun!

Hope you all had a very Merry Christmas! Next up: New Year's!!!