Truly Thankful

I love Thanksgiving. Love the food, love the family, love that there are no gifts to buy. Every year it always seems so easy to think of all the things I am thankful for. I am so, so thankful for the GIFTS in my life.
This year I am thinking a lot of what I am thankful for. We are unemployed - again. The unknown ahead of us- again. Knowing that God will provide and hoping it will be soon - again. And yet I am thankful. I am so thankful this year for the GIVER. He, in his sovereign love and pursuit of His own glory holds us in His hands. We feel His grip more closely when we are afraid and unsure. Our trials chase us to Him and the lack of financial stability forces us to rest in His provision. And so for that, I am thankful.
I urge all of you to be thankful today. Be thankful for the good and wonderful and for the bad and painful. It is all part of His plan. It is all because He loves us. it is all to make us like Jesus - the ULTIMATE gift.
Happy Thanksgiving!

"In all things give thanks for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you." I Thess 5:18

Daddy Daughter Date Night

Last week Jason and the girls participated in our church's "Daddy Daughter Date." The dads take their daughters out for dinner and then meet at the church for dessert. This year they had a magic show that the girls could not stop talking about.

These girls sure do love their daddy. They both had made a painting for him and Madison wrote the most precious letter (I wish I had it with me so I could share an excerpt - but I don't. I'm pretty sure one of the things it said was that he is astonishingly generous).

Like father like daughter...

I love their precious relationships. When I see Jason's great love for his daughters (and his sons) I am reminded of the heavenly Father's great love for me. How amazing to think His love for us far exceeds any earthly parental love. It hardly seems possible.

Grandparents Visit and a Creepy Carol

Jason's parents came for a visit. It's always fun to have the status quo pushed to the side to have company. We went on a field trip to an aquarium last Thursday and while we were driving back Jason was picking them up from the airport. The kids were so excited.

Grandpa and Pip...
On Friday we went to see A Christmas Carol. This was the choice not because it was a kids movie that had just opened but because my oldest 4 are in a production of A Christmas Carol right now (Madison is Scrooge!). So we were very excited to get to go to the theater.
Can I please now tell you that this movie is VERY SCARY!!! I can't believe my kids all made it through. It is definitely for older kids and even then might be preferred to be done when it comes out on dvd as opposed to in the theater. Over dinner the kids were talking about how creepy it was and Carson said "I don't blame you for taking us, mommy, but it was really creepy!" I keep thinking they are going to have lots of bad dreams (like when my parents took us to see Gremlins when I was in 4th grade!) but so far so good. They have also enjoyed playing "Marley" where one of them is the ghost of Marley and chases around the other ones. Nice.

On a sweeter note - we went to feed the ducks and play at the park...

Cole had prepared a presentation on Canadian Geese for school (that he didn't get to present because he was sick) and he was so excited to see the geese at the pond. He was calling to them from the edge...

Pipster is a slide fanatic. She goes nutso for a good slide...

My handsome boy - who later was crawling on the OUTSIDE of the equipment on the very top (like that big kid that youre so annoyed with for setting a bad example for all the little kids). I was proud of him for being brave but quickly had him get down. Right after both Cole and Will thought they'd try it too. Sigh...

Grandma helping her sweetie climb the ladder...

The twins having some discussion about the digging toy. I know its not a good picture but the interaction between them was precious and I wanted a shot of it...

Ty is finally brave enough to try and do the monkey bars all the way...

...he is, unfortunately, having issues with not buttoning his pants and so this is what I saw most of the day...

Wilson is starting to look a little like Eddie Munster with his hair growing in - I just can't decide what to do. I don't think I want them to ALWAYS have buzz cuts so I am trying to let all the boys have some hair - but man - they are looking ROUGH right now!

The girls liked pretending they were gymnasts - but bless their hearts, they got their grace and flexibility from me so that will have to remain something they dream about! I also think they look NOTHING alike. You would never guess they were sisters...

What's a visit with grandparents without a trip to the Golden Arches...

Here we all are in front of the playhouse Jason and his dad had been working on (that is for another post)...

The 5 days went by fast. Hopefully we can have a fall visit from Wayne and Debbie every year. I love for my kids to get to make special memories with their grandparents. I don't know if any other kids on the planet have as loving of grandparents as mine do. What a blessing!

Reformation Celebration!!

Oh what fun!! The Woodards took a step through the looking glass to celebrate Reformation Day.
Madison was sweet Alice. She is in this stage right now of smiling without showing her teeth because she doesn't like them. :(

Carson was perfectly suited as the Mad Hatter.

Ally really wanted to be the Cheshire Cat. I couldn't really make her look that "Cheshire-ish" but she loved just being a black cat. She is so precious.

The Queen of Hearts!! This little dictator rules our house sometimes and definitely my heart. :)

Here she is saying "Off... head!!"

Colson is the rabbit late for his very important date.

Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dee because no one wanted to be Tweedle Dum. :)

This isn't for the sake of their character - they are like this all the time!!

Every year we celebrate the Reformation. Oct. 31 is often called Reformation Day because Martin Luther nailed his 95 thesis up on Oct. 31 1517. Thus preserving the truth of salvation by grace alone through faith. We rejoice in how God has protected His church.

We had 5 other families over to celebrate with us. It was so much fun.

Here are the Lees - the Statue of Liberty and a pilot...

The Tracy crew - Police officer, nurse, clown, fairy, and doctor...

This was so terribly creative. The Kents were all weather related. Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs, lightning, little Miss Sunshine, and a weather balloonist.

The Markmillers - the hobbit, Dorothy, and soccer player...and the sweet Caldwell girls - a ladybug, a butterfly, and a puppy...

This was before all the food -our fall spread was DE-LICIOUS!

We played games - this is the "eat the donut of the string without using your hands" relay game. Even Piper and little Lydia played. Piper was SO excited to run back to her team when they were all cheering so loudly! It was my favorite part of the night.

We had a little lesson on the reformation and watched a clip from "Luther" which really made me want to watch it again.

The we had a praise and worship time. It was delightful to worship with out friends and hear all the kids singing and participating. What a fun night!!

Oh - and my hilarious husband put this sign out front. Since we are in full party mode we turn out the front lights and don't answer the door...