Thankfulness

I am not feeling very thankful today...BUT I am CHOOSING to be thankful despite my circumstances. Satan is trying to steal my joy. We had a fantastic weekend where we talked a lot about Holy Discontent. Not discontent in our lives or by what we own or are doing but discontent straight from the Holy Spirit that moves us to action. There have been several times the beginning of this week that I realize that Satan is trying to take my focus off what we learned and focus on this decaying world around us. Today is no different...
Last night, I was taking Jake out for the last time and realized that water was dripping from our light fixture in the kitchen. It is an odd thing to see water coming out of a light. It took me a second to respond and I just stared at it, hardly believing it was real. We checked above the kitchen in the bathroom but saw nothing. It started to sink in that it was probably a pipe in the floor of the bathroom. :(

Thankfully the local plumber came early this morning and I was hoping for an easy fix and on with my day. No such luck. As you can see from the pics, they are upstairs pulling up the floor. He just informed me that the leak is not by the toilet and they just carried a torch up there!!! It is suprisingly similar to the torch that they showed on the screen this weekend when talking about Holy Discontent. Oh Lord, help me to feel YOUR discontent and be CONTENT in my daily struggles!

"The Group"

Katie decided that since no one had invited us to be in an out of town group, she should just start our own! We kept telling ourselves that we weren't the "passed overs" and frequently the statement "We are winners!" was said! She did great pulling everything together and we had a great, relaxing weekend in South Haven, Michigan! Since we are such an extremely creative bunch, we are fondly calling ourselves, "the group".


Bible Study on Sat morning

Kim made fantastic homemade pizzas and we all crammed around this little table for each meal!

Apparently, we were quite riveting...

Amber brought Aiden...and Kim had Kinzy. Aren't they just delicious?!?!?

For Sunday, we visited West Bend and then traveled our separate ways! We are hoping to do a summer get together and include children. I think those pics might prove slightly more interesting! :)

Diapers and Pull Ups and Wipes, Oh my!

One of my favorite things lately is coming home and finding one of these boxes! What a blessing!
I can't believe how many diapers have come through my door! The pic doesn't even do it justice...I will spread them out once I have them all. So far, we have almost 1500 diapers, 150 Pull Ups, and 2400 wipes!!!

Thank you to all who have given!!

Look at all the donations!!

Keep 'em coming, Ladies!

Baby Shower

I need your help! I am hosting an evening for the Gridley girls to "shower" the Caring Pregnancy Center in Pontiac, IL with love. They are currently in need of size 3 and 4 diapers, Pull Ups and wipes. Darleta Gramm is coming tell everyone a little bit about the Center and then we are going to (hopefully) FILL UP their diaper supply room.

At the CPC, they help woman who are pregnant or are just finding out they are pregnant. The volunteers counsel these ladies and tell them about Jesus. One of the main goals, is to avoid abortion by giving some hope and help. They also give out supplies to moms in need.

A little about the diapers~
~any brand is OK.
~I am sure they would take any size if you have them but they need size 3 or 4 diapers, wipes and Pull Ups at this time.
~You can bring them to me anytime or if you want to make it easy, have them sent for FREE to my house from Walmart.com or Amazon.com and I am sure there are other sites. My address is 312 E. 4th St., Gridley IL 61744.

Another giveaway!

Apparently, I will just have a blog to tell you about all my friends who are awesome at giving stuff away! There is a new CD out that supports Loving Shepard Ministries. The Denny Meyer family from Bluffton IN will donate 100%. To win one, just go to the address below and make a comment! Good luck! (but not too good because I want to win this one!!)

http://jonandamyg.blogspot.com/2011/10/its-giveaway.html

Now that's what I'm talkin about!!

FINALLY!! Some beautiful fall weather!! I can handle days like yesterday...80 degrees and sunny. Maybe I loved it because it was so much like summer! ;)

Reese and I are having a lot of fun with the other two in school. I frequently hear, "Let's have a party!" That can be anything from playing house, having lunch outside, going on a date to McDonalds or going to the park, all the way to having a whole day jam-packed with fun! Yesterday, we went to Rader's Farm with some great friends, Katie and Haven!

As close the the beach as you get in Central IL.

Katie even braved the tunnel slide! Way to go, Kates!!

It was a great day with GORGEOUS weather!! This place was amazing and I would recommend it highly. It is $4 to get in but well worth the activities! My one piece of advice would be to take a stroller with big wheels or just walk. The whole place is full of thick gravel and makes stroller pushing a chore! Thanks girls for a great fall day!

Friend's giveaway

No, I am not giving away a friend...I am pointing you to a blog that is giving away several really cute bows. If you are not into giveaways, at least check out this girl's etsy page. All of the proceeds go to LifeSong for Orphans, which is the ministry that my husband's job is connected with! http://www.etsy.com/shop/one27

This is the blog address if you want to sign up to win!

I love to sign up for things and I am always SURE that I will win. I am going to try to be creative and do a give away. I am guessing that I will just copy this idea but we will see!

First Day of School

My kids are going to a small private school this year. It is the school that I attended and it has brought back many memories!!

Mrs. Hangartener~ The kids have her for some classes and the other teachers for some!

Mrs. Prevo

Mrs. Gerber

Mrs. Romersberger--my mom! :) She has been there every year since I have been in 4th grade!!!! This year's theme was frogs and new beginnings--hence the hat! She doesn't have my kids for any subjects this year but will be there 3 days a week.

1st and 2nd grade girls

Reesey gets to stay home with me! Her and Jake are going to have many adventures! Poor Jake.

Office Redo

There is someone I would like to introduce you to. I am very priviledge to know Darleta Gramm, the director of the Caring Pregnancy Center, Pontiac, IL. I have known "Doll" all of my life and her daughter was one of my very best friends growing up. Doll is a no-nonsense type of gal that still has tons of fun in life. She has done some amazing things for the Lord, many of which I am sure most people will never know about. She does have one flaw though. :) She is NOT into decor. When I say NOT, it doesn't even begin to describe the depths of it. When I saw the pictures of her office at the CPC, I recruited Becky Romersberger who is AMAZING at effortlessly throwing stuff together and making it look GREAT!! Huge shout out to Becks for taking TONS of time to help out with this!

The before...I think she may have stolen that table from our house in 1980! :)
Yes folks, she counsels ladies in this space. She NEEDED an update!!

I have another friend that has done great things with the Lord's help named Jami Kaeb. Her work with agencies around the area inspired this project. Check out her organization call the Forgotten Initiative http://www.facebook.com/#!/forgotteninitiative or on her blog http://lifewithapersonalgod.blogspot.com/2011/02/well-hello-there.html

Doll had everything cleared out for us and ready to go!

Border BE GONE!!

Curtains ARE OUT OF HERE!!

Doll's ONLY request was lilac colored paint. It turned out warm and cozy!

Bad pic but we found the saying "Every child is a story yet to be told" and put it on a mirror. It became a focal point of the room!

Yes, Becky made the curtain and the little pillow for the chair. She is crazy talented.

God was so good to us in this project. Everything went together so easily and we found some amazing deals!! God is GOOD!

We have an amazing yellow tall pottery thing that goes on the top shelf that will be coming. It has a run in with Reese that morning so it will be replaced soon! :) Love the chair!! Amazon.com! It was ordered one day at 12:00pm and arrived the next morning at 8:30!! Isn't it stunning!

Doll in her new office! After being one of the worst rooms at the CPC, it is now by far the most stylish!!

SOOOOOO...there are 2 more rooms that could use a LOT of help! They have a counseling room were tons of girls come through that needs some updating and a reception area that is equally as lovely! :0) We are going to be recruiting workers and donations if anyone is interested. I am also having a "baby shower" in the near future to collect supplies that they give the new moms. I will soon be begging for donations!!

Thank you Doll for all your labors of love and giving of yourself in this area. It was truly a pleasure to give you a little blessing AND update!!

My Camping 9 YEAR OLD!!

My boy turns 9 this Thursday. :( I am not ready for him to be grown up. 9 is halfway to 18. That is so depressing. I have waited my whole life to be a mom and it is now flying by!!

This is one of the benefits of having a Grandma with a big sign on the highway!! :)

On Sunday we dropped him off at Camp Good News in Washington. He was very excited but also a little nervous. He took a whole stack of paper and envelopes. Needless to say, I haven't received any letters yet! :)

His counselor for the week~Dan

Gabe is the guy that invited Graham. He's a good little friend for Graham and next year they will be at Prairie School together.

The boys get to sleep in a "tree house". One of the trees goes right through the porch! It was very "Manly". I was thankful to return home to my own bed! And, YES, there were kids jumping off that balcony. OY!! I was thankful to turn and walk away from that disaster!

They said that no news is good news and I haven't received a phone call yet. I think I am missing him far more than he is missing me. It is hard on this momma! I didn't really expect this! I am usually the one leaving. We have gone on many vacations without him and I have never had a problem but this is different. I will see his bed or bike or a friend will call for him and I MISS HIM!! It is ridiculous!! I will be anxiously awaiting Friday afternoon to go get him and bring him home, where he belongs! :)