I'll be home for Christmas!

We are getting ready to head to Ohio next week for Christmas with my family! The boys heard we're supposed to have a white Christmas, but they're not really sure what that means, hopefully they'll both get to see their first snow instead of just rain!

Psalm 13

Psalm 13:1-6 How long, O Lord? Will you forget me forever? How long will you hide your face from me? How long must I wrestle with my thoughts and everyday have sorrow in my heart? How long will my enemy triumph over me? Look on me and answer, O Lord my God. Give light to my eyes, or I will sleep in death; my enemies will say, "I have overcome him," and my foes will rejoice when I fall. But I trust in your unfailing love; my heart rejoices in your salvation. I will sing to the Lord, for he has been good to me.

I was reading this scripture yesterday and I thought of my Mom. I think this was her prayer. When mom received her diagnosis just over a year ago she had been traveling a difficult road for 8 years and she was weary. She went from being a homemaker, mother and wife to being forced into making a living for her children and trying to get an education so she would be able to support herself once her children were grown.

Over those 8 years there were moments of great blessings for my Mom. My sister and I both got married, we both had our first children, my brothers were involved in a show choir that she absolutely loved. But, I think that those moments were clouded by her circumstances. She was busy with school and that took time away from doing some of the things she wished she could with her children. She didn't have the means to provide for weddings, or to make trips to visit as much as she wished she could. Many times she would feel inadequate in her school work and she would say to me "Satan really has ahold of me right now."

Even in times when my Mom was discouraged, weary, weak and sad she was able to give thanks to the Lord. She clung to Him for hope. She knew that He would not forsake her and she continued to give to others that were in need and pray for those who were weak and weary.

The thing that really stayed with me from this scripture is the hope it gives. God promises us unfailing love (verse 5) has has given us the gift of salvation (verse 5), and no matter what he is good to us (verse 6).

There are people in life that you meet and you hear their story and think, "Can't they get a break? They have dealt with so much" and there are those people that seem to be overtaken by evil time and time and time again. Life on this earth is so far from perfect, we are plagued by divorce, illness, poverty, dishonesty, heartbreak and fear. But if we trust in the Lord, just as my Mom did, we are sure to receive our prize. God's promises are real, and at the end of our journey's on this earth our suffering and heartache will be gone forever if we have placed our faith in the Lord!

Psalm 14:7 Oh, that salvation for Israel would come our of Zion! When the Lord restores the fortunes of his people, let Jacob rejoice and Israel be glad!

My how things have changed!

Christmas 2006 - Our first year as a married couple

Christmas 2007 - Our second year of marriage, baby #1 on the way

Christmas 2008 - Our third Christmas together, a sweet boy in our arms and another one on the way

Christmas 2009 - Four Christmas' together and two beautiful boys added to the picture

I am thankful for God's many blessings, the gift of our two beautiful boys and the gift of His son!

Sugar, Sugar

Last week my in-laws hosted a Christmas party for the pastoral staff at our church and my mother-in-law made a Blue Cheese Chop Salad like the one at Outback. One of the ingredients is candied pecans and oh my were they so good! So I decided to make some to snack on.

You'll need

1 egg white

1 T water

2 bags pecan halves (16 oz)

1 C white sugar

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp cinnamon

Beat the eggs and water until fluffy

Mix together the sugar, salt and cinnamon. Coat pecans in the egg mixture

Toss in sugar until coated

Grease a cookie sheet and spread pecans into a single layer. Bake at 250 for 1 hour stirring every 15 minutes.

Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go eat my weight in candied pecans!

*I actually didn't use all the sugar mixture, so use as much or as little as you like!

Good Cents?

Yesterday both boys ran out of diapers at the same time. I really don't like having to re-stock both sizes of diapers at once. I guess I think that if I do it at different times it costs less :-) Andrew has always worn Huggies and Joshua wears Luvs. I just like the way each brand fits each boy. But yesterday I decided that I should try a store brand instead. When Andrew was a baby I tried the Walmart brand, they were so bad I don't think I even finished the package! But I have heard good things about the Target brand. So off we went to Target, I had even written down how much I pay per diaper of the other brands so I could compare and see if the savings was even worth it.

Well I did the math before I bought them and the name brand diapers cost $0.24 per diaper and the Up and Up's cost $0.17 per diaper, so on one box of diapers I would save $6. I thought that was a pretty good savings. So back home we went with our new diapers.

I get home, open the package and pull out a stack of each diaper for each boy. For those of you who have not diapered a baby in a long time most diapers have a number on them somewhere to indicate the size. Well...these don't. Not only do they not have a number, but they are the exact same pattern, blue and green polka dots.

So this is how we fixed the problem

I have yet to come to a conclusion on the quality of the diapers, like if they hold pee pee and poopy! But I do know, that if I am going to insist on saving some pennies, then I will be spending lots of time numbering diapers myself. Or maybe I will just call Target and ask them to fix the problem!

Check, check, check

As I look at my calendar I have realized that in two weeks we will be in Ohio for Christmas! Wow! With that said, I am trying very hard to get ahead so that I can just enjoy family time over the next few weeks. I do have a lot of my shopping done, today I ordered my final online gifts and purchased my last stocking gift. I ordered, picked up, addressed and stamped all of our Christmas cards. I also put the finishing touches on the Christmas shirts for my family. I love days when I get stuff checked off my lists....but getting some things done means neglecting other things....like my kitchen....

But it was worth it to get these done...

and these....

Don't worry though, dinner managed to get made, eaten, the kitchen cleaned and the floor mopped. Needless to say...I'm off to bed!

Florida vs FSU

Saturday, November 29 Spencer and I had the opportunity to join 90,905 other fans at The Swamp for Tim Tebow's last home game. It was so much fun! We played in-state rivals, Florida State, and I am glad to say that we beat them 37-10!

The whole drive up and the whole time we were there, I just kept thinking how exciting game day is. Thinking of all the fans with all their team gear, tailgate equipment and fans trying to get last minute tickets...there's just something really electrifying about being in the stadium cheering on your team.

If you look close you will see Tim Tebow taking the field for the last time at his home stadium.

I don't think I can say enough about Tim Tebow and what an awesome example we think he is for young people, his teammates and all Florida fans. He has such integrity and character. He gives God the glory for his success and uses his popularity as a platform to share his faith.

Tebow is known for his eyeblack and many fans sported some in honor of his last game. Our whole group jumped on the bandwagon! We were able to enjoy the game with some wonderful company, Spencer's brother, Travis and his g/f Claire (next to us) as well as Spencer's awesome cousin Sarah and her hubby Kevin! (below us)

I know that there has been some controversy over the scriptures that Tebow writes on his eyeblack every week, but I think it is an awesome way for him to share his faith and get people into the Word. On January 8, 2009, for the National Championship Game, he wrote John 3:16, which reads, "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him will not perish but have everlasting life." That day there were 94 million searches on Google for John 3:16.....94 MILLION!!! It was the number one search on Google that day. I don't know about you, but that is what I call spreading the good news! This website lists all of the scriptures that he has used so far this season.

We were so thankful to Spencer's parents for keeping our boys so we could get away for the whole day and to Travis and Claire for getting us awesome tickets to a great game!

"I said it's great...to be....a Florida Gator!"