inspiration

http://abcnews.go.com/Video/playerIndex?id=6406164
(You have to go here for the video.)


I love the faith of this guy (Craig Gross) and his family! Patrick and I have a few of his books and we have the Bible that says "Jesus loves porn stars". I think that what he is doing is what Jesus wants us to be doing here in this world. We need to love those who are uncomfortable for us to love....'the sick'. That is who Jesus came for...we all need Him.
I think that in my world the people I need to love is my neighbors. Just because they are different than me.... or they smoke doesn't mean I can't show them Jesus through my actions. It is Christmas and I should be showing them love somehow. Hmmm.... how shall I do this. Any ideas?

christmas cookies

So, I have found the cookie I can make amazing everytime....Peanut Butter Blossoms! Thats right, the ones with the Hershey kiss on top. YUM!
Patrick really loves cookies, in general, but especially ones made for him.
Tomorrow night we are having a little party and we are going to make the sugar cookies with frosting and sprinkles. For me they are so much fun to make, because I can put in all the details that I want.
So, Patrick and I have been talking about making our own traditions for Christmas, mainly, we just like being with people... but I really want to have something special to do together as a family like.... caroling around the neighborhood, handing out goodies, getting together to make crafts/ornaments. I don't know... we can't really decide on any one thing.

Poll: What does your family do together at Christmas?

end to blogging silence!

(This is a picture of him as a cowboy for Holloween)



So I have been sitting back and watching myself and the other mom's I hang with and what I think is so interesting is that God is always teaching us about ourselves through our kids, and we are so amazed at how our kids grow and learn. Its so simple and obvious but it has really just struck me.
Like every little thing that Josiah is doing that is new is so wonderful!
Lately, he has been turning around, saying "dada" to almost everything, says "no" and "yeah".
He also understand a lot more than I give him credit for. He can throw and catch a small ball, and he can open books to "read". Its so cute him sitting there and reading aloud, he says "dou-dou di da" Oh, he can also curl his tongue!
Everyone is always telling me how cute his facial expressions are, and that he is such a good little boy. This always encourages me especially when he is teething and has turned into a little terror!
He just runs around the house literally tearing things apart and pulling things out of where they need to be. His favorite places to wreak havoc is the trash and the toilet. No matter how much I reprimand him or give him a swat on his booty, he keeps up the reign of terror! Aaaah! Those are the nights Patrick takes us out to dinner or just deals with chicken nuggets. =)

My delieverer

I'm in the middle of putting up pics and figuring out how to sell my jewelry online, via my blog so keep checking, but in the meantime I thought I'd share a little of what God has been doing in my life.
I have realized that He is my Deliverer. By this I mean that I can look back and see that in every twist and turn He has Delivered me....And I can remember back to when I was in Preschool!
I am just struck with the reality of who He is and who He wants to be in my life.

Its hard because one of the gifts I have is compassion, and this gift, like all other gifts, is great when used correctly but incorrectly I become overwhelmed and very anxious to the point of panic attacks. I don't have panic attacks anymore and I have learned how to control the feeling of anxiety and worry. However I am still worrisome, and I have to constantly give them to the Lord.
So, that is why He has constantly shown me to be my Supernatural Deliverer.

I really identify with the character in the book "the secret life of bees" May. She is very compassionate to the point of being so overwhelmed she gets out of touch with reality.
She takes on the world's hurt just like they are her own. This is a good example for me to know what can happen if I let my gift become too overwhelming for me.

adventures in babysitting

I was thinking about all the random, crazy things that happened to me while babysitting through the years.
-waking up from a nap on the couch to see the 2 year old, that I thought was sleeping, with poopy hands inches from my face.
-getting locked out of the house, with the kids, that I was babysitting at for the first time.
-making mac and cheese without measuring cups and making it too wet, and the kids were not happy.
- misunderstanding the lady I was sitting for and made the kids a sandwich with rancid meat.
- having to wait, scared, in a dark mansion for the parents to be home because the kids were in bed and I didn't want to go through the many rooms turning on lights, that is how horror movies start!
-playing hide and go seek (during the day) in the same mansion with secret doors and two basements (one was a ballroom)
- being nervous about meeting a new family I was going to babysit, then realizing that is was the drummer from the Counting Crows, and his wife a supermodel! ( I was so nervous to meet that family... You know I had to wear something cool!)
Anyway, that is all I can think of right now...

smirk

Laundry Day

This is the lovely sign that is above the toilet in the bathroom at the coin-op laundry I go to. I hadn't noticed it before because I never go into the bathroom there. But today I was curious and checked it out. This is what I saw......'hmm just a friendly sign' I thought. Then I got closer I couldn't believe how rude people are! However, maybe this sign does work, because the bathroom was nice and clean.

Its always fun to go to a public place and meet new interesting people, or just watch them. Today there was a nun wearing a full on black shroud. I could only see her face and hands. She also had a little cross pin on. Everyone there is sweet and pretty friendly. There was an old man, with no teeth, and a biker couple who have traveled all over Northern California and Nevada.
There is a doughnut shop next door and they don't have very nice equipment for coffee and hot chocolate, and only 20 doughnuts. Thats it! No old fashioned kind.... bummer.