The weekend......

So this past weekend we had a Thanksgiving celebration with some friends. Joining the party were The Urban's, Riffle's, Mamo's, Eshelman's, Prince's, 2 of the Byzek fam, and the Sperry's for a brief visit. Of course, Randy, Skylar, myself, and Caffrey as well :-) So needless to say we had lots of kiddos (and a crazy puppy who we had to eventually gate in on the deck) running around. (ages 3 1/2 down to 7 months). Randy fried a turkey and grilled a pork loin. Everyone else brought the yummy side dishes and desserts. Kim R and I had planned some craft time for the kids......but...the weather was beautiful so the kids played outside and on the swing set until dark...figured we'd let them run out some excess energy....after our insanely wonderful dinner....I brought out the markers, crayons, stickers, and paper bags for the kids to decorate their "Indian vests"....you remember those from your younger years right??? You know you do...and those odd pilgrim and Indian hats we all made in school every year. Well...our attempt at the vests turned into the kids just having fun decorating the bags...(and themselves in some cases!) They had a great time....Kim R also brought a fun craft..she printed out turkeys and the kids were going to use their fingerprints (with washable finger paint of course) to make the feathers....but unfortunately it was getting late and we didn't get to it....so she sent them home with the kids and their parents to do! Skylar was sad to see everyone leave...and as usual wouldn't tell them bye until they were out the door...(she doesn't like to tell people bye if she doesn't want them to leave)....and she sure was enjoying the time with her friends! Everyone seemed to have a fantastic time, I know we did...and we're so thankful for our wonderful friends....Sunday morning we were up and out the door headed to church by 8:45....then we came home and had the Sperry's over for lunch with all our pork loin and turkey leftovers!! After naptime, Skylar and I played and Randy decided to cook some fresh collards for dinner...I sent him outside for that task...b/c I HATE the smell of them cooking :-) He was happy to cook outside and built an awesome fire for us to sit around while he was cooking. The Sperry's and Stewart joined us that evening...Skylar loved the "campfire"....and as I mentioned we needed some marshmallows to roast..Skylar pipes in with "Yes!! and I want to eat them!" I don't know that my child has ever even had marshmallows....so that was pretty funny to me. We had some playtime with Lily and another nice dinner that evening. After that we were all ready for bed!! Such a fun weekend and we were ready to get some rest!

Soooo...the holidays are approaching and I get extremely excited this time of year...I love every bit of the chaos...more post to come on upcoming events...but Skylar is getting excited too....about all the sales papers! LOL...She loves looking at all the Christmas stuff in the papers and she says she's "reading a story." She'll even bring the sales magazines to me so that I can read her the "story"...which MUST START WITH "Once Upon a Time...." and MUST end with "The End".....apparently that's a new reading requirement I've just been informed about...per Skylar......well have you ever tried to make a story out of pics in newspaper..magazine..or catalog...give it a shot....it's quite entertaining. And every person in the pictures has to have a name....another Skylar requirement....And......she must find Santa in every paper..just to make sure he's ok..and not sneaking up on her....She's not a Santa fan...by any means...but likes to find him in books and on paper...and she's ok with him there. Should be interesting shopping this year!! She loves the decor, the lights, etc...but you can scratch the big blow up Santa's....and that's ok with me...I'm good with the fact that she likes her little manger scene most of all.....and she likes any noisy decorations that are smaller than she is...the bigger ones..not so much. So anyway.....we are looking forward to seeing family and friends over the next two months and catching up, enjoying some time together, eating yummy food....and remembering all that we have to be thankful for!

One more thing..

Mike's sermon last Sunday......

http://gethope-ministries.net/podcasts/mp3s/hcc-sermons-20081102-lee.mp3

The Verdict is IN.......

WEll well well....we have a Democratic President, and the Dems have the majority in the House and the Senate....It's a scary day in history isn't it. So what are we in for? Well...that remains to be seen. I would tell you that the continuation of extreme liberal thinking (and taking God out of everything) in America has gotten us...ohhhhh...a higher crime rate, more teen pregnancy and un-wed mothers, more innocent babies killed at the hands of abortionists, a generation of young adults and children who don't know the true history of America, gangs galore, illegal immigrants, split families, abuse of horrific natures, more poverty, more people depending on government hand outs....I could go on and on and on......but I'll stop there. It is what it is. And if you are a believer, a Christ-follower, then you know God has a plan and He never said we'd understand it. But know that He is in control. It's hard to swallow, I know...it's an everyday struggle for me too. But what we can't do is let evil and corruption disrupt us in our service for God and love for our families. (Granted I do have some relatives whom I SURE were adopted....lol...kidding..sort of.) This election was very different from others. It has divided friends, families, states, and our country to an extent. That's Satan at work. Soooo,....what must we do...We must NOT let politics run our lives or ruin relationships. We must agree to disagree and pray for those that don't share our beliefs in faith and family. As much as I disagree with Obama and his view on politics (ie.socialism) and life in general, I can still pray that God will change his heart in so many ways for the good of our nation. For those of you on the right side of the fence with me, it's our responsibility to make the real difference in the lives of others. Sure..I'm ticked with the election results....and how blind our nation is....but what kind of example would we set as Christians if we turn our backs on those that don't hold our views. We should embrace the challenge, pray for them, let God grab their heart through something in their own daily lives. It's not our job save the world, it is our job to be the hands and feet of God...stand up for our beliefs and be His workers on earth. The changes in Government will affect all of us in some way or another. But changing the life of a human being through compassion, giving of your time, donating to worthy causes, and ultimately serving God is way more important and serves a heavenly purpose...not an earthly one....Living in a country where we can worship God, is something we can be thankful for. (Though it's getting tougher and tougher with all the "pc" bull, but we are still free to worship as we see fit.) That said, I would encourage you to check your political hats at the coat room and enter into this holiday season giving Thanks for our blessings, find a way to serve God by making a difference in someones life, and being humbled by the fact that you are in good health and have a family (however crazy it may be) and a home where memories can be made. I know too many people going through far worse circumstances than I ever care to imagine....and I personally feel blessed to have the life that I do. And I know what I do with my own life and for others....is more important than anything any politician will ever do. We as Christians are the true change makers....I agree with Gandhi on this..." You must be the change you wish to see in the world" -M.G.

Catching up......

Has it really been so long since I last posted!??? Wow...time flys...and once again, we've been on the go. Since I last posted....we've.......celebrated my brother's birthday, celebrated my birthday, took a trip to Hillridge farm with friends, visited with my parents, brother, and grandparents in Henderson, (where I must add...Randy, Skylar and myself made our first apple pie....it was a family effort...and quite tastey!!...(AND..MADE with splenda...)spent some time with friends, visited with Randy's parents and his grandmother.......(all this over several different days and weekends of course)....ummm....attended and continue to attend Skylar's tap/ballet class weekly....spent some more time with some other friends.....did some trick or treating......had a party at Skylar's school.....(where she had treats so tasty she didn't want to leave any on her mouth as you can see in the pic)..did some trick or treating....or..."trick o treatttyyy" as Skylar would say.........went to church.....oh and worked...I guess I should count that too....afterall...Randy & I both spend (thankfully of course) 8-9 hours a day (or more) working M-F........

:-) (Actually we're always working...on something......but the 40-50 hrs I'm speaking of...we get paid to work..lol) Don't get me wrong...if I ever hit the lottery.....I'll gladly let someone else do my job...but until then, I'm thankful I am employed! AND...b/c I don't have hours of free time to explain all our adventures, I'll promise to be better at posting from now on.....now that I've caught you all up to date :-) Sooooo........tomorrow is the big election day........I must say...I'm ready for it to be over. If you don't know by now....I support the following....McCrory, Dole, McCain/Palin. And hopefully you do too. That's all I'm going to say about that. I've got more interesting things to talk about....like my sweet little girl! :-) Who by the way....will tell you "Jesus loves you.." when you are telling her to stop jumping on the bed, or correcting her behavior....how's that for a new take on back-talk!

So Skylar is growing more and more each day. Way too fast for our liking! We're beginning to wonder if she has a photographic memory (kidding........sort of..)....which would be really cool....or scary...not sure which....She at least has an amazing memory....I hear other toddlers do as well...but it still shocks me day after day the things she recalls.....Skylar wore a necklace to church yesterday that Randy's grandmother "great granny" gave her...Welll....she looks down at the necklace and says..."OHHH It's beautiful...just like Grandma's!" She was referring to the necklace my grandmother Pulley had on last weekend when we visited. We didn't even know that she had noticed Grandma's necklace!! The other day she told us "I need to see Katelyn in the blue shirt..." "Katelyn that went to the pumpkin farm".....This was a couple weeks after we all went to Hillridge with friends and Katelyn did indeed wear a blue jacket that day!! I can't remember what I wore yesterday...much less what someone else wore weeks ago! Kids are so much smarter than I think we all realize sometimes....that's why it's so important for us to be the best parents we can be and be a Christ-centered family. We'll never be perfect...but if we keep in our minds a song a friend of mine sang once...."Lord I wanna be just like You....cause She wants to be just like me...Make me a holy example for her little eyes to see...." it sure can be a good reminder to walk the walk if you're gonna talk the talk.....and so we try......and sometimes we fail...but you just pray the successes are many and failures are few. And pray for patience...I'm thankful God gave me a heart for children....and the patience that's needed to raise the miracle he blessed us with....Because my child suurrreee does test my patience!! She's got a mind of her own...strong-willed...I know that's characteristic of a strong leader....but gracious...some days I could do with a little less testing! :-) She makes me laugh so hard my tummy hurts some days because in trying to get her to do what I want her to do sometimes, she does the exact opposite...and with flair....and comes up with the funniest things to distract me...( I know I know...easily distracted...so what...) AND..It doesn't help matters when Randy just laughs and says "what a Little Meredith...now you know what you did to your mom!".... blah blah blah....notttttttt funny! :-p Don't get me wrong...she's the sweetest, cuddling, loving child...but she IS 2 1/2....going on 5 1/2 ...or so she thinks. Soooo..what's new with Skylar....well...she can count to 20 something now....in English....and a variation of 1-10 in Spanish....She'll say a few Spanish phrases....like a few weeks ago...She hands Randy something to open and says "Daddy..open this POR FAVOR!"...yes....our mouths dropped open and our eyes were saucers....cracked us up....anyhow...she's known her abc's/colors for quite sometime...she still loves sign language...and she love to sing/ perform...when she's in the mood...on her terms of course, and ALWAYS with a microphone! She seems to know a lot of her letters (as in if you show her a flash card...she'll tell you the letter...says A for Apple....H for horse...stuff like that.) Skylar seems to be gravitating to the world of Wolfpack mania...I'm trying to pull her to the UNC side....but she just throws up the Wolf sign with a "WHOOOOOOO!"....Oh well...at least she'll still be a Cowboy's fan! She's defnitely a sports fan...(Thank you God!) She's pretty much addicted to wearing flip-flops...loves dressing up....uses her manners most days....and let's not forget...loves to create masterpieces....artwork that is....and will happily take it to the fridge...(if she put it on actual paper and not herself, the wall, carpet or sidewalks)...and will put the paper on the fridge to display her work of art! There's never a dull moment with Skylar around we absolutely LOVE every minute...even through the tough "I'm not napping today" days...at some point...she makes us smile and melts our hearts.

As she was saying her prayers the other night....she thanked God for the following "spiders, mosquitoes, snakes, ants, ....and ladybugs...." I had to think for a minute...is she really THANKING God for these things I detest!!...(aside from ladybugs..they're ok)....she sure did....and ended with a loud AMEN!....I don't know why in the world she chose those....(b/c I prefer to squish and stomp those critters) but seeing life through the eyes of a child sure reminded me......Ecclesiastes 3:1 "To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven"-----Go read for yourself....a great passage to think about, especially right now.......with our country and our leaders being in need of prayer......Toddlers sure are good teachers aren't they!