American Idol top 9

Oh my goodness was I blown away tonight on American Idol. Kris Allen is my new favorite. I also like Danny but what a true talent Kris is. He made a completely unique and amazing rendition of "Ain't no sunshine when she's Gone". He is one of the worship leaders at his church and you can totally see his God given talent coming thru. I can only imagine the worship at his church. I typically don't blog too much about tv shows but he knocked my socks off. I was clapping and doing karate kicks when he was done, my husband yelled down to see if I was ok. I assured him I was and told him that this guy totally rocked it!!! So now I must chill out or I will never get to sleep. Looking forward to seeing more from this guy and I know that God has a bigger plan for him wether or not he is the next American Idol.

Cool story

I found this link over at this blog. Kyle's son Tyler is in remission from Burkitts and his dad blogs about it. Not only does he keep everyone updated on Tyler, he is an advocate for childhood cancer and updates about others who are battling with the disease. I have been following Ryan's story since Kyle posted about it. Ryan and has family have recieved some devastating news but it is so encouraging to see what the Blue Jackets are doing to fufill some of his dreams and also shift his focas away from his painful reality. I urge you to check out Kyles blog and the link to the ESPN story. While I have cried many a times reading about the battle many kids are facing with cancer, I find that it really helps me appreciate my own children's health more and it deepens my faith and prayer life to know that only God has the power to cure them. Kyle has also provided many links to help us be advocates as well in helping acquire more funding for research for these childhood cancers. So read up, pray for these kids and hug your own. Be thankful for the days God has blessed us here on earth and don't waste them. I encourage you to reference posts about Miles Levin. The wisdom and perspective this teenager had as he battled cancer was amazing and inspiring. Thank you Lord for the blessing of my children, thankyou that they are healthy and help me to not waste or take for granted the time I have with them.

Sanibel 2009

Well we were fortunate enough to go to Sanibel again this year. This was Mike and I's 10th year together and Abby and Will have gone since birth. We always have a fabulous time but it is usually a ton of work because the kids have been little and required so much attention. I am happy to report that this was the first year it actually felt like a family vacation and I am forever grateful. Thanks to my inlaws for allowing us to come and stay with them in the condo they rent, it truly is a blessing. We stay at Pointe Santo and it is super family friendly. It has a pool for the kids, easy and quick beach access and a clubhouse with daily crafts for the kids. This year I ran into a mother of one of Abby's pre-K classmates from last year, how random is that.

The flight to Sanibel was perfect, we had a great parking spot, we didn't bring car seats this time(rented them for an unknowingly insane amount from AVIS, just got the bill!!), the kids pulled their own carry on bags and we ate dinner at the airport and the kids were perfect. We arrived Friday night this year instead of Saturday which was a huge advantage as we got all day Saturday to enjoy the Island. The kids loved the pool and swam well with their swim vests and Abby was even able to swim short periods of time without it. The water was very comfortable in the pool which made playing in the pool with the kids even that more enjoyable. Thankfully my father in law loves to swim and he helped alot in the pool as well. Mike's cousins also played in the pool with the kids and took pictures with their waterproof camera, hopefully I can post some of their awesome pics soon.


We were able to go out to eat with the kids several times this year because they are much easier to entertain now. Nona and Papa took the kids to Cheeburger Cheeburger, then we all went out to The Bubble Room on Captiva and The Sanibel Grill. All the food was great. Mike and I went out to eat with his sister and her husband one night to Traders and I got the Sea Bass, this was my first time trying Sea Bass and it did not dissapoint.

I will continue to post some more pictures and other funny stuff from our great trip in the next post.

I'm still here

Just got back from a wonderful trip to Sanibel Island with the inlaws, aunt and cousins. It was a blast and will post pictures soon. Have some funny stories as well. Just wanted to encourage people to pray for Stellan and visit his mommy's blog for the full scoop, just click on the button to the left. His mom has a great blog and Stellan has been through alot in less than a year. Pray for his heart rate to stabilize and for his mommy to get some much needed comfort, advice and rest.

New Discoveries

Well kids never cease to amaze me. What a sense of wonder they have and the simple things cause much awe. I know who the creator of this wonder is but as I get older I find that sometimes I allow the cares of the world and my circumstance to squash my wonder. My son prompted this post as we were sitting on the couch together yesterday. He was sitting with his feet on the couch, knees bent and says " I didn't know that I had hair on my knees!". Oh the simple discoveries of life. Thank you God of wonder for allowing the new things my son discovers to prompt me to seek the same for me. Thankyou that your mercies are new every morning, that you are a God of wonder, miracles, blessings and second chances.

Happy St Patrick's Day

***Remember to scroll down and pause playlist music, for some reason the audio is quiet on this video***

Top of the Morning, actually evening to you. We had a great St. Patricks weekend and a wonderful concert by Abby this morning. On Saturday we went to the Dublin St. Patrick's day parade. I was completely enthused, the kids, not so much. I learned on Saturday that my kids do not understand proper parade edicate. We are usually out of town for all the Holiday parades so my kids were not too sure what the big deal was. I had to practically shove the kids out in front of the crowd for them to get some candy. I was totally psyched about all the free candy but my kids were more scared by the crowd and the thought that someone would actually give them candy without them asking for it. I guess sneaking it out of our pantry seems much more normal to my kids then it being handed out by a clown, go figure.
After the parade we headed to the Blarney bash where the kids did some crafts, ate some lunch and bounced in the blow up bouncy things. They overall had a great time but I am motivated to expose them to some more parades before they get to old to really appreciate them.
Today at school Abby's kindergarten class gave a concert for the preschool and the parents, it was 14 minutes long. They learned so many songs, their memory is amazing. I posted one song here for your listening pleasure. Abby it in the second row smack dab in the middle. She really is one cute leprachun if I do say so myself.
I am grateful today that I don't have to rely on the Luck of the Irish but only rely on my Heavenly Father. Thankyou lord for this great weekend of family time, we are creating such wonderful memories and are so thankful for the time you have allowed us to spend together.

Spa Day

Well this afternoon while Will took a rare afternoon nap, Abby had a wonderful idea. She wanted me to fix her hair like at a real hair salon. This sounded fun to me as I have always loved getting my hair done so we hit the ground running.


First I gave her a great scalp massage, followed by a shampoo. She requested conditioner as well so we did that.


Then I gave her a quick blow dry to get her hair slightly less damp for the next step


Then we decided to go ahead and get some curls going. She sat patiently as I rolled the curlers. She really was the perfect client. Very chatty and she sat super still.


Here is the final result. Doesn't she look fabulous. When I was taking the curlers out she was asking about why we didn't leave them in very long. I told her that if you leave them in too long the hair will get too curly and frizzy. She then says "You mean like Oprah". Yes Abby, like Oprah. Oh she is too cute. Thankyou Lord for this precious little girl who covets spending time with me. I love her so.

Shopping in a Recession

Well this topic was brought up over at Kelly's blog. She challenged us to list some great fashion finds under 30 dollars. There are a bunch of great ideas on her post so check it out. I personally have been into buying basics this year and less trendy. One of my favorite sites is martinandosa.com. They sell nice clothes as reasonable prices. Right now I am loving these things:



Each one costs 24.50 but they feel so soft and they are longer length which I love so I can ruche up the sides a little and hide my little love handles. This site also has some great sales and free shipping and returns. Get on their email list and they send coupons all the time. I have never paid full price on this website for anything.

I also like checking out ebay, I have gotten some great stuff for me and my daughter. I got Abby two beautiful christmas dresses this year from ebay for under 30 dollars total for both, I easily saved 60 bucks.

Thanks for the fun topic Kelly and for introducing me to the fashion going on at Walmart.

Complaining

Anyone like to complain? I know I don't like to hear it but I often find myself doing it. My daughter Abby has been sick since Thursday night, as she got better today my son Will got sick last night. The past two nights I have gotten a total of 7 hours of sleep. So as I started to complain the other night and say" Lord I don't deserve this" I stopped myself. I thought don't deserve this, actually I deserve worse than this but by the grace of God I am safe in his forever forgiving arms. In BSF we are in Exodus and Numbers learning about the amazing journey of the Isrealites. It is so easy to judge them for their complaining but if I really think about it I complain just as much. In learning about their journey I have also realized that when I complain about something, anything I am actually complaining about God. How can I complain about the God who sent his only son to die for me. So while I know that it is impossible for me never to complain again, I can certainly do it less. I can also strive to complain less so I can model this to my children. So pity party is over, I am going to focas on that fact that my children are healthy other than a cold/fever, I know there are many moms out there who wish this was all they had to worry about for their kids. Thank you Lord for the blessings of my two children and may they learn to love you more and more each day as I do.

Heaven and Shamrock Shakes

This morning both my kids were into the topic of heaven. As we were leaving for school, Will asked me if they had power ranger movies in heaven. I told him that I thought there weren't but that heaven would be so much fun that it wouldn't matter if they had power ranger movies or not. Then later that morning Abby and I were in the car and passed a cemetary. She asked me about what cemetaries were again and I told her that it is where people are buried after they die. She then asked me if they were all in heaven now and I told her they were if they believed in Jesus. She then asked me if those who didn't believe in Jesus were in hell. Wow, talk about a deep thought morning. I am encouraged that my kids are curious about heaven and know that it is where they want to be. I am hoping to do some research on how to speak more clearly to my kids about heaven and what happens to your body and soul after you die. It is actually a little confusing to me the timing of when we ascend to heaven so it should be a great study for myself.

On a completely random note: I Love the Shamrock Shakes at McDonald's!!! We went and got our first ones of the St. Patricks day season and it was fantabulous. Looking to gain an extra 3 pounds over the next week in honor of st. pats day, I mean I do live in Dublin Ohio, it would be very unirish of me not to celebrate the occasion. I wonder if they have ice cream in heaven, how cool would that be, ice cream without the calories. Thank you Lord that you sent your only son to prepare a place for me and my family. Power rangers or not, ice cream or not we are looking forward to our new home with you.

Reality Bites!!

Well I got sucked into Bachelor mania. I do not follow the show regularly but I do check in more often towards the end of each season to see who might get picked, do they seem really in love, etc. I was interested in this particular bachelor because he was supposed to be this nice single dad who got rejected on the bachelorette. Hence you would think he would have some sensitivity towards these women he was dating. While I do not believe that this is the best way to find true love, I do believe in the hope of true love, that there are nice guys out there who fall in love with nice girls.

I was so bummed with last nights outcome. How a guy could change his mind so fast and then decide it is okay to publicly humiliate another human being is outrageous. However, why am I surprised? We are all sinful in our human nature, we make bad decisions, we leave God out of our decisions, we often make the wrong decision.
With this being the season of Lent and the time to be fasting from something that takes away our focas from God, I can't help but wonder if God is prompting me to take a fast from reality tv. Why do I waste my time watching a reality tv show when I am living reality. Thanks be to God that no matter what my reality is, he is part of it,guiding it and ultimately deciding it. I am not saying that TV is evil(although some shows seem to be) but it is time consuming. Some may struggle with turning off the computer, putting down a good book, we all have spent way too much time doing something that is not spiritually productive.

I love how random my thought process can seem sometimes, how in the world the dissapointing ending to the Bachelor can lead me to decide to filter and limit my TV more. Yet I know that these thoughts, gentle promptings are not so random but from God. I have been thinking about what I should fast from for lent but had not settled on anything. I know I am a few days late in completing the full 40 days but I know that God will take my efforts and bless the time I spend with him. So while the outcome for Melissa on the show last night seemed harsh, imagine the reality for those who find out that there really is a heaven and a hell and that the decisions they made here on earth have big consequences. Now there is something I should be spending my time on.