We have a winner!!!!

If you know much about Abigail, you know that she enjoys creating art and she wants to be a veterinarian when she grows up. So, when we found out about the "Dog Fair" here on Monte Sano Mountain and the art contest sponsored by a local obedience and training club, we knew that Abigail should enter the contest.

The theme was "responsible pet ownership". She drew a picture of a pet going with its owner to a pet store to make wise purchases.

We mailed her entry a few weeks ago, and having not heard anything, we assumed she did not place. Then, yesterday, I came home to a message from one of the contest coordinators. Needless to say, we rearranged our Saturday morning schedule to make ourselves available.

She won SECOND place...and we are proud of her. The prizes were really neat....a t-shirt with her artwork scanned onto it, a jump rope, a fire hydrant dog treat jar, dog treats of various sorts, and dog toys.

Need a laugh?

Ever feel like you need a laugh??? A good hearty belly laugh??? One person who can always get a good laugh out of me is my daughter. She is so silly and just seems to know when a giggle, chuckle or laugh is in order. I love this photo of her...because it shows a side of her that tickles me. For some reason, she loves to stick her tongue out at her Daddy when she is talking. Then he "tells" on her and I am supposed to get both of them under control. Well, that rarely works, but it is fun. And, I especially enjoy seeing the bantering between them.

I have come to realize, especially in recent times, that my family is a great 'refuge' from the storms of life. God is my refuge, of course, but it is nice to walk into my home and interact with my family and know that I can be completely myself. And, being able to laugh with them makes it all the more special.

feels like FALL here:)

We had a blast at the botanical gardens earlier this week. These first few photos show some of Abigail's favorite scarecrows.



This is Lenny....our school's mascot and contribution to the scarecrow trail at the gardens. A penguin is a pretty interesting mascot, isn't it? The middle school/high school students put him together and I think they did a great job!

It feels like fall has arrived!!! With the cooler weather and the pretty decorations, it seems like it really IS September.


We have really enjoyed the cooler weather this week. On Tuesday we went to the Botanical Gardens to see the scarecrow trail. The kids with our group got distracted at the children's garden so we did not see all of the 'crows'. All the more reason for a return trip....or two:)

lots of little (and not so little) blessings...

Today has been a great opportunity to 'show' Abigail how God hears our concerns about things we need or want...big and small....and He cares. It seemed that God's answers today were as good as or better than we even imagined...and I just wanted to share them with you.

First of all, Abigail went to the doctor about a month ago with a sinus infection. We gave her all the medicines and the congestion just never went away. Well, after 4-5 bottles of cough meds and I don't know how many different decongestants and expectorants...she just could not seem to get rid of that congestion. So, we returned to the doctor today. There are a lot of neat things about that visit that I could share, but I'll save that for another post. But, a big blessing.....we went in and we actually were able to get a 10 a.m. appointment and did not have a long wait. The doctor feels that Abigail has something bacterial going on..possibly even mild 'walking pneumonia', but the meds he gave will take care of any bacteria missed the last time. But, what about this????? He had a sample of the inhaler she needed--enough to last for a few weeks at worst and maybe a few months at best. The other meds he prescribed had generics available and our visit to the pharamacy was only $15 including a refill on her allergy meds!!! It could have easily been close to $100 if they meds were not available as generics. What a great little blessing!!

Bruce's truck has been having a funny smell. We thought the brakes were 'burning' maybe.... It's been going on for a few weeks and finally he took it in this morning to the place we use a lot to do repairs. Well, we had said (to each other) a dollar amount that was our max (as far as budget and as far as the truck itself--it's a 1994 and we didn't want to put a lot of money into it). When Jason looked at the truck, he called Bruce and said the problem was that a plastic walmart bag had gotten stuck to the exhaust and melted onto it, so every time the truck heated up, and we got out, we smelled it. He cleaned it up and even checked a belt that Bruce had been told might need to be replaced. Total bill $0!!!! He did this for free...granted it was not a lot of work, but it was nice that he did that for us. Yes, he knows we'll be back.....we always are:)

In recent weeks, two different people have given us large sacks of clothing for Abigail. What a blessing!!!! Again, this has been a blessing because she was in need of some larger stuff and this is just her style and size in most cases. So, other than jeans and maybe a few 'fill in' pieces, she is set for the fall/winter months.

Recently, Bruce had to move to a cubicle at work due to the new area his group moved into...the amount of space....the number of offices for non managers..... Well, this has been a challenge for him, as the noise of others is distracting, and part of his job recently has included recording a script for clients. Well, as of Friday, he will be moving to an office of his own. Some people moved around and one person left the group and that became available. I had been praying that God would give Him favor and provide what Bruce needed to be able to concentrate well and do his work. And, this is how God chose to work it out.

I know, these things may seem like little things to you, but as Abigail and I were going down the road, we were able to talk about how God met our needs in each case.

Then, as if we had not had enough recent examples of God's care for us....we were eating lunch at Wendy's today while waiting for her prescriptions to be filled. She had finished her meal and said she was still hungry. I asked what else she wanted and she said she wanted a small frosty. I was just reaching into my purse to pull out the money, when an employee walked by with a tray full of frostys. She was passing them out for free. Now, this was a 'want' for sure, but I said to Abigail, "See how when you wanted this, God sent that nice lady along at just the right time?" And, she thought that was pretty 'cool.' And, she was right.

More birthday fun!!!

On her actual birthday, Abigail enjoyed a party with several of her friends. We met at a party room at Dublin Park for some pre-swimming treats. I love this photo of everyone acting silly.




We got a cake with cupcake add ons at Sam's. It was a good cake...chocolate with white frosting. Even though I am not a chocolate person, I did enjoy a small piece of it. Sam's makes some really good cakes.



Of course gift time was fun too! Abigail's friends were so generous. She got lots of Webkinz and accessories, money/gift cards, art supplies, Pokemon toys, a gumball machine, a slinky, a blokus game and more..... She has been a good girl about writing thank you notes so far....and we'll continue working on those over the next few days until she is finished.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, ABIGAIL!!!!

It is hard to believe that Abigail is NINE years old. While we were not there for her actual birthday, we have been blessed to celebrate her life with her since she was a little over one month old. I love the 'nine fingers' photo, as well as the others.





This photo shows Abigail's newest friends, Pumpkin (big cat) and Pie (little cat). I love her choice of names since Bruce used to call her Pumpkin a lot when she was younger. She got a gift card in the mail yesterday for Build a Bear from Ms. M...and the first response was....."I need to write a thank you note." (I was proud of her for thinking of that first!!) Then, the second thing was..."Can we go to Build a Bear as soon as we're done with school?" And, of course, I agreed.

Our flag

American flag
Originally uploaded by yerffej9

memories

It is hard to believe that seven years have passed since that fateful day in 2001. I'll never forget...it was one day before Abigail's second birthday and I was home alone. Bruce was out of the country (in New Brunswick) for business and I was here at home, just taking care of a little one.

Usually we had on Elmo or a similar show, but that morning, we had not even turned on the television. Then the phone rings....a friend called to ask if I knew what was happening. I turned on the tv and watched in horror....not even truly understanding what I was seeing.

I continued watching throughout the day and as even new bit of information came to light, I tried to understand what was going on.

After a time I heard from Bruce. He and some co-workers from various parts of the US were wanting to get home. The borders opened and closed multiple times in that first day or so, but thankfully one person had the wisdom to get a rental car and they managed to get back into the US. They drove close to 30 hours straight to get here....making stops in various places to drop off co-workers. I have never been so happy to have Bruce return home from a trip.

Needless to say, Abigail's second birthday party was a bit different. A celebration of her life, but also a time to be grateful for our family and friends being together, as so many families were torn apart by this tragedy. We celebrated her birthday the Saturday after 9-11 so thankfully Daddy was able to be here for the party too:) Had he flown, I am sure he would not have made it since air traffic was halted for so long.

I am proud to live in a country such as we do, and while it is not perfect, it is a great place to live. 9-11 had a lot of effects....many of them were positive in my opinion....so even from tragedy came some good. God has a way of bringing good out of the bad if we let Him, doesn't he?

Learning is FUN!!

Recently we had an opportunity to go to Outback Restaurant on a field trip with our homeschool group. We learned about Australian history and culture as well as how a restaurant works. We got to see how the seating chart works and how the buzzers are used when they go on a 'wait'. We also toured the kitchen. At the end, they allowed the kids to do a coloring page of an Australian animal, then fed the kids chicken tenders and fries. I was shocked when they asked me how I liked my steak cooked....they made steak for every single adult on the trip!

We learned a lot and had great fun too:)

a change of direction.....

I have to say, that I am learning a lesson that I never would have expected to learn. It is OKAY to go with a change of direction....a change from my plan or way of thinking things should be:)

I thought I understood this...when we did not get pregnant after years of trying and we chose to adopt. Our plan.....to get pregnant after five years of marriage and have 2 or 3 children a couple of years apart. GOD'S PLAN--to become parents after a bit more than ten years of marriage by adopting a daughter. Our plan--to adopt at least two children. GOD'S PLAN--at least for now...to parent the one child He has blessed us with

I thought I understood this....when I lost contact with four very close friends years ago due to distance and life's circumstances. My plan....to stay in touch and visit all the time and keep the relationship as close as it had ever been. GOD'S PLAN--to bring me new friendships at that time and to renew these old ones (ALL FOUR OF THEM;) years later.

I could go on, but I am thankful to be learning that it is okay...actually, even BETTER, to go with God's plan instead of mine. I can look back on the past changes in direction, and many times, in hindsight, I see God's hand at work and I understand why He chose to have my path go a different direction than what I had hoped.

Last night I had a change of plans....and while I can say it was not a "big" issue, it could (and in the past WOULD) have been frustrating for me. A friend asked me to do a 'speaking engagement' for homeschool moms at her cover group/co-op. I prepared and arrived only to learn that only 2 of the people who said they were coming would actually be there. The alarm which was supposed to be unarmed was not....so we got caught in the loud screeching for at least 15 minutes before we could get someone to give us a code to stop it. I did not get to do my activities as planned because I really needed at least 5 or 6 to do what I had planned. BUT, God ordained that crazy evening. I have a really fun presentation to do for moms when the opportunity arises. AND, I got to meet and fellowship with other homeschooling moms who are believers and that was fun:)

So, if the weather does not cooperate with my plans or someone needs me to be elsewhere or an illness arises, I am learning to take a deep breath....do not be pressured and anxious about the change....go with the flow...don't get my feathers ruffled......God ordained this change of plans to teach me something or to bring someone across my path or maybe to have me avoid a situation that would not be for my good. Looking at it that way......I am learning to be relaxed more of the time.

a HUGE increase in expenses.....

I know I may be strange, but I really enjoy waiting for the mail man to arrive each day. Sometimes he only brings bills, but most days there will be a personal note or even a magazine or catalog or something else neat in the mailbox for me. Last week I even got a check from the mortgage company as they had taken too much money from us and wanted to refund it. Gotta love that!!

Well, on Friday I was leafing thru the mail and I just about passed out. Our utility bill arrived and it was really REALLY big....as in $370+!!!!! Now during the warmest and coldest months, especially with the increases in utilities in our area, we might have one close to $200 or a bit more, but usually $150-ish is the norm for us.

Of course I called Huntsville Utilties and asked about the bill and asked if perhaps it had been misread. Well, it had....the month before. It really did not strike me odd that the late July/early August bill was in the $150-$160 range, but according to their records (based on our past usage during the same time frame in previous years), that was way too low. She had me go outside and read the meter and the newest reading was correct. He had read it too low the previous month and it was made up for this month.

YIKES!!!! Thankfully we were able to make things work out in the budget to pay for it, but it looks like we need to put a lot more in the "utilities" category from now on. She said our average bill should be $220 each month based on the upcoming expected increases in rates. She also offered to set up a balance pay system where you pay the same amount each month, then every six months you pay the difference or get a refund if you used more/less than the average amount for those months. I am wondering if that might not be a better way to handle these unexpected changes in amount????????

If anyone's tried that, I'd love to get your input.

More labor day photos.....

For some reason my blog seems to limit how many photos I can post at once...so I thought I would finish up with a second post.

You can see the stromboli a little better in this photo. Abigail loved the card her cousins made on the computer.

You can see her new bike being rolled in. She has outgrown the old one (a 20 inch bike), so Mommy and Daddy got her a new one. It is much larger (as bikes jump from 20 inches to 24 inches) and she is a bit nervous about riding it just yet...but she'll get used to it soon.

She enjoyed the cake...she is really a little chocolate lover!!!!

And, of course, she enjoyed playing with some of her cousins. They had a great time:)

Labor Day fun :)

We had a lot of fun on Labor Day 2008. We had some family over to visit and celebrate Abigail's ninth birthday a little early. I branched out and made a new dish--stromboli (which is an Italian baked sandwich). It was a hit with the adults:) The kids....well...two of the three were not thrilled with the cooked onions on it. We also had salad, a veggie tray, a variety of chips, a couple of homemade dips and a variety of drinks.

Abigail wanted a chocolate cake with chocolate frosting with her Pokemon characters on top of it....so that was easy to create for her.

Abigail got a lot of gift cards and money in addition to some pj's, cd's, bike helmet, bubble maker, books and art supplies.

A little story about the handprints.....a friend shared this idea with me just before Abigail's first birthday. Each year just before her birthday we have her paint her handprints onto the birthday table cloth. This year she wanted her handprints to reflect her interest in Pokemon....so she painted the red cheeks to make it look like Pikachu:)