Western Day

I wish I could say this past week was smooth and easy, but it SO WAS NOT! I felt like I was 5 minutes behind schedule all week.
Monday at lunch, I get an e-mail "reminding" me that I was supposed to serve at Nathan's school on Tuesday night for "Western Day". I was SO confused. I hadn't signed up to serve, nor had anyone told me that there was any activity at school at night on Tuesday. I remain confused until I open Nathan's folder Monday night and it explains the whole event: Western Day is not wearing western wear to school (in fact we wore uniforms to school that day). It is a fundraiser for PTF - BBQ supper and Hoe Down/Square Dance. I was a little preturbed, bc I had planned to go to Lexinton to see my SUPER talented cousin perform, but changed my plans to watch my little cowboy sing & dance. It turned out to be SUPER cute and fun. I am attaching pictures of Nathan & his class. Maybe one day I will learn how to get the video off the camera & onto blogger so you can watch the whole thing.
Anyway, I also got to deal with TEAM Cleveland stress, Garden Club nonsense, and work craziness! Needless to say, I was SO glad for Friday to arrive and the opportunity to get 8+ hours of sleep!

There is NOTHING better than having children that will let you sleep past 7 on a Saturday!!!

Nathan

Fall Break

Thanks to a very gracious friend from Lexington, we were able to go to Destin for fall break with Mama. It was strange to see such Caribbean looking scenery all around us, and it be unseasonably cool almost every day. We did get down to the beach one day and Nathan was able to swim. Mama & I also enjoyed an entire day of shopping and girl time. It was definitely nice to get away from the VERY soggy Delta for a few days! Here are some of our pictures.

Nathan and I took a nice long walk down the beach after the weather cooled.




Nathan riding the train after supper at Harry T's.

Sunset view from room

Roane's excellent photography


Another great view from the condo (to the SW)


Look closely: that splash in the water is Nathan & the large dark splotch above the umbrellas is me enjoying some sun.


Thomas and I checking out the Harbor side view


Our northwest view


The west view

5th Birthday!!!

We celebrated Nathan's 5th Birthday on Saturday, October 10th. The theme was "SuperHeros." I am not a huge fan of most of the actual superheros out there. They are all a little grown-up and too serious for a 5 year old - in my opinion. Our compromise was to create our own superhero! Each child decorated their own mask and cape, then we took their picture and printed it out on a 4 x 6" card. They got to take it all home as favors. The giant problem with this plan was that I am HORRIBLE at crafts. I am not creative at all! I ended up buying WAY too many things for them to decorate with, but it turned out to be a huge success. All the kids had a great time. Below are some of the pictures (sorry, they are out of order.)



Roane & I gave Nathan the Batman & Friends "Batcave". When he opened it, I expected "WOW, thanks!!" Instead I got, "THIS is what I what I wanted for Christmas last year!"


Blowing out the candles
.
Playing in the superhero outfits.


SUPER NATHAN!


Decorating our masks

O Love That Will Not Let Me Go

"For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Jer 29:11

This verse has been on my heart this morning, especially as I consider the situations of dear Christian friends around me. There is death and pain, sickness, financial loss, marital strife, struggles with addiction, and almost every other kind of sorrow that you can imagine.

I used to believe that this versed promised "good things" to me if I was a believer, but then I studied the verse further and realized that God gave this verse to his people while they were in captivity. Why were they in captivity? Because they had rejected God. The lessons that I take from this are:

1. God loves me even when I am unfaithful to him. GOD IS FAITHFUL EVEN WHEN I AM NOT!!!!! HELLO IS THIS THING ON?!?!?
2. My circumstances may not be the "prosperity" or "hope" that I had planned. It might actually feel like harm, but God knows what he is doing.
3. God will not allow the bad, ugly things that are a result of living in this sinful world from making me a NEW CREATION. Nothing can stay in the way of HIS plan for me or for any of His Children.

Lord, THANK YOU for your faithfulness to your unfaithful child. Please help me to trust in your promises. Help to desire your will for my life, even though it is painful sometime. Help me to encourage my friends and family that are in the midst of things that do not seem "good".

There is a song that we sing occasionally that I really love that expresses some of these thoughts and feelings even better than I can.

O Love that wilt not let me go,
I rest my weary soul in thee;
I give thee back the life I owe,
that in thine ocean depths its flow
may richer, fuller be.

O Light that followest all my way,
I yield my flickering torch to thee;
my heart restores its borrowed ray,
that in thy sunshine's blaze its day
may brighter, fairer be.

O Joy that seekest me through pain,
I cannot close my heart to thee;
I trace the rainbow through the rain,
and feel the promise is not vain,
that morn shall tearless be.

O Cross that liftest up my head,
I dare not ask to fly from thee;
I lay in dust life's glory dead,
and from the ground there blossoms red
life that shall endless be.

Crawling

Thomas officially started crawling today! He does a kind reach with his left hand & push with his right leg and then he straightens himself out with the other leg. It is pretty cute.

I also wanted to record one of the sweetest things Nathan has said lately. He told me that my kisses were like tasting strawberries. SWEET!!!!

Nathan also has an obsession with corny jokes. Example:

What is a shark's favorite movie? The Wizard of Jaws

He tells them ALL the time and over and over again.

Nathan's 5th Birthday Party is this weekend!!! I can't believe it has been 5 years! It has flown by, and he is growing into the sweetest most mature little guy. Happy Happy Birthday NATHAN!!!!