CHEERFUL GIVERS

Our Sunday School class, Sacred Marriage, is full of married couples with young children. Some of the children are reaching, or have reached, the age in understanding servanthood/volunteering. In order to give the kids an opportunity to serve in a way they would understand and be capable of we stuffed stockings...a easy concept as well as easy for them to do.
The parents purchased items to go in the stockings (Blake Coleman used her own money to purchase what they brought). We gathered in our class room at the church and setup a table with all the items. The kids "shopped" around the table to fill the stockings. Once filled, the kids carried the stockings to "Hopes Chest", a box by the tree we picked the stockings up from.
Our hope for Joshua is that this is the start of what God intends us to do for others. We lead the boys by our example and Joshua, being the oldest, will lead his younger sibling(s) by example.

2 Corinthians 9:6-7 "But this I say, He which soweth sparingly shall reap also sparingly; and he which soweth bountifully shall reap also bountifully. Every man according as he purposeth in his heart, so let him give; not grudgingly, or of necessity: for God loveth a cheerful giver."


Blake Coleman putting travel shampoo and soaps in her stocking.

Joshua putting chocolate candy in his stocking.

All the children participants, Joshua, Elizabeth Williams, Barrett Starr, and Blake Coleman.

Two of the three younger children there...Andrew and Emma Coleman were fighting over who would eat the last cheddar whale.
Kyle Starr was there as well, but he was busy turning in circles.

COOKIE EXCHANGE...

Picture of all the goods...yes, we still have some left after 2 days.


This was my cookie display. It was meant to look like a Christmas tree with gifts. The cookies were shaped like Christmas trees with sprinkles. I got the recipe from Jeff's mom, Lynda. Ice Box Ginger Snaps.

My mom's group that meets every Tuesday did a cookie exchange today. It was a lot of fun! I enjoyed seeing all the great displays. I also liked hearing why everyone chose the cookie they were going to make. Some of the recipes were passed down from parents or grandparents, while others were just picked from a website. After we shared why we chose the cookie we made we voted for, Best Looking Cookie, Most Unique Cookie, and Neatest Presentation.
The winners were....

Best Looking Cookie...Kori Ledbetter for Penny's Buttercream Cookie

Most Unique...Jessica Starr for Snowballs

Neatest Presentation...Stephanie Locke for Thumbprint Cookie

GOING HOME

Mom and I originally planned to head home Sunday. However, I received a text from a friend that lives in Nashville. I text her back and arranged for us to stay the night with her, if we decided to leave Saturday. After many undecisive conversations between Mom and myself we finally decided we would leave Saturday morning (decided Friday just before dinner).
During dinner on Friday Audra and Joshua were both filling ill. We did not think too much about it until I pulled into the drive and Audra said she was going to throwup. I hurried her into the house and she went straight to the bathroom. She did not get sick right away...I think we all thought she had gas and that Joshua was just feeling sympathy pains. WE WERE WRONG! Audra did get sick...she was pretty neat about it (those with young kids will appreciate the neatness when they are older). Then Cadance got sick, not neat at all. After Cadance came Joshua. Cadance, Joshua, and Audra all got sick again before Christopher got sick. It was crazy and a MESS! The kids were so upset and in pain. We just could not figure out why this was going on. Andrew was not getting sick and the adults were feeling fine. Was it something they ate?
I was keeping Jeff up to speed via e-mail and then at about 10:00 p.m. He called and told me he was sick. Jennifer and Mom followed him by getting sick in the middle of the night. So, it was nothing they ate, but a virus. Needless to say we were all up until the wee hours of the morning, if anyone actually got any sleep.
Mom, the boys, and I still ended up leaving Saturday morning, about an hour later than we wanted to. Mom drove us all the way to Nashville (Mi, OH, KY, TN). She ended up going straight to bed and the boys and I went with my friend, DBLA, to dinner. The next morning we got up early and finished our drive, 10 hours, to Texas (TN, AK, TX). The boys did really well both days. Andrew is not as good sitting for that long as Joshua, but he is not interested in the DVD player as much as Joshua. I cannot complain...
Andrew and I never got sick and Joshua was good on Saturday and after Mom slept, she felt much better. Jeff still has a few stomach issues. Jennifer and the kids are feeling better, but a few of them took a few days to recover.
I am thankful we were able to take the trip to see family and ended by seeing a good friend. If you ever get a chance to take a trip, do it. The kids and you will survive and there is a lot to see out there on the roads. I imagine as the boys get older it will be even better...I see many road games in our future, especially to CO.


Andrew after a chocolate donut...he was hungry and it is all I had.

Joshua passed out on Saturday.

IT'S COLD, WHAT DO WE DO?

So, it is COLD in MI. We had good snow the day after we got there and light snow the following days, so playing outside was done in spurts. Thankfully my brother's family has a lot of toys and Jennifer bought a few crafts for the kids to do since they were going to be couped up inside the house.
The first day the kids dissolved little tablets in hot water and out popped dinosaurs. Audra, Joshua, and Cadance really enjoyed playing with their dino's...Andrew tried to eat his.
The next day the kids tried to put together animals made from little puffy balls. However, we did not have the glue. We bought the glue the following evening. Audra, Cadance, and Joshua were the only kiddos to participate. Audra made a white horse. Cadance made a pink gorilla. Joshua made a blue seal. Audra did hers by herself and it turned out very nice. I helped Cadance and Joshua...I think Audra should have helped them in order for them to come out nice.
The last craft was all Audra and Mom. They took clay and made a giraffe, fish, cat, bird, and turkey leg with gravy...Audra is very creative.
Other than the crafts the kids played really well together. Well, Audra, Joshua, and Cadance played well together and Christopher and Andrew played by themselves.


Audra (7), Joshua (4), and Cadance (4)

Audra, Cadance, Joshua

Fish (Mom), Cat (Audra), Turkey and gravy (Audra), Bird (Audra), Giraffe (Mom and Audra)

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

Our Thanksgiving was filled with food and family. Mom made eggs, bacon, and biscuits for breakfast. Then Andrew and Jeff napped. We had shrimp dip for lunch. Then Joshua napped. We were going to eat out turkey dinner between 4:30 and 5:00. However, the turkey took a little bit longer. We were about to sit down and eat our turkey, green bean casserole, yams, corn, rolls, and gravy...we noticed that we forgot to make the mashed potatoes and stuffing (stove top), so we put everything in the oven to keep warm and hustled to make potatoes and stuffing. Finally, two hours after we initially said we would eat we sat down at the table and had a feast. Yummy! Now we are about to sit down and have pumpkin pie with Reddi Whip...double yummy! By the way, my garbage disposal, Andrew, only ate bread today. He had a biscuit for breakfast and lunch and two rolls for dinner. He did not want anything else. Hmmm, hope he is not coming down with anything.
I hope everyone had a Happy Thanksgiving and gave thanks for what is in their life.
Things I am thankful for...this is not an all inclusive list.
-my spouse
-my children
-my parents
-my siblings
-my siblings families
-the ability to be with my brother's family over thanksgiving
-my inlaws, all of them
-naps


Jeff and Andrew napping.

Andrew playing in Mom's lap.

Joshua napping way too late in the afternoon.

Our spread

TRIP TO MICHIGAN

My mom, the boys and I left for Livonia, MI Sunday morning at 3:42 a.m. Yes, you read that right, we left EARLY in the morning. I thought the boys would go right back to sleep, but Andrew stayed up for about 20 minutes and Joshua stayed up for about an hour. Once out, they both slept until about 8:00 a.m. I tried to sleep a little at the beginning of the drive, but I was not so successful...Mom really wanted someone to talk to. We made three stops along the way...driving through Texas, Arkansas, Missouri, Illinois, Indiana, and into Michigan. All the stops were at least 30 minutes, if not a bit longer...the boys needed some time to move around. Andrew was pretty irritated on the drive, if he was awake. We played peek-a-boo a lot and sang a number of songs that required hand motions. Joshua was GREAT! He was the best little traveler. He "read" about 8 books and watched movies, some over and over. Mom drove the entire way, "Thank you Mom!" and I was responsible for making the boys happy. We had good weather and not too many problems with other drivers (although we did see a lot of dead deer on the back of trucks in Illinois). We finally made it to Jennifer's house at about 11:00 p.m. (they are on eastern time), so the total drive was 19 hours with about 2 hours of stop time. Gas Buddy said the drive would take 17 hours and 20 minutes. I say we made good time.
We used a web site called Gas Buddy. It provided directions and the best places (lowest prices) to stop for gas along the way. You even put in the make and model of your car and it tells you the amount of gas you will use and your gas emisions. If you are going on a long trip try it out.
I will try to keep you all posted during the trip...we have already seen snow today, but I did not make it out in time to take pictures...it is VERY cold here.


Andrew after he woke in the a.m.


Joshua after he woke in the a.m.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY ROBIN!

My niece, Robin, turned 9 on November 22nd. We celeberated with her on Saturday with hot dogs and hamburgers for lunch and cake for dessert. The cake was made by the same person that made Samantha's, see Happy Birthday Samantha! The top layer is strawberry, the middle layer is chocolate, and the bottom layer is vanilla. She got some great gifts, we got her a cash register. We all had a good time. Happy Birthday Robin.


Robin and her cake.

Robin and her best friend Destiny...they love each other one day and are mad at each other the next.