Indians & Pilgrims

Today is a reminder of what it's like to have the innocence of a child and the simple joys. Today at Michael's preschool they were invited to dress up like indians & pilgrims. Thanks to our friends, the Rings, we had an indian costume for him. He was so excited that he has been dressed like an indian for 2 days. We met up with his best buddy, Reagan this morning for a few snapshots before school began. How cute are they?!! They had a feast at school and ran around like .. well.. indians!
The kids are looking forward to Thanksgiving at Aunt Shell's and hanging out with the family. Michael's favorite food at Thanksgiving is turkey and olives, Kennedy says her favorite is lemon meriegne pie (don't know if we really have this, but she says we do). Darren and I are looking forward to taking a break from packing (at least for a few hours) and just relaxing with family.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!

Encouragement from a friend..

A friend of mine posted this today on her blog. I really hit home with me and I felt the need to share. Thank you friend for the reminder and for the encouragement.

My heart has been so heavy the last few days. So many people are losing their jobs, homes and their life savings for retirement. i keep going back to the simple yet profound truth that "God is still on the throne!" Although this is black and white and should be so simple to remember, I am struggling. I was heading to my doctor today and was listening to Chuck Smith Sr. on Kwave. What a GREAT message he had for us. He was talking about troubles and hard times and how they are inevitable. God never promised us a life without trouble or pain. He does promise us that He is always with us. Pastor Chuck then went on to share how God is refereed to as "fire" several times in the bible. Fire as we know it can be so destructive, it can consume and destroy...leaving ashes behind. Fire on the other hand can also be a refiner. Look at what happens when gold is put in the fire and how when you heat it the impurities disappear leaving a pure gold behind. So, those are our choices....are we going to let the fire consume us and destroy us or are we going to let it refine us, transform us into something pure and beautiful? This is a questions that changed my outlook today. The devastation is still there, but my perspective has changed and I am looking for ways that this fire in our economy can refine me. Let us not forget though that we must hold each other in prayer during these times as sometimes there is pain during the refinement.

Halloween 2008

Ok so I am a little slow at posting these days. My bad. Sorry Aunt Shell! Halloween was just as fun this year as in years of the past. We joined the Rings and Hoopingarners and walked the old neighborhood. Kennedy was a cheerleader, but not just any cheerleader.. a High School Musical cheerleader. Michael was a penquin. Cleveland & Reagan were mummies (she was pink- too cute) and Lainey was a beautiful Cinderella.

Our time was all messed up because of the (lack of) time change this year. We got off to a late start. After trick or treating (although the Dad's tried to discourage it) the Mommies insisted that we go to the church for the carnival as planned. Who cares about crowds when the kids have their hearts set on it.. right?! We all had fun (even the Dad's who later admitted we were right). The carnival is open to the entire community and is FREE! It's amazing how much it has grown since we first started going when the kids were really little. It was like maybe 2 jumpers and some game booths that handed out candy. Now.. there are tons of rides, maybe 6-8 jumpers & slides, game booths.. you name it.

Good Times! Good Friends!

Oh and Kisses was a chicken his year

in case you could not tell.

YUMMY & EASY

Now that I've got your attention.... I just made one of the easiest, yummiest, fatteningest soups EVER. My friend, Jackie gave me the recipe. Darren and I pretty much licked our bowls clean. The great thing is that we are able to get two meals out of it. I am freezing half for those "oh-crud-what-am-I-going-to-make-for-dinner?" days. It reminds me of Marie Callendars Potato Cheese Soup. SOOOO EASY & YUMMY!!! Here it is... enjoy!

1 onion (sauteed)
3 cans chicken broth
1 large bag of frozen cubed hash browns
1 can cream of celery
1 can cream of chicken
1 1/2 C milk
1 lb Velveeta cheese (I know, but it's so good)

Combine onion and broth, bring to a boil. Add hash browns and bring to a boil. Add soups (don't dilute) and milk, bring to a boil. Add cheese and heat until cheese is melted and potatoes are softened to your liking. Optional, serve with bacon bits. (I didn't but doesn't it sound good?)

Dinner Rolls
Salad

viola!

FALL ROCKS! Well what we have seen of it so far.