Happy Thanksgiving!

Hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving and didn't eat too much turkey! My parents and my sister with her 6 kids came for the day, so we had a busy day today!
Tomorrow we're leaving to go to Louisiana for a few days, so I've got to get everything packed and ready to go. No shopping for me! YIPPEE! :-)

Happy Birthday, Juliana!

Last night we had a birthday party for Juliana. Her birthday is actually Friday, but we went ahead and had the party a little bit early. It's hard to believe my baby is already 2!

This is her 2 years ago, about 15 minutes after she was born.


This was 1 year ago, at her first birthday party.


2 years old!
This was the only full length picture I got of her birthday dress, apparently. It had a 2 on the bow.

Playing on her new toy - a bouncy zebra

She HAD to give Elmo a ride


Now they're both going to ride the zebra


Decisions, decisions....


Two-year-olds and fire do not mix well. She almost stuck her finger in one of the candles, and I guess we scared her so bad telling her it was hot, she wouldn't even try to blow them out after that.

At least she knew what to do with the cake this year. Last year, it took three people to even get her to taste it, after which, she promptly made a mess!

Pictures, As Promised

Perhaps someone should explain to her that swimsuits are not generally meant to be worn on the head?

Jumping on the bed-don't worry, I stopped it as soon as I took the picture! :-)

How could anyone resist this grin?

Mommy and the Giggle-bug

This child of ours is SO helpful...I put her in the tub tonight and came back a few minutes later to discover that she had decided to do her own laundry; all of her clothes that I had just taken off of her, plus a towel, were in the tub with her! Then, after she got them 'clean', she took them out and put them beside the tub. If only she had wrung them out first....................

Life, In General

I guess I should post something, but there hasn't been much going on! :-)
This past Friday, my old friend, Dana (Barfield) George came to spend the weekend with me while her husband went hunting. It was great to see her again! The last time we were together was at her wedding, 4 years ago in January, so it's definitely been a while. We've kept in touch by email and Facebook, but it's not the same as getting together and acting silly all night! :-) Poor Brad, alone in a houseful of girls!
Juliana had never met Dana, but took to her right away. She wanted Dana to do everything for her, and sat in her lap frequently. (she doesn't sit in anyone's lap for any length of time, generally) It took her a while to figure out her name...she called her YOU, friend, Davis, a cuss word (I'll let you try to figure out which one :-), and finally, Dana.
Speaking of Juliana, she has a new love...VeggieTales! A few weeks ago, she was sick, so Brad went and rented "The Pirates Who Don't Do Anything" for her. She fell in love immediately! Now ALL VeggieTales are 'Pirates', and she will watch them 10 times a day if I will let her! We've just about exhausted the library's supply - I don't know what we'll do then. So far, she can sing the Veggie theme song (complete with 'boom, boom, boom' of the tuba at the beginning), the Pirate song (We are the Pirates who don't do anything, we just stay home and lie around...), the Hairbrush song (OH, where is my hairbrush?), as well as a new one from "Sheerluck Holmes" called 'Gated Community' (Can I have my ball? Could you get my ball? I kicked it into the tree, and the ball bouced off , and the ball dropped in to the the gated community!) HELP! I'm being attacked by singing vegetables! :-)
I guess it could be worse. At least most of the VeggieTales are either Bible stories or else they teach christian principles. Hopefully she's learning something!
She pretty much has something to say about everything these days. She's learning new words every day, and she's not afraid to use them! She loves to jump and climb - and generally drive her mother crazy! :-0 She can smell candy from a mile away, and will find a way to reach it, no matter how high you put it. Her arms seem to be made out of rubber, and will stretch for a mile or more, and when she stands on her tippy-toes, it adds at least a foot to her height. I know, you probably think I'm exaggerating a little. Well, all I can say is, YOU come keep her for a day or two! :-)
I've been trying to teach her the proper use of 'please', 'thank you', and 'you're welcome'. Well, the other day, she asked me for something, and said thank you when I gave it to her, but before I could reply she said "I Welcome!" Another time, she wanted something and came to me and said, "please, thank you, you're welcome" all at once. I guess she thought she'd go ahead and get it all out of the way!
I'll try to post some pictures before too long. I haven't taken many lately.

No Matter Who Won:

I guess I should have posted this last week, but I forgot. Anyway, I received this in an email and found it though-provoking:

Top 10 Predictions No Matter Who Wins the Election

1. The Bible will still have all the answers.

2. Prayer will still work.

3. The Holy Spirit will still move.

4. God will still inhabit the praises of His people.

5. There will still be God-anointed preaching.

6. There will still be singing of praise to God.

7. God will still pour out blessings upon His people.

8. There will still be room at the Cross.

9. Jesus will still love you.

10. Jesus will still save the lost when they come to Him.

AND GOD APPROVES THIS MESSAGE!

ISN'T IT GREAT TO KNOW WHO IS REALLY IN CONTROL!!

It's easy to get depressed when things don't go our way...especially when we think we know how it really needs to be! I sat up VERY late Tuesday night, listening to election results, and praying, "Lord, why?". Well, He hasn't told me why yet, and I haven't figured it out for myself yet, but this I do know: God is still on His throne, He still running this world, and He doesn't need my help! Whatever may come, He knew long before it ever happened and somehow even though we can't possibly see how He will be exhalted in it! Psalm 46:100 says, "Be still, and know that I am God: I will be exalted among the heathen, I will be exalted in the earth."

One song that was running through my mind the other night says it better than I can:

Lord, You can explain all the wonders
And you can erase all the fear
You can dispel all the darkness, see a new day that's dawning just a fewmile from here
When I can't see a purpose or plan,
Lord, You Can!

Another verse that should thrill you (actually verses) is Isaiah 40:28-31

Hast thou not known?

hast thou not heard, that the everlasting God,

The LORD, the Creator of the ends of the earth, fainteth not, neither is weary?

There is no searching of his understanding.

He giveth power to the faint; and to them that have no might he increaseth strength.

Even the youths shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly fall:
But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength;

they shall mount up with wings as eagles;

they shall run, and not be weary;

and they shall walk, and not faint.

Imagine... I get tired trying to figure out what's happening, BUT HE DOESN'T!

So for all of you that think that the end has come...maybe it has, maybe it hasn't, but don't worry about it! Psalm 37 says not to worry about evildoers - their time will come! I don't know about you, but I don't have enough energy to worry about other people's problems - I've got enough to deal with on my own, and He's got plenty of strength to take care of them and us!

And THAT, my friends, should just about make you shout!