Day of Miracles

It's hard to believe that Christmas has already come and gone. I began to pack up our Santa's, ornaments, and 2008 Christmas cards today. Our tree is a whole different story this year. During the after Christmas sales my husband purchased me a prelite tree for only $10.00, you know I had to put it up. Yeah so it was the day after Christmas but our family had not celebrated together yet at our house. Bob and I worked hard and put it up during nap and surprised the girls when they got up. Brendlee was so excited to see a big tree. In fact Bren was so excited mommy has decided to keep the tree up and transform it month to month. We will have a News Years Tree/Winter Tree, a Valentines Tree, and a Easter Tree. I am so excited about doing this I know my kids will enjoy this.

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On a more serious note we have a few prayer request. I know God is faithful to answer and faithful to listen to those who pray.

1. Please pray for the family of a faithful saint name Dorthy. Dorthy passed away in her home last. Many of her family members are not saved and Dorthy's heart was to see her children and grandchildren live for God. Bob was the attending officer at her home, while the funeral home was there. Again please pray for the family. This was a very Godly women. My fondest memory was her allowing God to use her at VBS this summer.

2. Prayer is needed for Erica Trusell. Erica is our pastor's daughter. Almost 2 weeks ago she had surgery done on her colon and has had many complications since that time. Erica family is prayer for a complete healing.

3. The last request is for my parents pastor's wife. Her name is Shirley. Shirley needs a miracle. As of right now hospice has been called in and she is literally on her death bed. In the past Shirley had been receiving blood, but a couple of weeks ago she stopped receiving it. The doctor's have washed their hands and said there is nothing they could do but let her die in peace. God is an on time God. Today is the eight day of Hanukkah, the day of new beginnings, the day of miracles. Let's pray that today Shirley will receive her miracle.

Grinch Babies

SNIP IT THURSDAY

During this past year our local police department, that my husband so proudly is apart of saved change. All the change that was collected went to buy toys, through the program Toys for Tots. This year our children had the opportunity to go and pick out the toys that would be donated. I am so proud of my oldest daughter for beginning to understand the concept of giving.

gift of hot cocoa

This evening my MOPS group had planned a Christmas Party, but due to all the snow and winter weather our party has now been canceled. Not only the party is canceled but it seems as if everything in town is canceled for this evening. The word is more winter weather is coming. The best way to put things into perspective is to say, it's pure white outside everywhere and it's bitter cold.

Yesterday I went to the dollar store and picked out my $5.00 gift, for a good ole gift exchange at the party tonight. Hey guess what though.... Remember I said the party is canceled. What better person to give the gift to than to myself. Oh I am so excited. I myself will be receiving the gift. The gift I bought is perfect today, see like I said it's bitter cold, but my Hot Cocoa is about to warm me up.

Off to make my Cocoa.... Stay Warm Yourself.....

may not be suitable for small children

Today I posted a video at the bottom of my blog. For those of you reading this from facebook, you will have to click on "original posting", and scroll to the bottom of our family's blog. When coming to the page you may need to pause the pink player at the bottom of the page before hitting play on the video. The video is our journey about miscarriage, this video may not be suitable for small children. Warning to all you will see photos of my son at 14 weeks. If you look closely you will see that my son is like every other baby that is born. When looking at him, you are looking at God's creation, as some describe this, you are looking at the sheer perfection of God. Through my experience I hang onto the words that the Bible speaks of about a child in the mother's womb. My son will never be here on this earth with us, but in heaven, one day I will see him, as he stands and worships the KING OF KINGS and LORD of LORDS.

No longer revealing

Today is weigh in day at our home. Last week I so wonderfully revealed our current weight and our weight loss. I no longer will be revealing my weight, but I will be revealing my husband's weight. I am so proud of him, he is working really hard.

Bob's Current weight: 210 He lost 1 pound this past week, with a .99% loss for the week...

Not only is Bob doing his weigh in but he also does his measurements for his waist and neck.... Go Bob!!! You are doing a great JOB!!! I love YOU!!!!

SNIP IT THURSDAY

So here we are to SNIP IT THURSDAY. For the last two Thursday I have put this on the back burner, the first Thursday missed was on Thanksgiving. Come on I am sure I was not the only person that didn't blog on that day and I am very sure I was not the only person stuffing my face also. Than come last Thursday, not sure exactly what happened other than, "I forgot". With all that being said I proudly present SNIP IT THURSDAY.

The photos today are from when my parents were here.The top ones are from our trip to the zoo in KC. This was such a wonderful experience with my mom as my girls discovered so many things this day!
Not only did we celebrate Thanksgiving but my children had part one of Christmas. Many presents have already been opened. We are going to Arkansas to be with my parents for part of the holidays but all those presents would not of made it back in our car, with a total of five people, so of course we had to go ahead and open some of them!!!

Thick Hair Gone

Never in my life have I kept just one hair stylist, for me getting my hair cut is usually a 2-3 times a year episode, therefore keeping just one person to cut my hair has never really been an issue. For some going to an unknown person to cut your hair is a big deal, but for me I never know the person that is chopping at my hair. I can honestly say I have never had a horrifying experience. I am almost always satisfied with the job that is done. back in the summer I had my hair cut pretty short which I love, the only problem comes when it begins to grow back out. My head is full of this ungodly thick hair. Yesterday I had enough. Today I went to get a trim at one of our local salons, of course one I have never been too. I have only had my hair cut twice since leaving here in Eldo. Again I had a great experience. The stylist was able to cut off so much hair and still it really doesn't look to much like I had a hair cut. Check out the two pics, not much of a difference but trust me, alot of hair was cut out.... The one with my daughter is the before pic and the other is the after pic.... of course the pics in my sidebar are before pics also...

White Deck

This afternoon we received a small amount of snow... I wish the girls were here, they have missed two snows already, mind you these are not huge snows by any means, but I know the girls would enjoy watching it, as it falls. Only 10 more days till I see my babies.... I love you girls...

MOPS....

Recently I have become involved in our local MOPS organization. MOPS stands for Mothers of Preschoolers. Our local group is full of great women, who desire nothing more than to be great moms. Each meeting includes learning about being a better mom. Today was our monthly meeting, our topic was titled "Santa's Little Helpers". Many wonderful things come from our topic, but the most important aspect that was taken from the meeting was to "make memories". During this holiday season as mommies let's remember to do this. Let's not get hung up on the aspect of giving our children the biggest and best toys, but instead let's make memories that will last a lifetime.

Ideas for making memories:

Make Cookies with your children
Make a craft with your children
Hang Christmas lights together
Gather toys and deliver them to a needy family together
Play bored games together on Christmas Day, or New Year's Eve

The ideas are endless. As a mom always remember that your child may not remember the best gift they every received 20 years from now, but they will remember the memories that were made.

2 Pounds Down

Since my girls have been gone for a little over a week now, mommy has had much time to sit and reflect. Maybe to much reflection at times. During my times of reflection this past week, I decided that instead of continuing to put on pounds I would try to get a good start at shedding some pounds while my children were away. Last Monday I began a diet and exercise routine. I am sure I am like so many, "not good at this sort of thing". To be honest I was not excited last Monday when I began, see I like to eat but within the last 6 months most of my eating has been out of pure boredom, I have come to realize that this has to stop now.

My plan to loss my pregnancy weight and the weight I have put on due to eating out of boredom is the old fashion counting my calories and at least 30 minutes of exercise a day.

Now for those of you who think this is simple, I challenge you to give it a shot. Over the past week I have become aware of how many calories are in certain foods, man have my eyes been opened. As a child I remember my mom trying to diet and how she used to write down her calories, at this point in my life I never understood how this all worked but wow now I do. See when counting your calories you must remember to see exactly what the serving size is, many times that favorite food is just not worth it.

Today was our weigh in day, yes I said our... My husband is also participating in this lovely journey that I will now call, "The Biggest Wolf Loser". As I already said, today was our weigh in. And here are the results.....

BOB.... Previous Weight 214 Current Weight 211 Percent Lost 1.01%
Crystal.... Previous Weight 136 Current Weight 134 Percent Lost 1.01%

Day 4

DAY 4 OF COUNTING CALORIES...

2 almost down, 4 to go

In a recent post I wrote all 6 goals that I was hoping to accomplish while my babies spent time with their grandmother. As of today, I have almost kicked 2 of these projects in the bud. Yesterday I worked on my holiday bags and today I wrote out the testimony of my miscarriage. I still have some to do on both of these projects, both both are almost complete. As for the girls they are doing great. I have talked to them many times over already. Both are having tons of fun. My youngest is doing some potty training while at grandma's. My mom is so good at working with my girls on major milestone's. Talking with my mom this morning she informed me that Brilynn when big potty in the training potty today. I am so proud of her. I really would like to keep Brilynn small but I know she has to grow up and that she is doing.