A Lifetime of Love

By the way, I added some new links under "My Favorites." When you get a chance, check them out as I feel they will be helpful to many.

I cannot believe October has passed! T.G.'s first birthday is fast-approaching, and I am a little saddened. My baby is growing too fast! I posted some pictures from this past month, including Halloween. I love looking at the pictures, especially seeing the smiles on the faces of the residents in the nursing home; it is nothing short of sheer joy at seeing the children in their costumes. Th was a robot, Ta was Piglet, and T.G. was a pumpkin. I made her costume for $2.40 and I am really proud of myself. It's not the best in the world, but considering I didn't have a pattern and had to make one on my own, it turned out pretty good. It was a little big, but I knew it would be: I used Th as my mannequin because the only opportunity I had to sew was while she was napping. The picture is difficult to see, but I even sewed some green leaves out of felt for her hair. Oh, I wanted to update about school from a few weeks ago. I found out I need 2 classes in order to get my Elementa...

1 Corinthians 10:31, "And whether therefore you eat or drink, or whatsoever you do, do all to the glory of God." We used to "celebrate" Halloween until I really understood how it is not pleasing to Christ. My boys have gone trick-or-treating 1 time and it was horrible. They were scared and it was then that I was convicted by the Holy Spirit through the above verse. Now, we allow the children to wear a costume to their preschool fall festival, and then in the afternoon we go visit a local nursing home in their costumes. The residents love it, the kids love it, and I love knowing it brought joy to everyone involved. We no longer go trick-or-treating, and the costumes I permit the kids to wear cannot be evil or scary in any way. This year Th is a robot, Ta is Piglet, and T.G. is a pumpkin. I made Th and T.G.'s costume, and a friend gave me Ta's last year. I'll post pictures tomorrow from their festival at school and from the nursing home. Until then, read t...

I want to share with you about my student who I have been working with at a local elementary school. She is a beautiful, sweet girl and I am extremely burdened for her and her family. N. is 8 years old and in 3rd grade. She has pulmonary arterial hypertension, which is something I had never heard of until meeting her. She has a catheter that enters directly into her heart and wears a backpack that carries the liquid medication. If the catheter becomes dislodged, she has approximately 3 minutes to have it replaced before she faces death. One of my tasks at the school is to ensure this does not happen, and it is very daunting! With her disability, she faces fatigue, shortness of breath, nausea , vomiting, and a host of other side effects. Today I came in and her face and neck were covered in what looked to be red hives. It was caused by her medication. She looks like a normal 8 year old, and generally acts like one, too. I did some research on this particular condition (you know me,...

I've not posted in a few days because I've been busy with school (as usual) and getting ready for last night and tonight. Specifically, this week is Missions Conference at church. We are blessed to have five excellent missionaries and their families in attendance, and even more blessed that we were able to get to know them on a more personal basis. We ate lunch with them all at church both yesterday and today, hosted one last night and another tonight for supper, and the church is having its Fall Fellowship tomorrow evening in which all will be present. I am so thankful for the opportunity to have so much interaction with such a diverse group of people. I hope these past few days have been and will continue to be a memorable event for my children, particularly the meals. Sharing 4 meals with 4 separate families has really provided a great opportunity for the boys, Th especially, to get a better idea of what a missionary is and why it is such an important job. The missionary we ...

Jenn gave me another award today. I don't really think I did anything special, but I appreciate her thinking of me. It brought a smile to my face nonetheless. Visit her blog if you're interested in finding out why she chose me.

Jenn had this posted and I thought it was a cute way to get to know TJ and me better. 1. Who is your man? TJ 2. How long have you been together? Total 9 ½ years, married 8 3. How long did you date? 1 year and 4 months 4. How old is your man? 32 5. Who eats more? Unfortunately I do 6. Who said “I love you” first? He definitely did. I think. 7. Who is taller? I am by an inch 8. Who sings better? He definitely does! He sounds a lot like Travis Tritt, and I often encourage him to join our church’s choir, but to no avail. 9. Who is smarter? We both have our strengths. I am much more knowledgeable about history and English (i.e. grammar), and we’re equally talented in math and science. 10. Whose temper is worse? Hands down. . . me. His temper debuts while driving, mine in pretty much everything else. 11. Who does the laundry? That’s a sore subject! I do the laundry and I HATE it! He’ll help but I usually have to ask. 12. Who takes out the trash? He does, unless I see it needs to be done whi...