Well I picked some beets and all of the carrots. So my supper was tomato, carrots and beets--YUMM! And the right price--FREE!LOL

FIL called and GFIL (his FIL actually!LOL) is really, really poorly right now. They don't think he will make it throught hte night. He's 94 and in the nursing home and doesn't know anyone (or where he is).

Today went smoothly! The coffee house was great! It was a nice relaxing time.;) Then to a relaxing time at Pizza Hut. I FINALLY found out that they have a garden salad for $1.99 and it was HUGE! Which is PERFECT to go along w/the free personal pans for the boys!;)  $3.50 covers lunch AND tip.

Then to library where I remembered to sell some raffle tix for MOMS. I sold almost a sheet so only have to buy 2 sheets!LOL

Then home where I dusted and cleaned the bathrooms. And got the sloppy joes out for supper. Oh, I need to have Mat go get me some beets......

I'm seriously contemplating going to a rally on Friday. I'm just not sure if JOey would be up to the large amts of 'down time'. I'd love for Mat to go tho!

Today, October 15^th, is the National Day of Remembrance honoring the memories of children lost in death, miscarriage or stillbirth.
Today I remember. I am one of those mothers.
I miscarried our first child in August of 1995. Until that time, I only knew of two other women who I could talk with that had also had miscarriages and they were not really big on talking about it. In the midst of it, others began to come forward and quietly share that they too had suffered miscarriages. The hush-hushness of it all was unnerving to me. I felt that not talking about it was tantamount to pretending it never happened. As I worked through the pain and yes, the anger of this time I declared that I would be open about my miscarriage.
To the world I am a mother of three children. Not so. I am a mother of four. I have a wonderful friend that has miscarried at least four times and has been unable to sustain a viable pregnancy. She is a mother. There will be a day in heaven when she will hold those four children in her arms and she will know.
My dear, sweet sister-in-law miscarried after her first child. Twice. We spent a lot of time talking that through together. Then three years and one more child later, she gave birth to twins. One was stillborn. Words cannot begin to express the sweet joy and bittersweet sorrow of that day. It doesn’t go away. Each year celebrating my niece’s birthday is also a reminder of her sister’s passing.
It is nice that there is a National Day of Remembrance but its not the only date of remembrance. July 30^th, the day the doctor confirmed our child was dead. August 4^th, the day of my surgery.  February 2^nd, my due date.
The gift of this day is that it is one whole complete day dedicated to honoring all who have lost a child. Today I don’t just think of me and my loss- I think of my friends, my sister-in-law, a new friend who just miscarried a few weeks ago and the losses of dear blog-friends. I think of a family our church is praying for whose four yr old daughter is not only not responding to chemo but has so many new areas of cancer growth that it is only a matter of time.
May God hold us all close in the palm of His hand today.

The ladies on an e-mail list that I'm on were sharing some of our favorite hymn/praise and worship lyrics and I thought I would share mine with you.  If you have the time, PLEASE watch the YouTube video that I included the link to.  When our praise team does this at our church I play Irish penny whistle.

In Christ Alone (My Hope is Found)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BcpLZgCwcEE&feature=related

In Christ alone my hope is found.

He is my Light, my strength, my song.

This Cornerstone, this solid ground

Firm through the fiercest drought and storm.

What heights of love!  What depths of peace,

When fears are stilled, when strifings cease.

My Comforter, my all in all,

Here in the love of Christ I stand.

In Christ alone, Who took on flesh,

Fullness of God in helpless Babe.

This gift of love and righteousness

Scorned by the ones He came to save

‘til on that cross as Jesus died

The wrath of God was satisfied,

For ev’ry sin on Him was laid.

Here in the death of Christ I live.

There in the ground His body lay,

Light of the world by darkness slain.

THEN BURSTING FORTH IN GLORIOUS DAY,

UP FROM THE GRAVE HE ROSE AGAIN!

And as He stands in victory,

Sin’s curse has lost its grip on me.

For I am His, and He is mine,

Bought with the precious blood of Christ.

No guilt in life, no fear in death:

This is the pow’r of Christ in me.

From life’s first cry to final breath,

Jesus commands my destiny.

No pow’r of hell, no scheme of man

Can ever pluck me from His hand

‘til He returns, nor cause me harm;

Here in the pow’r of Christ I’ll stand.

Blessings from Ohio, Kim Wolf<><

The first half of this pregnancy, I did a lot of thinking that this baby might be a little girl. Then, a few weeks ago, I started having "sypmtoms" that I personally relate to having a boy that I had with both Samuel and Elijah.

Now, I haven't had a little girl so I could definatly be wrong!

I told Jonathan that well, we might just be having a third little boy. I watched his eyes brighten with a snap and start to sparkle. "Wouldn't that be so great?"

Well, yeah.

Right after we announced to the whole world that I was expecting again, I was swamped with comments about 'how maybe this one would be a girl' and how they 'hoped for my sake' and 'maybe finally'.

I visited my dental hygenist. She "tried four times for a girl before she called it quits".

I'm sorry, I just can't grasp that. Let's say, for an example, that you have four girls. You really, really, really want a son.

Okay.

"Trying again" means that, worst case scenario, you have another precious little girl. Why is that bad? Is there something wrong with your other girls? What would it be like to know that the only reason your parents "kept going" and had you was in hopes that you were a boy? And they finally felt they couldn't "risk" another girl?

Wouldn't you wonder if you or your sisters were really so bad that your parents had to stop?

Just curious.

I love my boys.

I love the idea of another one!

It does cross my mind that we'll probably be the subject of a bit more "pity" because we don't have our girl "yet" . . . . and I find it strangely amusing to think that when/if we have a girl, some people might actually mentally sigh we relief that we can "be done now".

Done? I hope we're just getting started!

At an event a while back, I had quite a few strangers ask me if I was hoping for a girl this time. The more people I answered, the more I realized I really, really don't. I'll take either. Actually, in a way, my hopes are still leaning a tiny bit towards another boy. Which I know hardly anyone will understand, so I don't voice it, normally.

I like boys. I love all of mine!

Regardless of gender, I think of this child as my "strong" child. Samuel was my spontanious, active one. Elijah was even more active, yet even in my womb I could tell he was going to be more "delicate". His hickups were tiny, but he was predictable!

This baby is just plain strong. Everything about this child feels sturdy, filling me up on the inside already. And when it comes to predictability, this one is somewhere between Samuel and Elijah - not as scheduled, but not as spontanious. Quite simply, strong and steady.

I'm getting so excited to meet this child. Only about 14 more weeks . . . . if, Lord willing, I reach my due date with this one!

I do so enjoy pregnancy . . . .

~Ashley~

In our home this week anyway. Our son had a mid fall break from school for two days and we took he and his sister to see their natural dad in Arkansas. It was his birthday weekend so it was a good surprise for him.  Today though, I have to catch up the two days I've been off schedule.

The question was asked how we are in our home, changing how we live as we combat rising prices.  I have not seen a tremendous change in what I do, though I am more careful to menu  plan.  More careful not to waste things that formerly I might have let go (a leftover serving of food)  I am packing son's lunch now instead of a school lunch, for this year it went to $3 a lunch and that $20 a week is 1/3 as much as my whole food bill.

This time of year we keep soup going almost all the time. The children eat it as an afterschool snack with cornbread and I often have it for lunch during the school day.  We have always unplugged boxes for satellite and t.v. at night after I figured out unplugging xbox alone at night when they had one saved $10 a month in electricity.  Our laptops were costing $7-14 a month in electricity when we weren't using them.

We've been much more frugal with clothing purchases. I use goodwill and yardsales to find the brands I like, this year we'd moreso chosen to limit outfits to 3 new per child and 2 Sunday or dressier outfits and continued the cleanout of clothes we felt were worn and out of date. Less has been much more in the clothing department....laundry bills went down, messy rooms went down, time to clean up after laundry went down. Children are more responsible when they can recognize and name all their clothing.

Fuel is something we're very aware of. Late summer I sold my minivan which was in fine shape, and bought a very used honda civic. the 35-40 mpg has made an impact on our fuel bill.  When we drove to meet the children's natural father this weekend, it cost $60 roundtrip, in the past that would have been $130. Yes, I miss the roominess of the van, but with only 2 children at home, there really wasn't an excuse to keep it. Insurance and fuel bills went down.

I am also using my old standard of using things from home sales or ebay to buy those "whims" I would want that are not budgeted.  In one case, I found a set of craftsman tools at a sale for $6, each piece of it would ebay for more than $2 apiece.  A pain to do, yes, but even with fees, my husband made over $50 that paid for the part he needed for a reloading project.  Its like "free" money to me when I can do so.  I usually do it with clearance plates from known china and manufacturers, where I can get the plate for $3.99 and sell it for $8-9.

God is good, and more than anything this season I am choosing to be more content with the many blessings I have at home without buying.  I have been so blessed to have the family, health, and home we have, and if I am truly honest with myself, if I simply take care of what I have I do not have time to worry about anything else I might not have! When I start worrying lately about this or that, I take time to stop myself, focus on something I am using that worry time doing that I need to be doing, and try to get back on track.  Its serious work, training our thoughts, but its in obedience to God who knows I have much work to do in most areas!

Be blessed!

Sweetie