Finger P@int = Fun

I don't know about your house, but anytime we need to do a little finger p@inting with our Home School work...
(see the fall leaves HC painted?? They are falling on the girl in the picture.)
it always leads to this!! They just cannot get enough of the finger paint!
I guess I have budding artists on my hands. Clearly they are drawn to abstract art!

Wednesday Hero

Cpl. Jordan M. Moehnle
21 years old from Los Angeles, California
Company L, 3rd Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment, Regimental Combat Team 6 ("Darkhorse" Battalion)


Cpl. Jordan M. Moehnle takes time out of leading his squad in a patrol through Fallujah's Nazaal district to spend some time interacting with local children. Moehnle, who is on his second tour in Iraq, said the changes he has witnessed since he was last here in 2006 have been dramatic. "The city was like the Wild West, we'd put our heads and and drive down (the middle of Fallujah) and hope not to get shot," he said. "Since we've been here (this year), we can stop and shoot the breeze."

You can read more here.

These brave men and women sacrifice so much in their lives so that others may enjoy the freedoms we get to enjoy everyday. For that, I am proud to call them Hero.
We Should Not Only Mourn These Men And Women Who Died, We Should Also Thank God That Such People Lived

This post is part of the Wednesday Hero Blogroll. For more information about Wednesday Hero, or if you would like to post it on your blog, you can go here.

Happy Birthd.ay Daddy!!!!

The day before Daddy's birth.day - he looks just as happy as he does ON his birth.day! My husband sure does make his time with the kids count. Here we are putting up the decorations for Daddy's arrival.
HC had to add some streamers to the brick wall too. She really got into decorating.
She really gives her best in everything she does.
Of course the bathroom door needed a little streamer action too.

JB felt the need to join in on the fun. Dad's recliner was the perfect place to work.
Here is our yummy birth.day cake for Daddy.
He finally made it home!!!! Notice the chalk art work on the door.
He had to break through the ribbons. Such a trooper.

Happy Bir.thday!!!!!!!!!!!
We want cake!!! They were so ready to gobble it up.
The streamers were a hit.

Happy Birth.day Husband! I love you and hope your birth.day celebration was as fun for you as it was for HC and JB.

Then and Now

A look back in time! Here is JB one year ago (notice the hand full of sand - he had a blast throwing sand). Hubby had a business trip at the beach and we went too! This was HC's and JB's first time ever at the beach. We had a lot of fun and I learned I COULD handle two toddlers at a hotel and at the beach alone. We've all grown a little bit! :)

JB now. I caught this photo when he was staring off at something.
HC then. I am amazed that she still had the baby face last year. I forgot that!!! She is so big now.

HC now. So mature and helpful. She understands SOOOO much more this year.

The two kiddos at the beach. It was hard for them to understand what I wanted them to do. Oh well. They were still in the same general area. haha
Here they are the other night. They are much closer in this picture literally and relationally. A year has REALLY made a huge difference in our little family. I can truly say they are friends and siblings!! They really make life more fun too!!

Tribute to our fallen heros

To all the United States Veterans I say "Thank You!!" To those who have lost dear loved ones I say "I grieve your loss and I am eternally grateful for the sacrifice your family made for our country!" You are what makes America great!
Many thanks and blessings to you all!

Enjoying the little things!

Here's what my little HC found while playing outside the other day!!!

She is now a fan of Lady Bugs.
HC wanted to keep it as her pet. We told her this Lady Bug may be sad to leave it's home.
It was crawling up her neck.

And flew away.
And we captured it again so HC could have a little more fun!
It was funny to watch her have such fun with this little creature. This reminded me of an incident that happened when HC was about 11 months old or so. (Way back when Mrs. Christina was her teacher.) Mrs. Christina told me some of the older kids brought in a lady bug they found. The lady bug was a hit but it got away from them for a minute. Before they knew it HC had the lady bug and it was in her mouth. She made the worst face and they all had a big laugh. We have come full circle now. HC enjoys lady bugs now for the pure fact that they are interesting and... cute! :) Like butterflies.

Indescribable

THY kingd*m come, THY will be d*ne

We will be voting for a new leader soon. I wanted to remind us all that God will hear a humble heart and will continue to bring healing to our land. Our country can be unified too! We can make a difference in the choices to come. In case we are oblivious and lest we think we are fine - no need to worry. I wanted to share this:

Judges 2:11-12, 14 And the people of Israel did evil in the sight of the Lord and served the Baals. And they forsook the Lord, the God of their fathers, Who brought them out of the land of Egypt. They went after other gods of the peoples round about them and bowed down to them, and provoked the Lord to anger. So the anger of the Lord was kindled against Israel..

There are some who think God is mean and cruel. Think about that. Any choice we make has a consequence. We cannot avoid the natural consequences of our choices. Maybe we can for a season, but it always catches up with us in the end. God had shown up for Israel many times and proved He was there for them and proved He was on their side. But they still went their own way. God can perform miracles in our lives. God chooses to when the benefit is eternal. He is far more concerned with our character than performing for us. So, when we reject Him and when we do not turn to His ways for our lives. We will face consequences.

The Israelites had God looking out for them, and even when they rejected Him - He was still listening and longing for them to turn back to Him. God cannot tolerate or allow our rebellion. Our choice to rebel ALWAYS brings separation between us and Him. It is the consequence. If you jump up, off of the roof of your home, the natural consequence IS that you will fall down. It doesn't matter if you intended to jump UP - you WILL fall down. Natural consequence!

Judges 2:16 - 17 But the Lord raised up judges, who delivered them out of the hands of those who robbed them. And yet they did not listen to their judges..

I say all of this to say, that God gave the Israelites judges to judge justly. They were not satisfied with honest judges. They then cried out for a king. God so granted their request. God was their king but they wanted a king like the others. So he obliged. Sometimes we get what we ask for, even when it isn't God's choosing for us. He isn't cruel, He is wise. When my daughter asks for something she wants (but she doesn't see the harm in it), I tell her no sometimes but their are other times I give her what she asks. The lesson is often more memorable and lasting if she experiences the consequence of the request rather than me constantly guarding her every choice.

So, for example - If she doesn't willingly share her toys with her brother when he asks her to share, there are times I will let her say no! I won't FORCE her to share, the benefit would be temporary. Then (it always happens) my son will have a toy she wants to share. She will ask him to share with her and he will say 'no'. She comes running to me to say 'Mom, JB is not being a nice friend. He will not share his toy with me.' I then remind her that she refused to share with JB too. I tell her how JB probably felt the same bad feelings she is feeling when he refused to share. I tell her she is allowed to have special toys she doesn't have to share, but she should be willing to share her other toys with JB (if she wants him to do the same). She then realizes I am not a dictator barking rules at her, she realizes the BENEFIT of my suggestion. It sinks in and she chooses to share with her brother.

That is how God works too. He does allow us to have exactly what we ask for (or even give us the less desirable scenario when we don't really care either way) just to show us how important those matters are. To remind us that every detail of our lives DOES matter. He wants to give us good things. Sometimes we are not mature enough for the good, or sometimes we don't even want the best He is offering. We may be spoiled brats who don't care enough to even care. Bottom line is He does care and He wants to be in our day to day lives. He wants us to come to Him with our prayers. He has the answers.

We are voting for a new leader in about a year. What better time than now to begin praying for God to give us a godly leader. 'A man after God's own heart.' The one He sees best and not the one we so choose (based on our personal checklist). Pray now for our future President. We need to seek God's direction on this, or we may go our own way, or even go the way of the others. (The others being those who are opposed to anything being God's way.) The worst case scenario is to not care, to do nothing and to just push a button randomly.

I don't know who I will vote for yet. Thank God I am not voting tomorrow. There is time to listen and learn more about the candidates AND, God can lead me in that journey if I allow Him to do so. He knows all of the candidates and He knows the best one in the mix. I have seen numerous news bits on the candidates lately; I am as unclear now as when they first began the process. I can remain aware, I can pray and I can seek out information. That is the least that I can do! So today I remind you to consider this year ahead of us. Prayer does reach God and through prayer we can let Him know that we want "Thy kingd0m c0me, thy will be d0ne. In earth as it is in heaven." (God ALWAYS chooses best!)

Let it be so!

Wednesday Hero

Army Spc. Eric S. McKinley
24 years old from Corvallis, Oregon
Company B, 2nd Battalion, 162nd Infantry Regiment, Army National Guard
June 13, 2004


An avid outdoorsman, Spc. McKinley worked as a baker at Alpine Bakery in Corvallis, Ore. Upon his return from Iraq, he hoped to open a juice bar in the college town to provide a drug and alcohol-free environment for young people. Friends and co-workers remember Spc. McKinley as a quiet, caring young man who dyed his hair, sported several tattoos and loved ska and rock music. His senior yearbook picture showed a grinning young man with spiked hair dyed red and green. In other 1998 yearbook pictures, he has purple and blue hair in a mohawk.

Spc. Eric McKinley was killed when a roadside bomb north of Baghdad detonated destroying two vehicles and wounded four other Oregon soldiers. They were identified as Staff Sgt. Phillip Davis, 23, of Albany; Sgt. Matthew Zedwick, 23, of Bend; Cpl. Shane Ward, 23, of Corvallis and Pvt. Richard Olsen, 23, of Independence.

Almost 500 people attended the memorial service for Spc. McKinley at Starker Arts Park in Corvallis. There was a mix of people dressed in either military or punk attire — including McKinley’s six-year-old cousin, who, in tribute, wore his hair in a bright green mohawk.

Coventry Pacheco, McKinley’s fiancee, sat in the first row at his celebration-of-life service. They hadn’t set a wedding date, but were planning to get married.

He was posthumously awarded the Bronze Star for meritorious service, a Purple Heart and the Oregon Distinguished Service Award. U.S. and Oregon flags were presented to his parents, Tom McKinley of Salem and Karen Hilsendager of Philomath.

These brave men and women sacrifice so much in their lives so that others may enjoy the freedoms we get to enjoy everyday. For that, I am proud to call them Hero.
We Should Not Only Mourn These Men And Women Who Died, We Should Also Thank God That Such People Lived

This post is part of the Wednesday Hero Blogroll. For more information about Wednesday Hero, or if you would like to post it on your blog, you can go here.