OK, So Here's What Really Happened........

Like I said in my last post, which I posted yesterday morning, we always put out our Christmas decorations on the day after Thanksgiving. I also said that we were going to use our ginormous Christmas Tree as our Jesse Tree. Well, I did have good intentions. Things just did not happen that way. We had a few errands that needed doing yesterday. While out on our errands, in Birmingham, we decided to go to Gadsden. (Keep in mind that neither of those cities are very close to home) We ended up not getting home until very late. We got some good deals on books at a thrift store and found that the Gadsden Mall has a Books A Million. So the day was not a total bust. So, we put our stuff up today. After getting the tree up, the boys started looking through the ornaments. They would say, "Remember when I made this one?" or "Look, here's me as a Care Bear in a box!" or something that let us see that not putting up our Christmas ornaments was not going to work. So here is our Christmas tree:


We had to make a trip to Wal-Mart today (which was insane, more on that later) so we looked at trees for a small, cheap one. Bingo, 6ft Wesley Pine. (although I am not convinced that it is 6ft-I feel tall next to it in all my 5ft 2in glory.)

The reason going to Wal-Mart today was insane is this: Today was the biggest day of the year for many people in Alabama. The Iron Bowl. The day that Auburn and Alabama play each other in football. Almost everyone in Wal-Mart was showing their team colors. The place was packed with people getting their last-minute things for their Iron Bowl parties. And there was us getting a tree, coats, and paint. Our family always gets strange looks whenever we show "school spirit". You see, we are a house divided. 3 Bama fans verses 2 Auburn fans. For the past 6 years Benjamin and I have had bragging rights. Our team has won. (That would be Auburn in case you do not know) Our team has kind of stunk this year. So we knew going in that it might be bad. We had no idea that it would be 36 to zero bad. Poor Tommy Tuberville. As head coach of Auburn his job has been talked about this season. Never mind that he has been a winning coach every other season that he has been there. This year has been rough, so there are people shouting "Fire him!". Anyway, here are the guys enjoying some peanuts during the game:

How funny to see Benjamin not matching the rest of the crew ;}

So, after the game we finally got to start on our Jesse Tree. Mark read the story of creation to everyone and then the real fun began. We created ornaments out of salt dough.

Nathaniel made the earth, geographically correct, of course


Mark made a man (I am still in shock that he made an ornament. He is not usually the crafty kind of guy)


I made the earth, sun, and moon as seen from space


Benjamin made the sun (with sun spots and prominences)


Samuel made the earth ( I am not sure why the red lines. He said that it was supposed to be the equator and Hawaii. Maybe it is red because it's hot there?)


Altogether side by side

The Day After

Ahh.... it's THAT day again. The day after Thanksgiving. AKA Black Friday. Whatever thankfulness might have been offered to God yesterday has, for many people, been replaced with greed and a sense of "how can I get the best deal for myself while making sure sure I get exactly what I want". I went day after shopping a few times. NEVER again. People act like if they are not the ones to get the last nose hair trimmer there will never be another one in the world again. Crazy, I tell you.

Our tradition over the last several years is to do Christmas decorating the day after. We stay home, eat turkey leftovers, maybe watch Rudolf the Red nosed Reindeer or something. One year I had the bright idea to make cookies. Not a good idea on the same day that we are decorating. Two big messes in one day is just toooooo much.

We are starting a new tradition this year. (well, new for us anyway) It is called a Jesse Tree. We are starting today with making new ornaments, each one representing a specific point from the Bible. Along with our ornament making we are going to have a Bible reading to explain why we are making what we are that day. Most people for a Jesse Tree use a small table-top tree, or a fabric banner, or a pole with branches. When I was first running this idea by Mark, I thought I had done a fairly good idea of describing what a Jesse Tree is. When I go the part of saying i did not what I would use as our "tree" he said "What do you mean? We've got a tree?" So then I had to go back and explain that the "Tree" is more of a vine, like a pole or something. So he has been making fun of me since then saying I want to do away with our tree and put up a Festivus Pole. (for those who are not familiar with Festivus, this is for you)

So we have had a good laugh. We are going to put up our "real Christmas tree" (which is made of plastic so that it is non-allergy producing) Even Mark is going to make an ornament each day. He is not usually the crafty type, but he is looking forward to this. Today we are talking about God creating the world. So we are going to create ornaments out of salt dough. Our tree is going to be very special this year.

I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving. We go to spend some time with family members the night before. Thanksgiving Day we stayed home. My kids (especially the younger two) acted like kids out of some dysfunctional family movie for most of the day. By the time supper rolled around, however, they were like perfect little sweethearts again. My guys are very ego-stroking people to cook for. "Mom, you make the best dressing ever. This turkey is delicious! Hon, your dressing gets better every year. MMMMMMmmmmmmm, mom, you're the BEST cook EVER!" He-he, even though I cooked turkey, I had a kitchen full of hams ;}

November 19, 2000- A Day I Shall I Never Forget....

My sweet little Benjamin is growing up. He is almost as big as Nathaniel, despite the more than three years difference in age. (His initials DO spell BIG after all) He is very smart and very strong. (Not very brave, but we are trying to work on that one) He is sweet and tenderhearted. An all-around great kid. And he is eight.
Let me tell you about the day he was born. He was due to be born December 3rd. Aww... a sweet little Christmas baby. We were actually a little worried what we going to do if he was born the same day as our church Christmas play, since Mark was in a special song. (Benjamin actually got to play Jesus in the Christmas play :-)) That was a non-issue after all. He came a bit early on November 19th. It was a Sunday. The Sunday before Thanksgiving. (I have never been so thankful to not be pregnant in my life)
That Saturday, I could not sleep. I stayed up all night cleaning the house. Especially the kitchen. I rearranged things, mopped the floor, scrubbed things... you get the idea. Then I stretched out on the love seat and propped up my swollen feet. (about 5:00 am) A few hours later I woke up with a weird feeling. I stood up, walked in to the kitchen, and my water broke. Right on the floor I had just mopped. I got a roll of paper towels and threw them over the big mess. Then I went to get Mark up. In my flusteredness, I have to admit I was a little snappy. I said "Aren't you going to get up?!?!?" He looked at me dazed and said "What time is it?" I told him was 8:00. He wanted to know why I was getting him up so early. (we lived very close to church so he was not going to get up until 9:00) I snapped "My water broke-we need to get to the hospital!"
So he gets up and showers (yeah, he stopped to take a shower)while I am calling my parents to get them to get Nathaniel. No answer. I called a few more times, still no answer. So I called Mark's parents. Mark was not sure what time he'd be able to eat, so he warmed up some pizza from the night before and got a thermos of tea. As we are about to leave the phone rings. We answered to hear Mark's mother say "Have you been outside?"
Well, I would BE outside if you weren't calling right this moment! "No, why?" I ask. There was SNOW ON THE GROUND!!!!! I kid you not. Snow. In November. In Alabama. I have lived here many Novembers. That is the only one I can EVER remember having snow in it. Not only was it snowing, but it was COLD in order to accommodate the snow. We got to the hospital and discovered, TA DA-they were doing a construction project and had the emergency entrance blocked!!! (is that LEGAL????) So, we had to park not right by the door, to put it mildly. Nothing like walking across a parking lot in freezing weather soaked with amniotic fluid. Not the kind of thing you forget easily. So the day of his birth was very unusual for us. We have laughed many times about my way of waking Mark up. Also about the fact that even though I was in labor, I had to hold my husband's pizza and tea going down the road. And we have had many MANY laughs from the young man whose middle name (Isaac) means laughter. Happy Birthday, Benjamin!!

Sir Benj and the Dragon

Oh my! There is a dragon among us!!! Whatever shall we do? Hmm....


let's have a party!!!


I can not remember him EVER getting so excited about a birthday present. It would have to be a gun, wouldn't it????


At least he won't shoot his eye out!


Poor, unsuspecting dragon. He has no idea what is about to happen to him.


Gunshot to head the usually does the trick.


On second thought he will do the knightly thing and use a "sword" to cut off his head. (he got a knight costume for the sole purpose of wearing it to his party, then come party day.... no, I'll just wear my Auburn shirt and jeans)


Dad got the first shot with the new gun so he could see how it worked. (I think Dad was quite jealous; he wants one of these for himself now)


Like father, like son


Benjamin's first shot

Lots of male bonding going on, all gun related.....



Can you believe my sweet little Samuel even got in on it??


My lovely niece, Chelsea. She is growing up too fast. It seems like she ought to still be the sweet, curly haired, angel faced little girl in frilly dresses.

Shockingly, Benjamin still has all his teeth in tact. This is the first birthday in a while where he has not had a lost tooth. (although-his ACTUAL birthday is on Wednesday-AND he does have a couple loose ones, so who knows????)

Changes

I was shocked to discover this during the week:

Ok, not that it really matters one iota to the world who sings what, but do you KNOW who that is singing a country song? (one that is so country it even has the word whiskey in it!!!)It is Darius Rucker, former lead singer of Hootie and the Blowfish!!! Here's why this matters: There are certain things that you just expect to stay the same and never change. I never expected that Hootie would go to the dark side of music after hearing this:


I mean, Mark and I have several conversations over the years wondering what in the world the line "I'm such a baby yeah the dolphins make me cry" means. It just feels weird that he has crossed over. Not that it really matters to me anyway. I do not listen to country or to pop, so why do I care? Mark thinks I'm weird. Ok, granted he is right, but it almost feels like a part of youthfulness and innocence has died.
Earlier today I was hit with another shock. This one really does matter. My 18 year old sister is pregnant. I was actually worried that it might happen. What was a shock was the fact that she has been keeping it a secret for almost seven months. Yep. She is having a girl due January 23. Turns out, she has been going to the doctor, been taking her vitamins, just not telling her family. The people that care about her the most in the world are the ones that she has been lying to. I have no idea how long she thought she could keep it a secret. We noticed she was getting chunky, but we thought it was from sitting around not doing anything all day. Talk about something not feeling right. This is someone who I changed many of her diapers, and now she is going to have someone whose diapers need changing all her own. Please pray for her and her boyfriend. They have no clue how hard things are going to be for them. Amanda is a great baby-sitter, for a while. She gets tired and is ready to hand the child back to the parent very easily. I have no idea what is going to happen when there is no one to hand the baby off to.

Letter to the President and Another Journal Entry

Nathaniel drew a picture for President and wrote a letter on the back of it. The picture is really good.It is of the first George Bush. He even put the famous quote: "Read my lips. No new taxes."



It is the letter that really cracked me up. Here is a copy of it:



If you are having trouble reading it:
Dear President Bush,
This is a picture of your father that I made for you. He was a great president and so are you. I hope you like it. You can show it to everyone you want to.I hope you have a great presidency.
Sincerely,
Nathaniel Jacob Gilliland
of Alabama

PS The wrinkles are for detail, not to be mean.

I love the part about the wrinkles. That kid is funny. Speaking of funny kids, Benjamin wrote another journal about his nose and the sinus rinse.



He calls it "My nose, Chapter Two"
It feels good to do that sinus rinse thing. When your nose hurts, it makes it feel good as new. At first it feels weird. Then, it feels better.

I wish you see details better on here. He drew the bathroom sink, the soap, and even drew a stream of water coming out of his nose. If only he would put that much detail into cleaning his room.....

Short But Powerful Video

A Gross But Funny Entry

Benjamin had to make an entry in his journal today for English.

It says" My nose runs in the Fall. It also bleeds. And I had to do that sinus rinse thingy." How funny. Gross, but funny. He is the only person I have seen who thinks using a sinus rinse is cool.

We Interrupt Your Regularly Scheduled BLog To Bring You This Important Announcement

Elections are over. Votes have been cast and counted. The boys have their maps with each state colored red or blue to show how they voted. The people have have spoken. So, what now? Do we spend the next four years mad, fearful, mutinous, or what? My wonderful husband posted the following on his Myspace page and has allowed me to repost it here:


5 REASONS I AM NOT UPSET ABOUT THE ELECTIONS RESULTS
Current mood: hopeful
Category: Religion and Philosophy

America has spoken. We now have a new president-elect. I know some people who are ecstatic with the outcome. I know others who are worried... to put it mildly. Even though the election didn't go like I had hoped, I am not upset. Honestly, I am not even worried. I know many of my Christian friends might wonder how that is possible. Please allow me to explain myself with five reasons.

REASON 1- God is still on His throne.
Psalm 47:7-8 says, "For God is the King of all the earth; sing praises with a psalm! God reigns over the nations; God sits on his holy throne." No amount of votes can take my Father off of His throne. Even when things do not go my way God is still on His throne, ruling and reigning. He is not elected to His office. He rules in power and might. I am often encouraged when I read Revelation 4. The Apostle John had been in exile on the island of Patmos. His whole world seemed upside down. All of the other apostles were dead. A tyrant was ruling Rome. Now John was in exile for preaching the Gospel. What is the first thing he sees in his vision of heaven? He sees God seated on His throne. In the midst of John's troubles, God was still in control, ruling and reigning on His throne. He is ruling and reigning no matter what we go through as well.

REASON 2- God is still sovereign.
Psalm 103:19 says, "The LORD has established His throne in the heavens, and His sovereignty rules over all." What does it mean to be sovereign? Psalm 115:3 says, "But our God is in the heavens; He does whatever He pleases." Let's let Scripture explain a little further what it means to be sovereign. Psalm 135:6 says, "Whatever the LORD pleases, He does, in heaven and in earth, in the seas and in all deeps." Elections on earth cannot stop God from doing whatever He wants to do. No amount of campaigning or voting will change the fact that God is in control of the future. No one can overcome His sovereign rule.

REASON 3- Elections cannot thwart God's plans.
Job 42:2 says, "I know that You can do all things, and that no purpose of Yours can be thwarted." There are no plans, policies, or politicians that can thwart God's plans. Whatever He plans, He will accomplish. If He has said it, then He will do it. Isaiah 46:10 says, "Declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times things which have not been done, saying, 'My purpose will be established, and I will accomplish all My good pleasure." God was not surprised by the election results. He already knew the outcome and it is part of His eternal plan. It will not stop His desires from being accomplished.

REASON 4- God can use ANY world leader to accomplish His will.
Proverbs 21:1 says, "The king's heart is like channels of water in the hand of the LORD; He turns it wherever He wishes." World leaders may think that they are in charge, but Scripture teaches something different. God can use leaders to accomplish His will, with or without their approval or knowledge. What an amazing God we serve! Don't believe me? Listen to what King Nebuchadnezzar said after he had been humbled by God. All the inhabitants of the earth are accounted as nothing, but He does according to His will in the host of heaven and among the inhabitants of earth; and no one can ward off His hand or say to Him, 'What have You done?" (Daniel 4:35) A godless world leader cannot stop God's plans and desires. On the contrary, God can and does use them to accomplish His will. Take heart! Psalm 16:9 says, "A man's heart plans his way, but the LORD directs his steps." The president may have an agenda, but God's agenda takes precedence. The president may have a plan, but God's plan directs his steps.

REASON 5- Nations might fall, but God's kingdom will prevail.
Matthew 16:18 says, "And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it." This is a truth that I find great comfort in. The nation we love might falter and fail. Yet no power can overcome God's kingdom. No president, law, or legislation can stop God's kingdom. If the gates of hell cannot prevail against the church, then I am confident that a government cannot overcome it either. Governments and the laws they pass might go against everything the Bible teaches and the church stands for. That can't stop God's kingdom from growing. Why? Because our sovereign God is on His throne and HE WILL ACCOMPLISH ALL OF HIS GOOD PLEASURE. No one can stop Him or the spread of His kingdom.

So, what can we do in light of the election of our new president. 1 Timothy 2:1-3 say, "First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people, for kings and all who are in high positions, that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way. This is good, and it is pleasing in the sight of God our Savior." Let's pray for our new leaders and trust in God that He will use them to accomplish His will. After all, He said He could and would.

Until next time, blessings to you



Currently reading :
A Tale of Two Sons: The Inside Story of a Father, His Sons, and a Shocking Murder
By John MacArthur

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