Multitude Monday...

As I sat and listened to the sermon about Mary in Luke Chapter 1...I hung on these words..."Way too many people are dying with our best still in us."

His challenge...simply follow Mary's lead and take God at his word because "Jesus didn't come to leave us the same or to leave the best inside of us."

"What if we didn't limit his actions to what makes sense to us? What if we dared to believe that we were meant for greater things?" I know one thing...the world would see Christ if this were true because as he said..."He does great things through simply surrendered people." Think of Moses, Jonah, Esther, Noah, and Peter just to name a few.

What was Mary's response after hearing that she would be used by God to bring the Savior to the world? A song of praise to God...

Mary responded, “Oh, how my soul praises the Lord.
How my spirit rejoices in God my Savior!
For he took notice of his lowly servant girl,
and from now on all generations will call me blessed.
For the Mighty One is holy,
and he has done great things for me. Luke 1:46-49

so I choose to do the same...praise him for what he is doing in my life and pray that I will respond to his voice as she did..."Be it unto me according to your word."

I continue my way to 1000 gifts as part of The Gratitude community...

103...the promise of Psalm 3:5 "...the Lord sustains me."

104...a gentle rain

105...snuggling with him while reading a book together

106...him finishing my sentences because he knows the book so well

107...familiarity of boxes from the attic that bring the excitement and anticipation of Christmas

108...hearing him call the baby Jesus "Little Lamb" and arguing emphatically that is his name

109..."Joshua, why are all of the nativity people lying down?"

"Because they are worshipping Jesus."

110...Going to see the Nutcracker with Joshua's class

111...hearing his excitement as he exclaims "I love Tchaikovsky's music!"

112...putting together Jib Jab christmas cards and hearing the boys laugh deeply

113...watching and discussing the Nooma video Store with our small group

114...neighborhood traditions

115...a whole line of stockings hanging on the mantel

116...Simply Christmas "Believe" wow...if we could really get this the world would be a different place

117...cookies with friends

118...hiding notes in his suitcase

119...that he learned to clap and brought excitement to the whole family

Saturday Morning...

the way they like it...

Josh snuggling with Daddy...

Micaiah eating a specialty pancake while playing a game of Monopoly...
notice Micaiah's zebra pancake...yes Wes takes orders and is quite a talented pancake artist (this morning he made a whale, a bull, a peacock and the zebra)

Eli doing a puzzle...

all pictures taken with Wes' iphone...

Just for Fun...

Multitude Monday...

"Hallelujah! How good it is to sing praises to our God! How pleasant it is to honor him with praise!"

Psalm 147:1

I continue my way to 1000 gifts as a part of The Gratitude Community
today I give thanks for...

91...Daddy snapping pictures...they may remember that I was there too!

92...catching brothers loving on one another...

93...seeing our first snow of the season while riding the steam engine...

94..."Santa was on the steam engine!!!" Joshua (can you see his excitement in this picture?)

95...cousins so happy to be together...

96...a glimpse of Him outside the train window (look closely underneath the smoke at the front of the steam engine)...

97...deep conversation with him on the way to Thanksgiving dinner...

98...that he cares enough to help me get to the root of the issue that I couldn't identify for over a week...

99...and prays with me to release the fears...because "God did not give us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and a sound mind." 2 Tim 1:7

100...watching these two interact...what a joy to see the love Micaiah pours out on him and the excitement that Will gives in return!

101...the season of advent...

102...anticipation...

Happy Thanksgiving...

from "Capturing Buffalo" and the Wampanoag tribe



"Charging Buffalo" dancing around the fire at the First Thanksgiving...

"Charging Buffalo" with his drum...

Pictures taken today at the annual "Pow Wow" with the Pilgrims from first grade.

Multitude Monday...

"Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me, bless his holy Name.
Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits."
Psalm 103:1-2

I continue my way to 1000 gifts as a part of The Gratitude Community
today I give thanks for...

78...watching him interact with his friends

79...watching him gather "flowers"

80...then give them to me!

81...that he has learned to tie his shoes

82...for his curls

83...staying at the park until the moon was high in the sky

84...that our friends blood infection is gone!

85...seeing Jerry Seinfeld doing stand-up

86...the video below from our visit with Santa

87...watching them play football in a wide open field


88...the kids handing in their Operation Christmas Child boxes


89...tasks checked off the to do list that had gone by the way side for weeks


90...late night talk with a friend

Pyramid of Brothers...

Christmas Cards...

No I'm not sharing our Christmas Cards just yet, but I thought I would share about how I plan on using Shutterfly this Holiday season.

For the past few years we have purchased our Christmas Cards from Shutterfly because they have such a great selection to choose from. Below are some of the cards that have caught my eye this year...

Another way we have used Shutterfly the past few holiday seasons...we have worked together with my brother and sister in law to make a photo collage poster for our grandparents. You can check out the options for collages here. They have 8x10 options but you can order up to 20x30!

We also love to make calendars for our family that live far away...a little reminder to them each month that we love them and are thinking of them. Shutterfly has so many calendar options to choose from and you can even personlize your special occasions with a photo and a text! Check out the calendar options here.

Bloggers get 50 free holiday cards from Shutterfly… sign up: http://bit.ly/sfly2010

Afternoon at the Park...

Too much bickering inside...knowing that darkness was coming soon...I decided it was time to get them outside...it's so healing for our souls...especially on a day when you can feel the wind rushing by...

Multitude Monday...

"When gratitude is bound by circumstances, lives are bound to bitterness."

I saw this quote in Ann's post last week and it struck me...as the week has progressed it has become even more meaningful. We must choose gratitude...

so I continue my way to 1000 gifts...

64...Reading The Little Engine That Could to him and seeing the anticipation and excitement on his face as the Little Engine began to puff and chug

65...His long arms reaching to give me a hug and a kiss before bed...one day he'll be too old for this

66...watching the little one succeed and get a cheerio into his mouth while his older brothers cheered

67...holding his hand and running through the woods on "a hike" with the baby babbling happily on my back

68...deep friendships

69...the crunch of fall leaves underfoot

70...Saturday morning impromptu family worship

71...Becki Hedrick coffeehouse concert...what fun to be with an old friend and hear her soulful music

72...him scoring the goal that won the game against the team that broke their undefeated record in the end of the season tournament

73...our community of friends working together to be the hands and feet of Christ to my dear friend and her kids

74...the same community of friends fasting and praying for my friends husband healing

75...my husband broken before the congregation as he asked them to join him in praying for his friend

76...my husband sharing with the congregation the impact that Becki Hedrick and her husband had on him coming to know Christ

77...for Scott and Becki Hedrick that shared their love of Jesus with Wes and changed the trajectory of his life...we are eternally grateful

Eli's Mean Face...

it only lasts a couple of seconds and then he busts out laughing...I wanted to capture it before it becomes a distant memory...

Lunchtime Fun...

His Eyes...

linking up with Sweet Shot Tuesdays...

Multitude Monday...

"It is good to praise the Lord and make music to your name, O Most High, to proclaim your love in the morning and your faithfulness at night..."
Psalm 92:1,2

on my journey to 1000 gifts as a part of The Gratitude Community
giving thanks to the Lord for...

50...sunshine streaming in on a cold fall day

51...fun time with extended family

52...
even though her memory fails to place him

53...the boys seeing a cross in the sky

54...the way Micaiah was dancing to The David Crowder Band's song entitled Dance!

55...
and baby droll too!

56... 57...special birthday kisses from Joshua

58...birthday gifts from the ladies in the family

59...a one of a kind birthday poem from my dad

60...a surprise video blog post from Wes and the boys

61..."Angels Around Your Bed" and soft yellow jammies

62...Micaiah's creation
63...

Micaiah's Field of Dreams Part 2...

I recently posted pictures of Micaiah's lego baseball field...
as promised here is the final product...click on the play button below to see the slideshow...

Happy Birthday Mommy!

This is actually a post from Jenna's husband. Her birthday is tomorrow (11/4) and the boys and I wanted to wish Mommy a Happy Birthday!

From your adventurous boys!

You Decide...

"Is he bigger than your other boys at this age?"

"Who does he look like?"

We are asked these questions on a daily basis so I thought it may be fun for everyone to have a glimpse at each of the boys at 7 months (yes, Will is 7 months today) and let you decide...

Micaiah at 7 months...

Joshua at 7 months...love that little sweet potato nose...

Will today...

Eli at 7 months...definitely the wildest hair at this age



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21 Hour Visit...

one of the only pictures I took from our quick visit with extended family...

but it definitely captures the spirit of our time together!

Multitude Monday...

"We pray that you'll have the strength to stick it out over the long haul—not the grim strength of gritting your teeth but the glory-strength God gives. It is strength that endures the unendurable and spills over into JOY, THANKING the Father who makes us strong enough to take part in everything bright and beautiful that he has for us."
Colossians 1:10-12 The Message

I have to admit...this week has felt a lot like the strength of "gritting my teeth" and not necessarily the "glory-strength God gives." It's difficult sometimes to retrain your eye to see the beauty in the chaos but I know one thing...God is worthy of our praises. This past week when I was reflecting on this, Chris Tomlin's "How Can I Keep From Singing" came on the radio...

"How can I keep from singing Your praise

How can I ever say enough
How amazing is Your love
How can I keep from shouting Your name
I know I am loved by the King
And it makes my heart want to sing"

so I continue my journey to 1000 gifts as a part of The Gratitude Community...

39...serving a God that is worthy of our praises

40..."Can you read the Bible? A lot?"..."What part Eli?"..."All of it!"

41...a dinner date with my man

42...healthy kids

43...serving a God that transforms

44...sweet conversation with a friend

45...a happy birthday note from Joshua

46...the neighborhood Halloween parade...and friends that always come and join us

47..."1, 2, 3, 4 kisses"...something that started one night and now the little one takes such joy in it

48...31 days to a better photo

49...for the comfort that only he can give because he's been in a broken, fallen world and died to save it!