My Favorite Things! 2008 Product Review :)

Each year I stumble across such wonderful products that I begin to wonder how I've managed to live my whole life without them. This year was no exception. The only difference is, this year, I actually remember these fantastical (good fake-word huh?) products and figured if Oprah can share her favorite things, I can too. So, with no further ado, here are my favorite things of 2008!

Just Bunches honey roasted oat clusters. I'm SURE it's healthy. Just in case it's not though, I toss in a handful of blueberries. It's now a staple in our house. I buy 2 boxes at a time!

Cory gave me this Vera Bradley overnight bag for our anniversary. I've collected numerous pieces this year, but this is quite possibly my favorite!

My Dyson vacuum definitely lives up to it's advertising. It never loses suction. I have managed to suck up some incredibly odd items because it's just so powerful they're gone before I realize it!

Wipeout became an instant family favorite. The girls looked forward to watching it, quite possibly more than we did. We laughed until we cried and cannot wait for the next season.

Yeah, we just got these Mac laptops for Christmas, but they're already members of the family, so it won't be long before our desktop pc will go the way of the wind and get replaced with a Mac desktop. We even think Bill Gates has a Mac. Just a hunch!

Manic Monday!

Do you ever have those days where you have numerous things to accomplish and don't quite know where to start? That's today! I have spent the past month diligently working on our new church website and I finally launched it! However, working on the website meant I was not working on VBS, and as the director most of my job is early prep. I did manage to get a few 'issues' under control and now I feel a little more on top of my game. I am also co-teaching a class for our co-op next quarter, starting in January, and I need to meet with my team teacher and get some things organized for class. In addition to that, I'm in charge of co-op birthday's and we have had quite a few over the winter months, so I need to get postcards and prizes together! All in all it's well within my comfort zone, but there are times, like today, where my head begins to swim just thinking about it. Now I'm off to finish the laundry, clear the snow off the satellite dish and check on the cake that the girls insisted we bake! Hey, I think that counts as home-ec so HOORAY! We've schooled today :) Happy Monday Everybody! Give me a call. We're snowed in, so I'm not going anywhere!

From my family to yours...

Merry Christmas!

Still Snowing!

I was out again this morning shoveling snow, and yep, it's still snowing. And I don't mean a few inches, we're talking feet. Feet! as in 12 inches on top of 12 inches on top of 12 inches. I wanted to clear a path for the mailman, since we're expecting a few packages this week. Oh, and I need to give kudos to Under Armour (UA) athletic wear and Sorel boots. I had on a UA beanie-cap and my pink and black Sorels (man are they cute) and I was sweating. I ended up removing my heavy coat and shoveling in my sweatshirt! Did I mention the temperature is a whopping 8 degrees? As I do every year when it snows, I'm reminded that each and every snowflake is different. Every time it snows, in every place on earth, every year, there are no two flakes alike. This is absolutely astounding to me. How can people question intelligent design armed with this kind of information?! "God........does great things which we cannot comprehend. For He says to the snow, "Fall on the earth'; Likewise to the gentle rain and the heavy rain of His strength." Job 37: 5b-6

Snow much fun!

Wednesday the girls were so disappointed because I wouldn't let them play outside. But with temperatures in the single digits I was concerned that their little noses and fingers might not fare well, so I did the next best thing. I brought the outdoors.....in! You'd be surprised how much fun two little girls can have with a bowl of snow......actually 4 bowls to be exact! This morning I spent a couple hours shoveling snow and I took

some pictures so you can see how buried we are. This is the girls' play yard, and another picture of our back yard and garage. The news is saying we've broken our old record for most snowfall in a 24 hour period.

Draw a little Christmas

The girls are quite excited for Christmas, so yesterday I asked them to draw pictures for me conveying their excitement. Behold:

Cayla incorporated a little nature into her drawing by adding polar bears. You knew those were polar bears didn't you?!

Autumn, the purist, stayed with the traditional tree and presents.

Proving Faith!

Sunday night I was trying diligently to watch the Discovery channel's special on the Exodus. Some of the information was incredibly intriguing so I really wanted to watch it, but I absolutely could not sit through it and I had to change channels. In short, the show "revealed" how the waters of the Red Sea parted due to a natural phenomenon that occurs when the winds blow so rapidly that they separate the water. (editor's (that's me) note: oh yeah, and the winds blow so hard that it just 'happens' to dry the ground under the water, and then the water just 'happens' to close in when the Egyptians are trying to recapture the Israelites. That kind of stuff is always just happening.) This drives me crazy! I realize the goal of science is to prove things, but why do they have to go and 'ruin' it by trying to prove it? I mean, it's a miracle. If you can prove a miracle then it is, by definition, not a miracle anymore. I've said it before and I'll say it again, if you can prove it it's not faith, it's fact. Faith is "the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen." Hebrews 11:1. Our entire belief is based on faith. Why must scientists and 'religious scholars' always try to prove everything? I don't mind them proving the existence of Biblical events, places and items, but it gets really frustrating when they try to 'explain away' miracles and other acts that can only happen under God's direction. Why can't they just have the simple, child-like faith that has worked so well for the rest of us? Trying to understand complex concepts? That's hard. Accepting it because God orchestrated it? That's easy!