A Little Ingenuity!

Tom had the boys picking up & bagging leaves on Friday after the week-long rain! They recruited the neighbor boys. They decided to make it a race. Clay winks at me and says...we're getting help. He figured if he recruited help, then they'd have less to do. Guess you gotta love their ingenuity. Reminds me of a story when Greg, who had less, convinced Sandy, who had more, to combine their money so they'd each have equal parts. These Thompson's!

Fall Festival

Wednesday night we had our annual Fall Festival at church complete with a Chili Supper & Trunk or Treat for the kids. Clay dressed up at Captain Rex from Star Wars & Graeson was a Cowboy! Chandler didn't dress up; he helped work the carnival games for the kids. The kids had fun jumping in the jump zone & playing all sorts of game & of course getting the candy to eat later.

Graeson got my attention mid-way through the night & said "Steppie, come here" so I bent down so he could whisper in my ear. He said, "Steppie, you needa tell my momma that I gotta come to your house an' spend the night!" He's so funny! I just love that boy!

Clay is funny about Halloween this year. He told me the other day that he's never gone trick or treating in his life....he has, but this is his story...so anyway, he's never gone in his life and that he just really wanted to this year because he just had to go ring a stranger's doorbell! I'm not sure what that really has to do with anything, but he's a 9 year old boy....so really who knows. We've really gotten a good laugh out of it anyway. So we're looking for a good, safe stranger so we can go ring his doorbell.......hmmm....guess we'll have to find someone that we know that he doesn't. Gotta love kids.

What Faith Can Do

Everybody falls sometimes
Gotta find the strength to rise
From the ashes and make a new beginning
Anyone can feel the ache
You think it’s more than you can take
But you are stronger, stronger than you know
Don’t you give up now
The sun will soon be shining
You gotta face the clouds
To find the silver lining

I’ve seen dreams that move the mountains
Hope that doesn’t ever end
Even when the sky is falling
And I’ve seen miracles just happen
Silent prayers get answered
Broken hearts become brand new
That’s what faith can do

It doesn’t matter what you’ve heard
Impossible is not a word
It’s just a reason for someone not to try
Everybody’s scared to death
When they decide to take that step
Out on the water
It’ll be alright
Life is so much more
Than what your eyes are seeing
You will find your way
If you keep believing

I’ve seen dreams that move the mountains
Hope that doesn’t ever end
Even when the sky is falling
And I’ve seen miracles just happen
Silent prayers get answered
Broken hearts become brand new
That’s what faith can do

Overcome the odds
You don't have a chance
(That’s what faith can do)
When the world says you can’t
It’ll tell you that you can!

I’ve seen dreams that move the mountains
Hope that doesn’t ever end
Even when the sky is falling
And I’ve seen miracles just happen
Silent prayers get answered
Broken hearts become brand new
That’s what faith can do
That's what faith can do!
Even if you fall sometimes
You will have the strength to rise

Creativity............

Always something going on at our house. Clay & Josh created a village in the hallway...made walking difficult, but they had fun. There is a pumpkin patch of marbles, a roller coaster, monkey bars, an aquarium of water bottles, a log cabin hotel, an no village is complete with out an army tank & helicopter. They both are really creative & always find something to do!

Cabin Scenery!

A lot of our blogs are about the cabin, so we wanted to share some of the regular sights we see when we're traveling up there!
Beautiful Arkansas scenery!
And as always photos don't do the beauty of God justice!
Enjoy!

Rock Mountain....and waterfalls!

Scene as you drive down the mountain from the cabin back into Leslie!

Waterfall off the rocks after the rain!

Barn & Mountain scene!

Shot of Main Street Leslie.

Main Street, Leslie, the town is in the middle of a restore!
They are working on all of the buildings. Looking great!

Sign off Hwy 65 at Hwy 66!

Rainy Days at the Cabin

Wednesday night after church, we drove up to the cabin to winterize it before the cold weather hits. The big rain storm came in during the night. All day Thursday it rained. We set out on an adventure hike in the pouring rain. Anyone who knows me knows that this was really fun for us! We love playing in the rain!

Tom, Chandler & Clay hiking up the hill. We were soaked.
Rain was dripping off our faces & caps!

This is actually a road at the back of our property.
The creek goes through the road. The water was extremely deep.
Normally the water is not this high. It was flowing really fast.

The same creek on the other side of the property.

Normally the creek is a nice, calmly flowing stream!

Where Tom is walking, the pond is actually overflowing.

Here you can see the pond if completely full.
The previous photo was taken from the other side.
Normally it isn't this full!

We had a great time! We stayed up late! We slept late! Watched 5 or 6 movies. Ate lots of stuff! And actually did a little work on the cabin....inside stuff that has been put off because there is so much outside stuff to do!
The cabin is a fun place to be!

Warnings

Wouldn't it be great if life came with warning signs? Slow down. Be prepared to stop. Caution sharp turn. Crooked and steep. Blind curve ahead. The list goes on and on. It would be great to know ahead that the road you're traveling is going to have bumps ahead or that you might want to slow down. While those warnings might be nice to know, that just isn't reality.

But we have a Book to give us warnings, instructions, and promises to last forevermore! God's Word is the road map we need to guide us through this life! Pslam 16:5 says, O Lord You are the portion of my inheritance and my cup; You maintain my lot! God holds our destiny and fate in His Hand. What a wonderful promise to His children! Psalm 16: 11 says You will show me the path of life; in Your presence is fullness of joy; at Your right hand are pleasures forevermore. The Lord gives us counsel, he upholds my footsteps in His path that our footsteps will not slip. So while we may not know that the road we're on my have a pot hole ahead or it may run out of pavement ahead. We can be assured that God will provide the guidance that we need to travel the road of life.

Amos 6:1 says to "seek the Lord and live" If we seek God we will live, truly live. That's not to say we may not hit a pot hole or problem in this life or that all will be easy and smooth sailing, problems are just part of the world we live in, but if we seek Him if we trust Him and in all of our ways acknowledge Him and don't try to figure it out on our own, He will direct our paths.

So while we may not get a highway sign to warn us or caution us, we can trust in the Holy Spirit to speak to our hearts and Almighty God to lead, guide & direct us in the ways we should go! Much better than a road sign any old day!

Cross Country

Chandler's cross country meet was held on Friday afternoon!
It was an extremely difficult run due to the very cold temps and wind gusts!
But he did very well!
He came in first place in the Jr. High Boys & first place overall in the Jr. High Division!
Way to Go Chandler!

Go Arkansas Homeschoolers!!!!!

When God Ran

Listen...........this needs no other words!

It's the little things in life!

Saturday after the cross country meet, I fixed waffles. I prepared everything & filled the teapot to heat water for hot cocoa. I accidentally turned on the wrong burner & realized it immediately but not before the papertowels rolled over onto the burner. The little burn marks on the papertowel are priceless so I thought I'd share! Totally brightened the day! Yes....it's the little things in life. Enjoy!

Fun @ Church

Chandler & Justin worked really hard stacking all of those chairs to the ceiling and had lots of fun doing it. We're not really sure the reason, but knowing those two, it was probably just because they could!










The little boys, all the cousins, had a game going with the mops & brooms & actually were helping. Of course they had to get on the stage to perform. The mops & brooms then became guitars & microphones! Gotta love their imagination!

Cross Country

Today was the first Flames Cross Country meet. This year the NLR runners have had a separate practice from the LR runners even though they're all on the same team. The practice was divided to make it more convenient regarding travel to LR for practices. The NLR runners have met on Mondays for practice. I was proud of our NLR group because all of our runners placed in the top 3 of both of the elementary and Jr. High divisions. Chandler came in first place in the Jr High Division overall & first place in the Jr. High Boys AND he did the whole thing with his shoe untied. It came untied at the first turn & he didn't want to stop to tie it!....Way to run Chandler!

Brooms....Brooms...Brooms!

I've seen these photos everywhere lately. Not sure what all of the fuss is about, but I had to try it myself. Some say it's the equinox, some say it's gravity, others say any old broom will do it anytime. Who knows. But it does work. Ours has been standing in the middle of the kitchen floor for about an hour now. If I could just get it to move across the floor in an orderly fashion to clean up the dirt, then I'd be set. Anyway...just for the fun of it, try it at your house!

Jesus is my Friend

A Friend sent this to me a while back. Hilarious! For those of you who have NOT seen this video yet, here you go, enjoy! (And Yes, it's real!)

This is a 1970's Christian Band called Sonseed, and the song is I have a friend in Jesus, Aka jesus Is My Friend. Check out the bass players shoes! What can we say....it was the 70s?!? Enjoy...it's catchy...check out the line about Jesus being a mounty. I will start singing it in the car now...it's one of those tunes that is catchy but oh me...haha!

School Answering Machine

This is hilarious. This was allegedly voted unanimously by staff at Maroochydore High School in QLD for use on their telephone answering system. Very possibly fake, but very funny, Also has a serious point that perhaps parents and students should be more accountable and take more responsibility themselves instead of blaming the school for their failings.... Enjoy!

It's all about Jesus....Nothing Else!

This is worth watching!

Excuse me, are you Jesus?

Someone sent me this powerful story so I thought I'd share............
A few years ago a group of salesmen went to a regional sales convention in Chicago . They had assured their wives that they would be home in plenty of time for Friday night's dinner. In their rush, with tickets and briefcases, one of these salesmen inadvertently kicked over a table which held a display of apples. Apples flew everywhere. Without stopping or looking back, they all managed to reach the plane in time for their nearly missed boarding.

ALL BUT ONE !!! He paused, took a deep breath, and experienced a twinge of compassion for the girl whose apple stand had been overturned. He told his buddies to go on without him, waved good-bye, told one of them to call his wife when they arrived at their home destination and explain his taking a later flight. Then he returned to the terminal where the apples were all over the terminal floor. He was glad he did.

The 16 year old girl was totally blind! She was softly crying, tears running down her cheeks in frustration, and at the same time helplessly groping for her spilled produce as the crowd swirled about her, no one stopping and no one to care for her plight.

The salesman knelt on the floor with her, gathered up the apples, put them back on the table and helped organize her display. As he did this, he noticed that many of them had become battered and bruised; these he set aside in another basket.

When he had finished, he pulled out his wallet and said to the girl, 'Here, please take this $40 for the damage we did. Are you okay?' She nodded through her tears. He continued on with, 'I hope we didn't spoil your day too badly.'

As the salesman started to walk away, the bewildered blind girl called out to him, 'Mister......' He paused and turned to look back into those blind eyes. She continued, 'Are you Jesus?'

He stopped in mid-stride, and he wondered. Then slowly he made his way to catch the later flight with that question burning and bouncing about in his soul: 'Are you Jesus?' Do people mistake you for Jesus? That's our Destiny, is it not? To be so much like Jesus that people cannot tell the difference as we live and interact with a world that is blind to His love, life and grace.

If we claim to know Him, we should live, walk, and act as He would. Knowing Him is more than simply quoting Scripture and going to church. It's actually living the Word as life unfolds day to day.

You are the apple of His eye even though we, too, have been bruised by a fall. He stopped what He was doing and picked you and me up on a hill called Calvary and paid in full for our damaged fruit.

Too many Christians are no longer fishers of men but keepers of the aquarium. So we must ask ourselves....are we being mistaken for Jesus?

A Day Away

Since church was canceled Wednesday night due to the Swine Flu, which I refuse to call H1N1 because the government wants us to, plus Swine Flu sounds more fun, we decided to make a quick trip to the cabin to check on things. The boys wanted to take the tent to sleep on the deck. When we arrived, the wind was howling & it was cold. But they went to work setting up the tent. It took all four of us to hold it down so it wouldn't blow away until we could anchor it. I made my way to my bed, & Tom & the boys slept outside. I sent Tom a text message when I heard the coyotes howling. I actually thought it was a panther because it did sound like a scream, but Tom said it was coyotes. The boys thought it was only dogs so all was well in tent-land. They went right off to sleep, Tom however had a little more trouble....after all, he is older & the wood is harder to older bodies.

Thursday was a misty, overcast, rainy day but Tom was able to mow the property. The boys & i watched movies & chilled. Later that night we drove into Marshall to eat at the Daisy Queen. Good old tastee freeze cheeseburgers & crinkle cut fries. The meal wasn't complete without a butterscotch sundae or chocolate milk shake. When we arrived back at the cabin, the boys & I took the sleeping bags to the deck to do a little star gazing. We discussed the awesomeness of God. How He planned and designed the universe & how He knows the stars, millions of them, by name! Amazing!
And a trip to the cabin wouldn't be complete without discovering another of God's strange critters. We found this weird caterpillar. We're not sure what kind it is, but we're sure God must have said...."You know, I think I'll create one with wild hair sticking out in random places..." God's creativity is totally amazing. We are totally amazed by Him!
We're very thankful for all God has done for us. Blessing us in many ways, so many we can't begin to list them. We're blessed beyond belief, & we don't take lightly all that He does for us! I pray that during this time of year, that you begin to reflect on all that He's done for you! I've found that when we have a thankful heart life goes so much better. We don't have time to grumble, complain, gripe, or say woe is me....because we're too thankful to consider those things. May you begin the season of thanksgiving in your life because you truly are blessed!