Prayer for the day...

Lord, on this election day, grant us the president that our country needs, not the one that we deserve. I know you are in control and I can rest completely and fully in that. In your most precious and all-knowing name, Amen.

I received an email earlier today with these great reminders:

Top 10 Predictions No Matter Who Wins the Election

1. The Bible will still have all the answers.

2. Prayer will still work.

3. The Holy Spirit will still move

4. God will still inhabit the praises of His people.

5. There will still be God-anointed preaching.

6. There will still be singing of praise to God.

7. God will still pour out blessings upon His people.

8. There will still be room at the Cross.

9. Jesus will still love you.

10. Jesus will still save the lost when they come to Him.

God approves this message!

ISN'T IT GREAT TO KNOW WHO IS REALLY IN CHARGE!

Student of the Month

Jackson was awarded Student of the Month for the month of November at his school today! We are sooo proud of him! His teacher really loves Jackson, with good reason of course! We had the honor and privilege of celebrating this special recognition with Zoe last year too. Wow! What amazing children I have! Ms. Putnam (Jackson's teacher) wrote to the principal, who awarded Jackson, that "he is always kind and helpful to other students. He displays appropriate behavior and always tries his best! He is working hard to become a good writer." With this award he received a free meal at Longhorn and his name printed in the school newsletter. John and I are so blessed by our sweet Jackson as well as all three of our precious children! Keep up the great work, JT! We love you!!

Halloween fun!

Here are a few pictures of the Halloween fun we had! Everyone kept commenting that the kids were Batman and Cat Woman - that wasn't the plan, but they kinda thought it was cool. Zoe was really a leopard. Yes, that is poor Addie with no costume. Yes, just give the Biggest Loser Mom award. To be honest, I just never found one that wasn't huge and bulky for her and she's not a big fan of things on her head so that cut out about 90% of the costumes. She didn't seem to mind and had a ball riding around in the wagon for the first time. Oh well, I'm sure she will tease me about it when she's old enough. Next year, I'll be sure to dress her as something great! As you can tell from the last picture, Zoe was so tired at the end of the night, she fell asleep on my mom. Now, that's a good Halloween!

Addie's new place to play!

When my mom and I discussed making new curtains in the dining room I should've know that panel drapes that puddled ever so nicely on the floor was not the smartest thing! Don't get me wrong I LOVE them, but the practicality of them with a one year old around the house kinda slipped my mind. Addie finds them a great new place to play, she loves to hide in them, yank on them and pull them back and forth. I am constantly fixing them. How could I ever get upset though? Look at how cute she is making a complete mess of my new drapes!

One year already!!

Happy, Happy Birthday my sweet baby girl! I truly cannot believe our little Addie Marie is one today. This day comes with mixed emotions for me. I am so happy to have such a wonderful, adorable, sweet, precious, healthy daughter. I am so sad that one year is flown by and will no longer have a "baby" anymore. I am excited to see her grow and blossom as the amazing little girl I know God has blessed us with. Please tell me every mother goes through this!?

We celebrated her special birthday with some close family friends and my parents this past Saturday and today, her actual birthday, was pretty low key. We spent the morning on a field trip with Jackson. There aren't many one year olds that get to hang out with 20 Kindergartners learning about the Pioneer days on their birthday, right? At least, the tractor ride out to a pumpkin patch was fun! :)

As I sang. Jesus Loves Me, to her tonight before putting her to bed, I thanked God for the precious, beautiful little angel He has blessed me with. I am truly and totally in love with my little girl! Happy Birthday little love!

Lemonade stand at the garage sale!

Each Fall and Spring our neighborhood has a huge garage sale. I spent nearly all week preparing for it. I spents hours going through bins and bins of Jackson's clothing just to get rid of it all! I thought, surely this stuff will go quick - everything for $1 - come on you can't beat that, right!? Well, four hours and nineteen dollars later we packed it up and stuck it in the trunk to go to Goodwill. I couldn't believe it! What a waste! Well, not really. Even though we didn't do financially well, we had a blast as a family. It was a beautiful fall day and the kids just played outside with our neighbors all day. It was so fun to see all the kids outside running from house to house checking out all the junk...I mean, goods! Zoe came up with an idea of a lemonade stand to attract more buyers. Great idea, sweetie! Can you believe they made more money than we did!?

Lemonade mix...$2
Total profits from garage sale...$19
Watching your family have a fun day...priceless!

Breast Cancer Awareness Day at Liberty

Yesterday, Zoe came home from school telling me that they had to wear pink today in honor of Breast Cancer Awareness day at school. I told I had an even better idea, they could wear their T-shirts from Race for the Cure. (Unfortunately, we have had a conflict with every race that has happened in Georgia or Tennessee since May, so we have not been able to wear them yet for an actual race!) Zoe and Jackson were so excited with my idea!

I took a picture of them this morning so you could see them in their t-shirts! These shirts were made as a surprise for my mother-in-law, Sharon Linak....a.k.a. Grammy, who battles with breast cancer. My sister-in-law, Allison designed them and got them printed. In May, the John's family participated in the Race for the Cure in Columbus, Ohio. We were going to do it down here in Atlanta, but Zoe's dance recital was on the same day. The next two were in TN, but we went to Myrtle Beach one weekend and then the next was this Saturday and we are involved in the kid's Fall Festival at their school. One of these days, we will be able to participate! Addie even has her own onesie and of course John and I do too...t-shirts, that is. So, in honor of Breast Cancer Awareness month and my amazing mother-in-law, here's a couple pictures of the kids from this morning!