~ Dec. 23, 2008
Rely on God

Lately, more often than not, whatever I am dealing with in my life- either somehow relates to what I have been studying for the Old Testament curriculum I am writing or lines right up with what is preached that Sunday morning. Last week was crazy, filled not just with activities but activities I was responsible for leading in some way.

Wednesday was dress rehearsal for our homeschool musical theatre group, "W.O.W.". This dress rehearsal was more stressful than most because 1 week earlier I had to dismiss a student from the cast and other students had to take over her part and now our little group was down to 9.  Also, the set hadn't been built as of 9am Wednesday morning. When I arrived at church 1 1/2 hours before rehearsal, the set was almost complete! The dress rehearsal went amazingly well too.

Thursday was performance day. All was going well until right before supper, as I was walking past the now infamous Christmas tree (see previous post), it decided to fall over on top of me.  I caught it with my left hand  as ornaments crashed to the ground (I lost 2 of my favorite Mickey Mouse ornaments-oh well). Then we arrive at church later than I had planned, thanks to the tree incident postponing dinner. As I am making sure everything is in its place I realize I can't find my script! I out it in the tote bag after dress rehearsal but it isn't there now.  At 6:10pm I race home, thank God we live close.  I still can't find the script but I have to get back to church we are supposed to start at 6:30pm. I get in my car and do deep breathing exercises all the way back while praying, "God, this is Your musical, these are Your kids, I need Your help to direct them without all of my directors notes. Please!!" I arrive back at church and we begin at 6:35pm.  The play went off without a hitch, it was amazing. Just as a scene was finishing, God reminded me the special things I needed to direct the kids to remember in the next song or dance. It was like nothing I have every experienced before. God directed me and I directed the kids, awesome. When we arrived home one of my sons found my script in my bedroom.  No one has yet to confess to studying their lines in there but, it doesn't matter.

Friday night I was supposed to meet with 3-6 other women to finish organizing all the clothes that were donated in the women's clothing drive. Only 1 other woman showed up. I was a little disheartened as I had a group of 9 women agree to take on this project and I was doing 90% of the work.

Saturday was our big Christmas outreach to a community in our town called Samoset.  It is a very old section of town. Many of the people who live there are immigrants, many illegally in this country.  Often there are 3-4 families living in small, decrepit houses. We do 3 outreaches a year providing spiritual support, free groceries, lunch, entertainment and community services.  At Christmas we have a toy tent where parents can get free toys for their kids and wrap them on the spot to take home for Christmas.  We usually have 100-150 families at this event. This year we added a women's clothing tent where each woman could get 1 outfit, a pair of shoes and accessories for free. It was a crazy busy day as we had over 300 families attend the event.  We ran out of lunch and groceries, except for bread and eggplant. God literally performed miracles and multiplied the toys and clothes until everyone had something to take home.

Sunday I was filling in for our Music/Youth Pastor as he was out of town. I only get the opportunity to lead worship 2-3 Sundays a year and it is a privledge I don't take lightly.  I also had 2 fill in band members who were from other churches. Praise God everything went well. Then Sunday night was the youth Christmas party and I was heading up all of the games for that. It was a busy day and God gets all the glory for seeing me through.

 These last 2 weeks of school we've been studying the Judges era in the Old Testament. As I reflect on last week, I'm reminded of Gideon. He started with about 32,000 men. He felt confident he and his men could defeat the Midianites.  God told Gideon he had too many men and to send home all those who were fearful. 22,000 men left! Gideon lost 2/3 of his army and then God said that Gideon still had too many men and he should take them to the river for a drink.  Everyone who laps up the water with his tongue like a dog will stay and those who kneel to drink will be sent away. Gideon was left with an army of 300 men. Gideon praised God because He knew God had promised they would win. As you know, Gideon and his men successfully ousted the Midianites. Gideon didn't rely on his own strengths or abilities, or those of his men.  He had to rely on God and what He had promised. Just as I had to rely on God- to direct the play without my script, to minister to the women who came for clothing even though I was short staffed, to help me lead worship when I was out of practice and had 2 fill in band members, to help me lead the youth.

Are you relying on God for everything?

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~ Dec. 18, 2008
The Christmas Tree, The Star and The Clapper

For the last 3 Christmases we have been so busy with Christmas plays (usually 2-3 a year), our annual trip to Disney World in December (which isn't happening this year), and everything else going on in our lives that we did not get a full size Christmas tree.  We had a tabletop tree on a TV tray.  The tree was covered only in Disney ornaments. We all came to love that little tree.

This year we only have 1 Christmas play, tonight in fact, and that is it so we decided to put up all our Christmas decorations. Ok, we can't put them all up because it seems the collection has grown and the house hasn't.  Anyway, last Friday Ron and the boys went to Lowes and got a live 6' tree on sale for $20! Saturday we put on the lights. When we unpacked the angel topper she looked pretty sad.  She is 17 yrs old, we bought her our first Christmas together.  It was time to retire her.  We decided we wanted a star.  Jordan and I headed to Wal-Mart. 

The Wal-Mart stars were all cheesy or tacky looking. We went across the street to Sam's. We couldn't find any toppers, we talked to the man working in the Christmas decorations dept. and he said they didn't carry the toppers and my best bet would be to go to Target. We head to Target and find a few that are ok.  We really wanted something that was classy but lit up and was preferrably silver.  We found a cool red one but decided against it.  Then we found 2 modern looking silver wire ones and we were trying to figure out how to add lights to it. We were just about ready to give up when I spotted a different box on the bottom shelf behind 4 other boxes.  Jordan pulled it out and it was a beautiful star, brushed gold with mirrors. No lights, not silver but we both knew this was the one.  It cost $14.99-almost as much as the tree but we bought it anyway.

Saturday night the boys decorated most of the tree and Jordan and I finished it on Monday.  The one thing we couldn't find in all of the boxes was the timer.  We had been climbing behind the tree to plug and unplug it.  Our tree is in an odd space.  There is no place in our small living room for a 6' Christmas tree. So, our tree lives in the kitchen/dining room next to the microwave. It works and we can see it from the livingroom so all is good.

Tuesday, Jordan and I were in CVS picking up a few things when I saw "The Clapper". Last year we bought my husband the clapper for Christmas because he is so hard to buy for and he never asks for anything specific.  He also jokingly often walks into a room and claps his hands and then laughs when the lights don't come on. Well, it has set on his closet shelf for a year, unopened.  When we got home I got the clapper off the shelf and the boys installed it on the Christmas tree.  We didn't tell Ron what we did, and sat down to dinner with the tree behind Ron's seat. Well, the clapper is a VERY sensitive instrument. Any noise with the correct rhythmis pattern will make it work.  Several times during dinner the tree turned on and off (and I'm not talking about the blinkie lights). The boys and I giggled and laughed through dinner and Ron had no idea what was going on. While cleaning up from dinner it was on and off some more. Later Tuesday night, as I was making popcorn in the microwave, Ron started laughing.  The tree kept turning off and on while the popcorn popped!

Wednesday at lunch Aaron popped open the parmesan cheese container and the lights turned on.  Ron closed a kitchen cabinet and they turned off.  Oh my goodness, this was too funny-and annoying. The boys tried to see what sounds they could make to get the tree to turn off and on. Well, Ron bought a new timer Wednesday afternoon and the clapper has disappeared. It was fun while it lasted.  I'll have to find out what he did with the clapper, I can see it being used for other harmless pranks in the future.

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~ Dec. 16, 2008
Cool Techie Gift for Mom

I know what my big Christmas present is.  I am so excited, I can't wait for Christmas.  I have been blessed. On Thanksgiving day on Twitter people were posting their Christmas wishes on Tweetmas. Oh, why not, just for fun, I wished for an iPod Touch. A few hours later, I had a message from a woman who had one in like new condition that she wanted to sell. This amazing lady sold my mom an iPod Touch for $75!! It arrived the other week, I charged it up and checked it out for about an hour then, like the dutiful daughter I am, I packed it back up and told mom it had arrived and was in wonderful condition.  My dad came and picked up the box and now I am as excited about Christmas as the kids are.

So, now I am getting this awesome blessing and I need accessories right? On Twitter I found out about the #1 must have accessory for my iPod Touch and that accessory is chicBuds.  ChicBuds are the most beautiful earbuds I have ever seen.  They come in white or black and are encrusted with Swarovski Crystals. The watermelon colored ones would look so awesome with my iPod Touch, especially paired with the Vera Bradley Pinwheel Pink media case that is also on my wish list.  (hnt, hint)

If you are a techie mom or if you know a techie mom chicBuds are the gift this Christmas vist chicBuds and get some for the techie mom in your life.

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~ Dec. 15, 2008
It's Not All About the Budget

My husband had been doing some work on the A/V system of one of the largest churches in our area. (He repairs sound systems for a living). The church gave us 4 tickets to come see their production, I was excited as I have heard their shows are very good. We have a friend on the production team and she informed us that the set budget alone was close to $10,000!! We are part of a small-medium sized Spirit-filled church, we have been there over 14 years. We are super active in youth group, worship team, a/v ministry, women's ministry and drama ministry. Because of our involvement, we seldom get to visit other churches. We haven't been to another church's Christmas program in at least 4-5 years.

When we arrived, the foyer was turned into an "environmental theatre", there were several building facades, with actors portraying people of the fictional town, these characters were wonderful and engaged the audience as they milled around. I was really getting excited because the pre-show was so well done. We enter the huge sanctuary and found our seats.

I've decided not to go into all the details of act 1-a quick over view of the biggest problems.

• they brought in 2 "ringer" professional actors to play the 2 leads (and the female lead kept messing up her lines)-they had some great local talent in the show, I'm sure they could have carried the leading roles.
• DS#2 noticed that all the song lyrics were being projected on the back wall of the sanctuary for the cast to sing along to, DS#1 noticed that the entire front row was also filled with monitors...were they feeding them lines???? Don't know.
• when both the youth choir and the children's choir sang their numbers all you could hear were the voices on the tracks-I'm not even sure if the kids were singing at all.
• most, if not all of the characters with speaking parts had mics but they weren't always on when the person was trying to deliver a line-and sometimes they were on but they were 2-3 times louder than the other people on stage
• the script was original and the jokes were often rude or sarcastic, and in one scene they implied that the man was thinking about the woman's breasts! (My son actally put his hand up to cover his dropped jaw when he realized what they were talking about).
• doctrinally I know my beliefs differ somewhat from those at the church we were at but when the lead character says to a younger woman she is consoling, "IF God created you, then He will never leave you." (Yes, the emphasis in the delivery was on the "IF"). Hello, Christian church, basic belief is Creation
• One song was a very creative combination of swing and country music with 2 groups dancing. The swing dancers were dressed for lyrical ballet and way worse than that were the adult females in very tight white t-shirts bouncing all over the stage doing a country line dance (if you know what I mean here, oh my goodness), my husband turned his head and my sons covered their eyes (Praise God they know what to do when the women around them aren't modest).

I actually started to weep during the performance, no, not because it was bad-the adult choir and most of the actors were quite good. I wept because no matter how much money went into the sets, the professional actors and orchestra, no matter how large the cast-the Spirit of God was not there. It was empty.
 Next was intermission, I really wanted to leave but...I am usually criticised by my hubby of being too critical of other performances so I have already decided to just keep my mouth shut during all of intermission. We have friends involved in the production and in the audience and if you can't say something nice...As soon as the lights turned up hubby looked at me and said "Do you want to go home now, or stay and see the rest." Praise God!!  I didn't have to ask to go home.  I asked the boys what they wanted to do and they both said, "Can we please leave?" so, we left. Silently, we left...until we got to the car.

It was quite an educational experience to hear the thoughts of my 15 and 13 yr old sons.  They are both actors/singers/dancers and sound men, they both know on stage and backstage.  They were appalled at the inuendo and tight costumes. The good points of this evening were...the sets were amazing, the use of the snow machine was nice, lighting was well done, most of the actors were very talented and the adult choir sounded good. We went to Chik-fil-a for shakes and we discussed what we say tonight in light of the production we are doing Thursday night. The decision was, even though we have the smallest cast we have ever had for a musical (we are down to 9 because I had to invite 1 girl to leave the cast last week), and even though 4 people had to add new lines this past week due to losing 1 cast member- we know: a) we are doing this as an offering of praise to Jesus , b) God's Word will not return void-we just need to be obedient to proclaim it, c)everyone in the audience will hear the kids sing to the best of their ability.

A big budget doesn't mean a great performance, it just means a big budget. Sometimes the grass seems greener on the other side-the bigger stage, bigger soundboard, more mics, better lighting system, bigger cast, professional orchestra-all sound like things I would love to have to work with. I would rather stay with my small budget, amazing tech crew and hard working local cast who know we are working hard not to just please our audience but to give praise to God. Like David, I don't want to give God an offering that didn't cost me anything. I will be content where God has placed me.

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~ Dec. 13, 2008
Destination Disney-Christmas

Christmas time is the best time to visit Disney World. From December 1-December 18 the crowds are smaller but the Christmas spirit is huge! This is only the 2nd out of the last 10 Years that we haven't visited Disney World in December and we are all feeling a little homesick. The hard part about this post is that I have soooooo many pictures I could include. I tried my best to cut some out but it was hard.
Christmas has to start on Main Street USA.  The street is decked out in miles of garland and hundreds of wreaths. Christmas of 2007 the Magic Kingdom debuted the Ice Palace. They covered Cinderella Castle in millions of white twinkle lights.  It is beautiful! They added even more lights for 2008. If you are a huge fan of Christmas decorations, Disney World offers a Yuletide Fantasy Tour for guests ages 16+ on selected days in November and December.  The cost of the tour is in addition to your park admission. We gave my dad this tour as a Christmas gift a few years back and he still talks about it today! The most exciting part of this tour is a trip backstage to the Holiday Services Warehouse where Disney Cast Members create the Christmas decorations for all the parks, stores, restaurants and resorts years before they are used.

Next it is over to Epcot where we are greeted by Christmas topiaries.  The World Showcase is an amazing place to learn about Christmas traditions from all over the world. At the American Adventure Pavillion, there is a huge Gingerbread House that is actually a kiosk where they sell gingerbread cookies!
The highlight of Christmas at Epcot is the Candlelight Processional.  I know I have mentioned this before but it isn't just a show, it is an amazing mass choir, full orchestra, herald trumpets and a celebrity narrator reading the Christmas story from Luke 2 and worshipping God in song.  We have attended this event many times and have seen several celebrity narrators including Phylicia Rashaad, James Avery, Sandy Patti, James Earl Jones and Monique Coleman. You usally have to stand in line for over an hour to get a seat to this show but, I promise you, it is worth the wait.
This was our 2004 Christmas card picture taken at Epcot in the Living Seas Pavillion.

Heading to MGM Disney Hollywood Studios brings the excitement of The Osborne Spectacle of Dancing Lights. I'll admit I liked this better before they tore down the backlot.  I really enjoyed seeing all the house facades and yards decorated like a suburban neighborhood. The Osborne lights are still impressive and the "dancing" feature that was added in 2006 is cool.

I hope you get to experience a Disney Christmas!

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~ Dec. 11, 2008
Christmas Giveaways

I have been blessed to win 4 giveaways so far and have 2 Christmas wishes granted in the last 3 weeks. I want you to have the same fun I am having so I am linking to some of my favorite contests here.  Please join in the fun!

1. Mimobot is running a Twitter contest-click on the link for the rules mimobot contest
2. MommyDaddyBlog.com is giving away The Ultimate Lounge Around Prize Pack as part of their Three Gs For The Holidays event! Click on over right now to get in on fun giveaways, get shopping ideas from their Gift Guide, and learn how you can help children in need this holiday season!
3.  I am hosting a giveaway on one of my other blogs. I am giving away a beautiful Cookie Lee necklace. Mom Maven will take you to the post.
4. My friend at MommyBrainReports has several giveaways including this one for a Disney Bingo DVD game and this one for a $100 DELL Gift card
5. Everythingupclose is giving away PZI Jeans and t-shirts

So have fun and I hope you win something fun!

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~ Dec. 9, 2008
Are you Fruity?

God is moving, ok He has always been moving we just aren't always moving with Him. God is moving and I am moving with Him. I am not alone either, several others in my family and church are moving with Him too. Back in July I wrote a post called The "F" words...Freedom and Faith. For me that was a declaration of what God had done in my life over an 8 week period. Now it is 6 months later and everything I wrote then rings even more true today. God's love has never been so ever-present in my life.  It is hard to put into words the "experience" of God's true love.  I want to try to share what God has done in me.

I now see people and circumstances through God's eyes more than my eyes.  I have heard people say this before but I never really understood it.  If you ask people who have known me for a while to describe me you will hear words like; hard-worker, loyal, leader, organized, joyful, strong. Good qualities but not the most godly. Words seldom used to describe me gracious, merciful, peace-loving, gentle. For years I have sat through sermons on the Fruit of the Spirit and thought, "What about me?" I have sought to be more fruity for ages but I finally decided, "That's just not how God made me." Untrue. God made us all to have the fruit as evidence of Him in our lives.  Some of us have more of one part of the fruit than the other but, we have some of all of it. In the past six months, as God has radically changed me from the inside out, I have begun to be more fruity.

For years I have meen motivated by loyalty and duty not love and compassion.  My heart wasn't often moved but my feet, hands and mouth did. I did what I thought was expected of me, I sang, I taught, I led, I organized and God's people were blessed-in spite of me. That has changed. I am no longer a clanging cymbal, I have love. I see, through God's eyes, hurting people and I don't jump to judge them, my heart breaks for them. I feel the heartbeat of God, I feel His heart breaking because His people are bound in religiosity and fear. It is overwhelming at times.

This isn't easy to put it to words, this new me.  I was talking to a friend the other day, one I hadn't spent much time with in the past few months, and we were just having a normal conversation when out of the blue she says, "Wow, you have changed!"  I asked her what she was talking about and she said she had heard God had been truly changing our church from the top down, that the leadership had been through the wringer and those who had remained were coming out on the other side better versions of themselves, more loving and compassionate and she said she could see that in me.  Knock my socks off.  Yes, that is what had happened but for someone outside my circle of close friends to notice was confirmation that God was moving in and around me and I was moving with Him.

Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, faithfulness and self-control-these are the Fruit of the Spirit. One fruit, many sections.  I'm becoming more fruity by the day. are you?

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~ Dec. 9, 2008
Stop, Drop and Roll

Stop, Drop and Roll doesn't work in Hell.

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~ Dec. 5, 2008
Thanksgiving Day 2008

So, I am finally getting around to telling you all about our Thanksgiving  I think our Thanksgivings are pretty normal.  We go to my mom and dad's house for 3 days, Thursday-Saturday. My parent's live about 30 minutes south of us. Our goal is to arrive at mom's before the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade begins at 10am. We pack the car with everything we need for the weekend-clothes, video games, food and Christmas shopping lists.

We arrived by 9:30, got our stuff situated and plopped in front of the television.  During the beginning of the parade, mom get the turkey in the oven.  Mom cooks the best Thanksgiving dinner. My sister and I bring munchies to nibble on over the 3 days.  After the parade it is game time. We all love to play games, card games, board games, video games and PC games.  During the course of the weekend we play them all.  We are so competitive that there is now a "House Champ" chart on the kitchen bulletin board with a list of the games we usually play. The list is updated daily and is usually filled with the name "Poppop".


My sister arrived during the parade and her husband will arrive closer to dinner time, he's a police officer and he works the overnight shift so he sleeps in. We play games until about 2:00 when it is time to start the final preparations for the big meal. I am in charge of cooking the rolls.  I'm not sure how I got this job, but I have been in charge of the rolls for years. 

My brother-in-law arrives and we sit down to eat.  We have moist, delicious turkey, mom's amazing stuffing, real mashed potatoes, carrots, green beans, sweet potato casserole, crescent rolls and boiled onions.

  After dinner it was back to playing games for most of the rest of the night. Of course...I can't forget to   mention dessert which included pumpkin pie, apple pie, lemon meringue pie, chocolate pie, brownies and chocolate chip cookies. Yummy!

We are so blessed to have our family so close. I do hope you had a blessed Thanksgiving as well.

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~ Dec. 4, 2008
5 Things Friday

Due to technical difficulties with this blog site and Mr Linky I am discontinuing 5 Things Friday until further notice.

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~ Dec. 3, 2008
Support Moms While You Christmas Shop

As I told you before, I am part of a group called Twittermoms. One of the many awesome things this group has done is put together a shopping guide so that we can Christmas shop businesses that are owned by moms.  When you shop these businesses you know you are supporting families.  What a great idea! You can click on the widget here and check out all the great gifts these moms are offering.

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~ Nov. 29, 2008
Destination Disney-Thankful Photos

This was a tricky category for me because I don't visit The World during the Thanksgiving holiday-due to the crowds.  I do have a few pictures of things I'm thankful for.


3 Generations having fun at Disney World.


The magical power of a wish.


Happy Thanksgiving!!

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~ Nov. 27, 2008
5 Things Friday Thanksgiving Edition

5 things Friday memeAn easy, fun meme for anyone to play. I will post a new topic each Thursday. Sign up in the Mr Linky below and be sure to check back so you can see other people's answers. Also grab the button for your blog and spread the word about 5 Things Friday.

Button Code List 5 things you ate for Thanksgiving. My answers: 1. Turkey 2. Stuffing 3. Mashed Potatoes 4. Brownies 5. Shrimp Cocktail

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~ Nov. 26, 2008
Black Friday

I have read a lot of posts and twitters this week about why people don't shop on Black Friday. I've heard some valid answers like "no one to watch the kids","I have to work so you can shop".  I have also heard the ones I consider pretty lame like "I don't like crowds", "No one shares the holiday spirit on Black Friday", "I'm not getting up that early". Well, I wanted to share why I go shopping before dawn on Black Friday.

Years ago my dad worked overnights dispatching for 9-1-1. One day after Thanksgiving dad didn't come right home after work. I remember he was a few hours late when he finally came through the door.  Mom and I had already done what we could to rationalize away the reason he was that late coming home.  Anyway, he came in the door and told us we had to go in the other room because he had been Christmas shopping and he had to bring stuff in to hide in his bedroom.  Of course we dutifully obeyed.  Dad has always loved Christmas.  He has the largest collection of Christmas music on LP, Cassette and CD that I know of, but shopping?

After he emerged from hiding his purchases, he told us about all the fun he had shopping from 6am on. He shared with us goody bags that some of the stores handed out.  Target's goody bag was the coolest.  It had candy and an energy bar, some mints and other goodies to help get you through a long day of holiday shopping.

For a few years Black Friday was dad's day. He went after work and when he arrived home we left him alone to hide his purchases.  That all changed in 1993.  This was my first Christmas as a mom.  Christmas takes on a new meaning when you are a mom and when your baby is the first grandchild in the family.  So this is the first year I accompany dad on his Black Friday trek.  I am the newbie but he shows me the ropes, he coaches me in the fine art of keeping your hand on the item you have to have at Wal-mart even though the sale doesn't "officially" start for another 30 minutes.  We have a blast together and he even takes me out to breakfast at about 8:30am.

In 1994 we spend part of Thanksgiving Day searching the ads for the items on our lists, we plan our course of action and check out the store opening times.  When we arrive on line outside Target waiting for the store to open, we run into an old friend of mine from high school, Gina.  She also worked with my dad for a while so we all spend time catching up while we wait. We have run into Gina many Black Fridays at Target.

This will be my 15th Black Friday.  Dad and I will get up early, we will hit the stores like Wal-Mart, Target, K-Mart and Radio Shack all before breakfast.  Unless there is a deal we just have to get we will wait to head to the mall until later in the day. After breakfast we head back to the house and everyone else is getting ready to shop.  We usually take a little nap and then, when the entire clan is ready we head to the mall. We use this time to let the other family members show what they would like for Christmas-we don't usually do too much shopping on this trip. We usually eat lunch at the mall and some years we go out to dinner on the way home. To me, Black Friday is more than the money I save and the gifts I buy.  It is the one day of the year that everyone knows belongs to dad and I. Memories no one else in the family shares with us.

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~ Nov. 25, 2008
Educational Toy Discount

I am having trouble believing that next week is Thanksgiving. I'm having even more trouble realizing that I have done no Christmas shopping yet, honestly I've barely even thought about what to buy. Well, if you need to by presents for kids, and who doesn't, and if you like to give fun, educational gifts, I have the answer for you.

I came across a great website Small World Toys. They offer tons of great, affordable educational and imaginitive play toys from top brands like-IQ Baby, Ryan's Room, Puzzibilities, The World of Eric Carle and more. Small World Toys offers great prices too. Most of the items on their website are under $20. They also offer free shipping on orders over $100. I have worked with Small World Toys to get a 20% discount for all of my readers! Visit their website, pick your gifts and at checkout use code 143 to receive 20% off your entire order. This offer is good through December 13th. I am so excited to work with Small World Toys to offer you this amazing deal. Happy shopping.

Cindy

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~ Nov. 20, 2008
5 Things Friday meme

An easy, fun meme for anyone to play. I will post a new topic each Thursday.  Sign up in the Mr Linky below and be sure to check back so you can see other people's answers. Also grab the button for your blog and spread the word about 5 Things Friday.  Button Code

MR LINKY isn't working this week please just leave your link in your comment. Thanks.
We will start off easy:
List 5 favorite board/table/card games.

My answers:
1. Monopoly
2. Bunco
3. Scrabble
4. Golf (cards)
5. Cribbage

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~ Nov. 18, 2008
Christian Women Tweet Up

I've already shared with you about my addiction to Twitter and Twittermoms.  One of the groups I belong to on Twittermoms is called "Christian Tweeters".  Our leader, Noelle, had the brilliant idea to start a twitterchat for Christians.  As much as we love the other twitterchats we are a part of, none of them have a Christian theme. Well, next Monday we will have our first Christian Women Tweet Up (CWTU) on Twitter at 9:00pm est.  The theme for this eeting is a Tweet and Meet.  Let's just get to know some new sisters in Christ.  We will also be having some doorprizes! I have donated one doorprize-a funny devotional book by Barbara Johnson called Daily Splashes of Joy.

If you don't know about Twitter or don't understand it here is a great easy explanation .

If you want to sign up for CWTU click here CWTU. You can also follow us next Monday at 9:00pm on Twitter by searching for hashtag #CWTU.  If you have any questions don't hesitate to leave me a comment here and I will get back to you ASAP.
Blessings and Happy Tweeting!

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~ Nov. 16, 2008
Destination Disney -Epcot

Epcot is a great park.  I have a lot of great memories.  Great rides back when the park was EPCOT Center and the Epcot stood for Experimental Prototype City of Tomorrow.  Epcot opened October 1, 1982.  Classic Attractions The World of Motion, Horizons, Spaceship Earth, and Journey Into Imagination have all been part of the Future World landscape. In the World Showcase features 11 country pavillions, shopping, restaurants, shows and a few rides. One of my favorite things about Epcot is that this park hosts 3 of my favorite annual celebrations.  In the spring is the Flower and Garden Show, fall brings the food and wine festival and Christmas means the Candlelight Processional.

Ok some pictures to show you what I mean:


This is me with the Beauty and the Beast topiary during a Flower and Garden Show.
Below is a Tinkerbell topiary.



The other fun thing at the Flower and Garden Festival are the Flower Power concerts.  We have seen Davey Jones in concert twice!!

I love the Food and Wine Festival because it is educational AND my boys are actually willing to try different foods during the festival.  Here is an empanada from the 2007 festival.


For me, Christmas season doesn't  start until I have been to the Candlelight Processional.  The script is Scripture and the mass choir and orchestra are amazing.  Over the years we have seen several different celebrity narrators including Phylicia Rashad, James Earl Jones, Sandy Patti, James Avery and last year Monique Coleman.


My favorite new, well not really new-remade, attraction is The Living Seas with Nemo and Friends.  The new ride uses amazing technology to show video and make it look like it is in the aquarium tanks. You also get to ride in Clamobiles.

After the ride you MUST see Turtle Talk with Crush.  This is the most amazing interactive show. If you love Crush please don't miss this.


Well they say a picture is worth 1000 words and I could add a lot more pictures, I hope you get to experience the fun that is Epcot.

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~ Nov. 13, 2008
5 Things Friday meme

An easy, fun meme for anyone to play. I will post a new topic each Thursday.  Sign up in the Mr Linky below and be sure to check back so you can see other people's answers. Also grab the button for your blog and spread the word about 5 Things Friday.  Button Code


We will start off easy:
List 5 things on your desk/workspace right now.

My answers:
1. Laptop
2. Blog notebook
3. Pens and Highlighters
4. Calculator
5. TV Remote

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~ Nov. 13, 2008
12 Days of Christmas Giveaways

Exciting things are happening over at Type A Mom.  They are on day 3 of their 12 Days of Christmas Giveaways.  Everyday one lucky winner win a huge prize pack worth hundreds of dollars. If you have never checked out this site-you should. Here is the link to  Day 3 of the giveaways.  Today's prize pack includes $560 worth of gifts for teens- a Go External Hard Drive,Shoe Me How Knitting and Quilting books, Pop Star Guitar game for PS2 or Wii, Get hip, Get Green Ecobag, Wall-U, collection of books, wallet and more.

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