23 Months!

Thanksgiving Eve

The day before Thanksgiving is definitely the day to go to the Children's Museum. I guess most people were traveling or preparing food. We had so much fun and I think we all took a nap when we got back home. I may make everything we did on this day a Thanksgiving Eve tradition. I love when we do things as a family and all day was spend together doing wonderful things, as you can see by the pictures. Dinner was the best conclusion to the "family day." We made hotpot, which is pretty much Asian fondue. Boil chicken broth, throw in vegetables, meat, and noodles and pull out what you want when it's cooked. I loved it and had the greatest time with my family. I don't think this day could have gotten any better, because I love when people come to visit and we do things as a family.

Decorating the Tree

Happy Thanksgiving!

Hope you all had a Happy Thanksgiving. We certainly did, David made the turkey and most of the sides. So from now on he is in charge of cooking for Thanksgiving, because it was soooo delicious. I am so very thankful for how God has blessed me.

BSF lessons

There have been some interesting lessons coming from studying Isaiah at Bible Study Fellowship. One recently had a big impact on me and I think David too. I usually discuss what I have discovered from my lesson with David and I like hearing his thoughts about the Bible verses. Recently one of the girls in my small group at BSF shared her story as it related to the lesson that week. She had been training for a marathon for 10+ weeks and it was coming up in a few days but over the weekend she had some pain in her hip that caused her to stop running. After resting a few days she got back out there and ran a few miles, but the pain came back and she went to the doctor. She had a hip fracture and was devastated by the news, which meant she would not be able to run in the marathon. The lesson we are studying is about glorifying God, putting him first, not our idols, or ourselves. In this lesson we are learning how God punishes us too, which is a totally new concept to me. I've been taught about a loving God and a God that should be feared, but not one that punishes. It makes sense though, he is Our Father and teaches us lessons. Well, the girl my group had just been taught a lesson by God. She feels that God is punishing her by putting the marathon before Him. I often put other things before God, most recently and most often it's my child. This is something I will probably struggle with for a long time, but I feel I can turn this into teaching Isaac about God.
Although this study of Isaiah is very difficult and often times doesn't make sense when I'm doing the homework, the discussions we have and the lecture clarify some of the scriptures and I often come away from class with a new view of God's work.

FYI-I got her permission before sharing her story. It made such an impact on me that I felt I needed to share it.

Thanksgiving Vacation

Isaac's Nyny and Yeye came into town yesterday evening and immediately started playing with Isaac. Yeye has been great keeping Isaac entertained while Nyny has been giving me cooking lessons. At the end of the day yesterday I felt like I had been on vacation since Yeye was taking care of Isaac and Nyny was cooking and cleaning. I think this is going to be a great Thanksgiving vacation, kind of sound like an oxymoron though.

Just for fun

Watercolors

Not much got on the paper and Isaac would rather use his fingers instead of a brush, but it was fun and easier to clean up than markers. The last 3 pictures were taken in a matter of seconds, just goes to show the mood swings of a toddler.

Grass

I've been wanting to add more color to Isaac's wall for awhile but have had a hard time picking out a color that I was confident with. I love the effect of the grass and feel like I'm in a jungle when I'm in his room. He calls it colors and I'm pretty sure he thinks I colored on his walls.

Easy Chicken and Dumplings

I love chicken and dumplings but have never attempted to make them at home. I usually won't try a recipe unless it has easy in the title. I found just the recipe over at Women Living Well. Mine was a bit salty so I think I'll use part water and part broth next time, but it was delicious. I had no idea that dumplings had to cook for so long, or that they puffed up.