9/11

I will never forget where I was 8 years ago today. I was sitting at work, pregnant with Ashlyn, when I got an email from my sister Jill saying a plane had just crashed into the World Trade Center. I went online looking for more information and then the guys that I worked with came pouring out of their offices and turned on the TV in the conference room. We all sat in stunned silence and watched the news coverage for the rest of the day.

The first thing I remember thinking was, "What are we doing bringing a child into the middle of WWIII?!"

Over the past year, Britney and I have watched several movies about that horrible day. And this summer, I finally read Lisa Beamer's book - Let's Roll - about her husband Todd's role in that day. Going through all of the emotions and thoughts of that day all over again gave me a renewed sense of gratitude for our military men and women who are still fighting for our freedom. And also how God protected some, but chose to use some so that His glory would be seen even on that dreadful day.

All of the events of the last few weeks - thinking of Sept. 11 and our "enemies", adopting a soldier to send care packages to, reading through the Psalms and remembering how David was surrounded by his enemies and crying out to the Lord to save him - got me thinking about how my life is different today than it was 8 years ago.

I now have two children to raise in a fallen world. I have friends with problems so great I don't even know how to begin to help them. I live in a podunk little town that would probably be one of the last places on earth to be bombed by a terrorist. I can let my kids walk down the block with no real worry that they will be taken by the child molester in the white van.

But the true enemy is still around us every day. All of those things COULD still happen here. I'm not naive enough to think that they couldn't.

But the Lord pressed upon me something very clearly this morning on my walk. As Christians, the battle has already been fought and won. No matter what earthly enemy we're fighting - it's done. We win.

So, as we remember this day, let's mourn those who lost their lives, pray for those who are still fighting for our freedom, but most importantly, let's go out and fight for the ones who don't have HOPE - who don't know Jesus.

First Day of Second Grade

Today was Ashlyn's first day of second grade. She has grown up so much this summer. No more kisses at her locker when I drop her off. But, at least she did still need me to walk her to school this morning :) I thought I was ready for her to be independent, but now that she's actually starting to want some, I'm not sure I'm ready!



As for Carter...well, let's just say school for him starts next Monday and I think this may be the longest week of my life. He's been up since 6:45 and I don't think his mouth has stopped once. Well, maybe once to eat a couple of bites of breakfast. Did I mention he starts school Monday???

Details, Schmetails

This past weekend we took an impromptu trip to Omaha to see the airshow and go to the zoo after our painter called and said he wouldn't be able to start working on our house until the 8th. We had a great weekend doing fun family stuff. And spent one afternoon in Lincoln, Nebraska, looking at minivans I had found on Auto Trader.

After looking at a few vans over the past few months, we just weren't finding one that was what we wanted at a price we were willing to pay. Until we got to Lincoln.

We found a van, equipped exactly the way we wanted, the color we wanted at the exact price we said we would be willing to pay. We weren't in a pinch financially by buying the van, so we figured we'd sell the Passat as soon as we could, but weren't in a rush to do so.

Imagine our surprise and delight when we sold it tonight - for the exact price we said we wanted for it. To the first person who came to look at it, without even advertising it. The guy who bought it works with a friend of ours right here in Adrian.

Now, you tell me. Do you think God is in the details?

Catchin' Up

This summer has been a whirlwind. We had family visit, Ashlyn and I went to Disney, we took a little trip to Okoboji, Iowa (courtesy of Britney's Uncle Doug and Aunt Kris). We went to the Sioux Falls Airshow and did some major work on our house. I finally feel like I can breathe a little and thought it would be a good time to catch up on blogging!

Here are some random pictures of the things we did this summer. I hope you enjoy them!

I also hope to start recipe Wednesdays back up again. And will hopefully have some awesome "before and afters" to show of some projects from the summer!

I Hit The Mother Load!

Today the kids and I went to Sioux Falls for some shopping. I decided to hit the thrift stores since it was National Thrift Store Shopping Day. Bet you didn't know that one, did you?

I love to shop at thrift stores. I'm not usually big on buying clothes or shoes there, but today was the exception. I found Carter 3 shirts and a pair of shorts, a pair of pants for Ashlyn, a brand new dress for me (still had the tags) and 2 pairs of boots for me. One pair I had been looking for for over 5 years!!! The other ones were just for good measure. The best part - my total! Only $22 for ALL of that! The dress alone was originally over $60 :)

The only bummer was the $4 pair of Steve Madden boots that my feet absolutely refused to fit into. I sadly left them behind...

Product Review

Tonight we froze some sweet corn so that we can have that yummy summer taste in the dead of winter when it's 20 below outside.

The "product review" is for the new Kernel Cutter from Pampered Chef. Yes, I used to be a consultant, but that was a couple of years ago. I had a party in May and ordered this just to see if it was any good. Some of the other tools that have been tried failed miserably, and we all just went back to using good old knives.

Not anymore! This new tool is AWESOME! I could fly through the ears of corn, my hand didn't get tired, and there wasn't nearly the waste on the cob. It was well worth the $7.50! Fabulous!

Out of the Mouth of Babes

So today Carter and I had a conversation that went something like this.

Carter: "Mom, when can I watch TV?"

Me: "When mommy's show is over, then you can watch."

Carter: "Well, how long will that be?"

Me: "Just a few minutes."

Carter: "Well, how many is that?"

Me: "You just need to learn to be patient"

Carter: "That will take too long."

I couldn't have said it better myself!