Saturday, November 29, 2008

Kyler's Preschool Pictures 2008!






Moonshadow Studios took the school pictures at CDC this year. At first I was a little disappointed that she didn't get any "sweet" pictures of Kyler like the other kids had, but then I realized that she really captured his personality. He really is so very cute...if I say so myself! I can't wait to get the prints.

Friday, November 21, 2008

Random Fall 2008 Pictures...








I have been taking my camera with me everywhere and snapping pictures whenever the mood strikes. Here are a few I've chosen to share.

One day when we came home from school there was a TON of leaves that had fallen and we played in them for quite awhile and I got a lot of great pictures. I also took a picture looking down our street and the trees look really pretty.

We're really excited about the new "KOBE" Japanese restaurant opening soon. Kobe and I have been waiting for almost a year for it to be built and opened and it will be soon.

The picture of Kobe and I is from his Brown Bag lunch in his classroom. We bring lunch and they share the books that they have written. His teacher does this every few weeks.

The cute picture of Kyler is one I took of him as we were walking out the door to go to school. I love him in that hat!

Thursday, November 20, 2008

Having a conversation with God...

First, I have to say that I'm so enjoying my devotional called, The Message// Remix: Solo (The Uncommon Devotional) by Eugene Peterson. I've been doing daily devotions for years but this one encourages me to dig a little deeper inside myself than many of the others have. The devotional incorporates lectio divina, or "divine reading" into your daily time with God. This means that you pray, read a passage and then imagine yourself in the passage or scripture. It's really easy to identify with scripture when you do this. You then reflect on what you've read by doing different activities like journaling or reciting passages aloud.

Today's' reading was about having a conversation with God. What if He were sitting in the room with you and you were able to talk to him face-to-face? What would you say? I found that I had a LOT to say to Him. When I thought of Him sitting in a room with me, it was easy for me to imagine Him being a gentle, grandfatherly type person who had unconditional love for me and wisdom that I could learn from.

What would He look like to you? Is He that real to you?

Saturday, November 8, 2008

My Psalm of Gratitude to God...

God You are in control of all we do and have.

You give us heat when we're cold
food when we're hungry
a place to sleep when we're tired.

You give us opportunities for knowledge when we're longing to learn more.

You listen when we cry and
You listen when we're full of joy.

You are here with us - full of unconditional love.

I am proud to be your daughter!

To those who don't know You-
You are there waiting for them to acknowledge You.
When they look up and see You, Your arms are open and ready to envelope them in your love and forgiveness.
You don't ask, "Why didn't you come sooner?"
You're just there waiting!

You are the Peacemaker.
Peace within my heart and soul.
Without You my soul is turbulent,
but with You my soul is calm.

Thank You God for being there when I need a steady hand to guide my way

Thank You for loving me when I'm unlovable.
Thank You for filling my heart with love for You.
In turn my heart is full of love for others as well.

Your love truly does envelope me and for that I am thankful!

-Jackie

Wednesday, November 5, 2008

Halloween 2008






Halloween was really fun this year! Mom was with us for the first time on Halloween and that was really special for the boys.

Mom and I attended Kobe's Halloween party at school and the kids were really excited about their day. The picture of the pumpkins is from his classroom.

We started the evening by going downtown to see Uncle Aaron. There was a lot of activity going on down there with the businesses participating in the festivities. Aaron works at Bleu and a lot of the employees were dressed up including Aaron and the other Bandidos!

It was the first time Kyler went trick-or-treating. We went to Cherry Hill where most of the people sat on their front porches to give out their candy.

Kyler had a great time but didn't quite get the concept of taking the candy and putting it in his bag. He would take a piece and then put it back in their bowl. Kobe had fun running around the neighborhood with his friends and didn't want the night to end!

Monday, November 3, 2008

Granny's House Goodies...






For the past couple of weeks, the boys and I have been making some treats and taking them over to Granny's House to share with the kids. If you don't know what Granny's House is...it is a program for the kids who live in the housing projects in Columbia. They go to Granny's House after school everyday and they get to eat dinner there, play with friends, get help with their homework and they also have great programs like a science club, the Mustang Girls (girls who train horses for a year to prepare them for adoption) and several other programs. It's a very happy and encouraging place for these kids to go. I'm hoping to get more involved, but for now we're taking treats each week to go with their dinner. We get to hang out for awhile and meet the kids and it's a lot of fun. These pictures were sent to me after they got their cupcakes one week and treat bags before Halloween.