Toast and Sprinkles

Pookie was eating an Italian Ice and Peanut now wants everything Pookie is eating so Husband fixed her toast and sprinkles. I guess everything is better with sprinkles. She had this same thing for breakfast. Of course we fixed some fruit and milk with it.

Childhood Friends

I am now officially saying Carter’s store is the meeting place for all people in my past. I saw an old friend a year ago and yesterday one of my best friends from childhood said, my name. I turned around. Oh my goodness. She is married and has a little girl just a month or two older than Peanut. Her sister was with her and she has a little girl too. I got her email address and she is not that far from me so hopefully we’ll stay in touch. It is neat to see those in your past in the most interesting places. At that very moment had I not come out to pay for my item or had I gone to another store I would have missed her. How many times do we have encounters like that?  Where we see or miss someone we were thinking about. I was just thinking about her the other day. I call these divine opportunities.

Have you had a “divine opportunity” from someone in your past?

Black Friday

Ok after reading the paper, I understand why they call black Friday, black Friday. Also, it is dead of night when some of the stores open. Call me crazy but I went to Walmart at 4:45 this morning. I got exactly what I wanted. I bought my friends daughter two pair of PJs. She needed some and she loves Hannah Montana and High School Musical 3 so I got two pair for $8. Normally these are $10 or more for one pair. I also picked up a Crayola Art Set for $8 for my grandmother. She wanted one more thing to get Sarah and Sarah picked this out of the ad. As long as you stayed away from the electronics and Hannah Montana bean bags you were fine. I was in and out in 30 minutes. Check out and all. I passed by people who had several shopping carts full so Wal-mart will be in the black I am sure. The electronic stuff was gone in a matter of minutes. They had coats on sale for $8 which I almost bought but I looked like a blow up fish so I put it back. I was so happy with my deals.

I then tried to go into Target but that was crazy. People were yelling for those of us that did not want to wrap around the store “cheaters and get in line”. None of us were breaking were were just waiting until the line went down but after 15 minutes of it still coming with no end in sight; I left. It is not worth it. People in Walmart were more civilized.

I went across the street to Star Bucks and had a coffee and pumpkin loaf before heading home. My hubby has to go to work so I had to be sure I was home.

Happy shopping for all of you that ventured out into the wee hours of the morning. It was exciting and I am sure I will do this again if the price is just right.

Baby Wise

Ok I bought this book on the recommendation of a friend when I had pookie. I threw it away after reading it. I felt it was too rigid. I don’t think you should tell the baby when they will and will not eat. I also don’t think you should force newborns to sleep when you want them too. Do not get me wrong we had our girls on schedule of feeding every three to four hours and sleeping schedules of so many naps a day but I never felt it was right that I would tell my children at 6 you will eat, 9 and 12  everyday, and you will sleep at 11 and 2. You will wake up at this time. This rigid schedule does not account for growth spurts,  or illnesses. It does not have flexablity.

I found out someone I know did this with their one year old and now has their newborn on this same schedule. They tell both kids when they can eat, sleep, wake up and play. What happens if you have to go to the doctor or run errands during that time. I don’t know I find it all too rigid.

My girls are on a schedule. Pookie gets up at 7:30 AM. She does eat lunch at school at a certain time. She goes to bed by 8 PM but there is flexabliity there. We do not eat dinner at the same time every night. If Peanut sleeps a little longer in the morning I will let her because she has been sick and not slept a lot in the past month. I just make sure she gets up by a certain time so it does not interfere with her nap. We eat lunch around the same time everyday but some days she may want it ealier or later depending on what is going on. I am not saying the rigid schedule of baby wise is wrong but I think there should be more flexablity. I think you should do what works well for you and your baby. I just wanted to give my two cents on this thought that was rolling around my head.

Three Thanksgivings

We went to my grandmother’s first had Thanksgiving lunch with all the trimmings. We moved on to my aunt and uncles for dessert. We talked and enjoyed our time then it we moved on to our final destination, my in-laws. I feel like the stuffed turkey.

We watched the lighting of the great Macy’s tree and then Charlie Brown’s Thanksgiving. It was a nice day with family. Husband’s brother could not come due to illness. The girls were sick of turkey by the time we got to my in-laws. They did eat much but they loved the cute lion cupcakes that my mother in law made. We have so many desserts around here we could start a sweet shop.

I also got some interesting news from a friend. I will not go into details but she and her husband are getting  a divorce. She just found out she was pregnant after they split. She is adjusting to being a single parent and having another baby on her own. They have two other children 5 and 2. I know this is a hard time for her. Keep my friend in your prayers. I am also praying another friend whose husband walked out on her and her three children at he first of the year. He does see them every weekend but I am praying for a total restoration. He is not a bad person but felt like they would be better off without him. Just keep my friends and their families in your prayers.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Generational Curses

Our pastor preached this awesome message last weekend. We were not there due to illness but I listened to the CD already and it was awesome. This is not preached in most churches but it will make you think.

Breaking Generational Curses There’s been quite a breakdown in our society. Broken homes have become more and more prevalent. Fewer and fewer people can honestly say they were raised by a loving father and mother according to biblical family principles and in the fear of the Lord. Those who have been raised in dysfunctional families are going on to create even more dysfunctional families. People are even trying to redefine what a family is. Historically, one can readily see that every time a society begins to do this, its days are numbered. The breakdown of the family leads directly to the breakdown of society. It’s clear that unless something changes, our society is nearing its end. So what can we do? First, we need to be aware of some things that are going on “behind the scenes.” I’ve discussed previously the fact that as we read the scriptures, we see two powers at work in the world, both vying for our future. The first is God, who seeks to bless us and set us free from the power of sin and the curses that it brings. The other is our enemy, the devil, who seeks to bring dysfunction by ensnaring us in sin, iniquity and curses. In God’s Word, we see that iniquities – areas of repeated sin that we can’t seem to get free from – are passed from one generation to another through the bloodline. This becomes what we call a “generational curse.” And, along with that curse comes a familiar spirit – a demonic spirit that follows a family generation to generation, intimately knows all their weaknesses and works to extend its influence indefinitely. Many of us can see this at work in our own lives if we will take even a moment to think. Let me ask you; are there things you’re struggling with that you just can’t seem to get free from? Have you noticed that you struggle with the same kinds of sin as others in your family? Are there things that you thought you dealt with a long time ago that keep trying to reestablish themselves in your life? If you answered yes to any of these questions, you’re dealing with generational curses. Thankfully, there’s good news! Jesus died on the cross and rose again to set us free. We are now redeemed from the curse, and God wants to break these curses off of our lives. We no longer have to be bound in our sin, and we can stop the curse from being passed on to our children or others in our family. How? Well, it’s a process. That process consists of seven steps that I’ll list briefly below. However, there’s a lot more to this teaching – more than I have space to write here – so I encourage you, if you want to experience true freedom from generational curses, listen to or watch this message, go through the steps and then, as soon as possible, take the Ancient Paths seminars that are offered regularly throughout the year here at Victory. If you’ll do that, you and your family will experience true freedom as never before. 7 Steps to Breaking the Curse Acknowledge and confess the iniquities of your family. Forgive any of your family who have sinned against you. Confess your participation in any sin or iniquity that is a part of your life now. Ask God to forgive you and cleanse you. Repent before another person and commit to change. Submit your will to God. Declare your authority over the curse.

Hold You

Ok my heart melted when my beautiful two year old came running up to me arms opened wide and said, “hold you mommy.” She has never asked us to hold her before, and I flashed back to when Pookie was this age. She used to say this all the time. Peanut has been sick with a sinus infection and they just switched her medicine, so she is a little more clingy and I got to hold her for just a couple of minutes. It was pure bliss.

Holiday Movies

I love this time of year! My hubby is gagging but they are already showing the holiday movies on Hallmark. I have been watching them. Yesterday they showed an Old Fashioned Thanksgiving based on a book by Louise May Alcott. It did remind me a little of Little Women but I thought this was wonderfully done. A season of miracles was on after. I just love those romantic, sappy, holiday movies.

My Favorite Stores

I just went to Target to finish my Christmas shopping and I am done! I found in the stocking stuffer section a few little things for the girls that were under $6. Pookie loves the Littlest Pet Shop Stuff and they had two little animals for $6. They had little fisher price doodle pros shaped like a Christmas tree for $4.99. I also bought some tinker bell lip gloss and princess nail polishes for $2 and $3. They had all of their gourmet candies on sale.

Walmart is another favorite store. My grandmother said she is going to start shopping there. They have the cheapest prices and everything I needed the other day was on sale.

The Learning Express. I don’t know if these are all over the US but I love this store. They have the neatest things and sell a lot of stuff made in the USA. For birthdays and holidays your child can make a wish list and people can come and pick stuff off their list. We are going to do this for Pookie’s birthday. She is excited. There prices are reasonable and they always have coupons or 20% off. They also gift wrap or personalize your items for free.

Publix! If you are looking for a store bought pumpkin pie you can get two for $5.98 or one for $3. The cheapest price I have seen. Walmart had small pies for $3.75 or $5. Publix has neat things. Some of their prices are a bit more than Kroger or Wal-mart but they do have a lot of buy one get one. I love their customer service. You can get some medicines for free too.

Kroger- I love their pharmacy. I love their fruit and their diapers. They do have awesome sales and great store brands.

Carters- My girls cannot really wear much from them this year but I love their clothes and they are always on sale.

Thanksgiving

I love Thanksgiving. We used to all go to my great uncle’s house but this year we are on our own. We are eating lunch with my grandmother and we are going to my uncles for dessert then it is off to my husband’s parents for dinner. Can anyone say gobble, gobble?

My favorite dishes are sweet potato casserole, turkey, my grandmother’s dressing, cranberry sauce and rolls. I sometimes make my homemade mac and cheese but I am kind of sick of that so I offered to bring dessert and rolls to my in-laws. Pookie and I are the only ones that like pumpkin pie in my entire family so I bought one at Publix today. It was on sale. I also got lite whipped topping. Pookie and I both had a piece and it was delicious!

I am helping my grandmother prepare the meal on Wednesday.

From our family to yours, we hope you have a safe and wonderful Thanksgiving!