Stupid Computer.

We woke up this weekend to discover our computer had crashed, yes-its dead. I have not yet thrown it out the window because we are holding out hope that it can be repaired this weekend-bbuuttt....seeing as how this is the fourth time it has crashed since we got it 5 years ago, that hope is dwindling.
I am right now at Aaron's office at church, hurriedly writing this while he is watching Luke at Afterglow-isn't he just Superman?!

So anyway, I may not be posting for a while, and I may not be responding to any e-mails. I can still be reached.

I mean the internet hasn't be around forever right?

I can survive without it, right?

...right?...hello?

"Don't Smile"

Luke and I play a new game now. Kind of a stare game, a no smiling game, make the other person laugh....I don't know. But he looks at me and I look at him, we have our lips pushed together in a 'trying-very-hard-not-to-smile' face and then one of us smiles or laughs and so does the other one. Then, very quickly we try to school our faces and begin again. I must confess-Luke is better than me! I crack every time, he even makes little sounds to get me to laugh...he cracks me up. I'm not even sure how we "learned" this game but I love it. And when I laugh he peals in laughter! So, so funny. If we can somehow capture it on film I will share, but for now be content with a few snapshots of the face he makes ^ Lol.

Fresh Photo :D

Just now, Luke's toys made it out of the wash...I had a little fun and threw them all out of the dryer at him and for a few mintues he was swiming in toys! He was having so much fun with his "new" toys! It was too funny so I took a picture and put it online right away:

Keeping count?

I don't know how many of you realized this...I just did. But I have blogged more times this month than any other month I have been blogging. Just a random fact for you.
October 4th last year was my first post on my brand new blog; so I have been at this a full year now, starting my second. I have really enjoyed doing this. I have also enjoyed hearing from all of you how you read my blog regularly (even if I don't see a comment from you). :D That has really influenced me. I think to myself sometimes, "I should put that on my blog". Or Aaron will say to me, "You should blog about this...". Its nice. I have loved that this is a way for us to share our lives with you. All of you. If you go back to my first post ever, you see different people-we have grown so much in the past year-and you have been a part of that.
Thank you for loving us, praying for us-and for being a part of our lives.
We love you.

Brittany (for all of us)

Run in with the law!

Yes, folks. You read that title right. Today Luke had his first run in with the law (and hopefully his last!).
Allow me to tell you the (now) funny story: He has a toy phone that used to be a real phone, sometimes I walk by and take it away from him thinking he has gotten ahold of our real phone, then I apologize for being a mean mommy and I give it back to him. That's background, today after lunch, he was sitting on the floor holding his fake phone and suddenly I hear, "Hello? Hello?" come out of the fake phone! Okay-NOT FAKE PHONE. I almost just hung up the phone when instead I said hello back...."This is 911 emergency..." AAHHHHH! "I-AM-SO-SORRY!" "Mysonhadthephoneandhedialed911andIamsosorryhehasafakephoneandthatswhatIthoughthewasplayingwithIhadnoideahewasdialingyouIknowyouarebusyandthiswasacompleteaccidentIAMSOSORRYIwillneverletthishappenagain."
...okay, maybe that's what I said, and maybe it isn't, to be honest I was so surprised and I really probably was talking very fast. The 911 Emergency Dispatcher was very gracious and I was very relieved.
Then about 15 minutes later, our door bell rings...
That's right, Police Officer Santa (yes, that is his real name-don't tease him) was at the door, making sure we were okay. Double checking our story, and that we lived in the house; he even looked at my license and wrote some stuff down. aaahhh. So he was very nice, said maybe when Luke was older we should explain to him why he should not dial 911 unless it is a real emergency-since he probably doesn't understand that now.
Of course I was a little freaked out to see a police officer at my door (I was hoping it was a package with a present in it...no reason...I just like getting them). But he was nice and he was doing his job-making sure we were safe and alright.
Thank you sir. Much appreciated.

okay, I need to go now...Luke just grapped our upstairs phone-gotta run!

New Feature

I am experimenting with Google's AdSense. You may notice an advertisement on the sidebar... Do not click it just because you think I want you to ! This is a real advertisement, and if you are interested in what it says click on it and you will find out more...if you click, I get a little cash. :D But we want to avoid fraud-so really only click if you want to, not because you want to get me money. This is just a trial for me, if I don't like it, I won't keep it. I am not on 24 hours a day so be my eyes, if any ads are not good, please let me know. I don't really get a choice in what appears on my site and that is mildly unsettling, but they apparently base their choices on pertinent key words or topics.
So we'll see what happens!

Be Proud.

For those of you who know me, and who read my blog regularly, this will mean a lot to you. I, myself, am fairly proud of this moment of achievement, so I'll share. In the past I have been strictly a Heinz Ketchup person, don't believe me?

~Click here~

So anyway, in an effort to cut grocery costs at our house we decided to try more store brands. It was a very good thought, but lets be honest here...I really had very little intention of applying that to Ketchup.

Cheese? Sure. Ham? Whatever. Ketchup? uummm....are you crazy?

Well, a Huge growth step for me-I did buy "Not-name brand" Ketchup, and its not too bad. I KNOW! This is a pretty big deal! I won't say whose brand it is but I will say it is not Hunts (I just don't like them).

So anyway, the point is this: I save some change that will add up over time, but really I have gotten a new attitude. I tried something new, something I thought would be a big sacrifice for me, and you know what? Its not such a big deal. And I'm glad I did it.

Flat Stanley's visit

We had a lot of fun with Flat Stanley while he was here visiting us. This is what we did:

First we went to Culver's, because they don't have Culver's in the south. He got his picture taken with the Culver's Crew, and then they gave us some fun free stuff to give to Hannah! They were so nice and had heard of Flat Stanley before.

From there we went to Aurora's Phillips Park Zoo. We saw the Sunken Gardens, and lots of fun animals! We got real close to a very big turkey. We also visited the Zoo's Mastodon Museum. Two Mastodon skeletons were discovered right there on site and we saw some of their bones!

Luke and I took Flat Stanley for a walk the next day, down the street to our local Fire House, the Oswego Fire Department's Station number 2. The Firemen there treated Flat Stanley like a celebrity and were so nice! Here is the Fire Chief with Flat Stanley and Luke holding his fire truck while posing with two real firemen!

On Sunday of course we went to church. All of Hannah's friends wanted to take a picture with him so here they are in front of our church Huge wall map. Our Flat Stanley met another Flat Stanley and they took a picture together-fun.

On Monday we took a special trip into Chicago, just to go sightseeing with Flat Stanley. In the first picture he is in front of the Hancock Tower, then in front of the Field Museum (that's where Sue the T-Rex is!). Then we have a picture of him with the Chicago skyline behind him, you can see the Planetarium, the Hancock Tower, and Navy Pier. And of course we had to get a picture in front of Wrigley Field!

Then Stanley accompanied Mr. Scarbrough to AWANA Headquarters. He looked around and had his picture taken throughout the building. And he even got his picture taken with someone very important-Jenny, she is rewriting the Sparks books right now!

And then we developed pictures of his trip and mailed them, and Flat Stanley back to Hannah in Mississippi. That's the fun thing about Flat Stanley, since he is flat, he can just hop into an envelope and go wherever he wants! We had a lot of fun with him. Thanks for sending him to us Hannah! One day we hope to do all that fun stuff and more with you and Madison and your mommy. Love you!

Bring the Rain

I have heard this amazing song on the radio and I really love the lyrics. I hope they encourage you.

Bring the Rain

by Mercy Me

~

I can count a million times
People asking me how I
Can praise You with all that I've gone through
The question just amazes me
Can circumstances possibly
Change who I forever am in You
Maybe since my life was changed
Long before these rainy days
It's never really ever crossed my mind
To turn my back on you, oh Lord
My only shelter from the storm
But instead I draw closer through these times
So I pray
~
Bring me joy, bring me peace
Bring the chance to be free
Bring me anything that brings You glory
And I know there'll be days
When this life brings me pain
But if that's what it takes to praise You
Jesus, bring the rain
~
I am Yours regardless of
The dark clouds that may loom above
Because You are much greater than my pain
You who made a way for me
By suffering Your destiny
So tell me what's a little rain
So I pray

~

Bring me joy, bring me peace
Bring the chance to be free
Bring me anything that brings You glory
And I know there'll be days
When this life brings me pain
But if that's what it takes to praise You
Jesus, bring the rain
~
Holy, holy, holy
Is the Lord God Almighty

Ultimate Monopoly Game

We claimed not to be interested...but we were. We said we wouldn't do it...but we are... We are hooked, almost addicted-you might say.

We are loving playing the McDonald's Monopoly game! We are playing with the pieces and online. I think we are doing pretty good! If you aren't going to play would you please give us your pieces?! That would be awesome. And if you are playing, but not playing online, would you please e-mail us the code so we can play it online? That would be great. I hope you are having fun-play responsibly now-no one needs to eat McDonald's for every meal (at least not every day!). haha.

Vienna Christian School Commercial

On the side bar you see an awesome commercial and then it's hilarious bloopers, allow me to explain:

We are friends with missionaries in Austria, Thomas and Mollie Gardner. This is some of their students (and Thomas appears at the end). They do not have Mountain Dew in Austria and have to import it, apparently this is very exciting for them! haha. They are so talented!! The video cracked me up and I had to share! ENJOY.

Our Visitor

Yesterday Flat Stanley came in the mail all the way from our niece Hannah in Mississippi. We are hosting his visit to our area and need to show him around a bit and then send him back home with pictures of his trip. This is part of Hannah First Grade class' geography project.
I am very excited! And can't hardly wait to show him some of the great places and things to do around here. Any ideas or suggestions?
And don't worry-I'll post after we're done so you all can see too!

Pastor Appreciation Month

October is Pastor Appreciation Month.

Now I don't say this because I am married to a pastor, though I'm sure that's the main reason why I am aware of the focus of this month, but because I think it is a great thing.
This month has been set aside to take notice and appreciate your pastors and why limit it-the leadership of your church.

American Heritage Dictionary -
ap·pre·ci·ate (ə-prē'shē-āt')
To recognize the quality, significance, or magnitude of
To be fully aware of or sensitive to; realize
To be thankful or show gratitude for
To admire greatly; value
To raise in value or price, especially over time

The most important thing we can do for them is pray. And I hope we are doing that all the months of the year, not just this one.