Tuesday, November 30, 2010

Thankful for Thanksgiving

This year my kids have been WAY into Thanksgiving this year.  Every time we came home from church, they would count how many houses already had their Christmas decorations displayed.  Laura Beth just was fed up the Sunday before Thanksgiving and announced to the whole car,

"Don't people realize we have Thanksgiving BEFORE Christmas??!!
We need to be THANKFUL!!!"

So what are we thankful for . . . .
 Aunt Amy's AMAZING chocolate chocolate chip muffins!!!!
(Here are her additions to the recipe:  I added more chocolate chips, omitted the nuts, used 1.5 c milk, and 3/4c cocoa powder, 3 tbls oil, and did not sprinkle with sugar.)

 pulling the wish bone . . .
sweet sugar from little members of the family . . . 
 true feelings coming out  . . .
time to just relax and enjoy those around us . . . 

Thankful for Baby Smiles

Needless to say, Walker was a hit at Thanksgiving!!!!  Everyone took their turn trying to get this little precious one to S-M-I-L-E!!!!
I found MY spot to get Walker to smile! Love stealing kisses!
Pop and Bub try to get Walker to smile.  The end product . . .


Cousins are always all smiles when they are together!
Uncle Damon is getting his time in to get Walker to smile!!!!
Happy First Thanksgiving, Walker!
We Loved Making You Smile
While You Made Us Smile!

Thankful for Generations

4 Generations - Richard, Walker, Mary Katherine and David Willis

Walker getting to meet his great-grandmother, Mary Katherine Willis.
Afterwards she said, "That was special!"
James Walker Whittle & James Walker Willis
Great Papa Whittle with his 5 great grandchildren (2 more on the way!) - Carter (7), Papa, Laura Beth (8),
Walker (3 months), Andrew (2), and Mary Beth (2)
4 Generations of Whittles - Dwina, Walker, Walker and Richard

To say that family is a blessing is a major understatement!!! What a blessing we had this Thanksgiving week to see generations get together!!  Not many families can say that, and we are immeasurably blessed to have generations together on a regular basis.  We are so thankful for those that went on before us and those who are pressing on before us here on earth.  They have laid such foundations for our family.  It is my prayer that we continue to build on those foundations for many years to come!

Thankful for Our Church Family


I love our church family at Henderson.  (Again bringing up my Air Force background) We were very fortunate to be a part of congregations that WERE our family.  These church families have molded me into what I am today and, with the exception of the church family from when I was 8 days old-3 years, I have fond recollections for every church family we were a part of during my young life.  However, through all of our travels, Henderson was always a constant because that is where Grandmama was.  Papa Whittle didn't stay at Henderson until some 10 years ago or so.  He would preach for smaller congregations around Henderson to help them, but Grandmama was always at Henderson.  I had friends at Henderson even when we did not live here.  These friends and I would get together, go to camp together, and stay in touch throughout the year - before email, cell phones and texting.  
Therefore, when my family moved back to Henderson (upon all of our retirement from the Air Force), it was moving back home - only this time we would not have to leave for awhile.

One of my favorite days of the year at church is the Wednesday before Thanksgiving.  Classes are cancelled and a devotional is planned in the auditorium.  While the devotional is always stellar, it is what I see before, during and after the devotional that is special.  I love walking into the auditorium to see who has come home, to see new additions to families (I got to show off our new addition this year!), to see how the little ones have grown and to see the spaces of those who are not with us anymore but are there with us anyways.  I love seeing all the families sitting together.  There are not teenage rows, senior citizen rows or even families with young children rows.  There is the Johnson row, the Bloomingburg row, the Shull row, the McKenzie row, the Whittle row, etc.  How special it was this year for the Whittle row to take up 3 rows!!!!!  We were all there except Chuck (who we SORELY missed) and it was just so special to see Papa surround by his family!

Again, God knew what He was doing when He gave us - not only a physical family but a spiritual one as well.  And how blessed am I to have both intertwine!!!


Carter, Laura Beth, Mary Beth, Andrew and Great Papa Whittle - a Tradition - sitting with Papa on the stage after church.

Thankful for Older People

Growing up in an Air Force family, we lived many hours (and sometimes days) away from our grandparents.  However, God provided us adopted grandparents, aunts and uncles who stepped into those roles for my brothers and me.  How thankful I am to God for placing those people in my life.  My kids are extremely blessed because they live close to 2 grandparents and have lived (and known well) 4 great grandparents!!  They are even more blessed to have aunts and uncles around them on a regular basis.  However, that has not stopped us from "adopting" older people we come in contact with at church and other places.  Carter, especially, has a big heart for these people.  His teacher at school has an aunt who has moved from West Virginia to Henderson into an assisted living home.  He is constantly talking about "Aunt Danny," so I thought it would be great for the kids in his class to make some things for the residents and "Aunt Danny."  I searched high and low (and all throughout the internet) for an easy Thanksgiving project and came up with this (which now I can't find the website where this was - oh well!).  It was great - It was easy - It turned out nothing like I thought they would.  However,  that is perfectly fine with me. The kids LOVED making the turkeys their own and kept talking about how this would make the older people's holidays so special.  
THEY GOT THE POINT!!!!  
It was so much fun seeing them put thought into what they were making.  I even found some kits from Oriental Trading and the kids worked together to weave Indian corn.  All in all it was a success and EVERYONE was happy!
Carter with his turkey.
Friend Drew with his turkey and Indian Corn
Friend Pearce with his turkey and Indian corn.

A Letter to My Kids that My Friend Wrote

My friend, Katie, had this post a few weeks ago, and I loved it.  I wanted to save a copy of it for my kids (my niece and nephews included) because I want them to look to God ALL through their lives!  Katie wrote it but it says everything I want to say to them now and, even more, in a few years.  


Dear Laura Beth, Carter, Johnathan, Addison and Walker,


I have been studying about God’s love for us and how we can be free of shame and insecurity because of all He has lavished upon us.  I was thinking about how much I want you both to embrace that…how much I desperately want you both to feel God’s love and be free of fear.I have told you time and again that I don’t think most people understand sin.  I have tried to help you realize that sin is that which hurts us or hurts others.  Period.  The reason I want you to believe so firmly in that is so you believe wholeheartedly that God will never stop seeking you, that He will never stop wanting good things for you, that He will never wish for you to experience pain and rejection.  Knowing that, I hope you find it easier to serve Him.


Now…my point.  I have been weighed down lately, thinking of all you have to bear.  I think that when we are younger (your age), it is so much harder to find faithful and God-seeking friends.  Oh…you will find those who proclaim to know Him.  You will even love those who are Christians, but don’t act like Christ. It must be so hard for you to find friends who are truly submissive to God’s Word and who are willing to sacrifice what they want, in order to do what is right.  


My greatest fear for you is that you will begin to believe things that are not true and I fear where the untruths may take you.A scripture that smacked me in the face tonight…and I knew I wanted to share it with you.  


I John 5:3 says “This is love for God: to obey His commands. And His commands are not burdensome.” 


That is the message exactly that I want you to know: His commands are not burdensome!!!  HIS COMMANDS ARE NOT BURDENSOME!!!  I know it is so hard to see past this time in your life…when you want to be free of rules and you want to party or be where partying is.  I totally understand that you want to do what everyone else is doing because it is so much fun.  I get that sometimes a life without those things can seem boring.  BUT….I want you to know that the greatest joy I’ve ever received was when I put away my wants and my wishes and instead followed what I knew to be right, not what I knew to be “cool.”  And all I want for you both is to have the greatest, truest happiness, which I know can only be found in God. So…just remember…His commands are not burdensome!  They protect us, strengthen us, rescue us, sustain us.  Will it occasionally be hard?  Heck yeah.  But the alternative is worse…much worse.


I love you!
Momma or Aunt Becky

Fall Festival

One of my jobs this year is Co-PTO President for my kids' school.  I know - WHAT was I thinking?  I was thinking that I can't say no to a certain someone named Kim Scott.  However, I did say yes which in turned signed my life away - at least for the first semester of school!  The ONE night we have geared up for since last April when I was inducted is the Fall Festival.  This is the one night a year where we will raise almost all the money for the school that we need for the year.  So, needless to say, my life has been a bit hectic - even after the night.
One of the things we have been gearing up for is the live auction we have each year.  The classes make handmade items that are auctioned - all the money going towards the school.  Along with heading up the big night, one of my jobs was to help my kids' teachers come up with the ideas to auction for their classes.  I am OH SO sorry to say that in all my haste, I did not get all the pictures of things their classes made.  here are some items though.
Carter's class made this platter.
We used their finger prints to make the designs. 
All the third graders made this quilt of Tennessee items since they study Tennessee history this year.
I knew we would not win the quilt - it went for over $200!!!
LB's square is the Tennessee Titans.
Laura Beth's class made this cake stand platter.
We used their fingerprints to make the snowmen and then my friend, Cathy, added the details.
 Saturday - the BIG day - was hectic but great!  We were at the school by 9 - some were there by 7 - to work on the turkey and dressing dinner, games, and other things that HAD to be done before that night.  We had so many people help to make the night a success!!!  By the end of the night - I was about at my wit's end.  It really wasn't as bad as I thought it would be!
I was a tad tired though and was ready to go home!
My wonderful friend, Melissa, and I survived!!!
My right hand woman for the day, Cameron, and her escort to the bank, Officer Tim!
It was a wonderful night and when all was said and done we raised $15,000 for the school! Whoo Hoo! Cameron is trying to talk me into next year - we shall see!!!

Monday, November 29, 2010

Book Review: Out Live Your Life


Recently, I had the chance to read Max Lucado’s newest book Out Live Your Life.  I had no idea what the book was really going to be about with the exception of making the most out of the life you have been given by God.  I was surprised to see that the text for the chapters all came from the first part of Acts.  I absolutely loved the book!  Mr. Lucado did a great job encouraging us to reach out of our box and make the most of our lives, so others can know and love God as well.  He did a great job, too, of making sure we knew we had to have turned our lives over to God in the way He wants us to.  Each chapter deals with a certain text from the first several chapters of Acts.  We are helped into the world of the first century Christian so we can see and understand a little more what they were going through.  From there, almost out of nowhere, you are in the 21st century and seeing correlations to your life that you never saw!  I especially liked the end of the chapters.  Mr. Lucado gave you another scripture that relates to that chapter for you to mediate and pray.  At the very end of the book are questions for each chapter to help you gain more from this outstanding book.  I plan on going back to this book, and spending more time in study and prayer.  I have always wanted to out live my life and I am even more encouraged to do so.

Sunday, November 28, 2010

I. Am. A. Book. Nerd

Have you read more than 6 of these books? The BBC believes most people will have read only 6 of the 100 books listed here. Instructions: Copy this into your NOTES. Bold those books you've read in their entirety, italicize the ones you started but didn't finish or read an excerpt. 


1 Pride and Prejudice – Jane Austen
2 The Lord of the Rings – JRR Tolkien  
3 Jane Eyre – Charlotte Bronte  
4 Harry Potter series – JK Rowling   
5 To Kill a Mockingbird – Harper Lee - How have I NOT read this one?  I am going to though! 
6 The Bible
8 Nineteen Eighty Four – George Orwell   
9 His Dark Materials – Philip Pullman  
10 Great Expectations – Charles Dickens  
11 Little Women – Louisa M Alcott 
12 Tess of the D’Urbervilles – Thomas Hardy 
13 Catch 22 – Joseph Heller 
14 Complete Works of Shakespeare 
15 Rebecca – Daphne Du Maurier 
16 The Hobbit – JRR Tolkien   
17 Birdsong – Sebastian Faulks 
18 Catcher in the Rye – JD Salinger  
19 The Time Traveller’s Wife – Audrey Niffenegger 
20 Middlemarch – George Eliot 
21 Gone With The Wind – Margaret Mitchell  
22 The Great Gatsby – F Scott Fitzgerald 
23 Bleak House – Charles Dickens
24 War and Peace – Leo Tolstoy 
25 The Hitch Hiker’s Guide to the Galaxy – Douglas Adams  
26 Brideshead Revisited – Evelyn Waugh 
27 Crime and Punishment – Fyodor Dostoyevsky
28 Grapes of Wrath – John Steinbeck 
29 Alice in Wonderland – Lewis Carroll  
 30 The Wind in the Willows – Kenneth Grahame  
31 Anna Karenina – Leo Tolstoy
32 David Copperfield – Charles Dickens 
33 Chronicles of Narnia – CS Lewis 
34 Emma – Jane Austen  
35 Persuasion – Jane Austen 
36 The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe – CS Lewis 
37 The Kite Runner – Khaled Hosseini
38 Captain Corelli’s Mandolin – Louis De Berniere  
39 Memoirs of a Geisha – Arthur Golden
40 Winnie the Pooh – AA Milne 
41 Animal Farm – George Orwell
42 The Da Vinci Code – Dan Brown  
43 One Hundred Years of Solitude – Gabriel Garcia Marquez 
44 A Prayer for Owen Meany – John Irving 
45 The Woman in White – Wilkie Collins 
46 Anne of Green Gables – LM Montgomery 
47 Far From The Madding Crowd – Thomas Hardy 
48 The Handmaid’s Tale – Margaret Atwood 
49 Lord of the Flies – William Golding 
50 Atonement – Ian McEwan
51 Life of Pi – Yann Martel
52 Dune – Frank Herbert )
53 Cold Comfort Farm – Stella Gibbons
54 Sense and Sensibility – Jane Austen  
55 A Suitable Boy – Vikram Seth 
56 The Shadow of the Wind – Carlos Ruiz Zafon 
57 A Tale Of Two Cities – Charles Dickens  
58 Brave New World – Aldous Huxley
59 The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time – Mark Haddon
60 Love In The Time Of Cholera – Gabriel Garcia Marquez  
61 Of Mice and Men – John Steinbeck  
62 Lolita – Vladimir Nabokov  
63 The Secret History – Donna Tartt 
64 The Lovely Bones – Alice Sebold
65 Count of Monte Cristo – Alexandre Dumas  
66 On The Road – Jack Kerouac 
67 Jude the Obscure – Thomas Hardy 
68 Bridget Jones’s Diary – Helen Fielding 
69 Midnight’s Children – Salman Rushdie
70 Moby Dick – Herman Melville  
71 Oliver Twist – Charles Dickens  
72 Dracula – Bram Stoker  
73 The Secret Garden – Frances Hodgson Burnett  
74 Notes From A Small Island – Bill Bryson 
75 Ulysses – James Joyce
76 The Bell Jar – Sylvia Plath  
77 Swallows and Amazons – Arthur Ransome 
78 Germinal – Emile Zola (About to start)
79 Vanity Fair – William Makepeace Thackeray
80 Possession – AS Byatt
81 A Christmas Carol – Charles Dickens  
82 Cloud Atlas – David Mitchell
83 The Color Purple – Alice Walker  
84 The Remains of the Day
85 Madame Bovary – Gustave Flaubert 
86 A Fine Balance – Rohinton Mistry
87 Charlotte’s Web – EB White  
88 The Five People You Meet In Heaven – Mitch Albom
89 Adventures of Sherlock Holmes – Sir Arthur Conan Doyle  
90 The Faraway Tree Collection – Enid Blyton 
91 Heart of Darkness – Joseph Conrad 
92 The Little Prince – Antoine De Saint-Exupery
93 The Wasp Factory – Iain Banks 
94 Watership Down – Richard Adams
95 A Confederacy of Dunces – John Kennedy Toole
96 A Town Like Alice – Nevil Shute 
97 The Three Musketeers – Alexandre Dumas  
98 Hamlet – William Shakespeare  
99 Charlie and the Chocolate Factory – Roald Dahl  
100 Les Miserables  - Victor Hugo

I did better than I thought I would.  I guess I am a book nerd because as I was going through this list I kept thinking, "I need to read that one!"  Would love to see what you have read and if you can recommend any to me!

Sunday, November 21, 2010

Free Cards Take Two - Because I Did Not Have All the Instructions Before!

I LOVE CHRISTMAS - that is really an understatement. I love it all - the music, the decorations, the smells, the food, the time with family and hearing from friends! I love going out to the mailbox to see whose card I am going to get that day.  I love seeing how personalities of families come out in their cards!  It is great! I love getting photo cards during the holidays and then seeing them line our refrigerator throughout the year. It helps us remember all those people all over the United States who love us and have seen us through so many times in our lives. I love looking through Shutterfly's Photo Christmas Cards and there are so many amazing choices. They have the option of making your favorite picture into a card or if you have too many favorites, they have collage cards too.  I usually do a collage card because I can't decide which picture I want to use!

Maybe this time of year has you stressed to the max  like I am right now, and Christmas cards are really out of the questions. Maybe you are just wanting to cut some things out of your life right now - you could make New Year's Cards or even Valentine's Day cards - the possibilities are really endless!  For all my friends and family out there - this is the way we are probably going to be heading this year at the Welch household!!!

Not only can you get your Christmas cards from Shutterfly, you can do your Christmas shopping there as well. Shutterfly has a ton of gift ideas for every person on your list. They offer a wide variety from photo books, coffee mugs featuring your favorite photo(s), Wall Calendars, and of course Wall Art Canvas. I have made several photo books as gifts over the last few years. I always hear - for months to come - how much the person  loved the photo book and how many people have commented on it.  The calendars have also been MAJOR hits in the past!

I love Shutterfly and this year I love them even more because they are giving all of us crazy bloggers a chance to earn 50...FIFTY...yes I said 50 free Christmas Cards of your choice....and it is EASY!
All you have to do is click on the link below and they will email you the easy to follow instructions for receiving your free 50 Cards. Follow these easy steps :

1) Start planning out that perfect Christmas Card photo
2) Click on this link, to receive your instructions
3) Write a brief blog about Shutterfly's AWESOME Cards

Now, you are ready to design your 2010 Christmas Cards that everyone is going to love to get and treasure during this season of the year!

Thank you Shutterfly!! You continue to amaze me with all you have to offer us!

LOOK AT THIS FACE!!!!

Photo by Lyndsey McCrory - his other proud aunt!

I get to see this precious face in TWO DAYS!!!!!! I am so excited and can't wait to get my hands on him!  Last time he was here it was a whirlwind weekend for me and my kids.  I did not get to see him much and it KILLED me!! However, I am taking this week OFF (except for Monday and Tuesday when I have to go to school) and I am going to enjoy everything that comes my way - especially this little fellow (and his mom and dad, of course)!  I just had to share this sweet little face with all of my blogging friends!  Hopefully something this amazing is coming your way this holiday season!

Saturday, November 13, 2010

Book Review: Masquerade

I really did not know what to expect when I got the book Masquerade, by Nancy Moser, but I loved reading it and learned a lot of history and spiritual implications for my life.  The book begins in 1886 in England.  Charlotte, or Lottie, leaves the confines of her well to do home, that is falling down around her, to go to America to marry a wealthy American heir whom she has never met.  Lottie is leaving one world for another, but she is not sure if it is the world she wants to be a part of.  Her faithful maid and best friend, Dora, goes with her on this journey.  Dora, on this journey, leaves her world behind as well.  She joins Lottie on this trip, not as her maid, but as a lady, and she is excited about stepping into these new shoes.
Lottie, not being thrilled with the arrangement made for her in America, convinces Dora to switch places with her once they arrive in America.  Reluctantly, Dora agrees and, overnight, becomes an American princess.

When they arrive in America, Dora takes the role as Charlotte and lives a life that she has only been able to see from the outside.  Dora had been the one grounded a little more in her faith in God, but as the book moves on you see her leaning more to herself and the treasures around her.  She finds herself trapped in the lie she is living while confused about what she really wants out of her life.  She learns that treasures on earth are not as great as treasures in heaven.  She learns for herself that she can step out, not follow what the others think, and have the life, without the lies, that she has dreamed of for herself.

While Dora is enjoying the high life, Lottie's life in American immediately begins with much trouble.  Left with nothing, she is taken in by the salt of the earth, and she is thrust into life as the other half lives.  She learns to look to God to direct her path and what she thought was important may not really be what she needs in her life.  She is taught to love others, love herself, and to love her God.

This is a book that reminds us all of who is really in control of our lives, and, when we merge our plans into His plans,  things work out for the best.  I would encourage anyone to read this book and to enjoy it the way I did!  Thank you, to Bethany House, for sending me this free copy to read and then review.  It was a blessing!

Monday, November 8, 2010

Help Kids Play Baseball!!!!!

Recently, my kids and some of their friends were asked to help make a music video to raise money for the Special Needs Baseball League in Jackson.  We jumped at the opportunity to help for many reasons:

1.  We LOVE baseball!!!

2.  Carter and Laura Beth have two friends from school with Brittle Bone disease.
Both friends play in this Special Needs league.  The little boy who is Carter's age tried to 
play in the league Carter plays in but had some trouble.  This gives him the 
chance to play this great game he loves.

3.  We are continually trying to teach the kids to DO WHAT THEY CAN.  This was
something they could do to help those who needed it.  They were so excited to participate and 
were even more excited because they were helping their friends!!

Rec

Watch the video (in which my kids and their friends are in).  Click on the One For The Team at the bottom of the video to see how you can help our friends continue to play the game they love!!!!!

Friday, November 5, 2010

What a Treat - Halloween 2010

We had a great Halloween for this year.  We were able to spend it with many friends who helped us celebrate!! Take a look at just part of our wonderful time of Tricking and Treating!

Trick or Treating in the FHU Dorms
with the Weekleys and Youngs!
 LB, AC and Carter
 Carter, Jessica, LB
The Traditional Young/Welch Family Picture
 Our new friend, Rachel, hosted a Halloween Party.
Our family had a wonderful time!
 Gran and Granddad Willis also were at the party.
I loved this picture of them with the "grandkids."
 Carter and Rachel played the spider game - his favorite of the night!
Whitney and LB take a crack at their pumpkin at our annual pumpkin carving party.

 Carter supervises Hunter - He did eventually carve his first pumpkin!

 The crew with their pumpkins!

 Funny Faces!!!!

Pumpkin Faces!!!

 Oh, these boys!!!

Gallagher and Carter - pumpkin carving rookies of the year!

 Cassie, LB and Whitney

 LB and Whitney with their pumpkin!


Happy Halloween 2010!
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