Redeeming Love -by Francine Rivers

An amazing book! I've been told for years about this book and how good it is. It took my dental hygienist to let me borrow her book for me to read it. Wow! I start last Tuesday and just finished yesterday while in a doctor's office. I couldn't put it down. The book talks about God's unconditional love for us and how he can redeem us even out of the worst situations. I highly recommend this to anyone wanting a good read. You can find more about the author and her books at http://www.francinerivers.com.

Pumpkin Patch Pictures

Say Pumpkin Patch Pictures five times fast!!! That's hard to do right? We went to the Pumpkin Patch tonight and had a great time. Hannah wanted to ride in the wagon more than run around. Strange, huh? She acted like a princess being chauffeured around.

Why worry?

A verse has been getting my attention this week: Matthew 6:25 & 27a: 25 "Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes?" 27a "Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?"

We "worried" about a few things this week and I know of others that have worried this week also. God tells us in Matthew basically not to waste time but to trust in him. He is always faithful. Psalm 37:25 "I was young and now I am old, yet I have never seen the righteous forsaken or their children begging bread."

Thank God we've never had to beg for bread!!!

We just watched Evan Almighty, http://www.evanalmighty.com/; last night. If you haven't seen it yet, rent it today! It's really good. It's funny how a movie can show you how important it is to trust in God. Why worry? Why not just obey Him? Let us know what you thought about the movie if you saw it.

God Bless and have a worry-free day!

Sunday Funday!

We call Sundays - Sunday Funday because it is the one day of the week that we can all be together as a family as Renee works Saturdays and Jon works during the week. Today we went over to the Stein's house to have some fun before their baby girl arrives. Wendy has 3 more weeks to go!

Star, Thor and Hannah - she use to look big but not next to them!

Mommy-to-be Wendy Stein and Renee

Daddy had fun with Hannah's hair tonight.

Can you believe it's that long!

The overflow of the heart...

Matthew 12:14: "...For out of the overflow of the heart the mouth speaks."

If that isn't the definition of a blog I'm not sure what is. We definitely want to tell you about what is closest to our heart so we usually talk about Hannah and what she's up to. Well, today I feel I must talk about sleep or the lack of it. :o)

Why am I on the computer just after 7am if I'm talking about getting more sleep? It might be the coffee that Jon brought me this morning in bed or it might be the fact that sleep isn't all we need to feel rested.

After Jon left for school this morning I wanted to spend a few minutes in The Word before my busy day of mothering. Trust me, I don't normally do this in the early AM. I usually don't even hear Jon leave. But today I want to share a few passages that hit me this morning:

Matthew 7:33-34: "But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness...Each day has enough trouble of its own."
Matthew 11:28: "Come to me, all you who are weary and heavy burdened, and I will give you rest."

Apparently I don't need to go back to sleep. There it was right in front of me. The equation is this: Seek God first = more rest! Praise God! I hope you find rest in Him today!

Girls just want to have fun!

Gabby and Hannah love playing with each other.

Gabby is now 20 months & Hannah is 16 months old!

Barkley is better! and more updates...

Barkley is better after a full week of recovering. We are still giving him his ear drops as we believe he isn't 100% but is definitely getting there. Please continue to pray for his complete recovery.

Hannah is growing every day and enjoying life! She loves play time in her "playground" in the garage, her kitchen downstairs and her room upstairs. She also loves to read and just goes into her room on her own to read. She is also very excited about knowing all of her body parts. She can tell you where her toes, knees, hands, eyes, ears, hair, head, mouth, teeth and belly-button are! Her favorite words are still Dada and Bubble but she also loves saying Hello and Bye-Bye. Please continue to pray for Hannah as her adventurous spirit tends to get hurt several times a day. Mommy and Daddy are always on edge!

Jon is in the middle of playoffs with Flag Football. His team is doing great and are all ready to win the championship! At the most his season will be 2 more weeks. Please pray for Jon as he seeks energy and strength to continue a few more weeks.

Renee is still working part-time in Residential Services for the Ritz-Carlton, Jupiter. However they are interviewing for a 3rd full-time coordinator soon which might mean that Renee will have to work in another department. Please pray that whatever outcome happens that it will be an easy adjustment for Renee and that she won't have to take a paycut or work more hours.

Tomorrow is Sunday and we are very ready to enjoy a day of rest as a whole, healthy, family. Praise the Lord for the Sabbath! We will find rest in him!

Barkley Improving

Today has been a little better for Barkley. He has a little more spirit. He barked so much when Jon got home today that he almost jumped out of his "make shift" cage. He still doesn't have much energy compared to normal but he does seem to have a little more balance. You can still tell he's shaky and has trouble walking straight but it seems like a small improvement from the last few days.

Here are two websites with information about the condition the vet said Barkley has:

http://www.vara.org/VestibularSyndrome.htm

http://www.vetspecialists.co.uk/06_Animal_Welfare/Neurology_Facts/Vestibular_Syndrome.html

Update on Barkley

Jon took Barkley to the vet today as he couldn't stand up at all last night and hadn't eaten all day. After spending several hours at the vet Jon was told that there is a bacteria in Barkley's ears that may have caused him to experience vertigo which would make him off balanced. Barkley's bloodwork came back perfect and this is the only thing they found. Barkley has to have ear drops put in both ears twice a day and has to have his ears cleaned out with a special solution twice a week. The vet also suggested Dramamine to eliminate any dissyness he may be experiencing. The hard part is that he can't be active in any way. Jon has to pick him up and take him outside to go to the bathroom. Hannah can tell something isn't right either. She keeps saying "Barka, Barka". If Barkley doesn't get better in a day or two the vet suggested seeing a neurologist; she would have this specialist come to the vet especially to see him. We'll keep you posted on how he is doing. Keep us all in your prayers as we have had an exhausting day.

Ouch!

A few days ago Barkley fell down a few stairs; then he did it again. Ever since then he's been walking really bad. He's leaning to the right and has fallen while he's walking. We've called the Vet and they asked if he was whimpering, he isn't. They asked if he is still eating or has any change of personality. He's still has the same sweet spirit but he looks really bad when he walks. We made an appointment for Tuesday morning to take him in. We hope that he'll be better in a couple of days but its hard to say. It's really sad to watch him. It takes him awhile to stand up and lay down.

Just tonight we were walking back in the house and Hannah was behind me and in front of Jon, just walking. She slipped and banged her forehead on the tile. Now she had another blue bruise on her forehead in the same place as last time. We tried to ice it but she screamed so bad. We tried off & on for about 25 minutes but she never got use to it. This happened right before her bed time. So she's just now getting to sleep at 8:45pm.

Poor Barkley and Hannah! Please keep them both in your prayers. Thank you!

New Toy!

We went bike riding along Military Trail last Thursday and stopped by to window shop in a thrift store, The Second Collection, not far from our house. We spotted this toy in the window and wasn't sure what it was as it wasn't put together. After googling "Kangaroo Climber" on the internet & reading raving reviews we decided we had to get this for Hannah. It had a price tag of $25 on it but the lady gave it to us at $20! What a steal! We actually have Nana to thank for this gift as she conveniently sent us $25 dollars last week. Who would've thought that it pays to shop at thrift stores! Hannah loves it so much! She even had her friend Gabby over yesterday to play with it. Gabby loved it so much too that she cried when it was time to go.

Happy Hannah!

Hannah had a great time with her Uncle Jon, Aunt Jennie, Uncle Chris, Mommy & Daddy at Typhoon Lagoon! She was having so much fun that she slept for only 45 minutes the whole day!