This Is the Day...

I wake up Macy and Lucy every morning by singing to them. I either sing "Arise, shine for your light has come" or "This is the day that the Lord has made." My singing to most people would be pretty annoying, but if I forget to sing when I wake the girls up, they are quick to remind me that I forgot. So I know they notice...and I think they like it.

It was nice to be back in church this morning. We did not have a Sunday evening service or a Wednesday evening Bible study due to the holiday week this past week. It always feels so good to be in the house of the Lord.

When I was trying to come up with something for my Sunday School class for this morning, I thought about this book of Lucy's...
I love this book. And it is based on the verse that the song "This is the day that the Lord has made" comes from. I thought it would be fun to read this book to them and make a sunshine using the kids' handprints for rays. I thought it turned out pretty cute...

I hope you rejoiced in today!

Filled With Family

We are blessed to be able to spend time with both sides of our families each Thanksgiving.

Thanksgiving starts out for us at Jason's parents' house. My mother-in-law's family all travel to be with us. We did a head count this year...there were 33 people there, but normally would have been 34 (we were missing Beth!). Can I tell you what a blessing it is to have this many family members gathered at one place at one time? We range from the age of 6 months to 60 something.

Can I tell you how thankful I am that I married who I married?

I'll be honest. It took me several years to realize JUST how blessed I was that I married him. We both would agree that we have come a long way...but to be where we are now...it was all worth it.

A big and growing family means tons of little ones (and cousins, cousins everywhere!)... This picture is a miracle...all 7 of the Willcutt grandchildren (here on earth) looking pleasant and in the general direction of the camera...The grandsons... The granddaughters...Me and my girls... After a fun day at Jason's parents' house, we head down to my parents' camphouse for Thanksgiving with my side of the family. My sister being home is always one of the highlights of Thanksgiving. This picture is funny to me...the 4 Hollis grandchildren with turkey shirts and Santa hats...Milli (my sister's dog) enjoys watching all the excitement from her little perch on top of the chair (and yes, she has a turkey shirt on too)... We usually spend a couple of nights at my parents' camphouse. It's a nice time to just relax. There's no internet usage (except what you can get on your phone...and that's only if you stand in the middle of a deer field with one foot in the air and your hand on your nose...you get the picture). The kids enjoy squirrel hunting, having boat races in the creek, and target practice. This was Lucy's first year to participate in the target practice part. She loved it... I think target practice is everybody's favorite... My nephew "accidentally" took this picture, but I loved it... Hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving week. We all have so much to be thankful for.

Happy Thanksgiving!

I have so much to be thankful for. It truly overwhelms me when I stop and just attempt to count my blessings.

I hope you have a happy, happy Thanksgiving. I hope you are able to spend the day with those you hold dearest.Happy Thanksgiving!

"Make a joyful noise unto the Lord, all you lands. Serve the Lord with gladness...come before His presence with singing. Know you that the Lord He is God..it is he that has made us, and not we ourselves; we are His people, and the sheep of His pasture. Enter into His gates with thanksgiving, and into His courts with praise; be thankful unto Him, and bless His name. For the Lord is good; His mercy is everlasting, and His truth endures to all generations."

Psalm 100

Tuesday, Tuesday

Today was a rainy day. It was a nice day to stay at home in our pajamas...in fact, the girls went to bed in the same pajamas tonight that they went to bed in last night *Ü*

The girls played all day long and made lots of messes...I mean memories *Ü*

They also got along very well...which is such a huge blessing, as you with children know! Yesterday was sort of a nanny-nanny-boo-boo kind of day, so I started off the morning today reading the girls this Bible verse...

"Do all things without complaining and disputing, that you may become blameless and harmless, children of God without fault in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world." Phillipians 2:15

And I am telling you, it made all the difference in the world! Amen!

They colored, drew pictures, played with pumpkin spice playdough, dressed and redressed their American Girl dolls, and decided to redecorate the living room...

I have so much to be thankful for. I am constantly reminded of the many blessings God has bestowed upon my little family. Including our church and our pastor. I received the sweetest note in the mail from our pastor's wife. It's the little things that are really the big things to me. And these silly, silly little girls. I don't know where I would be without them!
Macy is doing so good with her contacts. This is usually the face we get when we tell her to let us see her big brown eyes... I was looking through some old pictures today and ran across these little turkey headbands we made several years ago when Macy was 4 and Lucy was 1...

I love this on Google...looks like a handprint craft to me...ha!

Remember the picture of Billy the miniature pony in this post? Well today, the girls were playing horses, and Macy decided that Lucy should be "Billy the pony" and give rides to all the dolls. I couldn't help but laugh at this picture where Lucy looks just like Billy...

You would think after finishing 500 cookies in 4 days I would want to get out of the kitchen. However, I have been in a baking mood all day long today. Jason says I am addicted to baking. Good for him, though!

We baked swirl cookies... Pumpkin spice cupcakes (muffins)...

And right now, there is pumpkin bread in my oven baking (recipe from my sweet friend). I have made this bread a hundred times, and it turns out beautifully every time. However it is not looking quite right this time (glad I put that cookie sheet under it!)...

We are about to start an UNO marathon...

I love days like these!

My Brown Eyed Girl

We always go to the eye doctor the week of Thanksgiving for our yearly checks. Macy just got her glasses updated a few months ago, so she did not need a full exam. She did decide today, however, that she was ready to try contacts. Now, I think she is cute as pie in her glasses, but I have missed seeing this big brown eyes...

She did really well with them today!

Sister was being silly and wouldn't sit still for her picture to be taken.

One more picture of my fall decorations...

Hope you had a happy Monday!

Crazy, Busy Week!

Seems as though my blogging has become rather spasmatic. Sorry for that! It drives me crazy! It has been a crazy, busy week. One of the highlights was filling shoeboxes for Operation Christmas Child. The girls look forward to this every year. They always do boxes for little girls, but this year decided they wanted to do a box for a little boy, too.

Besides the normal every day stuff this week...I have had 4 ulcers in my mouth, I fell...yes, I said I FELL this week (like major embarrassingly fell), and I managed to super glue my shoes to my feel this morning (seriously...and don't ask).

I wasn't very good about taking pictures this week, but I did get several from the Thanksgiving Feast at school. The kindergarten classes all dressed like pilgrims or Indians and sang several songs. Lucy's Indian name was "Dancing Horse." I thought that was so fitting. I know she's mine, but I think she is the cutest little Indian ever...

I helped out with the first graders during the feast. This picture is for you, Crystal Phillips...
Lucy sang her little heart out on the stage and did all the motions. Can I tell you that I cried watching her? This is my child that stood on stage at church for 2 years in a row during VBS parent night and wouldn't make a peep. She wasn't about to sing in front of a crowd, much less do motions. She has blossomed SO much since she started kindergarten. I could just eat her up... I filled in a good bit at the school this week, plus had a bazillion cookies to ice. My house looks like a bomb exploded in it right now...and I am not exaggerating. Totally unlike me. But you do what you have to do sometimes. While I have been very calm despite the busyness this week, my OCD kicked in a little bit when Lucy decided to cover the playroom in little strips of white paper (this is just the beginning). However, Jason read a quote to me that I think will stick with me forever...(and might I add that this picture shows no where near how messy the room really was!) "Pardon my messy house. My kids are making memories."

I love it. I know you are all probably like me and thinking how in the world can it be Thanksgiving already??!! I have SO much to be thankful for. We are all so truly blessed. The girls are out of school all week for Thanksgiving, and I plan on putting some of this busyness aside and enjoying them being at home all week. We're looking forward to spending a lot of time with family over the holiday.

Hard to believe in a few days it will be time to decorate for Christmas. I am heartbroken about having to throw my pumpkins away, but I know once I start getting my Christmas things out, I will be okay with it.

This has helped me actually really look forward to putting out my Christmas stuff this year... It is the sweetest little nativity I have ever seen. I love it. I might leave it up all year long.

Thank you to my sweet friend Crystal for seeing it and just knowing that I had to have it *Ü* If you look close, you'll see that the baby Jesus even has a little halo...how precious... I am blessed beyond measure.

Here's to a fun week filled with fun times with family.

And just in case you were wondering, I did finally get my shoes un-super glued from my feet. It's never a dull moment around our house!