Why dogs hate Halloween...

The time of year when parents of human children and dog children dress them all up in silly outfits. At least the kids get to pick out their own costumes. Poor canine creatures...

Where do they come up with these ideas?

Small dogs have it the worst... Is this a beany baby outfit? Tiny!

This is my absolute favorite. Where on earth did these costumes come from? My brother in law works for McDonald's and he never mentioned any dwarves working there! What patient animals. How much time do these people have on their hands anyway?

Stay tuned for photos of my rugrats in their Halloween costumes...

Wordless Wednesday...

Oops! It's Thursday. So sue me!

Song lyric Sundays...

This idea has been pestering me lately. To take my love of "secular music" (as if music had chosen a side in the great spiritual debate) and pair it with what God is teaching me through scripture. Crazy I know, but call me crazy. So with no further ado, I present my first Song Lyric Sunday, with Seether's 'Rise above this.'

Take the light, undarken everything around me. Call the clouds and listen closely, I'm lost without you. Call your name every day when I seem so helpless, I've fallen down, and I'll rise above this, rise above this doubt.

Lately, I have been burdened by what I can only describe as weighty problems in the lives of those around me, including myself. Shattered marriages, uncomfortable sibling issues, adultery, unexamined lives, depression, physical pain and nearness of death. My typical response to hearing these things is one of two things: become overwhelmed and depressed or to pretend like its not happening and live a life of denial. I'm not exactly sure which of these two fabulous choices is worse.

Back to scripture and our song. The song speaks to the helplessness we feel when our circumstances are so overwhelming but also to hope and rising above our problems. I've been studying the life of Moses recently and it has been so amazing for the last month. His life didn't ever seem to go the way he thought it would, and it reminds me of our lives. In the book of Exodus, Moses

• Thought the Hebrew slaves in Egypt would know he was their redeemer- they didn't and he spent 40 years in the desert as a shepherd fugitive.
• Thought that if he gave God enough excuses or asked a lot of questions, that God would find someone else to go to Egypt- God sent him anyway.
• Thought that Pharaoh would listen to him and believe the miraculous signs God enabled him to do- Pharaoh didn't and increased the work load of the Hebrew slaves, creating resentment in them.
• Thought the Hebrews would believe his encouragement that the Lord was going to save them- instead they blamed Moses and Aaron for their punishment and harsh treatment.

Things were not going the way Moses' thought they would, just like our lives don't always go according to our plans. What happens when God calls us to something and it isn't easy? Our marriage is difficult, or even broken, our siblings hurt us, friends betray us, a parent dies, children are a struggle. What do we do when our circumstances overwhelm us? A friend recently said, "Disappointment is deafening. It can impair our ability to hear God talking to us." Our circumstances can sometimes scream louder than God's whispers.

God doesn't always promise us a smooth road. Life is hard. Let's face it, life can be crappy. But do we let our circumstances dictate us? God promises over and over to be with us in all things, good and bad. He promises to help us rise above them. "My help comes from the LORD, the maker of heaven and earth" the psalmist says. That Seether song says that I'll call your name everyday when I seem so helpless and I'll rise above this doubt. Hard times= times of doubt for most people. God is this really where you want me? God, where are you? Why is this happening to me?

Moses invariably went to God with his doubts. When all of the Egyptian plans they made together didn't go as Moses thought they should, he went straight to God for answers. When disappointment deafens us, and impairs our ability to hear God clearly, we need to go straight to Him for answers. Then we will rise above our doubts, because we will know God intimately, and know that His plans, no matter how difficult are for our ultimate best and His glory.

Wordless Wednesday...

Yep, the ladies love him...

Be patient. I will explain the photo in due time, in due time. Took Luke to the doctor for his annual exam. Yes, I DO know that his birthday was in August and its now October- time just gets away from me. Anyways, we were discussing his current quirks while Dr. D looked over his info. There was a time that we couldn't get out the door before Dr. D would announce, "He's the biggest boy on the block isn't he?" (Master of the obvious, but I love the man). "Luke is greater than 100% on his height and greater than 100% on his weight."

Get this- Luke is 40 inches tall and 40 pounds at the grand old age of 3. He is the size of an average 4 year old. He and Jacob are assumed to be twins almost everytime the go out in public together. Jacob is 46 inches tall and 46 pounds at the age of 5. Well, Dr. D tells me, "You are looking at a boy who will be at least 6'4 or 6'5." At 5'6, I think my 6'2 husband is a giant. Luke is going to be huge. I am going to have to go back to work full-time and Chris will need a second job to feed these boys. We better be sweet to them now or we are in danger of them sitting on us and squishing us when we are old and feeble.

By the way, the photo... the ladies do love a tall, tall boy! He is a shameless flirt and cuter than puppies and kittens on Christmas morning. I do believe I will keep him as long as possible.

monkey see, monkey do...

Doesn't matter what it is, if one does it, the other will too.

Note the differences in wearing apparel. It appears that I have a skull worshipper and a cucumber and tomato salad lover, living in my house. No... its just Jacob in his Halloween spirit wear and Luke in his brothers size 7 t-shirt. He wore it for over 24 hours a few days ago. Wore it to bed, wore it all day and had to have it pried off of him that night for clean clothing. Yes, I do have standards about cleanliness.. although it would have been easier to just let him wear it again. There was a tiny fit thrown about removing Bob and Larry from his person.

But my all time favorite story of the week involves the dentist. I took them in for a cleaning- it was Luke's first time. He was amazingly calm and cooperative. The dentist even commented on it. I told him that Luke was just very easygoing- that's how he rolls. We go to check out and Jacob has all his goodies PLUS a toy car they gave him. Luke did not recieve a toy, so he goes to get one himself. I stop him from pilfering the toy basket and he lets out, what the dictionary would term a "blood curdling scream." Not just one. Not just two. Three or four of them in a row. I take him to the bathroom where he continues and I am sure the office staff are convinced that I have ripped an arm off punishing him. I quietly talk to him and he stops the "from the gut" screaming. I have NEVER heard this child act this way.

We go back out and I ask him to apologize to the receptionist. Do you know what she said? She stated, "You scared me." My 3 year old freaked her out. THAT is how loud and insanely crazy he was acting. For those of you who know my son, you are shocked and appalled. If he wasn't a boy, I would blame hormones.

Wordless Wednesday...