Grey Areas

Kyle Idleman just finished up a series that he and Dave Stone were doing on questions we ask God. Today's question was "May?" Kyle referenced Paul and I Corinthians 10.

Paul says "Everything is permissible"—but not everything is beneficial."

Boy was this a powerful message. I have never heard a preacher explain those "grey" areas in our world so clearly. One example he used was drinking. Does the Bible say not be drunk (yes), does it say not to drink (no). But just because it is permissible does not mean that it is beneficial to everyone. But that is just it. Having a glass of wine at dinner is not wrong for some people, but having a glass in front of your recovering alcoholic friend is not beneficial for them.

Paul also says "Nobody should seek his own good, but the good of others."

He also brought up a very good point. Just because you think that it is wrong to have a glass of wine at dinner (or whatever one of the grey areas may be) does not mean that you have the right to condemn or judge me.

Paul again says "For why should my freedom be judged by another's conscience?"

Again such a powerful message, and if you have often wondered about the "May I" check out the sermon. You can download it on podcast via Itunes or off of SECC's website.

One another note, I never got the opportunity to post Ellie's bed now that we have it in. So here is the final product.

Also she has that nice comfy bed (which she has now slept in for over two weeks) but she chooses to lay on the floor and watch TV.

Trunk or Treat

What a crazy mess. I knew that it would be packed, but jeez I wish it had been more organized. The lines were crazy, so we just visited the people we knew. Ellie kept wanting to go back to Dad's truck to hand out candy. So that is what we did. She could care less about getting candy. But she sure was excited about handing it out. I am so proud of my little girl. She already at 3 thinks of others most often before herself.

Sorry about the glare, but I love this picture

She had to pose with Chloe (could it be Belle's horse????)Ellie and one of her pumpkins she pickedEllie and MemawEllie and Tyler

Painting

Ellie has been wanting to go to Earth and Fire to paint for a while now. She loves making things and then bringing them home. Friday night E & F was having Midnight Madness from 9-Midnight. Ellie did not take a nap until late (waking up about 7:30) so I knew that she would not be tired for a long time. I entertained the idea of she getting the opportunity to paint, which she absolutely loved. So about 9:30 pm we pulled into E & F expecting it to be packed. WRONG. Ellie was the only kid there; however, there were several adults.

But we had a great time, even if we were the only crazies that had our almost three year old out that late. But it was nice, and they had refreshments and door prizes. And Ellie painted a cute Halloween piece. :)

Trick or Treat

Last week in the Leader I saw an advertisement for community trick or treat at River Crossing, the assisted living home in Charlestown. I thought that this would be good for Ellie and not going to lie, good for the residents because Ellie sure can bring a smile to anyone's face.

We met Meghan and Eme for a yummy dinner at Ctown Pizza Company, and then we stopped by Bob and Janet's to get the girls ready. Ellie was so excited. She kept saying she was trick or treating at the Nursing home and she could not wait to make them people smile. :)

I was very impressed. Ellie had so much fun, and we enjoyed it as well too. They really had a nice event for both the residents as well as the community.

Ellie and Grandma

Ellie and PapawThe cutest bumblebee

8 Years

It is so hard to believe that eight wonderful years have flown by. It seems sometimes like yesterday Bob and I were starting our life together. Now we are growing our family. I love him more each day, and I thank God for the blessing he has given me.

On another note I went for a check-up today and all is progressing nicely. It looks like baby girl #2 (still have not decided on a name) will be here the second week of December. I can not believe how fast it has gone. But boy do I feel pregnant. It just hit me last week. Everything does happen so much quicker with the second one. I go back in two weeks and then I am on weekly appointments.

I am excited to see the next precious gift God has in store for us.

Huber's

Huber's is my favorite place to go this time of the year. My favorite part is the YUMMY food. And it is a particularly good time to go because I am pregnant and do not have to feel guilty about eating so much. Bob is not a fan, and he was plenty busy today at home so Ellie and I headed out. For the past three of four years we have shared our annual Huber's trip with my aunt, uncle, and cousins. So keeping with tradition Ellie and I invited Kendra and Kasey to join us for lunch.

We had a very enjoyable time. We did not get a pumpkin this year (already took care of that earlier) but we did make sure to grab a caramel apple before we left.

Ellie and Kasey

Feeding the ducks (sort of)

TV Time

Tonight's TV time consisted of us digging out the old VHS player and all my favorite Halloween movies which all happen to be on VHS. Tonight's play list included "The Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown" and "Double, Double Toil and Trouble."

Ellie was ready to go. She had her new blanket that I made for her birthday to match her bed, her Elizabeth American Girl Doll (which she recently started really playing with--guess it is time to fork out some money there), and that hat. She found that when we were transferring her clothes into her new bed, and now wears it all the time.

I love my baby girl (who is no longer a baby anymore), I am a little sad that we only have a few more weeks to be just a family of three. But I am more excited that in a few weeks we will be a family of four.

Boo at the Zoo

Wow what a crazy place. It took us forever to get in and find a place to park. We thought by going on a Sunday we would not have to face a large crowd...WRONG.

But once we got in and started going the crowd thinned out as it was dispersed at different activities around the trail. Ellie does not like crowds so she did not want to get out of her stroller for pictures with any of the characters. But she loves to people watch. She also loved going up to the stations and saying "Trick or Treat," and then smiling big "thank you."

She is ready for some more trick or treat.


She is our little Belle. The weather was so nice. She could wear her cute little outfit and not freeze to death.

And we wait...

Ellie's bed should have been here today, but I got an email from Amazon saying that it was sent to the wrong facility and is stuck in Indy. Go figure. Hopefully it is here soon.

But she is still enjoying her mattress :) And has slept in her room for the past two nights. This is big because she has never slept in her room. This is just as big of a step for us as it is for her. It seems like her room is so far away, but we have Chloe now sleeping with her.

Last night we are awaken at 3 am to Ellie yelling--"Chloe get back in here. Get in your bed. Chloe come back." Bob got up and took Chloe (who had come to our room) outside and then but her back in Ellie's room. Bob asked Ellie if she wanted him to stay with her until she fell asleep. She told him no and to go back to his bed.

Tear..my little girl is growing up.

Happy Early Birthday

We knew that once the baby came we would have to move Ellie from the baby bed (which we had converted two years ago to toddler bed) to a new bed because we would need the baby bed again. So we promised Ellie for her birthday we would get her any bed she wanted. We started the search in early summer, and she quickly set her sights on a princess bed. We looked at all the toddler beds but we could not see paying that amount of money for something that may or may not last very long (plastic). Plus this child is TALL and she would out grow a toddler bed (which only uses a crib mattress) within a year or too--she already nearly fills her old bed.

So finally last week we ordered her a bed. It one that is like a box with drawers underneath it. We thought this would be best because then we would save money and not have to buy another dresser yet for the baby or Ellie. We also had already bought all the fixings for her Princess bed. This is the theme she wanted.

So tonight Bob brought home a new mattress and the bed should be here this weekend.

She is so excited and loves her new bed.

She is having some TV time in her room
she only is allowed a DVD player, no satellite in her room)

She is stuck on Mickey's Christmas--go figure--she is going to love Christmas this year.

Birthday Pictures

Today I took Ellie to Click to have some thank you cards made for her party. I also ordered a small package of my favorite pose. She is growing up so fast.

I can't wait to have her official 3 year pics done with Mr. Foto-we are holding out until the baby is born so we can get them all done together.

BTW: Here is my plug for my friend Mr Foto. He is an amazing photographer (and has won several honors nationally for his work with Seniors--including two years ago top Senior Photographer in the country). You should click on his link and check out his work.

What a weekend

This has probably been one of the busiest weekends that we have had in a long time. The madness started early on Thursday with a late night of parent teacher conferences and a labor auction fundraiser for the Jr Class (which I sponsor).

Then on Friday I attended a conference in Indy with two of my fellow teachers. The conference was a lot of fun, and I enjoyed hooking up with my IUS posse as well. I got some pretty good ideas and information that I know will come as good use in the classroom.

Saturday DAY I took the morning off. I would have liked to walked in the Susan G Komen Race for the Cure, but I knew this was the only time that I would have this weekend to hang out with Ellie and get normal weekend stuff done. Because Saturday NIGHT we had a wedding to attend. Candace Baird, a good friend of mine, was getting married. We rushed to the church to make it just in time (so our style recently). Ellie did not want to go. Her words "Do I have to be quiet." "Yes, Ellie during the wedding you have to be quiet." "Ok, then I do want to go, can I stay at Memaws?" I told her only if Memaw would come and get her because I was not feeling very well, and I knew I did not have enough time to get her to town and then back to head to Scott County.

The wedding was very nice, and we had a great time at the reception. Candace is related to several members of Bob's family so it was good seeing them.

My Bestie and me

I love this pic of all of us

It never falls I always attend a wedding weeks before birth

Then Sunday came around. For our anniversary/Christmas I bought Bob tickets to see the Colts. We have been wanting to go to Lucas Oil to watch a game for some time now. And the perfect opportunity came up. We had great seats (I am a Nascar fan and so the higher the better) even though we had to climb 44 flights of steps after riding two massive escalators. But out of breath we made it. Not only did we have great seats but we had the air conditioning blowing right on us (for a pregnant lady that is amazing). And of course the Colts won (barely...but a W is a W).

View from our seatsThey had a lot of special events for Breast Cancer Awareness

IU's Marching Band was the half time entertainment- very good

We brought Ellie a sign back and she wanted to hang it up in her room.
It reminds me of my Troy Aiekman and Cowboy pics that I hung around my room.

UNO

Now this girl can rock a game of UNO. This was one of my favorite games growing up. Bob had never really played it as a kid. A couple of months ago I picked up a game, and we started playing as a family. It took Ellie no time to catch on and now she is pretty good. She does not need much help from us, unless her mind starts wondering. She is good for about three games before she starts to need something else to do. But what can we say, the almost three year old is playing a game recommended for 7+.

My granddaddy only had one arm, so whenever he played cards he would use a reynolds wrap box. I suggested this to Ellie because her hands are too small to hold all the cards. So now she has to have a box before we play.

Deep in thought...she must play the "right" card.

Her favorites are the "black" cards (+4)
the Skips
and
+2

Sheepfest 2010

I actually took my camera this year, but I did not get a lot of pics. I took more last year with my phone.

Cornucopia

I had mentioned going to Montgomery Farms to some of my fellow Scottsburg teachers and they quickly suggested that we go to Cornucopia Farms in Salem before Montgomery. Since I have not been to either, and they are actually from the community, I took their suggestion and glad I did.

Laura asked if she and her girls could go too, Ellie loves Ally and Emmy. They get along so well.

I had heard rumors that the pumpkin crop this year was not good meaning that not a lot survived our excessively hot summer. I am sure we will make the annual Huber trip, but not until the end of the month. I wanted to make sure that we got a good pumpkin (or two).

Wouldn't you know we would unknowingly dress our kids alike

Some duck racing action

Time for a puppet show (Ellie kept poking her head out)Ellie could have spent all day here
Playing in the Hay/Straw houseCute pumpkinsEllie and AllyMe and my bestie from SHS-
she thought pregnancy was so cool she decided to join in.

Her baby is due in MarchLove these girls
It has not rained in a month and a half-but it sure is raining here
But we are not complaining