A Restful Day

It's been a great day! We had a great morning at church and a yummy lunch. I made a Wal-Mart run after I put Livy down for a nap. It's snowing! It's not sticking, but it is sure pretty. I'm going to make a pot of chili later to warm our bellies. YUMMO!! There will probably be some dark chocolate sensation action later too. I love hot chocolate!

Thankfulness Day 10
I'm thankful for savings! John said we could upgrade our Dish Network again from the local channels to the family package :). I'm watching Food Network right now! YEAH! A really great thing about this is that while John was upgrading our Dish, he got the lady to knock off a pesky $5 charge that they were charging us each month (it was totally rediculous!!). Not only are they taking that off, but they are crediting our account $5 every month for one year that we had to pay that charge!!! Pretty groovy huh! God is providing in some great little ways!!

I'm also thankful for my bed. Yes, I know sounds crazy, but after we have been away from our bed a few nights we are very thankful. We got in bed last night and the first thing that John said was "Thank you Lord for our bed". He said I should blog this for my 30 days of thankfulness.

Finally I am sooooo thankful for lower gas prices. The budget thanks you!

Home Sweet Home

We're home! YEA! We loved being at family's houses, but there is nothing like YOUR house and YOUR bed!
These are some pics I took over the weekend. On Thanksgiving Day afternoon just before sunset we (John, Livy, Jason, Buffy, Bethany, Mom, and I) took a stroll in the bottom field. It was a good time and great memory. I call this slide show "A Walk in the Field"

On a funny note..we carried a kitten home from John's parents in (really under) our van. I kept hearing these meows and chirp like sounds (cats don't chirp, but ya know..) coming from up in the car. I heard the sound for a while but didn't think anything of it until finally I had to say something! So finally in West Plains, which keep in mind is over 3/4 of the way home, I said to John, "Do you hear that sound? It sounds like a cat!" Right after I said that it meowed again. We laughed. Pretty funny that the cat lasted as long as it did. John didn't find it, but we figure it is scared out of it's mind and doesn't want to come out. So we left the van outside for tonight. That way when it calms down it will crawl out on it's own. Funny moment.

Filled With Thanks!

We have had such a great time at our families houses. We spent Wed. and Thurs. night at my parents and had super time. I've got some really cute pics of a walk in the field we took. I'll download those later when we get home. Right now we are at John's parents and are going to enjoy yet another turkey dinner with family. Thankful for food and a full belly (have I mentioned that a time or two???)

Picking up where I left off with my thankfulness...today I was thinking about how blessed we are. God has given me and my family so much. Really there is no room to complain. God is good and provides our every need. I am thankful for God's goodness and provision. I'm very humbled when I think about that "we or I" don't provide. It ALL comes from God. It truly blows me away!

It kinda takes the pressure off if you ask me..

She's Tall, Thin, and Beautiful

Okay I know a Christmas tree looks better at night, but I didn't think of that last night at midnight as I was finishing and cleaning up the mess. So I guess a morning pic will have to do for now. Night is definitely a better time for Christmas tree picture taking...I'll take one at night sometime and post it. We used white and colored lights this year since Joe and Kim had 8 bags of colored lights in the box. I love white lights, but I thought a splash of color would be good.














This is my table centerpiece I threw together.
I call this my "hodge-podge".
I wanted a different centerpiece this year.

Livy looks on....Today we are going to my parents for Thanksgiving then Friday we go to John's parents. My thankfulness entry for day 8 is about our family. We love our family! We have the best time when we are together. We are thankful we have family to be with over the holidays. God put us in great families. We are very blessed!

Thankfulness And A Tree

It's totally okay for me to be thankful for more than one thing today isn't it.?.? Well, first my husband is hard at work hunting again this morning. He went out with his friend Nathan (I hope each get a deer Adrienne). I'm thankful that he has been out there nearly every morning trying to get food for our family. I love that! He's a good husband. Also I'm getting my hair done today. I'm thankful for Amy. She is also my friend and hair dresser. I really don't know what any of us girls would do without her. How would we look (yikes!). Amy does a fantastic job! I love her!

I have my tree up. However it's kinda sad right now. It doesn't have the lights or pretty decorations on it yet. It will be very happy soon though. I'll post it when I get it finished this afternoon. We bought our tree off our friends Joe and Kim. They only had it for two years so it still looks really good. The one we had before was too short. This one is 7.5 feet. It's lovely! Plus for $10 it was a steel. They even had all there lights wrapped up in bags, a powerstrip, and a light timer in the box! WOW! That is pretty great! It was like finding a Christmas present in your Christmas tree box. This one is not pre-lit tree and it doesn't fold in only two pieces like our last one. I had to sort all the branches and going to put lights on it. Oh well, it's pretty and for $10 bucks. Come on! I have our other tree to my sis Angela for her apartment. Have fun with that sister of mine.

Thankfulness Days 5 and 6

Okay I forgot to blog yesterday (can you believe it?). I was doing stuff so I guess it just left my mind.

Day 5

I'm thankful for my church. Last night we had our annual Thanksgiving dinner. Lots of food! Tasty! We also had a service afterward. The main focus was being thankful for what Jesus did for us when he died on the cross for our sins. It was a great time of worship. John and I love our church. The people really want to serve the Lord. Our pastor is a man that most definately has a close walk with the Lord. We have grown so much in the past 3 years. I'm thankful that Jesus began the church.

Day 6

I'm thankful for a healthy child!!! She was SO croopy last week so I called the dr's. office last week and they couldn't get her in until today. Wasn't running a fever, just needed the raspiness to clear up. She was totally fine by Saturday. I'm not paying another office visit! I think isolating her for a few days has paid off (and a humidifier!). She has been her happy little self. Of course, she was always happy when she was sick. Especially her 1st year of life. It was precious!

I caught this moment this morning. So cute.

I Love Scrapblog.com

My friend Rachel introduced me to scrapblog.com. It is such a neat way to scrapbook! I worked on a "fall 2008" book yesterday and today. Got it done. Yea! I invited lots of people to view it, so if I didn't invite you let me know. Okay! I tried to remember everyone.

Click HERE to view.

Day 4: Thankful for Saturdays

I love Saturdays! While I enjoyed my coffee and Livy her sippy of milk, we watched a cartoon this morning that I watched a lot during the holidays as a kid.

"A Charlie Brown Christmas" was a favorite in the Spencer household growing up. Still is. In our family we want to get those fun traditions started too. We may come up with new ones.

A typical Saturday around here is we stay in our PJ's all morning (Livy is still her in PJ's and it's 3:30), we eat a good breakfast, and just hang out. This morning John went hunting. He got in around 11a.m (he didn't shoot anything, but he said he saw 10 doe, wow!). Then we made breakfast pizza for lunch. It is tasty. Saturdays are quite laid back round here. I'm thankful for the slow, lets not get in a hurry pace.

I rearranged the living room today to make way for the Christmas tree and other festive decorations. I'm ready to enjoy my tree!

Day 3: Thankful For Friends and Food

I love our friends and I really love food. I try not to get carried away with the food part though. We have had lots of friends and food today! I don't have pics with these. Man, I gotta get with it. I've not taken many pics lately!
This morning we had Mommy group at my house. We had brunch. YUMMO! I made cranberry orange scones. They had lots of butter! 3/4 of a lb.! Not something you would want to make all the time. Oh heavens, the scale would bust! The receipe does make a lot of them. So I guess there is an upside. The other gals brought all kinds of good brunchy things to eat. I love time with girlfriends! Our kids had fun playing too.
Later we are going to Mike and Kathye's house. They invited us to play games and eat supper with them and some other friends. Kathye is making taco soup, yum! A very weight watcher friendly soup! There will be dessert too and I have to go easy on that. Especially since I ate "so well" this morning.

What would life be without friends?.?.? And food!

Day 2: Thankful For My Family

One of the things I am most thankful for in my life is my husband John. What a good man he is! He is a wonderful husband and father. He is probably one of the biggests blessings. Love you babe! What a hunk!
Then God added this cutie to our family almost two years ago. Wow, how times flies! We never thought we could love a little person so much. I have loved this time I have gotten to be home with her. She's growing and changing so much everyday. What an awesome little lady!

30 Days of Thankfulness

Last night at women's Bible study, a gal had a great idea. She was taking a picture, everyday for a month, of what she was thankful for. I thought that was a super idea, so I'm taking that idea and running with it. There is a lot of negative stuff in today's world. I have to admit sometimes I can be negative too, but life's too short and God has blessed me so. Why be that way? Each day, for the next 30 days, I'm going to take a picture and blog something I'm thankful for. Plus in honor of Thanksgiving it is just a great thing to do.

So here goes 30 days of thankfulness....
Day 1
I'm thankful for my health! Okay, I won't have a picture with this one, but seriously my health is great! John and Livy are good too! Nothing major. (Livy has a little wheeziness still ,but we're fixing that). With all the surgeries and things that my family has been having lately and will have, John and I are very thankful for our health. Tonight in church I taught the kids about thankfulness. It just so happens (this is totally not a coincidence, I don't believe in those!) our verse was out of Psalms. This verse just popped into my mind as I am typing.

"Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good! His love endures forever" Psalm 118:1

Why go around being a negative Ned? There is TONS to be thankful for!

Ho Down With The Moeckel's

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

A Typical Day

It's been a good morning. Everything's pretty much routine. Ate breakfast, Livy played, watched some PBS. Ya know toddler stuff. Here's pics of the typical day.

Loves to feed Mommy! She thinks it's funny...

Love'n some Elmo!
Loves her kitty!
Poor cat.

Tonight I have women's Bible study. We will be finishing up our "Can We Talk?" study. It has been really great. Lot's going on this week with Bible study night, church tomorrow night, then I have my Mary Kay holiday coffee & open house. I won't have my "holiday" stuff up by then, but oh well...it will still be fun.

Then this weekend starts John's vacation. He will have 9 days off from work. He will be deer hunting most mornings. Also we are getting down the Christmas stuff. YAHOO! He hasn't had many days off this year so he is ready for the break. He decided to save those days for deer season (men....). He also got permission to hunt on some new land. We have friends that live nearby and go to church with us that have land right outside Gassville so he is really excited about that. John loves to hunt!

Anniversary get away is just a few weeks away! Momma ready for a break too! We are very excited!

I Like This

This was a devo. thought from "1 minute Bible: Women of Character"
Enjoy!

Leah - Rejected Yet Faithful
Selections from Genesis 29
When the LORD saw that Leah was unloved, He opened her womb; but Rachel was barren. Leah conceived, gave birth to a son, and named him Reuben, for she said, "The LORD has seen my affliction; surely my husband will love me now." She conceived again, gave birth to a son, and said, "The LORD heard that I am unloved and has given me this son also." She conceived again, gave birth to a son, and said, "At last, my husband will become attached to me because I have borne him three sons." And she conceived again, gave birth to a son, and said, "This time I will praise the LORD."
If ever a marriage got off on the wrong foot, it was Jacob and Leah's. The look in his eyes wasn't the warm glow of wedded bliss but the bitter glares of betrayal. Yet Leah learned that what God thinks of you is the most important reflection of who you are.
No, it's not too much to ask of your husband that your relationship become a priority to him - not always taking a back seat to work, hobbies, and whatever it is that keeps his mind so preoccupied. But it is too much to demand. Nothing in your scolding is likely to change his mind or to melt the hard shell on his icy, detached habits. If you want to get his attention, honor him. Serve him. Love him. Make the brave decision that you will do what's right even when your husband does you wrong.
Look At It This Way ...
There's a fundamental problem with expecting fulfillment from people, places, and things. These are the gifts of life, not the source of life. Anytime we expect the gifts of life to give us what only God can, we're asking for our cups to be drained of energy and life itself. When I focus on Jesus Christ as the source of my life, an amazing thing happens. Because he loves me and actually possesses the wisdom, love, peace, and joy I've always wanted - he alone can fill my cup to over-flowing! Because I'm no longer expecting people to fill my cup, I'm not hurt when they don't respond in a particular way. Psalm 62 says that we are to wait and hope in God alone. He's our rock, our salvation, our rear guard, our hiding place. He's everything we'll ever need!
The more we place our expectations on another person, the more control we give them over our emotional and spiritual state. The freer we are of expectations from others - and the more we depend upon God alone - the more pure and honest our love for others will become. - Gary Smalley
A Final Thought:
Rejection is not defeated by more rejection but by the reverse -- by unconditional acceptance that looks into the face of disapproval and sees a hurting person who needs your love.

Christmas Tree Fever

I'm feel'n the need to put up my Christmas tree. Some of my friends have theirs up. I'm love'n their pretty trees and want to look at mine. I typically put mine up right after Thanksgiving so I can enjoy it for a month or so. John is off all next week so I'm thinking we may get stuff down a little early since he will be home.

Okay, I have to brag on my friend Adrienne. She has a pretty amazing tree. I "borrowed" this pic from her blog. Hope that's okay "A".?.? It's like a tree out of one of my favorite antique, nick-nack, decorating store Rusticities.

It's gorgeous! I'm sure this pic doesn't do it justice. Good job "A"! (P.S. I still love your tree topper-star thing.) You should do this for a living! Decorating in general!

Putting up the tree this year will be interesting and fun (can't believe it's time to do this again!!). Last year Liv really didn't care. She hated the prickly needles. She will love to help decorate this year! I think she will either rearrange the ornaments or take them off the tree and run off. She's good at running off with stuff.

One Of My Many Reads

I read a lot of books. However, sometimes it takes me a while to read one. I even read two or three at the same time and it takes me even longer to finish one. This is one of the books I am reading now. (I started this one a while back, and yes I haven't finished it yet, but I'm gonna). I decided to pick this up again when Livy was down for a much needed nap.

This is a book by Dr. Kevin Lehman

I really have been enjoying this book. Kevin Leman is a family psychologist has raised three kids so I think he is pretty knowledgeable. It is so wonderful to have authors that are Christians and want to raise or train their children up in the way God wants them to. That is what John and I are striving to do (accompanied by TONS of prayer of course! We need it!). It seems like I have talked to more friends and family lately that are struggling with strong-willed kids. You MUST get this book! Of course, like with any book you'll have to use what works for you. That is what we have had to do. But I must say, the majority of the content in this book is so excellent.

Here's an snippet of the book..

"I am convinced that the training ground for life ought to be the home. We need to begin to hold children accountable for their decisions. In too many homes this isn't happening. Mom and Dad are always available to remind, coax, bribe, and push. Yes, maybe the chores do get done-eventually-but at what price? Part of that price is that Mom and Dad have to constantly nag the children, which Ephesians 6:4 clearly warns us not to do. But even more damaging is that through their constant nagging, coaxing, and bribing, parents are teaching their children that when they grow up and get out into life there will always be somebody there to push, motivate, and reward them for their behavior. But of course, life isn't like that. We can give our children a great tool for living by teaching them to be accountable and responsible. As the old saying puts it, teach them to stand on their own two feet."

He has such Godly wisdom to give. Truly a wonderful book! I also love the Baby Wise books. (Baby Wise, Toddler Wise, Pre-school Wise, etc..) Those books helped us get Livy on a shedule from her infancy and on. Plus it has helped our home with night and meal time peace etc. But that is another blog entry entirely. Oh heavens! So many great books for parents out there, but Leman's book a fav of mine. Read it and enjoy!

A Big Ado About Nothing...

John and I were setting here discussing if a blog entry should really have a point. Some of the stuff I blog doesn't ALWAYS have a point. Like hot chocolate, or salt and pepper shakers. He said I should just blog about nothing. I don't know if I want to bore my friends and family while I ramble about nothing. Guess I could tell ya about my day.

Okay...went to the store. That was lots of fun (so the chick said sarcastically..). Livy was being a little toot! She constantly wanted to stand up in the seat of the cart. I guess she thought it was cute. This went on for a while. Then, out of no where a voice comes on over the intercom in the store and says "Parents we want your shopping experience to be a safe one. Make sure you strap your child in to the shopping cart for their safety." After that I just had to laugh. Probably someone was watching me over the cameras and thought, "why don't that crazy women strap her child in and make her sit down." Really, I have NEVER heard that annoucement before. I thought it was humorous!! I'm going to start doing my shopping after I put her to bed at 8:00. For Momma's sanity. We are starting to deal with all the "two year old" stuff. Yikes. Lord give this Momma wisdom. Please! I have been making it a point to not raise my voice and stay calm when correcting or giving discipline. I don't think kids respond to yelling.Just makes stuff worse. Been tempting though...

Oh geeze..I think I need to go and drink me some "Dark Chocolate Sensation". Or hey, I got a new kind today "French Vanilla" hot chocolate. Thanks for that one Mere!

Bed is good too!

Coupon Crazy!

Food is crazy expensive! Coupon clipping is good, but how many do I really use. I really need to learn how to do this right. I saw a story last night on the news that was so awesome! I must learn how to do this!! Click HERE to watch this story on channel 33 KSPR News. There is a gal in our Bible study group (help me girls, she has like 6 kids and lives in Cotter??) anyway, she is taking a class on this. I need to take this class. How many is with me?

I found the best coupon website. This lady calls herself "The Coupon Mom". Couponmom.com
There is a free e-book to print on how to use coupons the right way. I'm excited. I hope to get this down to a science. Coupons.com is great too. This stay at home chick is gonna save $$. Cha-Ching!

How I Love Food Network!

While Livy is napping I have been looking at the Food Network website for probably an hour. I'm trying to write down some new meals to get me out the "supper rut". I hate being in ruts! I found some really good recipes. That Robin Miller knows her stuff. She hosts the show Quick Fix Meals. I also like Sandra Lee. Oh, who am I kidding I like em all! I love my Food Network!! However I miss it since we downgraded our Dish Network package. Crazy budget! Oh well, I can still watch demos and other "food like" things on line. The technology these days...

I think I'm missing my Food Network the most because the holiday is upon us. I love all the specials and other stuff. Holidays=food and I love to eat. Thank goodness for my weight watchers pumpkin pie recipe. Now that is a good one and you can't tell the difference. Thank you weight watchers!

An SDC Christmas

Yesterday we went to Branson and met our friends Jason, Meredith, and Abby. Also my sister Angela came too. We ate at Red Lobster (love the cheddar biscuits! I was good though..) and then went to SDC for the Christmas Festival. We had a lot of fun. Livy loved the lights and seeing the shows. She loves to hear people sing. It was COLD! It was probably 32 degrees outside. But hey, it's supposed to be that way around Christmas. We all bundled up and drank lots of hot chocolate. A good time was had by all. HO HO HO!

And There Was Much Rejoicing!

This morning at 8a.m. John called and said he got a deer! YURRAY! He shot a doe. He was so proud and we are proud of him. He is cutting it up in big chucks and putting in freezer bags so we can run it up the meat shop on Monday. It will be so wonderful to have meat in the freezer! John and I were both praying for a deer. We are praying for another one in the future. God DOES provide for His own!

Also this was funny. I put Livy on her potty seat this morning after she woke up and found her like this. I ran and got the camera. She said "momma, I hiding!" Silly little tooter!


Well it's 11:30. I need get Livy and I cleaned up so we can head out for Branson in a few hours. Still in my P.J.'s. I love Saturdays!

A Simple Holiday Pleasure

This is one of my favorite things about the holidays (my friends Adrienne and Stephanie share my excitement). I have been watching the store shelves for this. I was at Wal-Mart yesterday and there they were. I got so excited! Livy didn't really know why Momma was excited over coffee creamer, but really it doesn't take much to get me excited. Coffee Mate makes other flavors like gingerbread and even carmel, but these two are my favorites. They make morning coffee time that much better. I heart my coffee!

Okay..I'll get off the coffee creamer now. In other news, today I have Mommy group and Livy has a doc. appointment. My friend Kim is having surgery on her shoulder today, so I'm taking food to her this evening. Also Brittney, our new children's director, is painting her house and I may go over and help her out later (I'll see how the day goes). Landry, house cleaning, etc. Lots to do today.

Have a blessed day!

We're Pretty Pumped!

Saturday afternoon we are going to SDC. The Christmas festival opened last weekend. My friend Stephanie said her family went last weekend and she said, "you couldn't even push a stroller it was so full." Yikes, hope that doesn't happen this weekend. Although I think it will be crowded. Oh well, Ho Ho Ho! The weather is supposed to be very Christmas like too. The high is supposed to be 47 degrees. At night it will get down to almost 30. We'll have to wrap up. It wouldn't be the Christmas season if it was warm. Here are some pics from 2006. That was the year I was very prego with Livy. I didn't have any good pics from last year.

This will be Livy's first year to go at Christmas time. Last year she wasn't even a year old, so of course she wouldn't of even had the slightest idea what was going on. Just John and I went. We figured if she was going to go we had better take her this month. Next month we are going by ourselves for our Anniversary. It will be fun this year! She will love the lights! My sister Angela is going to join us. Also, our friends Jason and Meredith and their too cute daughter Abby are meeting us up there. I'll get some really great pics to blog. A good time will be had by all!

The Early Voter

I went to vote early today. I am the 7,801st person to vote at the Baxter Co. Courthouse so far. There was more voting going on at the hospital too. Really it wasn't bad. I stood in line for about 40 min or so. Not to bad. The people who were waiting were NOT impatient at all and had a good attitude about the whole thing. I feel bad for the states that don't have early voting (like my home state of MO. can't imagine what that will be like tomorrow. especially in the more populated areas..yikes).

I decided to hit the polls early because Livy and I are going to my parents until Wed. I wanted to spend a few days visiting with them, my Grandma, and friends. John will be "bach'n" it for a few days. He going to hunt and do man things during the evenings.

Speaking of the "voting subject", John and I have really enjoyed the series of sermons that pastor Mike has been preaching on. For the past three Sundays he has spoke on voting what God's Word says about the issues. I loved that Mike said, "God is not Republican or Democrat he has his own side and we need to vote on what the Bible says to be true." We have been blessed by those sermons. God spoke powerfully through Mike. I'm so glad that we have a pastor who is not afraid or ashamed to stand up and preach what God's word says, boldly!

I hope you have a good day and a great election day tomorrow. What a great priviledge we have to vote here in America.

Warning! Kleenex are needed!

My uncle shared this with me, and I feel compelled to pass this on. This is about Mark Richt, a college football coach, and the awesome family that God has given him. He also made an appearance on the movie Facing the Giants.

Picture Perfect Day

Today my wonderful and talented friend Kim took our family pics. We went out to Cotter Spring and then back to her house. The trees are unbelieveable out at her house!! Here are just a few of my favorites. I absolutely LOVE this one!


Another one of my favorites is at the bottom of my blog. Other favs are posted on your left.

Fall Festival

We went to the fall festival last night in the church gym. The weather was nice. Wasn't real cool. It was in the 70's during the day, so it was really pleasant at night. Livy didn't have to wear the tights I bought for her. Momma was ready for the cold weather. We helped out with our Sunday school's booth. John is always in to getting the kids to come up and play the games. He did a great job! He wore he voice out doing it. The whole thing was kinda overwhelming for Livy at first, but after a while she began to like it. She especially liked Cooper and Kilee's sheep Bucky. The theme of our S.S booth was roping, so Bucky fit right in. Livy got lots of candy (her Mommy and Daddy are enjoy it!!). It was good fun!

Thursday night we went up to ASU for their Halloween bash and we saw the greatest costume.
We are Star Wars freaks! This guy's whole family were Star Wars characters. How cool is that!