My 2 Blessings

Of all the wonderful things the good Lord has granted me, these 2 are my favorite:

Thanksgiving Meal

We ate dinner at Mom's house for Thanksgiving. Our menu:

turkey & ham

cornbread dressing & gravy

green beans

mac & cheese

brown rice

sweet potato casserole

hash brown casserole

deviled eggs

broccoli salad

fruit salad

yeast rolls

cranberry sauce

& a delicious assortment of desserts

And of course, I ate WAY TOO MUCH!

We are Thankful

We have a Thanksgiving Countdown Calendar that we've been using - each day we talk about something specific we're thankful for, and then do an activity to go with it. Here, we are thankful for a nose to smell. We lit a candle and smelled its sweet smell.

And the other night, we talked about how we're thankful for good food to eat. We set the table with a tablecloth, and ate off of real plates instead of paper plates.

Marriage Retreat

This weekend, I had the privilege to attend a Marriage Enrichment Retreat at The Candlestick Retreat Center in North Carolina (in the middle of nowhere) with other couples from church. Each week, we see each other in church and say "how are you", and maybe wave at each other from afar; but we were able to spend quality time with other people and really get to know each other on a more personal level. The couple leading the retreat were Tom and Brenda Preston, who are involved with Campus Crusade for Christ.

Here are a few main points from this weekend that really meant a lot to me:

1. We all know that there are threats to marriages. Society today doesn't view marriage the same as in the past. Other than worldly views and culture affecting marriages, another is "extra marital affairs". Affairs aren't necessarily with other people. It could be an affair with something, or someplace. Other than Christ, our spouse is supposed to be the one who satisfies and fulfills our needs. When we seek other things to meet our needs, that's an affair. Some examples of affairs people have are with work, our hobbies, computers (Facebook, email, etc.), our children, and alcohol/drugs. Our relationship with our husbands should be the primary relationship - not the relationship with our children. Tom mentioned that so many women try to be super mom and focus more on their children than on their husbands. Basically, he wanted us to focus on our priorities.
2. Another point he made was that all marriages have conflict and hardships. As Christians, Christ never promised us an easier life. Our problems are the same as those who aren't Christians - we all face issues with money, children, jobs, family members, etc. It's how we react and respond to those hardships that seperate us from others. Christians can have faith in a God that will help us get through our problems and grow from them.
3. God created marriage to be like an escalator, not an elevator - you get on and don't get off until the end. We're not meant to push a button and determine how far we want to go with our spouse. We make a vow to stay with our spouse until death.
4. In Ephesians 5:22-23...that infamous verse about women being submissive...they mentioned that so many people think it means that the husband is the boss of the family and the wife is inferior. It means that he is the leader and the head of the household. He makes the final decision for the family, but women are to help make that decision. We are to lift our husbands up, prefer them, understand and encourage them, and help them become the leaders they are called to be. We are to listen to our men so that they know they are important; to support our men and be their #1 fan. One of their quotes was, "If he wins, I win. If he loses, I lose." because we are one single flesh and one family.
5. God created us to be in His image - male & female together mirror His image. In Genesis 2:18, God says it is not good to be alone, so He created Eve - a helper - to bring Adam companionship. She was made to complete Adam, to fill an emptiness and a need in Adam. They used a quote from the first Rocky movie, where Paulie is asking Rocky why he loves Adrienne. Rocky said, "I got gaps. She got gaps. Together, we ain't got no gaps." And that is exactly how God created us. Women have gaps and weaknesses, men have gaps and weaknesses; but together, we are one and have no gaps.

No matter how frustrated we may get with our men - Husbands are a gift from God. To reject our husband is to reject God's gift to us.

Happy Halloween

Trick or Treating with Gavin was so much more fun this year than last year. He actually got the point of it - getting candy! He even said "trick or treat" and "thank you". I was so proud. We started out our evening going to a few houses in our neighborhood before heading over to Mom and Dad's for a bonfire - in the rain! It's hard to roast weenies in the rain, but it was still fun. We all sat in the garage and talked while the kids ran and played in the rain. I'm so glad it was warm enough to do that. They would have gone crazy if we had to keep them inside the garage the whole time. Rain or not, we still had a great time.

My Little Monkey

Jason's Jack-o-Lantern

Gavin loved the yard decorations at a neighbor's house. Trick or treating at Nana and Pops house.

The REAL Moose A. Moose

Ok, Mommies....are you ready for this??? Jason and I have wondered for a long time who the voice is for Moose A. Moose on Noggin; well, Nick Jr. now. (His voice gets on my nerves, and his singing is terrible!) So Jason said, "Kristi, why don't you just google it?" DUH! So, I typed "who is voice of moose a moose" in the google search box. This is what I found...

Paul Christie

Uh huh! Needless to say, my jaw dropped! Who knew?

Poor guy...so cute, but such a terrible singing voice. :)

Preventing Swine Flu

The guidance counselor at my school sent out an email that was forwarded to him by a friend. It lists several things that you can do to help prevent getting H1N1. Now...I don't know how reliable this information is, but it's worth reading and thinking it over. Prevent Swine Flu - Good Advice Dr. Vinay Goyal is an MBBS,DRM,DNB (Intensivist and Thyroid specialist) having clinical experience of over 20 years. He has worked in institutions like Hinduja Hospital , Bombay Hospital , Saifee Hospital , Tata Memorial etc.. Presently, he is heading our Nuclear Medicine Department and Thyroid clinic at Riddhivinayak Cardiac and Critical Centre, Malad (W). The following message given by him, I feel makes a lot of sense and is important for all to know. The only portals of entry are the nostrils and mouth/throat. In a global epidemic of this nature, it's almost impossible to avoid coming into contact with H1N1 in spite of all precautions. Contact with H1N1 is not so much of a problem as proliferation is. While you are still healthy and not showing any symptoms of H1N1 infection, in order to prevent proliferation, aggravation of symptoms and development of secondary infections, some very simple steps, not fully highlighted in most official communications, can be practiced (instead of focusing on how to stock N95 or Tamiflu): 1. Frequent hand-washing (well highlighted in all official communications). 2. "Hands-off-the-face" approach. Re sis t all temptations to touch any part of face (unless you want to eat, bathe or slap). 3. *Gargle twice a day with warm salt water (use Listerine if you don't trust salt). *H1N1 takes 2-3 days after initial infection in the throat/ nasal cavity to proliferate and show characteristic symptoms. Simple gargling prevents proliferation. In a way, gargling with salt water has the same effect on a healthy individual that Tamiflu has on an infected o ne. Don't underestimate this simple, inexpensive and powerful preventative method. 4. Similar to 3 above, *clean your nostrils at least once every day with warm salt water. *Not everybody may be good at Jala Neti or Sutra Neti (very good Yoga asanas to clean nasal cavities), but *blowing the nose hard once a day and swabbing both nostrils with cotton buds dipped in warm salt water is very effective in bringing down viral population.* 5. *Boost your natural immunity with foods that are rich in Vitamin C (Amla and other citrus fruits). *If you have to supplement with Vitamin C tablets, make sure that it also has Zinc to boost absorption. 6. *Drink as much of warm liquids (tea, coffee, etc) as you can. *Drinking warm liquids has the same effect as gargling, but in the reverse direction. They wash off proliferating viruses from the throat into the stomach where they cannot survive, proliferate or do any harm.