Chaos!

Life at our house has been an explosion of chaos.  It has been hard to sit down to blog.  Many heart breaking things going on.  We praise God that our Thanksgiving was peaceful.  Eric called to wish us a happy day.  Brandon was able to take time from his busy schedule to join us for dinner.  We went over to a friend's house and had a wonderful time.

However, since Thanksgiving day there has been plenty of trouble of the heart breaking kind with both boys.  Currently, we are not on speaking terms with Eric.  And Brandon has taken a turn and has decided he does not want to go into the Army.  He wants to drop out of high school and move to California to be with a girl he knows.  On Christmas Eve Brandon will be 18 years old and he says he wants to leave soon after he turns 18. Please pray for us as you feel so led.  Thank you!

Thankful for Small Things

Life is ever moving and flowing.  Sometimes it seems it moves by too quickly.  Other times it seems to be in slow motion.  That is how it has been for Mark and I lately.  We are edging more and more into the slower pace, but not quite there yet.  Every now and then we get a taste of that slower pace and we really enjoy how it feels.

Definitely, the slower pace will allow for my creative juices to flow more freely.  There are so many ways to be creative and I think sometimes I discount the little things.  I think that I have to do something grand to call myself creative. Well get over it!  I am going to be thankful for the little things.  God works in the small things as well as big.

Lately, I have been blessed with ideas in the kitchen with new products I've found at the grocery store.  Take for instances the picture below.

Used these products to make a tasty morning breakfast.  Its husband approved!  The new Natural Bliss coffee creamer doesn't have to be used just for coffee.  Using it on your morning oatmeal is a great way to give your oatmeal a flavor boost.  Another product I've tried is Land O' Lakes cinnamon sugar butter spread which they put out just for the Autumn season.  We have used it on our pancakes and its given them the flavor of "french toast".  Very yummy!

So enjoy Autumn, be creative and rejoice in little things. 

Empty Trees

Mark has been on business in Singapore for a week now and we are working on week two.  At the end of this week he begins his journey home.  It will take over 24 hours for him to get home.  This time I am missing him very much even though we have been keeping in touch twice a day via Skype.

Our big news is that our youngest son, Brandon, has decided to join the Army.  We are very proud of him for making that decision.  It has been Brandon's dream since he was little to join the service.  We met with the recruiter and signed paper work before Mark left for Singapore.  Last week Brandon took the written test and passed.  After that I went in with Brandon, bringing along important documents they needed to start his file.  This week he will be taking his physical and afterward he will be officially in the Army.

As for my oldest son, Eric, we do not hear much from him and what I do hear, breaks my heart.  Brandon keeps in some contact with him, but he is always disappointed by his brother.  When Brandon told Eric he was joining the Army Eric's response was not what he had hoped for.

I titled this post "Empty Trees" for a reason.  This morning as I was doing the dishes I noticed that more light was coming into my kitchen.  The leaves from the trees in our backyard are almost completely gone.  Soon the branches will be completely bare waiting for snow to grace them.  This made me dwell on the fact that my youngest will soon be off and my nest will be empty.  However, my youngest will go with a bright future.  That makes me smile.