A little bit of Ty, a lot of candy!

Ty after being inducted into the National Honor Society. He is with Chris, the upper classmen that pinned him.

Part of the NHS group of Fairfield Christian Academy.

Ty with the girls at the reception after the NHS ceremony.

Ty turned 16 on November 21st! I know...it is a pathetic cake!

Lily and Sarah at their post for the candy making process!

Lily "doing her job."

The hand of a master candy maker....Tom!

The art of making candy! It's a pretty picture! Sarah or Lily is pulling the stick through the screen!



I love this pictue of Sarah through the screen!

Britney (one of my nieces) puts the candy on the stick and hands it to the dippers...Tom and Brianna (another niece).

A recent photo of the Fab Five!

We'll start from the top down. Tyler was inducted into the National Honor Society in late November. He's a super smart kid...we are really proud of him! I NEVER have to tell him to do his homework!!!!! Also, on November 21st, Tyler turned 16! He's been driving for several months on his permit. We hope to allow him to take the driving class this spring.

There are many blessings that have come my way through marrying into the Alexander family. Maybe one day I will actually write about some of those blessings. One of the things I've been able to participate in a few times over the years is the candy making process at Christmas time. I enjoyed taking a few pictures of the process this year. This is the first time Lily and Sarah got to participate! Mom makes several flavors of candy. The candy is rolled and placed on was paper. The center leaves of the table are removed and replaced with screens with wax paper on top. Someone puts the candy on the sticks and hands the sticks to the the dippers. The dippers dip and send the sticks through the paper and the screen where smaller hands gently pull the sticks through. They then hand the sticks to the person who is putting the candy on the sticks. The girls enjoyed sitting under the table "doing their job!" Me? I enjoyed taking the pictures and eating the candy!

On another note, I am workig through some back problems. I won't go into all of the details because it would take too long. A little while back I found out that what I thought was a thoracic strain was actually three herniated discs. I've gone through several procedures and still haven't found much relief. I welcome any prayers as I try to figure out how best to deal with this.

I have not put together Christmas cards as of yet! Isn't that terrible?! I hope to get it done, but it is highly unlikely at this point. If I don't get around to it, I will at the very least post a "Merry Christmas" message on our blog!

Blessings!

Sharing an encouraging word.....and standing FIRM!

Just had to share today:

Whose Battle Is It?
by Rick Warren

“But you will not even need to fight. Take your positions; then stand still and watch the Lord’s victory. He is with you, O people of Judah and Jerusalem. Do not be afraid or discouraged. Go out there tomorrow, for the Lord is with you!” 2 Chronicles 20:17 (NLT)

*** *** *** ***

In today’s passage, God is talking to King Jehoshaphat and the Israelites. They’re about to be attacked by three enemies: the Moabites, the Ammonites, and the Meunites.

Jehoshaphat had to be worried about how his people could defend themselves in such a battle, but God knew exactly what Jehoshaphat was thinking. He said, “You will not have to fight in this battle.” Now, that’s the kind of battle I like!

What God tells Jehoshaphat in this passage, and what he would remind us today, is this: “The battle is not yours; it’s mine. You don’t have to fight in it.”

In other words, it’s God’s problem. Let him solve it.

The fact is if you are God’s child, then your problems are his problems. And he’s much better at fighting your battles and solving your problems than you will ever be. Your job is to trust him to work it all out. Perhaps the reason we have so many tired, fatigued, and discouraged Christians is because we think, “It all depends on me.”

The day you resign as General Manager of the Universe, you’re going to find that it doesn’t fall apart. You can relax in faith, trusting that God is able to run things without your help.

Twice in this passage it says, “Don’t be afraid,” and “Don’t be discouraged.” When you face a seemingly impossible situation, don’t be afraid and don’t be discouraged. Has God ever lost a battle? No. He doesn’t lose battles.

There’s an important phrase in verse 17. God tells Jehoshaphat, “Take your positions and stand firm.” What does it mean to stand firm? It means to have a mental attitude of quiet confidence. It is never God’s will for you to run from a difficult situation. I’ve discovered that when I run from a difficult situation, inevitably God always brings it back around and gives me another chance. Why?

Because God wants us to learn – and he wants to teach us through experience – that in every situation he is sufficient. He is competent and capable and he will meet our needs in that situation. Don’t be afraid; fear is the opposite of faith.

You stand firm on two things:

The character of God – He’s faithful. He does not bring us this far just to let us down. He doesn’t bring you out on a limb and then cut off the limb. Have faith in the nature andcharacter of God.
The truth of his Word – God’s Word is faithful. You can count on the promises found in the Bible.
Stand still. Remember Who the battle belongs to. Trust that he is able to deliver you. And then watch him do it!

Lily's Birthday and Ty's Cavs Adventure

This is Tyler before the big game....Tyler, Aaron and Kyle. It is saw cool to know your boy want to hang with good guys like them!

Tyler and his buddies after the big win by the Cavs!



This is Lily and Sarah with Addi. Addi is really special to both of the girls. When we went to China to get Sarah, Lily stayed with Addi. Addi is the type of girl I want my girls to be like when they grow up!

Lily taking a look at the gift bags and cake.

Lily loves her jewelry box!



Tyler will be turning 16 on November 21st. His birthday wish was to take two of his buddies to Cleveland to see the Cavs play. They had a great time.

Lily's birthday was a busy day! It started out with being her "snack day" at preschool. On birthdays they allow them to bring in cupcakes.

Lily wanted a CHinese birthday this year. I'm struggling through some back issues so I wasn't looking forward to doing much. I wimped out and reserved the back room at a local Chinese restaurant her in town. I went early to set up and glad I did because the Health Department had closed them down! I went down the road to Lily's favorite Chinese restaurant and they were wonderful about setting something up in the next 30 minutes! She had a great time with the girls from the preschool classes from school.

Later that night we had a family cake with Lily. Sadly, we were not all home until 8:30 p.m. so most of us were dressed for bed!

If you have time to watch the video of Lily opening Sarah's gift, it is precious! Lily has wanted a Queen Ester doll for quite some time. In a time of Disney Princess overload, it is refreshing to see my girls want a doll like Queen Esther! (Sarah got one from a friend that same day!) THe girls love her! Who wouldn't? Yeah, well my favorite Disney Princess is Belle. Belle has beauty and spunk. But Queen Esther?! It was her beauty and character that won the heart of Persia's king! She was a gifted woman who combined courage with careful planning! She was a woman that was more concerned for others than for her own security. The most awesome part is that Queen Esther is so very real in our history! She's the perfect role model for young girls! I want my girls to understand that sometimes serving God often requires that we risk our own security. I want them to know from that God has a purpose for the situations in which God places us! And being the planner that I am....I want them to know that courage is important, but should not replace careful planning! If you aren't familiar with this true story, check it out. You'll find in right between Nehemiah and Job!

So, it is believed that Lily was found outside the orphanage gate on the day she was born....November 17, 2003. It moves my heart to know that the baby at the gate of the orphanage five years ago is now five years old and looking at a Queen that knew God and was faithful to Him. Oh how I know she will do great things for Him!

A picture says a lot!

(No, I don't know this little girl. I just like it. And I hope we make great strides long before my girls grow theirs!)

Lily turns FIVE on Monday....look for pics and party stories next week!

Blogging Contemplations

I'm thinking about changing my blogging involvement. I will either end the family blog or make it "invited readers only." To be honest, I'm not certain who or how many people actually follow anyway. If you have any opinion, feel free to email me or post a comment.
Kathy

Your Love is Deep

This is an old video, but I put it up anyway. I love that Tom is singing while he is running the camera. It's an awesome video!

County Fair

We enjoyed our time at the County Fair last week. Sorry, no pics of the boys. They don't think it is that cool to walk around the fair with their parents. The camera goes with mom!

I must admit that when we have times like these with the girls...where I can stand on the outside and just watch THEM, I get overwhelmed by God's goodness to have placed them together! They were meant to be together...on Ferris Wheel's, on roller coasters..in life!

Field Trip to the Pumpkin Farm

The girls are in two different classes, but we pulled Lily out of her class so we could all be together. This is Sarah's class...the Fabulous Fish taught by Mrs. Kennedy.





No, that's not Feono, Shrek's wife...it's me!

Sarah was a bit frightened sitting on top of a pile of hey. Lily loved it!

Okay, so by the fourth and fifth kid, the field trips don'e seem as exciting...until you go! The girls loved the trip to Devine Farms. We started off with a lesson by the Queen Bee, Mrs. Devine! The girls enjoyed hearing about how important bees are to growing pumpkins. Who would have thought that farmers would rent bees to get those pumpkins growing! We then enjoyed a train ride of sorts through the corn fields. I look bigger than the car I was in because I AM bigger than the car I was in! We then headed over to the barn where the class got to go down the slide and play in a maze made out of bales of hey. We made our way over to the next building for a snack and some face painting. Our final stop was at the pole barn that had more riding toys than anyone could imagine! They also had a soy-box (sandbox, minus sand, add the soy).

My next post will be of our County Fair. We have the last county fair of the year for the state of Ohio. All of the county schools are closed for the week, and the city school takes two days off. Look in a few days for those fun photos.

Children Around the World Day

A few weeks ago at the school the girls attend, they celebrated "Children Around the World Day." These themes are great until you get to your fourth and fifth kid....I have been lazy. Fortunately for me, I travelled around the world to get number 4 and number 5 so I had ready-made outfits for them already!

Each class went on a parade throughout the rest of the school! Sarah had the extra treat of being "line leader" for the day!

Golf, Football and the Hole that Phil Dug

Here is the hole that Phil dug!

Here are some recent pictures from Ty's Sectional Golf Tournament, Dane's recent football game...and the hole that Phil dug.

As I have mentioned, Ty missed a spot in Districts by two strokes. One stroke better and he would have had a playoff with a few other guys. He psyched for the next golf season.

Dane has one more football game. I think they have tied once and won the rest. I have my hands full at games trying to watch the game and the girls. TJ hung out at this game so I enjoyed taking a few secret shots of him!

I don't have any pics from TJ's games. You snooze, you lose! He had a great game on October 3rd. Two great blocks resulted in two touchdowns and he had a great run of about 40 yards, ten of which he carried an opponent on his leg! The bad news is that in the LAST PLAY of the game, he tore his MCL and is now done for the season. Surgery is not needed, but he is in a brace. He thinks he is going to play the last game, but I don't think so!