Veteran's Day

I just want to take this opportunity to thank all Veteran's for their selfless service. All over the world our armed forces have stood and are standing guard to protect us and for that I am so grateful. I pray that the Lord will continue to guide them, to be their strength and courage, and most of all to give them protection from all things that wish to harm them.
On this day of reverence let us not forget those who have served, are serving, and those who have paid the ultimate price for the freedoms that we know and enjoy.

The things that the flag stands for were created by the experiences of a great people.
Everything that it stands for was written by their lives.
The flag is the embodiment, not of sentiment, but of history.
It represents the experiences made by men and women, the experiences of those who do and live under the flag.
Woodrow Wilson


Below is a youtube video on The Gratitude Campaign. Please be sure to scroll to the bottom and pause the playlist before you watch it.

And The Winner Is...

Hair Up won the vote! Thank you everyone that participated in the vote.
I took the kids last night to have pictures made with Santa. The kids did great and of course I had a really hard time deciding which pictures to get...so I got one of each pose :) Madeline did not like Santa at all (as to be expected) As soon as she saw him, she jumped into my arms, buried her face in me, and started crying telling Santa to go away. Jackson loved Santa. He went right to him, gave him a hug, and sat in his lap and told him what he wanted for Christmas. (so cute!) Madeline raised her head to see her bubba sitting in Santa's lap and she got so upset. Through tears she said "No, not my bubba, I want my bubba"

The photographer was very clever in how to sneak Santa in the room for the picture. I took the kids out, Santa snuck in and hid behind the screen. Once hidden, I brought the kids back in the room, positioned them and just as the picture was going to be taken, Santa came out and stood behind the kids. Madeline had no clue that he was there and the picture was great!
Wow...so mission accomplished.
Does anyone have an Santa memorable Santa stories?

Why Vote???...thoughts of a 4 year old...

This morning while I was getting ready Jackson cornered me with the usual 20 questions. Here is an excerpt of our conversation:

Jackson - "Mommy where are we going today?"

Me - "Well you and sissy are going to mom's day out and mommy is going to run some
errands"

Jackson - "Oh, what kind of errands?"

Me - "Well the most important thing I am going to do today is vote."

Jackson - "What is vote?"

Me - "It's where we choose who is going to be our leader"

Jackson - "Mommy, why do you have to vote on that, Jesus is our leader"

I know I have said this before, but if only we could all have the faith of a child.

Hope everyone got out and voted today. If you have not, there is still time so GO VOTE!