Are you in?!

*this is a sticky post*

As y'all might already know, our family has been touched by the March of Dimes mission to prevent birth defects, premature birth and infant mortality. My nephews, Abraham and Moses were born prematurely at 28 weeks. That's why we have formed a Family Team to raise money and participate in March for Babies. This will be the 3rd year that I have had the privilege of walking with my sister, Erinn and my nephew, Abraham. It is definitely one of the events that I look forward to each year! It is humbling to take part in such a wonderful event that is part of an organization that means so much to us as a family! 

Contributing online is fast, easy and secure. You can donate directly from my personal webpage with a credit/debit card or PayPal. If you prefer, I can also accept cash or check. Just click the appropriate box on my webpage.

Our family knows firsthand the challenges associated with prematurity. It is important to find out why premature birth happens and what can be done to prevent it. By raising money, ongoing research to answer these critical questions is funded. When you support our Family Team, you show you care and you give hope for defeating premature birth and other threats to babies.

You can click the badge on the sidebar to the right to view my webpage and support March of Dimes Walk America!

Would you like to see what March for Babies is and why I'm walking?
Click http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5P_dFD0J47I to see the video.

The March of Dimes mission is to improve the health of babies by preventing birth defects, premature birth, and infant mortality.

Wordless Wednesday

An unusual friendship

A friend sent this to me...

Why ELEPHANTS totally rock in my book!!  :)

California Dreamin'

*sigh*

Time to Write

Our family has the privilege of sponsoring a sweet little boy, Syrus through Compassion International. Syrus lives in Uganda and it is such a joy to receive his wonderful letters...we are so blessed to be a small part of his life! We are BIG TIME fans of Compassion and believe wholeheartedly in the work they do in Jesus' name throughout the world.

Compassion has sooo many awesome resources and ways to be a part of helping children in need. You can donate online for your regular support or for Christmas or for your sponsor child's birthday...in April it will be Syrus' birthday so we are able to send an extra gift to celebrate his birthday! Since it's not possible to send packages, online donating makes it easy for everyone to make sure that your child has a very special celebration!

Another super cool thing is that you can write your sponsor child online...hello? Could they make it any easier for us?! They have lots of great resources, information and ways to get involved and be a part! So I'm trying to make it a point to write Syrus regularly to let him know we love him and are praying for him. What better way then to do a reminder post on here...maybe you could use a reminder too? It's TIME TO WRITE your child today!!

Or if you are not sponsoring a child yet...maybe this might just prompt you to pray and consider if God would have you become a part of a child's life through Compassion by reading my posts??! :D Whaddya think? Ready to be a sponsor YET?!!

**This is a gripping video clip that was posted by Emily @ Soli Deo Gloria. It needs no explanation. There are no words for this.

White as

As you can tell by the design of my blog...I'm not a fan of ol'man winter.  I'd rather be on a beach somewhere, breathing the salty air, hearing the mighty waves crash on the shore while feeling the sand and warm water swirl around my feet. Eeeerch. Ok, I'm back now.....back to winter. I must admit, the white stuff does look amazing the first time it covers creation in that soft blanket of sparkly white. And it makes the kids sooo happy, well at least for the first 10 mintues they're outside! :) Hope you're winter is as beautiful as this...

Psalm 51:7 ~ 

"Cleanse me with hyssop, and I will be clean; 

wash me, and I will be whiter than snow."

Thankful Thursday

I am so very thankful for my wonderful husband ~

He just celebrated his 31st birthday yesterday and 

I couldn't be more thrilled to have him in my life!!

I love you, baby...more today than yesterday but not as much as tomorrow!!  xoxo

Take me out

to the ball game...

We just signed Alex up for rec. baseball this weekend!  It's hard to believe we're on our way to the spring season...actually, I can't wait!  I endure winter so that I can enjoy spring and summer!  

How about y'all?  Any signs of thawing in your neck of the woods?  What WARM thing are you most looking forward to this spring??

Whoohoo, here's to thinking Happy and WARM thoughts!!!  :D

GO RAVENS!

"The Baltimore Ravens and the Pittsburgh Steelers are meeting for a third time when they get together this evening in the Steel City. The AFC Championship Game, which kicks off at 6:30pm ET at Heinz Field, features the two division rivals in a battle to claim the Lamar Hunt Trophy."

Who's wearing PURPLE??!!

Sunday Grace

Deep Breaths

Sweeter words I've never heard...

"Reigning ACM and CMA Entertainer of the Year Kenny Chesney will hit the road again this Summer with what he calls the Sun City Carnival Tour. The opening acts will be Lady Antebellum, Miranda Lambert, Montgomery Gentry and Sugarland."

I know what I'm doing this coming May...

Holla Back now!

What more could break me out of my 10-day-bloggy-silence 

but the NEW 2008 

Season of...drumroll please...

AMERICAN IDOL baby!!  :D

Brace yourselves, people, it starts TONITE!!!

Oh, and they have a new judge added to the crew...singer/songwriter Kara DioGuardi.

I can hardly wait!!  :)

Resolution

*a sweet friend wrote about this poem and it fit perfectly with how I feel about this new year before me, so here is my new year's resolution*

At the Gate of the Year

I said to the man who stood at the gate of the year

'Give me a light that I may tread safely into the unknown.'

And he replied,

'Go into the darkness and put your hand into the hand of God

That shall be to you better than light and safer than a known way!'

So I went forth and finding the Hand of God

Trod gladly into the night

He led me towards the hills

And the breaking of day in the lone east.

So heart be still! 

What need our human life to know

If God hath comprehension?

In all the dizzy strife of things

Both high and low,

God hideth His intention."

by Minnie Louise Harkins 1875-1957

Included in King George V1 broadcast 1939

Molly the horse

A dear friend passed along this email to us and it was such a neat story, I had to share!  Our Chloe was enthralled with the idea of one of her FAV animals with leg like hers!!  :D  

I love stumbling upon stories of hope like this one...I hope you enjoy it as well.  :)

(read the full story via snopes.com)

Ya gotta meet Molly...

She's a grey speckled pony who was abandoned by her owners when Hurricane Katrina hit southern Louisiana. She spent weeks on her own before finally being rescued and taken to a farm where abandoned animals were stockpiled.

While there, she was attacked by a pit bull terrier and almost died. Her gnawed right front leg became infected, and her vet went to LSU for help, but LSU was overwhelmed, and this pony was a welfare case. You know how that goes. But after surgeon Rustin Moore met Molly, he changed his mind. He saw how the pony was careful to lie down on different sides so she didn't seem to get sores, and how she allowed people to handle her. She protected her injured leg. She constantly shifted her weight and didn't overload her good leg. She was a smart pony with a serious survival ethic.

Moore agreed to remove her leg below the knee, and a temporary artificial limb was built. Molly walked out of the clinic and her story really begins there.

'This was the right horse and the right owner,' Moore insists. Molly happened to be a one-in-a-million patient. She's tough as nails, but sweet, and she was willing to cope with pain. She made it obvious she understood that she was in trouble. The other important factor, according to Moore, is having a truly committed and compliant owner who is dedicated to providing the daily care required over the lifetime of the horse.

Molly's story turns into a parable for life in post-Katrina Louisiana. The little pony gained weight, and her mane finally felt a comb. A human prosthesis designer built her a leg.

The prosthetic has given Molly a whole new life, Allison Barca DVM, Molly's regular vet, reports.

And she asks for it. She will put her little limb out, and come to you and let you know that she wants you to put it on. Sometimes she wants you to take it off too. And sometimes, Molly gets away from Barca. 'It can be pretty bad when you can't catch a three-legged horse,' she laughs.


Most important of all, Molly has a job now. Kay, the rescue farm owner, started taking Molly to shelters, hospitals, nursing homes, and rehabilitation centers. Anywhere she thought that people needed hope. Wherever Molly went, she showed people her pluck. She inspired people, and she had a good time doing it.

'It's obvious to me that Molly had a bigger role to play in life, Mooresaid. 'She survived the hurricane, she survived a horrible injury, and now she is giving hope to others.'

Barca concluded, 'She's not back to normal, but she's going to be better. To me, she could be a symbol for New Orleans itself.'

This is Molly's most recent prosthesis. The bottom photo shows the ground surface that she stands on, which has a smiley face embossed in it. Wherever Molly goes, she leaves a smiley hoof print behind.

Welcome 2009!

It's been a great 2008 and now we're on to 2009!  :) 

Hope y'all had a wonderful Christmas and I wish you a blessed and wonderful New Year!