CARS

Okay. Those of you who really know me, know that I am not much of a movie person. I can name the movies I really like on one hand. So you will not be surprised to hear that I just saw a movie tonight that has been out for over a year now. I wasn't particularly thrilled about the prospect of sitting to watch it, but I was blown away by this movie!!!!! It is the story of Lighning McQueen (aka Jeff Gordon), and it has an incredible message!!! It was phenomenal! The details... the tiny, minute, details were of monumental impact! Not only was the NASCAR stuff down to the detail (boogety boogety boogety, let's go racing!), but the scenery and incredible detail of the land gripped me! And the reason??? I'VE BEEN THERE!!!!! Route 66, I-40, the Grand Canyon, the saguaro cacti, etc etc etc....... and the emphasis placed on the beauty of it all.... this movie is going up on my all-time favorites list (which is a very short list!).

Oh yeah, Click and Clack the Tappett brothers was a HYSTERICAL addition to the movie, for those who appreciate car talk on NPR radio! Don't drive like my brother! LOL!

My movie favorites list that I can count on one hand?

• Facing the Giants (#1, hands down)
• Apollo 13 (Tom Hanks is dynamite in this one!)
• Mr. Holland's Opus (definitely a Kleenex kind of movie)
• Finding Nemo (because I AM Dory!!!)
• Cars (because I've been there).

Highest cub scout achievement

It was a proud moment for a parent! Tonight at our pack meeting, Adam's den was awarded the highest award you can earn in cub scouting, the Arrow of Light. The ceremony is quite solemn and serious. Here are the fearless leaders who led the campfire and candlelight ceremony.

Hugo, the newest member of the den, was assigned "keeper of the flame", and did a wonderful job lighting the candles as they recounted the journey of the cubs.

Adam wanted Dad to do the honors, so Dad pinned the award to his uniform.

Here is a group photo of the entire Webelos II den with their Arrow of Light awards!

You can't really tell, but Adam is shaking the hand of the pack leader in this picture... SMILING!

After all the other awards were handed out (and there were LOTS of them!!!), each den did a skit, a song, or a story. The wolves told the story of the hairy toe, and it was hilarious the way they did it!!! Nick's den did a skit about hunting for a thanksgiving turkey. The boy with the 2x4 in the back is the hunter (BANG!!), and in this picture, Nick is a SKUNK being shot by mistake instead of a turkey! He died with great drama! LOL! Those of you who KNOW my son will understand that comment well!!!


So, Adam's cub scouting journey is just about over. He has 4 den meetings left, and 3 pack meetings (caroling, sliding party, and crossover ceremony at the blue and gold banquet), and he is hanging up the scouting hat. We are so very proud of him!!! He has accomplished so much and learned a great deal. His den leader is an amazing man, and we appreciate him and his wife so much!!! Now, with scouting out of the way for him, he can concentrate more on his other pursuits... Moo Gong Do and trumpet lessons/band. He will be a well rounded young man, for sure!! GO ADAM! You rock!!!

Elana's first birthday in pictures!

Our family is big fans of hoops and yoyo, little Hallmark characters. I found this cute little photo thing, and thought I'd give it a try! What do you think???

Make a slide show, scrapbook, or ecard

Giving thanks for family and smiles!

What a wonderful family! Thanksgiving with the Conant family is always a delight! I'd like to share some pictures with you from our fun-filled day. This first picture is of Kathy, the hostess with the mostest! She did a dynamite job hosting the gathering.


The children had a great time, as the cousins don't always see each other, living so far apart. Here is Mike playing ping pong...


And Emily playing air hockey.


Look at the sisters three... they look like they have been sneaking tastes...

Roy and Shawn carving up the birds...



And here is one of three rooms where we all sat down to partake of the feast!


This is Adam in a post-turkey food coma....

After dinner, we had a paper snowflake tutorial.



Isn't that beautiful??


The highlight of every Conant family gathering is when we pull out the instruments for some singing! The favorite song sung every time is "The Cat Came Back". LOL!




All in all... it was a day full of smiles! Here is a gallery of smiles recorded by Shawn....

HAPPY THANKSGIVING TO ALL!!!!!!!!!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Thanksgiving in Iraq for our troops.... I'm so thankful for every one of them!

A Cheerful heart is good medicine

Ever had one of those nights where you just laugh and laugh till it hurts? This evening, my husband and I watched clips of Bill Cosby on youtube.com and just roared! We listened to our old favorites, like Noah, and Revenge (jr. barnes... you gunkie!), the dentist (smuboke! Fiber!). Then we watched the one on natural childbirth and I just died, because I haven't heard it since having that experience myself. Oh LORD, it was so funny! My friend Sandy was here, and had never heard any of these (she's young, I'm dating myself). The one on childbirth freaked her out and she declared "ABSTINENCE!!!!! LOL!!!!! It was so funny!!! Laughter is so good for the soul! Go rent a good comedy video, like Ken Davis, and have a good hearty laugh today! To see clips of Ken Davis, go to his website at www.kendavis.com .

Stewardship

Hello all! Lest you think I am slipping into depression or something, I thought I would come on here and try to post something positive and cheerful! My mom called me and said, "I'm worried about you! Your blog is causing me concern." I'm fine, really! Struggling with finances like crazy, but otherwise fine. Jason and I had a long heart-to-heart last night (until 2am) and made some real decisions and committed to making a concrete plan to do something about the debt. It's killing us. So, don't worry about us... we're just working on our STEWARDSHIP skills. My pastor preached an AMAZING lesson this morning on stewardship. I am going to listen to the CD at least 2 more times, and let it really sink in. It was really good! So many times, we find ourselves "giving God" his 10 % tithe, and the rest is "ours". That SO limits what God can do in our lives. We should instead have the mentality that all we have we have received from God, and we are giving back to Him what belongs to Him anyway. I can't even put into words what he preached... it was so profound... I'll try to explain it better once I have listened to the message a couple more times.
Thanksgiving is coming! I have been thinking about what I have to be thankful for... the list is amazing! It makes me think of a song in our songbook...

Count your blessings, name them one by one

Count your blessings, see what the Lord has done

If I named them one by one, I'd be counting for days and weeks and months on end! My God is faithful above all things! I have much to be thankful for... first and foremost... the CROSS. My salvation. Amazing.

Well, I'm gonna get my little men tucked into bed so I can read my Bible. Here is a very cool song by Carman about my Bible, and the children's choir is going to be learning this very soon. Love to you all!

Weary

Here I am. I am weary. Mentally exhausted. Wanting desperately to be able to publish something happy and positive here this evening. I feel like I give all my positive energy at work, and come home drained. That is not fair to my family. I do my very very very best to give positive energy to my children, but they, too, come home from school weary and frustrated. I sense a tremendous spiritual battle for our minds... and it is coming from the public school systems we find ourselves in. I must pray MORE, I must drink from the Word MORE, I must discipline my flesh MORE. But I am so worn out. Whoever said Christianity is a crutch for the weak is obviously NOT a Christian. Because this battle can only be fought by the strong. And our strength is found only in Jesus Christ. His Spirit rises up to fight for us, and bring glory to Himself! I will do as David did when he returned to find Ziklag burned, and all their wives, children, and possessions taken by the enemy.... David encouraged himself in the Lord. I will do that. Please continue to pray for me and my family.

Spirituality

My pastor has taught a lot on spirituality and what is really means. A quick google search will bring up a host of different topics... new age spirituality, Native American spirituality, ancient wisdom of the east, self realization, the occult, Christianity, quantum metaphysical spirituality.... the list goes on and on and on.... my google search of simply the word "spirituality" instantaneously brought up 59,400,000 websites! Yikes! In this very post modern culture, it appears that spirituality is whatever you decide it to be.

Anyway, I obviously look at what the Bible... the Word of God... has to say about spirituality. My pastor gave us a paper last night entitled...

My spirituality consists of (but is not limited to) :

Now... I am not a prideful person. I am not one who thinks they are so spiritual they have somehow "arrived". No way! I will be growing in spirituality until I draw my last breath! But I do try to live my life every day with Jesus at the center. I do make choices (for the most part) that keep my mind focused on Godly things. For example: I am reading my Bible every day. I watch entire worship services / preaching (two hours at a stretch most times) on the internet whenever I have the chance (what better way to spend a Friday evening or a Saturday afternoon or a Tuesday evening)! I do my best to have solid Christian character... not gossiping, being kind, helpful and giving, etc. I live the same life OUT of church as I do IN church. I don't watch TV or movies (except maybe Finding Nemo or the like). :) I go to church 3 services a week.

Do I sound like a certain Pharisee yet???? OH LORD, I THANK GOD THAT I FAST TWICE A WEEK AND GIVE A TENTH OF ALL I POSSESS... BLAH BLAH BLAH BLAH (praying thus with himself).

Well.... Let me tell you about the parts of that list where I am severely lacking in spirituality.

• My prayer life is NOT what it should or could be.
• The last time I told someone about Jesus and taught them a Bible study was....?
• Fasting... just look at my weight... no discipline in THAT area, I tell ya!
• Hours spent on the computer.... ouch. This blasted thing is my undoing!
• Finances... they will be the death of me due to STRESS! My finances are a train wreck!

So.............my main goal is to acknowledge my shortcomings and CONFESS them to God and to someone I can TRUST to pray for me and help me improve in these areas. Accountability is crucial to the process, or you will begin to rationalize things and justify them, ending up in a state of deception. THAT is a dangerous place to be! Or you may just give up hope altogether, which is equally dangerous. I admit to feeling despair at times when it comes to the above listed things. So... I am praying about this list, and desiring to change. Will you pray for me? I would covet your prayers. Thanks for reading! You are all great!

Lead me to that rock

Hello all... I know I have not been here to post in a while. I just wanted you to know I am still around. :) I have been so overwhelmed with so much lately, that even if I wanted to post, I could not. My thoughts are so scattered, my mind so full of concern for so many things (yes, the cares of this life, so all who understand that, PLEASE pray for me). I can't even organize my thoughts enough to get them down on this blog. So, it is what it is. That is where I'm at, and when I feel like I can make it back on here to post, I will (please pray that it will be soon!).
Ps 61:2 When my heart is overwhelmed, lead me to the Rock that is higher than I.