Family Circle

Today, the girls, Grandma and I took our lives in our hands and ventured out to Walmart. It was very good to have a team to conquer the crowds and the list. ::wink:: 

We spent the rest of the day  playing games, visiting, napping, walking..... a restful day. 

We finished discussing "I am the Light of the World," tonight (John 8:12).  We focused on "...whoever follows me will not walk in darkness...." We'll break from the "I am sayings of Jesus" until after Advent.  

Legacy

We wanted to be sure the kids understood that yes...we ARE to walk in the light....but sometimes we will still sin...and one sin doesn't mean you are no longer walking in the light...it means you need to follow closer....I saw an illustration I knew would work well for our younger ones. 

This is me....walking in the darkness....doing some good things under the blanket...but still under the darkness. 

The kids are walking in the light....but the spots represent sin....and they are collecting some.  We talked through I John 1:5-9. 

Stacia illustrates a person covered with spots....and we talked about how we need to agree with God that our actions are sin...and he will forgive us and cleanse us. "This is sin...." and the spots went away. 

Sort of reminds me of the Monkey dance

 Michael then walked around as Jesus and I stayed close to him - imitating him  - following him.....and then I jumped away to find a sin....because when we are imitating Jesus we will not sin. 

Michael loves his new camera. ::grin:: Soon the new bouncy flash will be here.....and my new camera.....

Choosing Joy!
©2013 D.R.G.
~Coram Deo~
Living all of life before the face of God...

Grandparents are Here

Mom and Dad called and said they'd be down Saturday to spend a few extra days with us. They ended up arriving today (Sunday) instead.  When everyone got here after chapel we headed out for lunch and then enjoyed an afternoon evening of visiting and playing. 

Kids teach Grandparents how to play Gin Rummy

Michael continues working on "the puzzle"

This is the start of our Thanksgiving celebration.  This is the first time in years (decades I think) where we've lived close enough to have family come for the holidays.  It's a bit different not to be looking for guests.....but we're thrilled to have family around this year. 

Choosing Joy!
©2013 D.R.G.
~Coram Deo~
Living all of life before the face of God...

Current Challenge

Our current challenge came as a birthday gift for Michael from Nolan. It's a 3 D puzzle and it's good the two of them like working on them......It's a sky scraper and near as I can tell each piece looks exactly like the other 998 pieces.

I'm wondering if it will be finished before I need the table for Thanksgiving.

Choosing Joy!
©2013 D.R.G.
~Coram Deo~
Living all of life before the face of God...

Finally, Friday

We have couple of events this weekend so I  ran to Target for gifts and ingredients. ::grin::

We made it home in time to welcome Rachel and her kids.....fun afternoon. IF I go ahead and count Rachel as one of my kids it would bring the total to 9 kids in the home....and that's a good feeling. ::grin::

Boys love to play with young boys

Girl Time 

Choosing Joy!
©2013 D.R.G.
~Coram Deo~
Living all of life before the face of God...

Seasonal Glimpses

 It was so windy this morning that the top blew off the hot tub.....leading to a bit of excitement for Stacia and Zander.

I've been meaning to post some photos of a few seasonal activities.

We were able to use all the branches we brought from the wilds. ::grin:: They worked great in the jar of sea glass from Japan (not pirated from CA coast). 

Ye old Thankful Pumpkin

I was happy to see "Mom who is a peopler" make the list ::wink::

Choosing Joy!
©2013 D.R.G.
~Coram Deo~
Living all of life before the face of God...

Nolan - Before and After

I've been meaning to post before and after photos of Nolan.  Nolan had severe acne from the time he was 11. We tried home remedies. We tried all the creams the clinic offers. When he was 13 he asked about Acutane. We began discussions with the clinic in Misawa. Doctors moved and so we waited for the new ones who could follow him through the treatment. He started the treatment as he turned 14.

This is the week before treatment began - things were actually looking much better than they had previously - but the doctor said he was still a candidate for treatment. I don't have a lot of photos of this time period.....

I believe this is a ride at Tokyo Disney

Here he is after treatment 

There you have it. We are happy the treatment worked well for him. The dermatologist here said it is basically super high doses of toxic Vit A and if he ate 10 lbs of a carrots a day it would clear him up just as well....um.....he'd be yellow but....

Nolan was a champ through the whole process.

Choosing Joy!
©2013 D.R.G.
~Coram Deo~
Living all of life before the face of God...

RAIN - at last!

We know how to handle a rainy day! We turned on the fireplace. We cuddled on the couch and did couch school. I started a stock pot of veggie stew. Three of us chose to enjoy a bowl at lunch though we knew  it would be perfect by dinner time.

Arielle and I were still cold.  BUT.....we learned how to relax and beat the winter in Japan...and so we took what we had learned and applied it to CA. It's OK to soak in the middle of a warm day when you need a pick me up.

Unfortunately, Stacia created a wonderful nativity set for me. It was air drying...we left it out one day too long. She said she'll do it again and maybe I can bake it in the oven this time.

Choosing Joy!
©2013 D.R.G.
~Coram Deo~
Living all of life before the face of God...