My crazy little man.



Clayton looking tough

I'm not sure why he looked so unhappy in these pictures, but he wanted to look mean.  He was in camo from head to foot.  This was a last minute costume for a fall festival we went to.
Clayton keeps me on my toes.  Yesterday he got red crayon on my pale yellow, new bedspread.  I need to call Crayola.  I know they have a special formula to get crayon out of fabric that involves WD-40.

We have a beautiful, fluffy white cat.  One day Clayton dunked him in a big mud puddle........just because.  He felt bad about it and gave him a bath afterwards.

I try not to take him shopping at the mall if I can help it.  He hates it.  The other night while Carrington was at dance, I needed to go to the mall.  He especially hates the store, New York & Co.  As we went in the store he said, "This store is my worst enemy!"

Recently one of my husband's employees was in town for a meeting.  He spent the night at our house.  Before he came,  I made brownies.  Unbeknownst to me, Clayton dropped 2 big globs of brownie on the floor of our guest bathroom and left them there the day before our guest arrived.  I had cleaned the bathroom, so I didn't bother to look in there.  The day after we had company, I went in there and saw the brownies on the floor.  I knew it was brownies and who the culprit was, but it didn't look like brownies.  I called Clayton to the bathroom and asked him if he did it, and he said yes.  I just busted out laughing.  I never know what he's going to do!

The least of these.........

We are reading the book Radical by David Platt in our small group at church.  It has really been eye-opening to say the least.  I just finished reading chapter 6 entitled, "How Much is Enough?: American Wealth and a World of Poverty.  It is sad to think that there is so much suffering and poverty in the world and yet we as Americans do so very little about it. 

One set of verses that really spoke to me was Matthew 25:31-46:

31"When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his throne in heavenly glory. 32All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. 33He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left.


34"Then the King will say to those on his right, 'Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. 35For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, 36I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.'

37"Then the righteous will answer him, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? 38When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? 39When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?'

40"The King will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.'

41"Then he will say to those on his left, 'Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. 42For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, 43I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.'

44"They also will answer, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?'

45"He will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.'

46"Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life."

God is definitely impressing on my heart that my family needs to do something for "the least of these".  I'm willing and waiting to see what that will be.

"All Hail the Power of Jesus' Name"

We learned about this story in church this morning.  I just had to share it.


Reverend E. P. Scott was a missionary, living in India during the 1800s. At the prompting of the Holy Spirit, but against advice of his fellow missionaries, Scott set out alone to visit a remote village. He was determined to share the Gospel with a dangerous savage tribe.

Several days into his journey. Scott was met by a large group of warriors who quickly surrounded him, each one pointing a spear towards his heart. Expecting to die, Scott made a decision to use his last few breaths to glorify God, and to hopefully stir something within the hearts of his captors. He took out his violin (which he always carried on him), closed his eyes, and began to play and sing All Hail the Power of Jesus Name, in the native language of the warriors.

After singing the first verse, the second, the third, and then beginning the fourth, Rev. Scott realized he was still standing, and that all around him was a peaceful quiet. Opening his eyes he saw every spear lowered. There stood those mighty warriors, with tears in their eyes. Throughout the remainder of his life, Scott spent much time with this tribe, sharing the love of God.

All Hail the Power of Jesus Name has been hailed as the "National Anthem of Christendom." It was written in 1779 by Rev. Edward Perronet (1726-1792) The music was composed by Oliver Holden (1765-1844). The hymn has been translated into almost every existing language.



All hail the power of Jesus' name!

Let angels prostrate fall;

bring forth the royal diadem,

and crown Him Lord of all.

Bring forth the royal diadem,

and crown Him Lord of all.



Ye chosen seed of Israel's race,

ye ransomed from the Fall,

hail Him who saves you by His grace,

and crown Him Lord of all.

Hail Him who saves you by His grace,

and crown Him Lord of all.



Sinners, whose love can ne'er forget

the wormwood and the gall,

go spread your trophies at His feet,

and crown Him Lord of all.

Go spread your trophies at His feet,

and crown Him Lord of all.



Let every kindred, every tribe

on this terrestrial ball,

to Him all majesty ascribe,

and crown Him Lord of all.

To Him all majesty ascribe,

and crown Him Lord of all.



O that with yonder sacred throng

we at His feet may fall!

We'll join the everlasting song,

and crown Him Lord of all.

We'll join the everlasting song,

and crown Him Lord of all.

Some new treasures that we've discovered!

This was a great movie, especially for a boy.  Clayton loved it!



We've discovered several Bobbsey Twin easy readers at our library for Clayton.



A very sweet story with pretty pictures.  Great book for nature lovers.

This is the BEST book I've ever seen about Noah's ark and The Flood. 

Just so I don't get in trouble, all of these pictures were copied off of http://www.amazon.com/.  I hope it's ok to do that.  I order from that website quite a bit.  They have just about any book or movie you could possibly want.
 I didn't post a picture of the book, The Waterhorse, but it is great!  We rented the version on CD from our library, and listened to it, and it was fabulous!  The reader has a Scottish accent, so it made it even more fun!  The book is very clean and there is nothing creepy about it at all.  When I first heard about the movie, I thought it sounded creepy.  I can definitely say that the book is not.  The movie could be a little bit scary for some sensitive children, but Clayton loved it.  There is a scene where English soldiers are shooting at the waterhorse at night and it could be scary for a child for sure. The story takes place in Scottland during World War II.  The scenery is pretty, the cinematography is beautiful, the house that the family live in is beautiful (the wood floors are to die for!),  and of course I love the accents.  One good thing about the accents is that it makes it harder to understand the 2 curse words in the movie (hell, just so you know).  Clayton didn't pick up on them, but Carrington did.  I won't give away the surprise at the end of the book, but it makes the whole story even more interesting.  A true tale it is.......... :o)
I absolutely can't say enough good things about The True Story of Noah's Ark.  I love the fact that the story is not presented as a fairytale, but as a factual account of an historical event, which it is.  The pictures are beautiful and there is a lot of detail about how big the ark really was, including measurements.  It also mentions that there are flood stories handed down from countless cultures around the world.  It comes with a CD in which the author reads the story.  He has a wonderful radio announcer-type voice.

I've been decorating........ for less than $10!

I wanted to make a few changes in my house, so I went to WalMart and bought 3 cans of black spraypaint.  I have had so much fun painting things in my house.  I painted a basket first.  It turned out really cute.  The picture definitely doesn't do it justice.  It looks gray in the picture, but it is definitely black.  I also painted a candle sconce that hangs on the wall in my kitchen.  It turned out really cute too.  Then I painted these plate racks.  I think they look pretty good with these plates that I found at Hobby Lobby one day.  My favorite store, by the way!
My kids and I were doing a Science experiment the other day with water, air, and some plastic cups.  They decided to put on their bathing suits and play in the water for a few minutes.
My Aunt Emily came for a visit the other day and brought the above pecan pie.  :o)  She brought some documents about our family history for me to make copies of.  I love Geneology!  It is so fascinating to me to learn about our family's history.  One of the documents says that our ancestors owned a castle in Ireland.  It is still standing and I would love to see it some day.

Random happenings

At the park

Davey Crockett taking a break.

Betsy Ross on the zipline.

Fierce frontiermen.

My "new" chair.

Clayton's favorite hangout.

Fun at the park.

Yes, I actually bought that chair at a garage sale.  I plan on spray painting it after Warren puts new slats on the seat.  Then I can put it on my front stoop with a pumpkin or scarecrow for a fall display.  At least that's the plan.  I was looking for old, but this chair might be a little too old.  We'll see........