Merry Christmas Disco Style

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Brice's first Deer

Brice went hunting with our friend, Sean Dodds, a few weeks ago. They were in the stand maybe 5 minutes and Brice shot his first deer. It was a 7 point and weighed 260 lbs. He was so excited. I had to post a few pictures. It was a memory maker. Thanks Sean!!!

Preparations

Today's post may be short because I'm extremely busy. Let's just say...stressed! For those of you that don't know my family is headed to Bangladesh a week from Friday. We have something every night this week and weekend and exams start Tuesday. We are having Christmas at my parent's house on Wednesday and Thursday at our house. It's gonna get crazy around here. Pray for us as we prepare for this trip. I want it to be good for Philip but I'm scared and worried about so many things.

I'm posting some pictures of our family that my dad took at Thanksgiving and some of us putting up the Christmas decorations. I may not post again before we get back from our trip. I'm sure that I will have tons to say about that. Have a very Merry Christmas!

The family

Brice (almost 15)

Shelby (12)

Eli (7)

Brice is looking real excited! But I won't complain. At least he participated this year.

Me and Shel

The tree!
I love all the old ornaments on our tree. The kids love to remember when they made some of them or when we got one. We get them a new ornament every year. They are shown below...

Brice's for his first deer!

Shelby's because she always has her camera!

Eli's because he loves video games.

I Am Thankful For...

My church, my Savior, my health, my family, my friends, my freedom, my house (even though I hate it), my car (even though it's falling about), my job, my boss, my children, my children's hugs, my husband, my husband's hugs, my husband's talks, my husband's example, my dad, my dad's advice, my dad's trait of making lists, my mom, my mom's advice, my mom's love for her family, my brother, my brother's love for my kids, my sister, my sister's advice, my sister's love for me, my sister's help, my mother in law and father in law, my mother in law's recipes, my mother in laws prayers for me and my family, my father in law's wisdom, my "sign in" team at chuch, my nursery team at church, Davis and Kathy Jones who touch my kids hearts and guide them in their decisions, my friends who live far away but still love me when I don't call for over a month, my friends who live close and still love me when I don't have time for lunch, pictures, email, communication, my 5 senses, life....

I could go on and on but I won't.  Just wanted those few of you that read my blog to know that I'm thankful for you during this Thanksgiving week and always......

Gratitude is an attitude of being thankful for what He has done for me! When we fully recognize that our greatest problem has been solved, our indebtedness of sin, we can feel and know gratitude and thus honor God, by leading a life of response to Who and what He has done! even when we do not see what we have. This is an aspect of worship, expressing to God, and others, how they have benefited our lives by showing them support, appreciation, and benevolence. Because His blood has redeemed us, we are grateful.  Although gratitude can mean thankfulness, or to respond to a favor we have received, it is a much deeper response where our hearts are filled with gratitude for the many blessings that God gives, even when they seem small to our wants, or even though we may not be able to see them. David was a man after God's own heart, and his heart was full of praise to God, even in times of dire stress. He knew what God has done for him. He was the least in his family, and his family the least in his tribe, yet he was chosen to be king. It was something he did not earn or deserve, and even when he sinned, he saw God’s Grace restore him (Psalm 34:1; 107:15).

As a Christian, we must strive to be more thankful to Him and do our utmost to live up to the call given to us in Heb 13:15, "By Him therefore let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is, the fruit of our lips giving thanks to his name."We need to have the mindset that we are merely sojourners here on this earth, that is we are just passing through, preparing ourselves for our true home in heaven. The result will be a life filled with praise to God, as we will see Him, and not just our circumstances. Perhaps we will then be able to appreciate His goodness to us and have even more praise to and for His name. This praise will overflow to others instead of the rotten fruits of Gal 5: 19-21! Let our worship be true because of what He has done for us! Let us give our loud expression to Him! Praise God forever and ever (Psalm 150)!  

Please don't think I'm smart enough to write all of this.  It came from a website (Into Thy Word and was written by a Dr. Richard J. Krejor).  I just thought it was really good.

Have a great Thanksgiving!

Fall is in the air...

So much has gone on lately I don't have time to get on here and update.  This month is flying by and I can't stop it.  Our trip in December is fast approaching and I have so much to think about and get done before then.  I'm even putting up the Christmas decorations this weekend so we will have more time to enjoy them.  Philip doesn't know why I'm even putting them up but I have to.  At least for me...

Brice has had his first JV game.  I missed the first one because Shelby had her final game of the season for rec.  But I did make the next two.  We won the first one (5-0). Brice scored one of those goals.  He was able to play on the new turf at the high school.  It is really nice but all the different lines confuse me.  He played Monday and they tied.(1-1)  Brice assisted our goal.  He plays Thursday and Saturday too.  We will be glad for next week.  No school!!!  I get to sleep late!

This is a picture of Brice on the turf last week.

This is a picture of Brice Monday night.  

Eli has had a fun month.  His class went to the MS Braves field and got a tour.  It was actually pretty fun.  They have a stuffed animal in their class called Quacky.  Each child gets a turn taking him home for the weekend.  Eli had him last weekend.  He took that thing everywhere.  Eli found a T-shirt from one of his "Build A Bear" friends and put it on Quacky.  I guess you could say that Eli donated the shirt because it went back to school like that.  Eli lost another tooth.  Brice pulled it for him.  Philip and I just can't do that.  His other front tooth is loose so we are waiting for it to fall out in time for Christmas.  "All I want for Christmas is my two front teeth"


Eli helped Philip in the yard Saturday.  What a good helper.  I love when they are young enough to think it's fun to help do chores.  Shelby helped me the other night clean out the medicine cabinet.  She thought it was fun.  If I asked her to do it she would probably pitch a fit.  I asked her last night if she would rather feed the dog or gather the trash cans in the house.  She chose the trash cans.  After she got them all in the kitchen I asked her to empty them and then take all the cans back to their appropriate places.  She looked and me and said, " I should have just fed Bear..."  HA!

Brice went hunting with Sean last weekend.  Sean has taken him before (last year) but they never saw anything.  Well, Saturday they got in the stand and were there maybe 5 minutes and he saw this deer.  He shot it dead on and was so excited.  It was a 7 point and weighed 260 lbs.  It was huge.  He was really proud.  Sean was excited too.  Amanda (his wife) said he didn't smile that big when their daughter was born.  Thanks Sean!!!!

I had to add this picture of Shelby.  Isn't is pretty?! She was hanging out with her friends, taking pictures and they took this one of her.  She is always busy with her friends these days.  She is looking forward to the Christmas dance at school.  
She is planning on going with a bunch of girls.  She did get asked yesterday by some boy but she said, "No thanks!".  I don't think this boy is very interesting to her.  HA!  Pray for her during these last couple of weeks of school.  She really needs to buckle down and study hard.  She needs to pull several of her grades up.  She has her moms brains and things just don't come easily to her.  I wish I could have passed a little smarts on to her...

Roller Coaster Day

Today has been a wild ride. I went to bed last night not wanting to watch the returns from the election. It was too depressing. I was really tired from the night before. Philip had been snoring loudly and clearing his throat all night. He is sick and does have an excuse. Anyway, when I woke up today I knew the results without even having to ask. Philip had watched TV until around 10:30 and he did tell me eventually the results but I knew... I was depressed, sad, mad, hopeless...for awhile. And then I remember that God is still on the throne, the sun still come up this morning, the kids still have to go to school, Philip still is going to work and I'm still going on a field trip with Eli's class. All that I can do about the situation is pray. Pray that God will still bless our country, pray that our new president will make smart decisions, pray that we will continue to trust in God and no one else. I'm trying not to worry which really isn't new for me. My father in law had a good quote that I used on my Facebook page this morning: Our trust is still in God who is our refuge and not in the political leaders we may elect. I really like that. Tonight I'm just tired. It's been a long day and I'm ready to get everyone to bed. I still have a while...

I'll will post some pictures of the field trip soon. We really had a blast...

Happy Halloween

Eli was an old man this year for Halloween. We had a lot of fun. Brice and Philip went to the football game so they weren't at home. Shelby went to the youth party for church so she wasn't at home either. It was just me and Eli. We went trick or treating with two little girls that live close to us. We got lots of candy. When the bag got too heavy we were through! We stayed and handed out candy for a little while and then went to pick up Shelby from her party. Brice and a few of his friends went to a Haunted House in town. They said it was pretty scary. I remember those days of having no fear and not being scared. Something happens when you get older. I guess I know too much now...

We said Eli could pass for either Ronnie Musgrove or Roger Wicker! Ha Ha!

Pumpkin Carving

Eli and I decided to try our hand at pumpkin carving today. I carved, he pulled out the gross stuff.

We had a lot of fun together. I was a little sad that Brice and Shelby didn't get into it this year but I know they are growing up and won't do all these things much longer. After we got finished I put the jack-o-lantern on the front porch and we lit a candle inside when it turned dark. It really looks good. We are looking forward to Halloween night. Eli is dressing as an old man. Should be fun...

Major Catch Up

We, as a family, have been so busy lately. I just haven't had the time to update the blog the way that I would like. I thought I would try to catch everyone up on all that has taken place in the last few weeks. Today Philip and I were able to spend the whole day together. We went shopping... I'm pretty sure that wasn't Philip's first choice but I had to do some things. We shopped for Christmas and a little clothes shopping. Philip's parents have given us money to go to Bangladesh this Christmas. We will be leaving after exams are over for the kids. We have lots to do to get ready for that so I wanted to get a head start on things. The weather is finally cooling off a bit and I'm loving it. I'm making taco soup tonight and planning on having some hot chocolate later.

For the most part our lives right now revolve around school projects, soccer practice, soccer games and church. Brice has started practicing with the high school team and they don't get finished until 5:30. He is playing for the rec and D2 teams and has practice for those teams during the week. Shelby and Eli have practice for their teams and games that we have to juggle. It is crazy some times. Brice will be playing in a tournament this weekend with his D2 team. It is a select tournament so it will be tough and then we find out that we will be playing in the U-17 bracket! I hope it goes well. I will try to get some pictures this weekend.

Brice and Shelby are involved with their youth group, Amplify. They meet at Davis' house on Wednesday nights. They have a lot of fun! They also volunteer at the church in various roles. Shelby loves the nursery and Brice enjoys leading the preschoolers in their worship time. I'm really proud of them.

Shelby and some of her friends from Amplify.

Brice and Baylie with Lawson. He is the son of one of the Amplify leaders.

Brice with his friends, Joshua and Bray.

Brice with Lawson.

Some of the preschoolers dancing during worship.

Brice leading the preschoolers.

Shelby in the nursery holding Mikayla. (Davis and Kathy's daughter)

Brice and Philip took on a BIG project one day last month. I decided that I wanted the big ugly bush cut down that was blocking the big ugly green box. It was huge. You can see one of the "stumps" that was left. There were 3 of them. Philip and Brice dug them all up. It looks so much better now. Thank you Philip an Brice.

Earlier this month LifeBridge had a fundraiser for a church in Canton. It was a motorcycle Yahtzee ride. Each rider had to pay for a Yahtzee game card and at different locations around town they were able to roll the dice and add their points. At the end we had lunch for them and prizes. It was very successful. I think we raised about $700. The station where we worked was my Brother-in Law's dentist office in Clinton. We had a lot of fun looking at the bikes.

Well, I think I've pretty much caught you up on things. Hopefully I can do better about updating. I'm not making any promises...

I will not survive...

...The teenage years! Last night was homecoming for Madison. Brice, Eli and Philip went to the game for a little while. Shelby and I had a girls night.(or we tried to) Shelby and I went and rented a movie and then went by the store to get cookie dough. We made our cookies, waxed our eyebrows and settled in for our movie night. As soon as we started the movie, the boys came in. Shelby said, "You guys leave again, you'll ruin it!" Oh well, the movie was still good even though we had to share it with the boys!
Brice got dressed up after the movie to go to the Homecoming dance. He didn't take a date, just went by himself. It was over at 12:00 and then there was a breakfast after it that he was not going to, or so I thought. I waiting up until about 11:45 and left the house to pick him up. You should have seen the cars lined up. I'm glad that I got there when I did or I would have been 12:30 getting him. When I got there Brice had been thinking about going to the breakfast. (it was not over until 2:00) I just kept thinking, "I could have gone to bed at 10:00". Well, he ended up going with a friend and his mom to the breakfast and getting home a little after 1:00. I waited for him on the couch and he woke me up to let me know he was home. I was thinking that I won't be able to survive those late nights every weekend when he starts dating or going out with friends. Not only do I have to think and worry about his choices but he will be driving then. Oh no!!!

Well, I feel a nap coming on this afternoon since Eli woke me up before 7:00 this morning. He has a soccer game at 10:00 and then we have several things to get ready for tomorrow and then I'm crawling back in the bed.

The fun never ends at the Thurman house...

It's All About Eli...Today Anyway

I seem to only have pictures of Eli to share. It's been awhile since my last update and I was waiting until I had more things to share. I decided I just need to go ahead and write before it's Christmas. Eli's assistant teacher at school took these pictures of him. Aren't they cute. I'm so glad she does this because I get to see him doing his school work and interacting with his friends. He looks like he is really working hard and playing hard. He has great teachers and a great class. I'm also posting some videos of Eli at one of his recent games. He is really having fun and is keeping up with his goals that he has scored. He has a piece of paper taped to the door that has the date and the number of goals scored on that particular day. I think that was Brice's idea but it is fun to see him get excited about it. Well, I have lots of laundry to do and lunch with an old friend today so I best be getting to all that.