Religion

Why must religion be such a touchy topic????  Well around here it has been the talk of the house with Sam and myself.  Most of you who have known us for a while know that we have been searching for quite some time. 

Sam was in and out of church ever since he was a kid until I met him.  He has always told me that he did not take much out of it because it was just something that they did.  That speaks a LOT to me as a mom.  Just because you may want to take your child to something does not mean they will get anything out of it.  So is it brain washing or not? 

Now as for me...one of my grandmothers always went to church, the others, never.  My parents were not into church.  All I know is that my mother went for a while as a young woman and my father went as a child because that was the Sunday thing.  I did not go much.  I was the crazy child who became fascinated with different beliefs.  At ten years old I remember picking up some of my first mythology books and loving every minute of it.  I soon found myself reading about all kinds of religions and decided to not claim a single one. 

In the more recent past, once we moved to Kentucky, we started going to church.  Well not really to service but to small group (which was not small).  Great group of people!!!  We loved group and went every Sunday we could.  Then our group started splitting apart.  A new church was starting but we did not feel like we should go until our small group became an average of ten years older than us in class.  We moved churches and got onto a launch team for a new and upcoming church.  Sam and I finally decided it was time to get baptised.  Everything was peaches and cream until recently.  We have just started to step back and look at things.  We are finding that we do not belong where we are.  Part of it is our fault and part is not.  We have volunteer for the children's area since the church went public (which was over a year ago).  I think we did that so we would not have to talk to people in some kind of subconscious way.  I am not the typical mom...odiously...a group of women walk toward me and I high tail it the other way, just as a group of men come my way and I have learned not to talk sports or cars because they do not find it interesting that a woman has any knowledge of this at all.  Sam has had some similar issues of not being able to find any Great friends that want to do anything (other than just saying...hey lets go golfing and never call). 

So we are on the search of what to do.  Our time with the church is coming to an end!!!! 

Now as for the children you may ask.  For some kids church is great...Gavin does like church.  He wants lessons and to read.  He wants to know who is who and who did what.  It is wonderful.  We have never baptised him or Eliza...nor do we plan on it.  I know some of you reading this are probably feeling a little disappointed but I will put it to you the best way I can.  Picking a religion for our children is NOT our job.  It is their job to make an informed decision when they decide to.  If we were to baptise or dedicate our child it would make their lives chaos if they wanted to marry or become devote in some other religions.  Our job as parents are to teach our children morals...good from bad, right from wrong.  We should also be teaching them of the ways of the world.  The other religions out there.  What better way to understand people than by the religion they practice. 

I have to admit.  I have lots of friends that are Christian.  That helps me know what to say and not to say.  It also helps me in being able to pray with them.  It lets me know that I can say Merry Christmas when the season approaches.  I have friends that are Jewish.  I am always happy to tell them Happy Hanukkah.  I do not have any Muslim friends that I know of but I would be happy to oblige the same way.  It is just nice.  They may tell me Merry Christmas they may tell me what they believe.  The real power is acceptance. 

I have a friend who celebrates Christmas but believes in Science...because she just has to see and feel what she believes in.  That to me gives me peace of mind that she believes in something...it just happens to be the something that she is practicing.  We know people that like to mix religions.  They call themselves Buddhist with some Christian beliefs or Pagan Christians.  The Pagan Christians are Christian that have a love of mother earth.  Mother earth is not a person...they believe God created all but they also believe that there should be thanks given back to the earth.  It really truly is a fascinating religion to read into.

I tell you all this mostly because I have had it on my mind lately.  We are going to figure out what to do.  We have some friends that run a church, and while we may be the whitest people there, they may be super accepting and welcome us with arms open (and maybe make some more friends).

We need to find a place where we belong even if it is for a few weekends here and there.  I do not believe  that we should have to believe what our parents did but I do think religion is good for little minds.  Anymore it is the best place to learn some morals. 

Time

Ok, so where has the time gone???   It has been almost a month since I have put a post up. 

In the words of GLEE here is what you missed...

Gavin turned 4...Yes, the big man is 4.  Yes that means I am only 2 years away from him going to ALL DAY KINDERGARTEN!!!!! 

Eliza turned 6 months.  The little lady is not so little.  She fits into size 9 month or 12 month clothing.  Not only is she a large lady...she is LONG...very very long. 

We finally got some family pictures done.  My wonderful friend Whitney came to the house for a day. 

I have done 2 craft shows.  I did not sell much at either one.  So if you need baby toys, burp cloths, tutus, flower hair pins, blankets, coasters and place mats that match, or fabric scrap tutus...please get ahold of me.

I have not had a photo shoot for a while.   That is fine because I have been busy enough without one.  I am getting ready to restore some slides for a woman though.  I also have my own family history to work on and document...thanks to my Grandma Miles for all of her hard work. 

I am going to have the Cotton Blossom up and online soon.  That is the quilt store here in town.  Fabulous place to get fabric if you live here or are visiting!!!!

I am starting my second quilt.  Yes, I finished my first one!!!!  I am upset that I did not get a picture of it but I will make sure to take a picture of the next one.  This quilt is going to be for Project Linus. 

I have officially gone through all of my clothes and gotten rid of everything that I do not fit into.  I found a very good home for all of them with a young woman that really needs some love from anyone and everyone. 

Sam and I have made apple butter galor and we are not done!  We have made at least 10 jars so far and that is only half of the apples.  I still have pumpkin butter to make too.  We know what I am doing this week right?

So, that is what you have missed.

I will probably post more after this weekend.  We do not have a lot of plans for the holiday week, but we are having a couple of dinners to go to and are hosting our first deaf dinner (with some great friends I might add).  What all plans are in store for you this week?

Meet the Courtney's

I had the pleasure of taking pictures of this amazing family Sunday.  For those of you who do not know them, this is the family that offers a CSA program here in Shelby County!!!!  So here are some of my favorite pictures from our session.

 Needless to say, my husband is in love
with this little lady.  However, if you know Sam
it should be of no surprise since he always
loves the little girls!

I think Gavin found a new friend!

Gavin even got to come out and play at the end of the shoot.  I have to say, they are all troopers
since it was spitting rain on us the whole time.

Is that Harry Potter????

Nope that would be my cousin Connor.  We just did his senior pictures over the weekend.  Gavin was a huge fan because that meant he go to play with Chase and Taylor.  Well enough talk, here are the pictures.  I did a few crazy things since he is as big of a Beatles fan as I am (guess it runs in the family).

What a Week

WOW, we had quite the week.  Lot of playing outside, playing in the leaves that are falling, and going to the doctor. 

Gavin got to play in the leaves on Monday night.  We do not have a great tree for fall leaves but he neighbors do.  Connie and Larry did not mow up the leaves until Tuesday so Gavin could play in them.  Larry raked the leaves and Gavin jumped.  We had a lot of fun. 

I don't know about anyone else but we still have flowers blooming!?!?!?!  I really don't understand how they are still blooming after a frost (specially because they are not mums) but more power to them! 

We played outside a lot this week until Thursday.  We needed the rain but I am kind of ok if we don't get any until right before I plant our bulbs...maybe a little rain after, but not enough to make the grass grow anymore.  We still have to mow but I am ready for it to be the last time we mow. 

 Last, we went to the doctor today for Eliza's check up and shots.  Any guesses as to how much she weighs????  I can tell you she is not a small kid...she loves to eat everything...and she is at the 90th percentile for her age.  Amazingly she is above the 50th percentile for height!!!!  Maybe we do have some of my dad's genes in us.  I hope we have a lot of his...I would love for my kids to have a little height to them. 

I did get a couple of shots of her the week before.  She had just gotten a bath...which she totally loves.  She kicks all of the water out.  The other one, she was working on rolling over, which she continued to prefect over the course of this week along with her pterodactyl shrill. 

Touch the Dirt Day

So as some of you know, we did not buy our veggies this year at the grocery.  We participated in a CSA program through a local farming family.  Each year toward the end of the harvest season they have a touch the dirt day.  We are big fans of farm life and country living that we knew we could not miss it.  They had a bee keeper out to talk to people about harvesting honey, hay rides, ponds to fish in, trails to walk, a cookout, you name, they had it.  We did not do much other than socialize and fish.  My big boy wanted to fish. 

Gavin caught three fish...one all by himself!  It was a great evening.  We stayed at the farm for around five hours, and still took a little man back crying that he did not want to go home. 

It was so nice to finally meet the people that are in charge of our vegetables.  How many people can say they know the farmers that grow their produce.  Ok so next year we will know exactly where our vegetables come from (because we are going to do the CSA again and we are converting part of the back yard into a garden). 

If you are interested at all in doing the CSA with the Courtney's please talk with me, we had such a great experience that I would love for everyone else to be able to have the same experience. 

 

 I think Gavin also got another set of grandparents out of going there.  Our friends Josh and Melissa Ballard were out there with their two kids Eli and Ruby and Melissa's parents. 

We also took our friends Shea and Anna out there with us since poor Jim had to work. 

Best part about the whole night, making seven dozen cupcakes to go out there with and only coming back with a dozen.  We only came back with the pumpkin.  All of the caramel apple cupcakes were gone very quickly, so I guess they were good.

A big thank you to the Courtney's for doing the CSA program.  It has been a hard year for farm crops, but they are doing such a wonderful thing.  We got so many veggies, I am scared to know what a good farm season looks like.

Baby Shower

So, we were supposed to host a baby shower last Saturday but we were not able to.

I guess I should have totally expected it, the time I try and throw a shower, the baby is born before we can have it.

We got to welcome Laell Jewel into the world a week ago.  I am so excited for Chelsie and David. 

Luckily they let us reschedule the shower for next Saturday.  I promise to have pictures of the baby after the shower.  Lets admit, when there is a baby at a baby shower...specially the baby it is for, the shower does not matter.  It becomes more of an baby oogling time.