"Stacy"

As I posted previously, Owen's nieces stayed with us a little while ago.  Both girls like dogs, but they seem to be more appreciative of ours lately now that they've got a very puppy-ish (read mouthy, jumping, chasing) puppy at their home! :)

(J and K's dog, Princess)

J was particularly attentive to our older girl, Isabelle.  She stopped what she was doing and GUSHED every time Isabelle came into the room....going on and on about how pretty Isabelle is, how sweet she is, and loving on Isabelle.
Now Isabelle is normally flighty, even with us. But I think all that GUSHING turned her head, and she submitted to being petted on by a person who would normally be considered suspect (merely because J doesn't live here, feed Isabelle off of her plate daily, etc etc...the usual suspicious activities)....
So, J and K and Owen were playing in the living room when Isabelle enters and hops up into the chair. J stops what she's doing and starts GUSHING again, " Aaawww, she's so pretty! She's so soft! She's so sweet! Where'd you get her? What's her name? CAN I CALL HER STACY?".....???????? I laughed so hard I cried! I don't know who J knows named Stacy but it was obvious by her demeanor that Stacy is the PRETTIEST name she can think of! :)

(Sorry for blurriness, but wanted to post proof that Isabelle let someone else touch her!)

For the record, J asks what our dogs names are every time she comes over, several times. I'm not sure, but I think it's that we have so many dogs that makes it necessary to go over the information several times?  The "where'd you get her?" question is new, though, spawned by what seems to be a belief that WHERE we got Isabelle has resulted in the fact that Isabelle is not "puppy-ish" (read mouthy, jumping, chasing), and that if they had gotten their puppy from the same place, then their puppy would behave the same! :)

(Note the slightly wild-eyed look on Isabelle's face. The squeeze was just about too much!)

This kid cracks me up! :)

Birthday

Jim's youngest granddaughter's birthday was last week. We had both of them stay over this weekend to celebrate.  As part of the festivities, we went bowling...Note the expression on J's face in the pic below. This kiddo's middle name is "DRAMA"! :)

Wait for it.......

If you watched the video to the end, this is the reaction that she gave to EVERY ball, EVERY time, regardless of whether it knocked over any pins or not!

All three kiddos did a really good job, and had a really good time. As we were leaving, I think every adult in a 4-lane radius of us told us how much they'd enjoyed J's enthusiasm! :)

We followed up the bowling with pizza and a cake. Note the sympathetic mouth-puckering of the other two kiddos. They can't help but try to help her blow out the candles! :)

And the present was a hit, too!

Friends

Owen has a friend, who came over to play. We broke out the water balloons for the occasion.

The deck was the perfect launching pad.

However, a couple of balloons bounced, instead of bursting! So they went down to investigate.

Apparently, one was lost over the edge of the patio...

On to other things....

and still other things....

and still other things.....

All in all, it was a good day!

Tball Time

Is...

there.....

anything....

cuter....

than....

...a kid in uniform??!??!

Prayer

Owen and Jim spent the day and evening playing with/babysitting Jim's grand-daughters while their parents and I work. Jim sent me this text:
"Owen prayed 'Let people know about Jesus. Help sick people and dogs.  Help K and J's mom and dad get toys for their dog so she won't chew up their toys. In Jesus name we pray.' " :)
Apparently there were some casualities amongst the Barbies!

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Layers of LIfe

Convergence

I posted something on Facebook the other day, that started with how unavoidable that particular topic had become in my life. It seemed like every time I opened a book, or a paper, or looked on the internet, or spoke to someone, the topic was the same, albeit from a different perspective...

I'm having another one of those convergences.  I caught the tail end of one of Kyle Idlem@n's sermons on the radio this morning, where he cited Romans 8:5-6.

Romans 8:5-6

New International Version (NIV)

⁵ Those who live according to the flesh have their minds set on what the flesh desires; but those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires. ⁶ The mind governed by the flesh is death, but the mind governed by the Spirit is life and peace.

The gist of the portion I heard  was that it's difficult to break the bad habits we have, because we've had them so long they seem comfortable and familiar.  A new habit, regardless of how "right" or "good" it may be, will feel strange and unfamiliar. This causes a lot of us (read ME here) to not persist, because it doesn't feel "right" or "good".

 

I've been trying to break some bad habits here: caffeine, sugar, etc etc.

 

I've been fortunate here recently in that there have been friends appear in my life recently that are helping me with these points.  Some have remarkably good habits, that encourage me to adopt them, and some have some of the same struggles I currently have, or are dealing with some of the habits I've been able to subdue.

 

I read this quote not long ago, in a book.

Erasmus
"A nail is driven out by another nail. Habit is overcome by habit." 

Powerful stuff, comparing a habit with a nail....

It brought to mind a saying I was exposed to many years ago, while attending an AA meeting with someone as a show of support. There was a LOT of wisdom around that table, but this story stuck with me...

AA saying
"Inside of me there are two dogs. One of the dogs is mean and evil. The other dog is good. The mean dog fights the good dog all the time." When asked which dog wins he reflected for a moment and replied, "The one I feed the most."

I believe this saying is applicable to all people, because all of us have "two dogs inside of us".  I don't know about you, but I find myself feeding the wrong dog, a lot.  But luckily, it seems like things are lining up, God is putting people, places, books, blogs right in front of me that are helping me down this path.

Isn't that cool?