It is a typical fall day here in Illinois.  It is slightly overcast, a slight dampness in the air, leaves are just starting to turn and a few leaves have made their way to the ground.  Why is it, I wonder, why the leaves always seem to land right in front of the door where we walk, to be stepped on, crushed into little bits, and then continuously tracked right into the house on the rug??  ha  What a messy nuisance!  The more I sweep, the more they fall! 
    I hope you all are having a great week!  I finally broke down and got into the "pumpkin" spirit!  Here is the flavor of the day in my coffee!
                                      

Yum!  It is so good!  I love almost everything pumpkin!  

Morning time is very special to me!  I have 

never really been a morning person, but now I crave that special quiet time.  My house empties out while my husband and kids make their way to school and work.  I take full advantage of this time for my morning prayer and devotion time.  

Here is a look at my stack from this morning.

on the bottom, is my prayer journal.  This is where I write down personal things I need to meditate and pray about.  Where I write down requests that might come my way, and where I list my strategy for prayer.  Also, I can keep a list of scriptures to help with certain prayers.  But it's also where I keep track of all the answered prayers!  It's great to ask for things in prayers, But never forget to thank God when they are answered!

Next in my stack is my Bible in the brown case.  I take it with me almost everywhere.  It's not as pretty as it once was, with little notes, bookmarks, highlighted areas, little sticky flags everywhere, But it is more precious and worth so much to me now then it ever was before.  Above my Bible is my devotion book.  I think it's important to read a devotion everyday....I call it food for my mind.  Gives me something else to think about, or a perspective that I wouldn't have thought of.

On the very top of that stack is one of my new books that I enjoy very much,

The book, Fervent, was inspired by the movie, War Room.  That movie really touched my life and this book is refreshing my memory of things learned from the movie.  I highly recommend it!

That is how I start my day, and usually how I end my day.  

Well, fall is definitely my favorite season!  Partly because orange is my favorite color, but this time of year the air is just so crisp and fresh, the colors are beautiful, and the decoration are so cute!  Here are a few pics of my fall decorations this year,

I really like the way they turned out, however, nothing could ever compare to the beauty God created!!

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Happy Haloween

Happy Halloween 2011


   We have been so busy that we almost forgot about the pumpkins!  I was very surprised that my kids never even mentioned them!  So I picked them all up after school and took them to the pumpkin farm.

     Here are the pumpkins they picked out...............

    So they set out to cut out the lid....and scrape out the insides...

   My son has a very weak stomach, I don't know if it was the smell of fresh pumpkin, or the way it felt in his hand....but that's all it took.....and he lost his lunch.........

        Sorry, but we were all laughing...I guess it was just the moment but I had to add this picture!  haha
       So Grandma Keller filled in where he left off and cleaned out the pumpkin.

     Once the lid was off, and the pumpkin was cleaned out it was time to core the gourd....otherwise known as carving the pumpkin!

         Yes, that is a squishy little toy rat that Derek has decorated his Jack=O=Lantern with.   Great Job kids!!!
  
      Then comes Trick-or-Treating.....Derek doesn't want to go this year, Ieshia wants to walk around and take pictures, but Emily still wants to go and get all the candy she can drag into the house!  haha

        So Emily went with my other daughter, Sharayah, and my grandchildren, Blaize and Lyndee, and their Dad who was the DD..(designated driver) which is just as annoying as driving a group of drunk people......driving a bunch of sugar hyped kids!  Poor Andy!  So everyone left, Derek went with his Dad and for the first time in 22 years....I was sitting alone on Halloween.  It was the first time that i didn't take my kids from house to house.  Did it make me sad??  Absolutely not!  I grabbed my book and enjoyed it for a few minutes!   
           My Grandson, Blaize was a monkey...............

     My granddaughter, Lyndee was a Zebra.............

      My two nieces were Cowgirls........

Lauren

Kate

         My sister in Law, Donna and baby Audrey were Raggedy Ann...................................

        They always have the cutest costumes!!!!      

                   
                              A great Halloween for all!!!!