Black Eyed Peas

Before I get to these hilarious videos, I must vent a bit. Seriously, they are hilarious- read this and I promise you- they are well worth the wait! :)

I know I blogged about enduring a little storm lately, but really, I think it is much more than that. I truly feel satan is attacking my right now.

A little skeptical?

Read Job 1:6-12

"Now there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the LORD, and Satan also came among them. The LORD said to Satan, "From where do you come?" Then Satan answered the LORD and said, "From roaming about on the earth and walking around on it." The LORD said to Satan, "Have you considered My servant Job? For there is no one like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man, fearing God and turning away from evil."

Then Satan answered the LORD, "Does Job fear God for nothing? Have You not made a hedge about him and his house and all that he has, on every side? You have blessed the work of his hands, and his possessions have increased in the land. But put forth Your hand now and touch all that he has; he will surely curse You to Your face."

Then the LORD said to Satan, "Behold, all that he has is in your power, only do not put forth your hand on him." So Satan departed from the presence of the LORD.

In Job we find a man who loves the Lord and is richly blessed. Satan tells God that the only reason he loves Him so is because of the blessings, so God ALLOWS satan to attack Job. This is still the practice of the day. Satan causes harm, but he is on a leash, God's leash. Note that God even initiated the suffering, "Have you considered my servant Job?" Even then satan thought he was wreaking havoc when in reality, he was just playing into the hands of God.

You see, nothing bad befalls us without God knowing it first. He is Omniscient and Omnipotent. In Romans 8:28 it says, "And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose." This brings me immense comfort in every situation, even physical suffering. Now, I know I could feel much worse, or even be much worse off, but when you have been dealing with pain for the last 4 months, it starts to get to you. Not to mention there is so much I need to do, but I am physically unable to because of the pain.

Now, I am in no way saying I am Job. If you are familiar with him, you will be laughing at me right now. I am not Job- not even close, (thank You Lord!). But, seeing his life does bring comfort to the fact that while we are attacked by satan, God is always right there keeping him in check. It is ALWAYS for our good and His glory.

Please pray for healing, or at least for continued strength and endurance in the Lord's will, and that I will continue to praise Him through this. Ultimately- I need prayer to help me get things done around the house. CPS does unannounced visits, and I would prefer that they not see my house the way it is now. I need to get my house in a presentable state at least.

Ok, ready for the hilarity to begin?!

Every time we are in the car and The Black Eyed Pea's song "The Time" comes on, Sweetpea starts crying. Every time. I wanted to see if I could catch it on film...

I played it again for Mr. Incredible- notice his response... lol

Now, it seems it is not just this song. When their song, "I've got a feeling," comes on she cries too. She LOVES a good beat, so one would assume she would love that song. Alas, the second she hears it she wails, and the second I change the station she stops. My little music lover apparently hates The Black Eyed Peas. HA!!

I have loads of pictures to post, but I thought you would like to see the funny videos tonight. Pictures tomorrow. :)

parting is such sweet sorrow...

On my website, you will see that I also do event photography. Our beloved worship pastor is moving to a church in San Antonio. We hate to see him and his family go, but 1. we know God has big plans for them, and 2. we know that since we are brothers and sisters in Christ, goodbye is never forever. :) We will miss y'all greatly! Mama D asked me to get pics of the kids' school friend going away party.

I got pics of them with their friends for their scrapbook.

E playing Musical chairs. Man that sun showed up bright in this shot!

H going into the kill in capture the flag. :)

QB H considering his throw...

I think he was happy with his throw. :)

I took many more pics of the kids, but I will spare you all of them... there are many just like the ones above. :)

And of course I was the constant professional and I absolutely did not bring my husband and baby along. Nope, I would never do that. ;)

Mama, did you say party!?!

YEA!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Her shoe fairy, (aka her awesome former foster mom), has bought her two pairs of shoes lately just because- here are the newest ones.

As I said, I was a complete professional and did not once take advantage of the great lighting... nope not even once...

Her first time swinging at a park... wasn't so sure at first

Love this shot!

So sweet. Lighting is a lil weird. I am in the process of editing this and a few others... will post tomorrow. :)

Hey Mama!

Oh I love them so!!

And Again

Once again, I forgot to post a photoshoot. Let's pretend it is still December seeing as these were taken for the family's Christmas card. ;)

Oh, you didn't know I was an amateur photographer? You can find more info here. :)

Meet the Grace Family

This was much less dark when it was larger and not on the blog. hmm...

I usually hate when photogs over do it with sepia/b&w effects. I promise this is usually not my practice. However I needed it for this shoot. 1. the lighting was too bright since it was overcast and images like the one above looked too washed out without a little help, and 2. images like the group below are just so pretty in an effect, and 3. sometimes it just looks cool in little amounts like the 2 above group shots.

Oh, and if these next 3 do not melt your heart, you need to change your name to The Grinch.

Seriously- how sweet were these? I can't wait to get pics of Mr. Incredible and Sweetpea like these. :)

How fun is this? I wish I would have known this was coming so I could get the other two kiddos to make a funny face too. :)

S kept coming up with fun shots to try. :)

What handsome boys! R, you really should smile with your teeth- you would look even more handsome!

It may be out of focus, but how cute is this? :) And what did I tell you about your smile R? :)

How great is this pic of E?! :)

Forgotten Post

Here are some shots I took at the Zoo on our first annual Christmas Eve trip. I added a vignette boarder- they needed a little somethin' somethin'.

Even chimps love Snuggies ;)

I photoshopped this one to make an art piece for Sweetpea's safari room. I am in LOVE with those baby elephants!!

Great Minds Think Alike

Last week I got some awesome nail polish and planned to blog about it. Yesterday my friend, Meredith, announced she as hosting a Polish Swap. Perfect timing! Click here to play along! You do not have to be a blogger to play along! :)

I began collecting nail polishes in June when I discovered Mr. Incredible liked nail polish on me. I have every color in the rainbow and then some. :) Most of my polishes cost about $1.99.

For Christmas, my cousin got this really pretty gold glitter polish from OPI, and I was smitten. Since I had collected a good amount, I was ok with spending a little more on the really pretty polish. Well, I drove all around and could not find it. BUT at CVS, I discovered a really awesome brand: Milani. It had a gold glitter and and a charcoal glitter that I bought instead of the OPI. They were right under $5 a piece.

Isn't it awesome! I could not stop looking at my hands!!

This polish was not only really pretty, but stayed on well too. Here it is a week after putting it on, and when I put it on I didn't file first. Not to mention that everyday, (sometimes twice in one day), I take a scalding hot bath which is not exactly easy on polish. This stuff is great! :)

There are a few more colors I want from Milani. Click here to see Gems, Gold, and Silver. This polish can be purchased at CVS, (I also saw it today at Walgreens, but it didn't have my colors I wanted). Gems is similar to a polish shown below, but different enough I want to try it, (also it takes a few coats to look nice, so I probably will run out sooner than later).

On her blog, Meredith had shown a nail polish called Happy Birthday. It was really cool, but really expensive. When I was at Walgreens today, I found a comparable polish for only $1.99!!! While there I also found my new favorite brand: Sinful Colors. Huge selection, fun colors and glitters, and $1.99!!! I about fell over, and I had to check the price a few times!!

The Sinful Colors is on the left. Today I also bought a green glitter, purple glitter, silver glitter, and blue glitter polish. (I need a red and pink glitter polish next- or orange, yellow, I think you get the idea- I LOVE glitter).

I have never, ever worn black nail polish, but I have to admit, it is pretty... and yes, I painted my nails in bed today- gotta heal that disc!

I had just finished, so forgive the mess ups- I am about to get into the scalding hot bath where they will all disappear. :) Considering Happy Birthday cost $18 and this cost $2- I think it looks pretty darn good! :)


To whomever I am partnered with on the swap: As seen above I LOVE glitters, and you can see from my collection that I have a wide variety. If you can't find the colors I requested- never fear and just surprise me! :) You can never go wrong with Milani and Sinful Colors! :) This will be fun!! :)

Have you had your Veggies today?

What better way to get out of the dumps than to watch talking vegetables bring a little humor and truth into our lives? I seriously brought these into my room today to watch them. I have been feeling the urge to especially watch the first one mentioned for awhile now. We love the Veggie Tales a the Keierleber Castle. We have every one ever made. Wanting to start your collection? Here are my favorites:

#1 all time FAV: It's a Meaningful Life. Oh, and grab the tissues, this is a very heart warming story that alwasy makes me tear up, if not cry. :) I could live without the Silly Song, but everything else is amazing! Even the extras! Be sure to catch Steven Curtis Chapman's Music video and the video for Show Hope. :)
Close second: Gideon the Tuba Warrior. Was my #1 until Meaningful Life came out! You may want tissues for this one too. :)
Sweetpea Beauty, {not the whole video, just the Sweetpea Beauty Segment}*

A Snoodle's Tale, {not the whole video, just the Snoodle's Tale Segment}* Def want tissues for the Snoodle's Tale. Very heartwarming.

Those are my favorites. Although, The Wonderful Wizard of Ha's is very enjoyable. :) I would say if you are leery- try this one for size first. :)

*Not that I don't like the other part of the episode- they just don't rank as my favorites. Make sense?

Ok, so I guess as a good rule of thumb, keep tissues near whenever you watch Veggie Tales. Come on, they are telling us stories of how God loves us, so you have to expect some tears, right? :)

What are your favorites? :)