Halleluiah!!!!!!!!

This post is about Halleluiah's or, in other words, "praise God!" While you're reading this next entry, just sing the Halleluiah chorus to yourself, especially this first one....and sing it with gusto!

#1. This one's a big one. Our neighbors finally moved out!!! (you're singing the chorus now). This may sound harsh but it really is a blessing. This house used to be the domain of a loving family, a few fights and raised voices once in a while, but a nice family....then came the divorce. All of a sudden, the wife moved out, shady characters moved in with the husband and a steady stream of cars started driving down the street in the middle of the day (gee, I wonder what they were doing?). I don't know about you but that spelled trouble to me and my door stayed locked at all times. The police were called in and things kind of calmed down for a while but we knew the house had been foreclosed on since last June and we were just waiting for the bank to come reclaim their property. Finally, they came this last week and forced the gang of characters out of the house, rekeying the lock. Well, they moved all of 10 feet to the garage where they camped out for 5 days still doing their extracurricular activities and making the street feel extremely trashy. Then, last night, the sheriffs came and now, the tarp that took the place of the garage door (yes, it was dismantled) is home to no one. Can I hear a big AMEN!!

#2. Halleluiah for half priced egg dyes. I know most people dyed eggs BEFORE Easter but I had no time or motivation until I saw half priced kits at Wal-Mart. So we hard boiled 9 Easter eggs and used the dyes all of 2 times each, producing some pretty cool Easter eggs.

The finished product before all of the stickers. They were pretty proud of them.#3. Halleluiah for shoes that fit...and cameras that don't cover all of the aisles in Wal-Mart. Now, before I tell the story, let me reassure you that I usually follow the rules but, in this case, bending them a little was imperative. My son hates any shoes that he's not used to (do I hear an amen, Cara?). I have bought him shoes in the past only to have a response that would rival most tantrums when I try to secure them to his feet. This is why, when we came upon a pair of CARS sandals in Wal-Mart and he seemed to enjoy wearing them around the store, I whipped out my scissors, cut the tags, and allowed him to "break them in" on the rest of the shopping trip. I just want to point out that if I hadn't done that he would either have had a fit in the store or later when I tried to reattach them to his feet. When I brought the single tag to the counter to pay for them along with my other purchases, the lady just smiled and rang it up like it didn't even phase her. Makes you wonder...Here he is in his new sandals. Now I'm hoping I can put the other, nicer shoes when Sunday comes around. He'll probably want to wear the CARS sandals to bed, he's so attached to them.#4. Lastly, can I hear a Halleluiah for CD players that won't play CD's anymore but that still have that good old tape player. My daughter wanted to listen to songs since she has liked singing to the Disney princess songs so I found this old Disney tape (yes, tape) that I had bought in high school and then found this old clunker to play it on for her. I first had to teach her what the tape was (which she responded with "how cute and small!") and then I showed her how to use the tape player. It kept her busy for about an hour!! #5. Praise God for Bill and Julie! While at Target, my cousin's husband, Bill, called me and he was also at a Target, far away. He had found this digital clock that was PERFECT for Mikayla and he told me he was getting it for her. Bill, it was a hit-you can tell by the look on her face. The best part was the song sung by Cinderella that it plays. It will come in very handy when we need to give her a time limit in her room. It's so cute and she is very excited. You guys are awesome! Oh, just wanted to point out that Tyler is also excited about the gift (as you can see in the picture).

#6. Praise God for things to praise God for. This year has brought many struggles upon our family as well as new challenges (like baby #3). As I pray for strength and endurance to get through those days that try my emotions and patience, I thank God for little things like shoes that fit and incredible people that help bring me back to a good place. For that, I say, "Halleluiah, AMEN!"