He's mellowing in his old age...

The poor thing is mellowing in his old age.

He puts up with so much from Nate, LOL!

Nate just loves that cat to pieces.

He seemed to think Oreo needed to be "in the Christmas spirit".

So hence the Santa hat.

Poor cat, LOL!

Oreo seems to think he is the third brother to my boys.

He's so funny. 

He goes to Evan for "quiet"/down time.

He'll go lay on the couch with Evan and sleep for hours.

He goes to Nate for playing and rough-housing.

But he does like to snuggle with Nate too.

We sure love our Oreo Flower.

I'm so proud of him so far this holiday season!

We put the Christmas tree up yesterday and he hasn't even ONCE tried to climb into it!

He hasn't knocked any ornaments or garland off.

He hasn't taken off with any candy canes.

Such a good boy.

He's definitely mellowing in his old age!

Don't forget!

I haven't stopped baking!
For those who used to enjoy my baking posts and photos...
I have started a new page/blog!
You can follow me at:
http://sweetivyconfections.blogspot.com/
Check us out on Facebook and Twitter too!

I'm just going to go ahead and admit it...

I'm just going to go ahead and admit it.
I'm jealous.
And I feel awful.
I feel awful that each day...
I sit and "wish my day away"...
Because all I long for is to be with my family.
I constantly wish for my evenings and weekends with my family.
So I sit and wish my days away and life flies by around me.
I am stuck and stagnant.
And although I am enrolled in a program, taking classes, and pursuing another career goal...
It's not that I "REALLY" want to be doing that particular career either.
It just seems like a logical way out of my current one.
Because the fact of the matter is...
I have to work.
That will always be the case.
I will always be jealous because I never got the opportunity to be a stay at home mom to my children.
I have come to accept that though.
They are both in school now, so it's not like it makes any difference anymore.
But I do think I deserve the right to be happy.
I am so burnt out on my current position/job that I wake up each day just counting the hours until 5:30 pm.
Not that I don't care for every one of my clients...because I truly do.
But I am just so burnt out I can hardly wake up with enthusiasm to another new day doing this particular job.
And so...I study...and work my way through this program I am enrolled in.
I will graduate.
I will hope I excel in this field.
I hope I will find a job in this field.
But even still...
I am only doing this program/career path...
Because I know it will bring in decent money once I find a job in that field.
It is not what I truely want to do.
My passion is baking.
But I will never be able to make the kind of money baking, that I do from a "REAL" career choice.
It is rather sad to me.
Yet I get up and continue to smile each day.
Letting everyone know how "happy" I am...
While I struggle each day just to get to 5:30 pm.
If I could bake all day...and make a good income at it...
I would be happy.
I know I would.
I believe that finally...at 39 years of age...I have FINALLY found my passion.
I have found what I love to do.
And so...I will just continue to smile...and "be happy" for everyone else.

"Open-minded"..."Accepting"...???

This post will probably open a can of worms...it will offend many people...but then pretty much all posts involving God or His Word do.

That's ok.

Lately...there has been much talk by others I know about needing to be more "open-minded" and accepting "diversity".

Many things come to mind when I hear these words.

Many times, we as Christians are accused of being "narrow-minded", "unaccepting", or even "close-minded".

We are not "inclusive" or we do not appreciate and celebrate "diversity".

I have some thoughts on this.

Jesus did not call us to be "open-minded".

He called us to follow Him.

He called us to obey His Word.

He called us to LOVE our neighbor.

He called us to reach out to our neighbor.

We as Christians are to LOVE EVERYONE.

However, I do NOT have to be "open-minded" and "accepting" of their lifestyle choices when they go against the Word of God.

I have people in my life who serve false gods.
I have people in my life who serve no god.

These are VERY good people whom I love very much and care for deeply.

I respect them.

However, Christ does not expect me to be "open-minded" to their religion or lack of.

I am serving the one true God.

There is much confusion in this area!

We as Christ-followers are NOT CALLED to be open-minded!

We are not called to open our minds to other people's false religions, sinful lifestyles, etc.

We are called to follow Christ, His Word and LOVE our neighbor!

The Bible teaches against homosexuality, pre-marital sex, drunkenness, and much more!

Am I to be "open-minded" to that?

No.

Do I love my friends, family, and neighbors who do these things?

YES.

I love them, care for them, and set a good example for them to the best of my ability.

Moving on to diversity.

This falls in with the "open-minded" thing too.

Being diverse doesn't mean I need to accept sin.

I don't need to surround myself with sin to be diverse.

I believe when speaking of diversity and inclusion...

We need to clarify it to mean we are not shutting ourselves off from others who are different!

Cultures, skin color, disabilities, interests, etc.

I know I will probably get a FLOOD of negative comments on this post.

But it's something that has weighed heavily on my heart for a while now.

It's ok if you disagree.

We are all different.

Feel free to comment...in a positive light...even if you disagree.

Hateful comments however, will not be posted.

Trick-Or-Treat!

Nate was a Star Wars Jawa for Halloween.

Evan wore one of those awful "Scream" masks...they creep me out, LOL!

My two boys...ready for some trick-or-treat!

Our jack-o-lanterns all lit up!

Scumpy the ghost ready to greet trick-or-treaters!

We had over 200+ kids!

Nate with his stash!

Evan with his loot!

They got not only loads of candy...but also tatoos, popcorn, pretzels, rings, glow bracelets, and much more!

It was a good time had by all!

Happy Halloween!

Nate's School Halloween Party

I went to Nate's school as usual for his anual Halloween parade and party.

Here is our principal...a.k.a. Red Box Rental.

LOL!

Here comes Nate's class...

That's his teacher dressed as an "Angry Bird", LOL!

There's my little Star Wars Jawa!

Hi Nate!

Back in the classroom enjoying some treats.

I baked four dozen ghost cookies and decorated each one differently.

It was so much fun.

You can check them out on my "Sweet Ivy Confections" blog or Facebook page.

(See sidebar)

This was Nate's last Halloween party at Lincoln.

He's a fifth grader this year.

Kinda makes me sad.

This is also MY last year to have a kiddo at Lincoln.

So we're savoring all our Lincoln memories this year.

Happy Halloween!

Pumpkin Carving

We did our anual pumpkin carving the night before Halloween

This year, both boys did EVERYTHING themself...

With NO HELP from me!

I was in the middle of decorating cookies for Nate's Halloween party anyway, so it was nice they took it upon themself to do EVERYTHING this year.

Thankfully, this year they both decided they wanted "traditional" jack-o-lantern faces.

We have a packet with loads of intricate designs and patterns that we've been using for the past several years.  But they both decided on simple faces this year.

It was a nice change to see two big smiling faces!

OF COURSE, kitty is ALWAYS in the middle of EVERYTHING those boys are doing.

They did a really nice job.

I was really proud of how they both turned out for doing everything all by themself!

Happy Halloween!

Crane's Corn Maze

We've been trying to make it a habit each year now to go to a corn maze during the month of October.  Ok, well...at least the last two years we have, LOL!

Last year we went to the New Salem Corn Maze.  This year we thought we'd try out Crane's Corn Maze.

It was larger and more challenging than New Salem's which I enjoyed.

Everyone humored me for pictures.

Nate had a grand old time.

Evan had a little teenage "moodiness" going on that day.

But other than that we had a good 'ol time.

Nate always just enjoys exploring anything outdoors.

And as long as the weather is nice, I'm happy to be along for new adventures too.

I had been really sick with some kind of upper respiratory/sinus infection for three weeks before this and I was starting to feel "slightly" like myself again, so this was a nice treat for me to get to be outdoors and enjoy some fresh air.

Nate found a little "wooly worm".

Cute little fella, isn't he!

I love that Nate takes such joy in everything simple still.

At night, they also do a "haunted corn maze".

This guy was part of that.

He reminded me of one of those creatures from the movie "The Village".

Creepy!

All in all, a fun day was had by all!

I just love autumn and all it brings!