saturday sydney-isms

this girl makes me laugh constantly....

we're in the car driving home and Sydney says out of no where...
"We ARE, Penn STEAK"
(for those who don't know, that's Penn State's cheer...substituting State for Steak, of course. Proud moment for the Boozell family)

on Friday Josh and I wake up to this....
"Baybah, Baybah, Baybah ooooh, Baybah, Baybah, Baybah ooooh, Baybah, Baybah, Baybah ooooh..."
yeah, Justin Bieber sung in monotone in the early morning, best. alarm. ever.

talking on her play phone to Rapunzel...
"Hi Punzel, watcha doing? what?!?! you have a dinastore in your kitchen?!?! UGH!!"
(dinastore=dinosaur, and apparently it's not scary but extremely annoying when they're in your kitchen)

a week in photos...

here is what we were up to this week (well, what Syd was up to anyway :)

helping daddy at one of his work houses

bubbles!!

time to cool down in the water

thankful thursday

So very thankful for....
1.  Root canals!! Yes that's right, root canals. After a year with a tooth ache, a year with avoiding too cold or too hot foods and beverages, a year with only chewing on my left side, I am thankful to have had a root canal today! Yay for normal chewing and extreme temperatures :)
2. I'm thankful for family (thanks Kim!) able to watch Sydney while I got my root canal and while Josh and I celebrate our anniversary on Saturday at Sushi Rock and a David Bazan concert!!
3. for midwest seasons! Living in the south for so many years we didn't get actual seasons like you do up here in Ohio. Now, don't get me wrong, this winter drug on forEVER (not gonna lie about desperately missing mild winters ). But, I'm so thankful for the seasonal distinctions. Especially a summer where I can spend every day outside not sweating to death, cool evenings, and a beautiful fall to look forward too.
4. My husband. So thankful for 9 years, can't wait for the next 50 :)

today's WORDS of encouragement...

I was evangelized to by a couple Jehovah Witness ladies today. They went through their spiel and I told them that I knew Jesus and was familiar with all the information on the tract they handed me (to which they seemed disappointed. hm, not the reaction I was expecting). One of the ladies, Gail, had actually stopped by one day before when I was sick and said she would come back (and she stuck to her word!). Anyway, their visit wasn't all that enlightening but she did read me a verse of encouragement from Isaiah that stood out to me because I studied that book all year in BSF (if you don't know what that is, you NEED to check it out. GREAT study!) It made me miss studying Isaiah, a book that became almost like a friend. When I came back inside from talking to the ladies I just had the urge to read through some of my favorite verses from the Isaiah study.....

"Yet the LORD longs to be gracious to you; therefore he will rise up to show you compassion. For the LORD is a God of justice. Blessed are all who wait for him!" Isaiah 30:18

"See, the Sovereign LORD comes with power, and he rules with a mighty arm. See, his reward is with him, and his recompense accompanies him. He tends his flock like a shepherd: He gathers the lambs in his arms and carries them close to his heart; he gently leads those that have young." Isaiah 40:10-11

"If you do away with the yoke of oppression, with the pointing finger and malicious talk, and if you spend yourselves in behalf of the hungry and satisfy the needs of the oppressed, then your light will rise in the darkness, and your night will become like the noonday.The LORD will guide you always;
he will satisfy your needs in a sun-scorched land and will strengthen your frame. You will be like a well-watered garden, like a spring whose waters never fail. Your people will rebuild the ancient ruins and will raise up the age-old foundations; you will be called Repairer of Broken Walls, Restorer of Streets with Dwellings."  Isaiah 58:9b-12

"The Sovereign LORD will wipe away the tears from all faces; he will remove his people’s disgrace from all the earth. The LORD has spoken.  "   Isaiah 25:8

" But now, this is what the LORD says— he who created you, Jacob, he who formed you, Israel: “Do not fear, for I have redeemed you; I have summoned you by name; you are mine. When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned;  the flames will not set you ablaze. For I am the LORD your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior" Isaiah 43:1-3

"The Spirit of the Sovereign LORD is on me, because the LORD has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners, to proclaim the year of the LORD’s favor and the day of vengeance of our God, to comfort all who mourn, and provide for those who grieve in Zion— to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of joy instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair. They will be called oaks of righteousness, a planting of the LORD for the display of his splendor."  Isaiah 61:1-3

I learned so much through this study but what stood out to me most was that our LORD is faithful, He loves us so perfectly, and there is GREAT hope to be found in Jesus.

i need structure...

it's true, I need structure. My personality thrives with structure. One of the great things about being a stay at home mom at the moment is that I get to create my schedule with as much structure and flexibility (which I'm surprisingly also a big fan of) as I want. So I decided that if I'm actually going to succeed in blogging consistently then I need structure. So below are my thoughts on topics I'll cover weekly...
Mondays: menu for the week (idea taken from here, mainly to share recipes with you that I'm finding online, not because I think you are super interested in what the Boozell's are eating this week :)
Tuesdays: Best deals of the week (if you know me at all, you know I love a good deal, a good coupon, and best of all...freebies!)
Wednesdays: WORDS of encouragement (what God is doing)
Thursdays: Thankful Thursday
Fridays: a week in photos (see what we've been up to)
Saturdays: Saturday Sydney-isms (funny things my girl says)
So, there you have it...my proposed plan. We'll see what happens :)

on a side note, today is Josh and I's 9 year anniversary!! Happy day to us :)

what i got from my hubby today :)

Relay for LIfe

We traveled over to Pennsylvania this weekend for the Relay for Life, which is a fundraiser for the American Cancer Society. It was such a great weekend with family, working together toward a common goal, honoring and remembering loved ones. Our team "The Fighting Boozell Family" raised $1800! Here are a couple pictures of our team's site (the Relay's theme was "Make Cancer walk the plank")...

Here's Sydney and her cousin Quinten posing at our site

Thankful...

A friend of mine, Deanna, has a blog and often does "Thankful Thursdays" where she lists things she is thankful for that week, day, time, etc. I love the idea not only because I get to share with you great things God is doing but also remind myself of the many things I have to be thankful for on any given day. So, let's start today (although in the future I may stick with Thursdays because it has a nice ring to it :)....
1. I'm thankful for family :) As I get older, it becomes clearer to me how precious the people in my family are (biological and in-lawgical). Each with their own gifts, each with their specific things I love about them. I'm especially thankful to be living close enough to see them more often!
2. Speaking of family, I'm so very grateful for my Grandma Betty. Her birthday is today and I am so thankful that I have her in my life and in Sydney's life. She is one special lady. Any who knows her knows that she is a remarkable person that I am blessed and proud to call Grandma.
3. Sunscreen. Although today it's an afterthought, I'm thankful that next time I'm in the sun I will wear it and not be burnt ;)
4. Coffee. 'Nuff said.
5. Getting to stay home with Sydney. Although some of our days can be long and boring (the rainy ones, yuck!), and some days are spent in and out of time out,  almost every day home with Sydney is an adventure. We have fun quality time that I would not trade for anything. Here's a little bit of what we did this week.....

we made jewelry!

so focused!!

we had a picnic in our yard

a little play time in her room, and a lot of clean up time after

and talking to the birds and the trash men collecting our trash
(this is actually what woke me up this morning, awesome way to wake up :)