In the face of criticism...

“It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly; who errs and comes short again and again; because there is not effort without error and shortcomings; but who does actually strive to do the deed; who knows the great enthusiasm, the great devotion, who spends himself in a worthy cause, who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement and who at the worst, if he fails, at least he fails while daring greatly. So that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who know neither victory nor defeat.” - THEODORE ROOSEVELT

Thanks Erin! :) I need to keep reminding myself of the 'mud puddles' lesson!

I have tried to comment several times in the comments section of my mud puddle post; but something isn't working right. ugh. I am so not good with change.

In new news, we are going to be staying put in our home for now and hopefully I'll be able to include a wonderful update soon. For now, all prayer is most welcome. :)

My favorite things today: the giggles of my kids; C. helping to look after his sisters and remembering how he did B.'s hair for church yesterday (putting every single hair clip and doo-dad into it and then spraying it with his 'Monkey Farts' room mist... it was a sight to behold and smell! lol!) (and I was running late for church and didn't stop and take a picture before taking everything out! I wish I would have!); the blue jays that seem to be everywhere right now; Brinkley (our puppy we got at the end of August) and how he has added fun and laughter and life to our family; cuddles and hugs with A.; chili cookoff with friends for supper and how we decided that if we just mixed our two chilis together - we'd have the perfect tasting chili - so that's what we did; spending time reading with my husband and dreaming about the future together... these are just a few of my favorite things today.