Obama asked, "Am I my Brother's Keeper?"

Have you felt like you have talked too much and frustrated after a conversation you had with your friend who came with an entirely different perspective? I have. And I wish that I just kept silent and let her bloviate what she thinks is right. However, is it really right to just let them dominate the conversations and indoctrinate others of their pervert views?

This was what happened... we were talking about the Presidential candidates. When it was her turn to speak, she said, "Obama is not pro-abortion! He just wants to give the freedom to women what they want to do with their bodies. And I like that!" What? I know that the same line is spoken by all other pro-choice advocates. Okay, here is my version of that line, "Obama wants to go to heaven but he supports a policy that will send women to hell!" If he knows the devastating consequences of abortion and if he really cares about the people, wouldn't he, in his power, stop women from doing abortion? And the least he can do is to not support it. Obama, like all of us, have been given a responsibility by God to be our brother's keeper. The tragedy that we don't want to happen to ourselves, we sincerily don't want it to happen to any one. And that is why we warn those who are sinning to stop and enter into the Kingdom of righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Ghost. We are to snatch them from the coming judgement. We are our brother's keeper!

One more thing, many of those who have conservative views have been complaining how the elite media is making Obama shine. Well, they are the ones speaking loudly and so they are the ones being heard by those who don't have the ability to hear the "still small voice". I believe that God, oftentimes, doesn't want His people to shut up and just say a quiet prayer. Here is what Mordecai said to Esther, "For if you remain silent at this time, relief and deliverance will arise for the Jews from another place and you and your father's house will perish. And who knows whether you have not attained royalty for such a time as this?"

Catching the Fall in the Twin Cities

Last Saturday, my family went driving to the western suburb of the Twin Cities. We want to "catch the Fall" before all the leaves fall to the ground. It was a beautiful day, perfect for sightseeing and dining out. We had our "other" kids, Hope and Hannah with us. That made the day more exciting especially for Izzy. We thank God for Fall! Everything is indeed beautiful in its time!

Scenic Sunday

Fall into Autumn in Minnesota!

Dr. Dobson and Sarah Palin

On Monday, October 20, Sarah Palin was interviewed by Dr. Dobson of the Focus on the Family. It is wonderful to hear from such a candidate who is clear on her stance and unafraid to tell the whole nation that her Christian faith is her life's foundation. To listen to the interview, click here... http://www.citizenlink.org/clspecialalert/A000008476.cfm

Also, to join the thousands of people committed to pray for Sarah Palin, click here... http://www.prayforsarahpalin.com/

Christmas Cards

What do you think of that Christmas card? If you think it's pretty, it's because I handcrafted it! I know it is easy to find cheap greeting cards at Walmart and other stores but wouldn't it be nice if you could give a card that has a personal touch in it? I treasure every card given to me. And I definitely cherish those that have personal touch in them. It makes me feel special when those who write me cards spend a little bit more money and time to write on them. If you are like me, then you must click this link... http://dinamartenscreations.blogspot.com/
Happy card browsing!

120 Things About Isabelle Before She Turned 2

We'll see who will take time to read this one... :)

1. She is much taller than most of her 2-year-old girlfriends.

2. Her feet are one size bigger than her friends.

3. When asked what her name is, she says, "Isabew Moutens." (for Isabelle Martens)

4. When asked how old she is, she says, "2" but shows 1 finger. She can't hold her two fingers higher than the rest of her fingers. I tried to teach her how to make the "2" finger sign but she has a hard time doing it.

5. When daddy is not home and asked where he is, she answers, "work, painting."

6. When asked what her daddy's name is, she answers, "Paw" (for Paul)

7. When asked what her mommy's name is, she says, "Dina" in perfect pronunciation.

8. She loves to look at Grampa and Gramma's photo and point and name them.

9. When asked where her Grampa and Gramma are, she says "Anona" for Winona.

10. She can name all of her cousins in her daddy's side of the family.

11. When asked where Payton lives, she says, "Otonnana" for Owatonna.

12. When asked where Rachel lives, she says, "Eagan" in perfect pronunciation.

13. When asked where her lolo and lola live, she says, "Eyippines" for Philippines.

14. She constantly amazes me and her daddy with her wide vocabulary.

15. She has more books than toys.

16. She loves to read all of her books. She constantly asks us, "Read a book?"

17. She can identify a circle, square, triangle, rectangle, oval, star and heart.

18. She can write a circle.

19. She loves to scribble and name what she thought she was drawing. E. g. "Mommy, yook! I draw a airplane."

20. She can count 1-10.

21. She can identify 1, 2, 3, 4.

22. She can write number 1.

23. She can and love to sing the ABCD song.

24. She can identify A, B, C and D.

25. She can identify at least 20 kinds of animals and can make their sounds.

26. She can identify at least 50 things in the house.

27. She can identify and say/use about 30 things we do. Example: cleaning, eating, ironing, washing clothes, taking a bubble bath, having a shower, driving, talking, sleeping, shopping, reading, marching, bouncing, dancing, singing, swimming, running, taking a walk, playing, brushing teeth, making the bed, doing the dishes and etc..

28. She can sing about 20 children's songs. NOt in perfect pronunciation though.

29. She can sing Happy Birthday to you perfectly.

30. She loves to listen to her music.

31. Her favorite songs are I'll Fly Away Oh Glory, The Wheels on the Bus, Jesus loves Me, Twinkle Twinkle Little Star and Itchy Bitchy Spider.

32. She sings around the house.

33. She uses the handle of our dustpan as her microphone.

34. She has favorite songs she wants me to play for her over and over.

35. She acts the "feelings" on command. Example: She acts happy when I said "happy!", excited, sad, cry, tired, sleepy, silly, funny and etc..

36. She says "Daddy funny." over and over again when daddy tries to be silly to her.

37. She laughs when mommy laughs.

38. When mommy or daddy looks sad, she asks, "MOmmy (or Daddy) tired?" If I don't answer her, she asks, "Why, mommy, why?"

39. When she wakes up in the morning, she doesn't like to get up immediately but calls me to join her in bed and says, "mommy, I tired."

40. She is really good at being courteous. When she needs something, she always says, "Please, mommy please." and "Dorsie, dorsie!" (for excuse me, excuse me), "Oh, tet you, mommy tet you" (for thank you, mommy thank you.)

41. She thinks that if we kiss any of her "aweees" (pain) that the pain goes away.

42. When she has an "aweee" and I am too busy to kiss the pain away, she kisses it herself.

43. It is very cute of her to sometimes tell me that she has an awee but that she is fine and that the pain will go away. She says, "I fine, mommy, awee go away."

44. When I give her instructions or warn her, she says, "okay."

45. Lil' Gaither, Veggie Tales and The Swan Princess Series are her favorite videos.

46. She asks me to play her Bible Stories on CD almost every day.

47. She has memorized the lines of the stories of Noah, David and Joseph from her Bible Story CD.

48. She loves Hope and Hannah Samuelson.

49. She looks forward to be with Laynie at church every Sunday.

50. When we say that we are going to church, she says, "Laynie or Kassi."

51. Tricia is one of her favorite people. She says, "Auntie Tricia a lot".

52. She brushes her own teeth before she Bible story and prayer time.

53. She closes her eyes and concentrate when we pray.

54. She follows our prayer word for word.

55. She looks at me when I talk to her.

56. She loves rice and bread.

57. She loves shrimp.

58. She loves fried dried fish.

59. She loves ham.

60. She loves all kinds of fruit except for kiwi.

61. She started eating brocolli after we memorized the theme song of veggie tales.

62. She likes carrots.

63. She can name at least 10 different kinds of food. Example: pizza, steak...

64. She loves to talk to daddy on the phone.

65. She pretends to call and talk to grandpa on the phone almost everyday.

66. She calls, "hon, honey!" loudly over and over when she looks for daddy around the house.

67. When she enjoys reading her picture books and doesn't want me to bug her, she says, "mommy, go there... go..."

68. Her expressions are "OH!", "Oh, man!"

69. She knows how to tease me or daddy.

70. She loves to run and climb.

71. She often asks for a big hug or a kiss and says, "mommy (or daddy) big hug (or Kiss)?"

72. She is still nursing.

73. She still sleeps with us in our bed for a few hours every night.

74. She learned to be scared touching sharp things like knife and scissors.

75. Her legs are still too short to rest on the pedal of her pink bike.

76. She is a clean freak. She doesn't like it when there is a mess on her hands or fingers. She asks me to clean them immediately.

77. She is scared of hair in the bathtub.

78. She always demands to eat her yogurt with TV on.

79. She eats her food always with a fork.

80. She is still wearing a diaper.

81. She goes to the corner or under our dining table and gets very quiet when she does "number 2" in her diaper. And when asked if she is pooping, she gets mad and gives me a dirty look and says, "NO!"

82. She knows that potty means doing "number 1" or "number 2" or both but when asked if she wants to use the potty, she would say "NO!"

83. She points to herself and says, "right here." when asked this question, "who is mommy's baby?". And when asks who is baby's mommy (daddy), she points at me or daddy.

84. She wipes her own boogers. :)

85. She sees even the farthest airplane and exclaims, "airpane! airpane!"

86. When we are skywatching, she likes to name every thing she sees up there like, clouds, sun, moon, stars.

87. She loves to play with sand.

88. She loves swimming.

89. At a mention of bubble bath, she starts undressing herself to get ready for it.

90. She understands the concept of fast and slow.

91. She loves to wear hats.

92. Seeing a starbucks logo, she says, "coffee!"

93. Seeing a Vikings logo, she says, "Bikings!"

94. When she sees an american flag on tv, on daddy's shirt or on the road, she says, "USA! USA! USA!" and "ameyican flag"

95. She tries to name the thing that makes the sound she hears.

96. She made her first card for daddy when she learned to put paint on her palm and stamp it on a paper.

97. She loves jigsaw puzzles!

98. She is known to be the kindest toddler at church.

99. She has never grabbed other toys from other kids except from Cy (my friend's 2 year old son.)

100. She can name and identify a car, truck, bike, motorcycle, boat, airplane, train and ambulance.

101. The number in her savings account is much more than what her mommy has in hers.

102. When asked if she wants coffee, she says, "NO, it's hot!"

103. When asked if she wants to eat pickle cucumber, she says "No, it's sour!"

104. She understand the concept of hot and cold.

105. She has been good at throwing garbage to where it belongs.

106. She knows the concept of heavy.

107. She touches a carpet and a teddy bear and says, "soft, mommy, soft."

108. She kisses with a "mwah" sound but now has also learned to do the normal smooches.

109. She doesn't usually enjoy shopping time, especially for clothes. She only enjoys shopping for fruit and veggies because she gets to play a name game with them.

110. She has not learned to stop herself from opening the cupboards that she is not supposed to open.

111. She says, "baby" for smaller things and "daddy" or "mommy" for bigger things. Example: When she wants to eat strawberries, she has to have two of them, one daddy strawberry and one baby strawberry.

112. She never wears a night overall that covers her feet. And never cover her feet with a blanket while she is sleeping because after a minute she kicks it away anyway.

113. When fussy, just play her cd of funny songs and her face lights up.

114. She eats very slowwww... (Wonder why? Well, his daddy is known to be the slowest eater in the family.)

115. She knows what paper money and coins are.

116. When asked a hard question, she makes up strange sentences and start by "uhhmmm..."

117. When having "REM" while sleeping, her butt is in the air.

118. While putting on my make up, she usually watches me and says, "some please..." meaning she wants some of my make on hers too.

119. She loves digging into my purse and calls everything in there hers. She says, "my cameya" "my listick", "my purse", "my money" and etc..

120. She poses for the camera and says, "cheeeeeeeeeeeeeeese!"

International Weekend

Paul and I are definitely globetrotter wannabes. But over the weekend we didn't have to take flights to be with international people. Six countries came to our house! No kidding! Seven international students from Mongolia, Guyana, India, Russia, China and Burma came with Orgil from Concordia College for a little vacation. We definitely had a great time with them. We fought so hard to prove that we know a little better than these students who are exceptionally bright kids. Honestly though, they still are smarter than us even though Paul beat them all in geography. We enjoyed talking to them! We covered a lot of topics including politics of course. It surely was a very interesting and exciting week. We love them all and looking forward to have them visit us again.

Friday night, we had a bonfire at our firepit after we ate at Atlantic Buffet.

Don't even think they are all Paul and my shoes. For one, I only have one pair of sneakers and I barely use them.

We all walked to our church on Sunday morning. The weather was perfect for that short walk.

We all posed with our Pastor inside the church building.

Our little fashionista attracted the nations!

Walking back home!

Before exploring the MOA and the Twin Cities downtown, they got to enjoy the chocolate fountain right on the center aisle of our kitchen led by little Izzy!