Kristi's Krazy Korner

Thursday.....Seriously????

2010-03-18T07:31:00.002-06:00

Wow!! Spring break has flown by! It has been fun being able to sleep in a bit and piddle around the house with the girls!!

Today Brianna leaves for 3 days to go on a 17 mile backpacking trip with William and my brother. She is so excited! I am soooo NOT!

I keep reminding myself that she is in good hands, God is in control, and it will be a great time for her with her daddy, but I can't stop worrying a bit!

I am mostly worried about the bears coming out of hibernation and that one will eat her! Totally irrational....I know!!

Now to food! Yesterday I made biscuits for breakfast and noticed that the baking powder had a lot of ingredients in it. I had never thought to check it and was a bit surprised to see so many that I could not pronounce (which I have learned is not a good thing!). Anyway, I was surprised to find aluminum in it. But....Sprouts to the rescue!! They carried a no aluminum added brand!!

It was a good cooking day yesterday! Less time in the kitchen, which is always nice!

Breakfast - homemade biscuits, eggs, raspberries and blackberries
Lunch - because our breakfast was so filling we really just had a snack of some popcorn and nuts
Dinner - This was WONDERFUL!!! a huge tray of oranges, apples, pears, pineapple, and berries, yogurt to dip the fruit in, 2 kinds of homemade bread (white and wheat), peanut butter, honey, a variety of cheeses, and nuts. My brother ate with us and kept commenting on the fact that he was surprised how filling dinner was and how much he enjoyed it! We topped dinner off with a pound cake that Tori and I made for dessert!

So far, so good!!

The Grass is Always Greener!

2010-03-17T07:55:00.004-06:00

My four girls are growing up. Brianna is 15, Tori almost 13, Emaleigh is 8 and my baby, Kalli will be 5 in a couple of weeks. It seems like just yesterday that they were born.

I just LOVED it when my girls were little! Oh, the little chubby arm hugs and open mouth kisses!!! Sweet, sweet times.

Thinking back, I wish I had realized then how quickly those times pass. How quickly they would grow up.

I remember the struggles of having young children very well. The sleepless nights, not being able to go out when you wanted to, never having a clean house!

If I had it to do over again, I would care less about the house and going out and just spend more time absorbing the girls! They don't stay little for long!

I am trying to make sure I absorb the stages that they are in now though! Learning from the past :) Teenagers are soooo incredible!! I definitely am enjoying sharing that journey with Brianna and Tori! I love watching Emaleigh learn more about the world around her and seeing what her interests and passions are. Kalli just makes it day fun! She is either sooo happy, or sooo upset!!

If you are a mom of a little one and happen across this blog post, I would encourage you to just slow down and take the time to memorize every day! It goes by so fast and before you know it, they will grown!!

Several years ago! A couple of the girls were still in the preschool age group!

Now they are all out of it :( But entering new stages!!

Side Effects!

2010-03-16T20:25:00.002-06:00

I have shared how we have been working really hard to eat foods with the least amount of processing that we can. The reason we originally decided to do this was as a desperate, last ditch effort to stay away from medical intervention.

I have had this stomach pain for the last year that has been getting worse. It happened pretty consistently every day or two and has gotten worse over the past year. I originally thought it was the gallstones that I have, but it did not follow the pattern that gallstone pain does. So anyway, every couple of days, I would end up in bed for a couple of hours in pain. Kinda hard to do with 4 kiddos!!

About 6 months ago a friend suggested giving up cheese and dairy to see if it was related to that. I totally did NOT want to go that route, as cheese is my favorite food! In November, I remember going to Olive Garden with a bunch of friends and eating the baked ziti. Within 10 minutes my stomach hurt so bad that I had to go home and miss out on the rest of our fun evening!

Then and there I decided that I would be willing to forgo cheese if it would help, so I gave it up. Well, it worked fabulously for about 3 weeks and then it started occasionally hurting again despite the lack of dairy. So I was stumped!

I kept a food journal and found that it occurred at seemingly random times, so that was no help...until last week.....! I can't remember why, but the thought kept occurring to me that maybe it was a reaction to some chemical in food. Something that was in many of the cheese dished I ate (which would account for the decrease in frequency when I gave up cheese).

So with encouragement from William and the girls, we decided to all give it a go! It definitely has to be a team effort for us just due to the amount of work!

I am happy to report no stomach pain since we began 3 days ago! One of the things I would eat that always, without fail made it hurt was cheese pizza. Well, we had that on Sunday night and I felt fine!!! Woohoo!! Great side effect so far!

Then we have my sweet Emi! She has had trouble with intestinal blockage for the past 2 years. Nasty, yucky, embarrassing problem! Now I am about to get into some gross, mom details, so skip down a couple of paragraphs if you want to! Because of the blockage problem, her bm's have always been liquid. I would take her to the doctor thinking she had severe diarrhea, just to have them tell me she is blocked! I always thought that was weird!!

Anyway, she started having a tummy ache today and I kid you not that girl has gone potty 20 times!!! She was amazed that bm's could be solid!! Sad isn't it? I think that what she was eating before was a lot of the problem. Another great side effect!

Well, now that we have all of the digestive talk out of the way, let me tell you what we ate today!! It was yummy!!!

Breakfast - eggs, homemade hash browns, homemade tortillas (super easy and sooo good!), with apples and yogurt!!
Lunch - a piece of homemade bread with peanut butter and some strawberries
Dinner - spinach/chipotle chicken, spinach salad with strawberries and almonds, corn and homemade tortillas. For dessert I baked these little pastry shells and stuffed them with yummy berries!! That was a hit!

Now, the eggs and hashbrowns were great, but they were kinda greenish! I am pretty sure it was because of the potatoes and potato skins.

I was really nervous making the tortillas, but they ended up being so easy and we just loved them! I was also nervous about the pastries because I have never made any, but that was pretty easy too!

Definitely some yummy food! I talked with the girls about us slowing down our eating and actually taking the time to enjoy the flavors and colors of the food that God made for us to enjoy. As in the other posts, we are still really enjoying working together! The girls are getting a kick out of learning to cook some of the new food!!
I am going tomorrow to buy a heavy duty mixer that should be very helpful!

Happy cooking!!

Cooking up a Storm!

2010-03-15T20:08:00.002-06:00

Boy howdy, I feel like I am cooking all of the time! Actually, I guess it really is not that bad!! Breakfast was mostly cooked the night before, lunch was easy, but dinner was a doozy!!! I keep forgetting that I can't just whip together a dish of manicotti! I need to make the sauce first.

Today we had:
Breakfast - granola bars (I had to cook these the night before and let them cool.)and vanilla yogurt (I bought the all-natural tub from Kroger)
Lunch - crackers (I bought the all-natural ones from Kroger), some different types of cheeses, grapes and a variety of nuts.
Dinner - stuffed manicotti, green beans (frozen kind), and homemade garlic bread

I was amazed again by the amount of work that went into dinner! We started preparing at around 5:00pm and ate at 7:00pm!!! I am wondering if I can keep this up once spring break is over and school starts back. The good thing is that I am making extra of the sauces and freezing them.

I have to admit how much I love working with my girls though! We each grab an apron and go to work! Today Tori made the bread (YUMMY!!) and green beans while Brianna stuffed manicotti (this was fun!!)and grated cheese. We had a good time visiting while we were cooking!

Tonight I am thinking about what a blessing it is to have children to work and share with!

Health Nut!!??!!

2010-03-15T01:44:00.002-06:00

I know what you are thinking! Health nut is not in the top 10 names you would use to describe me! Okay, more like not in the top 100!!

Well, for the next 30 days I am going to be a health nut. Well, maybe not a health nut, but definitely a healthier chef! We have decided that for the next 30 days we are going to attempt to eat foods that are not processed...at least for the most part!

So today I made my menu for the next 2 weeks and went to the store to buy everything. I was pleasantly surprised to find that it did not cost as much as I thought that it would. We did buy some convenience foods, but I tried to by all natural/no additives or preservatives convenience food.

We started the 30 day challenge with this menu:

Breakfast - pancakes and scrambled eggs
Lunch - skipped it because we ate a late breakfast
Dinner - cheese pizza

Now, I have not given up white flour yet because I have not had time to learn to cook with whole wheat flour, but I figure it is better than nothing!!

So pancakes were great and easy because I am used to cooking them from scratch. The pizza was more of a challenge.

I had to find a recipe for the crust as well as the sauce. Something else I found interesting was that a block of cheese has many fewer preservatives than does shredded cheese.

What was really fun about the pizza is that there were enough steps for each of us to help! Tori made the pizza sauce (which was wonderful!), Brianna shredded the cheese, I made the crust and Emaleigh cooked and strained the spinach.

I found that we had a really great time working together and we all enjoyed the meal!!

Merry Christmas!

2009-12-24T09:12:00.002-06:00

We choose this time to celebrate
The birth of one so small

Who would have guessed on that glorious day
He would become our ALL?

He grew in stature to become a man
What kind of man would he be?

The one that is to save the world
By hanging on a tree.

God became a man that day
In flesh for all to see

Guess what? He would have done it again,
Even if it were for only me.

So when you feel like you are worth
Nothing to man kind.

Remember that He who created the world
Had you on His mind!

Update!!!

2009-12-17T10:48:00.007-06:00

Wow! It has been a while since I have written!

Things have been going great in the Huckabee home! In fact, the reason I am updating is that I wanted to share the results of my last post, when I was in the hospital.

The performed a lung biopsy on the last day I was there and came back telling me that they still believed I had something called MAI, which is a rare lung infection. The treatment was 18 months of a chemo type drug cocktail with many yucky side effects.

Well, during the biopsy they cut our pieces of 6 different masses that were found in my lungs and sent them off for biopsy. The following day, when I got out, a friend was coming over to prayer over me. All the week before we had been fervently praying for complete healing from this. Well, as she walked in the door, the pulmnologist called and said that though he still thought I had MAI, when looking at the biopsy under the microscope, the cells appeared to be healing themselves! He was surprised because this infection does not normally work like that. Of course, I told them that I was not surprised!! Praise the Lord!

Well, 6 weeks later they performed another set of CT scans and the lung spots were all completely gone! And there was no lasting damage!

So this week, as I have been participating in tons of fun Christmas activities with my family, I keep remembering where we were this time last year. I remember how scary it felt for us and how lonely the hospital feels, especially this time of year. I remember the look in my girls eyes when they walked in with their face masks, gloves, hat and hospital gown on. I remember how desperately I wanted to touch them and feel their warm skin.

I remember how huge of a blessing it was to have friends step in and do fun activities with my girls when I could not. I remember a special friend bringing flameless candles and food up to the hospital so William and I could celebrate our
15th wedding anniversary together, despite us being stuck up there! I remember special people bringing Christmas decorations and music up to my room to make it festive. There was even someone who brought up small gifts for me to give the girls when they came to visit.

I remember the lessons that I learned. First and foremost, even when we are isolated from everyone else, God it there. Not only is He there, but He cares that you feel sad, worried, scared, etc. I learned how important it is to listen to the gentle voice that tells you to reach out to people and how much of an impact a small act of kindness can make on a person. I learned that life can change directions on a dime and we absolutely can NOT take a single moment for granted. I learned that God hears us....ALWAYS!

So during this Christmas season I am going to hug my girls a little tighter. Smooch on William a little more! Fret less when my cookies burn. Forget about finding the perfect gift. I am going to take the time to sit in front of the fire longer. Play baby dolls with my girls more! Care less about what people think about my wrapping job, my house, my clothes, my kids clothes, my decorations and my gifts. Care more about making sure that absolutely EVERYONE in my life knows that I love and appreciate them more than they can imagine. And most importantly, during this Christmas season, I am going to do everything, and I mean EVERYTHING for His glory!

Merry Christmas friends!!

The Answer Before the Question!

2008-12-19T09:45:00.002-06:00

God is absolutely amazing! Just the thought that He cares enough about us to WANT to spend time with us and communicate with us is unfathomable to me!

I am going through a fantastic book called Praying the Names of God by Ann Spangler. I love the book! Each week you learn one of the many names that God goes by in scripture.

Last week I studied Adonay, which means Lord, Master. The week was spent taking time to read scripture that points to what a blessing it is that we have Adonay as our Master and the promises that go along with that. The week was spent learning how I don't need to know what comes next, I just need to know whom it is I obey. He is everywhere and will not leave.

This week I studied Yahweh Rophe, which is the Lord who Heals. Monday and Tuesday were spent studying the promises of healing and how sometime we forget about the spiritual healing and dwell on the physical. I jokingly asked the Lord if he was trying to tell me something :)

Tuesday night I started spitting up a lot of blood. At one point we could not get it to stop so we came to the ER. While doing a CT scan of my throat, the scan happened to pick up a bit of my right lung and showed something suspicious. They sent me for another scan and told me that they thought I had a very severe lung infection and were bringing in a specialist to look at it.

We were completely shocked as I have no cough and feel great, other than the blood thing (which I thought was due to a recent bought of strep throat). They admitted me into the hospital where I have been every since in isolation. The reason for the isolation was to rule out TB, which they have, but they won't release me from isolation until 3pm this afternoon.

What they think I have is a type of lung infection that is not too common and is present everywhere and on everything. It is not contagious and usually people that are immune suppressed are the ones who get it.

They are going to biopsy it at 3pm this afternoon and we hope to be home tonight! The results could be in on Monday, but if they have to grow the culture, it could take 6 weeks. It is a slow growing infection so that is okay to wait that long.

The treatment is long, about 18 months, and not easy from what I understand. We are praying that when they go in today, it will be wiped away and we will not have to go down that road.

When we found this out on Wednesday, I could not breath from fear. We had not slept the night before because of all the tests and I was absolutely overwhelmed with fear and desperation at the situation. They said originally that I would be here until Sunday and I was so sad about all of the Christmas activities that the girls had that I would miss.

We chose to not let many people know because I just needed time to pray. I kept hearing the Lord remind me of what He taught me last week. He is my Master and knows the plan and result even when I don't. I was not alone, nor was I left to toss in the wind.

Then over the past few days He has taught me more about the Healer that He is and has shown me so many promises that I can call on!

As I look this morning over this experience, I can't help but thank Him! The Creator of everything, absolutely everything that is good and right and loving, cared enough about me and my wishy-washy feelings to show me answers before I even knew that I had any questions or needed any answers!

Wow! God Makes Us Unique

2008-10-23T17:21:00.002-05:00

I am sitting here listening to Brianna go on and on about DNA and amino acids and how amazing they are. Now, I'm not exaggerating when I say she is sooo exciting about them!

Frankly, I just don't get it! I try to stay tuned into what she is talking about and I just can't! She goes on about how the chance of putting the amino acids together in their simplest form is so highly unlikely and they.......(she lost me)...

What I think about is how God made us so unique. I honestly never thought people would get excited about something like that. I knew we had people work that field, but I figured it was for the money or something like that. I guess people really get excited about it!

I look at each of my girls and their amazing personalities. They share many characteristics, they love to snuggle, they like history, they can't contain it when they get excited, they each talk at warp speed when they are excited and they each have a dimple. All four had speech issues when they were young. But there are some many things that are totally unique!

Bri's hobby is learning, she has one shoulder shorter than the other and she holds the prize from crazy symptoms and illnesses! Tori needs her alone time. She needs time to process things. She is extremely flexible, her hair has beautiful red highlights in it and she enjoys being outdoors. Emi, well she is in a category all her own. She has a smile that pulls people in. She has the energy of the energizer bunny, she is a math whiz and has an outstanding singing voice. I am still getting to know who Kalli is! She is very strong willed (which she is in the process of learning how to use that for the good), and she fiddles with her hair. In fact, she fiddles with it so much that over the past few months as her hair has changed from bone straight to curly, on the side that she fiddles with, it is still straight! She loves to hug and loves to see people smile.

It makes me think how many times in my life I have expected people to have the same reaction to a situation as I have. How wrong that is! How I fail to take into account that God has created us each to be a totally unique person! How many people have I turned away from in my failure to realize this? Lord, help me to appreciate the variety that you have blessed us with!

?? About Hubby

2008-10-22T21:25:00.003-05:00

Fun Questions from Lynn's Blog!!

All About Hubby

1. He’s sitting in front of the TV: what is on the screen? Nada, we don't have tv.
2. You’re out to eat. What kind of dressing does he get on his salad? Italian
3. What is one food he doesn’t like? Onions
4. You go out to the bar. What does he order? Zinfandel and a Diet Dr. Pepper
5. Where did he go to high school? Texas High in Texarkana
6. What size shoe does he wear? 8
7. If he was to collect anything, what would it be? Old newspapers and guns
8. What is his favorite type of sandwich? Swiss, lettuce and tomato
9. What would the Husband eat every day if he could? Cabbage
10. What is his favorite cereal? Frosted Mini Wheat's
11. What would he never wear? speedos
12. What is his favorite sports team? not really a sports person
13. Who will he vote for? McCain
14. Who is his best friend? Me!!
15. What is something you do that he wishes you wouldn’t do? What! You mean I'm not perfect?????
16. How many states has he lived in? 2 North Dakota and Texas
17. What is his heritage? Cherokee
18. You bake him a cake for his birthday; what kind? He does not like cake, so he gets banana pudding!!
19. Did he play sports in high school? Football
20. What could he spend hours doing? playing World of Warcraft

Homecoming

2008-10-19T20:24:00.004-05:00

I know it has been forever since I posted, but I thought the few of you who might still occasionally pass by, might enjoy some pictures of Bri's first homecoming! I can't believe that my biggest baby is growing up so fast!!!

WOW Dude!

2008-07-24T10:49:00.001-05:00

Oh my goodness, God is so good!

Do you ever just sit back and watch Him work...He blows me away every single time.

Raisin' the Roof

2008-07-17T17:41:00.001-05:00

Okay, I am looking for a church that has a Saturday night service. I am needing some raise the roof worship time on Saturday. Any suggestions???

Laminin:Holds us Together

2008-07-14T21:31:00.001-05:00

You must watch this!! It is an awesome video. Goosebumps totally!

Teens Rock!!

2008-07-14T09:52:00.003-05:00

Okay, I am going to take some time to brag on the teens at RE!! My, oh my are they awesome!!

I will post later today on the prayer journey that I helped with this weekend, but first you must know about some people who made it an awesome time for the kids (besides, of course, our children's minister who spent countless hour investing in it :) ).

Six of the teens from our church, ranging from through all of the high school grades came to help on the trip. When you normally think of teen helpers, you may think of very little help and possibly a hindrance. Let me tell you...these kids were awesome!!

The girls that went were so fun to be around! The kids loved them to death and really enjoyed the fact that they were there. The two girls made a point to spend time with each girl. During worship, they would sit with the kids and participate with them. Never, ever, ever did I hear either one of them complain or speak ill of any of the children they were there to help with!

The guys that came just knocked my socks off! All four of them were so quick to jump in and help with things. They paid so, so, so much attention to the younger boys there. I don't think they ever got a break from boys climbing on them, talking to them and playing with them. Again, I never heard them complain.

All six of them made a point to let every child they passed, from our church or not, know that they were noticed and special. There was an awesome water slide there for everyone to play on. The teen boys were really having fun sliding on it. On little girl was really upset that she had to stand in line and wait so long. I saw one of our teens stop her and give her a spot in front of him. They helped kids remember medicine, cleaned up, encouraged car sick kids and generally made it an even better weekend than it would have been without them. I can say with certainty that their attention to the younger children changed the path of some of those kids lives. I feel so blessed that I was able to see it!

Now let me tell you how those kids worshipped!! Boy howdy those teens were raising the roof with praise! It was one of the neatest things I have ever seen. The more that the teens praised, the more the younger kids followed. Finally, there was a room of over 100 kids singing and praising at full force! Indescribable!!

If you are a parent of, or happen to know the teens that went on RoadMap with RE, you should tell them how awesome they are, because they truly, through the power of the Lord, rocked some kids' world this weekend!!

Road Map

2008-07-13T22:03:00.001-05:00

Ooohhhh, I just got home from going on RoadMap with the kiddos from our church. It was awesome and I can't wait to tell you all about it!!

Unfailing Love

2008-07-11T09:37:00.004-05:00

This morning I was sitting outside on my back porch spending some time alone with the Lord. I have really enjoyed doing this lately, especially now that we have a short fence and I can see the neighborhood and visit with neighbors that come out to leave for work.

Back to this morning...I was sitting there enjoying a nice breeze and watching the limbs of the willow tree move in the wind when I was just overcome with gratitude and awe of the amazing day my Lord has given me today. The sky is so sharply blue in contrast to the small, passing, white clouds. The bright green leaves of the trees and grass just makes it more amazing!

I spend such a small amount of time in my life just looking at the love that God has poured out for me each day. I get so caught up in the "stresses" of life that I have chosen to bring on myself that I too often ignore the love that is oozing, no...pouring, out for me each day!

I really wish I could describe for you the feeling that all of this gave me this morning. It was one of such amazement! I can compare it to the first time I saw the girls observe and touch a dolphin. Their excitement just made me cry. Today was like that for me, it was like seeing something so extra special for the first time!!

Now, you want to know something even more cool!!???!!! I was so thankful for this time and this gift that I decided to read a Psalm instead of my normal study. The Lord laid on my heart to read Psalm 33. You wanna know what Psalm 33 :5b says????

"the earth is full of his unfailing love."

How totally cool and fantabulous is that!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Oh Father, help me to see Your love that is right in front of my eyes!!

I would love to hear from you about how you observed God's unfailing love today!!

Mutter, Mutter, Mumble, Mumble

2008-05-05T19:05:00.004-05:00

Wow! I can't believe that it has been two weeks since I have updated! For someone so busy, I can't think of any big news to share :) I took the girls to San Antonio last week. We had studied the Alamo and I thought it would be cool to go and see it. We had a great time!

You know what, I have been having a great week! Praise God for the great weather. I have to say though, there is something weighing heavily on my mind. I am stepping into a new position in our co-op. It is one that carries a great deal more responsibility than I have had previously. Frankly, I am terrified!

I KNOW that God put me in this new position. I have no doubts about that and it is what I cling to. But I am not sure I have ever felt so inept and inadequate! I see how wonderfully the ladies that are in the positions now are so able to keep to task, yet show so much mercy. Their ability to make Godly decisions amazes me. We had a meeting today and I sat there and listened to the head honcho speak about considering things that had never even crossed my mind! Such grace and mercy and thoughtfulness, yet firmness and confidence!

I MUCH prefer to do things that I feel able and confident to do. I am seeing that it is harder for me to rely on God's confidence and strength than my own. As I sit with my mouth open waiting for something intelligent or wise to come out, I am crying out to Him to fill my mouth because my head draws a blank!!

I usually don't attempt things that I don't think I can be successful at so this is really new for me. The only confidence I can have in this is that He called me to do it. I know that should be enough, but my doubt creeps in a lot. I continue to pray that God will push those thoughts out, and I know He will.

Oh, but the sweet people that I will serve! To just be able to share in so many peoples lives is so exciting. Oh, Lord please give me wisdom and discernment! Please fill my mouth with your will and not my words! When success and glory come at the end, it will only come from you!!

Praise God that He gives strength to the weak and inadequate!!! I am waiting to mount those eagles' wings!!

Bring It On!!

2008-04-20T21:16:00.002-05:00

Boy am I ready for the summer to start! Last summer was the first time we have taken the summer completely off from school and we had sooo much fun. I am looking forward to a repeat!

Life has been crazy around here lately. Lots of changes in the works. Tori has quit gymnastics. We are all excited about that and enjoying the extra time to hang out together.

I was on a parenting panel at church last week and felt like such a misfit! Totally had no profound advice to offer. I have been going to water aerobics several times a week and have really enjoyed it. I know that I really, really, really need to lose weight, but I also know that I will not stay consistent if I change too much at one time. I stopped all of the diet cokes, have done the water aerobics class for several weeks now and I have just signed up to start weight watchers online. This might be too much too soon, but we will see :)

I attended a ladies silent retreat with my church last weekend. It was great! I will admit that when I went to bed the first night, I was prepared to leave the next day. Some of you may be shocked, but despite my need to talk and visit, I don't enjoy retreats. I ended up staying and I am really glad that I did. I met many ladies that I did not know before the retreat and that was fun!

Bri is doing better regarding losing her cat. It has been pretty hard on her. She is wrapping up her first year of high school. Boy, is homeschooling a highschooler stressful!!!!!!!!!! So much to keep track of :)

Tori will be starting piano lessons in a week. She is really excited about that. While William and I napped today, she surprised us by cleaning the house!!

Emi lost her first tooth last week. She was sooo excited about that. She is beginning to seem more like an elementary aged kid and not my little Emi. I am not too happy about that :(

Kalli is just Kalli! She is constatly having to fight the temptation to stick her cute little tongue out at me when she gets mad. She is so funny! To me, she still looks like a toddler, but I know that she will loose that look soon.

Alrighty, there is a gnat that is flying around and driving me crazy so I guess I will go and squish him!!

Fun!!

This Is The Day!!

2008-04-17T08:20:00.003-05:00

That the Lord has made!
Let us REJOICE and be glad in it!

Have an outstanding day today!

Love ya!

Just Amazing!

2008-04-03T16:07:00.002-06:00

As a follow-up to the awesome story below, I wanted to share with you, with Bri's permission, what she wrote to be read at our Goodbye service tonight.

Dedicated to my precious cat, Girlie Girl. She fought a good fight and died after being bitten by another cat. This bite became infected and her immune system was too weak to fight it off, because of AIDS. She was too ill to recover from the sedation that was given to her when the bite was drained. God blessed us so much to allow her to come home and live for three days before she died on Sunday night of March 30, 2008. She fought it and with her choice she chose to stay because of her love, but she was tired. We prayed after she threw-up that God would heal her right away or take her right away and not make us have to put her to sleep. She stopped breathing during our prayer and went home. She blessed my life so much. I wrote this for her while she was alive and sick and at the vet for the second day. I wanted her to come home, because I knew God would heal her. As I read through it again I realize that God did heal her and did take her home and I am the one waiting to go home now. God healed her and she is flying now, like in my poem, and I can’t wait to get to fly too. I love her and I miss her, because she is so precious and loved me so much and I loved her. Little and big things she did made her the best cat I have ever known. I love her and I can’t wait to see her again. She begged for food and scratched at the back door, she licked me, peed on the floor, would want to be held, purred loudly all the time, had more patience than most people, liked to be outside and inside, and a million other things that made her so wonderful.

I love her and miss her and can’t wait to see her soon.

Oh Sweet Savior

Oh Sweet savior
Savior to all
Oh Sweet Savior
Oh my sweet savior

Lost and abandoned
Am I not
When I’m by your side
I can finally walk
And in your arms I lie.
My sweet savior
You’re with me even in the night

You will heal the broken
You say that we
Can soar through you
And who can soar
On broken wings
Please heal me

So heal what broken in us
And show us the way
We are to walk
And bring us home today
My sweet savior

In darkness we dwell
But you are a light
In dark places
Through you we can fly
You give us wings
And you heal us
When we’re broken

My sweet savior
Savior to all
My sweet savior
You catch me from my fall
My sweet savior
Through you I can soar

You heal what is broken
You demolish the pain
And you free us
From our chains
Bring us home today
My sweet savior

My sweet savior
Savior to all
My sweet savior
You caught me from my fall
Through you I can fly
You were crucified
To free me

Watch me soar
As I take flight
Because through you
I can fly
You healed me
And you were the light
In dark places

So through you I fly
I can fly
On wings that were broken
I can fly
Through you I can fly
Healed and whole
No longer broken
You brought me home
My sweet savior
Yes, my sweet savior
Oh my sweet savior

God Is God Alone!!

2008-04-02T21:02:00.003-06:00

Let me tell you about one of the most awesome displays of God that I have seen...

You all know Bri's cat was sick. Though on Saturday night she seemed to be doing better, she took a turn on Sunday. Brianna had been at the science fair so I called William and found out they were on their way home.

When Brianna arrived she was very distraught to see how ill the cat was, but she continued to pray and beg God not to take her cat. Girly Girl would lift her little head when Brianna walked into the room. She was so happy Bri was home. Brianna asked me why God was taking her cat when she earnestly prayed with faith that she would be healed. William and I began to pray that God would use this to strengthen her faith and that Satan would not be allowed any victory.

Sunday evening Girly Girl vomited a little and Brianna became even more upset, taking her outside to rock her. It was at this time that I approached Bri about having the cat put to sleep. The vet had assured us that Girly Girl was not in pain, but my Brianna was and I was wondering if that was the right thing to do.

Brianna has said early on that if she ever were in pain, she would have her put to sleep, but when I mentioned this she was so, so upset about having to make that choice and pleaded that we pray and ask God to take her now.

As she rocked this sweet cat, William and I laid hands on the cat and on Brianna and began to pray for God to take her then. As we finished our prayer, Brianna looked up and said Girly Girl was gone. It was the most amazing thing I have seen. It was like God was telling Bri that He heard her cries to keep her cat, but when she realized it was time to let go, He responding in the only way that a loving Father would do.

I asked Brianna later what she thought of God's involvement in this and she replied that she was amazed at how He cares, even about her cat.

Thank you Lord that you are not only a King and a Ruler, but a father and a friend.

We all miss Girly Girl very much. I am still surprised at the things that I did for a cat, but I am completely amazed at the love my daughter displayed for God's creature.

Things That Make Me Go HHmmmmm....

2008-03-29T09:56:00.002-06:00

I am still in shock of my day yesterday. Some history...I am not, not, not an animal person. I don't get attached to animals and I have a hard time understanding others who do. As you know, we have a cat that enjoys peeing in the closet. Drives me crazy!!

Here is what I am in shock for...

1. I paid a vet bill over $300 !!!

2. I was jumping with joy when she peed on my floor yesterday!

3. I spoon fed her yogurt!

4. I gave her one of my good pillows to sleep on!

5. I did not freak out when she peed on it! ( of course I have trashed it so don't worry if you ever sleep over at my house :)

6. The topper is...I told Bri last night that the cat was more important than the regional science fair and if she wanted to skip it this weekend, that was okay!!!!!

I know, I know, I know, those fellow non-animal people are shuddering to think of these crazy things! Reading over them today, I myself am in shock.

Girly Girl was able to come home yesterday, but she is not doing well at all. The vet said that she is not in any pain, but Brianna sure is. She went to the science fair today, bless her heart. I am pleading with the cat to not die until she gets back. Today she won't really walk at all and I don't think she is doing well.

WE have prayed and prayed, but it is hard having faith because I don't really know much of what the Bible says about pets. I do know that He hears our prayers and He has allowed her to come home which is something we were deeply asking for.

Please keep Bri in your prayers.

My Poor Baby...

2008-03-26T21:04:00.002-06:00

You know, it always seems to happen to Brianna. Sometimes that baby just can't seem to catch a break!

Four years ago we got a dog from a shelter. She was a great dog, but was very aggressive when men or boys came around. When the neighborhood kids would come over to play, she would really get fierce. I was very afraid that she would bite someone. We tried putting her in another room, but she would know that they were there and would come out mad. We brought over a dog trainer who worked with her and us several times. Finally, after a year, we told the girls that we were going to have to bring her back to the shelter.

It was very hard on them, especially our animal lover, Brianna. We really did not know what else to do and she snapped at a couple of people, so we really had no choice. Anyway, we told Brianna that, even though I was deathly afraid of cats, she could save up $200 to cover the adoption, supplies and have some left for future vet fees, we would let her get a cat. She worked for a year and finally saved up. This time we put a lot of prayer into finding the right cat. We went to several shelters and were waiting for a good fit.

Finally one day we went to visit a local shelter and we found her. She let all of the girls hold her and never tried to get down. She was very affectionate and enjoyed our chaos. We came back the next day and Bri adopted her. We took her to a vet to get her checked out and home she came. We have had her about two years. Never has she hissed at anyone, not has she ever snapped. She would just lay down and let Kalli "pet" her. She really is a good cat. Over the weekend she developed a knot on her back. This morning it had grown a lot so we took her to the vet. Turns out she has Feline AIDS. There are three stages of it and she is in stage 3. She is spending the night at the vets tonight because she is having trouble coming out of the sedation that they gave her when they drained the abscess.

Brianna is devastated that her cat is sick. She has cleaned the litter box out everyday for the past two years. She has taught the cat to walk on a leash outside as well as to sit on command. My poor baby is having to experience suffering and death and I wish that I could fix it for her.

To top all of this, she stepped on a bumblebee and it stung the bottom of her foot this afternoon. She is not having a good day!!

Please, please, please keep her and Girly Girl in your prayers! I know it is just a cat, but she has become more than that to us. She has been given a piece of Bri's heart and I am afraid it is one that she is going to loose.

Until Then....

2008-03-19T07:31:00.002-06:00

I just wanted to let everyone know that I am going to lay off blogging for a while. It seems lately all I am doing is complaining when I blog and I don't think that is helpful for anyone! I am going to take a few weeks off and see if I can't get to having a better attitude :)

See ya later!

Kristi

Head Banger...

2008-03-15T19:33:00.003-06:00

Ever feel like you are banging your head against a brick wall, over and over again? Wondering why you don't just stop since it hurts so much, but you just can't seem to stop. I feel like that lately. I'm not sure why or what is going on, but I am banging my head, it hurts, and I can't stop. If you think this sounds crazy, I agree, but you might want to skip this posting :)

I feel like things are spiraling and I can't catch my breath. Maybe this is part of going off of Diet Coke? I don't know.

There is so much in my life that I see needs improved, so many areas that need attended to. I just can't find the time or the umph to do it. So many areas of my life seem to be in catch 22 mode! I can't do one thing because I am waiting to do something else and on and on.

I have made a commitment to God to meet with Him each morning, but I feel that I am not contributing much there either. I know He waits to be with me. I know that He will help me.

Isn't it a good thing God gave me a head and a heart. There are so many times in life that I have to let my heart lead me to do something. So many times that the Spirit moves me in directions that my head screams are not logical!! Now, when my heart is weak and muted, my head can remember all of the times He has held me and been there. Even times I tried to push Him out of.

Yes, I am so thankful for God's provisions and His forethought because right now I feel like my heart crying and no one hears.

One Week Until Spring!!

2008-03-13T19:24:00.003-06:00

Tears gather in my eyes as I think of bidding farewell to winter (or what we Texans call winter). I will miss the cold wind, the smell of a fire in the fireplace, hot chocolate and cinnamon candles! I LOVE cold weather!! I miss North Dakota and the snow!!! I have enjoyed being able to spend more time outside this week though! And I am ready to get working on clearing out the flowerbeds!!

This year is just going by so fast!

I did it!! I gathered all of my courage (which is not very much) and had the laser hair treatment. I think I told the lady three times before she started that I was changing my mind, but I am glad that I did it. It did not hurt too bad and my friend Terri took me out for Mexican food afterwards to celebrate!! I see no difference yet, but they said it take about 10 days. Of course I had to have a little bump in the road by having an allergic reaction to the cream they gave me :)

Once a month on a Tuesday there are three ladies that I get together with for dinner and visiting. We usually meet at different restaurants, but this month we met at my house. We enjoyed enchiladas, good wine and chips and queso!! Does not get any better than that!! One lady is learning to rough it on her new farm so she made homemade refried beans and rice...it was good!! Another lady brought a delicious cheesecake and someone else brought some yummy tortillas with different salsas. We had so much fun!!

Finally one of the ladies said they needed to head home (farmer girl has an hour drive) because it was past midnight!! I could not believe it!!! I never, never, never stay up that late. 10pm is late for me. The next morning I got up at 5:30am, did what I needed to do and went back to bed! That was nice.

Brianna saw the dermatologist today for that silly rash and he thought she needed allergy testing done. Well, thanks but no thanks!! We can deal with a rash occasionally!! They also let her know that it is time to remover her beauty mark (birthmark). She has it measured and biopsied each year and now the time has come to bid it farewell. It is actually kinda sad as the mark is just a special part of her, but apparently it is one that can cause problems so they want it removed. Bummer part is that the dermo doc can't remove it, it has to be a plastic surgeon. They are going to skin graft skin from her bum to cover the area. I told her now when she wears shorts she will be flashing everyone!! I thought it was funny, she was not impressed!!

I have given up diet cokes!! I know that you might find this hard to believe, but I don't really eat that much and I am pretty active. I can't figure out why I keep gaining weight. I am not a snacker and I don't eat after dinner. Now, don't get me wrong, I do overeat, just not enough that I think I should be as overweight as I am. I have had several people suggest that it could be all of the diet coke I drink (about 2, 2 liter bottles a day). I know they are horribly bad for me anyway, so I am going to give it a try. I actually salivated when I drove past a Whataburger (this is where I get my favorite sodas)!! Pathetic isn't it!!??!!

Well, enough rambling for tonight!! Sleep tight!!

Were You Wondering???

2008-02-27T17:53:00.004-06:00

Were you wondering where I was?? I gave up Internet until after the girls were in bed at 8 for Lent. I have found that by 8pm I am so tired that I can't post anything!!

I have so much that I want to share that I really don't know where to start.

I have been reading a book to my girls every evening called Beautiful Girlhood . My understanding is that it was written in the early 1900's by Mabel Hale, but was updated a bit by Karen Andreola. She took out some of the things in the book that could be seen now days as offensive (I have know idea what was changed), but left the beautiful language and way of viewing a woman from the early 1900's. We have enjoyed it so very much! Each evening snuggling in my bed together and sharing a luscious chapter of this book has been a blessing each evening. I highly recommend it and I am in the process of ordering some for my pregnant friends that are having girls!!

There are many blessings lately that I would love to share with you! Our house has been a much calmer place to be lately. I think there are many reasons for this, but I would have to say that one is our increase in time together in the Word! Praise God for His beautiful Word that fills us up when we need it.

It is so easy, as a mom and a woman to get caught up in the world. Whether it is keeping up with the Jones', having our children excel in things, or even the amount of time we give, it is so, so, so very easy to fall into a competitive mindset. I am so blessed that I have a God that can forgive my wrong-doings, because there are many!

Another blessing...I have been a bit worried about a petichial rash that has been popping up on Brianna. It disappeared last Tuesday and had stayed gone. She did, however, have a few other minor, but odd things pop up during this time. Nothing I would take her to the doctor for, but it kinda nagged at me. Every time I would pray for wisdom as to what to do about going to the doctor she would get a new, but vague symptom. On Monday I prayed specifically that if she needed to go to the doctor that God would allow that rash to crop up again that day. I went home from my prayer walk, asked to look at her feet and legs and it was there all red and icky looking!! I was so thankful for wisdom as to what to do! We went on Tuesday, of course the rash was gone again, but they were concerned about the rash as well as the new little things that popped up so sent her for tests today.

I think it is so neat how God understands that we sometimes need a clear, human easy to understand answer!! So we spent the day hopping from the lab to the hospital, praying we don't catch the flu and washing our hands at every sink we could find :)

Yet another blessing and clear human answer...I had a meeting last week for a team I am on at church. I had been praying on the way to the meeting that if God wanted me to step down from something that he would lead someone else to ask to do it so I could have a clear answer. At the end of the meeting, someone, not knowing that I led the children's chorus, excitedly asked if we needed a leader and expressed her willingness to lead it!! Can't get much clearer than that!!

So if you have been wondering where I have been, you see that I have spent the last week soaking in the Father's words and enjoying my time sitting in the passenger's seat while He drives me down the road of my life!! I don't even have to read the map!!

Choose Joy!!

2008-02-18T20:41:00.002-06:00

This weekend I was blessed to have the opportunity to attend a conference for mother's. What a great thing it was to experience hour after hour of encouragement and focus from other mom's!! I took so much away from this time that I can't even attempt to blog about it all.

What I do want to blog about though is choosing joy. When you look around, you see so much that God gave us to bring us joy! What a mighty God we serve that would take the time to be so considerate!! There is beauty all around us if we choose to see it!!

From the minute that I left the conference the attack has been on! From extreme car sickness on the way home to a flooded kitchen, to no water for the kitchen sink, to having serious breakdowns from the girls I feel it has been non-stop. Brianna's rash is back and bright! I cut through a plug that was plugged in behind my bed and nearly started a fire! All of this in less than 48 hours.

There is a difference! Praise God!! I know He is working in my heart when I am able to have these things happen and never raise my voice. Iknow He is working when I am able to let my pride subside for a while and allow people to see my house as less than perfect because my children need me.

I have prayed and prayed for a change in my heart. I have studied, read, prayed, discussed and longed for a new heart. I am not there yet, I am still a selfish, prideful, controlling human, but my heart is changing!!!

I see it now! I see what my focus is. I see where I need to head. Praise God I have found the hand to hold!!

It is so easy to get caught up in doing "good" things, especially things we think are good for our children. Academics are good, church is good, friends are good, but none of these things are God. My stress, my worries, my control, my judgement are all due to a lack of focus!!

Today I choose joy! Today I choose faith! Today I choose God, He has already chosen me!!

Love and Logic

2008-02-10T06:58:00.001-06:00

Those words sound so simple, especially when it comes to parenting. Love your kids and it is only logical that they will do what you tell them. Makes sense to me!!

We had a fantastic speaker yesterday at M & M Mom's. She spoke on loving your children unconditionally. Frankly, when I heard the topic I thought, well, of course we love our children unconditionally! Oh, but God placed this speaker in my path at just the right time. To further show my RE ignorance, I did not know that she was Rachel's mom!!

Anyway, she helped me see that though we were using choices and consequences to promote responsibility and accountability, I was still hanging on to my being responsible as well. She has helped me step back and take more time to be the supporter instead of inforcer. Really great change here!!

On the love side of things, I was able to go out last night with several friends of mine. We met at Olive Garden and stayed until they kicked us out to close! Then we hopped over to Barnes and Noble's Starbucks to get another hour!! I love my friends and I love having time to hang out and visit with the girls!!

This weekend I am heading out to a convention/retreat. It is a time for mom's to get away from the younger snotty nosed set and visit! A time to sleep on clean sheets and let someone else cook!! I am really excited about it. I am blessed to have a husband that encourages me to get out for things like this :)

Brianna's peticiah rash has finally gone away!! Hooray!! Sickness seems to be everywhere, but we have been blessed with a healthy winter thus far.

Sorry about not posting as much. For Lent I have given up surfing the internet (including blogs) until the girls are in bed. By that time I am so tired that I have not had the energy to post!! I will get back into the swing though!!

Have a great week!!!

Jumping Up and Down!!

2008-02-07T20:26:00.000-06:00

Good Evening! I am jumping up and down happy that I have Rachel to read and grade Bri's papers!! What an answer to prayer! I even have Steve willing to help as well. What a blessing that is.

Today Bri has a nasty cold, but none of us have had that yucky stomach bug that is going around or the flu!! Hooray! Brianna still has that petechial rash. It is lighter on some days and darker on others. Today it looks pretty light so I am hoping that it is going away.

Lent began on Wednesday. I think it is a really great way to spend time in reflection and prayer. I have gotten rid of several bad habits through the process of Lent. Around five years ago, I would watch 2 hours of Soap Opera's a day. I really did not have the time to do this, nor do I think what I was watching helped my in my walk with Christ. Giving them up for Lent was what I needed to get me out of the habit and helped me give them up for good.

I see Lent as a time for me to reflect on the last year and how I have transformed. Has it been for the better or worse? This year I can see much clearer some of my weaknesses and sins. I think my 40 Days of Nothing exercise brought this on. I know God is molding me, I just get impatient!

Anyway, I read this week about some fellow bloggers having spiritual fumbles and I thought I would share that I have been there too. The past couple of weeks I will get up for my prayer time and Bible study and go through the motions, but I feel it is one sided. I know it is not, that is why I keep on, but it is discouraging.

Sorry about the choppy post! Hope everyone has a great evening!! And...you must come to M & M Mom's on Saturday!! The speaker will be awesome :)

HELP WANTED!!!

2008-02-05T10:41:00.001-06:00

Please, oh please if there are any of you from RE that are gifted in the grammar/writing department, I need help!! I am looking for someone who would be willing to grade Brianna's literature reports for me. I just don't think I am doing a good job in that department!! I would be willing to pay you, cook a dinner per paper for you, sign over my first-born to you (well, maybe not that!!), I just need help!! We are talking about 2 papers a month. One is usually about 3 - 4 pages and the other is usually a bit longer.

Thanks :)

And The....

2008-02-03T19:05:00.000-06:00

2008 Science Fair Winner in the High School Category for C. and D. County Homeschool District is....

Hooray Brianna!!!

She now advances to the TI regional fair in March where there is scholarship money at stake!! The judges loved her project and the amount of research that she did. They offered some great tips as to how to make her analysis better before regionals.

She is thrilled as are we. I am so proud of the hard work, thought and dedication she has put into this!!

WooooHooooo!!

Thursday......

2008-01-31T15:25:00.000-06:00

Well, I guess it is Thursday! Where has the week gone?? I have spent the last 6 hours freezing my bejerby off at the zoo!! Brianna has a science fair project that she is working on and needed to do observation of the chimps. Her science fair is Saturday.

This is a picture of one of the chimps she has been observing. We have named her Sally (though I am sure the zoo has another name for her).

I have grown to think she is quite adorable!!!

I have been fighting a cold and hope that I win!!

My freaky girl has another freaky illness :) Bri thought she was allergic to something last weekend and when I asked to see the rash she had I thought it looked wierd. It was more under the skin than on it. On Tuesday she still had it and I called the doctor. They wanted to see her...of course :) We walked in apologizing because it was just a little weird rash and I was fankly pretty embarassed about going in.

Apparently it is a rash called a petichial rash (I'm sure I have mispelled it). They had a little freak out in the office because from what I understand it is a nasty rash to have. They did some blood work which apparently looked good enough to send her home and wait two weeks to see if it went away. They said her platelet count was on the low end of normal, but it was normal. Wanted to see her back if it spead or got worse. Yesterday it was looking better, but now today it seems a lot worse. It has spread to her upper thighs, some on her abdomen and it seems brighter. So...because of a lack of any other symptoms, I am going to give it until Monday (unless of course something else pops up). I would love to have some prayer sisters join with me in praying for this to go away. They just want to do some more blood work, but since her ton of spinal taps and hospital stay, she is terrified of needles. I thought she was going to pass out when they did her finger prick!!
I hate for her to have to have needless tests!!

Other news...It looks like Williams busy season is almost over!! It is nice to have him home more :)

Guess that is about it. I am going to thaw out with a hot bath!!

My Rant!!

2008-01-24T07:40:00.000-06:00

In order to allow myself to breath easier, I need to vent and rant!! Feel free to bypass my post today if you don't want to listen to my whining :)

In case you have not figured it out, I homeschool my girls.

Now, let me tell you what that means for us. They get up by 6:30a.m. and both work on Latin. This is followed by breakfast, chores and then we have all of our other subjects until around 3:30pm. On days we have gymnastics, band or tennis, we go a little later. I am not one who thinks homeschooling is for everyone, nor do I have any ill feelings towards public school.

Brianna went to public school for a semester in 2nd grade and had the most outstanding teacher. The school encouraged parental involvement and was just an awesome school!! I adored having so many people interested in my kids and trying to help them learn. We stopped not because of any lacking on the school's part. We loved the friends that all of us made through her time in school. William and I both stayed on the board for the PTA 2 years after pulling them out of school. Public school was a very positive experience for us!!

In fact, our time there is what helped us to know that we were making the right choice. We were not running away from anything. We had a great school, the girls fit in great, there were awesome teachers, the principle was incredible!! It is just what is right for us.

It is by no means right for everyone and every child. There are days that I think I am either crazy or stupid for doing it!! Every summer I spend hours and hours reading literature to update myself on the latest methods in teaching. I have researched countless hours on how to teach grammar through reading and writing. I have researched standardized tests. Is the SAT better or the ITBS tests?? I spend lots of time and money to make sure the girls have access to some of the things that I can't offer them adequately...band, sports, chemistry!!

I take none of this lightly and am at times overwhelmed by the responsibility that we have chosen to take on. I also do not take lightly the things that I know they will miss out on...great teachers!! I read some of your blogs that are teachers and I am sad that the girls will not have many great teachers in school to influence their lives. I have tried to give them other teachers than myself to help with that, but I realize they are missing that.

I know that they do not interact with as many people that come from different backgrounds. Most of the kids they are around are middle class, Christian kids (public and homeschooled). I know they will have to deal with mean people in their lives, but if you think there are not mean kids at churches and that homeschool, you are wrong!!

My point is, we are doing what is right for us. Just us! I never try or intend to push homeschooling on people and I will never look down on all of the other outstanding choices.

I take this seriously and there is no way I would ever put my children in a situation just to get away from something!! Anyone who thinks so just does not know me or my children.

AAAahhhh, I feel better now!! Thanks :)

Happy Birthday Baby!

2008-01-21T06:51:00.000-06:00

Yes, today marks that day that my baby becomes an "official" teenager! She has anticipated this day with much excitement! Today she is the birthday princess!
Brianna,

When I think of God working on this earth, I think of you. When I write to you, instead of beginning at the beginning with your birth, I must begin with now. Why? Because you are all about now and the future. Honestly, I am hard pressed to find another person with your faith and you total commitment to God. I am inspired by you.

Your name means "of great faith" and boy does that suit you. You are in a constant walk with God that I find amazing. I am not sure that I can even find words to express in this letter how much I respect you. There is no pride in you, I have done nothing to make you who you are. You are strictly a priceless gift from God gently set down here on earth. I respect you! You have so many qualities that I strive for myself.

The older you get, the more I adore being with you. Half the time I have no idea what you are talking about. When you hit the word molecule, my brain goes on overload! But I love the passion that you have for your interests. I love the passion you have for other people. I am not sure of many other kids that would want a goat for their birthday!! We sure had Tori going on that one!!

At this point in your life, I feel that I don't have great amounts of wisdom left to give you. I can give you something though. Bri, I give you the gift of my love. Though my love will never be as whole and complete as God's love, the love of a mom is a very special thing. I will love your successes as well as your flaws. I will love you enough to discipline you as well as celebrate with you. When you are in pain, my body hurts for you.

I give you the gift of an example of a good, Godly marriage. Whether or not you ever choose to get married, you have been given the gift of a stable family life.

I give you a church that loves you. I can tell you, baby, that this gift is more important than you may imagine.

I give you continued pursuit of knowledge in the Word. Though there will come a time in your life that I or daddy may not be there with you, God will. The more you know His word, the more you know Him!

I give you the gift of many sisters. I am sure there are times where this does not seem like a gift :), but oh what a blessing it is!

Finally, the final gift that I can give you is the gift of letting go. One day you will be ready to go out into the world. God has great plans for your life, I see that! There will come a time when His plan will break off from the daily presence that we share now. When that time comes, I will let you go and not hold you back. I will pray for you and be here for you, but I will watch you from a distance as He transforms you into the woman that He designed you to be.

And I will be amazed....

Love Always!
Mom

Thanks :)

2008-01-20T07:10:00.000-06:00

Thanks for thinking of and praying for Tori yesterday. God worked, but it was not in the way I had thought (can't believe He would have plans outside of mine!!:). First, He let me know that I needed to back off!! Let He and Tori work out her fear without my help :)

Second, she had a really bad meet. She did good on beam, then because she was so nervous about the back handspring she left out half of her floor routine. She did the back handspring though :) Floor was followed by vault. Of course she was upset about floor and that carried over to her vault and she did not even make it over the vault. She went from a 9.3 last meet on vault to a 0 this meet. I could tell she was devastated! She was able to pull it together though and do a pretty good job on the bars.

She was upset after the meet, but I told her it is easy to do good on every event on a good day, but it is really hard to stink on two events and then lift your head and go on to be successful on the next one. She thought that made sense and went on to have a good day. Her Mimi and Grampy brought her roses so that helped!!

Gymnastics has been good for helping Tori develop several, positive character traits and habits. Yesterday God was working on those and on my being a meddling mom!!

Please Pray for Tori

2008-01-19T06:46:00.000-06:00

Guys, would you please say a prayer for Tori this morning??

She has her meet today and she has had a rough week. I would greatly appreciate it!!

Father,

I praise you because you are the one and the only! You are the power behind all of the things we see that are awesome! I thank you for the gift you have given Tori. God, I ask that you be with her today and help her do her best. I ask that if you want her not to do her back handspring, that you let her know and she use her wisdom to choose not to do it. But Father, if she it is fear that is holding her back, I ask that you push it out of her life. If this is Satan, I call on You, God, to surround her with your glory and your presence and shut him out.

Give her the strength and the wisdom to know what it right and to do it, either way!
Give me a heart of love and unselfishness!

All of the glory and honor goes only to You!!

Amen

Life Continues...In Our Typical Fashion!

2008-01-17T09:27:00.000-06:00

Praise the Lord for this cooler weather!! I love Thursday's!! During the Christmas holiday's William would have to work late and the girls and I dubbed it Girls Day. We would have school in our pj's and that evening one of the girls would cook dinner and then we would all snuggle in to watch a movie together.

William will not be able to join us, but we have decided to keep this, at least 2 Thursday's a month. We are calling it Christmas Thursday! We will do no additional activities on this day. No phone calls or running around. We get to stay in pj's all day and then snuggle in for a movie and fun that evening. We have always had family night on Friday nights with pizza and movie or games, and that will continue, but Thursday feels different! Maybe it is the fact that we still run around on Fridays??!!

Anyways...William, Bri and Tori went yesterday to Texarkana to visit his grandmom in the hospital. When he walked in the door after the trip home the phone rang and it was his brother. His other grandmother had a stroke and was in the other hospital in Texarkana! Typical us!! Then last night after church Brianna got sick to her stomach and started throwing up :)

Brianna is fine this morning. I think she must have eaten something that did not agree with her. Sometimes I honestly have to laugh when stuff just keeps piling up! Praise God that we don't have to carry ourselves through life when things get rough!!

Breaking News...We have survived another day

2008-01-15T19:21:00.000-06:00

Well, Tori just has a bone bruise, whatever that is:) The doctor told her she could compete, but to do whatever is comfortable for her. She was thrilled! (quick prayer request: Tori has worked really hard the past year to master a round-off, back handspring (or something like that :) for her meets. She was able to do it in the first meet and has only gotten better. Last week she froze and decided she was scared to do it. She has done it since, but only with her coach standing next to her. I was mean to her (whole other post!) and then apologized. I think I made the situation worse (that's what happens when you are mean...duh me!!). Now she is very worried and thinking way too much about it. Please pray for her to find the confidence to do what she worked hard to master!...Thanks) (Let me tell you, I took bad mothering to a whole other level with this!! Praise the Lord that there is grace and forgiveness!!)

On to Williams grandmom. She is out of surgery and it went well. We will go and see her tomorrow. Yea God for another answered prayer!

So...we made it! Thanks for the thoughts and prayers!!

Yup, The Holidays are Over!!

2008-01-14T22:38:00.000-06:00

Oh yes sir, we are back to "typical" life around here. My poor little freaky family :)

Took the girls to the dentist today for their cleanings! No cavities (of course except for my poor Emi). This was Kalli's 2nd visit to the dentist. She let them do the full cleaning!! Have I mentioned they have an AWESOME pediatric dentist???

They took xrays of Bri and wanted to do another set to confirm that the dentist was note seeing somthing she thought she might be seeing! Sounds like trouble to me...especially when you are dealing with my Bri!! Of course it was what she thought she was seeing, Bri has what she called a small tumor in her gum. It is not a tooth, but made of tooth-like stuff. It was not there 6 months ago, but it is there now (of course:).

She is going to have to have it removed, but they hope to hold off for 2 years. She has 4 wisdom teeth that are coming in and they would like to just do it all at one time. They are going to xray it again in a couple of months to check for growth. If it grows they will have to remove it then. Ouch, It sounds like it would hurt. They will have to go in from the side. Bri said I was not being very supportive :)

Poor baby also has some type of birthmark that they were waiting to remove and now is the time :) The year of the knife!!

Tori fell a few days ago doing gymnastics and fell on her head, pushing her chin into her chest. She has been compaining that her chest hurt since then, especially when she breathes. She is having xrays done tomorrow to see if she broke her sternum. From what I understand, they would not do anything for it if it is broke, but she would need to sit out of her meet this weekend.

Then....William's brother called and his grandmother has fallen and will be having surgery tomorrow night on her leg/hip. She is in her 80's and has been in great health. So she is in the hospital :( We are going to make our plans for heading down there after we figure out how Tori is.

Gotta love real life!!!

The Maxi Mobile (the only car with Wings!!)

2008-01-11T06:52:00.000-06:00

Okay, maybe if I put my Christmas tree back up and pretend it is still December I can find the slower pace of Christmas??? Naw, I don't think so either!

It's been crazy here, as usual, but I wanted to say hello and share a story :)

On Wednesday I had to take Bri to her band practice and flute lessons. Since I had a bit of paperwork to do and I had a phone call that I needed to make I decided to just sit in the car for the hour of her lesson. I packed up toys for Kalli and Emi to play with, loaded my papers and we were off!

All was well! The girls were playing in the back-seat, I was in the middle of my phone call. Boy was I a good Planner!

Apparently Emi and Kalli decided that they would clean out from under the seats of the car (very scary thought, but hey, if it kept them entertained I was for it!). I am on the phone trying very hard to listen and understand what the lady on the other line was teaching me (it was a sort of training call).

Now we are parked in the middle of a parking lot at a strip mall type place where Bri is at. There are people walking by constantly, especially teens.

I happen to look back at Emi and Kalli and nearly have a heart attack! It seems as if while cleaning under the seats, Kalli found a feminine personal product (must have fallen out of a purse). She had unwrapped it, took the sticky strip off and stuck it to the window of the car! It must have been there a while because she had gone on to play with something else.

I nearly died! While trying to stay mature on the phone, I was also climbing over the seats to get to the "window dressing" and get it off. Kalli became upset that I would dare remove her artwork, I am trying to maintain the phone conversation. My main thought was that I had better get that off before Bri walked out with her friends!

Can you even imagine the horror!! She probably would have walked right by the car and denied her family!!

Anyway, after the fact, I thought it was pretty funny!!

Hang On!!!

2008-01-06T21:23:00.001-06:00

Well, here we go, back into reality :( I have really enjoyed my month of being a hermit, but I guess it is time to jump back on merry go round of life.

Ever feel like that? Like life is just spinning on and the best you can do is to just hold on tight and try not to get thrown off or puke everywhere. I do sometimes. Especially with being a mom and a wife. Sometimes I feel like my days are full of the same things over and over. You know, laundry, feed and dress everyone, laundry again, lesson plans, teach, laundry, feed everyone again, laundry!! And then the next day it starts over again.

I have to admit that I am much better at my homemaking skills than I was when William and I first married. I remember our basement having a hill of dirty clothes and I threw a sheet over it all when people would come over!! I remember one time I brought the groceries in and laid them in the entry way of our house. I put up the perishables and the rest just sat there for a couple of days! Instead of taking care of the logistics of running a household, I played. We went on walks in the snow, played dressup, watched Barney. I remember spending hours playing with Brianna climbing in the tubes when Minot finally got a McDonalds play land.

Now I am much better at running a household. I keep up much better with our laundry. I unload the groceries as soon as I get home. I have a schedule, a menu, a cleaning schedule and even a free time schedule.

Then Christmas comes! It actually starts the day after Thanksgiving!! I chuck my schedules. I let laundry pile up a bit, the house gets a bit dirtier, but hey, no one minds, its Christmas and everyone understands. I watch movies with the girls. We all cook together. There are many games to be played and snuggles to be had.

I, like Lynn talked about, always feel a bit down when it is time to peak out of my hole when the festivities are over. I have always felt like the week in between Christmas and New Years is like a warm-up to getting back to real life.

Maybe real life is not what it is suposed to be. Maybe I need to find a middle ground between all of my schedules and to do lists. Is it possible to keep the house functioning and orderly, yet take time out to just be.

Maybe my girls need me to play and snuggle more and organize and plan less!! I think it is hard to find the balance, at least for me. I am an all or nothing type of person. I either do it all the way, the best I can, or I don't do it at all.

I read about how life is like a record playing. You can stand towards the outside, no the fast track, or you can stay towards the center. Find your center and save yourself from the extra running and fast pace. Let God be the center and just hold on.

I would like to spend time this year staying more towards Him, in the center.

Dentist :)

2008-01-03T14:34:00.000-06:00

Two of my girls have bad teeth! Just so you know, they got that from their Daddy! William is the most meticulous brusher, flosser and rinser I have ever seen and he still has tons of problems with his teeth. Me, well, I brush, but I am terrified of dentists. I remember that my first appointment was when I was 11 to see a "cheap" dentist (Thanks Dad!!). Anyway, I hate to admit that I am not a regular visitor to the dentists office, though we have an outstanding, honest dentist!! (I highly recommend him).

Okay, back to girls. Though I have a dental phobia, I started all four of my girls getting their teeth cleaned when they were 2. Well, like I said, 2 of them constantly have problems and Emi is one of them!! She went for her cleaning a few months ago and they found a couple...no, a few...no several...okay to be honest, she had a TON of cavities (how they could pop up in 6 months I have no idea)!! They were all small, but they needed fixed. Well, it costs another TON to have that many cavities fixed so we made the appointment for Feb. to allow some time to save some $$$.

Anyway, yesterday she told me she could feel a cavity with her tongue, I looked and Oh My Goodness, her tooth was broke!! (Obviously this tooth could not wait until February and did not understand the importance of saving to pay cash) So she went in this morning and they fixed her tooth.

All of this to say we have an absolutely AWESOME pediatric dentist!! She is honest...when Bri was in 2nd grade, I along with other people, were convinced she needed braces. Dr. Allman said to wait and give her mouth time to grow and low and behold, they straightened out!! Her office is fantastic! It is an underwater theme. There is a huge underside of a boat attached to the ceiling (the ceiling is painted to look like you are underwater and looking up out of the water). She encourages parents to sit with the kids while they have work done, if they want to. My girls LOVE to go to the dentist!! Emaleigh even said today that she can't wait to go back next month and get the rest of her teeth fixed.

She got there and they gave her Hannah Montanah medicine (Demerol and phenegran), then they play in the waiting room for a while to let the medicine take effect. This is followed by a trip to the treasure chest where they get to pick a "flavor" of gas mask (grape, bubble gum, orange and cotton candy). There is a tv in the ceiling so the kids can watch a movie while the dentist works. They are wonderful about informing the child of everything they do, though they have changed the technical terms to fun terms (instead of saying I am about to poke a needle in your gums, they say they are putting a bubble under the gum).

Then they gas 'um up and get to business. I have begged them to take me on as a patient!! (no luck there)

If anyone ever needs a GREAT ped's dentist, just let me know!!

2008 !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

2008-01-02T09:02:00.001-06:00

Happy New Year to YOU!!

I spent some time last weekend reading through my blog postings from last year. I can't believe I have been blogging for a year now :) I got the idea from reading Lynn's blog. I had kept an online journal when I was pregnant with Kalli and had really enjoyed having that. So after reading Lynn's and seeing how easy it was to start, I started!!

Blogging has been a blessing to me. No...really!! I have gotten to know many people outside of my usual circle through blogging, some really GREAT people!!

I think I was almost as excited about Heather, Brooke and Rachel's pregnancy announcements than I was of my own!! Now what makes this even neater is that I don't think I have met Brooke or Rachel in person and I have only met and got to know Heather in person because of blogging!! But I know and can pray for them when they feel less than stealer! The more people I have become involved with in blogging has added more instances of laughter and happiness to my life.

I have laughed about Krystal and her ranch dressing! I nearly fell over laughing about Heather's post regarding Daniel and his vacuum's. I have cried reading about Lynn's struggles after her accident. Becky inspired me with her writing of simplicity and challenged me with her ability to know that a pair of pj's was missing (you see, I had no idea what pj's we had, and never would have known one was missing!). I rejoice each time I see pictures of Brooke's new baby and little J.D.

I have experienced lots of fun adventure's in the Philippines with Amberly! I am relaying stories I read from her all of the time. No one would ever guess that I really did not know her that well before she moved! I have remembered the feeling of the first time you feel a baby move with Rachel :) Just recently I read the adventures of Amanda and Dara up in Colorado and was able to pray for safe travel.
I have learned to appreciate people more through blogging!

One instance of that is Stephanie! She does so much for our church, yet I did not know her very well. Now I can pray for her as she brings up a sweet baby boy! I know that she really likes to win Trunk or Treat :) I, through blogging, have realized that Becky is the editor of our awesome women's newsletter! She also taught an incredible class on Simplicity at church within weeks, yes, you heard me right, WEEKS of having a baby!! I have kept up with minister's from my church and was able to see them more as people instead of the unrealistic perfect view we sometimes have.

I have rolled in laughter upon reading Kim's journal! I find it awesome that someone who I always saw as so profound would be so funny as well!!

I have also been able to keep up with lives of my friends as they go out of town, like Stormy! And see pictures of their celebrations and pray for their struggles.

I have appreciated input from others when I have questions and prayers when things have popped up! You have ooooed and aahhed over my pictures and encouraged me when I was down!!

I have prayed for quads that I have never met, triplets that I have never met, but can look at their tender faces at church! Sweet children that I am able to keep up with their lives and struggles and mom's battling diseases that they should not have to!

Yes, blogging has been a huge blessing to me this year because of YOU!! Thank you for sharing this year and your life with me :)

New Fuzzy Robe and Other Home Happenings!

2007-12-28T21:40:00.000-06:00

I hope everyone had a great Christmas! We enjoyed time with family and lots of time with each other. We have stayed up really late playing a gazillion games!! The girls received several new ones for Christmas. Blokus is an awesome, strategy game that we all really enjoy! Apples to Apples Jr. has been a really fun one as well. For the younger group, we have enjoyed Caribou (Kalli lllooovvesss this one :). Lots of snuggles, hot chocolate, movies and games have characterized our holiday!!

I got a new fuzzy robe that I can't seem to find the strength to get out of!! I am looking forward to another hermit weekend!

Happy almost New Years!!

Snuggle Time!

2007-12-23T13:58:00.001-06:00

Just wanted to wish everyone a Merry Christmas!!

We have gone into hermit mode :) This is the time of year we snuggle in tight with our little family!!

God bless each one of you and remember to use your EASY button over the next week :)

What A Day!!

2007-12-19T21:19:00.000-06:00

Well, no scorched faces today :) We were blessed to be able to go to a concert/sing-a-long for Brianna's woodwinds class. She has come so far in just a few months! It was really fun to listen to the Christmas carols that they played.

I am still amazed at people that play instruments! It is like a sport. Bri's teacher was warning her that she needed to make sure and practice over the Christmas break because she did not want to lose the muscle work that she has done!!

I love Christmas cards!! We all race to the mailbox to see if there are any in there. Today we had 4!!! It was soooo fun to open them and look! At the end of the season, we wrap the cards in ribbon and put them out the following year. The girls and I made ours this year and we had a great time doing them!

Tori and Emi played at the park for a bit while we waited for Bri's thing to start. Kalli had fallen asleep in the car so they had to play right by me, but they had fun.

I had the most wonderful omelet today!! You are going to think I am crazy when I tell you how I made it, I thought the same thing. A friend gave me the recipe and frankly I was doubtful. With four kids asking what was for lunch and supplies running low, I agreed when Brianna asked if we could try out the recipe. We gathered supplies..

Two large eggs
ziploc baggies
mixins (we used cheese, bacon and broccoli)

Then..into a quart-sized Ziploc freezer bag, crack open two large eggs. Shake the bag to break up & scramble the eggs.
Add whatever ingredients you'd like to the Ziploc bag:
cheese
onion
chives
bell pepper
olives
ham
bacon
chicken
You get the idea.
Add your extra ingredients to the eggs and shake to mix.
Try to get as much air out of the bag as possible, and zip it up. You don't want air in the bag to expand while cooking because it may cause the bag to burst.
To cook, place the bags into boiling water for 12-15 minutes. Depending on the size of your pot, you can cook several (6-8) omelets at a time.

I know it sounds crazy, but these were honestly the best omelets I have ever had. All four girls devoured theirs as well.

So if you like omelets at all, you MUST try this!!

I also did a little shopping today. The girls stayed home and I went out for a couple of hours and picked up a few things. Then I swung by Little Ceasers and picked up a pizza for dinner. William had to work late, so we had a girls night!

After pizza we baked some chocolate chip and pecan cookie bars and watched the best Christmas movie ever in the history of Christmas movies...It's a Wonderful Life!! Awesome, awesome show!! After we finished that the girls and I rode around for a little bit and looked at Christmas lights. All in all, we had a terrific day!!

Hope you did as well :)

Anniversary and Fried Chicken...Human

2007-12-18T21:22:00.000-06:00

Okay, I had planned on writing a sweet romantic post about my wonderful husband tonight to celebrate our 14th anniversary! Well, it is still our anniversary and he is still sweet and all, but OH MY GOODNESS, I must tell you what happened today!!

First I must share a dirty little secret...I get those nasty little hairs that grow on my face. I hate it. Big pain in the neck :) I decided a few weeks ago, after doing what I thought was good research, that I was going to have laser hair removal. I went to the consultation, liked the clinic, paid, and showed up today ready to be beautified!! Well, a couple of hours before the appointment, I thought, "hey, this might hurt a bit. What if they burn and disfigure my face."

Let me tell you, that is not a good way to start an appointment! I called and asked if maybe they could zap my hand before my face so I could see what it would feel like, no problem! Well, when I got there they told me that it would not be a good idea because the hand and face are so different and the face would hurt worse than the hand.

Okay, now I am about to throw up I am so nervous and thinking I must be crazy. I go in and lay down on the chairy deal. Then they decide to tell me that I have to wear these metal goggles. No problem...except for the fact that I can see nothing with them on!! I nearly had a panic attack. I suggested maybe I should reschedule. But no...then we began.

The first zap I thought it felt cold. The second zap I thought it was a weird cold because I thought I smelled something burning. Third zap I figured out it was me burning!! Total freak out now!! The smell was horrible as I slowly realized my hair was burning away.

I asked the girl to hold up a minute as I was really thinking twice about this. I suggested getting the numbing cream and coming back at a later date. We decided to go on.

The last zap I thought maybe my face was on fire! I did feel her pat it so I am not entirely convinced that it was not! I let her know that I was done for the day. I wanted to try the cream in a week or two.

I came home and cried all afternoon. This is not a cheap thing to have done and I did not want to lose the money, but I was/am really scared to have it done. I want to do it, I think I will be very happy with it, but I am terrified!!

After talking to William and the clinic again, I have decided to try it again next week and use the numbing cream. William is going to go with me as well since I think a lot of my problem is just my nerves.

So..if anyone is interested in sticking your face in a metal torture device that allows you to see nothing while a nice lady sticks fire rods in your hair follicles, let me know. We can make a date of it :)

The Magic of Christmas

2007-12-16T21:10:00.000-06:00

Well folks, the end is near. Tonight after watching Polar Express, Emaleigh asked me if Santa really came down the chimney. I went through my standard come-back of asking her if she really wants to know and she said "No, I already know. He does not because there is no such thing as magic, except that magic God puts in our hearts. God is the only one that could come down our chimney if He wanted to." Good answer! She then asked if Santa was real and we told her to sleep on it and ask again in the morning if she really wanted to know (at this point I detected a stalling of bedtime).

Though the magic of Santa may be leaving another one of my babies lives, there is plenty of magic to be found. It is the magic that Emaleigh spoke of that God puts on our hearts. It is the gifts He has given us.

The magical look in a child's face as they watch a Christmas movie.

The fact that children like to snuggle more this time of year!

The excitement of office Christmas parties!!

The way a child looks lying in bed snuggled up in warm pj's as you add yet another quilt over them.

The way hot chocolate tastes on the first, warm sip!

The way that Christmas lights reflect on the walls and windows!

The anticipation!

The appreciation!

The example of a loving parent who asked His royal son to step off of His throne and leave His servants to go among the "commoners" and become a servant.

The example of obedience by that Son.

The gift that came from that sacrifice.

The simplicity of accepting the gift.

Yep, Emi is right, the only magic comes from Him and it is way better than Santa!!

Birthday's, Ice and More!!

2007-12-14T14:55:00.000-06:00

Thought you might want to see some pictures from Emi's birthday. We decided to forgo a party this year, but we had several family celebrations!

Today, after dropping Bri off for her math and science classes, I took Emi, Tori and Kalli to the Galleria to ice skate. We had a wonderful time. Of course it just would not be a normal day for us without some blood and drama! So...Emi fell and somehow ran over her own hand and cut it. The cut was pretty deep, but not too long. The ice brigade carried her off and of course she was hysterical at all the blood. She lived and even calmed down when I pointed out the fact that she had another hand. I suggested that she try to skate on the ice, not on her hand. She thought that was a swell idea and our day went on!

Fresh on the ice!

Sisterly Love!! (or holding on for dear life :)

While the cat's are away (or skating), the mice will play (or scream impatiently)!

AAAWWWWW!!!

Clean-up Time!!

BFF!!!!

Family friends!!!

Go Girl!!

I Give Up :)

2007-12-12T08:49:00.000-06:00

I am looking for a litter box. It needs to be a bit larger than normal and we prefer the color purple. We also need a bag of natural cat litter as her skin is very sensitive. We don't need the self cleaning kind as she can clean it out herself.

Confused???

So was I when I walked in the girls room upon hearing sounds of great distress (screaming) to find Kalli standing next to a pile of pooh! She proceeded to tell us that she was going to be like Girly Girl, our cat!

I'm not sure which should go...

the cat....

or the kid!

The Purpose of Christmas

2007-12-12T07:49:00.000-06:00

I have been big lately on making sure that I know the purpose for things I do. With so much to do and so little time, I have found that knowing the purpose helps me to make sure that I keep my priorities straight. I need to know exactly what I am working towards so I can place it into the proper priority placement. No great organizer thing here, just survival with four kids!!

Anyway, I have been trying to nail down the purpose for Christmas. I know that when we ask someone what is the meaning of Christmas, the standard "good" answer is to say to celebrate the birth of Christ. But I also think we all agree that we should do that throughout the year anyways. Family is always a big part of Christmas, but again, it is all the time.

I wanted to know what makes Christmas different for me. I love the season. I totally love all of the traditions with my family. I love our Jesus birthday cake, nativity activities, parties, baking and fun activities. I just wanted to put words to the purpose.

While listening to the kids sing Sunday morning, I realized what it is! It is a time during the year where I can easily be different. It is kinda like the EASY button that you see on the tv commercial for Staples.

I can show people very easily during the holidays who Christ is!

How?? There are soooo many ways! I can demonstrate that it is possible to be in the world and not of it! Things are just better received during the holidays. You can bring cookies to neighbors that you have never talked to and open a door there. Giving is easier.

Have you ever thought about how easy it is during the holidays to make someones day better. Standing in line at the store where everyone is rushed, I can be different. I can let the person behind me who looks in a rush go first. I can stand out by enjoying my family during this time. I can show Christ by putting others before myself, by smiling while I shopped in a packed store, by being different.

People will see it more during this time of year because a majority of Americans are all involved in the same thing and they are stressed! They are really stressed! I can do something small to help them and it will make a bigger impact than at almost any other time of year.

The purpose of Christmas for me is to use my EASY button as often as possible and teach my children to as well!

Happy Birthday to You!

2007-12-10T22:01:00.000-06:00

One day, six years ago, I got ready for bed in a similar fashion as to how I did tonight. Then I told Grandma goodnight, tucked in Brianna and Tori and heading off for a night of sleep! Except, I did not get that good nights sleep. I spent the night thinking about what was going to happen the next morning. I was so excited that I only slept about 2 hours the whole entire night!!

I got up at 4am the next morning and got dressed for a busy day. Daddy and I snuck out of the house around 4:45 a.m. leaving Grandma home with your sisters. We were heading to a very important meeting! On the way, we were blessed to see not one, but 2 shooting stars!!

We had spent a lot of time preparing for this important meeting. We had our paperwork in order. We had made all of the necessary arrangements and plans. We had spent many hours in conference with our boss asking for advice and guidance on how to conduct this meeting and the huge amount of follow-up work that would need to be done. We were ready!

We arrived at the meeting location and got all set-up, and then we waited. We waited a bit longer. We soon found out that the person we were privileged to meet was being held up a little longer. That's okay though, it will be worth the wait, we knew.

There were a few complications that made our wait even longer than expected! But then it happened, our guest was coming!! The excitement was overwhelming.

All of a sudden, into the meeting you burst! You and your beautiful blond head and blue eyes! You screamed very loudly to make sure that we knew you were here, and we did! We had waited and waited for you and we were oh so happy to meet you.

Daddy placed you in my arms and you looked up at me with your beautiful little face, snuggled in and went to sleep. Do you know why? You had just left God's loving, gentle hands and were placed for a time into ours. Don't worry, His hand is holding our hand, but for a time, we are allowed to meet with you.

Now, six years later, you are about to wake up tomorrow and be a 6 year old! Boy has that time gone by fast. Daddy and I have watched God transform you from a wrinkly little gift from Him, into a kind, compassionate gift to the world.

You walk into a room and smile and the room glows! Sitting here typing, I can close my eyes and feel your hugs...they last that long!

Six years have gone by so very fast! I know that the next six will go by even faster.

I want you to know something, God is still holding our hands as we hold you here on earth. There will be a time in your life when it will be time to let go. At this time you will go out to important life meetings without us. But you must always remember that God's hands will ALWAYS be there holding you. There may be a time in your life where He gives you a tiny, wrinkly gift and places her in your hands. Make sure He is still holding yours. Those tiny gifts are very important!

Until this time comes, know that Mommy and Daddy will hold you with every ounce of our being. We will hold you tight. We will hold you hard. We will hold you gentle. We will hold you steady.

He will hold you forever.

Emi, I love you so much and not a day goes by that we do not consider ourselves blessed that the God that knows everything and can move mountains, made the decision to allow us to hold you.

Happy birthday sweet baby.

I Survived!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

2007-12-10T07:15:00.000-06:00

Well, this morning I opened my sleepy eyes, looked around and realized...I survived :) This weekend was just crazy full of stuff.

The Care Kids performance went great. I was really nervous about the fact that it was so simplified this year. In years past there were outstanding sets and props, it was longer and the music more difficult. I was worried that people would be bothered by the fact that it was so much less this year. I was worried about many little things that were really unimportant! I realized that after all the hugs I received and the excitement of the kids saying they could not wait until next year to do it again. It's not about what people think. Nor is it about whether or not I look like a dork on-stage. It is about the kids having fun and experiencing a new way to praise God together that without Care Kids they may not be able to do. It is about letting them know that they are important and they are capable of giving people a message. An important message! And this year, this was the only way I could provide that for them. Maybe in the future I will become more capable at it, but this was what it was!

I must say that I have no earthly idea how in the world Brad and Genell ever did as much as they did! Pulling off what they did in the amount of time they did, to me, is closing in on the walking on water category!!

Emaleigh looked so cute yesterday for the performance! We rolled her hair in sponge rollers the night before and she wore her little Santa dress!! Adorable :) (I'm not partial at all :)

Now to gymnastics! Tori had her first meet of the year. Her team had to compete in it, but it was a practice for them. She has 9 meets this year over four months. We are going to have a busy spring! She did outstanding with two blues and two reds. She was able to use her glasses on vault and that turned out to be her best event (usually it is her hardest until we realized that she could not see the spring board when she started her run!). She had a great time!!

This is Tori with her coach.

It was a long day for all of us! I did have an ah ha moment about the meaning of Christmas which I will share tomorrow!!! I know you can't wait!!!

Emi is heading back to the doctor today, so say a little prayer for her!!

Have a fun day :)

So Long Good Friends!

2007-12-08T14:33:00.001-06:00

Well, this is probably going to be my last day functioning on the earth as a sane, normal (debatable) human being. Yes, tomorrow I have to stand in front of grown-ups at my church and speak. You heard me, big people, grown-ups, you know...ADULTS!! I will sing in front of thousands, talk and teach to kids all day...but adults, no way! When I signed up to do Care Kids, I never thought about the fact that I would have to stand and speak!! If you are going to be there, don't sit in the front few rows, because I will probably either puke or pass out and I don't want to hurt anyone!!

Today marks the beginning of a crazy weekend. The kids have their performance (which is going to be awesome since they are all awesome kids!), we are working at two gymnastics meets and Tori has her first meet tomorrow evening!

How crazy is this weather??!! Today record highs, tomorrow freezing! Just in case you were wondering, I was sick yesterday. Like high fever, puke my guts out sick. Not great timing since it is the before-mentioned beginning of crazy weekend, but it worked out. I feel much better today!

Emi will probably have to go back in on Monday because her tummy is still hurting and the meds they started her on seem to be helping some, but not enough.

Organized people make me want to pull my hair out. I am so envious!! I have several friends that are so organized that it is freaky and they try so much to make me more so, but it does not work. I think I am destined to be a last minute person. I am my most creative in a crunch!!

I was trying to figure out why I am just rambling on and now I know!! I am putting off the fact that I need to get programs done for tomorrow!! Since I have procrastinated that until today, I am sure it will be ultra creative tomorrow!!

SEE YOU TOMORROW!!

Time After Time :)

2007-12-06T05:44:00.000-06:00

****SPOILER ALERT: PROFOUND THOUGHTS CAN BE FOUND AT THE END***

Good morning!! It is a beautiful morning with crisp cool air and hey, it's Thursday, my favorite day of the week. On Thursday the weekend is close enough to smell, but it has not started yet so you can anticipate it!!

Emaleigh is doing a bit better! Not as good as what I would like to see, but probably good enough to continue to watch and wait. I am still uneasy as to why this happened in the first place. She has a very high fiber diet, always has, and has never had any problems in the past. I just find it odd that it would go from no problem to bigger problem so fast, but hey, what do I know!!

A friend I have wrote in her blog about time. She talked about the fact that when we say we don't have time, that really is not true as God gives us the perfect amount of time to do what we need to do. A better answer would be that we can't do something because we have chosen to screw up our time with tv, computer, laziness, etc. OUCH!!

When I look at my day and see all the areas in which I choose to waste time, it really is amazing! We don't do tv so that really is not a problem. William and I will watch a few shows online during the weekend together sometimes, but it is not something that I would say eats our time. I do think that I am reading on the computer too much. I am doing good things on it, but I think that is just an excuse.

Looking at my priorities I need to see if my time reflects my priorities. Even just a quick glance reveals that it does not. I say I don't have time to exercise, yet I do. I say I don't have time for longer prayer times, yet I do. There are many times that I feel like I don't have time to do basic cleaning on the house, but I really do!

Today I am going to make a point to watch for my time wasters. What are some of yours??

When Your Up, Your Up and When Your Down, Your Down!

2007-12-03T22:51:00.000-06:00

What a great, tiring, stressful, hard day!! Anyone confused??

Tori has worked so hard the past few months to learn a back handspring for her gymnastics competetion and tonight she was successful! Her meet is this weekend, so she pulled through!! Hooray Tori :)

I was able to meet two friends of mine tonight and enjoy 2 hours of visiting and Starbucks!! We had a great time. I am so happy to have new friends :)

Emi has had a hard day. I mentioned last week how she complained of a tummy ache and then ran a fever. She also had a touch of diarrhea. This has gone on for a week. Nothing big, I just figured she was fighting a tummy bug, but could tell that she did not feel great. Last night she seemed worse and this morning her diarrhea was worse. We decided to give her something for the diarrhea and I put a call in to the doctor to find out what to give and how much. They called back and wanted to see her. Her normal doctor was not in, so she saw the PA that works there (we have an awesome peds doctor and the PA is equally as awesome!!). He did some tapping on her tummy and sent us across the street to the hospital for some tests :(

The xray showed she had blockage in her intestine. I did not see how that could be since she had diarrhea, but apparently I was wrong! They did blood work and now we are home waiting to find out what to do. It is a pretty misserable feeling to know that your child feels yucky and to know why, but not know what to do about it! By the time we left the hospital, the doctor's office was closed so we don't know what to do except to wait until tomorrow. She has complained a lot lately of tummy aches, but never any poopy problems!! Anyway, we will see what happens, poor baby!!

So this has been an excitingly, awful day!!

Cookie Party :)

2007-12-01T18:06:00.000-06:00

Yup, today was Cookie Party day!! I think this is my 8th cookie party. We started having this while we were living in Richardson in a tiny two bedroom apartment and the only girlies I had were Bri and Tori. I remember that we squeezed 6 people into the apartment for an awesome time!

This year we had 10! What we do is if we have 10 people, everyone brings 10 dozen of the same type of cookie, packaged by the dozen. We show up, do a fun Christmas craft, share lunch together, visit, have an ornament exchange and leave with 10 dozen different types of cookies. There is a contest to see who has the most creative packaging and boy do some of the gals that come get creative!!

I usually get my first email asking how many I plan on having or someone turning in their recipe in July!! We really have a fun time and it has become a really enjoyable tradition.

Craft tables! This year we made bottled hot chocolate mixes and albums to keep the recipes that we accumulate year after year of Christmas Cookies!!

Food Table! This year we enjoyed a cheese potato soup and rolls (yummy:).

We had a roaring fire in the fireplace (of course, I set the air conditioner on 65* so at least it would feel like winter in the house!!

And last, but not least...COOKIES!!

Have a blessed first day of Advent tomorrow!!

Love It, Love It, Love It!!

2007-11-28T08:55:00.000-06:00

Every year I make us a holiday schedule with one fun thing for us to do together each day (I got the idea from a friend several years ago). Mondays are baking, Tuesdays are movie, Wednesday is craft, Thursday is a fun outing and then Friday, Saturday and Sunday's are usually already full anyway with church activities, birthday parties, work parties, etc. So, yesterday was movie day!

We packed up our old pick-up and drove about an hour south and went to a drive in movie!! It was sooooo fun!! We brought pillows and our camping sleeping bags to keep us warm. I had the little ones in long-johns and footie pj's and everyone else just dressed really warm! We got there about 30 minutes before the movies started and we got our pallet made in the bed of the truck, ordered our food and were ready to go! After the first movie, Emi got cold and wanted to sit inside the truck, so William sat inside with her. Kalli ended up falling asleep soon into the second feature. It was cold, but nothing unbearable! There was only one other car there. We saw two shooting stars! It was awesome!! I highly recommend it to anyone with kids :)

Of course, today, Emi has a fever and a tummy ache! Can't win 'em all!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Tree Day!

2007-11-24T20:14:00.000-06:00

I hope that everyone had a great Thanksgiving! We were able to visit with family and have an awesome, relaxing few days!

It has been our tradition for the past 7 years to go and cut our Christmas tree down the day after Thanksgiving. Boy has that added some excitement to the season. The first year we did not realize how big the trees would actually be once we got them home and our first one took up half of our living room! A couple of years later we got one on which spiders had gone into winter rest on and once the warmth of the house toasted them up, up they awoke!! They were everywhere!! Last year we decided on a smaller tree and we all said after that that this year we would choose the biggest one we could find.

In case you have never seen my house, it is very small for a family of 6, barely coming in over 1400 square feet! (but I must admit that I love my house!!) We do not have a huge living room, but we like Christmas trees! Some may think us crazy, but it is something we enjoy doing and having for a month every year. (another note is that it comes down at sunset on Christmas day!! I can only take it for so long :)

So on Friday we all bundled up in our winter gear.

Now there have been a few years that we were able to go in shorts, so it was nice for it to feel seasonable!! We headed to the tree farm about an hour away. Our normal trip ended up taking an hour and a half because Kalli realised that if she said she had to potty, it would get her out of her car seat!!

So we get there and head out on the tractor ride to find our tree. This is the first year that within 10 minutes we found "the one"!!

We knew it was big, but it was exactly what we wanted!! So William got the saw and begin to cut...and cut...and cut...and cut! It took a while to get this one down, but with one good, hard shove from the girls, down it came.

We hauled it to the road so we could be picked up by the tractor!

They shook it and put a hole in the bottom so that it would fit in our stand and we headed home!

Friday evening we drug it in and attached it to the stand and sat her up! Down she came!! It was so tall that it pulled over our stand. We laid it down and drilled another hole to try and steady it. Again, down it came! I was beginning to fret at this time! So we took it down one more time and cut about six inches off of the bottom and drilled a new hole again and this time it remained standing, but it was really, really, really crooked!! I was so upset and this is where our evening went from funny bad, to stinky bad! I took a day God had blessed us with and messed it up! I was a bit at the end of my rope and the tree fiasco was not helping. I can't remember now what happened, but I said something completely unnecessary, very hurtful and I broke my girls heart. I said in my exasperation with whatever happened that because of their actions, I did not like our tradition anymore. Actually, I was not even that nice about it! I knew as the words were coming out of my mouth that I should clamp down, but the deed was done.

Now, did I quickly admit my wrong and ask for forgiveness?? Nooooo, I had to go into the kitchen and pout a bit and try and convenience myself that it was not as horrible as it sounded! I soon apologized and told them what I said was a result of my choosing to act irrational and my feelings were my choice and had nothing to do with them. They forgave me and we had fun, but oh, how I know I broke a little something in their heart that I can't change no matter how much I say I am sorry. I know we all mess up, but sometimes I forget that my mess ups are affecting someones life and are not to be looked upon lightly. It still makes me so sad to remember that instant of my mouth spouting off and the look of hurt in their eyes!

On to happier things! We were able to fix the tree, sorta! We decided that since it was a bit on the tilted side, we would work with it by allowing it to become a natural, homemade tree! We made all of the ornaments on it today! We had so much fun. We started before lunch and worked all day!

Every year on the Saturday after we cut our tree, we have a tree decorating party in the evening. We share a dinner of little sandwiches, chips and dip, fruit, crackers and cheese, punch and some yummy sweet!! Then the girls decorate the tree. We had a great time this year and the homemade ornaments look great! The girls worked really hard and God was able to take us off of the path that my hurtful mouth could have put us on and led us down a path of fellowship and a great time being together!

Kalli reminds us that family is a gift from God!!

This is a picture of our beautiful tree, made with love from God above and decorated with love by our family!!

Gooble, Gooble!

2007-11-21T12:53:00.000-06:00

I Am Blessed

I am blessed everyday
By a creator who chooses to look my way
From the screams of my children,
To the mess in my room,
I am blessed today.

I wake to see another sunrise
I wake to hear another child cry
From the dirty laundry,
To the money that is not there,
I am blessed today.

Struggles and heartache seem to pour down
Bringing with them a tear and a frown
Today I will choose to reach for His hand
For He is the pier that leads to dry land

The land is full of the struggles above
But the laundry, mess and money (or lack thereof)
They are but blessings from my Father who knows
That it is here where a child grows.

My girls will learn from my struggles and heartache in a way
That will point them to Jesus everyday
From the squeak in the car
To the mess on the floor,
I am blessed today!

I pray everyone has a wonderful celebration with their family! Let some things roll off of your back, let nothing roll off of your tongue, and let much yummy food roll into your tummy!

Happy Thanksgiving!!

When Push Comes to Shove!

2007-11-18T06:37:00.000-06:00

What a weekend! Tori and Emi left on Friday to spend the weekend with my dad and step mom. They were meeting my stepsister and her family for a fun weekend at a state park in a cabin. Last I talked to them, my dad had both girls out right before sunset on the look for some wild animals! They are having a blast.

Yesterday Brianna attended a high school enrichment seminar put on by one of the colleges in the area. She and two of her friends were attending and she was really excited. When I went to pick her up, she looked so excited, like she had just received some huge surprise. Well, it was the physics class. She went on and on forever about how much she loved it. She told me that she went up after the class to tell the professors how much she LOVED the class and they talked with her a while and told her she was a natural. You would have thought the child won homecoming queen! Ever since they covered a little bit of physics in her chemistry class, she had been asking to take Biology over the summer so she could do physics next year and now she is an official physics fool!!

One of the classes she went to was over college admittance. She said at one point they were talking about scholarships for the top 10% and she raised her hand to ask how that worked for homeschoolers. She said the entire class went quiet (for the first time) and the teacher said she did not know. One kid in the back raised his hand to ask what she had asked. She said it was really funny and then after that all of the kids came up to ask her about homeschooling. She said all she did was smile when they talked about how cool it would be to be able to sleep all day and stay in pj's (she starts Latin at 6am T - Fri and we stay in Pj's maybe 4 times a year!).

She found a couple of things troublesome. First was the fact that there were so many kids that talked during the classes making it, at times, hard to hear. And the biggest thing was walking between classes. She said it was pretty funny to see her and her friends walking and every time someone would bump into them they would say sorry and excuse me and everyone else, for the most part, just pushed their way through. She asked if this is how it is in high school when they change classes and I told her it was, for the most part and she thought that would make for a really stressful day. I told her she would get used to it.

I worry sometimes when she does stuff like this that she will feel uncomfortable or out of place being that she homeschools. It always make me happy when it turns out good. I also find it interesting the new perspective that it brings. I never would have thought twice about the pushing between classes, that is just how it is.

Anyway, it went very well. She had a great time, made some new friends and learned a lot of really neat stuff!

While Brianna was at her seminar, the two other mom's and I planned to grab breakfast and do some shopping. We ended up staying at the breakfast restaurant and visiting for 5 hours!! It was great! I did not know either of them very well and I enjoyed the time to know them better.

Last night Kalli and Bri spent the night with my mom and stepdad so William and I spent the evening alone! We had a really good time. William is such a good man and I take him for granted way too often. I am praying to change that.

Parenting Rules

2007-11-17T06:03:00.000-06:00

When Brianna was born, I think I read every parenting book ever written. I was overwhelmed by the differences in the advice and the research that backed everyone up. After Tori was born I read all the books again and it was then that we decided no more books (parenting books that is :). Each book had seemingly great advice, but each book had different advice. I did not know what I should be doing or not doing! Over the years we have come up with our own general parenting guidelines. We have also become acutely aware of the fact that each child is different and if one way of consequences works on one child, great! It probably will not work on the next one!!

Our rules as parents are:

1. Always let the child know that without God, we know, succeed, teach nothing! We let them know that all we do for and to them is something that we have prayed about, it is not just to torture them. He is the ultimate parenting authority.

2. Respond to needs in some way immediatley, teach that wants can be put on hold.

3. Never let them win during a power of wills until they are old enough to have the ability of reason, then you can work out a compromise. Pick and choose the battle of wills carefully as a parent.

4. Allow them to make as many choices as possible while their choices will not have life-changing consequences. This allows them to experience consequences and work on better choices while they can. Begin early to teach them to proper way to make a choice.

5. Don't let them make a choice if you are not willing to let them face the consequence of that choice. If they make a bad choice and you pull them out of it, it starts a really bad pattern!

6. Listen! If you listen when they talk when they are young, they will be more likely to talk to you when they are older.

7. Teach them early on that we, the parents, are not all knowing and all powerfull, but God is. We will not always be there to help them, but He will.

8. Allow home to be a safe place. If home is a peaceful place to come, they will be more inclined to come!

9. Pray about and know when to allow for independance. If they do not learn how to be independant until they are out of the home, you will not be there to help guide them.

10. Don't just tell them that they are special and capable, show them! Chores are great for showing children that they are needed in a family and are capable. Find something they are successful in (like a sport, or a hobby) and be their encourager.

These, by all means, don't cover everything and they will not be good for everyone, but it is what works for us as general guidelines. We are not successful in all of them all of the time, but it is good to know what we are striving for!!

Toothpicks!

2007-11-14T20:36:00.000-06:00

Kalli swallowed a piece of a toothpick today, or we are pretty sure that is what she swallowed! She was mildly choking, she could breath, but you could tell that something was in there. We tried to figure out what it was, found out and called the doctor who wanted us to go to the ER. We decided to try CareNow as I know they can take Xrays there.

Apparently there is a risk when you swallow a toothpick that it can puncture something. They took Xrays and talked to a doctor at Children's who wanted her to go there for a scopey thing. The doctor from Care Now, someone from my church by the way (how cool was that!), wanted to contact a specialist to make sure before she sent us to do something so invasive (good thing cause there was no way I was going to do that without some symptoms or a really good explanation to help me understand, especially after all Bri went through a couple of years ago!). We talked to the specialist, he explained things to us very well and said he was comfortable with us just watching her at home for symptoms of a puncture to develop and to go on poop patrol to watch for the little booger to come out!! She has to go in in two days for another Xray to check again on the progress of the toothpick!! So we are to keep a close watch on her today and tomorrow...fun!! By the way, the toothpicks were for an art project we did yesterday making sculptures with marshmallows and toothpicks. Did not think about choking on it!!

Anyways, we had to miss REVOLVE tonight which I am really bummed about! Have a good night!!

It's Over!

2007-11-13T19:43:00.001-06:00

I did it! I went in today and not only was it okay, but it was much better than I expected. It was a blessing that I would have missed if I had not gone and there was a change of plan, but all is good.

My leg is feeling better today. Not completely better, but better! Hooray :)

Everything I have filled this page with so far has just been mush and I have taken advantage of the delete key, so I think I will leave it at this for tonight!

Have an outstanding evening!

Giant Purple People Pleaser!

2007-11-13T05:41:00.000-06:00

Yup, that is me! But today, I am going to do something that I feel will make someone upset with me.

Tori is switching gymnastics teams. There are several reasons for the switch, but we are very excited for her to begin working with her new team today. My first inclination is to pull Kalli from her class as well so I don't have to face the gym anymore. But Kalli loves her class sooo much.

William called yesterday to inform them, but I am going to go in today for Kalli's class. I know this sounds like no big deal, but for me, it is huge! I am terrified. I know it is just a business and I am a customer, but these people there have become my friends and I don't think they will completely understand why we are doing what we are, but that is okay. I know they will not be rude or throw things at me, but it is the silent uneasiness that I dread!!

People pleasing is a selfish act. On the outside it sounds like a nice person who wants everyone to be happy, but it is selfish. It makes everything about me and I am really working on getting rid of that in my life.

On Sunday's, I help with a children's chorus at my church. We are having adults come in and sing two of the songs with us this year. I am very excited about it for several reasons. First, I think it shows the children how important they are! Second, I like the idea of involving more than just one group of people.

I took on doing this because I love music! Seriously, I way love music and I wanted to share that with the kids. On Sunday when the adults came for the first time to practice with us, I was so nervous about what they would think or how I might make myself look like a dork, that I completely messed the kids up several times! Everyone had to suffer for my selfishness. I should not care if I look like a dork, but I did and I do!

Anyway, I just wanted to share that I am going to be more intentional with my actions in this area, or at least I am going to try. Hopefully I will still have some friends when I get it all worked out!!

Birth Story #4 Cont'd

2007-11-12T19:20:00.000-06:00

If you are just starting, go and read the post below this one so you will know what has been going on!! I have a little spare time so in order to not keep Heather waiting...:)

Once again, I want to clarify something. Anything I mention here that I was against or felt was wrong for me is pertaining just to that situation and just to me. It is nothing I am against or feel is wrong, but it was not the plan and I was fighting the plan! Different pregnancy, different time, different plan and things could have been much different. I am not talking here about opinion, just retelling a story. I hope you all understand what I am saying.

Okay, we have this wreck...

Everyone is okay and we begin the insurancy stuff! It was such an easy process that it was just another way we were able to see God encouraging us to rest in His plan. I go to the rental car place to pick up some transportation while our SUV is being fixed. The lady offers me a Jeep SUV. I felt funny about this so I asked her if she had anything else because I was a little afraid of driving after having the wreck and she offered us a minivan. Great! We took it. I took out that insurance that they always offer you, called my insurance agent the next day and was assured that statistically I would probably never use it so to drop it. I did.

Several days later we meet my dad for a nutritious Taco Bueno dinner before Girl Scouts. As we leave the restaurant, Emaleigh cries that she does not want to get in the car, she is scared of another wreck. After we get in, I explain to her that she should not be afraid because we were safer then than we were two weeks ago because it was a statistic improbability that we would have two wrecks in one week (Huge Mistake!!). Once again I look at my plan and my boundaries and my stats!

As we are on our way, all of a sudden a car comes out of a parking lot going around 30 mph. Witnesses say she was on a cell phone and did not slow down to look whatsoever. We were in the center lane of three. She slammed into us where the passenger door is. This sent us into the far lane of traffic where we were hit on that side by another van. I looked over after the other van hit us and I saw a lady driving the second before she slammed head on into one of those huge metal utility poles. The original lady that hit us had spun around after impact and hit us a third time from behind. The girls were all screaming, I was crying and trying to get out of the car to get to the girls. I panicked and needed out! William was in the drivers seat and he was able to get out on his side and get the girls out and then I climbed out. We were all settled on the side of the road...again and the sirens came. On a funny note, our wreck was close to the city line so we had two sets of emergency help arrive.

People are helping the other van unload their four kids as well and other people gathered to make sure the lady that caused it all did not leave. I guess as she sped through the parking lot, she had already made several people mad. They were yelling at her and I felt really sorry for her. Anyway...our rental van was totalled. It almost sheared the drivers door completely off. The other van's front was cut in half by the pole. One driver had rib pain due to the airbag and I had hit my head on the side of the van, but we were all okay...again! We were terrified, but okay! God has a plan. I thought again about this baby that I was carrying and felt so blessed.

We got a ride home after the accident and as I walked into the door, the phone was ringing. It was Williams brother calling to tell us that Williams dad had unexpectedly died. Honestly, I thought it was a joke, but it was not. I can only imagine the emotions that William had to deal with. His mom had died 9 months before, his wife was pregnant, we had 2 wrecks and no car. We are blessed. It did not feel like it, but we were blessed.

There was a message on the answering machine from the auto shop that was fixing our car. They had told us it would take around three weeks to fix our car, but they were leaving a message saying it was done early. We had transportation to William's hometown. I had a sonogram scheduled for the next day because they had been unable to find the baby's heartbeat after the first wreck, they found it, we were blessed! If we had been driving an SUV instead of the van, the impact would have caused us to roll and we would have gone into oncoming traffic, we were blessed.

I could not see all of the blessings at the time. In fact, there were times that I felt very alone, but God was showing us His plan. When you are in His plan, there are blessings, there is grace and there is love.

Things eventually calmed down. The pregnancy was going pretty good. I enjoyed it like I had not enjoyed any of the other ones. I appreciated every day and celebrated the life that was growing. The past pregnancies, I was so caught up in how I did or did not feel, what I needed to do and stuff like that, that I did not take the time to appreciate the miracle of it all. I prayed and prayed for the baby.

No preeclampsia this time! My perinatologist kept telling me it would come back, but I knew better! All was well until...my selfish ego stepped in...again :)

I did not want to be induced again. I had prayed about this and really felt that it was important. One day after my due date, my wonderful doctor wanted to induce. If I had been courageous and less concerned about what she would think about me, I would have asked her to wait. I did not and I had barely made it out of her office before I knew that I had sinned. (I think I need to clarify here that my sin was in my not stepping up and being bold, not the induction itself) I knew this was not in what part of God's plan that He had revealed to me, but I was selfish and let my ego control.

After getting home, I talked to William and I found many ways to justify following what my doctor said, but deep down, I knew I should call her...I did not.

Induction day arrives and they get things started. After 8 hours there was no progress, she broke my water and nothing, but muconium (which is not the best thing). We keep on, but eventually she comes to me and says that the baby will not drop at all, she is showing signs of distress and I needed a c-section. She explained that she knew I did not want one, but the baby's well being depended on it and she would be back with papers for me to sign. I cried and cried. William suggested that we pray.

I am praying and begging God to fix this, please let the baby drop! I was angry and told God that I had stood on His word throughout this time and He was not helping me! I told Him that this was not part of the plan!

I instantly felt His reply. No, this was not part of His plan, but I had decided to go with my plan. "Oh God!" I prayed, "please forgive me. I know it was sinful of me and I am so sorry!" I repented with every fiber of my being. Many times I repent because I have been caught, but with this, with this I felt shame. He had carried me and blessed me so much and I had, yet again, taken a hammer and pounded the nails in Him. I was so sorry!

At that instant, I felt the baby drop. William was still praying and I told Him to get the nurse. He tried to reassure me that the surgery would be fine, but I told him he was misunderstanding me, the baby was coming.

The nurse and doctor came in with the paper work. I told her what I felt, she checked and out came Kalli! They had nothing prepared in the room, it was awesome! It was the most beautiful thing. I held her and cried and cried! She had swallowed a bit of meconium, but she was fine.

Not only did God teach me about His plan through this pregnancy, but He taught me about true repentance and grace.

When this began, it was not part of the plan and I could not see how it ever would be. Now, I can't imagine any other plan! I am blessed!!

Leg and Birth Story #4

2007-11-12T16:52:00.000-06:00

Wow, those so do not go together!! I made it through the day, thanks for the prayers! It hurts on the upside of a step, you know when you put most of the pressure on the balls of your foot. I guess somehow I pulled a muscle, can talking too much do that? Oh, I know, it was yesterday when I inserted my foot into my mouth! :) I think I will give it a couple of days to see if I can get around any better and then I will have to go to the doctor. Hopefully tomorrow it will feel better!

Okay, this is my final birth story! Here goes....

We were done after three! Yup, I again gave away all of my baby stuff. Emi was three and life was getting really easy! We could sleep late again and go out to eat like normal people, all was good! Now, not getting into details but we were VERY careful to not get pregnant again. It was not in our plan (I know, I know!! God always loves a good laugh when I have a plan!)

I was up one morning having my Bible study and for some reason I opened and read a random (again, big laugh) verse... Children are a blessing from the Lord, and the fruit of the womb is His reward." Psalms 127:3. I knew in my heart that God was telling me I was pregnant. I called William at work in tears. He said I was imagining it and it was nearly impossible. "Don't worry!" he said.

About three weeks later he woke me up at 1am with a pregnancy test and asked me to take it. I did, I was...plan interupted! What I about to say may sound bad, but please understand I am talking about a plan and a pregnancy, not the child. I was devestated. I cried all night. I had just lost 55 pounds and had been working so hard to lose weight, I felt my life was so good and I thought this would mess it up. Again, hear me saying a pregnancy...I am sooo not talking about the child. Also hear my selfishness!

I hate reading this as it sound horrible. But I think it is very important to share. At this time in my life, God was showing me that even if I have a very good plan, it still needs to be only His plan. About two months before I found out I was pregnant, I was asked to help with something in the women's ministry at our church and I REALLY wanted to do it. I more or less said yes, but the lady who asked suggested I pray over it. I did, but I went into it thinking it was what God wanted. The more I prayed, the more He said not a good idea. Finally He showed me a verse and I was certain of His will and I declined doing it. It is one of the only times in my life I have said no and I really wanted to do it. I could not see why that would be a bad idea!

Two months later, during what would have been the beginning of the volunteer job, I found out I was pregnant. Like I said, it was not my plan and I spent many weeks pouting and whining about it (sooo selfish)!! Then my life came to a screech...literally!

One morning as the girls and I were leaving the gym and were driving home a lady made a left hand turn in front of me. It happened so fast that there was no way to even slow down and I hit her going 40mph. She flipped twice and ended up on top of another car that was waiting to pull out of a parking lot. I don't remember anything about the impact. I just looked up and the underside of her car was sitting on my front windshield and liquid was going everywhere. I immediately thought that the car was going to catch on fire, yelled for Bri to unbuckle Emaleigh, I grabbed her and carried her to the side of the road, ran back and grabbed Bri and Tori. I got them settled under the tree on the side of the road, looked up and saw the lady in the car I hit hanging upside down in her SUV, then I lost it. I very kind lady had stopped and calmed me down while another lady sat with the girls. Then the sirens started coming and coming. That nice lady called William and he was on his way. Then I thought...I am pregnant, what about my baby.

This is where in my mind this "event" changed from an interuption to my plan, into a blessing of a child from God. Another note to add to this story is that about 3 days before I was driving somewhere and it was laid on my heart that I needed to switch Emi back into a carseat and out of a booster seat. This feeling was very strong and I prayed on the trip that God would keep us safe and that I would change it when we got home. I did.

Our seatbelts saved our lives. Emaleigh's carseat left her with no physical sign of the accident. I felt nothing. No neck pain, nothing. Brianna had some abdominal issues from wearing the lap belt only and Tori had burns from her seat belt, but we were all okay. Not just a little okay, but very okay, so was the lady in the other car. She was cut up and bruised, but okay. We were blessed, God had a plan. He prepared us for this even when I did not know.

There is so much more to this birth story, but if I keep on it will be so long you won't want to read it! You will never believe what happened one week following our accident....

Quick Question :)

2007-11-12T07:36:00.001-06:00

I need to ask you guys to pray today for me. My calf was hurting yesterday and by the time I got home it was pretty sore, but I could limp on it fine. I got up this morning and it felt much better. As I was walking from one room to the other it all of a sudden had a horrible tearing/twising pain and now I can't bear any weight on it. I have three classes to teach at coop and a ton of things to do that I can't miss. As I am seriously limping now, when I accidentally move that leg the wrong way or put too much weight on it there is a horrible, drop to the ground type of pain. Please pray that I can get through the day without hurting it more or ending up on the ground unable to get up!! That would be horribly embarassing and I have had enough of those this past week to do without another :)

Thanks guys!!

Birth Story #3

2007-11-09T19:10:00.000-06:00

Okay, number 2 was a doosey and this one doesn't compare, but I hope that you will still find it interesting and informative!

My blogging friend Kim has spoken about stirring up the pot and I may do that when I start on this story. If you think I am crazy, join the club!

We tried to get pregnant with child #3 for years! After two years I went and had some testing done. They told me I had secondary infertility and would need medical intervention to have another child. Wow! This was really unexpected. We did not know what to do so we prayed and prayed. We really both were against the intervention and felt God was leading us to this conclusion. Not because we thought it was wrong, but you have to remember, this was our third child. It would have been a different story maybe if we did not have children. Right or wrong, this is what we decided. My doctor said that I would not get pregnant without it so we moved on. I got rid of all of the baby stuff and we were happy with our two blessings.

Around six months after this happened, I was having my prayer time and God spoke to me. Yes, like the speaking where I look up and see who is talking. He said that I would become pregnant that month. You can think I am crazy now, but it was what it was. I ran and told William that he had better make sure he wanted another because God said it was coming! I told several people that God told me that and they probably all thought I had lost it! Several weeks later, tahdah...I was pregnant! We were so happy!

Skip ahead a month and I started bleeding. I went to the doctor and they ran tests and in a nutshell, they said that I needed some shots every other day and to take some medicine and even if I did that the baby only had a 50% chance of surviving. I honestly was not worried because I felt I had assurance that the baby would be fine. Pregnancy goes on...I find an awesome Christian lady to be my doctor. All is well until my preeclampsia tries to come back again.

I also have to mention that during this time we attended RE, but did not really know anyone. Melissa Smith held a baby shower for us through the church and I figured maybe a couple of people would show up because no one knew us! We had 50 people! It was not because I was some nice person they all wanted to celebrate with, it was because we have an awesome church who rallies around its body! I was blessed beyond words!

Okay, back to the preeclampsia. They decided to induce 3 weeks early to try and prevent it from going full blown. I went to the hospital, they start the pitocin and....nothing! They turn it up....nothing! They break my water....nothing. Now we were in a pickle! They broke my water so she had to come out. Her heart rate started to decel so they came and mentioned C section. Now, I know many of you have had them, but I had not and did not want to. I was terrified! I cried and cried. My wonderful, Christian doctor went out in the hall and prayed for me! Twenty minutes later Emaleigh was born! She had the cord wrapped tight around her little neck and breaking the fluid caused it to compress. They had NICU in there waiting, but they were not needed! Praise God I had another, awesome baby girl!

Parenting Bites!

2007-11-08T06:26:00.000-06:00

Sometimes I really don't like parenting! I love being a Mommy, but the parenting/child rearing part I could live without. Yesterday was one of those days and this morning is already getting there!

My girls have chores that they do each morning. They do the same chores for 3 months and then we switch. Chores are great for children. It gives them confidence, work ethic, responsibility and training. My girls enjoy chores as well...most of the time. One of the girls is struggling with maintaining focus and getting done what needs to be done. She has no trouble focusing on what she wants to do so I expect it to carry over. When William left for work yesterday morning, she was doing her chores. When William got home last night, she was still doing her chores! Our rule is that you finish chores before you do anything else and if that causes you to stay up all night or miss fun things then so be it. Once the chores are finished, you are still responsible for any other work that should have been done like schoolwork, etc. Yesterday she missed visiting with her Mimi. Last night we had planned on the girls and I baking some bread and a cake, she missed it. Finally she was finished and completed schoolwork around 11pm. She is already dragging this morning, but that was her choice and she will deal.

I am okay with all of that, but now, oh now we are to what I can't stand! A couple of my girls have real problems with picking up after themselves. I understand, I am the same way. I struggle with that all of the time and I feel bad getting onto them about it when I do the same thing. But I don't want them to grow and and have that struggle when I can easily help them. One of our newer rules is that if you leave your clothes laying out where they do not belong, you get one warning (per 2 days) and after that I take all of your clothes, shoes, jackets, etc away. We will pick you one pair of pants, shirt, undergarments, jacket and shoes and that is it. If after 24 hours you have demonstrated an ability to be responsible with those, you will get one more of each back and this will go on until they have their clothes back and have learned to be responsible with them.

Okay, above mentioned child left her clothes on the bathroom floor last night after already receiving her warning. I know that she had a horrible day yesterday. Not only did she have the struggle with getting her chores done, but she accidentally put dish soap in the dishwasher and flooded the kitchen with bubbles. No big deal, but she was very upset about it. I hate adding something onto all of this! But we told her it would happen and if we don't do it, that set a really bad precedent. I really don't like doing this!!

If you see one of my children in the same outfit three days in a row, you will know who it is and please give her a hug because she will probably be having a yucky day!

Birth Story #2

2007-11-07T06:34:00.001-06:00

First let me say that Emi had trouble sleeping last night because of her tummy. Heather, we had her jump a little bit ago and she was a bit hesitant, but did it fine. She says this morning that it hurts worse, but she does not act as much like it. No doubling over in pain, so I think she will be fine, but I am keeping a watch on her. I am wondering if she pulled a muscle or something?? Who knows!! Crazy kid :)

Okay now onto story number 2!! This time I am pregnant with Tori. Boy I was sick!! I was taking classes at the university in town and I remember walking to class and puking on the side of the sidewalk several times, it was lovely!!

About 6 weeks before Tori was due I went for my appointment and my blood pressure was up. They did some other labs and told me that it looked like I was trying to develop preeclampsia, so to go home and watch for certain things.

I go home and the next day develp a horrible headache and I felt really bad. I called the base hospital/doctor and they said they were closed (this time I knew to expect that so I was not quite so shocked!). They told me to go into town to the hospital there. I go and they send me up to L & D. The doctor there started freaking out saying that he can't believe they sent me home and he told me that more than likely within 24 hours I would have the baby. The immediately put me on a medicine called magnezium sulfate. That is one whopper of a drug! They had to put a catheter in and would not let me out of bed. I had a nurse sitting beside me bed the entire night. William and I had no idea what was going on, I just knew that I was feeling horrible about leaving my 2 year old Brianna overnight!

The next morning they called the base hospital for my records and the base told them that they wanted me transferred back to the base. Why??? No one know! We found out later that it was a mistake. So, they transfer me by ambulance to the base. We were terrified at this point!

I arrive at the base hospital and they get me in a room. A couple of hours after getting there and seeing my nurse only once, they finally inform me that they had started me on Pitocin to induce labor. No one had even let us know! William had left to pick my mom up from the airport (she was so worried that she hopped a flight and headed up). Again I was worried I would have the baby without him being there.

They arrive back from the airport just as I started having contractions. The doctor came in and asked if I would like an epidural (they nomally would not let you have one in this hospital) and I started crying. I really had not wanted one, but I was so tired and felt so yucky from the mag I was on that I said yes. They put it in and it was great! William decided he would go to the waiting room to take a nap and I was going to try and get some sleep.

A nurse had come in and all of a sudden I felt like the baby was coming. I told her and she said that it was not, first of all I would not feel it and second, they had just checked and I had made no progress. She left and I told my mom to just glance under the blanket because I was either having the baby or had done something that would be embarrissing! She looked and Tori's head was laying on the table. She screamed down the hall for someone and they came and got Tori and she was born! William ran in the door right as they were pulling the rest of her out, God is good! I did hemmorage again with this one, but the pitocin helped and it was not as much.

Unfortunately this story does not end there and as I go on, you really are not going to believe me! I promise this is true, you can ask my mom or William!!

Tori was 6 weeks early and would not cry. They tried for 30 minutes to get her to cry before they finally decided to call the pediatrician on call (no, that is not a typo!). They ended up poking her with a needle and that got her going, but she had to go on oxygen for a while, nothing major though. Through this I started to feel funny. I can't really describe it. My tongue started to feel really dry and like it was swelling. I thought I was having trouble breathing. I told the nurse, she checked my oxygen and said I was fine. Suddenely, according to my mom, my eyes rolled back in my head and I fell back on the table and started having some type of seizure. My mom ran out in the hall...again...and called for a doctor. They decided I was having an allergic reaction to some medicine they had given me, but there were no Benedryl shots on the floor!! I could hear everyone during all of this. I remember trying to focus my eyes on a ceiling tile above me and to keep them open thinking if I closed my eyes I would die. I could not breath. The doctor kept telling me that he knew I could hear him and I would be fine. He said my body thought I could not breath, but I really could (I still don't know what that means!). I was very reassured by his talking to me. I do remember that he was telling a kid that was training that I was having a rare side effect to one of the drug and the kid said "Cool". I was not impressed with that comment!

They gave me so many drugs to stop whatever it was that was going on that I slept for the next 12 hours. I remember them bringing my mom in to see me and telling me she was really worried. They wanted me to open my eyes. I could speak so I mummbled that I was fine, but they wanted me to open my eyes. I tried really hard and I think I got one open a little bit. The next thing I remember was a nurse coming in with Tori saying that if I did not wake up and nurse her they were going to put a tube down her throat and feed her, nice huh! I really worked to wake up and feed her.

They told me that I would need to be in a private room because I was still on the mag medicine, they put me in with another lady!! One thing I have not mentioned yet was that this hospital was not equipped with a NICU or any nursery for that matter. I can't remember what it is called, but it was a level hospital that could only take babies 3 weeks early and later. I could not care for Tori yet, so I could hear the nurse wheeling her bassinet up and down the hall with her to check on the mom's, poor Tori! They let me go home two days later with Tori. She weighed 4 pounds and 6 ounces when we left and was not eating. The doctor that was on call though was a great lady who knew me from helping me to get Brianna to nurse and she thought things would go better at home. We just had to check in with her each day.

Like I said earlier, the transfer back to the base was a mistake. They never could really tell me what happened after she was born with my seizure. One doctor said it was an allergic reaction to an antinausea drug they gave me, one said it was a side effect and another said it was from the pre eclampsia. Now I always put down I am allergic to that drug just in case! Praise God we all ended up safe and at home, but it was so crazy, just a series of little mistakes, but the outcome was the same. I had my beatiful, but a bit small, little baby Tori!

Crazy Day

2007-11-06T19:17:00.000-06:00

What a day! What a blessed day!!

I joined a thing called the Grocery Game about six weeks ago. It is a site that you pay for (not much) and once a week she posts an email about which grocery stores to shop at and which coupons to use for maximum savings. I have always hated coupons! Way too much work and I never saw much savings! But this, this is sooo cool! Today I bought about $140 worth of groceries and spent only $17. It was really fun and even better because William was able to come with me!

We did sculpting today in art with our friends and that was really fun! Followed by gymnastics. I love this particular gymnastics class because it is full of my friends, so we have about an hour to sit and visit while the kids all get tired out and have a blast!!

Came home and had time to just sit and visit with William for a while. That was really nice! He is a pretty awesome guy and I really enjoyed sharing some time with him. We decided that he was going to take the two older girls tonight to the musical Man of La Mancha instead of me. I tend to do a lot with the older two girls and he tends to do more with the younger two so we thought it would be good to switch it around a bit.

Before they left, Brianna came in and said there were two flashes of light that came up from Kalli's bed. About the same time all of the lights in the house flickered. We went in to find that all of the outlets were out and the circut was blown. After some investigating, we saw that the extension cord that plugs in to the socket next to Kalli's bed had somehow gotten wedged up under her metal bed frame leg and sliced in half. I burned the cord into pieces! The girls were on the bed when it happened and I am so glad that they were not electracuted! Praise God yet again!

Another odd thing about today is Emi. She came into our room last night complaining of a tummy ache. She said it was not a throw up kind of ache, but a sharp pain. As the day progressed, she compained more and more and this evening she will not let anyone touch her tummy and she went to bed at 6:45! The pain is in the upper center area so I really don't know of anything emergent that it could be, but I am hoping it is gone by tomorrow!

I will do birth story #2 later tonight or tomorrow! You don't want to miss it, it is a whopper!!

The Howling and a Birth Story!

2007-11-05T20:36:00.000-06:00

Okay, maybe it is not really howling, but I do hear the wind blowing outside. I finally relented and put on long sleeves Sunday after looking like a freak (again) in shorts all last week. Well....no one told me it was going to be a thousand degrees outside!! I really wish it would get cold and stay there. Just for a couple of months!

I looked at the weather online tonight and was so happy when they said the high tomorrow was in the 60's. Then I remembered about when we were living in North Dakota, that would be considered warm! Crazy stuff!!!

I have been thinking quite a bit lately about when my girls were born. Probably has something to do with all of the pregnant ladies at church and the fact that my baby is growing so fast. But, I thought I would share a bit of their birth stories with you. Let's start with Brianna!

I found out I was pregnant with her about a month after William had left for basic training. We had only been married 6 months and in that time we had changed career directions, moved across the state, William left for basic training and was to be gone for 5 months and then...tadah, I am preggers!!

I was thrilled and terrified! When I was in my 6th month he got out of basic and we were moved to Minot, North Dakota. Talk about culture shock! We left here wearing shorts and arrived there four days later to snow. We had no house waiting, knew no one, we really had nothing but a lot of time to pray on the way.

God was so good as He blessed us with awesome friends the first day and A house within 4 days. We really were not able to get established in a church there so we had home church. It was awesome!

Okay, so I am away from our family and pregnant/newly married! Brianna was due a couple of days after our first anniversary! I was sooo scared because with Williams schedule, he was gone for four days and home for three. I was so afraid that I would go into labor when he was gone! It had also crossed my mind numerous times that we could have a blizzard when I was in labor.

Well...I had gone out with some wives from his squadron (he was out in the missile field) for lunch and was feeling pretty yucky! I went home and took a nap, woke up and my water broke. Like big time broke!! What did I do??? I called my mom, who was not home. Then I called my dad's office. His secretary said he was out so I told her. She informed me that there was really nothing she could do and maybe I should call William! Good idea!

I call and he is out on patrol, but they say they are going to radio in for him to head back to the squadron. He should be back on base in 2 - 3 hours! I am not prone to panic (okay, I am, but this is my story and I want to look good!), but I began to worry a bit :) I called my new, awesome friend Jodie. She came to pick me up and take me to the hospital. I felt so bad because remember how my water broke, well, she was in her new car!! We left for the base hospital.

Upon arrival they hooked me up to the monitor and said I was not having contractions, though I really felt like I was. They also did a test and said my water had not broke so they told me to go home. I informed them that either my water had broke or I had completely lost all control of my bladder! Luckily they tested again and said my water had broke, but no contractions so no big deal...but...they were closed for the weekend due to being understaffed and I would need to go in town (30 minutes away), but there was no hurry.

I now had no husband, no hospital and no doctor!! Jodie and I went back to her house to pick up her husband (or course it had started snowing and he was going to drive us into town!). I was really feeling bad at this point, I thought my lunch was making me sick. We went by William squadron office to drop off the car keys so he could drive into town and meet us and as I walked down the halls of the office I was having to hold onto the wall I felt so bad. We also went by Burger King on the way to get me a Sprite hoping I would feel better (remember they told me I was not having contractions:). On the way to the hospital I became a bit agitated that they would not drive faster so I told them I would pay any ticket or fine, but to get me there! I was sooo scared!

We finally go there and walked up to the third floor. A wonderful nurse met me in the hall and said that the base had called, but they had said I was not in labor. She said they were wrong!! Once they got me into a room and picked a midwife for me they informed my she was facing up instead of down..little stinker! They tried to turn her but she did not turn. William finally walked in the door and I tore him up one side and down the other...so they told me! Oh, but I was so happy to see him!

After some awful back labor, Brianna was born facing up just after midnight! She weighed 9 pounds and had a head full of black hair. I started to hemorrhage after she was born and I remember asking the midwife what was going on. She told me I would die if they could not fix it! Can we say drama queen!!

Obviously they stopped it and I was fine. I had the most incredible baby in my arms. They moved William and I into a room where we had a queen bed and he could spend the night with me.

Some things I remember the most were first how hard it was to nurse a baby! No one had ever told me it might be difficult! That is a whole other post! I cried almost the entire first night. I was so tired and needed to sleep, but I felt bad sending her to the nursery. I also had extreme postpartum depression after she was born. That lasted about three months and almost ended our plans of having more children.

Never had anything been so awesome yet so terrifying as being a parent, and little did we know it had just begun!

Saturday :)

2007-11-04T06:11:00.000-06:00

You guys that missed M & M Mom's yesterday missed a good one!! I was so very blessed by hearing Rachel speak. And Terri gave an awesome tips talk and gave out samples!! Oh and the food was sooooo good! While I was at the meeting, William and the girls went and played games at Chuck E Cheese. He does this at least on Saturday a month. They get there at 9am when they open and play until around 10:30am when people start to arrive! We use a coupon online where they get 100 tokens for $12, so they have a blast!

When I got home, I took a 3 hour nap while William played with the girls. I was really tired as I did not sleep well the night before. William is just the best daddy and husband! The girls have a really cool, wooden playhouse out back and some of the wood on their front porch was showing some wear and tear. While I slept, he replaced their porch.

This was all followed by my mom and stepdad coming over for hamburgers and homemade ice cream! Yummy!!

Emaleigh had a rough evening. The girls are allowed one sweet treat a day and she wanted a little pack of M & M's from Chuck E Cheese. William reminded her that if she ate it she could not have ice cream tonight. She cried that she was hungry. He reminded her that there were plenty of things to eat that would not count as something sweet. She said that she would give up ice cream for the M & M's.

Well....when ice cream time rolls around Emi wanted some. We reminded her of her choice and told her no. You can imagine the distress that was displayed :) She ended up being sent to bed 30 minutes early due to the fact that she could not control herself (screaming, wailing, etc!) and still no ice cream!

This situation got me to thinking of how many times I choose the here and now, instant gratification path when God has such a better choice waiting for me if I will just be patient! And how often I choose to kick and scream when I am frustrated thus bringing on more negative consequences in my life.

M & M Mom's

2007-11-03T04:03:00.000-06:00

Today is the big day!! 10 o'clock marks the time that M & M Mom's meets for the third time! We have a fantastic speaker this morning talking about handling stress during the holidays. Our tips talk is being done by the craftiest woman alive!! And she is bringing samples :)

So as you are reading this and you think, oops, I forgot. Just hop up really quick and get up there!! We will miss you if you don't :)

Deck The Halls...

2007-11-02T20:17:00.000-06:00

Everyone's talk about the holidays has me really ready!! I absolutely LOVE this time of year! With all of my blog buddies sharing there Santa stories, I thought I would share ours.

William and I decided when we had kids that as soon as they asked if Santa was real we would ask them if they really are ready to know. If they said yes, then we would tell them.

Brianna asked the first time when she was around 4. We were doing grocery shopping and she just out of the blue asks me if Santa is real. I ask her if she really wants to know, she thinks for a second and says no. So we finish shopping.

The next year she asks again and again I ask her if she really wants to know. Her answer, again, is no. Finally the third year that she asks she says she really is ready to know and we tell her that we, mom and dad, play Santa, Easter Bunny, etc. She says she already knew that anyway and wants to make sure that we continue to do it.

When Tori was around 5 or 6 she asks about whether or not Santa is real. We ask her if she is really ready to know and she says yes. We tell her and she gets the biggest grin across her face. I asked her why she seemed so happy and she said it always scared her to think of some strange man coming into the house while she was asleep!

Emi asked last year and when we asked her if she was really ready to know, she said no, she wanted to play the game longer (telling me she already knew!). Even though at least two of the girls have known for quite some time, we did not stop the cookies and milk, letters to Santa, etc. They had become part of our tradition and we enjoy it!

This year we have all decided to do something different. We are foregoing Christmas presents from Santa. We will trade gifts with our extended family. We started a couple of years ago trading homemade gifts between ourselves. We usually then get up, see what Santa brought and go see a movie together. This year Santa will fill stockings only and we are trying to find a place to serve as a family Christmas morning. We may end up going to a neighborhood nursing home and visiting. We really are not sure how we will serve yet, just that we decided to do it. Of course we will then have a late lunch and go see a movie together.

I have to tell you that the relief I have felt knowing that I do not have to find gifts for the kids has been huge! I never realized how stressful it was because I enjoy doing it, but it has been great. We are trying to take the money we would have spent on gifts and find things to go and do together. Our goal is to truly enjoy the holiday and each other.

Of course my mom thinks we are going to scar the girls forever by this change. My dad thinks we are even more freaky than he already did! I must say though that the girl, William and I are very excited about it! I will let you know how it goes!

I have really enjoyed reading about whay you guys do during the holidays! Now we all just need a little snow!!

Trick or Treat!

2007-11-01T05:38:00.000-06:00

We had a great time last night going trick or treating. I love our neighborhood as so many people go to great lengths to make it a fun night for the kids. All of the adults get out and are able to visit and everyone has a great time. Here are a few pictures from last night.

Four little monkeys, hanging in the tree!

Kalli is a floating fairy! Notice the hair has already tried to float away. She was so tired that at one of the last houses she went to they put the candy in her basket and when she got back to the sidewalk she took it out and threw it! We knew then that it was time to go home!

Tori is an Air Force soldier! She loved wearing William's uniform. So many people told her she should be so proud to have a daddy that served in the Armed Forces.

Emaleigh was a dancing fairy (or should we call her a hanging fairy!).

And finally we have our thug/spy/thief/cat burglar! She graced us with her presence but has out grown the trick or treating part :(

My mom and stepdad came over and went with us. It was really just a great time! We got home and emptied everything in the middle of the floor. The kids each get to pick 10 pieces of candy to eat whenever they want, the adults get to choose some and then they put it in a basket for the tooth fairy to come and pick up overnight. She leaves them a little treat to thank them for saving their teeth! (and Daddy's office benefits in this arrangement as well!)

Oh, by the way, I want to leave you with the thug/spy/thief/cat burglars mug shot!

The Days of My Life :)

2007-10-31T14:24:00.000-06:00

What a week so far! It is so great to be alive in the beautiful world God created for us. The past week has just been delightful! I adore the cooler weather and being able to open my windows. We have spent hours and hours outside enjoying the new season that is coming upon us!

Two weeks ago we were able to spend the day with a family from church out at their house. It is about an hour away and pretty far out in the country. We all loved it! The girls got to help feed the goats and pick pears. I was able to visit. It was sooo fun.

We are so blessed to have all been healthy the past couple of weeks. Brianna picked up a touch of poison ivy this past weekend at a retreat at church and must have come home with some of it on her clothes and passed a bit on to Tori. I remembered this time not to put any cream on it :) (she is allergic to it and I forgot last time and she ended up with blisters everywhere!).

Next week Brianna, Tori and I are going to Bass Hall to see the musical "Man of La Mancha" about the novel Don Quixote. I am really excited! To me this is one of the best benefits of homeschooling. Tori read a retelling novel from the original, Bri is finishing up the original and then we all get to enjoy the musical together!! I love Bass Hall, it is just exquisitly made. The sound is awesome there.

William served as a juror for a crimal court case this week. It only lasted two days. Brianna had crazy hat day today at band. There were definately some crazy hats there! Tori first gymnastics meet for this season is in December so she is working really hard to get ready. Kalli is officially potty-trained. I finally gave her no option (she loved her diapers, but as soon as she would tinkle even a little she wanted it changed) except betweeen pairs of panties! She is going nights and naps and staying dry. It sure would be nice to be done with diapers. Of course outings are a pain! Today we ran an errand while Bri was at band practice and Kalli had to potty three times in five minutes. Finally I figured out she was just wanting more M & M's! Emaleigh has been hopping from birthday party to birthday party! She is very ready for her own to arrive!

I am still having work done on me be the Maker of All! An awesome thing to report is that I think it is working! I realized the other day that I was thinking about God more often throughout my day! Pretty Neat! I have had numerous little needs pop up in the last week that He has met in such awesome ways. I am reading this incredible book that I will share more about at a later time, but it has revealed to me several falacies in some of my thinking!

I am so blessed to have my blog buddies! I have so enjoyed getting to know you better through your own blogs. There are so many of you that I did not know prior to blogging and have just been so thrilled to get to know you. You guys are so great!

Perspective: The Invisible Woman

2007-10-27T20:20:00.000-05:00

By Nicole Johnson

It started to happen gradually. One day I was walking my son Jake to
school. I was holding his hand and we were about to cross the street when
the crossing guard said to him, "Who is that with you, young fella?"
"Nobody," he shrugged. Nobody? The crossing guard and I laughed. My
son is only 5, but as we crossed the street I thought, "Oh my goodness,
nobody?"
I would walk into a room and no one would notice. I would say something to
my family - like "Turn the TV down, please" - and nothing would happen.
Nobody would get up, or even make a move for the remote. I would stand
there for a minute, and then I would say again, a little louder, "Would
someone turn the TV down?" Nothing.
Just the other night my husband and I were out at a party. We'd been there
for about three hours and I was ready to leave. I noticed he was talking to
a friend from work. So I walked over, and when there was a break in the
conversation, I whispered, "I'm ready to go when you are." He just kept
right on talking. That's when I started to put all the pieces together. I
don't think he can see me. I don't think anyone can see me. I'm invisible.
It all began to make sense, the blank stares, the lack of response, the
way one of the kids will walk into the room while I'm on the phone and ask
to be taken to the store. Inside I'm thinking, "Can't you see I'm on the
phone?" Obviously not. No one can see if I'm on the phone, or cooking, or
sweeping the floor, or even standing on my head in the corner, because no
one can see me at all. I'm invisible.
Some days I am only a pair of hands, nothing more: Can you fix this? Can
you tie this? Can you open this? Some days I'm not a pair of hands; I'm
not even a human being. I'm a clock to ask, "What time is it?" I'm a
satellite guide to answer, "What number is the Disney Channel?" I'm a car to order, "Right around 5:30,please."
I was certain that these were the hands that once held books and the eyes
that studied history and the mind that graduated summa cum laude - but now
they had disappeared into the peanut butter, never to be seen again. She's
going she's going she's gone!
One night, a group of us were having dinner, celebrating the return of a
friend from England . Janice had just gotten back from a fabulous trip, and
she was going on and on about the hotel she stayed in. I was sitting there,
looking around at the others all put together so well. It was hard not to
compare and feel sorry for myself as I looked down at my out-of-style
dress; it was the only thing I could find that was clean. My unwashed hair
was pulled up in a banana clip and I was afraid I could actually smell
peanut butter in it.
I was feeling pretty pathetic, when Janice turned to
me with a beautifully wrapped package, and said, "I brought you this." It
was a book on the great cathedrals of Europe . I wasn't exactly sure why
she'd given it to me until I read her inscription: "To Charlotte , with
admiration for the greatness of what you are building when no one sees."
In the days ahead I would read - no, devour - the book. And I would
discover what would become for me, four life-changing truths, after which I
could pattern my work:
* No one can say who built the great cathedrals - we have no record of
their names.
* These builders gave their whole lives for a work they would never see
finished.
* They made great sacrifices and expected no credit.
* The passion of their building was fueled by their faith that the eyes
of God saw everything.
A legendary story in the book told of a rich man who came to visit the
cathedral while it was being built, and he saw a workman carving a tiny
bird on the inside of a beam. He was puzzled and asked the man, "Why are
you spending so much time carving that bird into a beam that will be
covered by the roof? No one will ever see it." And the workman replied,
"Because God sees."
I closed the book, feeling the missing piece fall into place. It was almost
as if I heard God whispering to me, "I see you, Charlotte. I see the
sacrifices you make every day, even when no one around you does. No act of
kindness you've done, no sequin you've sewn on, no cupcake you've baked, is
too small for me to notice and smile over. You are building a great
cathedral, but you can't see right now what it will become."
At times, my invisibility feels like an affliction. But it is not a disease
that is erasing my life. It is the cure for the disease of my own
self-centeredness. It is the antidote to my strong stubborn pride.
I keep the right perspective when I see myself as a great builder. As one
of the people who show up at a job that they will never see finished, to
work on something that their name will never be on. The
writer of the book went so far as to say that no cathedrals could ever be
built in our lifetime because there are so few people willing to sacrifice
to that degree.
When I really think about it, I don't want my son to tell the friend he's
bringing home from college for Thanksgiving, "My mom gets up at 4 in the
morning and bakes homemade pies, and then she hand bastes a turkey for
three hours and presses all the linens for the table." That would mean I'd
built a shrine or a monument to myself. I just want him to want to come
home. And then, if there is anything more to say to his friend, to add,
"You're gonna love it there."
As mothers, we are building great cathedrals. We cannot be seen if we're
doing it right. And one day, it is very possible that the world will
marvel, not only at what we have built, but at the beauty that has been
added to the world by the sacrifices of invisible women.

Good Morning!

2007-10-24T05:57:00.001-05:00

Nothing really important to say, I just wanted to tell eveyone good morning! I am so loving the fall weather.

Hope that you have a great day today!

An Ode To A Toad

2007-10-23T20:41:00.000-05:00

Okay, a few weeks ago I took some time to share one of my greatest blessings with you, Brianna. Today I am going to share another one of my greatest blessings, Tori!

I have always called her Toad for short. I never realized that I was calling her a frog until Mr. Bob looked at me odd one day at church and asked me to repeat myself.

Anyway, let's start from the beginning. Tori was born 6 weeks early under horrible circumstances. I won't go into all of the details, but it was a mess. Weighing 4 1/2 pounds she still left the hospital in two days.

At the age of 8 months she came down with RSV. I had taken her to the doctor the day before because she seemed to feel ill and they told me she had a cold. The next night, in a blizzard of course, she seemed to feel better, but I noticed she seemed to be breathing awfully fast. I called the nurse line and they told me to count her breathes, I counted 90 per minute. She told me I must be counting the intake and the out breath, but I was not. We went to the hospital where they immediately put her on oxygen and IV's and all types of yucky stuff. It was really scary! When she was able to come home, we had to give breathing treatments ever hour. Most kids are caused to feel hyper after taking the medicine, Tori was struggling so hard to breath that the relief put her to sleep. For a year we struggled with this. She ended up on steroids for a year.

The steroids caused her growth to become stunted. In kindergarten, she was wearing size 3T. This really bothered her. Over the next couple of years, she caught up.

Tori had trouble learning to read. She would get so frustrated and cry. Writing was incredibly difficult for her and spelling was impossible. She was dyslexic and having a horrible time. It took a while for us to realize it. Once we did we researched and found every important historical figure we could and sat her down and explained to her that all of her frustration was caused not by her not being smart, not by her being lazy or not trying, but God created her sweet brain in a way that learned different from the way that we had been trying to teach her. We explained a little about what Dyslexia was and told her about all of the famous people that have overcome it. She was so happy and relieved! Then the real research began on how to help her. I spent hours reading text books where I would have to read one paragraph 5 times just to understand it! Through prayer and much research, we came up with an educational plan.

From what we had read and heard, the best thing to do for dyslexics was to allow them space to find their own way of learning, we did that. We read to her constantly. We scrapped the spelling books and writing books and practiced on chalkboards and in the sand. She worked and struggled sooo hard for a long time.

She now has recently finished reading Tolkien's The Hobbit and is now deep into Gulliver's Travels. She loves reading. If you could see the progress she has made in her writing, you would be amazed! She has worked through "friends" telling her she was not smart because of her spelling. She has worked through great amounts of frustration. She has worked through feelings of being less than. She is an outstanding young lady.

Praise the Lord, she also found gymnastics and found that she has a talent in that sport and a love for it!

Tori is so full of compassion and honesty! She is kind to those who others are unkind, she knows how it feels. She encourages those who feel unable, she has been there. If I sound like this is a bragging post, sorry, but it is!! I am so proud of where she came from! I am so impressed and blessed by who she is now! And the world will be blessed one day by who she will become! She is my sweet little Toad and I am so incredibly proud to be called her Mommy!

See her playfulness!

See her talent in gymnastics!

See her sweet, Godly soul!

Marching to the Beat of a New Drummer!

2007-10-19T09:07:00.000-05:00

Okay, I am a choir girl. Singing is my thing, always has been. I took piano lessons for a few years, but that was it. Fast forward to the now......still waiting for you to catch up.....there you go!!

Okay, last year Brianna decided she wanted to play an instrument. I signed her up for a music class and she chose the trumpet. The first week she brings home the trumpet and blows into it and....nothing, no noise. Well, me being so musically inclined and all yank it from her and proceed to inform her that she needs to blow from her diaphragm, not her shoulders for goodness sake! Then I go to show her....nothing. I decided she received a broken trumpet and we would have it fixed next week.

Those of you who know anything about trumpets probably are already smiling...glad I could humor you. She goes to class, I tell her instructor it is broken. Instructor takes trumpet, blows, low and behold a noise comes out. Obviously I did not know anything about band. Brianna worked really hard for that year and pumped out a short song for the end of year concert and then retired from the trumpet business.

New year now, she wants band again. I tell her that she probably really wants choir, no she says, she wants band and she wants to play the flute. She REALLY wants to play the flute. Okay, I go and find a home school band class.

She has an excellent teacher who told us exactly what to buy. We get home and again, I assume the flute is broken. This time it was in three pieces! Apparently I was wrong again and they are supposed to come apart. I pick it up to show her how to blow...(no people, I don't give up easily!)...nothing! She calmly takes it and blows...noise!! Obviously her mouth was made more for flute than trumpet and she is loving flute! She practices hours and hours each week, and it actually sounds nice (unlike the trumpet practice).

Okay, so for her band class, they are told to go watch a marching band contest that was held in Plano a couple of weeks ago. We go and watch! Oh my goodness!! I am blown away by a few things.

1. Obviously a band director has to know how to play each instrument in the band, or at least have some passable skill.
2. A band director for a marching band has to spend hours and hours planning where everyone is going to go.
3. Not only are they the music teacher, but the choreographer!
4. Instruments are wwwaaaayyyy more difficult to play than I ever imagined, especially the wind instruments!

For all of you band people out there, I tip my hat and say WELL DONE!

I'm Here:)

2007-10-16T15:15:00.000-05:00

Just did not want anyone to think I had disappeared!! Thinks are moving along here. The girls are well, Emi has been struggling with a headache today, but she is feeling better. We are all trying to get caught up from the last three weeks of illnesses!

Frankly, I am having a pretty crummy week. I know that I am blessed, but I am pulling myself down. I know that God is working on me, but I am struggling to remain joyful during the process. Lately I feel like a selfish, sinner. I am unsure why I am dwelling on it. Maybe it is part of the process of breaking down the old self. If so, I just want to say "I GET IT!" Could be that I am choosing to dwell on it, but I don't think so. It just seems to be slapping me in the face all of the time lately.

I know that I asked Him for this and I know that it will be beautiful in the end. I just did not expect for it to go like this. I thought I would just wake up one morning and have the heart of a beautiful butterfly instead of waking up seeing the junk on the inside of the cocoon!

There are worse ways to learn these lessons, I know, but I don't think that takes away from the fact that this is hard. I am waiting for His strength to swoop in and carry me like wings of eagles....I know it is coming!

Grump!

2007-10-12T19:34:00.000-05:00

I don't know why, but I am feeling really grumpy today. I have been easily irratated all day. I don't even know why I am posting about it and that annoys me as well!! See, I told you!

I just feel beaten down. I am thinking maybe after trying to wear us down through illness, Satan is taking another path and I must admit he is finding more success. Isn't that pathetic that I can be brought down more by little instanses that agrivate me as opposed to my family being sick. Wow, I am so not finding this helpful!!

Tomorrow will be another, blessed day!

A Little Fun!

2007-10-12T11:34:00.000-05:00

I am sooo happy that everyone in our house is better!! No puking, earaches or sleeping all of the time (Bri is still having pain in her side, but it is not any worse!)!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Now we are faced with the clean-up! I thought of calling in FEMA, but figured they had better things to do. I now stood before laundry out the wazoo, school lessons to catch up on, freezer cooking to do and prep work for a gazillion different things. What do you think we did on our first, completely healed day?? We had fun!! All of those other things can wait, but we needed some fun!

We spent the day at the pumpkin patch with some friends. So much fun! Then we went and watched the homeschool football team, the Blue Angels, play a local Prep school. We won!! That was a blast!! After that the girls and I watched Tori at a gymnastics class, followed by Taco Bueno (yummy!!) and bed! Thought I would share a couple of pictures...

Favorite Puke Moments....

2007-10-09T09:08:00.001-05:00

Okay, first let me say that there is a huge difference when each age group gets sick. Toddlers, Kalli, would puke and play, puke and play. I can deal with that. Things seem normal for a bit! Brianna and Tori just wanted to be left alone. Keep them supplied with a clean, wet washcloth and some water and let them be. Boy, oh boy, the early elementary age is something else!!

First, Emi wants me next to her all of the time. When she is trying to rest, when she is in the process of being sick, all of the time! She also gives a play by play, "Mommy, it's coming!". Then, she asks tons of questions, "Mommy, why am I sick?", I tell her it is Tori's fault! "Mommy, make it feel better!", I inform her that being quiet and still will help (this does not work!). And she wants touched!! "Mommy, hold and rock me!" While normally I love doing this, all I can think of is 1)please don't puke on me 2)please don't breath on me and get me sick.
She feels so bad and in the end, I am glad to do anything that will help her feel better.

Okay, now to what you all have been waiting for.....Becky has been counting down her favorite pumpkin pictures, and boy, have they been good. I love number one!! I am going to countdown my five, favorite puke moments! I will do mine all in one listing though because after everyone is better and I get some sleep, this will really gross me out and I won't want to think about it and especially write about it. So, in the spirit of my blogging friends sharing my pain, here goes...

5. This one happened early this morning. Bri was in the process of getting sick in the girls bathroom, I had waited and waited to use the bathroom myself and was about to explode so I went to my bathroom. All of a sudden Emi bursts in the door screaming "It's coming, I am going to throw up!", I am trying to get done and decent, all the while falling over the trash can! It was crazy!!
4. Puking out the nose award goes to Kalli!! So weird!!
3. Bile!! So gross. When Bri had meningitis and threw up bile, it was the worst smelling thing I have ever been around!
2. When Tori was a baby, my mom was holding Tori up, over my mom's head and happened to be saying "AAAHHHHH" at the exact time Tori spit up. You can imagine what happened there.
1. When the girls go to my moms house, she gives them anything they want. When I say anything, I mean anything! She has gotten better over time, but she used to give them any snack they wanted. When Bri was about 3, she loved cake frosting. Not the cake, just the frosting. My mom went and bought a 1/4 sheet cake decorated with pretty red frosting and let Bri eat as much frosting as she wanted. Can you all say disaster!! They went to bed about an hour later and Bri got sick...duh...and threw up all over my mom's new white, down comforter. The dog was also in the bed and was granted a lovely shade of red fur! It took months for the dog to lose the red coloring!!

Hope you all enjoyed these!!

They're a Blessing ...They're a Blessing...They're a Blessing

2007-10-09T04:13:00.000-05:00

They really are a blessing and I would do anything for them, but I think if I have to clean up any more puke tonight, I may scream (or at least roll my eyes!). I have Bri in my bed, who feels horrible. We are assuming this is the same virus. And Emi is on my floor on a pallet (one that I have remade three times because she did not make it to the bathroom).

As I finished my last sentence, Bri woke up and got sick. Of course she did not make it to the bathroom or in the pan either...so....I did not scream or roll my eyes. I did gag a few times!

It is 4:30 a.m. and I know that William will be up soon to get ready for work (he is sleeping in the girls room with the two that are not sick). He did get up after Emi was sick the first time. I have to work my way into cleaning up after sick kids and she was unexpected (no, the hint that her other three sisters have been sick within the last week did not tip me off!!!). For some reason I feel better knowing that people are starting to wake up. I don't feel better when I think that it will be time for me to get up in 30 minutes!

Well, we have had about 10 minutes of no wretching and heaving, so I think I may head off to grab those 30 more minutes of sleep!!

Anyone Have a Map??

2007-10-08T21:47:00.001-05:00

I need a little prayer for discernment from you faithful prayers out there!! This will come as no big shock to anyone, but Brianna is sick. Like vomiting, fever sick. Here lies my dilema...does she just have the virus that everyone else has, or does this have something to do with the pain the doctor has been watching in her left side. Her side is hurting worse, but is it from being sick or something else. I know if I call the doctor, she will have me take her to the hospital, but I am not sure that is right. I have been praying that her side would either heal or get worse so we would know what course of action to take, I can't tell anymore what I need to do. It is a sad day when you can't decide what is best for your child.

Today, I think I probably suck as a mom!! (pardon the vulgar language)

***Update: It is 3:30 a.m. and Emi has been up the past hour or so throwing up as well, so I think it is safe to say Bri has the stomach bug!!

I Am Blessed!

2007-10-07T13:45:00.000-05:00

What a day! William is out of town helping my mom move. I forgot to bring Kalli's shoes for church so she wore some other shoes, they are just 3 sizes too big. I am dropping everything I touch. I am so behind on everything!! I thought I lost a $75 cd for CareKids. Emaleigh dropped her full plate of spaghetti onto the clean dishes in the dish washer. I don't have time today to buy groceries, clean the house or paint my toe nails (boy do they need it!). It seems lately that something is going wrong every day, between sick kids, cars not starting, my making people mad and forgetting/losing things!

Amid all of this chaos, I am choosing to stop and say...boy, am I blessed! I have a wonderful helpmate that will return sometime today! I am blessed with four children to run around and help cause my chaos. Big blessing here....I have a dishwasher! I have food, housing, transportation, friends and a church. My children, despite a childhood crisis every now and then are healthy.

There is a mom out there that would give anything to clean up her child's spilled spaghetti. There are people out there who pray to just have the money to buy the groceries or a living space to clean. Let's say I had lost the $75 cd, no one would shoot me or kick me out of church. I would have saved up and bought another one, Jami would probably still have liked me!

Yes there are times, days, weeks and months where everything in my life seems to come unravelled, but it sure is better than the alternative. Sometimes we need a little shake up in our life to help us appreciate the times when life is still. Sometimes we need a little chaos to appreciate the peace. Sometimes we need to shout out our questions, so we can hear His answer.

God, why me??!! Because I am blessed.

**Update on Bri: She is feeling much better! She is still having pain in her side, but they said that they would hold off a few days and see if it gets any better. I am hoping that since her body is getting over the bacterial infection that she had, it will better be able to fight off whatever is causing the pain. She went to her ROCK group tonight at church!!

Quick update...again!! :)

2007-10-05T18:29:00.001-05:00

Bri has felt much worse again today so we went to the doctors office. Good news is the mono test was negative and everything blood wise looked good. Bad news is they still don't know what it wrong. I have been feeling pretty frustrated today. I hate going to the doctor so much and especially not knowing what is wrong. I feel like a bad mom. I struggle with thinking I should push her more to get up, but when I do, she gets worse. My awesome doctor made me feel much better!

Here is where we are at..the ear looked better, still infected, but better. Since she has only been on the antibiotic 4 days they don't know whether it worked and is now failing again, thus she feels worse, or it is slowly working. We decided to wait and look again tomorrow. As far as the fatigue and abdominal pain, she wanted her to go to Children's and have a CT scan and other tests to figure it out. We discussed it with her and chose to wait until tomorrow and re-evaluate. It could be another virus that is related to the mono virus. If tomorrow she is worse then I think that is what they are going to do. I hate for her to have that, especially since she is terrified now of needles.

Please pray with me tonight that she will feel better tomorrow. I will update tomorrow.

PS: Kalli is vomiting out of her nose..YUCK!

Freak!

2007-10-05T08:46:00.000-05:00

I love Friday's! The weekend always gives us a chance to spend time together and I love it. A habit that I picked up in college is that the weekend actually begin on Thursday evening. I am not sure how that started, but at each of the colleges I attended, the big night to go out was Thursday night.

We started our weekend last night with William grilling awesome burgers on the grill followed by some yummy homemade ice cream! Boy was it good! It always seems so funny to me that two of our girls always choose a bun with ketchup. No meat, no cheese, just ketchup!! They missed out :)

William is home again today. We woke up with Kalli throwing up...again and Brianna's ear, head and jaw are causing pain again. Yesterday morning she still felt a bit better, but by afternoon she was down and out again! She has an appointment with the doctor this afternoon.

I am not one that often takes my kids to the doctor, though how it looks lately you may not believe me! My kids just seem to come down with weird things! I have gone through dozens of ear infections with Kalli...no doctor. Numerous oozing eyes and skin infections...no doctor. Puke, runs, headaches, broken toes, bloody noses, a gazillion snot noses and coughs...no doctor. But sometimes things just baffle me and I go. I don't like it, but I do it. When I was in last week I was apologizing for taking her time (don't know why I always do that since that is what she is there for, but I do). She told me to chill! She said there were people in for every little thing all of the time. She reminded me that the last time Bri was in, other than a check up, was when she had meningitis. I felt better, but when I call and talk to the office staff, I always feel like a paranoid freak again!!

This brings me to another thing I am pondering lately...We get weird, not common junk! They say hepatitis A is no big deal, I was the exception and ended up in the hospital for a week. Tori had stunted growth due to steroid overuse when she was younger (the steroids were given after having RSV when she was a baby). I took Bri to the doctor when she was around 5 because she kept complaining of her throat feeling funny (I did wait a couple of months on this one). I was explaining to the doctor why we were there and told her I just wanted to make sure it was not a tumor or something and she laughed saying that kids her age don't get tumors there often. Guess what!! Bri had a growth on her thyroid, she thought it was a tumor!! After sending her the next day for a gazillion tests at Children's, it apparently burst and was just a fluid filled something or other (I could have save some money apparently if I had just pushed on her neck a lot!).

Then we have Bri again...meningitis. She gets sick, I personally thought she was trying to get out of cleaning the kitchen, but since she normally did not do that, I let her go lay down. Five hours later she is vomiting and having a horrible headache. I am calm and call the after hours line mostly because I can't remember how to alternate Tylenol and Motrin. They say bring her to the ER. I hate the ER!! We wait, she gets worse so we go (Kalli is 1 month old at the time). They think she has meningitis and perform 7 spinal taps before they get it right. They assume it is bacterial because at this point she is so sick and start her on antibiotics. Ends up being viral meningitis (kids are not supposed to get very sick from viral, but you know us!). She is at Children's for 4 days before she gets well enough to go home. The first night home she is in agony because her legs hurt, she can't lay still, but when she gets up she starts vomiting. We wait for the doctor's office to open and I carry her in (this was 2 years ago, she was a bit hard to carry..go mom!). They send her back to the hospital. She is vomiting the most disgusting stuff I have ever seen or smelled! It was awful!!!

The blood work showed some curve or turn or something that caused them to think that she might have been exposed, during her spinal taps, to a bacteria and may have the bacterial meningitis now. We wait and test...apparently the next day things look better and they figure that she was just extremely dehydrated and that is what caused whatever it was they were worried about, but....she is still in extreme pain and semi conscious. The do an MRI to look for a clot in her back that could be causing the pain, nope, not it! I ask repeatedly if she could be leaking spinal fluid due to the small hole not clotting, nope they say, does not happen often in children and not this far out after having it. Guess what??? Ended up she was leaking and that caused the puking, which caused the dehydration which made everything worse! They said that a blood patch would fix it up immediately...nope, it helped but took a few more days!

Last year she started having similar headaches. Her doctor sent her back to the hospital. I told them, please no spinal tap, she is terrified of needles. They said that there were other tests they could do to try and rule out meningitis, but if she failed those they would have to. She failed every, freaking single one! They did a great job of doing the spinal and told me that since they had her lay flat for 3 hours after the procedure, she would be fine. Guess what!!!! Leak..again, but this time I did not call the doctor, I knew that they had said last time that if she had not been throwing up and so dehydrated she could have laid down for a few days and it would heal itself. We did that and after a week, it worked. I told my doctor later about doing that and she was not impressed, so I don't recommend it.

We are just weird!! We are the family of 2 big car wrecks (so not my fault!) and the death of a parent all in 1 week! Now this thing with Brianna! There are times it is funny, but other times it is embarrassing!!

Now you know it, we are freaks!! Still love me???

Quick Post!

2007-10-04T07:26:00.000-05:00

Bri is feeling even better this morning! She wants to try and have a "normal", but slower day so we will see how that goes.

Thanks!

Whatever Shall I Do??

2007-10-03T13:55:00.000-05:00

Whatever shall a homeschooling mom of four do when one of her students can't work on schoolwork and can't go anywhere??? TAKE PICTURES OF EVERYONE...of course!

And here is what I saw:

Loyalty
This cat has been on or beside Brianna ever since she got sick. I am so not a cat person, in fact, I am scared of them, but I think this one is a keeper.

Joy
You can just see the joy pouring out of Emaleigh in this. To me, she seems to light up any room she walks in with her smile.

Growing
My baby is growing up so fast!

PraiseWe put on some praise music this morning and went to town! I think we rattled the windows!!

Healing
I think my biggest baby is feeling better today! Praise God! She wanted to get up and look outside at the rain and see what all of the commotion was about (that was our praise singing!) and I snapped this quick picture.

THANK YOU LORD FOR ANOTHER DAY TO ABSORB YOUR LOYALTY AND PROMISES, TO EXPERIENCE YOUR JOY, TO GROW IN YOU, TO SING YOUR PRAISE, AND TO EXPERIENCE YOUR HEALING HAND! YOU ARE AN AWESOME GOD AND BLESS US IN SO VERY MANY WAYS! THANK YOU. YOU HAVE BLESSED ME WITH A GODLY HUSBAND, FOUR PURE CHILDREN, A FANTASTIC CHURCH, FRIENDS THAT ARE SO LOVING AND EVEN TWO RUNNING CARS! ALL OF THE GLORY AND PRAISE IS YOURS, THANK YOU!

Waiting....

2007-10-03T07:34:00.001-05:00

Several people have asked about Brianna so I thought I would let you know. She is still the same. She tried really hard yesterday to get up and do some of her normal morning routine, but it did not work. She ended up over doing it and had a bad day. Her ear, head and jaw don't seem to be responding yet to the new medicine, but I pray that they will soon. She still has no energy. She is trying really hard to muster some up, but she just can't.

The doctor did not call yesterday, so I see that as good news. From what I understand the tests for Leukemia and other blood diseases would have come back yesterday, the rest come back today. They said they would call no matter what because if this all comes back okay, they will need to check other things. As a mom, the thing that kept popping into my head was worrying about Leukemia, so I am relieved. I will call tomorrow if I have not heard anything.

Please continue to pray that she will feel better. She decided yesterday instead of being upset about all of the time in bed and discouraged, that she was going to use it to pray and think. So she is maintaining a good attitude, though she is upset about all of the youth group stuff she is missing at church.

Our car is back and working! My dad was able to put in a new ignition switch and it started right up! Praise the Lord!! We have seen so many awesome blessings in our lives lately, God is so good!

Have a wonderful day today!!

One of My Many Blessings!

2007-10-02T15:21:00.000-05:00

I have shared many times on this blog how I have a deep desire to experience God in a way that I have only heard others share about. I have heard it described as thirsting for God, yearning and even a passion to just be with Him. Though I feel I have touched on this type of relationship before, I have never felt involved fully to this magnitude. I have been blessed with a daughter that does.

She longs to study His word and seek His guidance. She always finds a blessing where I see a trial. Her name means "one of great faith" and she lives that out daily. She told me the other day that she used to fear death but now anticipates it. She pointed out that whether you are 90 or 9 when you die is really irrelevant when you look at the scope of eternity. She wanted to know why she should fear going home?

I learn so much from her each day, as I do all of my children. The faith that she exhibits leaves me speechless most of the time. It is not the blind faith of a child, as she has traveled a few rough roads. It is a choice. It is a yearning, a passion. I can not even imagine the plans the God must have for her. I know that she will leave a lingering trail of faith, love and kindness wherever He leads her.

Quick Update!

2007-10-01T10:41:00.000-05:00

William is at our coop classes teaching my classes, so I have to do this really quick so I can get there.

Tori is fine! Kalli, who started throwing up Sunday morning is fine as well!! Praise the Lord.

Brianna is not fine. She was still having a lot of pain in her ear, head and jaw as well as not having energy to do anything and pain in her left side. We saw the doctor today. The flushed her ear out. She has a thing about the size of half an earthworm that was growing in her ear. He said it was bacteria and puss and had attached to the side of her ear....GROSS!! After getting that out he could see her ear drum and said that the anitbiotics were not working....duh! No, seriously though, he was awesome. He changed her antibiotics, kept her on the same pain med and then we went on to discuss the other issue. He says they are not related. She is exahausted, and I mean bone tired. She can't do anything and she is having a lot of pain in her left side as well as a fever off and on. He said her spleen is enlarged so they went ahead and tested for Mono. He also did blood tests for several other things. We should know about the other blood things within 24 hours and the mono in 48. Please kep praying!

On top of this, when I went out to start the car this morning, it is completely dead. It does nothing and it is not the battery. I told Bri on the way to the doctor that having all of these little trials is kinda exciting because that means God has some awesome plans coming up that Satan is trying to stop!! She agreed.

Pray...Again Please

2007-10-01T08:19:00.000-05:00

I am on my way to take Bri to the doctor's office. We would appreciate prayer that they might figure out what is wrong.

Thanks!

Our Day

2007-09-28T18:13:00.000-05:00

Okay, call me crazy here, but I am starting to get a bit worried. Tori is still on the bathroom floor where she has been all day! She threw up one time this morning and then another time this afternoon and there was a bit of blood in it. I figure that is from her tummy being irritated after throwing up. I am watching her for dehydration and though she shows one of the signs, she is drinking plenty. Her tummy feels nauseous, not painful she says, but she just seems off to me and I can't put my hand on it. Maybe I have not dealt with enough stomach bugs to be familiar with them, but I am a bit worried.

Now Brianna...she has not been able to get out of bed hardly at all today. She did get a shower, I thought that would make her feel a bit better, but then she slept for the next 4 hours, got up and ate a little dinner and is back asleep. I don't think her ear is hurting as bad today as she has not wanted to take any of the pain medication. She says she is sleepy enough and that it really knocks her out. She has a headache and her ear is still draining, though not as much. I am mostly worried about why she is so tired and she has a sharp pain in her left side.

Hopefully, no prayerfully I am just being a worrywart Mommy, but I am getting a bit uncomfortable with both of them. I hate to call the doctor...again. I don't want them to have to endure any unnecessary tests or anything. But I may have to tomorrow. Let me know if you have any input/advice/opinion!!

Quick summary of our day...

Tori had a stone massage and a cleansing treatment...

Brianna was able to catch some R & R...

Kalli and Emi indulged in a mud bath...

This was followed by water therapy...

A strongfacial for mom...

No relaxing day is complete without a little "whine"

Hope your day was awesome!!