Things that make you feel old and young at the same time...

CO-ED VOLLEYBALL!

We won our first game tonight. We are really getting better at communication and playing as a team. We had a great night but we were down to 5 players on the floor with no substitutions. We had a lot of players out sick tonight. So considering these facts we really played well as a team. We leave feeling young and spry and reminded of our youth...then we wake up in the morning and can't life our arms above our heads. It takes an extra 5 minuets to stand up because the muscles in your legs are weak and burning. The good news is these feelings only last a few weeks and then you are back in reasonable shape. The bad news... the season is now over.

Congratulations Team. Your awesome!

I have started several new post and have not finished any of them. We had a really good weekend. Saturday morning we took the kids to the pumpkin patch (speaking of which, I think the pumpkins are still in my van) to take pictures and pick out this years perfect pumpkin for carving. After that we rushed to a friends house an hour late so that we could celebrate Abbie's second adoption day with her and her family. After a late lunch (because we were late) the kids played and Abbie opened a few gifts. The guys grabbed a quick nap and then we headed out for a hike that would take us to a cave and a water fall.

Sunday brought a much needed nap. James had to work extra nights this week. I helped him with one of them, he did the other two on his own. This means that we get to bed about 9 or 10 then up at 1:30 am work till 4:00 or 4:30 am then try to get back to sleep until 6am then up and back at the regular job. He typically works one night a week (on the weekend) but with craft fair we had extra days. We had a lot of early mornings, late nights, and we had our first volley ball scrimmage this week. Usually we play for one hour, this last week it was two. By Sunday we were all whooped.

Monday I woke up tired, achy, congested and with a really bad stomach ache. This lasted all day and into Tuesday. It was tough staying focused on school. Tuesday I had to get kids by 6:30 am and still fighting the sickness. I started feeling better around 3 or 4 pm and so we went to run some errands. Wednesday I was sleeping in and hopefully going to get caught up on laundry and school. I had to meet someone at 9:30 am then I would be back home and focused. I even wrote a note so that I would not forget my appointment.

I was hoping to sleep in till 8am. We are usually up at 7:30 then ready to start school by 8 but we were going to start a little later today. Instead my phone rang at 7:15 this morning. When I answered it was my mom informing me that my grandfather had passed away at 3:30 this morning. We talked for a short while and discussed what we thought would be the arrangement details. I spent the next hour looking into flights and decided it was not a cost effective way to go. The rest of the morning was spent trying to work on details. I also kept my nephew today because his mom had to work and I figured it would keep my mind off things. A little after 9 I received a phone call reminding me that I had an appointment. I quickly showered and left as soon as my nephew got there. The rest of the day was filled with phone calls to hotels, family, etc. At 3pm Kayla decided to leave with Amber and eat with them at church. This would allow me to finally put Noah down for his nap and make so more calls to solidify reservations now that we know when the service will be. I had just started dinner when Amber called and said that she was at the emergency room with her oldest daughter and Kayla was with her and not at church. The next several hours was spent in the ER. Her daughter is doing better but has a sever kidney infection and ear infection. She is still running a high fever and in a lot of pain. I brought the kids home when we realized that the ER visit was going to take a while and feed them dinner. Prior to my leaving for the hospital a good friend of mine calls and ask if I could take care of her daughter Thursday because her mom is in the hospital and they believe that she has had a heart attack. She apologized when she had heard about my day and said "I should not have bothered you". I just said it's okay, if they are at the same hospital I will just make my rounds. Of course no such luck. So tomorrow I will have her daughter and will be trying yet again to get caught up on some extra school work that we are working on and trying to get the house ready to leave. We also have a volleyball game tomorrow night. The funeral is on Monday so we are going to wait until Sunday to leave. The kids are going to stay with a friend so that we can make a quick trip. Plus we do not have anything to do with Noah while we are at the funeral if we take him with us.

So the run down is that it has been a long exhausting day and the next several days do not promise to be any better. I am tired physically and emotionally. I'm sure that these thought do not make much sense but it is all I can muster at this point. My bed is calling me.

Missing pieces of 2007

Bob




So I was looking for Fall pictures from 2007 because we have yet to take any for 2008. I have needed them a few times and could not figure out what I had done with them. Then it dawned on me that we did not have time for fall activities last year. I guess I just thought that somehow we managed to make it to the pumpkin patch, carve pumpkins, and take fall pictures. The only fall pictures that we have are ones that we had done in November at JC Penny's for Noah's second birthday.

Instead we were busy in many different ways. Some of the things that we were doing this time last year included...moving Amber out of the new house and back into the old house, helping take care of her and the kids due to Danny's death, Philip's birth and complications from the birth. We were also welcoming home Mark from a year in Iraq, and nursing Kayla as she had severely sprained her ankle at Mark's welcome home party. No wonder there are no pictures of pumpkins and fall activities. We do however have many pictures of spending time with the new baby and pictures of Kayla's lovely ankle (which was almost as big as a small pumpkin). We did manage one of our family traditions which was to watch "It's A Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown". We have watched this every year since Kayla was very little. We even own our own copy. We do not celebrate Halloween but we love fall and that movie is one of our favorites. We just love Peanuts.

Another happening last fall was the addition of Bob. Who is Bob? Well he happens to be the long awaited Jeep Cherokee. James has wanted a project jeep for as long as I have known him. Of course I have not fully understood this passion but relented last year when we were all under an extreme amount of stress. If this would help release some of the overwhelming responsibility then who was I to stand in the way. Actually I was counseled on the matter extensively. Many of his close friends said that this was exactly what he needed and the new widow in our life made a good point that life is short and you just do not know how long you have to fulfill those dreams. Danny had always wanted a motorcycle and had finally purchased one two months before he died. He passed away just weeks before he was going to be attending his first Bikes Blues & Bar-B-Q on his own bike. So knowing all of this I just could not quench his dreams any longer.

So... Bob still has not moved; except to take my parking spot but I have been patient and slow to share negative feelings towards Bob. However I am growing ever so eager to have my parking place back. With any luck maybe by the first snow?

We are looking forward to many new memories this fall and winter. Even though 2007 brought several tragedies we experienced many blessings. We may not have pictures to post and reflect on, and many of the memories are not how we would have planned them, but they hold a special place in the life of our family. They are unique and treasured and we are grateful that we were able to share in them. We welcome this new season with great anticipation!

A day off!

Saturday our ABF ladies went to Branson to go shopping. We had planned to spend the night Friday and then shop on Saturday but too many found it difficult to work out childcare. Instead we left about 8am Saturday morning and returned around 10pm.

We had a safe day filled with fun and shopping. It was really good to have a much needed break form the daily grind and from the responsibility of the kiddos. We shopped until about 2pm and then went to Olive Garden for the never ending pasta bowl. We had a fabulous waiter that was fun and witty. We had a great meal, fun fellowship, and a lot of Diet Coke. W also ordered five different desserts and then shared them. The best part we didn't have to share with kids and we never had to take some one to the bath room. We didn't even have wipes with us. I do not remember a time recently that the meal did not end with getting out the travel wipes. After dinner we returned for several more hours of shopping. We did not have to stop because someone was throwing a tantrum or to take them to the bathroom. We were not rushed to get done before the melting point hit. It was so much fun and so relaxing.

All this to say that I owe a big THANK YOU to my wonderful husband who stayed behind to care for 5 children. That's right. He took care of our two and Amber's three. Not only that he was up most of the night working. He is such a champ. I talked to him a couple of times that day and he was either at the park or giving baths etc. The kids said that they had a great day. He took them to a few garage sales, to the park, McDonald's, they played Monopoly, watched TV, he made them pizza for dinner and then sent them through the bath tub. He did have two really great helpers but he also had a 5 yr old, 2 yr old and a 1 yr old. Now the house was trashed but it was well worth the day off. Thanks James...you are an awesome husband, dad and uncle!

Adventures in Parenting

It has been awhile since I have posted faithfully. Life is pretty busy since school started and I have so few brain waves left at the end of the day. I am trying to stay on top of chores ect. but things have gone down hill lately. It's amazing how fast the chores can get away form you.

It has been awhile since I have posted about the surgery. We have seen so many amazing results. I feel like I am sleeping so much better. Many nights I am sleeping through the night. The down side to that is that I wake up sore from sleeping in the same position for so long. Two weeks ago I got my first cold since the surgery. I had forgotten how miserable I once felt. The good news is that I was over the cold in a little over a week. In the past it would have kept me down for weeks and even months. Today I have had a terrible headache. The good side of that is that this the second headache that I have had since the recovery part of the surgery. I lived with chronic headaches and relied on pain meds more than I would have liked. I mostly suffered through them to avoid the meds but it was still more than normal. Now I have only taken Advil a few times since recovery. I am still having some pain and irritation in my throat when I am tired. That seems to trigger something, not sure why. I can breath so much easier and actually sound better too. Many people have commented on how much clearer I sound. There are still a few things we need to address and I go back to the ENT in December but for now we are seeing promising results. I am still needing to see my regular doctor about other issues but haven't followed through with that like I should.

School with Kayla is going well. It is already hard to stay focused. We both would rather be doing so many other things with our time. We are staying on track though and have a few fun field trips to look forward to. She is really enjoying youth group. They are talking about a lot of grown up issues and she is really responding to it. We love our youth workers and trust them tremendously. We had an opportunity to work closely with them in Thailand and think they are amazing. Life with a teenager (well very soon to be official teen) keeps you moving and on your toes. There is always some where to be and some kind of drama going on. Kayla is an amazing young lady and we are so blessed by her sweet spirit yet there are still challenges when raising a young lady. This stage of their life to them and trying to parent them in it is new to us. We are faced with the knowledge of what it was like to be that age and it seems to scare the pants off us. We remember those days and the choices and temptations that we were faced with. Today they are faced with so much more. We are trying to be supportive and keep healthy boundaries at the same time. Some days we just totally freak out and want to lock her up till she's thirty. The sad thing is the rough part hasn't even begun.

Our little man is keeping us on our toes these days too. He is full of new vocabulary and opinions. One minuet he is so witty and cute the next minuet he has totally crossed the line and spending time in his room on his bed. His latest attempt at checking his boundaries took place while renting a movie. I had asked him to not touch the movies because he would pick them up and then put them in a different spot. After a few reminders I told him that if it happened again then he would have to go sit in the van with his sissy. I held his hand for a few minuets to help with the temptation, Next thing I knew I saw him reaching for them. I kindly spoke his name as a reminder and he turned to me and kindly but directly said "you not tell me what to do". So he was sent to the van with sissy. I know that she was thinking why am I being punished. The good news was that all I had left to do was pay. When I got in the van he looked at me and said "mommy you spank me softly". I told him he was not getting a spanking but he was going home and going to bed for a nap. Our days are filled with him testing boundaries and trying out his extended vocabulary.

We welcome the challenges that come with raising two beautiful strong willed children. We would not have it any other way. We learn so much through them and are so grateful that God has allowed us to be parents. We may not be perfect and it is not easy but we enjoy the adventure and continue to make some great memories along the way. We tire easily these days but with God's help we manage enough strength to make it one more day.

A must share moment!

Last night we decided to use some eye drop in Noah's eyes. He is prone to eye infections and they were getting red and had some drainage. He also complained of them hurting all day. We have used these drops a lot since he came home but have not used them since last winter. We knew the drill and knew that it would take both of us to make this happen. We tried to down play it so he would not freak out but still have extra hands when needed. As soon as he saw the drops he was not happy. We managed to get both eyes doctored when he began screaming "you killed my eyes, you killed my eyes!" We reassured him that in a minuet he could open them and they would feel better. He just kept telling us that we killed his eyes. While we felt bad that he was upset and that the drops do sting we could not help but laugh at his insight. This morning we had to repeat the drops and after we finished he looked me in the eyes and asked me, "where did you get that medicine?" I told him that the doctor gave it too me. He asked me for the name of the doctor. I told him, but he still seemed as though we had done something unethical.

Tonight we went with our Adult Bible Fellowship group to see Fireproof. This was a very powerful movie. If you have not been to see it you should. Please do not wait to rent it. We need to support this movie while it is in the theater. You will not be disappointed. Please let your voice be heard by showing film makers that we support these movies. Make sure you take your tissues. I can only imagine the impact that this movie would have on families if everyone in America saw this film.

"Oh No You Never Let Go"

I am really tired tonight but wanted to stop and post about a neat moment today before I forget about it. I seem to forget a lot these days.

Tonight we were headed home after celebrating a friends 40th birthday and his wife's graduation when we heard our little Noah singing in the back seat. He had been singing since we started to drive off but James, Kayla and I were talking and not really listening. Noah usually sings his ABC's or numerous preschool songs that he knows. Tonight I realized that he was singing something different and tried to get Kayla and James to listen but not stop talking. If he knows we are listening he will stop. Anyway they finally heard it too..."Oh no you never let go through calm and through storms oh never let go Lord never let go me". That is what our little boy was belting out over and over. It just amazes me that at two years old he is singing praises to our God most High. I just knew that God was smiling even bigger than we were. That song has been the back bone of our faith as we have walked through the joys and sorrows of the past two years. Thank you Lord for never letting go!

There's more that I could share but this was the high-light of my day.

Here I am so far behind again. I think about posting often but just too over whelmed at the end of the day. It has been an emotional week and a tiring week. I have been sick and now Noah is sick. The guy barley has a voice and he coughs until he sounds like he going to throw up. He has also had a little fever. I hate it when my kids are sick but he is so much calmer when he is. I know it is wrong for me to enjoy his calmer side but what can I say except that we are all flawed.

Today was James 34th birthday. All day long Noah has been singing "Happy Dirt Day". I'm not sure where he got that one. I could tell he was feeling a little better today because he was such a ham. He is still very congested but moving around more.

We met several families at Acambaro for dinner and cake tonight. We enjoyed the fellowship and good food. James received some very thoughtful and fun gifts. Thanks to everyone who was able to come and help us celebrate. The kids and I went to Fayetteville today and took James out to lunch for his birthday. All in all it was a good day. We are all happy that tomorrow is Friday and that Saturday we can sleep in. More later if I get around to it.