I'm So Excited...Let Me Count The Ways!

Well, it’s official…I’m a Working Girl! I’m not the kind of Working Girl that I talked about on a recent post of Erica’s. I’m actually about as opposite of that as you can get. That is besides a church secretary! I’m a teacher’s aide for the school that my kids go to. Go Cornerstone!!! I will be helping out with the Kindergarten class. I’m really so excited. I’ve been able to watch God work right in front of my eyes.
As most of you know I’ve been making a big fuss about “Freedom Week.” (Side note: I just misspelled Freedom Week on accidently and called it Freedom Weed. That made me laugh. I might have to look into that after I’m with a bunch of Kindergartners!) Anyway, I was pumped that I was only going to have Melody at the house, and that Miles had Christy in case I didn’t want to take him places. I had such great plans of going where I wanted, when I wanted. Well, when I took the kids for orientation at the school the principle said, “If you would like to be a teacher’s aide please let us know because we’re needing help.” When I heard her say that I perked up and wondered if I could do that. Since three of our kids go to private school we have to pay so I thought that it would be nice if I could work there and hopefully one of them could go for free. I talk to the secretary about it and I asked her if the teacher’s aide position was paid or volunteer. Volunteer she said. So, what did I say next? “Well, I’m pretty sure that I can do it.” WHAT?!? Here I was on the first day of school…the FIRST DAY OF FREEDOM WEEK AND I’M SAYING THAT I WILL WORK FOR FREE? Maybe I had partaken of some Freedom Weed before school! Just kidding!
I told the secretary that I would only be able to work half the day because I wouldn’t have any where for Melody to be AND that Melody would have to go to Pre-K there and I didn’t want to have to pay for her to go. I left her with that info and was slightly hopeful that I wouldn’t hear anything back.

Then a crazy thing happened! I began to really want to work at the school! I didn’t hear anything for a day and I even felt disappointed when I thought that I might not be able to do it. This was my first clue that it was the Lord’s plan for me to work there. He placed a desire in my heart that my own brain was trying to talk out of it. Then, the unthinkable happened!!! On Tuesday morning…I had a strange feeling…it took me a while to figure out what in the world that it was…it was so unfamiliar…I Was Bored! Me! Bored! That’s a crazy thing to type! The funny thing was that I had a lunch date planned, 3 extra people had already been in my home and I had to make several medical calls, (all before 11:00 a.m.) but my normal schedule is usually much busier. Hey, I got so bored that I decided to Chi my hair! WOW! Okay, then on top of that my poor little Mella has been roaming the house looking for someone to play with. She has never had an empty house before. I actually watched the twins and Obi yesterday so she had someone to baby sit. She was thrilled. Wait…I’m getting a little ahead of myself.

So, on Wednesday I dropped off the kids at school when I ran into the principle, Mrs. Russell. She told me that she heard I was interested in being a teacher’s aide. She told me that the kindergarten class needed a helper. She asked me if I would be willing to help out two or three days a week in exchange for Melody to go to Pre-K for free. I was expecting to work all five days a week so I just stared at her kind of blankly and shook my head yes. I told her that I would only be able to work half a day and she understood. She gave me an application to fill out and I was on my way. I felt like I was getting away with something!
That application was 15 PAGES LONG! I called a couple of you to help me out with it! My goodness! It was thorough! It was actually a teacher’s application, but still! It had a lot of stuff on there! I filled that out and turned it in. Today was my interview and it went so well. They talked about what an answer to prayer I was and how thankful they were for me and how perfect I was for the job. I was so blessed by them. Then before I left the principle asked if she could pray over me. I was delighted! She closed the door, laid her hands on me and prayed a wonderful prayer of thanksgiving on me, a blessing over my family and prayed that I would be a great helper to Mrs. Brokaw. Immediately when she began to pray I felt the presence of the Lord in the room. It was so beautiful. I felt covered and like I was in the perfect will of the Father. So, I’m as thrilled as I can be! I’ve actually got butterflies in my tummy…I haven’t had that (for anything good any way) in such a long time!

Okay, here’s a huge God testimony!
Last night I was getting a little overwhelmed about how much my non paying job was going to cost financially. We have all the money we have needed but since Randy has begun the building homes process and it’s going so slow we’ve needed to be careful about what is spent. The Lord has been faithful in many creative ways and we’ve lacked for nothing. I was just feeling bad that I was racking up extra expenses. Here was the list that I was concerned about last night.
If Melody was going to start Pre-K (which last night it wasn’t official, but today it is) it was going to cost some money. Melody would need school supplies and the list was long. We would have to buy her books. We would have to buy her a t-shirt. I would have to buy a few outfits because the teachers wear dresses everyday except of Fridays.

I told Randy that I needed to hear that the Lord would provide. Of course his response was perfect. He said, “Of course he will provide. He always does.” Then we prayed that if I was supposed to do this that nothing could shut the door. We also prayed that if I wasn’t supposed to do this that nothing would open the door! The doors were wide open!

Okay, pre-k would have cost about $250 a month, but that’s free. Yea! Okay, then I called Shirley (my mother in law) to tell her that Melody was not going to go to Mother’s Day Out because she was going to go to Pre-K. Shirley always pays for MDO so she decided last night that she would just apply the money that she usually pays for MDO and it would go to Jocie’s school tuition instead! So, that gives us a little help every month! Then, I talked to Shirley again today to tell her it was official and she OFFERED to pay for Melody’s books! I didn’t say a thing about the books! She just offered! She also told me that she was going to pay for Melody’s t-shirt! I was so happy! (The school bought mine) It’s only for Fridays or field trips. Okay, then I talked to my Mom and she OFFERED to buy Melody’s school supplies! I did not ask her! Not only did she offer to buy them, but she said that she will pick up Melody after she gets off of work today and take her for a special evening of shopping for school supplies all by herself and then she will spend the night with my Mom!!! This is very big news! And, on top of all that! I went to JcPenny’s last night to find a cute outfit for the interview and they were having a 75% off sale! I got several things for work that was as much as one outfit! I was so happy! I tried on the clothes for Randy and on one of the outfits he said, “I wish you were my teacher…” Oops, that’s another story!

I just feel so taken care of. I feel like I’m doing what I’m supposed to be doing. They asked me if I would work five days a week for the month of September while routines are being established then if I would work 3 days a week after that. I agreed. They actually told me that 3 days a week would be great, but 4 days a week would be a blessing. We’ll see how that goes. SO. What does that mean for Freedom Week? There in nothing more freeing than knowing you’re right in the middle of God’s will!

Oh, and what about Coffee Day? I will have to take a survey from the girls to see what they want to do. We could have it in the afternoon. We could postpone it for September and meet on a Tuesday or Thursday in October, they could have it without me for a little while, OR…just let me know.

I haven’t worked in about 10 years! WOW~ I’m excited about my new adventure!

Nurse Christy

This is Miles' nurse Christy. I don't know many nurses on a personal level, but I know Christy has to be one of the best ever! Today makes a year that she's been working in our home. ONE YEAR! She comes at 7:45 in the morning until 3:45 in the afternoon. She's very professional, loving, joyful, way smart and enjoyable to be around. She does tons more than she's required to do. She's actually a wonderful friend of mine. I'm around her more than my own husband! She's sweet to all my kids. Miles' quality of life is better because of her. She gives him baths daily, she manages his medication, brushes his teeth, changes the diapers, takes him shopping and to the park, she helps me with appointments, feeds him good food, she's happy when Miles is happy, she clips his nails, listens to me talk a lot, organizes his supplies, calls in and picks up medicine refills, lets Melody stay at the house while I pick up the boys if she's asleep, brings special treats for the kids around holidays, brings fresh veggies for my mother in law from her mother's garden, she's nice to all my guests, she teaches me about healthy eating, and she loves my son like her own. Of course there's several other things she does...she's the perfect nurse for our family. I get overwhelmed when I think about the burden she's taken off me. I'm truly thankful for her. She's a huge blessing to my life, and to Miles' life!
So, Happy One Year With The Wilson Family Christy!

First Day Of School

Jocie’s first day of school went great. She was so excited this morning. I haven’t been sad about her going at all. I was excited for her all summer long. She was so ready to go. I didn’t expect to cry like a baby like I did when the boys started school. This morning when I was brushing her hair I began to wonder if I would tear up when I dropped her off at her first day of Kindergarten. Well, we got to school, and she just ran into her room and sat down at the desk that had her name onit. She was confident and happy to finally be at school. I looked at her to tell her bye and she just smiled and said, “Bye.” There were no tears. We were both happy that she was finally a Kindergartener.

When I picked her up she still had her happy grin on her face. That was until we got in the car and very seriously she said, “Mommy, I still don’t know how to write. She didn’t teach me how to write.” I had to explain that those things would take time. She seemed to understand…she was a bit annoyed, but she understood.

Since she’s been home she has barely come up for air in between exciting stories of things that happened today. When I told her that she gets to go back tomorrow she let out a shriek of happiness! You can only imagine what she was like when I told her that she will go for five days of the week!

The boys liked school too…it just wasn’t big news like it was for Jocie. Joey reported to me that he didn’t learn anything new today. Spencer was just excited because his frog didn’t move off his Lilly Pad. (It’s a behavior chart.)

I think the person, besides Jocie of course that had the best day was Miss Mella. She ws thrilled to be with me all by herself today. We did lots of shopping. She wasn’t ready to pick up the other kids at 3:00. She wanted to let them spend the night.

As far as “Freedom Week” hopefully that will start tomorrow. I was way busy today. I do have a lunch date with one of my new besties…JoAnne. That should be very fun.

SCHOOL! It’s pretty much the bomb!

Coffee Day!!! Or, whatever.

Next week is what I’m calling “Freedom Week”. Oh, how I love my children…all of them, but in two days three of them will be off to school, and inside I’m doing a happy dance. The last time I only had two children in my own during the day was…hmmm…uh….who remembers? Plus, I was pregnant so that doesn’t even count!
I will only have Melody and Miles at the house from 8-3 for five days a week. I’ll have Christy here for Miles so if I want to go some where without taking him then I can. SO REALLY, I only have Melody at home.
So another great thing about “Freedom Week” is “Coffee” with the girls on Wednesdays. On Wed. mornings a couple of friends come over and we talk a lot about nothing and everything. It’s so fun. I invited a couple of my friends over for coffee since their kids go to the same school as mine. We had so much fun! Anyway, we all have so many kids that we didn’t meet in the summer time. I’ve missed Krissy and Rachel very much. Well, it’s back on, and it looks like it’s getting bigger. Christy A. JoAnne and Amy Y. also want to come. FUN!
Here’s the deal though. We invited Christy A. to join us for coffee on Wednesday mornings. Then I began to think how we really don’t drink coffee. We just call it coffee. It did start out as coffee. I was a drinker back then. Now that I’ve given up caffeine I don’t drink it any more, but I actually stopped drinking coffee several months ago. It made me a little crazy. And, my dear friend Krissy does not drink coffee. She makes sure and brings herself a big Dr. Pepper. Rachel, she does drink coffee, but that doesn’t go very well with the story so we’ll just forget about that part. Do Christy, JoAnne or Amy drink coffee…I’m not sure. We’ll see.
So, why do we call it coffee if 2/3 of us don’t drink coffee? It’s because we don’t want to call it Mommy group. Do we all have kids? Yes. But, do we want to go to a Mommy Group? No. That would imply that we go some where to interact with our children and talk about stretch marks. Nope. That’s not what we’re looking for. We are looking for a home with enough rooms where our kids will hopefully not talk to us for awhile. We like being with other, and hearing what’s going on in each other’s lives. If the occasional Mommy story comes up then we embrace it, but it’s not our whole focus.
You know actually going to a coffee place wouldn’t work for us. Together the number of kids that we still have at home comes to NINE. I don’t think Starbucks or Tuscany’s would appreciate us too much. So, I guess we’ll continue to stay at my house for Wednesday mornings and just be in denial about our Non Coffee Drinking Mommy Group Coffee Day.
Oh, I better get some more creamer.

Six Flags

Miles has an unexpected appointment in Ft. Worth today. I called to ask the doctor a question on Tuesday and he said he wanted to see Miles today. Well, I thought it would be great to make a trip to Six Flags out of it. Randy couldn't go with us because he's too busy working. SO, I asked Christy, Miles' nurse if she wanted to go. With my season pass I can get a guest in for only $10. She loved the idea and she asked if she could bring her son who is three. Acutually, I think he just turned four. Anyway, I thought it was perfect. We're just about to leave. We'll go to the appointment at 1:00 then take the kids to Six Flags for the afternoon. It closes at 7:00 so we'll only be there about 4 or 5 hours, but that's plenty of time with a 9,7,5,4,4,and 2 year old. I know we'll have a blast. Plus, Miles' insurance pays for the gas so it's going to be a really cheap trip! Yea!

Joey's Feet

Joey just turned nine years old this month so that means eight years ago he took his first steps, and I was so happy to witness them. I thought it was adorable how he walked on his toes. He continued to walk that way for, well, eight years. I didn’t notice it all the time, but when I did I still thought he looked cute. Randy and I would comment on how he had calves of steel because of the way he walked. That was about the extent of our thoughts about the way he walked. That is UNTIL…

Since Joey has been home all summer he (all the other kids) enjoyed when Miles’ therapist would come to the house because they always bring fun toys. One day Todd, the occupational therapist noticed the way Joey walked on his toes. Todd didn’t explain his concern to Joey about the way he walked, but he asked him to do a couple of stretches. Todd didn’t really say much about it, but I did wonder why he took notice. Then, on a separate day JoBeth, the physical therapist saw Joey walking like that and made a bigger deal of it. She had Joey do some stretches and she stretched him herself like she does Miles. She told me that she was concerned for Joey. She told me that his heel cord was shortened. She also said that he doesn’t have any range of motion in his feet or toes. JoBeth also said that he didn’t have any muscle tone in the front of his legs. She thought it was a very big deal and she suggested that I make a doctors appointment for him.

JoBeth gave us some stretches to do with Joey. She also said that he could not wear sandals ever again! She told us to buy him some high top tennis shoes and for him to wear them all day long. I was surprised by her response, but she’s such a great therapist that she’s sometimes over the top. I’m used to it, but I put her advice through my laid back filter.

I already had a check up for Jocie scheduled last Monday so I just called and told them that I was bringing Joey as well. I figured Dr. Wiley would either tell me that Joey was okay and that he would out grow it or that, at the most, he would need to go to physical therapy for awhile to help him walk correctly. I was extremely shocked by his reaction.

Let me say first that I know Dr. Wiley very well. He’s been our pediatrician since Joey was born. We’ve been through an unthinkable amount of appointments with him because of Miles. I trust him, love him and I’m truly thankful for him. He’s extremely intelligent, but personal at the same time. Also, he’s not over the top. I like that about him. I actually don’t have one negative thing to say about him. So, with all that being said I couldn’t believe his reaction on Monday.

He checked Jocie out first. She was doing great. She had to get a shot…that was the end of her appointment. He was great with her. He was sweet and funny with her. Then I started to tell him why I brought Joey in. I explained about how he walked, and how both Todd and JoBeth noticed it at separate times. He turned very serious. He had Joey walk up and down the hall. He stretched his legs and ankles. Dr. Wiley also had Joey do some exercises on the floor. Like I said earlier, I thought that Dr. Wiley would either say that Joey was fine or that he would need physical therapy to stop his habit.

I was wrong. Dr. Wiley told me that the way Joey walked was a serious problem. He told me that usually a problem like this was neurological. He said that tone issues in the legs are usually because of the brain. You know, that’s why we’re always fighting with Miles’ muscle tone. That makes since to me about Miles, but not Joey. Joey is a genius boy. Dr. Wiley wanted x-rays of his hips, and an MRI done of his brain, and for Joey to start physical therapy immediately. Then he told me that he wanted to recheck Joey in six weeks after he began therapy and if Joey wasn’t any better then he was going to send Joey to see the same neurologist in Ft. Worth that Miles’ sees.
I was totally stunned. Then the day of the scheduled MRI I was really stunned. I found out that the doctor had ordered four MRIs for Joey. That meant that he had to lay perfectly still without moving for and hour and a half while the testing was going on. I was told that it would take even longer than that, but it ended up being shorter. I was thankful for that. Joey was crying when I explained the test to him. I was so thankful that the Lord put him to sleep during the test! When it was over I had to wake him up from a very deep sleep. It was such a comfort to me to know he had fallen asleep. It made me feel so thankful to the Lord. Joey does not fall asleep like that so I know it was the peace of the Lord over him.
Well, I will try to make this really long story much shorter. As I was thinking…this whole this was just a huge distraction for me. The tests came back all perfectly normal. He’s still the genius boy that I thought he was. He does have to have physical therapy twice a week for awhile. Hopefully that won’t be more than six weeks. He does need to learn to walk correctly so he will live pain free, and have correct muscle tone. I’m very pleased that he’s okay. I hate that we, mainly I had to deal with all that stuff unnecessarily, but it’s over, and the Lord took care of me and my son. I’m thankful for that.

Deep Breath of Relief.

We Might Need A Plumber!

I’m not going to try to sound mechanical. I’m not mechanically inclined in any way. I have real issues in this area. After admitting that, I will say that I’m pretty sure something is wrong with my roof. We had several guests over at our home last night. We were all in the living room talking when I felt a hard drip of water on my face. Before I could say anything I felt another. Then I heard Spencer say, “Hey, there’s lots of water spraying out of the ceiling fan!” We all look to see water continuously spraying water from our ceiling fan! Did I mention that it was raining extremely hard? Like I said, I’m not too good at house repairs or anything, but I’m pretty sure the rain had something to do with it. Now, is it okay for water to be mixed with electricity? I never can remember.

Good news is…I know a guy that can fix stuff!

Here’s the funny part: Randy’s brother and his sister (which are both much older than him) were trying to tell Randy how to fix the leak. Randy had already got up in the attic, figured out the problem, set up a place for the water to drip…oh, and he turned off the ceiling fan! He had already decided what he needed to do, but his siblings had several ideas other than the ones Randy had. It was so humorous to me that they were trying to tell Randy (who does things like that for a living) how to fix his leak. Even as they were leaving out the door they still had last minute helpful hints. I didn’t say a word about it. I don’t have to think about things like that. Randy just fixes stuff. That’s all I know. So, I just got to sit back and enjoy the brothers/sister showdown. It was comical to me.

This morning when I was talking to Randy about how funny it was last night when his brother and sister were trying to tell him how to fix the leak he told me that he hadn’t even noticed that they were doing it. WOW! I guess no matter how old Randy gets or the fact that he’s much bigger than any of his brothers and sisters….He Will Always Be the Baby to Them.

I'm still here...

We went to a Ranger game with the Mikeska's on Tuesday. We had a great time. I really enjoyed being there with friends, being out of town and watching the game. Our boys had a blast! Thank you Cherry!

What can I say about this week...that is without grumbling...this week has been filled with unpleasant surprises, but then God has come to my rescue over and over and fixed everything. I woke up a little gun shy this morning wondering what in the world would happen today. Just then I got a phone call...

I guess the Lord will just have to come in and rescue me again today.

I need peace, endurance, wisdom, energy, PATIENCE and much victory!

I don't know what made me think of this...

I can’t imagine what it would be like to be a single mother. I often think about a few single moms that I know, and I’m amazed at the things they get done. They work, they go to school, they provide for their family, they take their kids to church and baseball games, they do all the housework and they give everyone baths. Plus all the million other things that I didn’t list. I have so much respect for the women that take great care of their children all alone.
When I try to put myself in their place and think about all the things they deal with everyday I feel overwhelmed. It seems like a never ending job. I don’t want this whole thing to be depressing. I’ve also had the great pleasure to watch the Lord take special care of them. They get unexpected financial blessings, homes provided for them and EVENTUALLY great husbands. My sister in law was a single mom for a long time. She juggled work and school for a long time. She was able to finish her Master’s degree at HSU. I was so proud of her for continuing her education to support her daughters. She did end up getting married to a man that had enough money to take great care of her kids. They actually were very surprised when they found out that she was pregnant at the age of 39! When she was single I saw cars given to her, money was given to her at just the right time, and people would pay for her daughter’s Christmas gifts or school clothes. She was taken care of by the Lord.
I believe the Lord’s heart is tender towards single Mom’s. Of course I’m sure his heart is tender to single Dad’s as well. I just don’t know any. When I’m reading the bible and it’s talking about taking care of the widows and orphans I always substitute single moms and their children into the verse. I don’t know many orphans or widows, but I think the principle is the same.
I just wanted to say to the single moms that I know I’m proud of you. I see your hard work, your long days, your often thankless position and I admire your commitment to take care of your children and to love your God the way you do. I know the Lord is going to be close to you and meet all your needs. His plans for you are good and not evil. His plans are to prosper you and not harm you. May each of you be refreshed daily as you pour yourself out on your children. I watch you and I’m amazed!

We're either Brave or Crazy...

What an adventure I had today. (Actually Yesterday)
For the first time in a long time I woke up early and with excitement at the thought of an empty schedule. It’s been a long time since I haven’t had a busy day planned. In fact, I’ve been so busy lately that I wasn’t able to go grocery store on Monday like I usually do. Randy and I were in bed this morning when I asked him what his plans for the day were. He said that he had some paper work that he was going to do at the office. I don’t ever ask him to do this anymore, but I asked him if he would like to spend the morning with me. I told him that I could get up, make waffles for the family (I’m really getting some good use out of that new waffle maker!) then we could get everyone ready and go to the store together. We haven’t all gone to the store together in a long time. I told him that after lunch he could go on his way and do his paperwork. I was very surprised when he happily agreed to my plan.
I hopped out of bed, took a shower, got dressed and began to make waffles. I was as excited as I could be. I felt like I was getting away with something. Well, that quickly came to a halt when Randy came into the kitchen to tell me some news. His niece had just called and at the last minute her baby sitter canceled on her. Our niece Cynthia has a daughter Abby that’s 16 months old. She’s a doll, and I watched her a lot two weeks ago. She’s so easy to watch and the kids adore her, but honestly I just didn’t want to do it today. I had great plans of freedom and babysitting isn’t freedom. I knew Cynthia really didn’t have any other option so I asked Randy how long she needed a baby sitter. When he looked at me I could tell that it was going to be a long day. He said that I would have her from 9:00-6:00. I was pretty sure that I didn’t want to do it, but Randy said, “It’ll be fun. You have me here.” I had to think about it for a minute and then I decided that I would do it. She got here after breakfast and the kids were very excited to see her.
Then it was time to get the kids ready. Right before I began that my grandma called and asked if the kids would want to go to the library this morning. They usually go to story time, but it was not today. Jody just thought it would be a good day to go. I was all for that so she said she would come over soon. By this time Randy decided that he needed a 20 minute nap. Convenient I know. I said, “Hey, what about Abby and all the fun we’re going to have taking care of her?” He smiled real sly and said, “Oh, when I said WE I really meant YOU.” He told me to wake him up when my grandma left. I wanted to throw a fit about this, but I chose to be peaceful. I had a good attitude and got the kids ready and Abby fed.
I got the kids ready and when my grandma got here she had birthday presents for Joey. Then she had to play a game with Joey that he got from Christy for his birthday. Then she had to help Melody with her shoes. The whole thing was fun, but it took so long. Needless to say Randy’s 20 minute nap was more like an hour. I was glad he had the rest because he needed it.
The great thing about my grandma coming over and taking the kids was that Randy and I got to go to the grocery store with only Abby. It felt so strange that we have five kids of our own, but none of them were with us, but we had someone’s baby with us. I told Randy that while we were at the store we could pretend she was our only one. Man, having one kid is a novelty!
Okay, so we were at the store for 15 minutes when my phone rang. Since I read Aaron’s blog yesterday and was convicted about my not answering the phone/not returning calls problem I quickly answered although I was pretty sure that the person on the other end was going to need something from me. I was right. It was my sister in law Pauline (Charlie’s wife.) Here’s where this story gets exciting. I’m standing at the stationary aisle trying to process what she’s asking of me. Pauline has been trying to get a secretary job. As best as I could understand a temp agency had a job for her to do today (right away). The problem was that she didn’t have anyone to watch her kids while she worked. If you don’t know Charlie and Pauline they have 2 year old twin boys and a 1 year old boy! Again, they’re the best kids ever, but there are a lot of them! I didn’t know what to say! I surely wanted to say “Heck no! Are you crazy?” but I was pretty sure that would be the wrong thing to say. She didn’t have anyone else that could do it. Her mom was out of town. So, I told her to hold on. I looked at Randy, told him the situation and asked him if he could stay the rest of the day and help. He said he could. He said it sounded exciting. She said that she needed me right away and until 5:00. I told her that I was at the store and that I had to finish shopping then I would be at home. I ran through Wal-Mart like I was on crack. I bought all our groceries and got out of there. By the time we got to the house Pauline was already there with the boys.
Let me give you a break down of the ages of all the kids that I watched today. Joey 9, Spencer 7, Jocie 5, Melody 4, Miles 2, Zachariah 2, Jeremiah 2,
Abby 1, Obi-One 1. Ladies and gentlemen, that is 5 children ages 2 and under!
Randy and I prayed as we put up groceries that we would be cheerful givers today. We prayed that we would have good attitudes, that we would prefer one another, that we would be refreshed as we helped out our family, and that we would have the endurance that it took to watch all the kids.
We worked so well together! It was kind of exciting. It was a lot of work, but it was rewarding. All the kids were so amazing. They are so well behaved. They got along great. The only crazy thing about the day, besides having 9 kids in the house all day was the fact that we had a revolving door today! Now I will list all the people that came into my home today. Of course the regular 7 that live here, then Christy the nurse, Todd the occupational therapist, Cynthia, Abby, my grandma, Pauline, Jeremiah, Zachariah, Obadiah, Randy’s brother Michael, and Randy’s mom. That’s 18 people in and out of my house. Christy was the first to arrive at 7:45 a.m. and Cynthia was the last to leave at 8:00 p.m..
Cynthia wasn’t in any hurry to leave so she hung around the house a long time, and then Randy invited her for dinner so she ate with us. After such a long day I didn’t feel like cooking so I just decided that we would all eat cereal and toast. It felt funny to invite our guest to eat cereal with us, but she was good with the idea. She enjoyed watching our family put away so much cereal in one sitting.
It was like a never ending day. It was a good day, a rewarding day, but wow, that’s a lot of people and a ton of kids. I’m glad we did it. We were a huge help today to a couple of Mom’s. We all had great attitudes. Best of all…Randy promised me a great massage today! I will be looking forward to that! That should make up for the nap he had this morning.
Here’s a picture of ALL the kids. I hate that my digital camera is so bad on the red eye! When I tried to fix the red eye on my computer it said that no red eye was detected. I guess it was too overwhelmed with all the eyes that it would have to fix so it just lied to me and said that it couldn’t find any.
So, I guess this good day is all Aaron’s fault with his soap box post about how people should be the Kingdom of God in action and not just talk. Thanks Aaron. :) It was a good day!




Well, I was just about to publish this post when my Mom called...she made something for our family that has to be delivered tonight. It's 9:30 right now...the day of visitors continues!

If You Read This Then You Have To Comment B/C It Took Forever!

Here’s a few things to talk about:

WEEK 2 of the building process.




It might not look like a lot was done to you, but I assure you that the things done are very valuable. You would not want to live in a house without these things.



Here is Spencer sitting on the potty. He wanted me to take this picture. He seems to be very interested in the whole building process.
The concrete should be poured by the end of the week. Next the framing will begin on the 20th of this month. It’s still exciting.

New Topic, but same pictures as above. Spencer is going to be famous. He did a song demo for Elliott yesterday. He was so excited to help Elliott out. He felt very special after leaving Pam and Elliott’s house yesterday. Elliott drew him a picture, and Spencer carried it around like it was treasure yesterday. After we left their house I went over to take pictures of Randy’s house. Spencer was the only one that wanted to get out of the car to look around. In every picture I took of the house yesterday Spencer held up his picture with great pride. When we got back in the car he told everyone, “Mommy took a picture of my picture!” I’m so excited to hear the song demo. I know Spencer will be as proud as he can be. I loved how special he felt yesterday.

Next topic:
My oldest son Joey is 9 years old today. (It was actually yesterday.) NINE! How did this happen? How can I be old enough to have a nine year old? I don’t why it sounds so old to me but it does. He will be in the 4th grade this year, and I’m shocked at how big he’s getting.
Today for his birthday he chose to have a friend spend the night instead of having a party. He’s never had a friend spend the night before so it’s a pretty big deal. He’s spent the night at other people’s houses, but no one has spent the night here. I don’t know how I’ve gotten away with it for so long. I guess other parents have had mercy on me since I have so many other kids. It’s actually been great to have his friend Jonathan here. He’s so good. He’s actually just like Joey. Right now they’re playing a Star Wars Lego game on the Xbox. Here they are.



So, Nine things that I love about Joey:
1. He’s everything a person could want in a son.
2. He’s witty.
3. He’s extremely intelligent. In many subjects I’m slightly embarrassed to admit that he’s smarter than me.
4. He’s honest.
5. He thinks about others.
6. He loves to get my love notes that I give to him.
7. He knows tons of the Bible.
8. He enjoys doing practical jokes on people.
9. He’s the one I miss when I’m out of town.

Enough about that! I think I might cry! Happy Birthday my sweet Joey!

(After I wrote the previous note about Joey my Mom came over with his birthday cake.
Joey isn’t real big on cake. He doesn’t like icing very much. So, he talked to my Mom about how he didn’t want a very big cake. He just wanted a plain cake with green icing so he could put his Star Wars action figures on there. Some of you know my Mom and she can make a cake look like anything they can come up with! A plain cake with green icing is not possible for her. She called me while I was still in Clyde yesterday and she told me that she was about to go home to make Joey’s cake. She told me to make sure the video camera was charged. Then she asked me if we still had our picnic table outside. I told her that we still had it. She said, “Good. We will cut the cake outside. That’s all I will tell you now.” She was so excited. I had no idea what she had planned, but I could tell from her voice that she had something good up her sleeve.
When she came over I was impressed at the cake. It was so shiny and cute.



We took it outside, she handed Joey and knife and told him to go ahead and cut it.
When he cut it the cake POPPED!



She made a regular chocolate bunt cake and then placed a blown up balloon on top of it then iced the whole thing. You couldn’t tell at all! I thought it was just a funny shape. We all laughed so hard. I was the furthest away and I still got icing on my arm and in my hair. She’s so fun. You could tell she was very pleased with herself.

Okay, next subject:
I can’t believe that neither Becky nor I have posted about our trip to Dallas. I assure you that it’s not because it was lame. We had a fantastic time! (I did anyway.) I guess time has slipped away from us since we’ve been back.
It was the perfect getaway because we were able to relax, shop a lot, and go to Six Flags. I was a little nervous about going to Six Flags with her. I’ve never been with a friend before. I’ve always just gone with my kids. I didn’t think I would enjoy going without my kids. They’re always so excited about everything. Well, so was Becky so it was great. We didn’t wait in any lines. It wasn’t too hot. It was the perfect time to go. I loved being there with her. It was actually one of my favorite times to go. She got me on some rides that my family usually can’t get me on. I didn’t get on the way scary rides, but still I did pretty well. Becky says that I have the anointing for short lines at Six Flags. That’s a nice thing to have I guess.
The first night we were there we met up with Pam who was also out of town to go to Six Flags. She was childless and so much fun. We met at Clair’s and tried on every pair of sunglasses that were available. We had a blast. You would have thought we were a bunch of pre teens as much time as we spent in that store. Becky, I’m sorry your nifty highlighters were bunk that you bought there. You had such great plans! Anyway, so Pam, Becky and I ate dinner together. I don’t know why it seemed so neat to eat dinner together in a different town. It just seemed exciting. We ended up staying there until it closed. Then we stood outside forever and talked. You would have thought that we were long lost friends. Well, while we were eating Becky asked Pam where we could go shopping the next day. We wanted to know where the mall was. Pam informed us that there was a mall that was dying and then there was a good mall.
That brings me to the place where I had the most fun of the whole weekend. The next day Becky and I (who are both direction challenged) got brave enough to venture off of Collins street. We even got on the highway in hopes of finding a mall. You can imagine our delight when Becky spotted a Dillard’s! We got off the highway and made our way to the mall. Well, it just so happened that we found the dying mall that Pam had talked about. Pam hasn’t been there in awhile so dying mall might have been fitting when she went, but Becky and I have named it the Ghetto Mall! OH MY GOSH! There’s no way to over exaggerate how crazy this mall was! I’ve never been to anything like it. For Example: One of the stores that was in there was called Masta Grillz. It was a place where you could bling up your teeth. You could have your teeth gold, silver or diamond. It was so funny! They had snap shots of tons of people that had their grill bling. I wanted to ask how much it would cost, but I was too intimidated. There was also a lot of stores where formals were made, and they also had some Mexican imports thrown in there or some questionable clothing. Speaking of questionable clothing…they also had a Stripper store in there. They had some shoes in that store behind a glass case that said you must be 18 to try on the shoes! They had one pair of platform shoes that had a thick clear base and it had dice and poker chips in them! That would be fun to wear to poker night. Hey, I did buy something there. I’ll keep you hanging on what I bought. The mall also had a furniture store there, but on every piece of furniture was a posted sign that said you were not allowed to sit on the furniture. I don’t know who would buy a couch or chair without trying it out first! The whole mall was crazy, but my favorite part of the whole mall time and the weekend was our shoe shopping extravaganza! Becky and I came upon a shoe store where all the shoes were $4.99. There was not a normal pair of shoes in the whole store. They were all wild or different in some way. I’ve never had more fun shopping for shoes in my entire life. We laughed so hard! We spent over an hour in there trying on shoes. We ended up buying EIGHT PAIRS! Wait until you see some of the funky shoes I bought! I’m waiting for just the right occasion to sport them. Here’s a sneak peak.





They are Sneaker Heels. That’s what we’re calling them anyway. You would be surprised at how comfortable they are! I got two other pair, but they’re not as wild as these. I just start thinking about these shoes and I feel happy. They had them in every color imaginable! They had these lovely pink ones, orange ones, red high top, yellow, blue, white and black. I should have used up all my money in there and got one of every color. I thought about buying all my friends a pair, but I wasn’t sure that everyone would appreciate them as much as I do. I know my husband doesn’t. Actually, he likes to tease me about the shoes, but he actually likes them. Or I’m in denial about that.
Anyway, I had a blast shoe shopping with Becky. I don’t know that I’ll ever have so much fun looking at shoes ever again. Be on the watch out for when I wear them!

Today I took the kids to the park to feed the ducks. Melody, who is usually terrified of animals, no matter how small or docile, actually loved the ducks today. We had a ton of bread left over from the boys camp out, buns from a party at my house that didn’t happen and lots of donuts from the camp out that I wanted out of my house. We took our huge bags of goodies to the park and had a great time. I love this picture of Melody. She was standing in front of the duck and said, “Hello Duck. I’m a girl.”



Last topic:
I’m so excited that I lost another three pounds last week! I went to the kitchen to find something that could represent three pounds for me. I’m a visual person. Just saying three pounds doesn’t do a whole lot for me when I think about how far I have to go. When I opened up the cabinet right away I saw this family size spaghetti sauce jar. It said that it was a 3 pound jar!



If I think of the jar full of fat that’s not on my body anymore instead of just a regular jar of spaghetti sauce then I’m encouraged. Especially when I think that I’ve lost almost 4 of those jars total. (I had been trying before I started posting about it.) So, I guess I could say that I’ve lost 3.7 family size jars of spaghetti sauce! That seems like a lot. Hey, it feels rewarding!

I’ll leave you with a Silly Sister picture.

T-H-R-E-E

HAPPY ME! I lost another 3 pounds last week! Only 14 more to go for my short term go. What are some things that weigh 3 pounds? I need a visual of something that weighs 3 pounds that's not attached to my butt anymore.

Mmmmm...Waffles

I did something so fun today. First of all I woke up really late. That’s great in itself. Then, I got up and made waffles for the girls with our new wonderful Belgian waffle makers. (I didn’t eat one.) The boys and Randy are gone camping, but I’m used to making food for 6 not 2 little girls so I made way too many waffles! I called my mother in law (she lives down the street) to see if she wanted some waffles since I made too many. She didn’t answer the phone so I decided I would take them to my next door neighbor. They were beautiful waffles. They were as beautiful as the most beautiful waffle ever was. Man, I wish I had taken a picture!
I poured some syrup in one little bowl. Then I poured some powdered sugar in another small bowl. I got out a fancy silver tray and put the bowls and the plates of waffles on there. For a second I thought it was a little over kill for some waffles, but it felt fun to be a little over the top. I got on my shoes and told the girls that I was taking some waffles to our neighbors.
When I got over there they weren’t home. My mother in law wasn’t home. Here I was standing outside with this beautiful tray of waffles and I had to figure out what to do with them. I decided to take them across the street to a nice family I haven’t really ever talked to. I always say hi to them if they’re outside but I haven’t made friends with them like I thought I would when I first moved in. It’s a young married couple with one child about 2 years old. They seem really nice. Anyway, I walked across the street with my fancy tray of sweet treats and rang their doorbell. The woman came to the door and she was so kind. She invited me in their house. The grandparents must have been for a visit. They were all sitting in the living room talking. They seemed so delighted to have waffles. The husband was excited. He said he hadn’t had waffles in a very long time.
I talked to them for a minute and then left to go back home. As I left I was so happy. It felt so good to get out of my comfort zone and do something nice for someone that I don’t know. Normally I would have sent Randy to take them waffles. He loves to do stuff like that. I always feel a little uncomfortable. Also, I usually would have felt embarrassed to take over waffles in such an extravagant way. Not today. Anyway, it was fun, rewarding and good for me.

My Sweet Randy

This week Randy started building his first house.






It’s been very exciting. Early Monday morning I was in the shower when Randy got a call from his concrete guys. He busted in the bathroom with a big grin on his face. He had to run out to Clyde to solve his first problem. It was a minor problem and he got it taken care of quickly.
I went out there to see the ground being broken. The concrete guys were building forms to get ready to pour the foundation. I took some pictures. I plan on taking pictures of the building process every week. Then I can make a flip book of his first build. I’ll try to post one of them weekly so you can see the progress (and give Randy a little encouragement.)
Randy was so cute on Monday. I love this picture. We were both so excited to see men working on his land. We are thrilled that the process has finally begun. I’m expecting everything to go smoothly.
I fell in love with Randy even more on Monday when I saw him standing there with his blueprints. He’s full of vision and drive. He knows how to do things that no one has ever taught him to do. He is wise and loving, and he’s the hardest worker. I’m so glad that he’s brave enough to do the things that God has called him to do. He works hard for our family, but he’s not consumed with his work. He still has plenty of time for all of us. I’m very thankful for the man he has become.
I’m thrilled to watch him step into his desires of his heart.

Hey, check this out. You can see the latest house that Randy fixed up to sell.
http://www.visualtour.com/shownp.asp?t=1146558&sk=2

Still Going...

Good news...I lost another pound last week. That's not bad for being out of town for 3 days of that. So, I have 17 pounds left to reach my short term goal by my birthday in late September.
My fortune cookie today (which I didn't eat) said that I would reach my short term goal very soon.

Paper & Pencils & Pens Oh My!!

Today I got a letter in the mail from the kid’s school. I was so happy to open it. I was sure that it had their school supply list in it. Since I will have three children in school this year I was thinking just the other day that I needed the list so I could begin shopping. I hate waiting to shop for supplies at the last minute. Plus, school supply shopping has always been one of my favorite things to do. (For me or for others.)
I ripped open the letter and it did have their supply list in it. I began to read over the tuition letter then I scanned the supply list. The more I looked at it the more panicked I became. I started adding up things in my head and I began to feel overwhelmed. In tuition alone we will be paying $700 a month. Then we have books to pay for and enrollment fees. Then on top of that we have to buy school supplies for each child. Then add new clothes, shoes, socks, underwear, backpacks and lunch boxes.
My lovely idea of compiling the lists and making a master list of supplies was squelched by fear. Fear of What If’s. What if we can’t afford all this? But, here’s the reality. Of course we will be able to afford it. The Lord always takes care of us. He always provides for us. We have everything we need and a lot of what we want. For example: Just a couple of weeks ago Randy felt like he was supposed to get new quotes for our car insurance. We’ve used Progressive for years. We paid $150 a month. Well, this new company that we’re using gave us a quote for only $50 a month. That’s $100 of Jocie’s tuition paid for! Another example: Randy needed $10,000 recently to begin building his first house. Randy called a business that he works with a lot (just for regular business) and they told him that they had some extra money in their business that they needed to get out of it. They offered to loan him the $10,000 so he could begin building his house.
If I sat here long enough I could think of hundreds of examples when the Lord took care of us financially. That was just this month examples. My point is that I don’t have one single reason to be concerned about money. We always have what we need. We always do. I’m thankful for that.
Hey, do any of you (that don’t have school age kids) want to sponsor a child? If you buy their supplies then I will send you a school picture. (Hey, can you buy those too?) Also, I can keep you posted on grades and school programs. 100% of your donation will go to supplies.
I'm just kidding about you being a sponsor. (That is unless you really want to.) My point is that God is so good! He's so faithful to take great care of us. I hate that I still even have moments of doubt. It's ridiculous!

I Got An Email Today!

Julia C. Loren
Tharseo Publishing & Editorial Services
215 Lake Blvd., Suite 515, Redding , CA 96003
(530) 209-3225juliascribes@yahoo.comwww.julialoren.net

Hello,

I am pleased to announce that you are one of the winners of the Tharseo Publishing Divine Intervention story contest. You can direct all of your friends and family to see the formal announcement on www.julialoren.net.

Contest winners will receive:
First place - $100 + publication & 5 copies of the published book
Second place - $50 + publication & 5 copies
Third place - $25 + publication & 5 copies
Runners Up – publication & 5 copies
In the next week, you should receive an email or a letter containing a form that gives Tharseo the right to use your story in the Divine Intervention book series. By signing this form you give us the right to publish your story. In effect, we are “purchasing” the right to use your story through the forum of this contest. Also, please note that in the event that Tharseo Publishing decides to sell the book publication rights to another publisher such as Destiny Image, Regal Books or Charisma House, you may be asked to sign another form giving them the right to publish your story.

Once you sign and return the form, Tharseo Publishing will send out your first, second or third place checks or, for all contest winners and runners up, the promise of 5 copies. Please be patient with the process of seeing your name and story in print. It takes time to collect the stories, edit them, format them for printing and printing the books. The first book is expected to be published within a year…hopefully, sooner.

The review committee specifically looked for the following as they chose the contest winners:
1) A well-defined moment of divine intervention
2) An emotional connection to the person’s story
3) A clear point / message that the reader can take away from the story
4) Quality of writing

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact me via phone or email.

Be Blessed!
Thank you for sharing your story and increasing the faith of readers around the world!

Julia C. Loren
_______________________________

Tharseo Publishing is pleased to announce the following Divine Intervention story contest winners:

1st Place –
Tanya Snoddy ( Baton Rouge , LA ) for “Nurses from Heaven”
– Two nurses arrive to assist a woman who is caring for her sister at home but after a morning full of unusual events, the regular nurse shows up and the woman realizes the earthly agency never sent the miracle-working pair.

2nd Place:
Don Collins ( Redding , CA ) for “Far From Home”
– A man passing through Germany on a train sees his name with a specific message written on a wall in Germany, and realizes that God not only knows his name, He displays it in such a way as to reignite his faith.

3rd Place:
Tom Hovsepian ( Palm Desert , CA ) for “Sentinels v. the Syndicate”
– A minister who is repeatedly threatened by drug dealers moves from anxiety to faith to hosting a revival after a man points out the angels surrounding the minister’s house.

Runners Up:

Family Encounters with God:
Brandi Wilson ( Abilene , TX ) for “Even the Winds Obey Him”
– A boy’s answer to an unusual prayer inspires faith in his family.

Life-Changing Spiritual Experiences:
Phyllis Phauvre ( Ontario , Canada ) for “Ordinary People; Extraordinary Healing”
– A woman ventures to her local healing rooms and receives more spiritual power than she bargained for from ordinary people; resulting in total emotional and physical healing.

Travelers’ Tales:
Gail Collins ( Houston , TX ) for “A Spanish Lullaby”
– A couple experiencing a rocky patch in their marriage renews their commitment after an audible voice tells a woman to wake up her husband who has just fallen asleep at the wheel while driving in Spain.

Angels on Assignment:
Carole Wyatt ( Clay City , IN) for “Angels in the Garden”
– A grandmother with a disheveled garden asks her neighbor for assistance before company arrives but before he comes over to help, a mystery crew suddenly appears, accomplishes a day’s work in record time, and vanishes without a trace.

Pleeeeaaaaassssseee!!!!!!

Hey, does anyone want to come spend a few hours at my house tomorrow and babysit so Becky and I can leave town earlier? DON'T STOP READING YET...

If you can at noon (or whatever time you could come) you will only have to watch my girls. Christy will be here taking care of Miles, and the boys will be at camp. It would only be until 4:15 when Randy came home with the boys. You will have to watch Miles from 3:45-4:15, but that won't be hard. He won't need anything.

If you come:
*You can eat my food.
*Bring your kids.
*Watch my SkyAngel.
*Take a nap on my bed.
*Your kids could play on the playhouse.
*You could rummage through my drawers.
*You could steal spare change.
*You could read my diary. (not really)
*You could play on the computer.
*You could hang out with Christy. She's cool. Miles likes her.

So, any takers? If you do this it will add HOURS to our trip! Hours matter!

You Must! You Must! You Must Listen to this Weeks Podcast from Bethel. Life of Faith. The whole thing is amazing!!! Listen to it!!!

Yea!!!

I lost 3 pounds last week! Yea! Okay, 18 more to go before my birthday! Yesterday when I was working out I kept going after my required time. Sweat was literally dripping off my head and stinging my eyes. I was pushing to keep going. When I would decide to stop I just kept thinking that every second that I went past my goal I was taking more ground from the enemy. I was warring for change. It felt so good! I took off my headphones and you could have wrung the sweat out of them. It was gross and totally cool at the same time. I was out of breath and my legs were wobbling, but I loved it! I’m so excited about my repentance.
Our trip is still on Becky!

New Adventures

Lots of things are going on around here. There are many topics to discuss today.
• Secret Sister: WOW! I had the best secret sister this time! I was so surprised! I had no idea that it was Julie. (Who, by the way told me that she read my blog every day to check for what was going on in my life so she would know how to pray!) I asked her why she never commented and she said it was because I would have figured out who she was. SO, now that the secret sister semester is over you are now officially welcomed to the blog and invited to freely comment. Julie blessed me the entire time! She told me that I was hard to shop for…that surprises me. I mean if you were to see the information sheet that I filled out you would have no problems knowing things that I like and don’t like. I made myself plain! She must have read it carefully because everything she bought me I loved. Thank you Julie for being so sweet to me! Now I’ve got to fill out my new secret sister sheet. It’s so fun! I love presents! And, I love blessing the Secret Sister that I have!
• Randy’s work: Okay, starting Monday (today) begins a new season in our lives! Randy’s Straight Path Remodeling Inc. is now Randy Wilson Custom Homes!!!! He’s been in business for himself for over five years now. He’s been buying houses, fixing them up and selling them for over four years now, and finally starting this week his dream of being a house builder will come true! This is super duper amazing on every level! He’s built houses in his head about 10,000 times, but now he will get to really do it. He’s got the loan in order, he’s got the blue prints, he’s got every detail on paper, he’s got sub contractors in mind, he’s bought his land, and now he’s waiting for the loan to close on Thursday at 2:00 so he can get busy. Last Friday was his guys last day to work. Today is the first time in years that he doesn’t have employees. (I wonder what time he’ll wake up.) I’m just kidding. He has busy plans for tying up loose ends. This is such a huge step for Randy! It’s been his desire for so long to build houses and this week he will be able to begin! His last day working for someone (5 years ago) was the day that I had Jocie, our third child! He began his remodeling job at the time. For a solid year he had jobs to do. People called all the time. I don’t know how most of those people got his number, but work was steady. Then the day I brought home Melody (4 years ago) from the hospital was the day he began to flip houses. When it came time to flip houses no mare calls came in for remodeling. It was amazing! Not one phone call! He just began flipping houses. From that day on he had houses to buy or even multiple houses waiting to be remodeled. Now that it’s time for him to begin to build he doesn’t have any more homes to flip! Friday he and his guys finished up his last house. The pattern gives us confidence that this is the way the Lord works things out for us. I’m so excited! Everything is falling into place. Randy and I have been over whelmed as we think about how God takes care of us. We’ve been talking about how it would be ridiculous to question if the Lord was going to help us out on this transition or not. We’ve been dwelling on how favored we are. The Lord loves us so much, and he has his hand on everything we do. We just can’t lose. God is overwhelmingly generous to us. We’re very thankful! I love watching him work his perfect plans! He’s so faithful to us. So, we’re excited!!!! My husband is a home builder now! Wow!
• My diet: Okay, so like I’ve said, I’m back on the wagon. I’m feeling so good! I have a short short time goal (This Thursday, you’ll read about it in a minute.) And then I have another short term goal, which is my birthday in late September to loose 21 pounds. Then, I have a year long goal of getting the rest of the weight off. I haven’t had a coke or any caffeine in a week! That’s amazing for me. I got an awesome revelation for myself when I got out of the shower the other day. This may not be a shocker for you, but it was to me. I realized that soda was not intended for daily use. When it was made it was a treat. I grew up with a ton of soda in my refrigerator, and I treated it like it was something to drink with every meal. When I was dieting in the past I would switch to diet soda. I just realized that the Lord made water for us to drink. So, I’ve been drinking water. Well, water and a margarita. I’m trying to keep it simple.  I’m drinking water, exercising, eating healthy and taking my weight loss medication that I’ve neglected for a really long time. I’m really excited. I feel like I’m going to be successful. There’s not one good thing about being over weight. And, since I have all the power of heaven to overcome this then there’s no reason I should fail. I was talking to Randy yesterday and he said something so important! He was talking about Alan Vincent’s son named Duncan. Randy heard him speak at a men’s BFW one time. Duncan was talking about this one sin that he struggled with for a very long time, and he finally overcame it. Now he can say to the Devil, “You have nothing on me!” That’s what I feel like in the area of my weight! I’ve overcome so many things. I’ve over came lots of habitual sins and fleshly desires, but this one of over eating has been a thorn in my flesh. I’m so excited to get done with it. I feel like when I’m done with losing all this weight that I will be able to say to the devil that he has nothing on me. Even while I’m working on losing weight I’m victorious! Everyday I get to take more ground back from the enemy! I’ve been working out and as I do it I ask the Lord to make my body respond to the new changes a 100 fold. I feel like he’s doing it. This time is different. I have more than cute clothes in mind. I have repentance in mind. I have determination to please my Lord. As I work out I claim the promise over myself that I’m more than an over comer. I can do all things through Christ that strengthens me.
• Becky and I are going away: This Thursday Becky and I are going for a little R&R. We’re heading to Arlington for a relaxing getaway. I think we’re going to Six Flags while we’re there. Randy found an awesome coupon on the Six Flags website where anyone with a season pass (I have one) can take a friend for only $9.99. The hotel that we’re staying at is only 1 mile from Six Flags and they have a trolley that will take us there in the morning for free. That sounds pretty fun. I’m not a huge fan of scary rides so we’ll see how that goes. The hotel has a pool outside so even if we just sit by the pool all weekend and do nothing I would be content. Here’s the catch. Like I said earlier I’m back on the wagon with my diet! When I told Randy that Becky and I wanted to go some where for the weekend he told me that I would have to stick to my diet everyday, workout everyday (besides Sunday) and take my medicine everyday until the trip or I can’t go! This is his way of supporting me…bribing me. Hey, it works for me! So, I’ve done SO great! I have 4 more days of staying on track. Please support me in this. Of course I think I’ll do fine, but my hotel reservations are non refundable! If I can’t go then I will have wasted that money for nothing! I’m excited about this because I feel like I’m on track again. I really want to stick to my diet as best as I can while I’m out of town because I have a long way to go and starting over is the worst! I’m bored with that. So, this weekend will be very fun. We’ll have to wait and see what we do. I don’t really care. Becky and I can have a blast doing nothing at all. We’re both fun girls. I’m very thankful for our friendship! Thursday, come quickly!!!!

New Writing Contest

I entered a writing contest today. I won't find out until October or November if I won, but it will give me something to look forward to. The prize is a book or something. No cash. It was free to enter so I have nothing to lose. I'm excited about it. Well, I thought I would post it on here so you could tell me that you liked it.

The rule was that you had to start the short essay with this sentence:
“The boys are screaming, the mom’s pulling out her hair, and the dad’s, well let’s just say he’s _________.”


The boys are screaming, the mom’s pulling out her hair, and the dad’s, well let’s just say he’s snuggled up to the remote. Being the aforementioned mom, I had a few choices.
I could have tried duct-taping the boys to the kitchen chairs, throwing a sandwich to the husband and retreating to a soak in a candle-lit bathtub for the evening. That sounded like a pretty wise choice except one can never tell when duct tape will be needed next. It’s better to have the tape when you need it, than to need it and not have it. If something gets broken around the house, it’s not likely that it will get fixed properly any time soon, so it’s nice to keep the duct tape around.
Next choice: I could have requested sweetly that my husband, aw, never mind. That wouldn’t have worked.
Then I thought: Well, what if, I mean what if, I ran out the door without saying a word? Surely there’s a movie theatre with gloriously buttered popcorn that I could sneak off to. It would have been survival-of-the-fittest around the house. I wasn’t really sure who the fittest would have been. The thought of coming back home to chaos scratched out that idea out pretty quickly.
To save the rest of my hair I knew that a decision needed to be made quickly. My nerves were begging for a retreat, but my mind knew that things needed to be taken care of. I took a step back and looked at my husband, who was perfectly comfortable in the recliner, when a question popped in my head. I thought, “Would I trade his long hours and sweaty work for an evening with the remote?” I was pretty sure that I wouldn’t. Then I looked at my two boys who were fighting over the phone and I asked myself, “Would I trade going to junior high for an evening filled with phone calls to my friends?” Honestly, I wouldn’t wish junior high school on my worst enemy. I knew I wouldn’t want to trade them.
While I stood there, I made a decision. I decided that I would be the thermostat of the evening instead of the thermometer. I chose to control the evening’s climate instead of boiling over. I chose to be peaceful and loving instead of stressed and aggravated.
I invited the boys to help me cook dinner. I don’t know why it’s so thrilling to add the cheese to the macaroni, but it is for them. I asked my hard working husband if he would like a glass of tea to go with his remote. The surprised look of joy on my husband’s face made my decision well worth it.
After a pleasant dinner that the boys were very proud of, guess who got a candle-lit soak in the bath? I taped an OFF DUTY sign on the bathroom door and was refreshed by the warm water and the knowledge that my family was well taken care of.

Wicked Dream

Yesterday afternoon I had a dream when I was taking a nap. I don’t think that I usually dream when I take naps. If I do, then I don’t remember them like I did yesterday.
I dreamed that I was in the audience of the Oprah show. Even in my dream I thought it was strange that I went to the Oprah show because I don’t even watch it. I was sitting in the front row and Miles was next to me in his wheelchair. I had his chair backwards where his face was facing the person behind him. The guest for the day was a woman that was a healer. I think I must have known that she was going to be there. I was sitting in my seat, and before anything began I already made the decision that I wasn’t going to beg the lady with my eyes to heal Miles. I was just going to sit back and watch the show.
The show began and right away I recognized that the lady’s power did not come from God. She was indeed a healer, but she got her powers from the dark side. The first lady that she healed was on the stage and she began sliding on the floor on her back. Her eyes were bulging out of socket, but when she got up she was healed. She basically looked like she had been possessed then healed.
As I was watching things go on I noticed that Miles wheelchair moved. At first I didn’t think much of it because I was interested in what was going on. Then I noticed that his chair moved again. I looked over at him and he had wrapped his toes under the chair in front of him and was using the chair to rock himself. Then I looked at his face and he was completely alert and normal looking. No one had touched him, but obviously he was healed by whatever was going on with the lady on the show. Next thing I know Miles is out of his chair messing around with stuff. I was not filled with joy at all. I was trying to decide what I should do. I was relieved that Miles was healed, but I did not trust how it happened. I was glad he could walk, but I was also nervous about what that meant.
I was on the way home trying to decide what to do, but there was a man with me from the show. He was furnishing my whole ride home. He gave me a brand new truck and he was paying for everything on the trip home. I knew that he was telling me that “I owed him.” I think it was the devil propositioning me to heal Miles for me in exchange for me to serve him.
The thoughts that I kept having were: No one knows where I went. They don’t know how Miles was healed. If I could just get home then everyone would be happy to see him. I have no idea how I’m going to ditch this guy with me. And, how am I going to explain this truck.
I had Miles behind me in a car seat and he was completely normal. I handed him a Little Debbie Oatmeal Pie and he took it from my hands and ate it by himself. There was no relief in my spirit. I worried for his future because of the way he was healed.


So, anyway, here’s my public declaration: I do not in any way desire openly or secretly for my son Miles to be healed by anything or anyone besides with the power of Jesus Christ. I will not be tempted by any demonic forces. I don’t believe that he will, but I would rather for Miles to die without doing one more thing and him go to heaven than him be healed by anything or anyone from the dark side.

Jesus, come quickly to my rescue and heal my son Miles!

Excited Giver

I was very surprised at church yesterday. Jim got up to talk about offering, and he’s been spicing it up lately. Yesterday was no exception. He requested that everyone that was an excited giver to please stand up. I would say that most of the room stood up. Then he told the ones that were excited givers to remain standing and then he asked the non excited givers to raise their hand if they wanted to be excited givers. I was shocked and amazed at what I saw. Let me say here that we were a couple of minutes late so we didn’t sit in the front like we usually do. We sat in the next to the last aisle so we wouldn’t interrupt anything. Since we were way in the back we had a bird’s eye view of the place. We did not see one hand go up (I know there were a couple that must have gone up), but there were huge patches of people that were sitting that did not raise their hand. The excited givers were told to go to the non excited givers and lay their hands upon them and pray that they would be excited givers. Those of us that were standing didn’t have any where to go. We just looked at each other because we didn’t see anyone with their hand raised.

Randy and I talked after church about how curious the whole thing was. We were wondering why the non excited givers didn’t even want to be excited givers. Randy brought up the fact that Randy and I aren’t really very evangelistic. We should be, but we’re not. If Kathy had been in front of the church and asked all the evangelistic people to stand up we would not have stood. However, if she had asked if all the people sitting that wanted to be evangelistic to raise their hand to be prayed for then I’m sure we would have raised our hand.

Another thing that I thought about yesterday was a family that sat a few rows up. I have no idea who they are. I’ve never seen them before. It was a man, a woman and a late teen daughter. The couple was in their late forties I guess. When the excited givers were asked to stand the woman stood up, but the man and daughter remained seated. Then when the non excited givers were asked to raise their hands the man and the daughter remained with their hands down. I felt bad for the woman. Giving is one of my favorite things to do, but for Randy it’s his greatest gifting. If he was all alone he would drive a crappy car and give away all his earnings. He loves to give. Because he loves to give then I love to give even more. I can’t imagine what it would be like to live with someone that did not like to give. My Mom has always been a giver so I grew up that way. My husband is such a giver that we just live that way. I think it would be so sad to live with someone that didn’t enjoy giving.

My Randy

At church yesterday we were told to stand and look into our spouse’s eyes for 15 seconds and then tell them what it is that we cherish about them.
Randy went first and surprisingly, his response was that it really does it for him when I look at him with confidence. He loves it. He likes it when I feel good about myself, and when I know I can handle things. That comment made me feel so good.
The thing about Randy that I cherish was so hard for me to say because I thought that if I started to explain then I would not stop crying. I didn’t really know what I was going to say at first, but when I was looking into his eyes and thinking about Randy I knew what it was. It’s how he takes care of Miles. When I see Randy taking care of Miles it makes me feel so secure. He takes care of Miles needs so seemingly effortlessly, and without me asking him to do things that it just makes me know that I’m not alone. It affirms in me that we really can do anything together. Nothing is going to happen in our marriage that will be too hard to work out. When he takes care of Miles I know that we’re in this together until death do us part.

This weekend we went to two wonderful weddings. They were so beautiful and the couples were so in love. Several times while I was at the weddings I looked around at all the details of the wedding, the dresses, and all the attention that the brides were getting. I saw the couples and the romance in their eyes. It was such a treat to see.
Our wedding was a cheap little wedding. When Randy and I got married no one really believed in us so we were on our own with the wedding. We paid for almost everything ourselves. It was nothing like the weddings we went to this weekend. While I was at the weddings I thought a few times about how fun everything must have been to plan the wedding. I thought several times about the honeymoons that would follow. Randy and I already lived together when we got married so there were no surprises if you know what I mean.
Anyway, with all the beauty of the weddings, with all the romance oozing from every pore of the bride and groom, with all the excitement in the room I decided I wouldn’t go back to the beginning with Randy for any of it. I didn’t leave those weddings depressed that every day isn’t dreamy bliss. I’ll tell you that the peace that we have with each other is dreamy bliss!
The relationship that Randy and I have is too wonderful to write about. We really are best friends. We talk on the phone several times a day, we laugh at each other’s jokes, and we sincerely care about what each other is going through. And there’s no way that I would choose “first time sex” over “totally free now sex”. There’s no comparison! So, all that to say, I love my marriage. I thoroughly believe that besides having a personal relationship with Christ on earth there’s nothing better than a good marriage. Kids will come and go, but a marriage is what sticks. I’m thankful for that.

Sharon Update

Today I got a quick phone call from Shirley (my mother in law) telling me that I was about to get a visit from Sharon (Randy's oldest sister) and her friend. Remember Shirley lives just two doors down. I was still on the phone with Shirley when my doorbell rang and my door opened. Sharon and her friend came right in. Sharon had decided to give her friend a tour of my house. She walked in like she owned the place and began to show her friend my house as I just kind of stared at her in wonderment. You see, my husband was at the funeral home earlier this week to get funeral estimates for his older brother. Earlier this week the plans seemed necessary, but this morning with her running around my home it seemed utterly ridiculous. Anyone that saw her pointing out pictures and hugging my kids would have questioned Randy’s motive for looking at caskets on Monday. She didn’t get to stay long because she and her friend were off to the coffee shop.
When she left my mother in law called me to see if she could come over and talk. I told her to come on over. We sat on my couch and Shirley laughed and cried. She said this week has been so emotionally draining. This morning she was crying on the phone as she talked to Randy on the phone. She was crying because her oldest daughter was dying and she was planning her funeral. As she was talking about the funeral her oldest daughter rang her doorbell and busted through the door unannounced. Sharon hung out at her house for a few minutes then left because she had other things to do. Shirley couldn’t believe her eyes. She’s been taking care of Sharon, who couldn’t get up to do anything on her own. Today she was up and going to the coffee house. Shirley didn’t know what to think about the whole thing. She was totally shocked. I have to openly admit that I was a little freaked out myself.
Later today I was just running errands and I was thinking about how strange Sharon’s behavior was today. I mean one day she can’t even sit in a chair comfortably, then the next day (yesterday) she was out walking to stores around her neighborhood, then today she was out visiting family and having coffee with a friend. As I was pondering all this all the sudden I heard, “Why are you so surprised? What have you been asking me for?” Oh my goodness! Call me slow, but I hadn’t even thought of her walking around and doing stuff as a good thing. I hadn’t even realized that the Lord was at work. I thought that Sharon was being freaky. I didn’t think about how much of a miracle it was that she was up and around town. Well, I had to tell the Lord I was sorry for not noticing! I felt so blinded! I know it seems totally silly!
This evening I was explaining my revelation to Randy about how God was the one that allowed her to do those things. You know what he said? With a smug look on his face he said, “Uh, I wasn’t surprised.” I love it!
Okay, so our prayer tonight was that Sharon would continue to get stronger and healthier daily! We prayed that she would be completely cancer free. We prayed that God would heal her mind as he heals her body.
What a testimony! Her family was planning her funeral and her God was restoring her body! Being a lover of God is so exciting!

Stomp The Church

Okay, some of you know my love for Stomp the Yard. I’m a huge fan. Columbus Short could not be more adorable. I can say that because my husband has a crush on him too. I’ve been saying that our church needs to start our own Stomp team. Well, last night I thought of the perfect name for our team! It can be Stomp The Devil! We can have T-shirts with our initials on it! STD. We can do specials and stuff. I’m very excited. If you would like to join my Stomp team then let me know so I can check out your skills. Randy has been showing me his skills, and I’m afraid that he will not be on the team. Hey, I’ve got a rep. to uphold ya know!



STD

Writing Contest

Okay, I'm so excited. I decided to check Julia Loren's website...just in case. And, the winner annoucement for the writing contest was moved up to the first week of August (Instead of the 15th). I'm excited and impatient about that! I want to know if I won!!!!
Well, they didn't get as many entries as they were hoping for. That's a bummer because it delays the publishing, but hopefully they will have another contest and I will be able to win that one as well. That would be sweet!
Anyway, I'm just excited! I wanted to share the news.
Also, she said that a couple of well known ministers committed to putting a couple of their stories in the book as well. Let's all think about who those ministers are for a second. She didn't mention any names but she goes to Bill Johnson & Kris Vallotton's church! HELLO...my writing could be one page over from Bill Johnsons!!! (Picture me jumping up and down and squealing like a little girl!)
Lord, give me the patience to wait for the first of August AND PLEASE LET ME WIN!!!!!!

Aaron's Birthday

Tonight was so fun. We celebrated Aaron Laughlin’s 30th birthday. Several friends met at Perini Ranch in Buffalo Gap. I must mention that this place had the best steak I’ve ever had in my entire life. I thought Randy was the man on the grill, but I’m afraid I’ve met a new man! Dinner was full of laughter and criss-cross conversations. The food was perfect. The fellowship was perfect.
After dinner the Laughlins, Jennifer, Cole and the Capperton’s came over to the house for some Texas Hold Em’. We had so much fun! We laughed so hard. We used lots of poker lingo (some used it better than others.) The word crap, which is a bad word at our house was used 4 times. Two of those times was by me…crap! I will say that that the girls ruled most of the game, but over all the Capperton powerhouse prevailed! They wiped us clean! I hung with them until the end, but they took all my moola. That’s okay though because they passed out they’re winnings as soon as they got them. How generous!
So, to my dear friend Aaron…Happy 30th! You had a great party! You’re one of my favorite people in the whole world.

Pool Fun

Hey, let's play a guessing game.

Guess who went to the State Park today?

ME!

Guess who else came?

Uh, give up...No One!

Well, I didn't mind. It was so great today! The weather was perfect! The kids and I had a blast. They kept asking me where all of you were and if I thought any of you were coming. :) I guess not.

I'm a huge fan of the State Park Pool. It's so fun there! Maybe next week some of you will join me!

It was a Mean Joke!

Guess what Randy...I'm Pregnant!



You might think the red eye was a camera problem, but it was actual fire coming from his eyes!

Jocie's Baptism

Yesterday was a very special day at the Wilson home, and in the Kingdom of Heaven! She was baptized after church. About a month and a half ago we went to ACU for a sibling class the kids got to go to because of Miles. They had a blast. They actually got to play hide in go seek with ACU students. My kids thought they were supposed to get to go bowling, but the hide in go seek was much better in their opinion. After we picked up the kids we decided to walk around the campus a little bit. Randy and I had heard about the Jacob’s Ladder sculpture, but we had not seen it yet. Our whole family was in awe of the statue and the rocks that surrounds it. It’s one of the most amazing things we have in Abilene. We hung out there for a long time and Jocie decided that she wanted to be baptized at that place.
Randy and I thought it was a great idea, but we wanted to talk to Jocie more about baptism before we just did it. So, we both talked to her several times over the last month and a half. She wanted to talk about it all the time. She told us over and over that she wanted to get baptized at ACU. She was sure that was the place. She was sure that she needed to be baptized. She was sure that it needed to be done soon! She had such a passion to be baptized!
Right after she woke up yesterday she came up to Randy while he was still in bed and told him that she needed to be baptized. He woke me up and told me that we were going to do it after church. I could see that his mind was made up so I just started to think how we could do it successfully. During breakfast I asked her why she wanted to get baptized and she said in the sweetest and shy voice, “Because I want to be a new creation.”
On the way to church we went by ACU to make sure the little pool they have there was set up and in working order. We ran over to the pool and it looked so beautiful and perfect. Jocie was as thrilled as she could be.
On the way to church we called several people in our family to invite them to watch Jocie get baptized. It was short notice, but they were excited about the news. They all knew it was coming because it’s been Jocie’s main topic of conversation lately. I called Randy’s sister Sharon to invite her, but when I called she was having a panic attack because of the pain that she was in. Her nurse was there and giving her more medicine to knock her out. She begged me to pray for her. I was so sad to hear the fear in her voice. I did pray for her before I went into church.
After church I invited Becky and Brian to watch Jocie be baptized. Awhile back I had talked to Becky about her desire to be baptized and she told me that she wanted to be invited when the day came. I was so happy to hear that she was available to come. I know after church is a busy time for them, but they got to ACU before us! It made it very special that they came.
Becky and Brian were there, my Mom came, and so did Grandma Shirley and Harry. It’s such a beautiful place to be. There’s a huge statue of Jacob’s Ladder where angels are ascending and descending from heaven. To me it felt like we were standing under a porthole of heaven. We saw huge gold flakes around the water. I’ve never seen them there before. It seemed like it was real gold. The whole place just seemed like Holy Ground.
Randy stood with Jocie before our family and explained why she wanted to be baptized then I prayed over her. As I watched Jocie and Randy walk down into the water my heart felt so happy. It was one of the most beautiful things I’ve ever seen. I was watching a Father and Daughter obeying the very Word Of God. Jocie was so happy to be baptized. She listened and did what Randy told her to do then he baptized her in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. She was all smiles when she came out of the water. It was very cute. We let her stay in the water for a couple of minutes while her very hot brothers and sister watched her splash in the cool water.
Randy’s Mom requested that we pray for Sharon before we all left. We all stood in a circle and prayed for healing angels to go to Sharon and heal her body completely. We commissioned angels to do their work in Sharon’s body. I think it was the perfect thing to do after Jocie’s baptism.
So, enjoy these photos of my beautiful Jocie girl on her special day! My prayer is that she seeks after God her whole life the way she went after being baptized! She is so pleasing to God! Before we left I told my Mom, “Hey, if she picked such a beautiful place to be baptized just think about the place she will pick to be married!” You know my Mom was grinning from ear to ear about that statement!