Dear Me,
I’m so sorry you’re having a hard time today. Today should be a celebration. Your son that could be dead is not dead. He’s alive and now three years old. I know you’re overwhelmed with how things are changing with his services. I know that you didn’t plan for Miles to still be so limited in his mobility. I know you didn’t plan for a wheelchair, more medicines than you knew was possible, a full time nurse for your son and of course the fact that Miles still isn’t healed.
I, more than anyone don’t want you to be sad. I wish you could just be comforted by the fact that Miles is doing so well now and that he’s happy. I suggest that you continue to meditate on all the wonderful things you have in Miles besides the sad and frustrating things you have to deal with. Of course that’s a lot easier said than done.
I’m sorry you feel lonely and like there’s not anyone that understands how you feel today. How could they? No one else knows exactly what your life is like. Don’t let that discourage you. Even though they don’t know exactly how you feel I’m sure you know how much they love you and want to support you.
Also, quit beating yourself up about being disappointed today. You don’t live in disappointment. These changes have just stirred up feelings that you haven’t visited in a while. Everything still is the same. Miles is still adorable. He still brings you so much joy when you hold him. Just remember that these changes are all going to work out just like everything has. There have been many things that you thought you couldn’t do, but you’ve over come every one of them. This will be the same. You will get everything organized, and you know the Lord always sends you a helper. You’ll see that this is just another thing that you’ll get excellent at. You can manage his case just as well as anyone else. You really are doing it now. You’re just delegating others to make calls for you. Don’t worry about how it will get done. You’ll do just fine.
Miles will be healed when Miles is healed. When that day comes then all the days like today will not compare to the uncontainable joy that you will have then. Don’t get depressed that the day hasn’t happened. Be excited that the best day of your life hasn’t happened yet. Not many people have something that big to look forward to.
Even though all that’s true I know it’s still hard today. The good news is that it won’t be hard next week. You’ll be over what you’re feeling today. Try to enjoy your son’s birthday. This is the only day that he will turn three.
Love,
Me

I'm 30 and very loved.

Please forgive me for taking so long to blog about the perfect party! I’ve wanted to get on here, but I’ve been really super crazy busy. I mean even busier than usual!

My party was so perfect for me! My husband and then later Rachel asked me what I wanted for my birthday. I thought about it for awhile and I finally pinned down what I wanted for my 30th birthday. After I figured out what I wanted I was a little embarrassed to admit it out loud. I told them that I wanted to feel really popular and get a lot of presents! I would suggest that if you’re ever asked what you want for your birthday that you would say the same thing! That’s exactly what I got!

Rachel, Joanne and Krissy threw me a slumber party with all my best girlfriends! We had a blast! It was my favorite birthday ever! It was decorated like a princess party. Joanne made wonderful cupcakes and delicious chocolate. Rachel had a punch fountain going that lit up and flowed beautifully. It was such a treat to drink punch out of it.

Then we made our own pita pizzas. They were way yummy. I’m incorporating this recipe in my menu for my family.

Then…PRESENT TIME!!!!

This was the most fun I’ve ever had opening presents. The word got out that I wanted a lot of presents! It took me almost an hour to open all of them. We all laughed so hard! I’m not really sure what we were all laughing about but it was really funny! The most wonderful presents kept coming and coming!

After that Amy brought out the pinata! Can you believe it? She had it filled with all kinds of chocolate treats AND fun stuff. There was finger nail polish, manicure stuff, mittens and lip gloss! Everyone made a mad dash for the pinata treats! That was a lot of fun!

Then, we talked and talked and talked and talked and talked and talked and talked and talked and talked. We talked until about 3 in the morning! Then we popped in my “fav” movie “Stomp the Yard.” We stayed up until 4:45 in the morning. I don’t know when I stayed up that late before…besides at a Lock in at the Skating rink back in the day.

The next morning we had a small make up party and Joanne gave us a ton of Mary Kay make up. That was so fun. I loved everything about the party! I want the same party every year! I loved being with so many of my best girls all evening.

Hopefully I will get some of the pictures from Kelly soon. Until then I will just be able to share all the pictures I have of my presents! I’m so blessed. I have the best girlfriends in the world!







And by the way….You Win Rachel! THANK YOU!!!

Girls Just Wanna Have Fun!

Maybe I will post about the funeral soon. It was a really sad day, but encouraging at the same time if that makes any sense. Thank you for all the food, encouragement, and love!

BUT FOR NOW...I'm ready to trade my mourning for dancing! (or whatever it is that we're doing tonight!) I'm SSSSSSSSSOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO looking forward to being with my best girlfriends tonight! I've looked to this night all week as my getaway from sadness. I know it's going to be great!!! Hopefully I will see most of you tonight...except Kevin & Aaron! No Boys Allowed! Well, except Jaxon!

Randy's sister Sharon died today of cervical cancer.

We were about to leave the house to go out for my birthday when his brother called and said that Sharon took her last few breaths.

Please pray for our family, especially Randy's Mom Shirley and Nathan, Sharon's husband.

What a Day!

I’m Semi-Speechless.

Today Randy and I got up and went to church like every Sunday. We got there early to greet the visitors. Nothing out of the ordinary happened except we were given our new Life Group Leader badges. We were looking very official in the hall. As we were waiting there to meet new people I shouted with joy (out loud) when my eyes saw Ray & Christy. I think it’s possible that Randy and I were the happiest to see them today. We have some history with them that goes back to our first year at KLF. Christy was a wonderful example to me of what a Godly mother was like. She loved people and both her and Ray knew the Word like no one I knew. Anyway, when they left our church my heart really hurt for a long time. Even recently I was talking to Randy about how much I would love it if they came back to our church. I had not seen them for years so when I did today I was filled with excitement! We ran over to them and hugged them and told them how happy we were to see them. I hope they stay.

So, anyway, Ray gave his incredible testimony about the miracle God did in his body. I was hanging on his every word…that is when I wasn’t laughing at his unique humor. I felt like I could have listened to him all day. Everything he said I could picture in my head. I’m so hungry to hear about real encounters of healing and the super natural.

Then Bryan got up to preach and I think it was the most powerful sermon I’ve ever heard him preach. Well, maybe the Easter sermon this year, but today was so good. It was full of passion and wisdom. He was talking about how we cannot be offended at God. I loved how he talked about Ray and when he wasn’t sure if he was going to live he asked his daughter to trust God if he lived or if he died. That was so powerful. Bryan was talking about how past disappointments cannot be a barrier between you and God. As he was talking about these things I was searching my heart to make sure that I was not offended at God about how long it has taken for Miles’ healing. I was feeling good inside but a part of me was worried that other people around me were concerned that I was holding up Miles’ healing because of my own heart. As I was praying and asking God if he was pleased with me in this area Bryan called us out and said that he was so pleased with us. In front of 300 people he said that if this was in Bible times that he thought that Randy and I would have been on the pages of the Bible. Oh my gosh, I broke. Something in me was released and affirmed. I really left there feeling 20 pounds lighter. Bryan was so kind to us and talked about how proud he was of us for going through what we’ve gone through with Miles and still chosen to love and serve God. I cried so hard. It felt so good.

Then, as if that wasn’t good enough…Brandon got up at the end of the service, mentioned us again and everyone gave us a standing ovation. Man, that was amazing! I felt so validated and loved. I loved seeing all the people who have stood with us during this whole time. Again, I was over whelmed with how loved and supported we are. Everyone goes through things that are hard. I don’t know of anyone who has as much love and support as we do when they’re going through it. Thankful doesn’t cover how blessed I feel by so many people.

I kept thinking today, “Wow, that was unexpected!” I mean, who in the world gets a standing ovation unexpectedly? We didn’t have to sing or preach or anything really but show up and worship our Lord the way he deserves to be worshipped.

I don’t think I did today justice, but I wanted to get something up here explaining how thankful I feel!


AND, on a side note: Besides the standing ovation, that’s hard to beat, but Randy got a great offer on the house he’s building! It looks like a Go on that! We’re thrilled! Also, Randy’s sister Sheila stopped by the house for a little while and she gave me $100 for Miles skating party! It looks like we get to have the birthday party that I really wanted for him! And, let’s not forget the fancy life group leader buttons we got today! The last day of my twenties was a very good one!

Wow...on a less depressing note...Man, I'm tired!

Well, that's not too cheery either.

Okay, how about...I'm so excited because it's my wonderful friends birthday! I am excited about that! I've got plans up my sleeve that have required me to think about her no less than 2,289 times this week! RACHEL, you're gonna love me! I adore you!

Birthday Feelings

An interesting phenomenon has happened. Interesting bad, not interesting good. I will be turning 30 in just a few short days. I’ve been asked several times how I’m handling turning thirty. Every time I hear that I’ve been caught off guard because it doesn’t make any sense to me why it would bother me to turn thirty. I’ve actually been excited about it.

It’s not my own birthday that I’ve been dreading. It’s my son’s. Miles will be three in about two weeks, but I’ve caught myself avoiding the subject and even panicking about it. How is it possible that I’m upset about my son turning three instead of myself turning thirty?

Miles’ third birthday does not conjure up exciting birthday plans for me. I think about how therapy services will stop coming to our home. I think about renewals of services and new routines that will begin. I think about how last year he didn’t have a party (the first one of my kids to not have one) and how depressed that made me. I didn’t have a party because I was thoroughly exhausted from his body cast. Plus, I had given in to nurse care which made me feel defeated. Also, the thoughts of how no one seems to know what to get him for a present saddened me. We did have an extremely lame cake cutting over at Randy’s aunt’s house for his birthday since a family get together was already planned. Someone gave him a box of diaper wipes for a gift. It made me so mad I said bad words about it when we got home. I mean actual bad words that I can’t type here.

Then I also think about how Randy’s niece Amanda that also had cerebral palsy always had lame birthday parties. I remember the family, behind Sharon’s back of course saying things like: Why does she have a party for Amanda? Amanda doesn’t care. Or, I hate giving Sharon money for Amanda because what’s she going to spend it on?

I mean who the hell cares? What do you give presents for? To make people happy! If you can’t make the kid happy you can sure make the parents happy! We’ve all given presents to kids to actually make the parents happy. Giving a two year old diaper wipes for his birthday because he can’t enjoy a toy train does not make a parent happy. It’s just another reminder that he’s not normal. It’s just sad.

So, what do you get a little boy that is turning three that can’t do much but be adorable? There are many things. He loves noise so CD’s are great. Clothes are useful. The kids love to read him books. That’s one of his favorite things because his very favorite things are his brothers and sisters. McDonald’s money so he can take his family to dinner. Cards saying that you love him. Safari decorations for his room. If you really want to spend the big bucks you could get him an adaptive swing for his wheelchair in the backyard. That would only set you back about a thousand dollars. Diaper wipes, spare me the repentance.

Regular day thoughts about Miles are filled with love with an air of excitement about the day of his healing. Milestone days are also filled with love with a few dashes of mourning, frustration and bitterness. I wish it weren’t so, but it is. Do I worship the Lord on those days? Absolutely. As Miles’ birthday has begun to creep up on us I have taken on the position of thankfulness that he has a birthday to celebrate. The enemy’s plan for Miles was death, and he did not succeed. Miles will turn three and that in itself should be cause for celebration. In a perfect world this would be my continued position.

The thing is I’m also a mom. I have a mother’s heart. I long to see the unseen. As I patiently and sometimes impatiently wait to see the miracle I crave I’m forced to deal with things like this. I can only pray that I will be able to receive the grace needed to celebrate his birthday with a joyful and thankful heart for the blessing that he is today.

Say Cheese!

Picture three ladies, exactly 365 days ago, early in the morning sitting around a beautifully built kitchen table, chugging coffee while wishing that it could be intravenously shot right into the veins. Their own hair had not found a brush that day, but you can sure bet that all their kids had that morning because it was SCHOOL PICTURE DAY! The day had snuck up on them as if none of them had ever had a photo shoot before. They were unprepared for getting up early for extra fancy hair and even fancier clothing. More than that the women were not prepared for the fight to get their offspring into sweater vests or shoes without Velcro.
The ladies sat around for three hours trying to discuss various things, but the topic of the dreadful picture day could not stop itself from popping back up. The day was blacked out on their calendar. Declarations were made for better preparation for the following year. Vows were made to not fight with their kids the next year.

Fast Forward 365 days from then. Man, how time changes things. And yet, how some things time does not touch. The beautifully built table was left alone, undoubtedly disappointed for not getting the scoop firsthand. You see one of the three ladies now worked where the actual pictures were being taken so she could not debrief with her friends about the morning events.

Her morning was quite different than it was the previous year. Not only did she have to get herself and four of her children ready to have their picture taken, but she also was extremely involved with helping nine kindergartners get their picture taken. And, I assure you that wrestling, I mean managing nine kindergarteners while getting their picture taken is more work that can be told. For some reason five year olds that are about to get their photo taken are attracted to sand. They must play in it. Also, for some reason it’s harder than you usual to control oneself when you want to throw a football at a little girls head. Then, unbeknownst to her, she realized that her elder teacher was compulsive on picture day about brushing the children’s hair repeatedly. The lady was shocked at the number of times; with the same brush mind you that the kindergarteners were groomed by their teacher. After hours of picture taking, the first lady was sure that she had it easier the year before.

The other two ladies, although all details have not been reported, seemed to have a similar day to the one many moons ago. For instance, one of them found out their son had chicken pox. Then the other one, for some strange reason almost missed picture day all together because she thought that her son must have a hair cut BEFORE school! I wasn’t previously aware that it was even possible to get a hair cut before 8:00, but apparently someone was bribed to do it just in time for a great school year photo.

So, the ladies, although not together this morning, made it through another school picture day. The saga lives on.

Hot News

I just found this information and I believe that all my friends and family need to be aware of this important break through news. I do this because I care.

Americans will eat 24.2 million Hot Dogs in major league ballparks -- that's enough to stretch coast-to-coast from Dodgers' Stadium in Los Angeles to Camden Yards in Baltimore.
Travelers passing through Chicago's O'Hare airport purchase 2 million Hot Dogs each year according to restaurant and concession stand reports. This makes O'hare the biggest Hot Dog seller in the United States.
• Actor Bruce Willis proposed to Demi Moore at Pink's Hot Dog stand in Hollywood, California.
• Americans typically consume 7 billion Hot Dogs between Memorial Day and Labor Day.
• On the Fourth of July, Americans will enjoy 150 million Hot Dogs!
• On every Independence Day since 1916, at its original Coney Island hot dog stand, Nathan's Famous Fourth of July Hot Dog Eating Contest has celebrated this iconic American food.
• The United States Chamber of Commerce officially designated July as National Hot Dog Month in 1957, and the tradition has been going strong ever since.
• July 20th has been declared National Hot Dog Day.
• Every second of every day, 450 Hot Dogs are eaten in the United States.
• Nearly one-third of all Americans eat Hot Dogs one to three times per month.
• Sixty percent of Americans prefer their Hot Dogs grilled.
• Twenty one percent prefer their Hot Dogs boiled.
• The world's longest hot dog was 1,996 feet, made in honor of the 1996 Olympics.
• People who cook Hot Dogs tend to be women, 25 to 44 years old, married with school-age children.

Hot Dog Etiquette
If you think eating Hot Dogs is all about slapping a wiener on a bun, you're in for a surprise. If you're going to dine on dogs properly, you'll need these do's and don'ts from the National Hot Dog and Sausage Council.

Don't ...
• Put hot dog toppings between the hot dog and the bun. Always "dress the dog," not the bun.
• Leave bits of bun on your plate. Eat it all.
• Use ketchup on your hot dog after the age of 18.
• Use a cloth napkin to wipe your mouth when eating a hot dog. Paper is always preferable.
• Put fresh herbs on the same plate with hot dogs. Mustard, relish, onions, cheese and chili are acceptable.
• Bring wine to a hot dog barbecue. Beer, soda, lemonade and iced tea are preferable.
• Send a thank you note following a hot dog barbecue. It would not be in keeping with the unpretentious nature of hot dogs.
• Ever think there is a wrong time to serve hot dogs.
Do ...
• Apply condiments in the following order: wet condiments such as mustard and chili are applied first, followed by chunky condiments such as relish, onions and sauerkraut, followed by shredded cheese, followed by spices, like celery salt or pepper.
• Serve sesame seed, poppy seed and plain buns with hot dogs. Sun-dried tomato buns or basil buns are considered gauche with franks.
• Eat hot dogs on buns with your hands. Utensils should not touch hot dogs on buns.
• Condiments remaining on the fingers after eating a hot dog should be licked away, not washed.
• Use paper plates to serve hot dogs. Every day dishes are acceptable. China is a no-no.
At the Movies
"How can I trust a man who won't eat a good old-fashioned American hot dog?". --From the movie S.W.A.T. starring Samuel L Jackson.
"Nobody, but nobody, puts ketchup on a hot dog anymore!". --From Sudden Impact.
"You look like the Fourth of July! Makes me want a hot dog real bad!" --From Legally Blonde.
"I can't forget it. I am sorry. I had no idea it was your cab. Let me make it up to you. How about a nice hot dog and a beer." --From Planes, Trains and Automobiles.
"Eat the hot dog, don't be one!". --From Steel.
"I want to buy eight hot dogs and eight hot dog buns to go with them. But no one sells eight hot dog buns. They only sell twelve hot dog buns. So I end up paying for four buns I don't need. So I am removing the superfluous buns. Yeah. And you want to know why? Because some big-shot over at the wiener company got together with some big-shot over at the bun company and decided to rip off the American public. Because they think the American public is a bunch of trusting nit-wits who will pay for everything they don't need rather than make a stink." --From Father of the Bride.

Only Six More Shopping Days!

My Dear Friend will be THIRTY in seven days. I will openly admit that she’s hard to shop for. I’m not sure if it’s because she’s picky or if it’s because of the pressure I feel when I’m trying to find a great gift for her. You see, she gives me the best presents ever that are dearest to my heart so I always feel in debt to her in the area of gifts. I don’t know how she does it but she comes up with the most perfect gift for me that I didn’t even know I wanted! This situation is quite troublesome for me because I’m known to be a great gift giver myself so it should come easy for me to find something for one of my most special friends.

If money was no object I would…

Sneak her off to New York for her birthday and we would stay in the nicest hotel with room service and on call massages.

Or

I would take her to her favorite store Ikea and let her furnish her home with their wares.

I would pick up one…no two of every thing in Hobby Lobby, buy an air conditioned portable building and make her very own card making store in her backyard.

I would go to Lowe’s and set up an account where she could pick up whatever she needed for all her continuous projects and the bill would always be sent to me.

I would find her someone who would go through all the labor pains with Jaxon while she drank coffee at a local cafe, and after he was delivered she could just go pick him up…in her pre-pregnancy jeans of course!

I would loan her my husband for the whole month of October to build whatever she needed built for children’s church or home…handy man services only please!

I would pay to have her cloned so the clone could do all mundane or disgusting jobs that she has to do. The clone would do all cleaning, jobs that produce sweat, kid’s homework, anything that involves poop or throw up and take boring or complaining phone calls. Most importantly the clone will listen to ALL whining!

I would pre pay her college tuition at HSU and get babysitting for her kids while she gets her degree in criminal justice. Not to mention that I would buy her all the lawyer movies ever made and have them put on one single non-scratch-able DVD.

I would set it up where for every one hour that she spends on line looking up whatever it is that she looks up, $100 would be electronically deposited into her bank account.

Hey, I’m searching High and Low for the perfect gift for you…although the problem I keep coming up with is that money is an object! AAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!

I'm on my LUNCH BREAK.

Please pray for me today. I'm overly tired and feel emotional.

Thanks!

Amen Sister

Today in class I was walking around helping the kids with their papers. I came to one table and there was a little boy that was being too silly. One of the little girls looked at me very seriously and maturely said, “Oh Please, I’m not happy about him!”

I've felt that way about a few boys during my lifetime.

In Their Own Words

Today I was working on my book and I asked the kids if they would tell me how they felt about Miles. I asked them to just talk to me about Miles. I asked them a few questions. This is what they had to say:



Joey:

I don’t really feel different about Miles than I do about Melody, Spencer and Jocie.

Sometimes people ask me what’s wrong with Miles. I don’t really like it when they ask me that because I don’t like to tell them all the details. I just like to say that he has brain damage. I don’t like to talk about how he died. It makes me sad.

Miles is special because he has a lot of people that care for him.

I like it a lot that Miles has a nurse at our house because we will know if he’s being taken care of. It’s also fun because we can have dates together because Christy will take care of Miles.

Miles wheelchair it’s cool because everyone likes to play with it a lot. Kids at church like to push him around.

I’m glad that God healed Miles because we’re able to play with him. I think God’s going to heal him more. I think it’s going to be kind of like what God did to Saul when he became Paul, and Miles is going to have a big testimony. Miles will be able to do everything that I can do. Miles will be really smart. It’s really tough to know how old Miles will be when God heals him.

Spencer:

He’s my baby brother. I love him. He’s special because he’s my brother and God made him. God raised him from the dead. I like that. I mean I love it. I know God’s going to heal him because I believe that he will, and I know that God is good and that he will heal him. I don’t really have an idea how he will do it. When Miles is healed I want to bring him to my school and show him to everybody. I think they will be happy because they have prayed for him a lot. I think he will be healed tomorrow. I’m just kidding. More like when he’s five.

When people ask me what’s wrong with Miles it makes me feel good because they care about it. I usually tell them that he died but that God raised him from the dead. I think the kids are surprised about that.

Comment by Spencer: I forgot how much I’m getting paid for this. Can you please tell me?

I don’t like that he has to have a wheelchair. I do like pushing him around in it because its fun and I get to push around my own little brother.

I like that Miles has a nurse because she’s there to help Miles. Also, she’s fun. She’s nice to us. I don’t think other people have nurses in their house. Well, Cody (his friend) does. It’s his own Mom. I like his therapists because they help Miles too, and they let me play with their toys…sometimes.

My favorite thing about Miles is that he’s always there to be with me.

Jocie:

I like playing with Miles. He’s very cute and I love him. I have fun playing with him. I have a lot of things to do with him. I like how he laughs.

That little boy at school asked me what happened to Miles. I didn’t answer him but I would say that he had casts. He had to go to the hospital to get his casts on. I don’t really know why he had to have casts on.

I like playing with his hair because it’s soft.

I like Christy the nurse because if you (Mommy) wants to go somewhere you can just go because Christy can take care of Miles. She gets to go some where with us, and she gets to ride in the car, and we might get to buy finger nail polish. She’s nice to us, and once she bought some finger nail polish and we were at McDonalds and they didn’t have ice cream making so you know what? We went to Sonic. It was just plain vanilla kind and we came home and she put soda in it. Christy makes him exercise, gives him baths all the time, takes him at the office all the time.

When we go to horse therapy I like playing with that girl. Sometimes JoBeth and Todd brings toys and I like playing with them. Also, I like when Miles has therapy because I get a snack and get to eat stuff.

I like how Miles wheelchair lights up. I like pushing Miles in the wheelchair because I have something to do. But sometimes I just do it because I like to help you do stuff. I like going places with Miles because I have fun with him. I like going to the coffee shop with him because I get chocolate milk.

I think God is going to heal Miles. And I’m thankful that he’s going to turn three. I will play with him at school when he’s healed…maybe.

My favorite thing about Miles is everything.

Melody:

I don’t like the colors of the wheelchair. I think they should be pink and purple. I do like pushing him around because I like to go every where I want to. It’s fun to push him at the store.

I like Christy because she gotted us that finger polish. It was only one dollar. That’s a lot. Is one dollar a lot? Ten is a lot. I want ten monies. I can count to ten. I like JoBeth because she bees nice. I like Todd because he plays with Miles. He makes Miles laugh. Todd lets him play with his toys. He lets me play with them a little bit. JoBeth plays with Miles. He likes it. Miles favorite thing to do is play with JoBeth.

I think God is going to heal Miles. Miles will be able to play with his toys. I think he will be a Dad when he grows up. He will be a good dad. I don’t know how many kids he will have. He will give them a bath and take them to the church we go at.

My favorite thing to do is to play with him. I rub his tummy and he laughs. I also read him books. I read him the itsy bitsy spider.

Christy gives him some food and stretches his arms.

That’s all I want to say.

Funny for the Day.

Today in class Mrs. Brokaw was teaching her heart out during Bible time about the resurrection of Jesus. She reviewed the resurrection and then the responses of some of his followers. Today her main focus was the time he was on earth and then his ascension into heaven. That woman can tell stories about the Bible that even gets me mesmerized! She’s a great teacher of the word! Well, she was well into the story when a star student of hers (my precious daughter Jocie) raised her hand perfectly to ask a question. At the time that she did this I was not facing the class. I was organizing papers in another part of the classroom.
So, Mrs. Brokaw asked Jocie what she needed and Jocie asked, “Tan we tollow?” Mrs. Brokaw did not understand her so she asked Jocie to repeat the question. “Tan we tollow?” Jocie asked again. Again, she was asked to repeat herself. I understood what Jocie was asking, but I didn’t want to be “the mom” speaking for her daughter so I just let them work it out. Jocie wanted to know, “Can we color?” I guess she was tired of the story and she was ready to get onto the inevitable coloring.
Mrs. Brokaw heard something else. Mrs. Brokaw asked, “Can we tell others? Yes! Of course we can tell others! Did everyone hear what Jocie just asked? Can we tell others about Jesus!” Mrs. Brokaw was beaming with pride about her evangelistic student. Jocie beat her to the punch line of the lesson! Here she was talking about the last days of Jesus being on the earth. He was making sure that his disciples knew they were supposed to teach the world about him. That’s what the story was about, and her young pupil was moved by the story so much that she wanted to tell the world about him. Mrs. Brokaw went on and on about how they can talk to others about Jesus. She told them that they could tell everyone about Jesus. Then a little boy blurted out, “Mth, Brokaw, We canth tot to thrangors!” Mrs. Brokaw agreed but she assured them that they could talk to children on the play ground and their cousins.
So, here I was, not facing them, on purpose at this time. I was afraid that I would totally crack up! When Mrs. Brokaw finally went on to end the story I turned around to put papers away. When I did Jocie looked at me with a look that I’m sure was saying, “Did you see how that went down? I made out pretty well!” I giggled at her and we shared a little classroom secret. She was quite pleased with herself. I was pleased too. I was so glad that she didn’t burst Mrs. Brokaw’s bubble by clearly asking if she could color!

My Kindergarten Class

I’m hooked.

A little girl ran in the classroom this morning and gave me a great big hug.

A little boy burned my bottom with a pretend light saber during recess.

Two kids wanted to hold my hand during rest time.

One girl asked me what happened to my nose. (My nose ring) When I told her that it was like an ear ring in my nose she said, "Oh, okay. In your nose huh?"

The Lord has been good to me!

My heart is so thankful.

My first day of being a Teacher’s Aide was today and it went very well. The kids are so cute. It was a busy day because the teacher taught lessons for today and yesterday since the kids were out for Labor Day. I’m hoping that the kids will fall in love with me quickly. I’m also hoping that the Lord will help two of the kids obey me immediately so that it will help Mrs. Brokaw when she’s teaching. I’m sure they will probably end up being my favorite two kids in the class…besides Jocie of course! Anyway, today I was just trying to figure out the whole routine. Being up there half a day doesn’t seem like enough time for me to get everything done. Maybe I’ll get faster at things. For the first day I had a great time.

Also, I’m thankful because my sweet husband brought me to class since it was my first day. My goodness…he’s near perfection! The flowers are beautiful. I used to think that flowers were such a waste of money. I told Randy a long time that I would rather have the cash than flowers that would die. I guess the older I get the more I like flowers. They make me so happy now!

Another thing to be thankful for is that Jocie did so great while I was in her class today. She treated me just like I was a teacher. She raised her hand when she needed to ask me something. She didn’t expect any special favors. She liked me being there, but she didn’t make a big deal about it. One of my highlights of the day was to see how amazingly sharp she is. That girl is smart, social and pleasant to be around. I was thrilled to see her be such a leader in the class. She may be the first woman president! I was very proud of her today.

I have a great report about Melody! She loved pre-k today! She was so adorable this morning. She woke up and the first thing she said was, “It’s my school day!” She was thrilled all morning. When I took her to the class she walked right in and never looked back. Her friend from church named Alley is in her class. When Melody first walked in she seemed very quiet, but Alley came up to Melody and then took her to play toys. It was so sweet. Melody had the best day! She was in the lunch room today having her snack when I took the kindergarten class to computer. She just waved at me. She was having fun. When I picked her up we went to eat lunch and she told me all about her day. She informed me that she wanted to eat lunch then she wanted me to take her back to school because she wanted to see her friends. I’m extremely thankful that she loves it so much. My mother’s heart was a little burdened last night when I thought of her going to school. None of my kids have ever gone to school before kindergarten so I was nervous for her, but she was as happy as she could be!

On the way into school this morning I was carrying all of Melody’s school supplies and trying to corral four kids. Jerrod Y. (He goes to our church. He’s Alley’s dad.) He saw me and asked me if he could help me get into the school. I allowed him to help me and I felt so taken care of. He was such a gentleman. He carried in my things and then told me to have a good day. It was nice to see him outside of church and for him to naturally be helpful. It made me feel very good about him.
I’m thankful that I have Christy to take care of Miles while I’m working. I didn’t worry about him one time when I was gone today. I knew that he would have everything he needed today and he did. She even bought him a new outfit and me some lip stick! Sweet! She’s such a blessing to me!

My Mom is so awesome! She offered to take Joey to physical therapy for me so I didn’t have to take all the kids with me. I pick up Joey from school, take him to her work then she takes him to pt. She has no idea what a major blessing that is for me! Plus, it’s special time that Joey gets with her all alone. That’s probably the best part!

Oh, and my laptop was healed! It stopped working last week for no reason at all! It just would not turn on. I called a friend and repented for not being a good steward of it and she forgave me. I still couldn’t turn it on yet, but I knew it was going to be okay. I took it to Best Buy today and it came right on. The Geek Squad did a check on it and everything was fine. I think it was just a reminder to 1. Keep up with the commitment that I made with the Lord. And 2. Make sure that I keep a back up file of all my writing. I got really slacked in this and I would have lost about 30 pages of my book if I couldn’t open my computer! That would have been terrible! So, the Lord was faithful to his word! If you will confess your sins to one another then you will be healed. (My computer was healed.)

Then, the biggest thing that I’m thankful for is that this past weekend was our 11th wedding anniversary! We’ve been married for 4,017 days. I get overwhelmed when I think about how incredible Randy is to me. We have the best marriage that I know of. I’ve seen some great marriages, but I know mine personally and I can say that it is right and good. We have made it when the world was saying that it was impossible. We’ve gone through things that have devastated marriages, but ours has grown stronger. We spur each other on. We balance each other out. We take turns doing it all when the other just can’t. We prefer one another…usually. We really are a team! Together we can get anything done. We’re quick to forgive. And we genuinely enjoy being around one another. However cliché, Randy is my best friend. I wouldn’t change him. I wouldn’t upgrade him. I love who he is and how he’s becoming. The Lord has performed a miracle in us!

Jesus is the best! He’s taking great care of me!

A thankful heart is a happy heart!

The day has come!

THIS IS MY BIG DAY! (See last post!)

Please pray for me today that:
I'll be a quick learner.
That I will be a great helper.
The kids will love me.
I'll have lots of energy.
I will be a blessing to the school.
Jocie will do great with me in her class.
Melody loves Pre-K.
I'll still have plenty of time & energy for my family after work.
That I won't be nervous.
and...that I will have LOTS of fun!

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.