Grace Like Rain

Niagara Falls....oh how I love thee...

2009-07-18T10:04:00.004-04:00

Let me count the ways.

I love thee for the showers you brought upon my face,

for the power and awesomeness I felt when I was near you,

For the grace and majesty you showed. Grace and majesty that proves you were made by an awesome creator...the same Creator that made me, this "beautiful disaster".

Thank you for the memories Beautiful Niagara Falls. Thank for the smiles and giggles you brought to my children's faces, the sense of awe you brought to my in-laws, and the reminder of God's unfailing love and Awesome power. I will treasure my memories of you FOREVER!!!

Until we meet again.

Ten Years Ago....

2009-07-17T10:26:00.003-04:00

I married my very very best friend!!!

It was truly the best decision, next to accepting Jesus as my Lord and Saviour, that I have ever made. It has been a hard 10 years. We have had our ups and downs as we struggled to adapt to children, new cities, new states, new jobs, etc. We always put the extra effort in to make our marriage better, stronger, and most important in our lives.

Greg,

Thank you for sticking out everything with me. I wouldn't want to do this without you. You are my better half, my very best friend, my confidant, my perfect partner. I am so glad you are the father of our children. I couldn't ask for anyone better. God blessed me beyond belief and I am forever grateful.

I love you. Happy Anniversary! Here's to the next 50 or so.

Praying for baby Luke

2009-07-05T11:59:00.004-04:00

I am asking you all to pray for baby Luke and his family. My husband has known Rachel (Luke's mom) since she was ten years old.

Please visit her blog here and send her your love and prayers.

Thank you all so much.

Brandy :)

A whole lotta catchin' up to do...

2009-06-20T10:50:00.008-04:00

Thanks so much to those of you checking in on me. Things have been truly crazy. As I sit here writing this the dryer is buzzing but I am fighting off the urge to save my clothes from wrinkles in order to actually finish a post.

The last several days I have laid awake in bed writing various posts...in my head. What is wrong with me. I had some really good ones but because I never wrote them down, they will probably never be.

Instead, I am going to play a little catch up on some posts that need to be updated a bit and tell you a little bit about what has been going on in this busy life of mine.

First of all, remember this post. I dropped the ball and forgot to follow through. That'll show me.

Here is what that mysterious picture really is.

Introducing.....my attempt at being more of a girly girl. If you have read some of my previous posts, you know this is something I am working on. I NEVER carry a purse. Having two children, I needed something. My dear friend Rhonda and I get together on Monday nights and this is something we came up with. The pattern is loosely based on a pattern we found but there were a lot of things we did not like about it so we adapted.

What do you think?

I am not a big Eiffel Tower person, but, this fabric I LOVE!!!!

I love black but I wanted a little bit of "happiness" inside so I went with a beautiful pink for the inside. It doesn't show well in the picture but there is some green in the pink fabric so I went with green pockets for a little more "happiness". No one will really ever see it but me.

I love all my pockets. Different sizes and depths. Skinny pockets on the sides for pens but I sewed them shorter so nothing falls in deep that my fingers can't reach.

We also cut a piece of plexi glass for the bottom and made a sleeve for it so that the bottom looks better. I can pull the plexi glass right out of the sleeve and throw the whole thing in the washer.

Cool, huh?

One of my favorite things about this purse is that I happened to find a Bible that matches the inside of my purse. It is even my favorite version. This is perfect because I love having my Bible on hand but I have a heavy monster one that isn't really conducive to traveling with.

I would love to hear what you think. I am currently making one for my mom who requested patriotic colors. I love her!!!

CONGRATULATIONS TO BECKY FROM Infarrantly Creative. She had the correct guess for the contest. Go check her out and send her some love! She has fabulous crafts and tutorials. Not to mention, she is an adorable red headed stylin' mommy, with two fantastic children. She loves her husband, and more importantly, loves the Lord. Yeah!!!

I will be posting an interview with her as soon as I get the questions to her and she responds back.

Well, I need to go ahead and shut it down here for now. We have some crazy lightning going on right now and I would hate for anything to happen to my computer.

Off to fold some laundry.

Love you all,

Brandy :)

Matthew update

2009-05-31T22:07:00.004-04:00

Just wanted to share a quick video to show Matthew's progress in speech after only two weeks. This is just a small sampling. The best thing was the morning he ran downstairs (was carried down the stairs) and then straight to the back deck yelling "Play..Play...Play!!!" That was not even a word we had worked on. I love it. Enjoy!

I will be back with more soon, including a post with pictures of all the craft projects I have been doing lately. Life has been extremely busy but, after 2 1/2 weeks, I finally have the leaks in my house fixed and am able to use my own washer and dryer. Hooray for the little things.

PLEASE PRAY!!!!!

2009-05-20T10:38:00.002-04:00

Things have been completely chaotic at my house the last week or so. I will get back to writing very soon but until then...please lift Bentley and her parents up in your prayers. She is currently undergoing heart surgery at a tender 9 months of age. Go HERE to read her story and follow the twitter updates as the surgery progresses. Most importantly, pray!!!

Lord Jesus,
We thank you so much for sweet Bentley. The miracle you performed in her life is so evident. Lord, we ask that you guide the human hands that are working on her today. Touch each person in that operating room and give their hands undeniable calmness that can only come from you. Be with Bentley's family, especially her parents. Let them feel your arms around them and give them a sense of peace that is so strong they cannot help but KNOW You are with them. Finally, place a hedge of protection around sweet Bentley. Heal her body Lord Jesus. You are the Great Physician and we thank you for that. I ask that your will be done in this situation. Thank you for all the prayers going out for Bentley today. Bless each person that takes the time to lift this family up in prayer.

In your sweet precious name,
Amen

Not Me Monday

2009-05-11T10:43:00.004-04:00

Oh my goodness, I am so thankful for this Not Me Monday. I have so much to get off my chest of things that happened this week, that is, if they actually did happen. I mean, seriously, if these things actually happened, I so would not be telling anyone about them.

If you would like to join this crazy carnival, head over to MckMama's site. It is really great therapy...trust me.

So, this week started out as any other...yeah right!

I did not wind up taking my beautiful 2 year old son to the emergency room, the pediatrician, and the surgeon in a span of 3 days so they could all see that he ripped the stitches in his scrotum. He does not have a gaping hole there. We did not spend $130 in co-pays for each doctor to tell us, "YIKES! That's not good!" (Gee, ya think?) We do not have to continue to deal with this gaping hole as it heals on its own.
We are not 100% THANKFUL TO OUR HEAVENLY FATHER that our beloved son does not have to go back into surgery. Ahhhhhhhh!

On a much lighter note....I did not go to change out the laundry (put the washed clothes into the dryer) only to smell a strong urine odor. I did not discover at the bottom pile of clothes a used dirty diaper that had been washed along with our "clean" clothes. I did not spend a good 15 minutes cleaning out said washing machine because the diaper had completely fallen apart in the washer. There was not diaper particles ALL OVER my "clean" clothes. I did not have to rewash everything again. I AM NOT happy that there was only urine in that diaper. Sheeesh!

I did not fall up the stairs holding my beloved two year old and injure my back, shoulder and elbow. My middle name has not become Grace. I do not have a serious issue falling UP the stairs.

I know there is so much more that I could share, but I am feeling exhausted by all of this honesty (you know, telling you about the things that really did not happen). I think I need to go take a nap.

Oh, one more thing, I did not sleep in until 10:15 this morning on accident. My children were not still sleeping. I did not completely panic because I have so much to do today, including getting my 6 year old on the bus. I am not writing this post instead of doing the things I need to do in hopes of getting somewhere in the top 200 of MckMama's list this time so I have new readers leave me comments. I absolutely do not heart comments from my readers.

Love you all,
Have a blessed day!!!
JESUS CHRIST IS LORD OF ALL!

Macey, this one's for you!

2009-05-05T13:50:00.002-04:00

Everyone else, don't forget to enter my contest here.

Wanna see my latest project????

2009-05-05T11:57:00.004-04:00

Any ideas what this might be? Leave me a comment with a guess. If you get it right, I will feature your blog on my page and do a mini interview with you. But, you have to leave me a comment with your guess. And, if you do not already follow my blog, click on the link and become a follower.

This is the first "contest" I have done but if I get a lot of response, I will continue. I have some fun stuff to give away, so, "Let the games begin!"

Not Me Monday....IT'S BAAAACKKK!!!!!

2009-05-04T13:26:00.010-04:00

I am so very thrilled that everything is back to a sense of "normal" in MckMama's household. In celebration she has restarted "Not Me! Monday". I am so excited...and you should be too.

This is the time where you get to share all the things you "did not do" over the week. It is great therapy and helps remind us that we are all in this "life thing" together.

Enjoy today's post and make sure you check out all the other wonderful Not Me! posts over at MckMama's site.

And....off we go!

This week I most certainly did not allow my darling children to eat red jello in my living room for dessert. One of my children, who shall remain nameless....okay, really it was me (shhhh! don't tell) did not spill red jello on the light beige carpet. It is most certainly not still there several days later. I am much more neurotic than that and would never leave food, especially liquified red jello, on my living room carpet. I sure hope it comes out.

I did not laugh hysterically at my 6 year old daughter when she chose her own outfit for school last week. She absolutely did not put on her baby brothers 18 month size jeans and a 2T jean jacket. She did not look absolutely adorable. And, of course, I did not allow my darling daughter to actually wear that outfit to school. I wish I had taken a picture.

Finally, I did not take my beautiful 2 year old son to the hospital on Wednesday for three different surgeries, thankfully all at once, and then come home and blog about said surgery complete with pictures. The blog did not include the word "testicle". I would never blog about my son's "man parts" so that one day he would be completely embarrassed. Nope, not me! I did not contemplate taking pictures of the swelling, bruising, stitched up lower area to show family and friends. Who in their right mind would do that? ( I seriously did not take those pictures).

Hope you enjoyed all the stuff I did not do, because if I really did do these things, I never would have blogged about it. Let me hear the crazy things you "did not" do this week. It's really great therapy.

UPDATE:
After reading a few of the other posts, I remembered something else I did not do this past week, or so.

At our somewhat formal MOPS Tea and Testimony 2 weeks ago, I did not actually dress up like a girl. Beautiful flowing Spring dress and new 3 in heeled shoes. I was not completely miserable in those shoes and could not understand why I was in so much pain because I had worn the shoes the day before and they were fairly comfortable. I did not finally look at the bottom of my shoes while showing one of the ladies on Steering. (We just decided that the shoes looked like they didn't fit me well) I did not then discover that the shoes were on the wrong feet. Oh yeah! See the pictures so you can see what I saw. I was not completely mortified and did not laugh so hard that tears began pouring out of my eyes. I was definitely not the "comedy relief" for my MOPS table and Steering group. Nope, not me!

Can you see how these shoes just don't look like they fit me right? Hmmmmm! Should have been a clue?!?

This is a view of what I saw (re-enacted for picture purposes). Can you see how half of my foot is hanging off the side of the shoe....no support. I can not tell you how much better my feet felt after switching the shoes to the right feet. What a relief.

Surgery is over....All is well!

2009-05-03T10:53:00.005-04:00

The day of surgery was a little different than I was expecting. I had so much peace. I really felt like God had his arms wrapped around me and was breathing peace and strength over me. He was so present. There was never a moment of fear or panic for me.

Here is Matthew in his adorable clown hospital gown. I especially loved the orange grippy socks they gave him. He is so cute. The nurse even gave him a Thomas the Train sticker which made his whole day.

Playing trains with Daddy to pass the time.

I had to get dressed up in a "bunny suit" in order to take Matthew back to the operating room. We felt it was going to be less stressful on him if I took him back and held him while they put him to sleep. I loved all the staff. They were so reasurring and helpful. I walked into the operating room and was overwhelmed with how bright and how cold it was in there. It felt like it dropped 20 degrees from the hallway to the room. Matthew didn't freak out until he saw all the people there with masks on. He couldn't see thier faces and that bothered him. It probably only took him 30 seconds for the gas stuff to work on him. Then, I left and the surgeon got busy. I felt very comfortable that Matthew was in capable earthly hands and that our Heavenly Father ultimately had him in His hands. Unfortunately Matthew had a few complications during the surgery, which I will talk about at the end of this post. He woke up immediately after surgery instead of sleeping some of it off. He cried for a good 1/2 hour (although it seemed longer). The nurse gave him some additional pain medication to calm him down as he really seemed to be in pain. She wound up doing that twice to get his pain under control. He just layed in my arms. I don't think he has ever been that still. It completely broke my heart to see him in so much pain. I was not prepared for that as we had been told by the anesthesiologist that Matthew had been given a spinal to reduce and even eliminate his pain. So the amount of pain he was in suprised me. It seemed like the spinal only affected his legs. He was not able to put weight on them until late that night and the next day he was in so much pain that he couldn't stand at all.
So, basically the surgery was successful as far as we know at this point. Time will really tell. The surgeon was confident that the lump in his eyebrow was in fact a dermoid cyst. Thankfully we got it out because it would continue to grow and eventually affect his sight. It was not attached to his skull and did not have any major blood vessels surrounding it. Yeah!!! I was actually most worried about that part of the surgery.

Matthew's hernia in the lower part of his abdomen was repaired with no problem. Routine!

The right testicle (sorry if this embarrasses anyone) was much higher than the surgeon expected...he has not seen one this high before. It was also smaller then he expected...not sure what effect, if any, this will have. It took him a little time to unkink all the blood vessels and get proper blood flow. Only time will tell if this works. The surgeon really felt that this was something that happened in utero.

He was not able to pull the testicle all the way down, but it is in the sack. It could go back up again but we are praying against this, otherwise he will most likely have to have more surgery.

This part of the surgery was much more invasive. Instead of two to three stitches, he had 12 + glue just on his scrotum. The pediatrician was quite shocked when she saw that on Friday. She could tell that they had to do some pretty invasive work. Poor baby!

It was rough the first couple of days but today Matthew is mostly back to himself. We have to really watch him because he is feeling so much better he tends to over do it and suffers the consequences later.

We feel like we are on the road to recovery and we are getting our little buddy back. Please pray for complete healing for our little guy and that everything would function the way it is supposed to. I am so thankful for Matthew's wonderful surgeon at Children's and feel so blessed to feel the presence of God in such a powerful way when I really needed it.

Up next for Matthew....Wednesday we will set up his speech and physical therapy schedule and goals. Looking forward to all the positive changes that are coming.

Also, please pray for our beautiful daughter. She failed two hearing screenings at the doctor's office. They have referred her to Children's for some more extensive tests as they believe the cause of the hearing loss is nerve damage of some kind since her ears are perfect and she has never had an infection. Matthew will be going through hearing testing as well because of his speech deficiency and because of the fact the hearing loss could definitely be genetic, thanks to me. :)

Lots of fun here at our house.

Matthew hanging out on the couch later that night. He was so out of it and was unable to use his legs. I love these froggy jammies on him. Thanks again "Aunt" Laurie.

Tomorrow is the BIG DAY!!! Please pray!

2009-04-28T17:14:00.003-04:00

I stayed in bed this morning continuing to push the snooze button on my alarm. I think silently I was thinking if I didn't get out of bed then the next two days could be avoided. Clearly I know that is not true...but it sure sounded good.

Today started off the crazy week with Matthew's evaluation by a speech therapist, physical therapist, and developmental therapist.
It took about 3 hours to complete. I was prepared that they would say everything is all in my head...You're a bad mom....your expectations of your son are too high....you're crazy!! Thankfully that didn't happen. Thank you God!
These four wonderful professionals saw EVERYTHING I am seeing....and more! My beautiful, intelligent, sweet, funny 2 year old son needs help....and they can provide that help. Huge weight off my shoulders. I felt like I could finally breathe a little. It felt good.

Maybe you might think...Golly, she's weird..wanting her son to "qualify" for therapy. I have had the same thoughts. Why would I want him to be "delayed" in these areas? The truth is...obviously...I don't. I would much rather Matthew be progressing like a normal 2 year old. NO frustration, no stress...just normal 2 year old stuff. Unfortunately, he is not. And I know now, it is not for lack of trying on any of our parts. I needed to know that.

Life in our household is very stressful. VERY STRESSFUL!!! Granted, I know I have it good. Things could be so much worse. I could have unhealthy children or any number of issues. I don't, but I have been there so I do know a little of what that is like..

My issue is more communication. Greg and I have been married just about 10 years...Wonderful years! (mostly :) ) I don't think I have actually had a conversation, a real conversation, with my darling husband in months. It is always met with a 2 year old SCREAMING "Momma, Momma, Momma, Momma!" followed by 20 minutes of trying to figure out what he wants, yelling, and lots of tears. It breaks my heart that we are all so frustrated and can't seem to communicate with our son or eachother. It is even affecting my 6 year old. She is so patient and loves her brother so much, but he wears you down.

I am thankful that none of his issues are behavioral. He is a sweet heart! and dang cute.

Well, I could go on about this all day, but, I will leave it with "Help is on the way!" and a deep sigh of relief.

Tomorrow....well tomorrow is a whole other day. Tomorrow morning we will be taking Matthew to Children's Hospital for three surgeries. Thankfully the surgeon will be performing all 3 surgeries at the same time so we will only have to go through all of this one more time. The surgeries are expected to take around 3 hours. I am going to take my laptop with me and clean out my picture folders. Hopefully that will keep my mind off the time.

I trust God completely with my son. Truthfully, my son is only on loan to me while here on earth. I hope that God thinks that I am a good enough Mom to allow me to continue. :) I am pretty sure he will.

Although these surgeries are not "life threatening" surgeries...they are surgeries all the same. When Matthew was 2 months old and I had to hand him off for his first surgery, my heart broke. He was so tiny and innocent. I wanted so badly to be strong for him...and I was. When he left...I sobbed. It is so hard handing off your precious baby to a stranger knowing what they are going to do.

Matthew has been through so much in his short life. I know others have gone through worse and I am thankful that God has not chosen that kind of life for us at this point. I will write about some of the stuff we have endured since Matthew's birth...literally since the moment of his birth.

For now...I will have peace knowing my God is Faithful and he will sustain me no matter what.

I will post pictures tomorrow or the day after from Matthew's surgeries. Until then, please pray for us. Pray for the surgeon...Dr. Kane...pray for the anesthesiologist...the nurses...and everyone else involved.
Pray that I will be strong in order to keep Matthew calm. Pray that Matthew will do well and that these surgeries will be completely uneventful.

Thank you so much. I covet your prayers and words of encouragement during this time.
GOD IS GOOD! ALL THE TIME!!!

Brandy :)

My 8

2009-04-23T09:44:00.003-04:00

My friend Kristin at simpleexpressions.blogspot.com tagged me to complete these lists of "Only 8." So here goes:

8 Things I am Looking Forward to:

1. Going on our first family vacation next winter
2. Seeing my family for my cousins wedding
3. Playing outside this spring/summer with the kids
4. Going to the Living Proof Live Conference with Beth Moore in June
5. Meeting my newest neice and new neice or nephew
6. Family coming to visit
7. Living on less
8. Learning more about my Jesus

8 Things I Did Yesterday:

1. Made coffee (and drank it)
2. Cleaned the house
3. Listened to my daughter read
4. Tickled Matthew over and over
5. Took a relaxing bath
6. Read an entire book during my bath
7. Listened to K-LOVE on line and sang songs to my Jesus
8. Prayed at the bus stop with my six year old

8 Things I Wish I Could Do:

1. Adopt
2. Go on a date with my hubby
3. work on my scrapbook
4. Focus on one thing at a time :)
5. Work on my masters
6. Be more organized
7. Be more present
8. Get out of debt

8 Shows I Enjoy:

1. House
2. C.O.P.S
3. Pens Hockey
4. anything on HGTV
5. Dancing with the Stars
6. Avatar: The Last Airbender (thanks to my daughter)
7. Jeopardy
8. Fox News (I excercise with it on because I get so angry about everything...makes for a great workout)

8 People I Tag:

Ace at ifyouthinkroundisfunny.com

Kelly at robiefam.blogspot.com

Beckie at infarrantlycreative.blogspot.com

Alicia at my2009weightjourney.blogspot.com

Melissa at amomintheburbs.blogspot.com

Kim at kimgayeski.blogspot.com

Claire at countrymouseclaire.blogspot.com

Beth at aninstrument4hisglory.blogspot.com

My latest redo project...Oooohhh What fun!

2009-04-17T13:51:00.008-04:00

When we moved to Pittsburgh nearly two years ago we came with six boxes of irreplaceables and a trunk of clothes. We also came with two children and a dog but that should probably go without saying.

We sold EVERYTHING in our house; dishes, furniture, pots and pans, toys, etc. Our dining room table, chairs, and hutch were some of the first things we bought. We found it on Craigslist as a package for a very good deal. The set was brand new, Broyhill, and some of the nicest furniture we have ever owned. When we moved into our new home a year ago, I hated the furniture. We have so much cherry wood in our kitchen/dining room that it all just clashed. The hutch and china cabinet in our living room is fine. It looks beautiful but we have a matching hutch in the dining room along with the dining room table and chairs. It was not a good look. It was too traditional for me in my modern kitchen.
When the weather warmed up a little (emphasis on a little) I decided it was time for a change.

Table and hutch before.

Thank you God for French Bulldog Black :)

One of the coolest parts of this project....

NO SANDING!!!

I may not have done this project if I had to sand it all first. I HATE HATE HATE sanding.

In comes my "savior of sorts"

Zinzer Primer

This is the best stuff ever!!! It is so thick. I had it tinted so I would need fewer coats of the black. This stuff goes on sooooo easily. I was blown away.

I personally think the table looks 100 times better just with a coat of primer.

Don't you?

And yes, I painted it right in my kitchen. When I was finished, I coated it with a water-based polycrylic to make sure I could wipe off the smooshed bananas my son seems to leave behind.

READY FOR THE BIG REVEAL?

Oh my goodness, I LOVE IT!!! I wish you could see the full picture. I have an open kitchen and all of the appliances are black and stainless steel. Painting the furniture pulled the entire room together and really anchored my dining room area. I stand in my kitchen and just stare at my table. It is so pretty.

My husband.......hates it!!

Have you ever seen that Campbells soup commercial where EVERYTHING is white?
That is my husbands dream. He does not like color....At all!!!

Good thing he is not here all day. I figure he can live with it. After all, all of our walls are still the original newly built white.

Lord help me. :)

Well, at least I get a pretty kitchen.

By the way...I was truly inspired to do this by my bloggy friend Beckie over at

Infarrantly Creative
If you have never visited her site, she is AMAZING!!! You will get so many fantastic ideas from her, you will not know what project to tackle first.

Check out what she did to her kitchen...

AWESOME

This sweet boy

2009-04-10T10:41:00.000-04:00

I prayed and prayed to have a healthy son...... a momma's boy. Look at how God answered my prayers. He looks so much like his Daddy. The blue eyes and long eyelashes melt my heart as does the way he says my name. When he is hurt, he runs to me for comfort, wraps my arms around him, and sighs with comfort and relief that he is safe in my arms.
This child is always "full steam ahead". There is little quiet time in our house. He is LOUD! ALWAYS!! I love it though, usually. He gets so excited about every little thing. He is growing so fast. My baby boy is 2. How did that happen?
Matthew loves anything with wheels. He is all boy. Dirt, noise, cars, and tumbling. He is solid! I don't know how I manage to carry him sometimes.
His laugh is completely infectious to everyone around. There is nothing but pure joy on his face when he is laughing. He has one of those deep belly laughs and when he starts, he laughs with his entire body. He is so ticklish, especially on the little fat pockets on his chest next to his armpits. He usually laughs so hard that he can't catch his breath. He also loves to be tickled under his chin and on his neck. He will sit in a shopping cart, give me a look and then tilt his head back to expose the little crook of his neck. He tempts my hands to give him a little tickle, and when I do...he flings his head forward with a huge giggle. Then, it starts again.
He brings such light to my life. With my children, my husband, and my Jesus....my life is fully COMPLETE!!!

Thank you Jesus!

My big girl!

2009-04-10T10:24:00.000-04:00

I snapped this shot of Haley yesterday because she was looking sooooo grown up. I love the expression on her face. I cry thinking about how much I love this child and how blessed I am to have two beautiful, healthy children that God has entrusted me with during our time hear on earth. I remember taking her home as a 4 lb. 11 oz baby and being so fearful that I would break her.. It seems like yesterday. Now she is six years old.
She is the funniest person I have ever met. The things that come out of this childs mouth often have me rolling and crying all at the same time. I wish sometimes that I could freeze this moment for just a little while because it goes so fast. She is so beautiful, funny, smart, compassionate, respectful, kind, and gentle. She is an AMAZING big sister. Her baby brother lights up when she enters the room. I love seeing how they interact with eachother. I am so blessed.

Measles, quarantine, and opinions

2009-04-08T11:17:00.005-04:00

I am not intending this post to be a bashing towards anyone, instead I hope that it will create a place for discussion. Given that, I would like to tell you a little story about what we are currently going through.

Matthew will be having surgery on April 29th to repair a hernia, fix an undescended testicle, and remove a cyst in his eyebrow. Because of this we had to take him for a pre-op appt. at Children's hospital here in Pittsburgh on March 23rd. Little did we know, on April 3rd we would be notified by Children's hospital that Matthew had been exposed to measles. MEASLES!!!! I figured it was not a big deal until I realized that Matthew did not catch up with his vaccinations until April 2nd. He had been sick for his last round of vaccinations and did not receive the crucial MMR vaccine. Children's hospital told us they were not concerned but had to inform everyone. Okay, no big deal.....

Fast forward to April 6th when I receive a phone call from the county health dept. To make a long story short, measles are highly contagious. The doctor that saw Matthew for his pre-op appt. came down with measles and so the likeliness of Matthew getting it is now increased (really increased). A 30 something year old father and his two preschoolers also came down with measles. I was also informed that this is not considered an outbreak, however; there have only been 6 confirmed cases in the entire United States over the last three years.

Matthew is quarantined in the house through Saturday. This is serious stuff and I am a little ticked off that Matthew was needlesly exposed. The reason these people got measles is because they were never vaccinated. Does anyone know what measles can do??? The following information, including the picture, is from the CDC.

Description
A respiratory disease caused by a virus.The virus normally grows in the cells that line the back of the throat and in the cells that line the lungs.

Symptoms
Rash, high fever, cough, runny nose, and red, watery eyes (lasts about a week).

Complications
Diarrhea, ear infections, pneumonia, encephalitis, seizures, and death
Approximately 20% of reported measles cases experience one or more complications. These complications are more common among children under 5 years of age and adults over 20 years old.
Measles causes ear infections in nearly one out of every 10 children who get it. As many as one out of 20 children with measles gets pneumonia, and about one child in every 1,000 who get measles will develop encephalitis. (This is an inflammation of the brain that can lead to convulsions, and can leave your child deaf or mentally retarded.) For every 1,000 children who get measles, one or two will die from it. Measles can also make a pregnant woman have a miscarriage, give birth prematurely, or have a low-birth-weight baby.
In developing countries, where malnutrition and vitamin A deficiency are prevalent, measles has been known to kill as many as one out of four people. It is the leading cause of blindness among African children. Measles kills almost 1 million children in the world each year.

I understand the fear about autism realated to vaccines but there is NO PROOF that vaccinations, including MMR, are anywhere remotely tied to autism. Instead, not vaccinating your children is bringing these diseases back into our communities and threatening lives. It can be so simply avoided. Measles is the #1 death in children which can be avoided by a simple vaccination. I don't understand. Please explain it to me someone. I would really like to understand with hard facts, not emotions. I am irritated that my child is threatened with this disease because of the choice of others. We were not given the choice and should not have to suffer because of it.

Thankfully, Matthew does not have measles at this time but he is not out of the woods until Saturday. Please keep us in your prayers as well as the many other people around the Pittsburgh area that were also exposed and are locked in their house at this time.

I would love to hear your opinion on this. Please keep your comments respectful to everyone.

More "wise" words from my 6 year old....

2009-04-01T15:10:00.002-04:00

Haley - "Mommy, did you know balloons are just like humans?"

Me - "They are? How are they like humans?"

Haley - "When they got old and they lose some of their air they get wrinkly and droopy."

So true, so true.

Get on with it!

2009-03-30T12:15:00.003-04:00

I'm sitting outside on an elevated deck on a gorgeous Spring day in Pittsburgh. I cannot remember the last time I sat outside, by myself, for longer than 2 or 3 minutes.
The only interruptions are the many birds that surround me. I am amazed by the different calls I hear; their own special verse that God has given them. They are beautiful even though I hear them more than I see them.
The trees are surrounding me. Their bare branches giving room to beautiful new buds. Soon they will be covered in numerous leaves that rustle in the breeze, accompanying the songs of the birds. I can picture children climbing all over some of these trees, hiding from the day to day life that creeps over us all.
The sun peeks out of the clouds and warms my face. It is as if God's breath covers me. He warms my heart and calms my soul. He brings me peace and joy during my struggles.

I came outside to have some quiet time with the Lord during a fabulous small retreat for a group of very special ladies. It has been thought provoking, reassuring, comforting, and, at the same time, a little uncomfortable. God is working on me.....He has been showing me how I need to be faithful - ALWAYS - UNCONDITIONALLY! I know that he is, even when I am not. What a relief. I am trying. With God, I know I can do this. I need to be obedient. HE will provide the "How?"
Why is this so difficult? I KNOW what he wants me to do. He has told me more times than I can count. He has offered the ways, the doors, the paths. All he needs is me. I don't want to miss out on God's blessing because of my stubbornness, fear, and laziness. It could be so easy if I would just jump in all the way. NO MORE EXCUSES! Do what God commands. Be uncomfortable! Get over it and get on with it!

Lord God,
Thank you that you care enough about me and think I am worthy enough for you to command me to do something. I want to obey....I need to obey. I don't want any more unfinished business that is creeping into every crevice of my life. Guide me...hold me through this. Take away all obstacles in my life, real or perceived, so that I may do what you have commanded.
You are so wonderful Father. Thank you for all you are teaching me.
You are so Faithful.

In your Precious Son's Name,
Amen

Please continue to pray for Stellan and the entire McKinney family!
You can click the "Pray for Stellan" button at the right to find out the latest and how to direct your prayers.

Pray for Stellan

2009-03-25T13:46:00.002-04:00

STELLAN

I am asking anyone and everyone who reads this blog to please be praying for Stellan. Whatever you are doing, reach up to the screen, touch his face, and pray peace, health, and grace over this sweet baby and his family.

Brandy

Observations of a 6 year old

2009-03-23T20:52:00.002-04:00

Mommy: "Matthew, your cheeks are very red."
Haley: "Maybe he's in love with someone."
Mommy: "Do your cheeks get red when you are in love with someone?"
Haley: "Yes, because you get shy."
Mommy: "But Matthew is only 2. Who would he be in love with?"
Haley: "Dora! Duh Mommy."

2009-03-23T20:06:00.000-04:00

Pray like crazy!!!

MckMama

And if ____, then _.

2009-03-13T11:18:00.003-04:00

Does the title leave you a little intrigued? Good.

I want to tell you about a life changing intense moment I had last night.

Every Thursday evening I head over to church for a Bible Study taught by Beth Moore. We are currently studying the book of Esther. Last night, we specifically dealt with the last part of Chapter 4...

"All the king's officials and even the people in the provinces know that anyone who appears before the king in his inner court without being invited is doomed to die unless the king holds out his gold scepter....Who knows if perhaps you were made queen for just such a time as this? Then Esther sent this reply to Mordecai: Go and gather together all the Jews of Susa and fast for me. Do not eat or drink for three days, night or day. My maids and I will do the same. And then, though it is against the law, I will go in to see the king. And If I must die, I must die."
Esther 4:11 - 16

So how is it that Esther went from a time of self-preservation (not facing the king for fear of death) to brave determination, knowing that she would most likely die? This was all in a matter of a few sentences.

1. Esther had a choice.
She had to overcome herself in order to do what God had created her and positioned her to do.
I Corinthians 2:9 - "No eye has seen, no ear has heard, and no mind has imagined what God has prepared for those who love him." That is HUGE! We (You and I) may be ONE BRAVE DECISION away from what God has prepared for us. God's plans are going to happen with or without us. I want to be a part of that plan. I want to make those decisions out of faith and not fear. I want to be brave.

2. Esther faced the fear.
This is where my huge life changing moment happened.
Did you know the #1 most frequent command in the Bible is "Do not be afraid, fear not"? Yet, I know for me, it is the one major command that I cannot seem to keep, no matter how hard I try. Fear is probably one of the greatest adjectives for my life right now. I realized last night that my faith in God is conditional. "Lord, if you will just keep this from happening, I will trust you, I will have faith." Satan uses that. He takes our deepest fears and continuously threatens us with them. It is spiritual and psychological warfare. He knows my fears and constantly reminds me of them. He will use any situation in order to make my fears stronger and I allow it.

I want an unconditional faith with my God. I want to look at Satan and say "NO MORE!!!" No more will I sit and dwell on the "what ifs". No longer will my faith in Christ be based on conditions. No more will I keep from making the decisions to obey God out of my own fears. I will make those brave decisions, just as Esther did, so that I can be a part of the destiny that God has planned for me.

Beth Moore mentioned the topic of denial, especially when it relates to death. She spoke of people who were given diagnosis' that would be terminal and the denial that can come with that. You can't deny the diagnosis. It doesn't change anything. The diagnosis, illness, or circumstance is still there. But, THERE IS NO DENIAL IN COURAGE. She said....

"Don't deny the existence of fear,

Deny its authority and victory over you!"

WOW!!!

1 Corinthians 15:55 - 58 says...

" O death, where is your victory?

O death, where is your sting?

for sin is the sting that results in death, and the law gives sin its power. But thank God! He gives us victory over sin and death through our Lord Jesus Christ. So, my dear brothers and sisters, be strong and immovable. Always work enthusiastically for the Lord, for you know that nothing you do for the Lord is ever useless."

Beth shared a conversation she had with God regarding one of her biggest fears, the fear of losing her husband to another woman.

She shared the worst case scenario of that fear and the conversation went something like this...

God: What is your worst fear?

Beth: Well, that Keith would meet someone else, or look at someone else because I wasn't attractive to him anymore."

God: And then what?

Beth: Then he would fall in love with her and tell me he wasn't in love with me anymore.

God: And then what?

Beth: My children would like her. She would be young and darling.

God: Okay, and then what?

Beth: He would leave me.

God: And then what?

Beth: Well I would cry and cry and throw a big fit.

God: And then what?

Beth: Well, then I couldn't get out of bed.

God: And then what?

Beth: Well, then I'd have memorize me some some scriptures and just lay face down on the floor with my Bible on my head.

God: And then what?

Beth: Well, then I'd have to play my music really loud in my car.

God: And then what?

Beth: Then....I'd get up.

That's when it hit me. My deepest fears, which likely won't come true are not going to kill me. My Jesus will still be there. He will still care for me.

MY GOD IS FAITHFUL!!

when I was able to fill the following spaces in...

And if ___________, then ___________. with

And if _(my worst fear)___, then GOD!!!!

There was such a huge weight taken off of me and I suddenly felt unbelievable peace. Praise Jesus, I have hope and maybe even a little courage. I am telling you, there was a miracle performed in that room last night, and even more importantly, a miracle performed in my heart. I am so grateful for God's message last night delivered through Beth Moore.

There was so much more that I learned last night. If you have the opportunity to take the Esther Bible Study, it will do so much in your life. God will speak to you through the life of this orphaned Jew who became a courageous queen.

Thank you Jesus that I can stop living fearfully, that I can have the courage to make the decisions in my life that I need to make. Thank you for showing me that my faith is conditional. Lord Jesus, give me the strength to change that, to love and trust you no matter what comes my way. Help me to make my words more than just words. Help me to live your truth every day, regardless of the circumstances. Lord, take my fear away so that I can be completely yours and free to live the way you want me to live. I love you Jesus. I choose to take the courage you have offered. Thank you for that gift.

In your holy name,

Amen

3. Esther took the courage she was offered.

I choose to be brave. I choose to take the courage God has offered me. I know it won't be easy, by My God is Faithful. He will take care of me. He will not leave me or forsake me.

I'd love to know what you think. It is really easy to leave a comment. What is Jesus working on with you in your life?

I WANT TO BE LIKE MY JESUS

2009-03-12T12:38:00.003-04:00

Todd Agnew - My Jesus

From the album Reflection Of Something

Which Jesus do you follow?

Which Jesus do you serve?

If Ephesians says to imitate Christ,

Why do you look so much like the world?

Chorus:

Cause my Jesus bled and died

He spent His time with thieves and liars

He loved the poor and accosted the arrogant

So which one do you want to be?

Blessed are the poor in spirit,

do we pray to be blessed with the Wealth of this land

Blessed are they that hunger and thirst for righteousness

Do we ache for another taste of this world of shifting sand

Chorus:

And who is this that you follow

This picture of the American dream

If Jesus was here would you walk right by on the other side

Or fall down and worship at His holy feet

Pretty blue eyes, curly brown hair and a clear complexion

Is how you see Him as He dies for Your sins

But the Word says He was battered and scarred

Or did you miss that part

Sometimes I doubt we’d recognize Him

Chorus:

Cause my Jesus would never be accepted in my church

The blood and dirt on His feet might stain the carpet

But He reached for the hurting and despises the proud

I think He’d prefer Beal St. to the stained glass crowd

But I know that He can hear me if I cry out loud

I want to be like my Jesus

I want to be like my Jesus

I want to be like my Jesus

I WANT TO BE LIKE MY JESUS!

These boots were made for walkin.....

2009-03-12T10:22:00.004-04:00

So I am not a real girly girl. I love my oversized t-shirts, jeans, and tennies. Well, I used to. I am beginning to feel more like a slob. I never wear make up, rarely do much to my hair, and only own a pair of flip flops and tennis shoes.

Not sure really what has changed. I have been trying to lose weight and focus more on myself lately. Maybe it is because my daughter is almost 6 (next week) and she is taking more of an interest in appearance. I don't want her to grow up only seeing the extremes. You know, skinny and unhealthy actresses, singers, etc. vs. mom - the slob. I would like her to see more of the in between and help her to understand how to put on makeup in a tasteful way (quite a ways off I know but she likes experimenting at home). I want her to know that it is a good thing to take care of the body that God gave us...it is His temple and we should give it the best care.

I want to look good for my husband, although he loves that I don't wear makeup. He says it is one of the things that attracted me to him. I personally think it was the cute green skirt. :)

Yesterday was our MOPS Swap. This is such a fun day. All of the moms bring in stuff that they no longer use and then we get to go around and pick stuff that we can use instead. Does this make any sense? Okay, it's a swap. Swapping your stuff for someone else's. Last year I got some GREAT stuff including a brand new Pampered Chef stone bowl. You know, the big one that you can cook a roast or something in. I LOVE IT!!!

Check out one of the things I got this year.

I love these boots. I don't think they have ever been worn. They were my size and, I am assured by my fellow MOPS moms, they are light years away from flip flops and tennis shoes. What do you think?

I came home yesterday and wore them around the "shoes off limits in the house" house. I loved the clanking sound they made on my wood floors. I even called some of my friends to tell them I was wearing them. I kept looking at my feet thinking they looked mighty cute and sexy ?!? Never a word I use to describe myself or any part of my body. Anyways, I totally heart them. I wander if I can clean toilets in them today? Hmmmm. Maybe I will save them for tomorrows night out with the girls. Maybe I might even try one of those cute skirts I have up in a bag on my closet shelf. Makeup might even be in the future. Well, lets not get too carried away.

Brandy :)

I'll Pray for You...

2009-03-10T12:22:00.002-04:00

How many times do we say this to people? Many of us throughout the week are involved in various groups, bible studies, church, MOPS, and conversations with friends and family. People share their prayer requests with us, thier struggles, heartaches, needs, desires. Many times we respond with empathy and the "I'll pray for you". Do we really do that? I know I don't always.

Things take control of our lives. Chores, children, life. It breaks my heart to think of all the times I have told someone I would pray for them and then forgot all about it. Are you the same way? I have recently felt very convicted of this. Why don't we stop right there and pray for that person. The Bible says in Matthew 18:20...

"Wherever two or more gather together in my name, I am there among them."

That is so powerful. We know the importance of prayer. Many times there is nothing else we can do in a situation but fall on our face before the Lord. I struggle with my prayer life, especially my public prayer life; praying out loud. I was in a situation in which someone made me feel that my prayer for someone wasn't good enough because I didn't use "the right words". It is taking me time to get over this. I want to be able to pray outloud for people, to hold their hand and declare the grace and mercy of God on their behalf. It is definitely something I have to work on. The truth is, there are no "right words". We are not all eloquent speakers. Jesus said in Matthew 6:5, "When you pray, don't be like the hypocrites who love to pray publicly on street corners and in the synagogues where everyone can see them. I tell you the truth, that is all the reward they will ever get." This is so important to remember.

I was reminded today when reading James 5:13-18 when James is speaking of the power of prayer. He says "Confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The earnest prayer of a righteous person has great power and produces wonderful results."

I know I need the prayer of righteous people in my life. I have seen the power of prayer and God's grace work in the most difficult times and situations. When my cousin was diagnosed with brain cancer last year, I prayed endlessly for him as did many others. Through the thousands and thousands of people praying for him and through God's mercy and grace, my sweet cousin was healed and is now preparing to be married. GOD IS SOOO GOOD!!!

I am going to try and make an active effort to pray for people right then, to keep a prayer chart in my kitchen as a constant reminder, to share the prayer requests with my daughter (the little prayer warrior - whoooooo, I could take some lessons from her!) and to lift people in prayer whether they have asked or not.

Is there something you are working on? How are you going to actively work on it in your daily life? Is there a time when you saw the power of prayer work so stongly that you knew it was God? I would love to hear your stories.

Father God,
Thank you for the ability and guidelines on how to pray.
Thank you that we can come to you in conversation, in times of stress, fear, heartache, and joy.
Thank you that you hear every word and you know our needs before they leave our lips.

Help us to grow in our relationship with you through prayer for our loved ones and for those we don't know. Remind us the importance of praying for other, asking for prayer, and gathering together in Your Name.

You are the worker of all miracles and we praise your beautiful name.

In Your Precious Son's Name,

Amen

2009-02-27T14:33:00.000-05:00

I love you Greg. You make my heart happy. You make my life complete. You make my children smile and you make us so proud to be yours. Thank you for being you, and for being mine.
I love you, love you, love you, love you. More today than yesterday!

143
Brandy :)

It's about time...I know....

2009-02-19T13:48:00.008-05:00

Several of you have emailed me wanting to know why I have not posted (other than Not Me's) in awhile. Well, honestly, it hasn't been a priority. Things have been super busy with MOPS, hockey, Girl Scouts, living with babies, sick hubby, life, etc. I have been on this blog so many times and nothing has actually come to fruition. Mostly I just love reading the comments. I crave/need/covet your comments. I guess it helps to actually write something that people can comment on. Well, today is going to be a hodgepodge of stuff. I have several crafts that I have done, but never shared. ..........................

Now, if the phone will just stop ringing........

My first project was this cute step stool I found at Goodwill for $2. It was a really solid wood with no stains. It didn't necessarily need any work. I would love to know the story behind this as I am sure it is hand made. I filled in the holes with Spackle and painted the top part with white paint before I took this picture. My original plan was to make this a timeout chair for my son.

Tip: Don't use acrylic craft paint on a project like this, otherwise you will wind up doing this. :) Aren't you glad you can learn from my mistakes.

Let's try this again. I painted the entire step stool with several coats of bright white satin paint. I didn't want it super shiny, which is why I went with the satin. However, I did want to be able to wipe it down easily. Use whatever kind of paint works for you, just not acrylic (see above).Well, here's my final project. The lighting in my living room is not the greatest and, to be honest, if I had taken the time to edit the picture, it would have taken longer for me to get it up here. Notice it did not become a timeout chair. It was just too cute for me to make it a discipline tool. I think it will get much more use now. Matthew loves turning this step stool over, piling his toys inside it, and sliding it across my floors. It's a good thing I put a layer of sealant on it. I think I posted this picture before. I found this cute little lamp at Goodwill as well. Are you noticing a trend?I painted the lamp to match a beautiful painting I also found at Goodwill for $4. There is not a single thing wrong with this painting. By the way, I found the exact same painting at Target for nearly $40. I heart Goodwill. I wrapped the lamp shade with scrapbook paper that Haley chose. I painted the different sections of the lamp and then separated the colors of paint with glitter glue to add a little sparkle, which also matched the glitter in the painting.

This painting is perfect for Haley. The moment I saw it, I knew I had to have it. I loved the colors, shapes and collage of the whole piece. The price had me jumping up and down for joy.
We found a little wood piece at the Dollar Store that said "Dream". Haley painted it purple to match her room and we attached a little pink flower on it and placed it on top of her painting which now hangs over her bed.
We also painted this awesome shelf that my wonderful neighbor gave me. Haley painted it a bright pink and then we painted a softer color pink over it and wiped it down as we painted in sections. I love how the treatment came out. It looks so great up close but I couldn't get a good picture of it. I hot glued clothespins along the inside of the shelf and painted them the same colors that are in the painting. She uses these clips for her important memorabilia, including pictures, her baby hats, necklaces, tooth fairy pillow, etc. Also we put her name on the shelf and hot glued pink and purple bows to the letters. I also added her snow globe collection so they would be in a place out of her brothers little hands and in a place she could reach and enjoy. I love how this turned out and has really created a fantastic focal point. Haley cried when she saw the final product. That was all I needed. :)

As many of my friends and family knows, I have a very deep love for my country. My kitchen and dining room are done in a very tasteful Americana style. These two soldiers are on my largest wall in the back of my dining room. They are crosstich (?) that my maternal grandmother made over 50 years ago. My mother gave them to me. I stained the frames because I wanted them to match the dark wood in my kitchen, and because the frames have seen better days. I really wanted to do the vinyl letters on the wall in between the two pictures but couldn't justify the price. Instead, I picked up some chipboard letters from JoAnn's and chalked them a dark blue. It gave me somewhat of the effect I wanted, cost me less than $5, and is not permanent. What more could a girl ask for?

I hope you enjoyed all the pictures. If you want me to post more of this kind of stuff, let me know. I have several other projects that I have worked on and would love to share.

.....................................................

My bloggy friend Alicia gave me my first award last week. It is the lemonade award for someone who shows great attitude/gratitude. I was so excited. Thank you Alicia. I am going to have to figure out who to pass this award onto. Go visit Alicia and cheer her on as she works hard at making herself healthier for her family.

Have a blessed day!

Giveaway coming soon!!!!

Not Me Monday

2009-02-09T22:49:00.005-05:00

Just wanted to write a quick update since things have been super crazy. I never miss a chance to get things off my chest from the past week and enjoy the carnival over at Mckmama's.

This week, I absolutely did not walk out my front door and find a fairly large box sitting on the stoop. I did not immediately get excited about the possibilities inside, especially when I read the box contained 500 of each. It was not addressed to Greg and I naturally did not rip it open right there on the front steps. I would never open a package addressed to my husband. I was not completely puzzled, shocked, horrified, and embarrassed when I found this.

Do you see the name on the packaging????? Look real hard! Yeppers, those are not 500 Trojan condoms. Apparently Greg did not win some sort of contest and this was not one of several prizes. (Just for your information, he did not enter the contest for this prize, seriously)

Can you say...YUCK!!! Even if this did happen, I definitely would never ever share it with my friends, family, and sweet dear blogger friends. Nope, not me!

Greg and I totally did not spend an entire hour trying to convince, coax, bribe, and threaten our near six year old daughter that her tooth needed to be pulled. This was not her very first loose tooth. We absolutely did not horrify her with stories of our dad's pulling our teeth out with pliers. When we finally pulled the tooth, she didn't even know her daddy had actually already pulled it out. Truly! Too funny! (I just realized, our childhood stories of teeth pulling had an eerie similarity to those stories our parents told us as children..."I walked 10 miles to school, both ways, in the snow..." Funny, well maybe you had to be there.

Hope you enjoyed some of the strange adventures of my week. I would love to hear what you think and would love to hear your Not Me's.

Not Me Monday

2009-01-28T14:04:00.016-05:00

Welcome to another fantastic addition of Not Me Monday, the day where we all get to be brutally honest about all we did not do during the week. I, for one, feel so much better getting this stuff off my chest, well, if I actually did do this stuff, which I did not. :) Enjoy!

I did not notice that my sweet one year old son had stolen his big sisters pb&j sandwich and wound up smearing grape jelly all over the couch and his body. I absolutely did not run for the camera instead of a towel. Of course the batteries were not completely dead. I then did not try to take batteries out of toys in order to get a picture of this lovely mess. With all of the work I put into this picture, it absolutely did not get deleted off of my camera. I did not wind up with grape jelly on my other couch, toys, books, and carpet because I was so adamant about getting a picture. I am not that obsessed with capturing EVERYTHING in photographs. One picture of this debacle is not more important than no stains on my brand new couches. Nope, not me!

I did not walk into my living room after doing dishes to find my son playing with toilet paper. I absolutely did not encourage my son to continue unrolling the toilet paper so that I could get a picture, see above "not me". We did not waist a brand new roll of toilet paper in the name of fun. I completely did not enjoy my time with my son and realize that toilet paper can be enjoyed in a whole new way. Who knew?!? That would be weird and embarrassing.

My sweet son, who will be 2 in March, absolutely did not lean to the side in his booster seat at the table and "let one rip" during dinner time. My husband would never have taught him this disgusting trick. His Mommy, Sister, and Daddy so did not laugh our heads off in shock at what he just did. Said sweet son did not let out a big sigh of relief after all the laughing was over to only induce more laughing. My sweet son did not think he was the funniest thing ever. We do not encourage this kind of behavior at the dinner table and it is only met with quick discipline and never laughing. I do not often feel as though I live in a zoo. And even if all of this did happen, I certainly wouldn't let anyone know about it. Sheeeeeshh!

During dinner Wednesday night, my beautiful family and I never sat at the table with the laptop on so we could watch live video of a police chase taking place in Los Angeles. Any form of technical entertainment is not allowed at dinner time because we love talking to each other and completely enjoy one another's company. We would also never subject our precious children to something that may have a possible violent outcome. Our children live in a complete bubble knowing nothing of evil. If we had watched this live video, we would not have all been standing around the computer as the criminal jumped out of the U-Haul. We would not have been yelling at the computer for the police to catch him/her. And since we were obviously not watching this video, we would not have stood there and debated if this was a man or a woman. My sweet beautiful daughter would not have said "Of course it's a woman because she has big boobies like mommy". I did not need to put that in quotes because you only put things in quotes that were actually said. I would not have joined in the laughter along with my family while my sweet daughter tried to convince me that I do have big boobies. Goodness, I love that child.

Finally, all that screaming you heard last night, well that was definitely not me losing my voice while screaming for the Steelers to win the Superbowl. I do not care about football nor do I scream at T.V.'s. I am a dignified quiet, traditional woman who spent her evening doing dishes, laundry, and taking care of my family's every need. Ha Ha! Yeah Right! I was probably the loudest one on the block. I think I have a cramp in my wrist from swinging the terrible towel so much. GOOOO STEELERS!!!! (Or as they say in Pittsburgh, Go Stillers!). I do not speak Pittsburgese (but I'm learning) :)

Leave me a comment and come back for my next blog on all the fun crafts I have been doing. So fun!!

Not Me Monday

2009-01-26T10:59:00.003-05:00

Golly Gee I love Monday's. It has become a day where I can be honest about all the things I did not do the previous week and know that this week will only bring more great stuff to write about. Join me in celebrating all you did not do. I did not take over 400 pictures of the inauguration on Tuesday in order to practice photo techniques only to throw most of them out because the inauguration made me cry (not tears of joy). I did not reheat my cup of coffee 4x by 3 in the afternoon and still not get to drink it. I was not completely sad about the waste of coffee and creamer. I do not care that much about coffee. It has not become my breakfast and lunch for the last 2 months. I. am... not.. addicted!!! I absolutely did not slam my finger in the car door and only realize it when I started walking away from the car. I did not have to unlock the door to get it out. It did not come out at a sideways nearly 90* angle at my middle knuckle. It is so not taking me nearly an hour to type my weekly not me's because it is my right index finger that is broken. I so totally did not want to slap the nurse at urgent care who rolled her eyes at me when I asked her to be a little more gentle while cleaning off the blood from my finger. I did not have a horrible experience and will absolutely not tell everyone I know not to go to this urgent care. I am completely not bitter. :) I am not asking that people start following my blog and send me comments because I am completely above groveling and begging. I do not care if people follow my blog because I have zero insecurities. Ha Ha!!

2009-01-19T13:57:00.009-05:00

Welcome to Not Me! Monday! This blog carnival was created by MckMama. You can head over to her blog to read what she and everyone else have not been doing this week.

What a crazy week this has been. There are so many things that did not happen and I am excited about getting these things down, especially since these things are a complete figment of my imagination.

During this beautiful week, I definitely did not have to deal with a sweet little boy with pink eye in both eyes who also gave it to his darling sister and loving mommy. We do not teach our children to share in this house therefore there was no reason we would have a household full of double pink eye. Oh What Fun!

I did not tell my amazing 5 year old the horrible words of "Shut Up" because she had been talking and whining non-stop for over an hour. I would never say those awful words to my child, or anyone to that matter. And of course I did not cry uncontrollably after apologizing to her over and over. I did not feel like the worst mother in the universe because I know that I am a perfect mother. YEAH RIGHT!!

Finally, I did not and would never allow myself to get so excited when the Steelers played in the AFC championship last night. I absolutely did not allow my 5 year old to watch the game with us until nearly 11 p.m. We did not jump up and down on the bed when Troy Polomalu caught the game changing interception and run in for a touchdown. I am not that obsessed with sports and could really care less about the outcome of some stupid football game. Ha Ha! That's a funny one. I crack myself up. Not really!

I wonder what things I will not do next week. Hhhmmmm!

White as snow

2009-01-18T16:33:00.007-05:00

"Come now, lets settle this,"

says the Lord.

"Though your sins are like scarlet,

I will make them as white as snow.

Though they are red like crimson,

I will make them as white as wool."

Isaiah 1:18

Today was an absolutely beautiful day. I was reminded of God's beauty, grace, and promises. I went outside and walked around by myself and just breathed in the beauty of God. Sometimes I just need to be alone with God, clear my mind, and listen. These are a few of the sights I captured. I am always blown away by his attention to details.

On my walk back I started noticing the mucky mess that was becoming of some of the snow piles. These were places that cars had driven over or where days worth of snow had been piled up by dirty snow shovels. I started to think of the Bible verse in Isaiah that I posted above. I am so grateful that my sins are "white as snow". You see, I know that underneath me is dirty, ugly, and unworthy. I don't deserve the beautiful grace that God has given. I think about how Jesus took ALL of my sin upon himself, all the sins of the world, past, present, and future, and sacrificed His precious life for us. No one deserves that free gift, that immeasurable and priceless gift. But God loves us so much that he gave us this opportunity to accept Jesus as our personal Savior and have everlasting life with Him. I am so thankful for that. I praise Him because he has covered that dirt, grime, and ugliness, washed it away and covered me so that I am white as snow.

"But to all who believed him and accepted him,

he gave the right to become children of God.

They are reborn - not with a physical birth

resulting from human passion or plan,

but a birth that comes from God."

John 1:12-13

"Thank you Father for my new life. Thank you that you have washed me white as snow and that all the yuckiness and ugliness beneath me is washed away. Thank you that your Grace falls down on me so that I may be pure. Thank you dear Heavenly Father for the beauty outside my window, under my feet, and all around me in my life. You are so precious Father and I praise your name."

Amen

Observations of a 5 year old

2009-01-17T22:36:00.004-05:00

Matthew is sick. Part of him being sick involves a very red and swollen eye. Tonight at dinner, Haley mentioned that Matthew looks like Prince Zuko from the show "Avatar The Last Airbender" It is one of her favorite shows.
We thought it was a pretty good observation. What do you think?

Rebecca....This one's for you!

2009-01-16T15:34:00.004-05:00

Rebecca, thanks for your comment. This is a post just for you!
For everyone else, I cut my hair, check out this post. This is the after picture, after a day of cleaning house, taking care of a sick baby, and a sick husband.

Brandy :)

My new song....

2009-01-12T14:29:00.003-05:00

It would come as no surprise to those that know me that music does it for me. I NEED music like I need water to drink and air to breathe. It is how I communicate, how I express myself, how I get out of my yucky moods, and even how I clean my house. I need my music and I need it loud. Luckily, I have a decent voice so it's not like I destroy anyones hearing capabilities when I sing. However, I much prefer to sing without anyone around so I can blast it up loud, raise my hands, and praise my Jesus.
I am not big on New Years Resolutions. I am sure it has something to do with the past and seeming to "lie" to myself with the various resolutions I have made. The last several years I pick things that I am going to work harder on. Maybe that's the same thing as a resolution, I just feel less pressure. My goals usually revolve around improving myself, my relationship with Christ, my husband, children, and myself. I picked a word in an earlier post that I want to focus on this year. INTENTIONAL. Living intentionally in 2009 and beyond is important to me.
I was looking around on GodTube.com and found a song that I have heard many times by Point Of Grace called How You Live. I knew most of the words and have sung the song in my car and in my kitchen but listening to it today, it all clicked. The words made so much sense to me and put into words exactly what I am feeling lately about my life, my goals, and the direction I want to go in (if it is God's will). I have decided to adopt this song as one of my "focus songs" for this year to help guide me in my goals. I hope this song speaks to you as much as it did to me.
What songs speak to you in your life right now? I would love to hear. Send me a comment and let me know.

Rough Day

2009-01-09T20:32:00.004-05:00

Today was a pretty pathetic day. It was rough, to say the least. Have you ever woken up on the wrong side of the bed? Today, I think I woke up on the wrong side of the planet. It didn't help that I only got about 2 hours of very restless sleep after a tough late night meeting the night before. To top it off, the kids were loud, cranky, needy, and overall obnoxious. I don't normally say that about my family. They are usually extremely well behaved, sweet, and happy but, as I mentioned before, wrong side of the planet. The kids that live on the side of the planet I woke up on today were not so fun.
We headed over to Goodwill after taking the husband to work. I thought we could get them a small something new to play with and I could get out of my funk with a new craft project to work on, not that I don't have a plethora of projects already at home demanding my attention. But, I figured a little retail therapy couldn't hurt. Matthew cried the entire time at the top of his lungs, kept dropping the little car we found for him, and was overly whiny. Haley kept yelling, her version of talking, and trying to show me different things. Really, I just wanted to be left alone to wallow in my feelings so I could get over them. I didn't want the responsibilities of being a mom, wife, house cleaner, woman, etc. today. JUST LEAVE ME ALONE! I think I even tried to sell my kids to the cashier. No takers. (Partly kidding!)
We went home so that I could feed them lunch, get Haley on the bus to school (Hallelujah!) and put Matthew down for a much needed early nap (Double Hallelujah!) I needed some "me" time to collect my thoughts, read scripture, and pray these feelings away. The more the day progressed the tougher it got.
Craft projects weren't going right, I kept crying while praying, and I couldn't memorize my Bible verse for the week (a new goal of mine I will tell you about later.) I had five phone calls one right after the other, including one from my husbands doctors office that let me know on top of the pneumonia he can't seem to get over, he also has mono. I think when she told me that, I just started laughing. Do you ever do that? She surely didn't understand me.
Tonight was not much better. I have secluded myself in the kitchen while my family is enjoying each other in the living room and happily watching t.v. I would like to go to bed and wake up when I am back on my side of Earth. Maybe tomorrow will be a better day.
Do you ever have days like this? What works for you to help you get out of it and back to who and what you know you are? I would love some ideas.

Word for the Year!!!

2009-01-06T00:16:00.006-05:00

UPDATE: - After staying up after three debating my word and praying about what God want's me to focus on this year, I feel that God laid a specific word on my heart. I have decided to change it to

INTENTIONAL
done with intention or on purpose; intended

I think to many times we just let life go by, let things happen and not use those situations in life to learn from. I want my life to be for a purpose and to live the way God intends for me to live.

I want to be intentional with my children while parenting, be intentional in my time and conversation with my husband, intentional with relationships with family and friends, and most important, intentional with my walk with My Lord and Saviour - Jesus Christ.

I think by being intentional then all of the other words that I have chosen will come naturally, including the word enjoy for being intentional in my life with those around me and the situations God presents me with, I will then find joy, peace, love, patience, and everything thing else I desire.

Laurie over at Tip Junkie is doing the word of the year. This is a word you pick to meditate and focus on over the year. So, I need to pick a single word to represent my goals for the year. This was pretty hard. I came up with several words that would really work for me.

FAITH
PEACE
PRAY
APPRECIATE
LOVE
BLESSED
ENOUGH

But I finally decided on one word that encompasses so many things that are important to me right now.

My word is......

to experience with joy; take pleasure in

I want to take time to enjoy all the blessing my Heavenly Father has given me.
My Jesus
My children
My husband
My friends
My home
I want to take a moment to enjoy my coffee in the morning while reading my Bible and falling in love with God more every day.
I want to get away from my daily chores and get on the floor and enjoy my children who are growing up so very fast.
I want to make it a priority to steal my husband away from the day and enjoy spending time with the man I call my best friend.
I want to Enjoy my life because I don't know how long I will be here or how long the things I enjoy will be here.

I hope you enjoy your year as well.

Brandy :)

Not Me Monday...

2009-01-05T09:50:00.010-05:00

I will be participating in this idea on Monday's. I got it off of one of my favorite blogs. Click here. I would love for you to join in. Either add this to your blog or comment me with what you definitely did not do.

This week I did not go to Wal Mart in my pajamas and flip flops in the snow to buy craft paint and bananas. Of course I didn't because that would be completely embarrassing.

I did not get extremely frustrated that my car remote (the little thing you attach to your keychain to lock and unlock your car door) would not unlock the front door to my house. I mean, come on, who does that. Of course that remote only works for the car!!! I didn't get frustrated about that after nearly a minute of trying. Nooooo, not me!!!

And I most certainly did not feel a little excited to take my husband to the E.R. with pneumonia because it meant I could have some time away from my darling children and have undivided attention from my husband. That would be cruel and unusual punishment for my husband. And even if I did, I would not tell you about it. :)

Look, no kids!

And I ABSOLUTELY DID NOT allow my five year old to cut 7 inches off my hair while my lovely husband stood by taking pictures and yelling "Oh Good God"! (He tells me this was an audible prayer that my hair would not be as bad as it looked when she was cutting.) Of course I did not do this because that would be completely insane. No one in their right mind would do that, especially a woman!

Hope you enjoyed some of the things I DID NOT DO this week. I would love to hear yours.

The Secret is in the Sauce: Win a Keurig Platinum Brewing System and $50 worth of K-cups

2009-01-02T15:56:00.000-05:00

The Secret is in the Sauce: Win a Keurig Platinum Brewing System and $50 worth of K-cups

Win a Keurig Coffee Maker...

2009-01-02T15:49:00.005-05:00

Win a Keurig Platinum Brewing System and $50 worth of K-cups. Go here.

Do you love coffee? Or tea? How about Chai? Maybe some hot chocolate? What if there was a brewer that could brew all of the above. ONE brewer that did it all one glorious cup at a time.

That's what a Keurig does!

"The Platinum offers the full spectrum of features including Auto On/Off, Digital Clock, Adjustable Temperature Control and the "Set Your Favorite Cup Size" option. The largest available 60 oz. removable water reservoir holds up to ten cups before refilling and the removable drip tray allows for easy cleaning and the use of travel mugs. The sleek, award-winning design is a unique footprint among Keurig's line of home brewing systems and includes both a blue lit water reservoir and blue lit LCD display."

And Keurig is nice enough to be giving away one of their top of the line Platinum Brewing Systems on SITS (a retail value of $199.99)!!!

So, if you're not a coffee drinker then you can buy tea or hot chocolate. All of the K-cups are big name brands too like Celestial Seasonings, Ghirardelli, and Caribou Coffee.

First, go to Keurig's website and look around. Learn a little more about the benefits of all of their great brewing systems and their K-cups. Come back here and leave us a comment to enter. Post about this contest on your blog and you'll earn five extra entries!!

http://thesecretisinthesauce.blogspot.com/2008/12/win-keurig-platinum-brewing-system-and.html

Frustrated...

2008-12-30T10:40:00.003-05:00

I opened the mail yesterday and there was a large envelope inside, you know the large manilla kind. Only this one was white and not manilla. Completely does not matter, I know. Anyways, it was addressed to my old house and the writing was my Dad's. I have not spoken to my dad in over 2 years and the only reason I spoke to him last was because I called to wish him a happy birthday. He has only met my nearly 6 year old a handful of times and only because we were there at the same time he was. This came from no effort on his part. Well, I guess that is not entirely true. He did drive out for her birth which was suprising but nothing much since then. He has never met my nearly 2 year old son nor did he even know I was pregnant with him. He didn't call me after my heart attack or after my son nearly died in a freak accident.
Can you hear the frustration.
Back to the white (manilla) envelope. Inside were three separate envelopes. One was addressed to all of us and one each to my children. I opened the one to all of us and it was a Christmas card. There was a post it note on the inside that said..."Sorry, no gifts or goodies this year....still looking for a job." AAAAHHHH!!! Does he actually think we care about goodies and gifts? He obviously doesn't realize, or doesn't care, that a relationship has no financial committment. I guess the emotional committment is much to high for him.
I know my Dad loves me, he has just never been good at sharing it. I wish with all my heart that I had a Dad. I see commercials, T.V. shows, and situations in life where a father and daughter sit and talk, have a meal together, talk on the phone, anything. I cry. I would've loved to have had that. I try, as best as I can with a complete stranger. I send pictures of my children and cards. I have several websites that he can view. NOTHING!!!
I didn't show my children the cards for them. How do I explain that to my very inquisitive almost 6 year old? I don't know how. She has a grandfather that loves and cares for her very deeply and takes the time to have a relationship with her, even though it might be a little out of his comfort zone at times. She has two beautiful grandmothers who love her with incredible depth, pride, and joy. She never has to question who these people are in her lives. She has people who are not even related to us that show more of an interest in her daily life than this man has shown throughout her entire life.
Maybe it is wrong for me not to show her this card and not continue to tell her about my father, but I want to protect her from the same disappointment and sadness I have felt. Is that wrong? What else should I do? I am worn out from this and have moved on, at least I think I have moved on. It still hurts at times though, especially at this time of the year.

Our Christmas Gift...I still believe in Santa

2008-12-25T13:50:00.006-05:00

After Christmas Eve service we came home to eat a little dinner and then to open presents. We have adopted Greg's family tradition of opening gifts on Christmas Eve because Christmas Day is about celebrating Jesus' birth. That is also a day set aside for Santa to bring his special gifts. Needless to say we were very surprised when Santa came a little earlier than usual. The kids were opening presents from out of town relatives when the doorbell rang. It was probably around 8 or later, although I didn't actually look at the time. Greg and I looked at each other confused. Our neighbors are out of town and they are the only ones that ring our doorbell. I made my way downstairs to open the door, confused as to who might be there. I was taken aback when there was no one standing on the other side of the door. Instead, there were presents. I stepped outside and looked around but there was no one around. The street was silent. I called up to Greg and told him about the packages. He came down stairs and started looking around outside as well. He yelled out "Thank you" and helped me bring the gifts inside.
We looked at the tags, still bewildered. We were sure someone had the wrong address but to our amazement, each gift had our names on them and were signed by Santa. Still stunned, I opened my gift first. It was very large and very heavy. After tearing the first section of paper off, the present was revealed. New pots and pans. I immediately burst into tears. Not just little trickles of tears but flat out sobbing ugly crying. I was completely overwhelmed. You see, for the last year and a half we have been cooking with one small pot and pan. That's all we have. It is mostly by choice as we have not made it a priority when spending our money. As a stay at home mom, especially in these economical times, many other things become priority such as bills and food and clothing for the children. We can survive with one pot and pan. The fact that someone knew what I needed was awesome. Greg opened his gift. It was hysterical. The look on his face was priceless. It was complete dissapointment. I felt so bad for him. Inside the box was a Starbucks cup. He kept saying, surely Santa wouldn't do this to me. Have I really been that bad? Tears of Joy and hysterical laughter was all I could get out. Greg HATES coffee, but he especially HATES Starbucks. Well, of course Santa didn't dissapoint. Inside the Starbucks cup was a gift certificate to a Sporting Good's store. Silly Santa. Greg coaches hockey and really needs some hockey pants in order to play on the Men's league. Again, it was perfect. Haley recieved an awesome set of stamps which is perfect for the crafty girl that she is and Matthew recieved an amazing Thomas the Train floor mat complete with a very loud train whistle. It will be perfect for his room because I planned to redo it in primary colors for his birthday. He loves trains. And when I say he loves trains, he really really LOVES trains. Basically, anything with wheels that can move he is drawn to.
I'm sure I don't have to tell you that it wasn't the material things that made this such a special day. It was the gift of love. The fact that someone knows us well enough to give us these gifts, takes time out of their own family to think of us so specifically, and has the selflessness to be anonymous in their giving is completly humbling to me. So Santa, if you are reading this, thank you for this undeserved blessing. I hope that you WILL know and do know the amount of love we felt on Christmas Eve. You are a beautiful spirit. You deserve extra jewels on your crown in Heaven. God Bless you! We will pay it forward in your honor.

Love,
The Kiker Family

I forgot to mention the Third Day Christmas Offerings CD. My very favorite Christian Band. Just another example.

One year ago today.....

2008-12-24T11:48:00.010-05:00

One year ago today Greg and I brought home our sweet baby boy from the hospital after a 6 day stay. It was the scariest time of our lives. Seven days prior I had taken the kids with me to the post office to mail some Christmas packages. It was extremely cold, windy, and snowy outside so I put Matthew in the stroller, grabbed the packages and ran inside, trying not to get the kids cold and wet. The line was long so I placed the packages on the table they have along the line and waited. I had some small talk with the woman in front of me, she complimented me on how cute and well behaved both my children were and we talked about the weather. Haley had walked over to the items for sale and was looking at them. I heard a very loud but deep thump. I looked over at Haley thinking she had dropped something. After realizing she hadn't, I looked at Matthew in the stroller and he wasn't there. He was face down on the floor and not crying. I screamed for someone to call 911 and got down on the floor with him. The lady I had been talking to took off her coat and offered it to me to wrap him in when we both realized that not only did he have a huge goose egg on his head but that he was also turning blue. I remember the lady say that he wasn't breathing and I grabbed him in my arms which was probably not the safest thing to do. I started rubbing him and shaking him a little and telling him to wake up. He finally started to cry and there was a huge sigh of relief from myself, the woman helping me, as well as a man that came over. One of the postal ladies brought over some ice for the swelling. I had a pretty quick peace come over me that he was going to be okay but then I suddenly realized that my sweet Haley had been watching the whole thing. I looked at her and told her that Matthew was just fine and everything was going to be okay. She gave me this sweet grin that was encouraging, empathetic, loving, and concerned all in one.

The ambulance finally arrived and checked him out. We got him into the ambulance where they continued to triage him. We had to get the car seat out so he could ride safely. Haley and I rode in the back with him. The EMT gave Haley a little Shark named T-Bone. Haley loved it and still has it in a very special place. While they were getting him hooked up to tubes and oxygen, putting a neckbrace on, and checking everything out, someone began banging on the ambulance door. It was some lady who was upset that the ambulance was blocking her into the parking space. The EMT was so upset with her and put her in her place. We saw both good and bad parts of humanity that day. I, for one, liked the good parts.

During the ambulance ride he was stable so they drove a normal speed without the lights on. Not long after, though, he started getting very lethargic and then lost conciousness. The EMT told the driver to go "lights on" and we heard the sirens wailing and saw the lights flashing. The cars were going by very quickly in the window. The EMT got on the phone with the hospital and was updating them while he was poking Matthew with needles and doing a sternum rub. The air was very tense. I looked over at Haley who was facing the entire scene and she had her head bowed, her eyes closed, and her hands folded and was praying for her brother out loud. It was the most wonderful moment I have ever experienced. I just broke down and wept. To see the image of my 4 year old daughter with enough strength and faith to pray out loud in an ambulance for her brother, I knew I wanted to be just like her. She became my hero that day. The amount of strength, poise, and faith she had that day was overwhelming.

To make an already long story a little shorter, Matthew survived the head trauma with a major concussion and a horrible bruise and bump. We were released late that evening into the arms of Greg who had been at work the entire time, completely unaware. The next morning Matthew began throwing up, a horrible sign of a head injury worse than previously thought. The pediatrician sent him back to the hospital where he underwent more tests, including another MRI. It was determined that his head injury was the same and that he probably had the flu. He started breaking out in extreme hives all over his body, running a fever, and continuing to vomit. It took him 6 days to recover from this in the hospital. Greg and I stayed with him all the time while Haley was bounced around from friend to friend. Greg and I both wound up getting the stomach flu and Greg was actually sent to the hospital. It was a crazy six days and we did not know if we would make it home for Christmas. Finally, the Dr. told us Matthew could go home. We were elated and tired. Sleeping on a hospital floor is not exactly the most comforting thing in the world. But, our baby was going to be okay and we would all be together for Christmas. We went to church later that evening and worshiped God with all that we had. It was a great day.

2008-12-23T17:08:00.006-05:00

I often complain about the color of the walls in our house. They are a very very pale cream, basically white. I am grateful, deeply grateful for my walls, but I am definitely not afraid of color. I would love to paint the inside of the house to make it less stark and more comfortable. However, purple, green, and yellow were not quite the colors I had in mind. I like the faux finish look in some areas, but I don't think a 1 1/2 scribbles quite qualify.

Haley decided to give Matthew a few crayons, markers, and pencils the other day in order to "keep him happy". Please understand she tried this a few days before with a RED dry erase marker and I made her scrub her walls. You would think that she would have learned her lesson after I made her scrub those walls. But Noooooo! Just so you know, red dry erase marker does not come off of walls so don't send your five year old to scrub the walls because she will scrub all the way to the white powdery part of the drywall and you will be left with a much bigger mess to clean up. BAAAAADDDDD! But, I digress.

I decided that Matthew and Haley would need to clean the new creation, mainly because I had cleaned 5 other walls and 2 doors and my hands and arms were tired. Where was I when Matthew colored my walls? Let me just tell you that a 1 year old can do a whole lot of damage while you are fixing a PB&J. Anyways, they had way to much fun scrubbing and most of it did not come off but of course I got some cute pictures. I am sure that this will not be the first time.

Does this mean I actually might get to paint my walls the color of my choice? HHHMMMMM????!!! Where are those markers and my toddler? Anyone want to color?

Has it really been that long????

2008-12-22T12:00:00.002-05:00

There have been so many times in the last 6 months or so where something has happened and I have thought "I should really blog about that". But, alas, it never makes it and the thought disappears. I have decided to make this much more of a priority since the purpose of this is to create a record for my children of different memories and so they can get an idea of who their mom is and what she is working on becoming. Soon this sight will look different, be a little more functional, and put emphasis on the things that are most important to me. Please keep checking back as my goal is to write several times a week.
Until then, have a Blessed Christmas. May you focus in on the true meaning of CHRISTmas.

Happy Birthday Jesus!!!

Something to think about.

2008-07-18T17:19:00.002-04:00

http://www.godtube.com/view_video.php?viewkey=ad178354c7d2f9e66db2

Ooops! Sorry 'bout that. (Grin)

2008-07-10T03:37:00.003-04:00

So I am writing this at about 3:30 in the morning. I haven't slept but more than an hour. Normally this would be somewhat usual as I do not sleep well. Tonight, however; I was very tired and looking forward to a good nights sleep. About midnight I awoke to talking. Haley takes after her mom and often talks in her sleep. She is usually very easy to understand during these episodes and I usually get a kick out of listening to her. I went in and checked on her but she was sound asleep. Matthew was also good. I headed back to bed. About an hour later I woke up again to the same noises. I again checked on Haley but she was completely out. Matthew too. As I walked back into my room I heard the noises louder. Picture me in a pitch black room, no glasses, half asleep and doing the strange walk you do when you are trying to discover where a sound is coming from. I strain my neck to hear and quitely tiptoe trying not to wake up the snoring husband and sleeping babies. Then, I did it. That darn lego that I forgot to pick up before heading to bed. I now have an imprint of the logo in the bottom of my foot. Luckily the snoring husband sleeps solid. I swear, our toilet could explode through the roof and he would never hear it. But I digress...

I finally discover the noise is coming from outside. At this point, it is close to 2. I open the window to discover 4 teens having a party. Loud music is blaring, they are laughing, smoking, drinking, etc. Not a good thing. I yell out the window that they have now woken us up and they needed to take it inside. Did I mention the music was blaring? You guessed it, they did not hear me. I grab some clothes that are more appropriate for a teenager to see and head downstairs, lego imprint and all. My back patio, on the main level, has a partition to give a little privacy. I lean over the side of the balcony and tell them to take it inside and turn down the music. I must have had a mommy tone because one of the girls apologized several times. As I walk back in, I smell pot. Lots of it. Yikes!!! So my mommy mentality says "They shouldn't be doing this. Their parents should be told." The other part of me, the one that grew up between two violent gangs near downtown Albuquerque says, they will shoot you and your family if they find out who told." I pray for guidance and decide that I am sure their parents do not know what they are doing (only one teen lives there and his parents are obviously not home). I go upstairs and watch for awhile and they are obviously not going to wind down. I make the call. 911

They come only a few minutes later. I went outside to meet them in order to keep them from knocking or ringing the doorbell and waking up the kids. I tell them the story and they walk around back to try and catch them in the act. I want to know what is going on so I go upstairs and open the window just a tad and sit on the floor and try to listen. I hear a few things, mostly the officers irritation at the teens and the crying from two of the girls. Then the ambulance arrives. Turns out one of the teens has had a bad reaction and believe he might have had a seizure. He turned out to be okay though. I don't really appreciate the decibil level of my husbands snoring until I am trying to eavesdrop on the conversation next door between the stoned, drunk teens and the very helpful officers of the law. By the way, what is it about an officers uniform that makes them so darn attractive, even at 2 in the morning?
Anyways, this whole thing lasted for a little over an hour. The crying, the talking, the lectures, and oooooo the drugs. Lots of drugs and lots of bottles of hard alcohol. Needless to say, all four were arrested and taken out of there. The officer came to the door before they left and said that I was right and everything would be quiet for the rest of the evening. Evening? What evening? My husband is going to be up in a little more than an hour and I am now slightly horrified that I got four teens arrested. Well, technically, they got themselves arrested. I just helped with the process. Oooop! Sorry 'bout that. (Grin)

I love my husband!!!

2008-07-08T15:01:00.002-04:00

American girl, through and through

2008-06-22T20:10:00.005-04:00

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jBagBstjFo4

I wanted to share this video with everyone. Haley learned the Pledge of Allegiance this year and we are very proud of her. We recorded it so we could share it with you and you could share in our pride.

My family, especially the women, are extremelly proud to be American. My mother and I are laughed at constantly by my husband because we almost always cry for the National Anthem and for "I'm Proud to be an American".

May God Bless all the men and women serving our country and risking their lives for our beautiful freedoms that we take for granted. Thank you also to the families of these soldiers. Your service to our country does not go unnoticed or unappreciated. You are prayed for, thought of, and loved.

GOD BLESS AMERICA!!!

A letter to my son

2008-06-22T00:17:00.005-04:00

watch this video first http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xg7ZFrGNQns

My Dearest Matthew,

I just put you to bed. Like every night I fed you warm milk while you spun around in my arms trying so hard to get away. You always seem to know when it is bedtime and try to resist each time. I don't know where you get all the energy. I brushed your teeth and sang you sweet songs about how much your family loves you, and especially how much you are loved by our Father in Heaven. I laid you down in your crib and you gave me the sweetest smile. You curled up on your belly and knees and tucked your sweet chubby arms underneath you. I covered you up and prayed over you like I do every night. You didn't make a peep. You are such a good baby.

I stood next to you and watched you sleep in the darkness and thanked God for the gifts and blessings he has provided, especially for you and Haley. I thought of your many accomplishments today, the big and the small. Tonight, for the first time, you walked! You have taken little steps before. You know, the one or two struggled and caution filled steps in between me and Daddy. It's always so cute when you realize no one is holding on to you. You let out this nervous laugh and then fall on your butt and then break out into laughter. We can't help but laugh with you. We have practiced with you so many times. "Go to Daddy," I'd say and off you'd go, holding my hand until you could almost touch his, then you'd solo for one or two steps and then fall into his arms, laughing the entire time. Your blue eyes would sparkle with your big smile. Your big sissy Haley is always your biggest cheerleader. You should see how she lights up when you do something new.

But tonight, tonight you were something to behold. Tonight you let go of my hand, stood carefully by yourself, but reached out to make sure I was there to catch you. You caught your balance and then took off...8, 9, 10, even 12 steps to Daddy. Then back you came. Your bright smile was all I could see through my tears of joy. Into my arms you walked with such joy and pride. Oh, how we all clapped and rejoiced!

Life has a way of whispering to us when sacred moments are occuring. And life whispered tonight. As you released my hand and stepped alone, an emotion surged within me. An emotion that I didn't identify until I watched you sleeping tonight.

What was I feeling? This may suprise you, but the emotion was fear. I was afraid. Matthew, until tonight, you depended on your daddy and me for everything. Everywhere you wanted to go, we took you. Anything you wanted to do, we did with you. But tonight marked, well, it marked your stepping out. Soon you won't want to be carried, something my arms will be grateful for but will cause my heart to break. Soon you will squirm from our arms to the floor and proudly walk alone.

Your first step away from childhood. Your first step away from innocence. Your first step away from home. Your first step away from us; away from our world and into your own.

I imagined, as I watched you sleep, the other first steps that await us in the future. I thought of your first step up the sidewalk to school. Freshly scrubbed with shiny shoes, pressed slacks, and combed hair, off you'll go into the big world of pencils, blackboards, and knowledge. What will you learn? I wonder.

I thought of your first steps toward friendships. When "Bobby" or "Kyle" or who-knows-who next door knocks on our door and asks, "Can Matthew come out to play?" When another little friend takes the place of Daddy as your buddy and Mom as your girlfriend.

And your first steps toward your own faith. God, I pray they come. One foot carefully placed in front of the other carrying your heart to the Roman cross. Hands extended inviting God to lead you as you continue stepping through unpredictable fields of faith.

So, as I watched you sleeping quietly in the darkness, I felt fear. Fear that what we started tonight, we couldn't stop. I had this crazy inclination to push the pause button and freeze this moment as it is now. You, in my arms, forever giggling, kissing, and playing.

But life isn't like that my sweet Matthew. Those who love life must love it with open hands. We must release time and save only the memories. We must remember that with each first step comes a journey of joy, surprises, and gentle whispers of God's presence.

So, I'll let you walk my little boy. I'll release your hand and let you go. I'll do my best to stay nearby as long as I can. And should you fall, I'll rush to help you up. And should you stumble, I'll catch you. And should your steps lead you astray, I'll do my best to show you the right path.

And should you ever grow tired or weary on this journey, you will never be to old to crawl into my arms with those big beautiful eyes and sleep securley knowing that any evil, any pain, or even hell itself would have to deal with me before it could touch my baby boy.

I love you Matthew,

Mommy

In addition to many of my own words, I also used words from a letter I came across during a Bible Study written by Christian author and pastor, Max Lucado.

How is it between you and me?

2008-06-11T02:26:00.002-04:00

How is it Between Us?

Sara Groves

Woke up on the wrong side of the bed, the wrong side of the room, the wrong side of the world. Can't put my finger on the mood. It's not melancholy, anger or the blues. I love my husband, my house, my job. Couldn't be any better, and really what else is there? Then I realize I'm forgetting God, and that's the root of all my misery. Lord, first of all, how is it between you and me? .

Chorus: How is it between us? How is it between us? When did I talk to you last, and what has happened since? How is it between us? How is it between us? When did I talk to you last, and what has happened? .

When I wake up I am on my way, reinventing the wheel and saving the day. I have learned this lesson a thousand times, I am the branch, and you are the vine. Apart from you we are mice and men, with our fancy dreams of grandeur and no way to get there. Oh I can think about you now and then, or I can make a mark on eternity. Lord first of all, how is it, between you and me? .

Chorus . How is it between us? How is it between us? When did I talk to you last, and what has happened since? How is it between us? How is it between us? When did I talk to you last, and what has happened since?

So let the wicked prosper, let the oceans roar, let the mountains crumble, and fall into the sea. There's something more important weighing on my mind. Lord first of all, how is it between you and me? .

Chorus How is it between us? Lord, how is it between us? When did I talk to you last, and what has happened since? How is it between us? How is it between us? When did I talk to you last, and what has happened?

this song by Sara Groves says it all for me. Life gets in the way so many times for all of us and then, before you know it, it has been days before we have spoken to God. He is always there, waiting for us to stop and talk to Him. John 15 talks about how God is the vine and we are the branches. In order for us to grow in God, we have to stay as part of the vine, the nourishment we need to grow and bear fruit.

'I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch taht does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful. You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you. Remain in me, and I will remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me.
I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing....I have told you this so my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete. '
John 15:1-5,11

I think this life thing is too hard not to remain in Him.

Lord God,
Thank you that you are the Gardner and your Son is the true vine. Strengthen my branches so they will bear much long lasting fruit. Thank you for loving me enough to be my Gardner and helping me to grow as your disciple. I pray that you give me the strength to do your will, not mine. When I falter, I pray that you bring me right back to you and remind me how desperately I need you at all times. Help me be a strong witness to those around me, especially my children.

In Your precious name I pray,
Amen

I want to be like Hannah!

2008-06-09T13:29:00.003-04:00

Being a mother is a hard job. Boy, that's an understatement. It is unimaginably rewarding, but challenging nonetheless. When Haley was born I took a year off of teaching (actually 17 months from bedrest at 6 mo. to going back to work). I was horrible at it. I have lots of excuses why I was bad at it, depression, loneliness, exhaustion, but the truth is that I never asked God if I should stay home. I just felt that is what you should do so I did.

Greg had certain expectations of me if I were to stay home. The house should be clean, clothes washed, dinner cooked, mommy bathed, etc. These things were rarely ever done. I desperately missed teaching and knew that I was not made to be a stay-at-home mom but it was the middle of the school year and no one would take me on mid year. Going back to work when Haley was 17 months was very good for me, though not as good for my family. I still neglected them and took them for granted. I come from workaholic parents so it comes naturally.

Greg really had to shake me around and tell me to get my priorities straight. Each year it got better, I think. After 2 years of teaching and a new baby on the way, I felt very deeply and strongly that God had told me it was time to stay home with my children. That was scary for Greg and me and we continued to question it right up until Matthew was born. I saw his face and new instantly that God had been speaking to me.

Staying home has gone pretty well. The house is cleaned regularly, clothes are washed (just not always put away :), meals are prepared, mommy is bathed, kids are well cared for. I feel successful at what I do. I know Greg appreciates what a hard job I have, even though he won't freely admit it. He has made comments when watching the kids for a few hours that he doesn't know how I get anything done.

Recently I have been studying women of the Bible. God brought the story of Hannah to a Bible study I am doing. The story of Hannah is told in 1 Samuel 1 and 2. Hannah, married to Elkanah, was a woman whom God had decided should not have children for many years of her marriage. He did this in order to bring her closer to Him. During this time in history, a childless woman was considered a failure, cursed by God, and her bareness was a social embarrassment to her husband. Instead of Hannah becoming angry at God, she went to the Lord's temple where Eli the priest stood.

The first commandment (Mark 12:30) says You shall love the Lord God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and will all your strength..." Hannah was the epitome of a godly woman who followed this commandment. She knelt before Eli and prayed to God out of her great anguish and grief. She prayed for God to give her a son, and promised she would give him back to the Lord for all the days of his life. Because of her obedience with God, He granted her deepest desires. When Hannah gave birth to her son Samuel, she prayed a passionate prayer to the Lord.

'My heart rejoices in the Lord;

in the Lord my horn is lifted high.

My mouth boasts over my enemies,

for I delight in your deliverance.

There is no one holy like the Lord;

there is no one besides you;

there is no Rock like our God'

I Samuel 2:1-2

I find her love and deep knowledge of the Lord breathtaking. Hannah did not just pray for the deep desires of her heart on one or two occassions. This was how she lived. 'She poured out her sould before the Lord.' I Samuel 1:15 She and Elkaham reared Samuel to be a man of God and gave him back to the Lord when it was time.

I want to be like her. I want to have so much love and knowledge of God that I am able to do exactly what He wants, trust Him at all times, praise Him day and night, and love Him with a love that is so fearce it cannot be described. I want to rear my children in the way God commands. I know, as Hannah knew, that these children belong to the Lord, not to me. I want to sculpt my childrens lives so that they may follow Christ and be one of His. I want my life to mean more than washed clothes, clean house, cooked meals. That doesn't matter to God or ultimiately my children. I want to have such a stong spiritual influence on my children that they remember all the days of their lives. My greatest desire is to be the woman spoken of in Proverbs 31:10-31 and when I walk into the arms of my Savior, he will look at me and say "Well done, good and faithful servant."

Father God,

I thank you for the blessings of the two beautiful children you have lent to Greg and me. I ask that you watch over them and guide them in thier daily choices. May you give us strength and guidance to be the parents you require so that when it is time to give them back to you, they will freely run into your arms. Help us to put You as our number 1 priority in life at all times and to push away all that does not matter. Lord, help me to be a virtuous woman who eminates your love and grace through my daily choices, words, and actions. Allow me the wisdom to teach my children your Word and show them, not just tell them. Remind me of the picture of Hannah and the blessings you gave her as she lined her life up with Your will. Let her godly life be a reminder of how I am to live. You are a great and mighty God. I love you and praise you. Thank you for loving me and sending your Son to die for my sins.

In His precious name I pray,

Amen

Jessi

2008-06-03T10:05:00.005-04:00

Jessi has been the only animal that has lasted our entire marriage. Greg bought her for me a few months after we married. We instantly fell in love with her. She has this great personality where she is just happy all the time. One of our favorite games with her is the pouncing game. I swear she is part cat. You crouch down in front of her and lock eyes with her then she slowly moves toward you like a wild animal on the prowl. She doesn't blink or look anywhere else but at you. Then you pounce and she runs around the house like crazy. It is hilarious.

She has always been really great with the kids. When Haley was about 6 months old she grabbed Jessi's face and ripped a chunk of hair straight out. Jessi just sat there and wagged her tail. We were amazed. Haley has always loved Jessi and within the last year or two has really taken care of her. She is in charge of putting her out to use the restroom. Jessi uses the "bathroom" on command. So great.

Jessi has always slept on our bed. She sleeps on my feet. It is annoying at times. She often snores as loud as Greg. That's a lot of fun. We tried to get her to sleep in Haley's room but she would not have it. She would scratch at the door until we brought her back into our room.

It's funny that I spoke of her in the present tense throughout this blog. Our beloved Jessi died last week. She had been acting differently the last year. A microburst (kind of a mini tornado) moved through our neighborhood in AZ and lightning struck our tree. This happened while Jessi was outside and she has never been the same since. Whenever we get dressed to go anywhere she begins to shake violently out of fear. Sometimes it would get so bad that she would go into something that looked like convulsions. It was so sad to watch. She wouldn't eat or drink anything while we were gone. She was almost blind and began running into everything. She even ran away and we didn't find her for two days. We didn't want her to suffer any longer so we decided it was time to have her euthanized. We were able to do it at home when Haley was in bed asleep. She passed away peacefully with Greg beside her. I was a mess and couldn't handle it. The next day Haley went to let Jessi out and couldn't find her. Breaking the news to her was very hard. We buried her in our back yard. Haley made a beautiful tribute to her with Jessi's favorite toys, Haley's heart keychain, and a cross. We sat there for over an hour. I tried to get her to leave but she didn't want to leave Jessi alone. It was really Haley's first experience with death. I would prefer that it be her last but I know that won't be the case.

Haley found Jessi's collar yesterday. She handled it really well. I think she is going to be fine. We will make sure to keep Jessi's memory alive through pictures and stories. We are done with pets for a long time. We really have more than enough on our plate. We live in a very dog friendly neighborhood so we can get our fix. There is even a dog that looks just like Jessi.

We will miss Jessi terribly but we know we gave her a great life during her time with us. She blessed our lives and we will never be the same because of her.

The perfect print

2008-06-02T11:32:00.003-04:00

Monday's are usually my cleaning days at home. I try to allow the weekend to be cleaning free, with the exception of pick-ups. So Mondays, my house is usually ready for a thorough cleaning. This morning I came into our kitchen and the large alphabet and animal magnets had all been pulled off the dishwasher and placed just right so that I would have to either pick them up or step on them in order to make my much needed cup of coffee. Isn't that sweet. The basket of plastic ball pit balls were scattered over the hardwood floors tempting the children with their vibrant colors of orange, blue and green. Bleary eyed, I decided I should begin picking them up a little before Matthew realized they were there. I don't know why I bother. Five minutes later (yeah right) they are going to be everywhere again.

In our new house ( I will address this in the next blog) our appliances are all stainless steel, though not as nice as my mom's new kitchen. OOOOOOhhhh I am jealous. Anyways, I went out and bought some fancy stainless steel wipes to keep them looking pretty. Mainly to get the grubby handprint and noseprints from the bottom half of all the appliances. As I began wiping down the appliances I noticed something beautiful. Matthew's perfect little handprint on the front of the oven door. It reminded me of how he was playing peek-a-boo with himself last night by looking into the oven door glass. I couldn't help but smile at the joy he had everytime he discovered his beautiful face looking back at him. I love this age.

Needless to say, that beautiful handprint is still sitting there as a reminder to me that my children are growing so fast and that instead of wiping away the prints they leave, I should celebrate them, enjoy them, and be proud of them. Who cares if my stainless steel oven isn't perfectly shiny. There is time for that. But that handprint will only be there for such a short time. I, for one, am putting away those silly wipes and am going to enjoy the time I have.

Stepping on the alphabet magnets, well, that's another story.

I am so self absorbed

2008-06-01T00:17:00.002-04:00

There are a few things in my life I would like to change. Specifically they are things I do, or don't do. Something that has really bothered me about myself is my lack of discipline when in comes to recognizing birthdays, anniversaries, or even thank you's. Don't get me wrong, I remember every birthday and anniversary. I have this little date book in my head that remembers all sorts of numbers, including dates, addresses, phone numbers, etc. I often think my mind is so overloaded with numbers that there is no room for anything else, hence my inability to remember anything not associated with a number. As far as birthday's and anniversaries, I have over 20 cards that I have bought, signed, and addressed over the last few years. Stamps never seem to get on the cards and they don't make it to the mailbox. Then, by the time I realize, it is way to late and insulting to send. I even have this problem with gifts that need to be mailed. I have all the intention and heart in the world but it never fully gets completed. Thank you notes are the same way. I am so grateful for the many things I have, and I am not just talking about material possessions. I have wonderful friends and family that deserve a lifetime of thank you's. They never know how much I love and appreciate them on a daily basis. It makes me sad that I can't seem to follow through with a thank you letter. I was not raised this way. My grandma taught me to write thank you notes. I completely understand how important they are to people. It makes me so sad that I hurt the feelings of others because I can't get it done. I could give all sorts of reasons...I have two kids and am too busy, when I think about it I am not near a card, I never have stamps, or that the US postal service has raised the price yet again and I now need one cent stamps. I could give many other excuses but the real reason is that I screwed up. The thoughts of letting others down because of my rudeness consumes my thoughts on a daily basis, I hate conflict. Mostly, I just hate hurting the ones I love the most.

For those of you that I have hurt by not recognizing you, I am truly sorry. It is not my intention to show ungratefulness. I just stink at this for some reason. Please know that you are all my greatest life joys and I am truly appreciative for all you do for me and my family. I am very blessed.

Any ideas on how to overcome this issue? I'm all ears.

Saturday Morning Traditions

2008-05-31T09:29:00.000-04:00

We didn't set out to have this tradition. I guess like most traditions, it just happened. For about the last year, Saturday has been all about cartoons. In some ways, it is one of my favorite days of the week, and in other ways it seems wasted. Haley looks forward to Saturdays because it is cartoon day with Daddy. Greg and Haley share the same love language of quality time. They love nothing more than sitting still with nothing but mindless t.v. It's a good thing they have eachother for this because I am certain I have some form of adult ADHD. I cannot sit still. This has driven Greg nuts throughout our marriage because he desperately wants to sit and watch a full length movie without moving. I, on the other hand, am completely unable to. I have tried, and even gotten better through the years. My mind goes 100 miles an hour and covers multiple topics in a second. I have to get up and do something or I will crawl out of my skin. I think that is why this blog is going to be good for me. It gives me an outlet for my mindless drivle.

So every Saturday begins the same way. Haley comes into our room and wakes up Daddy and tells him it's time to snuggle for cartoons. Of course, she is often not quiet through her excitement and I then wake up. She always runs over to me, covers me back up, puts my pillow over my head, and tells me to go back to sleep for a long time. Sometimes, that is no big deal and I relish the thought of sleeping till 9 or even later. Unfortunately God gave me a bladder and a stomach that often have their own agendas. No matter how hard I try, the bladder screams for emptiness and the tummy for grub. Then comes the fun part. I drag myself out of bed and grab the baby and we thump down the stairs. We are greated by my darling Haley, in the arms of my half-asleep husband, yelling at me. "No Mommy, Go back to bed. Go back to bed." I find it funny that she is sad to see me. She is always afraid I am going to ruin this time for her and her daddy. She knows how I feel about T.V. The truth is, I love to see it. I love that they enjoy their time together and that Haley can crawl into her daddy's lap into that perfect position. I love that they laugh at all the same parts and get excited at every new show. I love that they don't even blink for fear of missing something. I love that through the few hours they spend on Saturday mornings, they are building a bond that can never be broken. I love that my husband is such a fantastic father who enjoys his children.

Now, if I can just do something about the stupid cartoons. Discovery channel anyone?

Preschool ends

2008-05-30T13:14:00.000-04:00

My husband and I feel the same way about "graduation". It is meant for seniors of high school and college. Four and five year olds are supposed to move on to the next grade. Basically our belief is that our world is going insanely soft. Why are we giving awards to each child when they don't deserve them? Life is not like that. Not every person gets an award, certificate, trophy, or promotion just because they participate. They get them because they're good. We try to explain this to Haley and she totally gets it. She has always been the one to cheer on the other kids and celebrate thier accomplishments.

I will never forget two years ago, our last Christmas in Arizona. I was pregnant with Matthew and Haley had a Christmas program. She looked so adorable up there. She truly loves to be on stage. We call her our "Drama Queen". She has even introduced herself as Haley "Drama Queen". Cracks me up. Anyways, at the end of this program the music teacher was going to give away some of his tapes that he had recorded. They drew 5 names out of over 100 children. Haley was so excited for each child. She cheered and clapped. You would have thought that she had onewon each time. She didn't win one but never complained. I was so proud of her. I did notice after the concert, several parents were gripping that everyone should have received one because that was only fair. Come on people, what are we teaching our children?

This was not really the intention of this blog but apparently it was something I needed to get off my chest. :) Thanks for listening to my rants.

Today was Haley's end of the year program for preschool. She will be moving on to kindergarten next year. The kids sang songs that they had learned throughout the year. Pretty cute. Parents, grandparents, babysitters, and siblings were there for these 20 precious children. Greg wasn't able to make it due to work so I took lots of pictures. The baby drove me nuts the entire time. The principal could even see me loosing my cool and offered to take him on a lovely walk so I could enjoy the last few minutes of the program, without the banging, shreeking, or constant throwing of cheerios. That was awfully nice. After the songs, each child was presented with a Bible Memory Award for learning thier Bible verses throughout the year, a Curious George Book, and an award for a specific character trait they possess with a verse from the Bible to go with it. Haley was given the Enthusiasm award. Golly did the teachers nail that one on the head. That kid has more enthusiasm than she knows what to do with. Her teacher shared with the group how at the beginning of school when she asked Haley what her middle name was, Haley replied "Drama Queen". Her teacher checked with me to make sure that wasn't really it. I was so embarrassed. We have really let up on the Drama Queen comments. She also shared about Haley's expressive face in a recent picture she took.

I must say, this brought me to tears. I love Haley's enthusiasm for life. She is always the first one to shout out random information if she thinks it will encourage or educate someone. Websters defines enthusiasm in two ways. The first... "strong excitement of feeling". For those of you that know Haley, this is her. Maybe we should change her name to Enthusiasm Drama Queen. Nah, too many syllables to say when she is in trouble. Haley often has so much enthusiasm that her voice gets louder and louder and louder. Apparently, she comes by that honestly. :)

The second definition in Webster is the one I want to encourage more in her...belief in special revelations of the Holy Spirit. Haley has such a heart for God. She fears Him, loves Him, and is learning to know Him. Haley is always the first to pray when you are sad, hurt, or angry. She will just stop everything right there and pray out loud for you. I hope this comes from our modeling. Although our prayer lives are not perfect, they are intentional. We want Haley to hear us pray so she understands it is a conversation with God. There is nothing fancy about it, just come as you are. The day I realized that she understood this and knew it's value was the night I came into her room after a nightmare about 2 years ago. I scooped her in my arms and rocked her back and forth. She said "Mommy, would you please pray for me." I knew in that instant that with everything I do wrong, I must be doing something right. It was a moment of encouragement straight from God. My strongest desire is for my children to know the Lord Jesus Christ and make Him Lord of thier lives. I want her enthusiasm to grow for God. I want her to continue sharing that she has Jesus in her heart with complete strangers that we meet and never feel like she should not ruffle any feathers or feel embarrassed. I always want to hear her making up songs about God's greatness and awesomeness and singing them at the top of her lungs. I want her to continue learning God's word with the excitement that she shows now. I want to continue "catching" her teaching other kids how to pray or who the Philestines are. I want her to always rely on our Savior and know that she is fearfully and wonderfully made.

'For you formed my inward parts; You covered me in my mother's womb. I will praise You, for I am fearfully adn wonderfully made; Marvelous are Your workds, and that my sould knows very well. My frame was not hidden from You, when I was made in secret, and skillfully wrought in the lowest parts of the earth. Your eyes saw my substance, being yet unformed. And in Your book they all were written, the days fashioned for me, when as yet here were one of them.'

Psalm 139:13-16

It Begins....

2008-05-30T12:21:00.001-04:00

I have been wanting to do a blog for quite some time now.... okay for several years. Haley is now 5 and Matthew is 1. Each day brings so much great stuff to share with people and I never write it down. That's pretty sad since I have the worst memory know to man. I want my children to have these early years written down somewhere so they can read and share when they are older. When they ask questions, they won't have to rely on me remembering.

The main reason I haven't started this until now is because I am not great at it. Although I am a teacher, when I write, it just all comes out like a big blob on the paper. Sometimes it doesn't make much sense and I just ramble on. So for those of you looking for humor, you probably won't find it here. For those of you eager for great literature, I know of a few great books you might want to try instead. What you will find here is the window to my heart. I am proud to be a "chosen and adopted, daughter of a Great and Mighty King". I will speak about his greatness often, but not as eloquently as some. This is going to be a great way for me to reflect on my day, praise my Lord, and cherish my children and husband. I hope you enjoy reading as much as I am enjoying being able to tell my stories. I would love to hear your comments.

Well, here goes nothing!

Grace Like Rain

Niagara Falls....oh how I love thee...

Ten Years Ago....

Praying for baby Luke

A whole lotta catchin' up to do...

Matthew update

PLEASE PRAY!!!!!

Not Me Monday

Macey, this one's for you!

Wanna see my latest project????

Not Me Monday....IT'S BAAAACKKK!!!!!

Surgery is over....All is well!

Tomorrow is the BIG DAY!!! Please pray!

My 8

My latest redo project...Oooohhh What fun!

This sweet boy

My big girl!

Measles, quarantine, and opinions

More "wise" words from my 6 year old....

Get on with it!

Pray for Stellan

Observations of a 6 year old

And if ____________, then _________.

I WANT TO BE LIKE MY JESUS

These boots were made for walkin.....

I'll Pray for You...

It's about time...I know....

Not Me Monday

Not Me Monday

Not Me Monday

White as snow

Observations of a 5 year old

Rebecca....This one's for you!

My new song....

Rough Day

Word for the Year!!!

Not Me Monday...

The Secret is in the Sauce: Win a Keurig Platinum Brewing System and $50 worth of K-cups

Win a Keurig Coffee Maker...

Frustrated...

Our Christmas Gift...I still believe in Santa

One year ago today.....

Has it really been that long????

Something to think about.

Ooops! Sorry 'bout that. (Grin)

I love my husband!!!

American girl, through and through

A letter to my son

How is it between you and me?

I want to be like Hannah!

Jessi

The perfect print

I am so self absorbed

Saturday Morning Traditions

Preschool ends

It Begins....

And if ____, then _.