Thankful

Tonight I sit here thankful. I'm thankful for so many different things.
I'm thankful that I have the Lord Jesus in my heart. Through Him all things are possible.
I'm thankful that I have an incredible husband. He keeps me strong no matter what.
I'm thankful that I have 3 sweet and loving children. "I could stay like this forever."
I'm thankful that I have a roof over my head. I stay dry in the rain and warm in the cold.
I'm thankful that I have 3 square meals a day. So many go without.
I'm thankful that I have a job. Idle minds are the devil's play.
I'm thankful that there are smiles. They are contagious and a great thing to catch.
I'm thankful that we live in freedom. How great it is to walk the streets without fear.
I'm thankful that I can sit here and type this to no one or everyone. My life is full. My life is meaningful. My life is pure joy.

Wasted Opportunity

It is so rare to get a glimpse of God's beauty and recognize what it truly is. Today, I grudgingly got out of the van and got Sofia and Owen out and trudged up to Alec's school rather than sitting in the parking lot a little ways from the school to watch him. What drew me out into the cold damp air? FOG. It was so thick you couldn't see the school from the parking lot (which really isn't far away at all). I do not trust others and did not wish for my 7 year old to walk alone through that fog next to the road. So, up we go to the school to see him in the door. On our way back to the van, Sofia was insisting that uncovering her head should be a new Olympic sport and Owen decided he should race Mommy back to the van through the field that is between the school and the parking lot. I wasn't in the mood for all of it, but as we got to the edge of the fencing, I glanced over at the Head Start building to see a break in the fog. The only clear thing was the flag and it was absolutely gorgeous. I was so sad not to have had my camera for that picture, but I snapped away in my mind. I snapped that picture and brought myself out of my own fog.
It has me thinking about how lucky we are. We live in a country that is free. We live in a country that, while we have our shortcomings, we are able to worship without interference. We live in a country in which we can say negative things about our leaders and not feel as if we are putting our lives or the lives of our loved ones in jeopardy. And while I do not agree with being at war at this time, I support those who are over there fighting for us and keeping us free to worship and love and speak openly. Today, God reminded me that no matter how thick the fog, there is always a break through to keep those important things clear.

Sunflower Sweetie

Okay, so I got a great deal and as most of my friends and family know, I love a deal. Went to an arts and craft show today. Saw these great headbands with bows for infants. These were not traditional headbands, but ones that were not tight on the head as you buy in traditional stores. Found one that should match her Easter dress and the lady loved how it looked so much on Sofia that she asked me to put one with a sunflower on her and wear it around the show. Said it was free and definitely hers if I was willing to do that. Loving my deals, I said ABSOLUTELY. :-) Here is my sunflower sweetie. Had to share.

God Is Good

Wow, What a week. Well, Mom made it through sugery and is healing just fine. We are pleased and give praise for that.
Sofia is trying not to let the doctor have his way. He threatened the hospital and she suddenly grew 6 ounces. Praise be to God for that!! We are truly blessed. We are taking things one day at a time. Will return to get another weight check on Wednesday and pray that she is still growing.

Thanks for all the prayers.

My Prayer for today

Dear Lord.

Today I wear my heart on my sleeve and a tear in my eye. I have but two requests for you, my Father.

My Mommy.. Lord, please keep her safe during her surgery and help her to come out okay on the other side. Be with the surgeons as they correct her sinus problems and do all they can not to touch the cyst on her brain causing additional damage. Please let them find that cyst is just as it is, a cyst. And that she wakes up from the anethesia without any complications this time. Bring her back to my babies as they need their Grammy.

And my Sweet, sweet precious little girl.. Lord, You know how I feel about this. I love my baby girl with all my heart and soul. This weekend has been so terribly difficult but it has all been for her. Please, Father, do not let this be all for naught. Today as we go into the doctor's please let her have gained the weight she needs to keep healthy and help me be able to provide the nourishment she needs on a daily basis. Please let this be a simple problem and not something medically wrong with her.

Lord, you are my Rock and my Redeemer and I trust Your Will. Give me the strength this day and always to live my life for you and show you honor and glory.

Forever Yours. Amen.

Contentment

Some days are riddled with frustrations and uncertainty, but that is life. As I sit here holding Sofia and watching the boys play Wii, I feel that content feeling that this is how God intended it to be. Wade scored 100 on Alley Ball, not once but TWICE and they all jumped up and down cheering. This is our family time. Game night is one of the boys' favorite night. Good old fashioned Sorry, hi tech Wii-- it doesn't matter. We are spending time as a family having fun. Does it get any better that this? No way!

Our Beauty

Wow, I couldn't help but post this pic. How gorgeous she is with this wide eyes.

Now I Lay Me

Now I lay me down to sleep....

Tonight as Christmas Eve draws to a close I sit contemplating life and the joys I have because of the special birth this season gives us. Our Lord, Jesus Christ was born on Christmas Day. Brought to the Earth to save us all from our sins. What an incredible gift and an incredible sacrifice. Tonight, I think of Mary. I think of what she thought when she saw that precious baby and had no idea what God might have in store for that special little man that would call her Mom. I think the same thing tonight as I look to my Christmas gift this year. Sofia. What does God have planned for her? What great things will she do? What mistakes might she make getting there? Will she be happy in her life? Will she feel that she has made God proud, Her father and I proud, Herself proud? Will she understand what sacrifices were made to bring her here? So many questions that I think of as I know I should be going to bed. I couldn't help but get this out as I look to our tree and the gifts under the tree and pray that Wade and I have done our best and will continue to do our best to teach our children the true meaning of this holiday season rather than the commercial meaning of the holiday that oftentimes overwhelms the true gift that means everything. I pray for joy and peace to you and your family and to all those who need blessings, I pray those to them. God knows who needs. I close with a picture that speaks volumes.

I pray the Lord my soul to keep. The Angels watch me through the night and wake me with the morning Light. AMEN.

The Big Weekend

This past weekend was one of the busiest we've seen as a family since Sofia was born. We had dress rehearsals and performances and just crazy running here and there.

Owen had his huge debut as a pre-jazz dancer. We were able to download the video to You Tube and decided to put the link on here (it's faster and easier). Enjoy and make sure you don't drink when watching as you might spit out your drink ;-)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cp7W2VxGbDg

Also on Sunday, Alec and Owen performed in the AGCC (Amazing Grace Christian Church) Children's choir performance, "An Island Christmas." What great fun!! I got a decent video of the first song and wanted to share that one as well. What an excellent show of the Christmas story and a unique way for the children to share it with our congregation. The Lord's birth is oftentimes hidden by society's blind eye for other things that they believe will bring them happiness during the holidays. As a family, we are so happy this year for our beautiful gift of Sofia and feel truly blessed that the Lord came to this earth to live and then die for our sins. What a wonderful sacrifice!! What a wonderful gift! Our family hopes that you and your family remember this gift and remember what the season is really about!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S6FfWP6EMj0

Also an update on Sofia. She's been with the rest of us dealing with life and the stomach flu. We are all starting to feel better. And we hope this doesn't hurt the great growth she has had thus far. :-) Take a peek. Isn't she just beautiful?

New Mom

Whoever said this was going to be easy!! I have a great friend named Pat who said that having 3 children is a change in life like none other and not an easy one to say the least. How wise she is!!!

Am I saying it's not worth it? NO WAY. This is more worth it than anything. Just look at them!!!

I see love each time one of them interacts, even if it is the boys fighting with each other or Sofia screaming at the top of her lungs.

Owen loves to sing to his baby sister. You can hear her screaming her little head off and Owen yelling Rock A Bye Baby as loud as he possibly can to try to calm her. And then she actually stops crying!!!! WOW, miraculous. Alec comes and asks about his baby girl every day as soon as he gets home from school. He wants to hold her and protect her. Those boys are going to spoil her and if they don't, Daddy will ;-) I see her already starting to be Daddy's little girl.

The schedule is hard. The schedule is demanding, but The Lord has blessed us beyond measure and completed our family with this wonderful little girl who can light up a room with her bright eyes and tiny smile (yes, she's already started to smile). Speaking of which. She is yelling for Mommy now and Owen's melody is not helping :-) Off to do Mommy Duty.

Christmas Traditions

So my big boy, Alec comes home from school yesterday with what seemed like a ton of homework. As we are looking at it, I was surprised to see a paper that is asking him to tell about his favorite Christmas tradition and to draw a picture of it (as we all know, so many of those things are removed from public school these days). I asked him what he thought would be great to share and he didn't pause for even a second. He said, I want to write, "I go to church on Christmas Eve and we all light candles and stand around the church singing Silent Night." Something so significant to a 7 year old is something that sometimes as adults we take for granted and don't even realize we've created a tradition. It really is a beautiful sight and great to have that reminder of something that is so simple yet so precious. Thanks Alec for taking Christ to school with you!!!!

17 hours

Wow, 17 hours and our new little joy will be here. We are so excited to meet little Sofia in the morning. It's so weird how terribly fast these past 9 months have gone. What a blessing and what a joy!! God has been so good to us to bless us with our third (and final ;-) child. We are so truly thankful for all of the gifts in our lives. Thanksgiving will be an incredible day for our family. We hope it is a time in which all our friends and loved ones are thinking about what they have in their lives to be thankful for!!!

The Christian Wife's Job Description

Job Description....Wife

A wife is one who acts unselfishly as a helper to her husband showing the great gift God has given him. She is an investor and a builder of her household in which she is submissive to her husband and shows the good example of what God wants a wife to be. She is a vision of strength and inner beauty, a gift from the Lord and a trustworthy example to others.
Acting as one with God, a wife must show others by example how to develop sound judgement and wisdom, teaching good things to equip other women to be the ultimate wife we all strive to become. She works to be the best self for her husband and show respect by paying attention to him and his needs and providing time to focus solely on him.

I've been SUCKERED

Well, took some time off. Been insane (thus my blog's name), but today I was suckered by a just barely 4 year old and couldn't believe it.

Those giant blue eyes just looked up and me and said, "Mommy it's my birthday and he looks REALLY lonely. He'd be happy at our home." That's how Owen became the proud owner of his own little betta fish. So I went from going to Meijer to pick up TP to getting TP and a new fish and all the trappings of one for that little smile. Think he's not on top of the world? Take a look at his picture.

The day is ending soon, but his smile from this morning has lasted all day long and quite honestly, it was WELLL worth it!! Tonight was his dinner out. He picked Red Robin and wouldn't you know his luck. Red was there and played with him for a few minutes. What a great day for my now big boy. :-) Let's hope he remembers this when Santa is cheaper this year cause other things like his baby sister or the gas bill take their portion of the income.

Valuable lesson

I have learned a very valuable lesson this afternoon. While trying to rid myself of a migraine, my boys watched tv in their room. Unusual? Nope. They are good about doing that. Problem? Well, their room was just redone and they have a new dresser. The dresser has nothing in it yet, but it never occured to me or my hubby that it could be a bad thing. My 3 year old decided it would be cool to look at the size of the drawers in the dresser. This is not a new dresser. It's old and it's certainly HEAVY. Knowing that, we hadn't worried about anything about it or the fact that their Pirates of the Carribean tv was sitting on top. Thinking that would make it even heavier made me, actually feel a little better so I never worried that the dresser could topple at all.
Well Owen proved me wrong as he does well. He pulled out the top drawer and then decided to see what the bottom drawer looked like, well, being the curious kid he is, he didn't take the time to close the other one. He pulled on the middle drawer which actually looks like two drawers and pulled very hard thinking he could "unstick" them" As he did this, the dresser flew at him landing on him with the top drawer cutting off his air flow. TV flew across the room and my 6 year old screamed louder than I've ever heard him scream. I ripped the cable from the tv to free the dresser and got my 6 year old to pull Owen backwards as I lifted the very heavy dresser that I, at 6 months pregnant, am not supposed to be lifting.
In all this, Owen got a few cuts and bruises and the crap scared out of him. Mommy learned the lesson that no matter how heavy a dresser appears to be, it is not always the most stable. And that a $100 tv is doomed in a bedroom for small children (which I insisted in the first place but gave in to the biggest boy, my hubby and purchased it). It now, no longer will turn on--which is what I'm going to have the hardest time telling him.
Owen is now laying in my lap resting (well, he fell asleep), but I'm close enough to watch him closely in case anything goes crazy after the fact. Whew, could I wish this day away any faster!!

And the week BEGINS

So, every year this time, I spend an entire week with my mother teaching VBS (Vacation Bible School for you heathens). ;-) Do I enjoy this week? No, Not at all. But I'm tied to it as I've been doing it as long as I can remember. Did I volunteer to do this? NOPERS. It was volunteered by YES< my dear mother. NOW, the true question is this. Do I love doing this? Absolutely!! To teach children about the Word of God, that's the best.
Downside. Spending an entire week with my mother sucking the life out of me. Christian or not. Believer or not. PRAY FOR ME. I will need it to make it through this week as my children will be exhausted from day to day and I am pregnant and grouchy as it is and have to cater to my mother's demands on top of my extremely busy online work day and making sure I'm prepared for each day for the kids. And pray for the non-air conditioned building that I don't tear it down this year being so fat and pregnant. hahahaha. We'll see how I am at the end of the week.

THE DOOR

I dreamed of the day that I would find the perfect door. The one that would go where no door had gone before. For 3 years, I kept picturing that door to my kitchen that would show the age of our home and would keep my children from trashing my pantry. The same door that my grandmother had on her home for years. The same door that gave memories beyond compare. And suddenly there it was.
I was walking through the crowded aisles of the Habitat for Humanity Restore and suddenly stopped dead in my tracks as my husband stood there looking at the door of my dreams. I said, babe- LOOK. It's THE DOOR. I didn't care how much it was. I wanted it. $9 later, I had my door on its way home. How do we know it's the door? It fits!!! There is room to do what we wanted- to make it a pass through and include a lock on top and it matches my trim perfectly. It will be installed next week and finally the dream will come to pass. ahhh, more dreams to come and I look forward to every one of them!!

Life Source

One tiny heartbeat suspended in time
The vision of a lifetime that changes all of life

Pumping
.........Beating
................Continuing Life

Annoying but Loving

So I got this annoying friend who I love dearly who said that I need to find a way to unleash my creativity once again. I have been squelched by the role of wife and mother and expected things. So, I listened to her nagging and created a blog. So, here it is Desperately ;-) Just for you? NO, Just for me. We'll see what I really have time to put on here and how creative it gets me going again. Screaming children and destruction to house brings me back to reality, so off to control that.