Amber Land

We're Having a....

2009-09-26T22:31:00.000-04:00

We had our ultrasound on Thursday and we are having a GIRL!!!!! Her name is Azalea-Mae Faith. Azalea was my grandma (my dad's mom) Mae is Chad's grandma's middle name and Faith was my Mom's Mom's maiden name. Faith is also a reminder of my Mom's faith in God during her unthinkable battle. She had unwavering faith that God would heal her...and he did! Also I wanted to let all of you who are praying for my sweet husband know that his appointment is October 15th. It is not for a cat scan but to see a neurologist who is a movement disorder specialist. The shaking in his hand has gotten better but it is still there. Please continue to pray, as much for our nerves as for his health!

Our Life These Days

2009-09-14T10:12:00.003-04:00

Forewarning: I have tried to seperate paragraphs several times now but blogger keeps putting them all together. I don't have time to mess with it so it will have to stay this way. In just eight days we will have our 20 week ultrasound. We will find the gender of our baby. It is still undecided if we will share our news with anyone. We always have but we are thinking this time it might add an element of fun. We'll see. I am not very good at keeping secrets. At any rate I am anxious to find out, and to be sure all is well with baby. In other baby related news Greysen got his first tooth last week. He is the first of our babies to ever get a tooth that early. He was also the most miserable teether we have encountered. He is very spoiled and cries nearly every time he is put down. It is actually quite sad to see. Tristin and Bella are enjoying school. We had a lot of fun last week. Lots and lots of reading but as I've mentioned before we really enjoy that. He seems to enjoy the level of work he is doing now. Much more of a challenge for him. Bella is enjoying drawing along side of us, singing and listening to the stories. We had some scheduling issues the first couple of days but we rearranged our schedule and things have now fallen into place nicely. Hudsyn is doing some serious talking these days. She will be two on the 28th. She is just the most precious little person. Very fiesty and demanding but so loving and sweet. I absolutely adore her. Kait likes her new teacher. She seems wonderful. Last year that wasn't the case so this year we are very thankful. She has had a rough summer. Her Dad and his wife seperated and he and K are living at his parents house. K and her step-Mom had a hard time getting along. If you know K she is pretty easy to get along with and it hurt her very much. Even still K wants them all to be back together again. It is very sad, for all parties involved. She has a little girl who is two years younger than K and they were close. I am not sure what the outcome of their marriage will be but please keep them in prayer. Neither of them believe in God but from conversations K overheard her setp-Mom appears to be pretty angry with this person she doesn't belive in. Speaking of things to keep in prayer, Chad's tendonitis is better but now his arm shaking. It is called a resting tremor. He has to go to the University of Toledo to meet with a neurologist for a cat scan. I am not going to go into the details of what they are ruling out but it isn't pretty. There is a good chance it could be nothing. As of right now he is off work until at least mid October. We still don't have an appointment date because it is very hard to get into that neurologist. We would really appreciate it if you would please pray with us that all tests will come back normal. I will update you as soon as we find anything out.

2009-08-31T12:24:00.000-04:00

I know I haven't posted in forever. We have been really, really busy! Chad is still off work so we have been trying to enjoy the summer as a family (squeezed around physical therapy, doctor and hand surgeon appointments). Our summer is winding down and school is about to start. K will be in fifth grade and T is doing K again. Last year went well but our curriculum was very light but just right for him. He was somewhere between pre-k and K. This year our curriculum is much more intense. T and I are both looking forward to an exciting year. We moved all three of the girls into one room, we moved into K's room and are using our room as a school room. It is nearly ready, it just needs a few finishing touches. I have spent several hours looking over my instructors guides and I am beginning to feel more confident with the materials. Our curriculum is very literature intense. I think it is going to suit our family very well. We got all of K's school clothes and supplies about a month ago so she is all set. I'm getting ready to pull out the totes with all the kids fall pants and pajamas and put them in their drawers. That is about all that is going on over here. I will post soon about the new school year Both K and T will be starting next week. I would post pictures but blogger will not let me for some reason. As soon as I figure it I will post some, I have some really good ones! Until then if anyone has any suggestions please let me know.

Pathetic Rambling

2009-07-14T10:05:00.001-04:00

I know it's been forever since I last posted but we've been very busily unbusy. Chad has been off work since the 2nd of June because of tendonitis. He went to a hand surgeon who is sending him to a nerve specialist then back to the hand surgeon. As of right now he is off until at least August 10th. So we have been steadily busy doing nothing! There is very little he can do with one arm. This is the first summer we have not had a pool so that's pretty boring. So as I siad not much to write about. As I am writing this the little girls woke up and were on their way downstairs before they made it a baby doll head came rolling down and landed right by baby Grey who was laying on the floor. Making me crack up. Bell came down first wearing nothing but a diaper and about seven pairs of underwear and a pair of plastic panties for leakage. It was funny until I realized that she was hurting because of the elastic. Bless her heart. Then Hudsyn made it down and she was carrying a headless babydoll. Which really cracked me up. I begged Chad to immediately fix the doll between it's head laying next to baby Grey and her carring a headless doll it just seemed so wrong. That is about the extent of our life right now. Today we are going to the Automotive Hall of Fame. At the library you can get passes to go free to a whole bunch of museums and things of that nature. Kait will be missing out due to the fact that she is camping for two weeks with her Grandparents. I figured there is nothing around here to do , a girl should have some summer fun! So there you have it a whole lot of nothing going on around here. One thing I forgot to mention, I didn't realize I hadn't let you know, we will be welcoming another new baby in February! So that is it a whole month has went by and not much more to tell you than that!

Three

2009-06-16T12:28:00.012-04:00

Last week was Bell's third birthday. She turned three. I can't grasp that still. Where did three years go? Watching her grow has been such a joy. She is so sweet, loving and gentle. She has such a precious spirit about her. She can soften the heart of anyone around her. She has a firey side but is very teachable and once she gains wisdom that fire will change into self control. She has a very special calling on her life. I am not sure what it is yet but in time God will reveal that to her.

Jax was Bella's birthday present (although he is everyones dog). He is also three. We adopted him from a local pound, he was going to be out down the morning we adopted him. He is housebroken and very gentle with the kids. He know how to sit, shake and roll over. He is a very nice addition to our family.

For her birthday we went to Heritage Park and the petting farm. Later that evening my dad and Carlyn and their family came over and brought her cake and gifts. The following day we had a party for her at Caesar Land. The pics above are the park and petting farm.

Meet Jax

2009-06-05T23:19:00.007-04:00

Sandcastle

2009-05-27T22:59:00.005-04:00

So it's 11:00 pm. I just got out of the shower and headed down to my room. Kait and Bell were in my bed. I turned on the light to get dressed. Not realizing they would be in there. Bell looked at me with complete concentration in her eyes and said "I'm making a sandcastle in my diaper." It cracked me up I usually get on her for her potty talk, she is obsessed with bathroom talk and has been testing it out since she was old enough to form a sentence. In fact when she is mad at a sibling she calls them pee. It is so disgusting, I hate potty talk. Someday this phase will pass, right?

Outside Work

2009-05-23T10:13:00.003-04:00

I have decided I no longer loathe Michigan. I quite like our spring, summer and fall. I have posted little of substance lately because every waking minute the kids want to be outside and Chad and I have a TON of work to do out there. Here is our running list...seriously. Replacing all the landscaping bricks in the front yard. They are all squiggly and buried in the dirt. There must be 50-75 feet of them. Seriously. Unplanting pond plants and transplanting them so my Dad can have them. Taking all the dirt from where the pond was and bringing it to the front beds. I did five wagon loads last night and it looks as if I've barely scratched the surface. Replacing patio pavers where the pond was. But of course we will have to make it level and put down slagstone first. Relocating eating area to side of patio where pond and fire pit were. Searching for a canopy thingy for shade. Why are they so expensive? The only shade we have until early evening is in the shed. :) Tending to the new garden we planted. We have corn, potatoes, tomatoes, green peppers, red peppers, hot banana peppers, jalapeno peppers, green beans, cucumbers, onions and lettuce. I have to get back to Blocks's to buy some pumpkin seeds. I think the kids will enjoy growing their own pumpkins. I also have a few herbs. Needing to put a fence around the garden. I just want a three foot tall picket one. Pulling up part of the patio pavers to make a playground area. Our patio is about 800 square feet. It worked well for my parents but we just don't need that big of an entertaining area. Mulching around the playscape. Hudsyn fell off right after we moved it (on to the patio bricks, no less) and busted open the area right over her eye. It was so bad that you could see through the skin to the inside of her head. She had to have seven stitches. Which brings me to our next project. Putting the same kind of fence as the garden around the playscape. There were four adults in the backyard when she fell. She is just really fast. I need to be able to keep her off unless I am with her. Scouring Cragislist for a pool. We have always had the metal Intex pools. I would like to get a good used one. Putting lighting in the back yard. Currently there is none. Chad ran electrical now we just need to buy and hang fixtures. Put fencing on side of house. We only need like four feet. Building a 8X12 sandbox with a canopy over it. This has to be done soon because it is going to be for Bell's birthday in about three weeks. She loves sand. Buy and plant flower and plants in the front yard. The beds and planter boxes are empty except for some hostas and rose bushes down the side. We have a large area of beds and five planter boxes around the porch plus hooks for six hanging baskets. Need to buy lots of flowers. Need to spray the house down. It's filthy. We live on a main road so lots of dust. Fix a baby gate to the porch. Again Hudsyn is fast. Stain the porch. It's looking sad. Paint the garage door. Fix the water line on the hot tub. Yes I realize this will take most of the summer to get done. So it's a good thing we have that long! That list wasn't really for you, it was for me. It looks much longer than it sounds. Yikes. Maybe two summers and it will all be done.

Creation Museum

2009-05-18T21:29:00.011-04:00

On our way home from vacation we went to the Creation Museum. It was an amazing place. It was so great to be able to show the kids what we have been teaching them. If you ever get the opportunity to go it is well worth your time and money. They focus on dinosaurs and the great flood as the "missing link". It's in Petersburg, Ky. I can't explain how cool it was so instead I leave you with pictures! I am only posting Adam and Eve tonight. Of course posted them backwards and am too tired to fix it so start at the bottom and work your way up, or not whatever works for you! The next post will be pics of Noah and the Ark.

2009-05-12T08:46:00.013-04:00

I didn't realize it had been a month since I last posted. We have been busy, very busy. Spring broke and we have been working outside nearly everyday. The kids have been busy playing outside, enjoying God's creation. We had a wonderful vacation. We had lots of fun. We didn't get to everything on my list but we did do most of it. Today I am posting pictures our day mountain exploring. 1. John and Hudsyn, after a ride earlier in the day. Every time we went on the mule she fell asleep 2.Tristin and Bell playing by the cave 3. Kaitlynne driving the four wheeler 4. Trisitn driving the four wheeler, I don't think I would have looked as calm as John if I were on the back of a four wheeler with a five year old who was not even watching the road. 5.Kait on the back with John going through one of the many mud puddles on our adventure 6.Train trussel 7. Chad "hanging off" train tracks 8. T,B and K "hanging off" train tracks 9. Hudsyn "hanging off" train tracks 10. Bell and Hudsyn walking on tracks

Vacation!!!

2009-04-10T21:31:00.003-04:00

I am so excited!!! We are leaving for Tennessee on Monday! Tennessee has been one of the only vacation spots I have ever know. My parents went there for their honeymoon and that then became our family vacation spot. I remember a few years in Florida visiting my grandparents, I am not sure but we may have went to Tennessee those years as well. I went on a cruise once to the Caribbean which turned out to be not at all for me. I much prefer the mountains. We always went to Gatlinburg and shopped 'till we dropped. Saw shows and swam. On the way we used to stop in Middlesboro, Ky. My grandparents lived in Middlesboro. I have the greatest memories of my grandma and I making mud pies out of red dirt. I remember her singing Rock a Bye Baby while we made them, I remember sampling a mud pie when she went in the house to get something. I remember their piano bench that I once fell off of and broke my collar bone. I remember my Grandpa drying my hair after a bath with a paper towel before he brushed it. I remember going to my Great Aunt's house, also in Middlesboro. She had a caboose out by the road in front of her tire shop (which was next to her house). When we went I always played in that caboose. One year My Grandpa and I were on our way back to Michigan and stopped by her house. My Aunt Maxine told me that she had a little porcelain dish set for me to play with in there if I wanted to. I played in there for our entire visit. That is one of my most precious memories. My Grandpa always referred to it as my caboose. I loved that caboose so much. (When I got a little older one of my teachers introduced me to The Boxcar Children book series. It is a mystery series about four kids who lost their parents and went on the run from their grandfather whom they believe to be awful. They find an old boxcar in the woods, fix it up and begin living in it. Their grandfather finds them and they discover he is a kind man. They move in with him and he transports their beloved boxcar to their new home. As a side note he is also very wealthy and can take them to wonderful spots all over the world where they always find a mystery waiting for them. My kids now LOVE the series. They found some of my old books we read them and added several to our collection. We have been known to read a book in a day. The whole family rallies in our bed or on the couch and begs every time we say we are going to stop reading and because Chad and I are so into it to we read on). Oddly enough Tennessee has also been one of my hubbies only vacation spots. He grew up going to Tazewell. His grandparents owned quite a bit of land on a mountain. They would go and play and explore. What an amazing vacation to be able to have as kids. The imaginative play is endless. The funny thing about that is that he passed "my" caboose every time on the way to his vacation spot. Middlesboro is only about fifteen minutes from Tazewell. We grew up living an hour away from each other and spent much of our childhood summers within a few minutes of each other but 10 hours away from our homes. We also honeymooned in Tennessee. First going to his parents mountain house (it wasn't a home then because they didn't live there yet) and then onto Gatlinburg. Fast forward to present time and his parents now own that land, have retired, moved from Michigan and live there. We now have the opportunity to vacation down on the same mountain that my sweet husband played on with his siblings as a boy. Our family loves that mountain more than any other place on this earth. We are constantly scheming up ways or reasons to go down there. Truth be told I would love, LOVE to move down there. Consequently we are always trying to figure out ways to find Chad a job down there that makes enough to feed us and has health insurance. As a homeschooling mom, I couldn't imagine any better classroom than that mountain. What a wonderful childhood one could have there (if it ever does happen to work out you can expect us to have more babies). On a seriously note Chad's parents have graciously offered to gift us land to put a home on if we would like to. This trip we are going to try to pick out our land. If we find a spot I will take pictures to post. When we vacation now we always stay at my in laws house and make a day trip to Gatlinburg. We try to blend our childhood vacations. This year is a pretty big vacation year for us. Our plan is to stop at the Creation Museum just inside Kentucky and get a hotel for the night then in the morning go to The Kentucky Horse Park (they have two horse museums and a hands on museum for kids). Then head to the mountain. From there we plan on dying Easter eggs, having an egg hunt on the mountain. Painting Nana bird houses. Going on a rock expedition to find smooth, round rocks to paint and make look like ladybugs. Chad parents have graciously offered to gift us land to put a home on if we would like, this trip we are going to try to pick out our land. The intention is that we will one day (in the near future???) put a home on it. I am very excited about We are going to Lincoln Memorial Museum. Then the Historical Society (Chad's mom, Debbie volunteers there) it isn't open yet but we get a sneak peek. We are going to lookout point where we can see where Tennessee, Kentucky and Virginia meet. If weather permits we would like to go to the Knoxville Zoo( my kids love animals, they usually can be found crawling barking and most recently eating and drinking out of dishes on the floor, we also have to call them by their specific animal breed and name). Then we are going to Gatlinburg, once there we will go to the Aquarium (which we go to every time because the kids love it). To the Salt and Pepper Shaker Museum (I know it sounds silly but it is cheap and we get to buy new salt and pepper shakers). The Old Mill restaurant (mine and Debbie's favorite). Then we are going to the place I am most excited about...The Miracle Theater, I have heard great things about it and can't wait to see it for myself. Depending on how the kids do at the hotel in Kentucky we may stay one night in Gatlinburg. If we do I would like to take them to Cade's Cove because it is nature and history rich (I am trying to make it an educational vacation). I was also considering the Space Needle. That one kind of depends on logistics with a stroller, five kids and four adults. Altogether I think we are going to be gone about 11 days! Please pray for traveling mercies for us. Hope you all have a great Easter! I may post pics of the kids on Easter if I get a chance.

Our Day!

2009-04-07T21:07:00.014-04:00

1. Greysen in his Sleepy Wrap. He literally stays in there almost all day. I put him in his swing for a little while so he can stretch out and put him on his tummy for a little bit. I may have mentioned it before, in case I didn't he is very fussy. He cries the nearly the whole time he isn't wrapped. When I wrap him he is instantly content and most often falls right to sleep.

2. Crazy Kait, she is showing that she is embracing her tweenhood (I think I may have just made up a word).

3. Hudysn on top of a toy (she is always climbing). She doesn't have a shirt on because she just finished eating chocolate cake and got it all over her shirt.

4. Bell "reading" in their boxcar (from the boxcar children series)/ cage (because they always pretend they are dogs).

5. Trisitn lighting the way in the boxcar cage.

6. Their boxcar.

7 and 8 - Baby Grey in his bouncy seat, I took about 30 pics of him in the seat and those are the only two that he isn't making sour faces in.

The Color of God

2009-04-05T18:15:00.002-04:00

Tristin: Mom, we need to have muffins soon. Me: You're right. I love blueberry muffins and we haven't had them in a long time. Tristin: Yeah, I used yellow candles. Me: Good (having no clue now what he is talking about because apparently the subject changed). Tristin: Yeah, because yellow is the color of God.

Lead Me

2009-03-30T12:37:00.002-04:00

Tristin and Bell playing in the dirt. They look like this every time they play outside. There is a struggle that I face constantly. Every day from the time I wake up until the time I go to bed. It may not seem like that great of a struggle to everyone. It is no secret sin, nothing that I need to ask forgiveness for. I often do find myself crying out for help, guidance, direction and wisdom. The struggle I face daily is doing the absolute best job I can raising Godly kids. God has chosen to bless us with five lives to shape and mold. That is a huge responsibility. Adding to that is the responsibility of homeschooling them. It is one of the best gifts I can give them. But if I don't stay centered in Christ the overwhelming responsibility can consume me. I don't mean the work that I put into it or the time it takes each day. I mean the task of taking their education into my own hands and eventually sending them out into the world with the trust that we followed God's leading every step of the way. I don't live in fear that I am not doing a good enough job or that somehow we are wrecking our kids. I am doing my best and God covers everything else. My best means me actively seeking God's will and not mine. It means answering them with a pleasant tone when I want to snap back. It means showing them the unconditional love that my Heavenly Father shows me. It means extending them grace and then explaining to them the grace of God. It means showing love to my husband in front of them and not letting him "have it" when I want to loose my cool. It means teaching them to do their chores with a merry heart and not doing them for them because that is the easy way out. There is one facet that I continually struggle with though and that is discipline. Not the act of doing it but choosing the right discipline for the offense. As my children grow so do their offenses. When they were younger it was simple. I wholeheartedly believe in making each offense a learning lesson. To me that means that there is logic in my discipline. Some children in our house prove to be easier than others. They have reached an age at which they have started fighting. For weeks I have been praying for a consequence to hitting that makes sense. I am happy to report that God answers prayers. Last night my kids were playing and one of them got hurt. I was upstairs but clearly heard I hate you yelled out. I can not stand those words, especially when they are spoken over one of my kids. My first reaction was to put the offender to bed early while myself and the other child played the board game I had agreed to play with both of them. But again that is just a punishment not much teaching being done there. As I walked down the stairs ready to announce an early bedtime after an apology, the Holy Spirit reminded me that death and life are in the tongue. That talk is cheap (an apology) and powerful (I hate you). That while an apology is in order it takes more than that to restore a relationship. The Lord then gave me the answer to my prayer. It was simple, I don't know why it never occurred to me before. After a heart felt apology the offender will have to show their love for the sibling that they hurt. They have to actively look for ways to show their love and sacrifice their time to serve the other person when they need help. I am calling it serving and showing. The one on the receiving end is not allowed to hint that they need help, the offender must be looking for ways to help. God truly is faithful to help us when seek Him. I am so thankful that he can see through all the junk that I bring to Him each day and still love enough to care about the deepest desires of my heart.

Our Story

2009-03-24T08:30:00.003-04:00

When Chad and I met we "just knew" we were made for each other. He and a friend called me over to play cards at night. That was the first time we spent any time together. I came over and we played go fish, because that is all I knew how to play (being raised in church I obviously knew cards were of the devil). That night he walked me out to my car. After talking at the car for a loooong time we got in, only because it was cold. We decided that if we were in we should at least drive around (a favorite past time even now). We drove and we talked the night away. I dropped him off and went home early that morning only because I had a U of M game to work at. After that we inseparable. We started dating in September and got married in January. We already had a family because I had Kaitlynne. She loved Chad and even before we were married she asked if she could call him Dad. That March I went to the hospital because I was having severe pain in my stomach. Chad came from work to meet me there. The doctor said it was gull stones. Most likely caused because I was pregnant. We were completely thrilled. We wanted to start a family as soon as possible because Kait was already three. In November Tristin arrived. While I was pregnant we decided I should stay home to raise our kids. We knew it would mean some financial sacrifice but that was something we wanted to give our kids. While I was pregnant we started discussing homeschooling. We began trying almost immediately for another baby. I found out on Fathers Day that I was pregnant. About ten weeks later we miscarried. We tried again, same thing. Once more, same result. After three miscarriages in one year we decided that we were done. We were thankful for the two children we had and didn't want to go through that pain ever again. Then one night the Spirit of the Lord spoke very clearly to us and told us both that we were going to conceive and this time we would not miscarry. That is how we got our sweet Bell. God convicted us for telling Him we didn't want anymore kids. We always prayed for God to lead our lives and be in the center of His will. We thought we meant that prayer but deep down in our hearts we wanted to protect ourselves from any more baby heartbreak. After that we decided to let God decide the size of our family. Two more sweet babies later here we are. We are not sure if our family will grow anymore. I have a peace that we could be done and be in the center of God's will. God has not spoken directly to either one of us. I used to think that letting God determine your family size could only could mean not using birth control. Now I believe that God can speak to your heart and let you know when your family is complete. For the time being my answer to the most commonly asked question is we think we are done. With that being said as surrendered children of the Most High that is not up to us. If he leads us in a different direction we will follow.

Life

2009-03-18T22:40:00.007-04:00

Hudsyn and Chad playing under our desk. She crawled up under there with him while he was running some electrical. She's more than a bit of a Daddy's girl!!!

I know it's been a long time since I posted. I have been so busy that I have only got on the computer to check my bank account and the weather. I have been running on very little sleep and when I have a free minute I try to get a little rest.

Baby Greysen has been having a bit of a rough time. Many days he is very fussy. He throws up quite a bit, not just as in often but also amount. He didn't start that until he got sick a little less than two weeks ago. He caught what was originally a cold. It went from being a cold to RSV. He was almost gasping for air and although I didn't realize it at the time he was almost blue. We took him into the hospital two days after he was after he had seen his doctor. My dad's wife, Carlyn and I took him in. Since we went to the hospital that she works at (and once gave me a job at) I stayed and registered him and she took him back to see the doctor. I think by the time I got back there the doctor had already decided to admit him. He wanted to send him to Children's by ambulance which concerned me, that turned into fear when I found out that five nurses were coming to pick him up in case he needed to be intibated (not sure how you spell that). He did pretty well. Literally every medical care person that came to see him after he started getting better said that they were glad to see his color back and that he had really scared them. So now he is doing a lot better just a lot of throwing up and very hard and forceful coughing. Then the night we brought him back home Bell crawled in bed with us and was moaning and crying in pain. Chad gave her motrin and put her back to bed, she slept for a couple of hours and then got up crying again. He got up with her again and she was just inconsolable. I took her into the doctor and she had an upper respiratory infection, two ear infections, her asthma was acting up and she had tonsillitis. She got an antibiotic and is feeling much better. Did I forget to mention that somewhere in there my van broke down. We took it in but couldn't pick it up before our trip to Children's. It all worked out fine, just a hassle. By the way I wanted to say a huge thank you to Carlyn and her Mom. Carlyn took off work to help with baby Grey and the kids so that Chad could come down to the hospital with me and baby Grey. Her Mom, Sandy came in the mornings and watched all four kids still at home, did my dishes and straightened up. She stayed until Carlyn got home from work and took over. I can't thank them enough.

Adjusting to life with five kids is been a bit of a challenge. I think it is more the closeness in age of the last three than the amount of kids. There is 15 months between the girls and 16 between Hudsyn and Greysen. I didn't have a difficult time with Bell when we brought Hudsyn home. She was so laid back and always waited while I fed and diapered Hudsyn. Hudsyn has a very different personality than Bell. Bell is very emotional and temperamental but sweet and easy going. Hudsyn is temperamental and sweet but not even slightly close to easy going. She reminds me of Tristin when he was that age. You couldn't possibly have enough hands to handle her. It takes me and someone else to watch her in our childproofed living room. She climbs on everything tries to climb over the couch and onto the swing with baby Grey in it before she gets caught. We have been successful so far in keeping her away from him. She no longer tries to hit him in the head after she so sweetly rubs his head and smiles at me. As spastic as she is I would never change anything about her if I could. I know people say that but I really wouldn't, I adore her. She has the most amazing spirit and piercing blue eyes and a smile that makes you smile too. Now Bell has hit her terrible two's and she is either having some sort of emotional melt down or hitting someone over the head with a blunt object. I wouldn't change anything about her either. I have the greatest kids, truly I do. I am blessed beyond anything I ever dreamed of. I love my kids and staying home with them. Life is very busy but I love it.

I am going to try really hard to post at least once a week. I want to be able to look back through my posts and remember what life was like for us right now. So if I don't post you'll know that I am spending my nights walking across the floor trying to soothe a fussy baby. Whom by the way is also absolutely perfect!

He's Here!!!!!

2009-02-19T14:14:00.004-05:00

Baby Greysen arrived on Tuesday at 4:17 pm!! He was 6 lbs. 14 oz. (after all the worry). Labor and delivery were great. I got my epidural in time that I felt very little if any of the contractions. I only had to push once and he came out. It was a great day. It couldn't have went any better. His brother and sisters are completely in love (with the exception of Hudsyn).

2009-02-12T23:29:00.003-05:00

Well, my computer is still not fixed. This is primarily because I have not taken it in to get fixed. I should really do that soon. So borrowing Dad's again. I went to the doctor today for my 39 week check up. I am still dilated to 2, not much excitement there. I have an induction scheduled for next Thursday at 6:00 am. Our doctor that is our friend was hoping to induce me on Tuesday but there are no openings. So as for now they are waiting for someone on the induction list to deliver and I will be next in line to be moved up. If we don't get a sooner date as of tomorrow they said they are almost positive that come Monday morning they will be calling with one. They say someone on the induction list will deliver over the weekend for sure. If I am having regular contractions on Saturday the doctor I saw today said to come in Saturday and they will break my water. So basically I know no more than I did before I went to my appointment today. Everything will most likely change. That will give us some time to get things done before I deliver. Like putting our kitchen back together! We tore it completely apart. No floor or cabinets or anything like that. It is all in our dining room addition that is basically a subfloor and studs! What were we thinking??? We decided this was a good plan last week and on a whim ripped it apart! Seriously though it was 20 years old and had country blue ceramic tiled floor and mauve, blue and cream ceramic counter tops. All I could think about was breeding ground that that counter must have been for germs and bacteria. So apparently I decided no counter top was much better! It is going well though. I should have a new floor tomorrow or the next day and my kitchen finished soon! I will blog again when I know what our definite date is.

2009-02-05T20:32:00.002-05:00

So I had every intention of keeping you posted a little better. My laptop broke, the part that the cord plugs into got stuck inside the computer. I called my Dad and he brought his over for me to use tonight. We have been very busy getting ready for Greysen. We finally bought his crib and put it up. It looks so sweet. I had my doctor appointment yesterday. She said I am dilated to two and ready to go. If I don't go into labor by next Friday they are going to induce me. I love being induced because you can plan so much better. The only problem this time is that baby Grey is getting too big. They are pretty sure he is over eight and a half pounds. She thinks if I go to next Friday he could be around ten pounds. Yikes!!! Our biggest baby yet was Bell and she was 7lbs. 15oz. That is a far cry from ten. My doctor swears walking will help. So today we went to the YMCA and walked over two miles, rode the stationary bike for four miles then went swimming. Nothing. Some contractions but nothing consistent. We will be going again in the morning for more fun at the Y! I was fine with keeping him in my belly until induction day but I am afraid I can't squeeze out a ten pound baby. One of the doctors at our practice is a friend of ours and he is the resident for L&D at our hospital this weekend. Hopefully this weekend will be it and he will be able to deliver this sweet (extra big) baby. Hope this all makes sense, I am to tired to read over it! I will post again as soon as I get my computer back!

Bedroom Makeovers

2009-01-27T13:01:00.005-05:00

I mentioned in my last post that I love Kait's new room. I love it but she hasn't seen it yet. She has been at her Dad's. We thought it would be less chaotic for her if we did it while she was gone. She comes home today after school. I can't wait for her to see it, she's going to love it. This is her third room change since we moved in mid November. This will be her last. It is the smallest room in the house, maybe even in the world. She is the only person in the whole house that doesn't have a rooming buddy. So by default she gets the small room. Chad and I moved to her old room, it is much bigger as well as hot pink. Today it is getting a paint job. Thank God. The pink is bright enough to light a cave. Tristin and Greysen's room is done as well. It may be my very favorite room in the house. It is so cute, when we buy Greysen's crib I will post pics of that room. We haven't bought the crib yet because I can't find the right cherry to match T's bed and if I order it from the same people we got the other kids beds from we may have to use our entire tax return! For the first couple of months he will sleep in his bassinet in our room. I really do need to start looking for one to match though. Anyhow that is our bedroom update situation. I know you were all just dying to know.

I went to my appointment yesterday and surprisingly everything was good still. No sign of him coming in the next few days. I will be 37 weeks on Friday. I don't expect to see any action before that. I am still not dilated and he seems to be happy in there now. The longer he cooks the happier he will be. In the beginning of my pregnancy they said they were going to induce me at 39 weeks. I am not sure if that still is the case or not but I know that God knows what baby Grey's birthday will be and that is all I need to know. I will try to keep you updated but as for now don't expect much change!!!

A Few of my Favorite Things

2009-01-24T22:38:00.003-05:00

1. The way Hudsyn backs up to me and sits in my lap.

2. Bell's imaginative play.

3. Kaitlynne's new room!!!

4. Reading to Tristin

5. The way my husband knows me well enough to grab the kids and get out of the way when I go into a cleaning frenzy.

6. Baby wearing.

7. Greysen, can't wait to meet him.

8. My huge van.

9. Spending quality time with my kids.

10. Homeschooling

2009-01-22T14:30:00.002-05:00

Just a quick post to let you know that as of tomorrow I will have made it to 36 weeks! I have my next appointment on Monday, I will post then and let you know what they say!

Baby News

2009-01-15T08:59:00.002-05:00

I have been a crummy blogger lately. I have barely even checked other peoples blogs. I have been busy preparing for the baby, doing school and working through some insane contractions. I went to the Doctors a week ago Monday I was 5 days away from being 34 weeks. When she examined me she felt his head at about the lowest position it could be and begged me not to go into labor until at least 34 weeks. At 34 weeks they no longer stop your labor. She said I would have to go through very unpleasant procedures if I went into labor before then. Despite frequent and painful contractions I made it through. I went in this past Monday and I am still not dilated but my cervix is soft. He said if I can make it to 36 weeks they will welcome me with open arms. The baby should be well enough that there is a good chance he could come home with us at that point. He was a little upset I hadn't went to L&D triage during the contractions. He kept telling us that every woman who has ever delivered in her bathroom with 20 EMS guys watching said the same thing I kept saying, "it can't be real labor". I will insert here that I am obviously right because I am still pregnant. I did get the point though. I may be a little less reluctant to go next time I start having strong, regular contractions. In other news, we have decided to change the baby's name to Greysen Johnny. Greysen is my favorite boys name and Johnny is after Chad's dad. He has already been given the nickname baby Grey. Anyhow I will try to do better keeping you posted!

Can't Wait!

2008-12-23T22:00:00.002-05:00

It is the night before Christmas Eve and I am every bit as excited as I was 20 years ago. This year I am excited to watch my kids open their gifts! I promised myself we wouldn't buy to much that we would get the kids used to being raised in a big family. I wanted their gift from Santa to be a trip to the Great Wolf Lodge to enforce spending time together. I wanted all their presents to be educational tools. I wanted to have a day that we spent together not running from house to house, but to let them enjoy the day in their jammies playing with their toys. Christmas will not be what I had decided it should be. We got a little over excited when we went shopping. We bought a couple educational toys but most are toys. Santa did not bring a trip to the Great Wolf Lodge, we will be doing that anyway. He brought a Nintendo DS for K (who quite possibly would not live to see a single day past Christmas without one), a V-Motion for T and so on. I want to teach my kids not to expect too much on Christmas but it is a hard cycle to break. Although I don't remember it there are stories of a Christmas when I was little I had so many gifts to open I had to take a break. On the positive side it looks like we will not be leaving the house all day on Christmas Eve or Christmas Day! For the first time ever our babies will stay home and play and enjoy the day. We will relax watch movies, eat junk and play with their toys with them. From our family to yours Merry Christmas!!!!

Soon!

2008-12-13T12:10:00.002-05:00

As of yesterday it will be no more than nine weeks until we meet Jonsen. Since they are inducing at 39 weeks. With Hudsyn I only made it 38 weeks. No one can say when he will be here but he is coming soon. I am getting very excited. I can't wait to hold him and love on him. I missed quite a bit of Hudsyn's babyhood with my mom being sick. She started not doing well in January so my memories become quite foggy. After she passed in February I remember even less. I think I started coming out of the fog around May and remember her babyhood from about that point on. Tristin and I were laying in bed looking at the pictures on my laptop of the last year or so. I barely remember taking the pictures, which I know I did. I didn't realize then but that is how I see it now. It breaks my heart now. I remember trying to make sure that she didn't know. I still held her quite a bit of the time but for me I wasn't as smitten as I usually am. I am very excited to be moved and settled. Having five kids sounds like a lot and looks like a lot in a picture but it doesn't feel like that many. I am really starting to understand why people say that when you have a big family the older kids help with the younger ones. Kaitlynne is a toss up, she may help or she may cause the biggest arguments. Tristin is becoming quite the helper. He plays with Bell all day, they play all sorts of imagination games. He likes to make himself and the little girls PB&J's get their snacks and drinks. Get diapers and wipes. He tries to explain things to Bell and teach her what he is learning in school. Which she picks up on her own for the most part. We are really enjoying homeschooling. I am so glad that I went ahead and tried it. I was really afraid that it was going to be too much or I wouldn't be disciplined enough to do it. Turns out to be so much easier and more fun than I expected. I love spending the time with him and watching him learn new things. He learned to read his first book on Thursday. It was so exciting. I see how families that homeschool are so close. T and Bell have such a great bond. They enjoy each other company so much. It is such a blessing to see. I can't say enough how much I am enjoying homeschooling this year! So glad we went ahead with it. This post was all over the place but I figured I would put my thoughts into writing.

I'm Back

2008-12-10T22:21:00.007-05:00

It's been a month and a half since I last blogged. It has been the craziest time in our life. We bought a new van, which took a long time to find so I was without a car for a week two. That was interesting, try finding a car when you can't go out and look! We were blessed to have friends let us borrow their car while we searched. We bought one we love!!! It looks like a church van! Perfect for a family with lots of kids and tons of space in the back for storage. We got a crazy good deal on it. I couldn't be happier with it. Then we moved. That's right, again. I intend on never moving again. Seriously. We took over my parents house. My Dad moved out when he got remarried. It is nice to be here. It feels like home (obviously).

We enjoyed Thanksgiving here. It felt weird without my Mom here but comforting at the same time. We made our first Thanksgiving dinner and enjoyed the day alone with the kids. We have always tried to divide the day between both our families which is nice but not easy. I felt like we were rushing around and yelling at the kids and scarfing down food only to run to the next place. We had a very relaxed day this year, we even got a nap while we were waiting on the turkey to cook! After dinner Chad and the kids wrestled on the floor and then we watched the Santa Clause. We are blessed!

God Help Us

2008-11-05T08:07:00.005-05:00

Heavenly Father, I come to you this morning with a heart thankful for your grace. Forgive us when we harden our hearts toward you. Forgive us when we stop trusting you and we put our trust in the empty promises of man. Please God help, lead us and guide us. Lead our newly elected president. Help him to make decisions that you would have him make, soften his heart. Guide the men and women that he relies on. Amen

Pumpkin Day Pics

2008-11-02T19:11:00.005-05:00

Pretty Bell

2008-10-26T21:49:00.003-04:00

Tonight we were watching Nim's Island with K and T. Bell and Hudsy were sleeping. Bell woke up, had a few cookies, watched the movie and then Chad took her back to bed. I commented on how I was impressed that she had stayed in bed. About half an hour went by before I saw her run from our room to her room with a pink pillow (or so I thought). I mentioned how she must have been laying in our bed and wanted to go to her bed to sleep. Then I saw her again, running back to our room with her pillow, but then I realized that was not one of the decorative pillows from the girls beds but my makeup case. I ran up to check out what in the world was going on. I walked in her room and she said "I pretty mama, I pretty makeup". I brought her down to inspect her and grabbed my makeup case. She had nearly every cap off of every item in there. She took big chunks out of my (favorite) lip stick, she put foundation in my moisturizer and did a little other damage but she sure looked cute!!! She was so proud of herself. She has watched me every single time I put on my make up for at least a year. She always says "I want to paint too"! I actually keep old makeup in my case so she can "paint" herself as well. I couldn't be mad because I know how much she loves it and she does have her own makeup in there too. I was actually impressed that she was able to get all the lids and caps off and knew how to put the foundation on. I thought I would post pics of her so you can all see her foundation, I have yet to discover where she put all that lipstick....maybe I should recheck my sheets before I get into bed.

Grocery Day

2008-10-24T08:23:00.002-04:00

So it's grocery day again. It comes every other Friday. I usually make a list around Wednesday of every dinner I am going to make then add things for two weeks worth of lunch a few bags of malt o meal cereal and lots of eggs. I add my paper products and cleaning products plus any hygiene products and then spend the next day or two adding anything I forgot. So I got this great plan, what if I make a master grocery list...hmmmm. So I started Wednesday. I made a giant spreadsheet with two columns, one for my item and one for the amount of that item that I need. I put any and everything I buy on a regular basis on the list. I left one page for things that I need to buy weekly that I don't buy normally, like things to try out a new recipe. I hope this helps cut down time on my grocery planning because it takes a few hours to get plan meals for two weeks and get everything I need without having to go back to the store 100 times. I am going to try Aldi today, I hear their prices are much cheaper than my regular Wal-Mart then Kroger, then Sam's Club and the Meat Market. I'm sure I will still have to go all over the place but hopefully I will save some money doing it today!

Belated Birthday Pics!

2008-10-19T20:08:00.013-04:00

Hudsyn opening her presents Hudsyns cake Hudsyn eating her cake

Kait opening a furry scarf form her Nana with a pin that she liked out of Nana's collection

Kiat opening her caboodle Kait & friends doing each others make up

Kait getting HSM3 tickets

Hudsyn's first birthday was 9-28. We had a little party for her. She did pretty well. She liked opening her presents so much that she wanted to open Kaits on her birthday too! After sampling her cake she dove her face in. The pictures from her party barely turned out so I posted the one that is clear. Some how the setting on my camera got messed up but my Dad took lots of pics too so we'll have plenty.

Kait's birthday was 10-11 she turned nine. I can't believe I have a nine year old. She had a few girls over from school for a HSM party! Chad and I bought her a Caboodle and filled it with make up, hair things, nail polish, Bath and Body Works lotions and soaps and shampoo and other stuff. She loved it! I have no pics of her opening it up because once she saw what was in it she knocked me to the ground hugging and screaming and such. The girls all took turns doing each others make up and I painted all their nails, including Bell's and Tristin's (he was a boy at an all girl party, and he begged). One of her friends stayed the night, they had a blast.

Blogger will not let me sperate my lines or paragraphs, sorry.

Baby Jonsen

2008-10-14T21:27:00.006-04:00

I had to go back to the doctors office today for another ultrasound and a regular appointment. Todays ultrasound was to measure Jonsen's heart because he was moving way too much last time. When I got there my ultrasound tech, that I have gotten to know quite well over the course of my pregnancies, surprisingly had some spare time. She scanned his heart and kept saying how wonderful it looked! She said he is so perfect I could just scan him all day! So then she did!!! Well not all day but for about 20-25 minutes. We had a blast! She scanned him in 3D and 4D. In one pic he is actually hugging my uterus and resting his head on it. That one is my favorite. Chad stayed home with the kids but she gave me another CD to bring home and show him. She tried to capture some good pics. I can't wait to frame them, I actually have a frame on my mantle waiting! Hope you enjoy them too!

It's a.........

2008-10-07T12:31:00.005-04:00

We just got back home form our ultrasound. Everything went well, baby is healthy and very active. So active that it was hard for our tech to get good pictures. The one I posted is about the only good one she got. It is a pic of baby holding it's legs and showing it's.......boy parts!!!! We are really excited. The girls are happy, Bell keeps saying she wants to go get baby Jonsen. Tristin has wanted a boy the entire time, until this morning that is. Last week we moved Hudsyn into his room. He has always wanted a roommate. He has spent the last three years complaining that it isn't fair that he is all alone in his room. So since Hudsyn has moved into his room he has came to the realization that babies are loud and they keep you up and you have to be quiet. Because of this he decided this morning he wanted a girl. When the ultrasound lady said it's a boy he was upset. He didn't want to share a room so he didn't want a boy. He has already changed his mind and is happy to have a brother. We are all excited and can't wait until he can come home with us and we can love on him!!!

2008-10-06T14:48:00.003-04:00

Last night Chad and I were watching Extreme Home Makeover. The kids were all in bed asleep, or so we thought. Almost and hour after I put them in bed Tristin tip toed down and wanted a drink. He had been laying there so quietly that we thought he was asleep. After he drank his water he noticed Chad was eating ice cream. Chad gave it to him and said he could polish it off. After he ate it we decided he could stay up and watch the rest of the show. He sat on my lap so sweetly and snuggled with me. It made me remember a couple of years ago. After we dropped K off at school we would come home everyday and watch cartoons, eat our breakfast and snuggle. Then we would play until it was nap time. That was our morning routine every single day. I loved it. I was pregnant with Bell and I knew our time alone was short. I cherished those moments so much. Our mornings have changed, we still spend time together but it no longer alone and no longer so carefree. We do school in the morning, he can make his own breakfast, pick out his own clothes and is basically self sufficient. He no longer needs me like he did. Somehow I think he needs me more. Not for basic care but to teach him how to live life. I know that he can learn on his own. What he learns will be what he sees, if not from me then from some one else. I try to remember this as I do basic tasks throughout the day. That these are the qualities he will look for in a wife. Good or bad. It makes me strive to be more patient, to work harder and be more gentle. I don't ever have a perfect day, there are always things at the end of the day I wish I had done differently but God's grace covers that. There is no bond like a mother and her son. I am so thankful for being able to experience that. We will find out in the morning if I will experience that bond with another boy or if I get love on another girl. Our appointment has been bumped up to tomorrow. I can't wait. I will post when we find out!

Babies

2008-09-25T09:09:00.003-04:00

Picture of Hudsyn licking the spoon after the kids and I made double chocolate chip cookies from scratch!!!

So in a little over 19 weeks Hudsyn will become a big sister. She will turn one on Sunday! I can't believe that there is more space between her and the new baby than her and Bella. Time has flown by being pregnant. I cant believe that we are approaching the half way mark. On October 9th we will have our ultrasound to find out if baby is a boy or girl. We have to wait until after the 20 week mark because my doctors office is so busy. At my last appointment the doctor said the latest they will induce me is 38 and 1/2 weeks. They are a little concerned because last time I was dilated to 3 and 70% effaced almost a month before my due date, and because we live about 45 minutes from the hospital. Coupled with the fact that February is usually an snowy and icy month, which obviously could add more time. The doctor told me that she hopes Chad knows how to deliver and that we should know where all the other hospitals are on the way. So that is just a quick update to let you know where we are at in our fifth pregnancy!

Zoo Field Trip

2008-09-24T08:48:00.005-04:00

On Monday we took our first field trip to the Toledo Zoo. We had a great time. The weather was sunny and mild. It did heat up a little later in the day. We changed the little girls from jeans and long sleeve shirts to sun dresses. The kids had a wonderful day. Here are some pics from the day.

Week in Recipes

2008-09-20T18:02:00.002-04:00

This was our menu this week! We tried some new things and they were all great! Monday: Broccoli Cheese Soup 1/2 cup butter 1 onion, chopped 1 (16 ounce) package frozen chopped broccoli 4 (14.5 ounce) cans chicken broth 1 (1 pound) loaf processed cheese food, cubed 2 cups milk 1 tablespoon garlic powder 2/3 cup cornstarch 1 cup water DIRECTIONS In a stockpot, melt butter over medium heat. Cook onion in butter until softened. Stir in broccoli, and cover with chicken broth. Simmer until broccoli is tender, 10 to 15 minutes. Reduce heat, and stir in cheese cubes until melted. Mix in milk and garlic powder. In a small bowl, stir cornstarch into water until dissolved. Stir into soup; cook, stirring frequently, until thick. Tuesday: Fajitas Ingredients Olive Oil Green and Red Peppers Onions Chicken Breast Fajita Seasoning Tortilla Shells Desired toppings Directions Add 2 TBSP in a saute pan add in peppers and onions cook until onions turn clear. Cook chicken until no longer pink in pan with leftover olive oil and onion and pepper flavor, season with fajita seasoning. Slice in think strips and serve over warm tortillas. Wednesday: Campfire Hash Ingredients: 1 large onion, chopped 3 garlic cloves, minced 2 Tbsp olive oil 4 large potatoes, peeled and cubed 1 pound smoked kielbasa, halved and sliced 1 can (4 ounces) chopped green chilies 1 can (15-1/4 ounces) whole kernel corn, drained In large skillet over medium heat, cook and stir onion and garlic in oil until tender. Add potatoes. Cook, uncovered, for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add kielbasa, cook and stir until potatoes are tender and well browned, about 10 minutes longer. Stir in chilies and corn; heat through. Thursday: Potato Chip Chicken Strips Ingredients: 1 cup sour cream 1/8 Tsp garlic salt 1/8 Tsp onion salt 1/8 Tsp paprika 1 package 12 ounces potato chips 2 pounds chicken breast, cut into 1-inch strips 1/4 cups butter ranch In bowl, combine sour cream and seasonings. Place potato chips in another bowl, use a potato masher and crush chips. Dip chicken into sour cream mixture then coat with potato chips. Place in greased 15x10 baking pan. Drizzle with butter. Bake at 400 degrees for 25 minutes or until chicken is no longer pink. Serve with ranch. Friday: White Bean Chicken Chili INGREDIENTS: 1 lb chicken 1 cup chopped onion 1 can (or the equivalent) chicken broth 3 cloves of garlic, chopped 2 tsp Cumin seed (ground will not withstand long cooking as well) 1/2 tsp dried oregano leaves 3 -15oz cans white beans (great northern or cannellini), drained and rinsed 1 or 2 chopped red, green or yellow bell peppers, or combination jalapeno chili peppers, fresh, jarred or canned, optional or 'to taste' (depending on how much heat you like!) PREPARATION: In a 4 or 6 quart slow cooker combine the chicken, beans, onions, chicken broth, garlic, cumin and oregano. Chicken will shred during cooking. Let cook 4-6 hours on low. Add the bell peppers and jalapeno peppers (if using) no earlier than the last hour or hour and a half before serving. Saturday: Lemon Pepper Chicken Caesar Salad Ingredients: Chicken Breast Fresh Romaine Lettuce Lemon Pepper Seasoning Shredded Parmesan Cheese Caesar Croutons Ken's Original Steakhouse Caesar Lite Dressing Bake 2 chicken breasts seasoned with lemon pepper earlier in the day (so you can cool them) Place all ingredients in bowl, add thinly sliced chicken.

Homeschool Pics!!!

2008-09-17T20:47:00.005-04:00

Here are the kids during school on Monday after their bookwork was done. They are blindfolded (with my hoodie) to show that it is difficult to walk in darkness. After that we took off the blindfold and saw how easy it is to walk in the light. We talked about Jesus being the light of the world and that he will help us find our way through the darkness.

The other pics are them making an "S" out of a spaghetti noodle! "S" is our letter sound for the week!

My Cleaning Schedule

2008-09-13T09:37:00.002-04:00

This is how I keep our house in any sort of running order (ideally): My housework schedule Monday: clean bathrooms vacuum dust mop floors Tuesday: file paperwork de-clutter Wednesday: mop floors vacuum de-clutter clean out fridge Thursday: clean bathrooms dust menu planning change sheets Friday : mop floors grocery shop vacuum Saturday: catch up day Sunday: day of rest! Plan weeks school work Laundry Schedule Laundry schedule Monday: jeans and lights Tuesday: darks Wednesday: towels Thursday: lights and jeans Friday: whites and sheets Saturday: towels Sunday: catch up The kids also have their chores - making beds, unloading the dishwasher cleaning the playroom and a few other things. They each get an allowance on payday, which is bi-weekly. K gets $10 and T gets $5. This keeps them moving!

School

2008-09-09T08:24:00.008-04:00

Pis of K on her first day of fourth grade!

I know I am biased but isn't she cute!

I started home schooling Tristin and Grace last Wednesday. We have been having a ton of fun! The curriculum we chose to go with is called My Fathers World from A to Z. http://mfwbooks.com/ We are doing the kindergarten program. Grace is six weeks younger than Tristin and is 21 days short of making the state cut off for the same grade as T. Which is kind of silly because she knows every bit as much as him after he went to pre school for a year.

We are having fun with it. Here is how our day goes right now- Each morning we turn on kids praise and worship and get out their instruments and sing and dance. We sit at our table and pray for our day and our families then read from the Bible about the day of creation we are working on. We do our first project about that day of creation they get to color cut and glue (from which we have found that Bella loves glue sticks and uses them as lip gloss)! Then we review each of the letters by playing a game where they put a marble on each letter I call out. Then we do letter flash cards. Sing our ABC song 100 times then Old McDonald and a few others with letters in them. Then we do our final project, They are making a creation book about what that day looked like (sun and moon and stars on the fourth day). Our curriculum does a two week intro to creation and then starts the real stuff, the intro is just to kind of break them in to a school day at home and lay a good beginning foundation. I will post pics of us home schooling soon, I have to recharge my camera batteries first.

I have to go take a shower so we can start school. Grace will be here soon!

Peace

2008-07-22T00:05:00.003-04:00

It's Monday night and pretty quiet here. The older kids are going to try "camping out" in the playroom. We'll see how long it is before they wind up in my bed. Chad is working until around two and then he will put them back where they belong. He is coming home for lunch, he wanted to come home and tuck them in! I hope he brings chocolate and coffee with him!!! Just kidding - I would be up all night. What a sweet husband and wonderful kids God has blessed me with. Update: I just finished writing my post and Chad is back at work and T is sleeping in my bed, he said he doesn't want me to be lonely without Daddy! How can I resist that? I can't. That's probably why we have at least two kids in our bed with us at some point during the night, every night. Aid and I went to the cemetery Saturday. I finally did it. It was surprisingly just like I had expected. We had no clue exactly where her once sick body now rests. We got a map in the office numbered 246-A (or something like that) in the Garden of Faith. Once we circled the garden of Faith a few times we realized there were no numbers to help us identify and her marker wasn't in yet. We decided to stop near the spot that I thought I recognized the flowers on and walk over to it. I know it sounds weird but I knew the flowers were bought by my Dad. I recognized them as I would recognize an old family photo. He had been there earlier in the day and placed them there. We walked up and peeked around pretty sure but still not positive. There was a card from my Aunt (who also went earlier in the day) in the vase with the flowers. She didn't sign her name - she signed Sis, so Aid called her to verify. We were right - which I somehow was already sure of. She is buried right under a beautiful tree with wind chimes. We didn't get to hear the beautiful song of the wind chimes, but we did get to feel the rain. Which felt refreshing - it allowed me to feel. There was one time when my eyes got misty however it wasn't because we were standing over my Mothers grave it was because we were talking about old memories. Discussing how much we missed her and how different our lives our now. I didn't feel the need to talk to her there, she's not there. Sometimes my brain and heart think they are in agreement but discover they aren't when faced with certain situations. This time they were in total agreement, she is dancing on streets of gold and beholding sites we can't even imagine. It seemed silly to talk to the Earth her body is laid in. Both Aid and myself were feeling quite a bit of anxiety all morning. The moment we approached her grave site we felt peace. Peace that isn't often experienced, much less in a cemetery. A peace I know to be the healing work of the Holy Spirit. I felt surrounded by Angels, maybe my Mom - I don't know. If heaven is another dimension that is all around us it could be possible or not - it really doesn't matter. God made sure we were covered with His love and peace that day. I will always be able to look back and see the covering of God on the first time I visited my Mothers grave site. I am not sure how often I will go, only time will tell. I am not going to hold myself to any holiday schedule. Just when I feel led I will go. Father, I thank you for sending your Holy Spirit to comfort me in my time of need. I praise you tonight God for healing my Mom. I don't always understand your ways but I do know that in all things you are good. I thank you for her time here on Earth and for the lives she touched for you. Thank you for putting me with just the right parents for me, for knowing me better than I know myself. You are truly an amazing God.

I'm Back

2008-07-19T12:49:00.001-04:00

I know I've taken a little break but I'm finally back! We are all moved, I wouldn't say fully unpacked but we're in!!! We are loving the new house! It is such a perfect fit for us!

We have been really busy this summer. We are having a lot of fun. Last night we had a little slumber party. K's friend H and Grace stayed the night. K and H have been friends since kindergarten. I took all six kids in the pool last night, we had a blast. Chad had to work but we still had fun. Last week we went to the zoo. We went to a Fourth of July BBQ at Duane and Myra's house. We had a ridiculous amount of fun there. We hit the fireworks a couple times. Not to mention we have been very busy with church. So far we are having a great summer.

Today would be my Mom's 58th birthday. Aid and I are going to go to the cemetery. I haven't went yet. I was going to go on Mothers Day but Chad got called to work and it was raining and i didn't want to take the kids - not yet. I wasn't sure if I was ready to go or not but I prayed about it last night and I feel that gentle reassurance that it is time. I read on my comments that Trish is going with my Aunt Peggy. Thank you Trish, it means a lot to me. My Mom loved you and your family so much.

I have found lately that I really miss my Mom. The fog is starting to lift and I am really missing her. I keep having dreams about her. I have found the weirdest things triggering my memories of her that end in me crying. I am going with it though, I want to be able to express my grief and deal with my feelings.

Tomorrow will be 5 months since she passed on February 20th. On that note I do have some pretty exciting news....we are having another baby!!!!! Our new baby is due on, you guessed it - February 20th. I already know we wont have our baby on that exact day (the doctors are inducing) but this baby will always be a wonderful memory of my Mom's new birthday, the day she entered into heaven. So on the one year mark of our losing her and missing her and celebrating her new life we get to hold our new baby that will always remind me of how majestic God truly is. If it is a girl she will be named Azalea Faith after my Grandma (on my Dad's side) and not only is Faith my Mom's maiden name but as a remembrance of how much Faith she had. Never have I met someone in her circumstance that had so much faith.

I know this post is a little here and there but it's been a long time so I have a lot to say and I am trying to write and respond to 6 kids.

Almost Time

2008-06-19T20:55:00.004-04:00

We went over to inspect our new house this morning. There were some repairs that needed to be done and we went to make sure we were happy with them. All was well there and we were pleased. The back yard is bigger than we remembered. Tomorrow we are going to spend the day painting. Our plan is to get the kids rooms painted and if time allows the playroom! I will post pictures as soon as possible but AT&T can't get our service reconnected until July 8th. So I will be posting after that. The service rep said that we need an AM appointment because we are an all new install and it will need to be and all day appointment. At any rate it will be until the 8th until we have phone, internet or TV. Such is life. The next week is going to be long moving, cleaning there, cleaning here and then unpacking the things we need. But we are super excited!

Busy, Busy, Busy

2008-06-14T09:15:00.005-04:00

Pictures of my new kitchen! I think I am going to leave it the buttery yellow color!

We are moving in 6 days. Take away Sunday and that makes 5 days to pack. I feel like I am at a stand still. I am not sure what to pack. We rented a storage unit for a month. Our thought is that we can take all the boxes there and pick up a load each day and put it away. I have a hard time figuring out where to start in a big mess. So that should eliminate that problem!

I am really excited! There were specific things that I wrote down on my list that we needed in a house. This house has everything on my list.

These are my favorite things:

A Big kitchen (we realized that there is 8 feet between cabinets and that runs about 8-10 feet long, right now our kitchen is narrow and tiny)

An outside entrance from the kitchen (where you can actually see into the back not just the side)

A deck with a pergola

A big play room

2 bathrooms

An attached garage

It's almost 600 sq. ft. bigger

I can't wait and neither can the kids! We made a construction paper chain link to count down the days we started with 37 links, now there are only 6.

Birthday Girl

2008-06-10T16:54:00.012-04:00

Happy second birthday Bell!!!

It's such a wonder

Seeing through your eyes

All the curiosity bottled up inside

Expressing itself

Little bit each day

Letting those around you

Peek at what you see

Written by Nana June 4, 2008

In other fun and exciting news Hudsyn started crawling today!!! She has been working on it for a while but she finally got it today! To bring you up to speed, she is sitting, crawling and has two teeth!

Week in Pictures!

2008-05-24T10:41:00.005-04:00

I love in that T was completly enjoying reading my Bible although he doesn't know how to read!

New Things

2008-05-20T08:05:00.003-04:00

I am excited to say that in exactly one month we are moving!!! This house was small to begin. When I say small I mean small. It is less than 1000 square feet. Over 1/4 of that is the girls room. Which now houses two sets of bunk beds a crib and last but not least our refrigerator. It won't fit in the kitchen for two reasons, first it is too tall to fit under the cabinet and second we couldn't fit our table in the kitchen if it were in there. The table takes up the table space and the fridge space and it is the smallest 6 person table you can get. I call this our mouse house. Not only is it tiny but it has no dishwasher. That means I spend at least an hour and often two hours a day doing dishes. Then there is the fact the washer and dryer are in the basement. I have the hardest time making sure all four kids are secure for ten minutes without getting hurt or hurting one another to go down and sort and do laundry. Actually we are buying my Dad's super duper capacity washer and dryer. They are the front loader LG ones. He bought them a while back and never even brought them in the house. They have been in storage. I am planning on having the set I have now hooked up at the new house too! Our new house is a tri-level so our laundry room is off of our family room. Which will actually be the play/homeschool room! I have decided to homeschool T. I was actually going to wait until he finished kindergarten. There are several things that have changed my mind but mostly if there is any year that will be fun it is the one coming up! I haven't picked curriculum yet but I have been doing tons of research. I think we will have a blast this next year! K will go to the public school in our district I would homeschool her but her Dad isn't quite sure this year. He said he will research it and think about it. The school district we will be in is supposed to be pretty good. She is in a charter school now, I absolutely love the atmosphere and I love the teachers but what I don't love is the testing. They do test called District Assessments (DA) They take them about once very week or two. They are the equivalent of the meap test (they do still take the meap). They have to get a 70% or higher to pass. If they don't they get held back the following year. They are doing these so much that they have very little time for regular class work. The math teacher told us during conferences that she needed to teach them division but she needed us to do it at home because they were so consumed with the DA's. Her handwriting is all but illegible but never has a comment been made because they don't have time to work on that. A lot of the kids that started Kindergarten with K are leaving. When we told her she would be changing schools she said she didn't mind because most of her friends were leaving too. This is going to be a big month. I am really excited! Oh yeah, I got a Dyson yesterday and I love it! I got the bigger one with the ball (the DC25) so it turns easily. T vacuumed his room all by himself because it turned so easily (he loves to vacuum)! http://www.dyson.com/

The New Mothers Day

2008-05-09T22:46:00.007-04:00

Photo taken on 9-29-08. We were in the hospital. Hudsyn had just been born and my Mom was in for a round of chemo. We hung out for most of my stay since we were just two floors away.

So it's almost Mothers Day. I don't know if any of you remember from last years almost Mothers Day post but it is not a favorite holiday of mine. It isn't because I don't want my mommy-hood celebrated. I love being a Mom. Even more so than dark chocolate. A few years back I had three miscarriages the last of the three was on Mothers Day. It was by far the worst of the three. This with the passing of time has gotten easier. It only sneaks into my mind every once in a while (actually the other day I realized that my Mom has now met our babies). But Mothers Day always stirs those memories. I can remember the sermon delivered that morning, what I wore, who I sat by. I can remember details more clearly about that single event in my life over any other. This year Mothers Day will be difficult on a whole new level. It is not only my first holiday since my Mothers passing but the very one that celebrates Mothers. My Dad is in Arizona and Chad will probably have to work. I will most likely have to sit in church without my family. That will be unbearably hard. We always went to church with my Mom on her day and Dad on his no matter where we attended. We have traditions for each occasion Mothers Day is a backyard BBQ and Fathers Day we eat on the patio at East Side Mario's. If you had told me last year that my Mom would have went down hill so quickly she wouldn't be here for this Mothers Day I would have called you a liar. The truth is I thought with my mind that she might die but my heart never believed that. She had so much faith that death didn't seem, to me, a real possibility. This year I will to go place flowers on her grave. A whole new tradition. I wish that wasn't the new tradition but it is. Honestly I haven't been to the cemetery since the day of her funeral. I have put it out of my mind. I don't even know where her site is. I will find it on Sunday. Somehow. Her marker is not up yet. I know she is buried in the Garden of Faith. A more appropriate place could never be found. My girlfriend Karen's Mom invited us over for dinner on Sunday. Which I really appreciate. We will be going over for dessert instead. I don't know how I will feel on Sunday, if I know me I will throw something in the crock pot before church, come home eat with the kids and take a nap while they nap. I will be taking all five of them by myself and that along with the emotions that are bound to come with the day will mean I will probably need a nap. In the evening the kids and I will rent movies and snuggle in our jammies on the couch. We will eat popcorn and candy. This year we will start our new Mothers Day (evening) tradition.

Piano Lessons!

2008-05-02T08:31:00.003-04:00

K is starting her long awaited piano lessons in June. She got a keyboard for her 7th birthday. She has wanted to take lessons for almost two years but she wont take lessons from a man teacher. In her news letter from school there was an ad for lessons from a girl. So I called the number and left a message. K asked what the teachers name was and I told her. She said that's Miss. M from my class. It turns out that it her para pro (teachers helper). She is about twenty and going to school to be a teacher. We love her! She is such a great helper. Her teacher always says that she will cry when Miss. M gets her degree and goes to teach her own class. When she called back she was so excited that K would be her student! God is so good to take care of the little things. It could have been any female teacher but she got someone great that she already knows and loves. Not to mention she can't play any summer sports because of having mono. She has been pretty bummed because of it. The doctor wants to give her a bit before she plays rough, I guess because of her spleen being enlarged. I am so excited for her.

Sibling Love

2008-04-20T22:44:00.008-04:00

Tee Ball

2008-04-19T23:14:00.008-04:00

I am really behind on housework and I don't feel like dumping my camera with the pics of the Little League Parade today. So I am posting last Wednesdays practice. T, G and my friends girl C are all on a team together. They stuck right next to each other for most of the practice! They were so cute.

Sweet Dreams

2008-04-15T00:27:00.005-04:00

Fatigue is the best pillow.

~Benjamin Franklin

Firsts

2008-04-12T23:45:00.012-04:00

1. Hudsyn's ears pierced 2. Bella's nails painted 3. Bella's hair french braided 4. Bell's new found love for coloring 5. New bunk beds 6. Tee Ball practice next Wednesday for T&G (pics to come) 7. mono ickys for K

MONO

2008-04-09T21:41:00.006-04:00

Kait has had a very sore throat for the last few days. She was at her Dad's so I didn't know. Her school called me on Monday she had a sore throat to the point that she couldn't swallow. I took her into the doctor and they did blood work and discovered that she has mono. I couldn't believe it. Her Doctor said she wont be able to eat for the next couple of weeks so I went and got tons of fruit to juice for her. I went to GNC and picked up some protien powder to put in her juice. This morning I went to my Dad's and got his smoothie maker. I made her a couple of smoothies with protein powder and a few juiced drinks. I am worried about her losing weight. She is eight and when they weighed her at the doctors she only weighs 45 pounds. She has been laying around all day she went outside a little bit and came in and took a four hour nap. I feel so bad for her. Please pray that she gets well soon. Mono is the worst. I pray she can hang in there during school. The doctor said we should keep her home for the rest of the week if need be, but next week we need to try to get her to go for the whole day. The best part for her is that their new beds will be here tomorrow. She is excited to lay in her new bed and read books! I think she will enjoy that. I will post pictures of their new beds and bedding on Friday!

My Perfect Weekend!

2008-04-06T19:33:00.006-04:00

My Curious Boy

2008-04-03T21:51:00.003-04:00

So I have come to realize that I need a clone. I am guessing if there were two of me I would have prevented my precious boy from sticking a piece of his Diego building blocks down our toilet. Then my husband wouldn't have had to spend his one day off pulling up the toilet and snaking it out! I called a plumber out thinking someone had stuffed diaper wipes down it. The plumber says no there is something plastic in it. I think it is a toy. T says oh yeah, I did put a toy in there. That's my boy! No surprise that he did that, add it to his resume. He is always doing something to satisfy his curiosity.

There was the time when he was probably just about three and he came and told me he was going to open the dinosaur eggs to see what's in them. He was watching Diego's Dinosaur Rescue, so I thought he was using his imagination. He came into to the bathroom a couple times and told (where I was trying to take a shower) and it clicked with me. I jumped out, ran to the living room only to find raw eggs all over our carpet, the refrigerator door wide open with a chair in front of it and my new 18 pack of eggs gone.

I told my girlfriend that I need to give him specifics as to what he can and can not do. She said "I am almost afraid for you to tell him anything to give him any ideas". It made me laugh knowing how well she knows him. On second thought, she's probably right. I better not.

Beds for my Monkeys!

2008-04-01T22:39:00.005-04:00

We were going to put bunk beds in lay away for our kids. We needed three sets, we knew we were going to spend quite a bit because of quantity. We wanted to get beds that they can take with them when they grow up and move out. My Dad mentioned that we should go to a local furniture store that he always buys from. We went and checked them out. We were going to put them in lay away. My Dad said he would buy them for us. Let me just say now that it was a very, very generous gift! Thanks Dad (one day I should post a blog about all the great stuff my Dad gets for us, like my new Cannon Rebel)! So we went and special ordered the ones we wanted. We got the girls these ones http://youngamerica.stanleyfurniture.com/youngamerica/Browse.do?groupNumber=15&nav2=YBEDSBUNK&sku=483-94-760&nav1=YBEDS the ones we ordered have four drawers and a small bookshelf underneath. We ordered two sets of them so when Hudsyn moves into a bed she will have one waiting, and Grace will have her own bed to sleep in. I want her to feel comfortable when she stays the night and sleeping with someone else isn't that comfy. We ordered Tristin this one http://youngamerica.stanleyfurniture.com/youngamerica/Browse.do?groupNumber=107&nav2=YBEDSBUNK&sku=782-64-762&nav1=YBEDS his has the same under bed drawers that the girls have! We ordered him the twin over full so overnight guests, like my in-laws will have a place to sleep. My father in law usually sleeps on the couch and my mother in law on the love seat. They are always so gracious and say we are just glad to be staying with you. Also that way Tristin can have a full size bed when he is older. I am sure he will be bigger than my girls. I have to say I am really excited to get them. If you know me at all you know I hate to wait. I am also waiting on all the bedding that we ordered. All of this waiting is killing me. Tonight we went to Target and picked up the 14 pillows and six waterproof mattress covers that we needed. We seem to have an issue with nighttime bed wetting with the four year olds, they fall into a deep sleep and occasionally wet the bed. I am also a little bummed though because Bell will be moving to a big girl bed. She is growing up so fast. I will post pics when we get the new beds! Update: When I got home from picking K up from school, T's bedding had delivered. We opened it up and everything was perfect, the bedding for the bottom bunk was even better than it looked like on the internet. The sets do not have the same design. The bedding for the top is a camping quilt with a bear and paw prints and the bottom set is a plad comforter. They looked like they could go together but not exactly match (they are both made by Woolrich Kids). When we opened them they were a perfect match! I love them! On the down side I now have to wash the six sets of sheets (you can never have too many) for his beds and the comforter set, which should prove to be a challenge! I hope I get can get them done before the girls bedding comes in!

Love It!

2008-03-31T13:20:00.006-04:00

I ordered this baby sling the other day! I love it! It is called a Baby K'Tan. It is made of soft cotton. It never hurts my shoulders because I can spread the fabric down all the way around my shoulder (the shoulder straps are actually supposed to go over her shoulders as well, I am not sure why they aren't over her shoulders in these pics). Hudsyn loves it, she can go from being very mellow in her swing to ecstatic when I put her in it. She kicks her arms and feet and squawks in excitement. I had to take her out of the gym at a talent show at K's school because she was so excited. If you are looking for a way to carry your baby and still get things accomplished this is the way to go!

http://www.babyktanproducts.com/baby_carriers.html

Saturday Ramblings

2008-03-29T10:43:00.010-04:00

Today we're getting a late start. Thursday and Friday night we had K's friend Courtney over and Grace too! We watched Enchanted..it was super cute! We ate pizza and popcorn and Easter candy. Gracie's Mom works nights and we have been and are going to be keeping her on the weekend nights! We have been having so much fun! I have to say that I am ready for spring to show it's face around these parts. When I woke up yesterday morning we had a couple inches of snow. I tried to enjoy the beauty of it falling and remind myself and my kids how pretty freshly fallen snow is. However it is getting difficult. I want sun and bike rides and flowers, I am ready for bubbles and sidewalk chalk. With that being said, I woke up this morning to a beautiful sunny day! I checked the forecast and we're supposed to have weather in the 40's and 50's for the next ten days! I can't wait!!! Spring, to me, is a time of life and new beginnings. This winter has been particularly hard for our family with the passing of my Mother. I am ready for the new life and new beginnings. I am ready for God to open up the windows of heaven and pour spring into my semi-numb soul! Let me say now that I am okay, there are just places in my heart I haven't ventured to since her passing. I deal with them a little each day. It will no doubt take time but my Dad, my kids and myself will heal. There will always be a spot in my heart that misses her but I will heal in Jesus name.

Easter Pics!

2008-03-27T09:56:00.006-04:00

Mommy's Little Helper Girl!

2008-03-20T21:08:00.006-04:00

Sweet Bella

1. In the car when her Hudsy cries she says don't cry, it's a-k.

2. She loves to gently kiss her head.

3. When I lay out a big blanket she lays down next to her and talks to her.

4. She likes to help sweep and clean up.

5. She likes to help give Hudsy a bath!

Happy Green Day!

2008-03-17T15:28:00.003-04:00

This pic is K at school today eating her green pancakes! Her teacher invited me to come help so I took a few pics between mixing green batter and pouring syrup! She has such fun teachers!

Spring Thing

2008-03-15T09:21:00.008-04:00

I spotted these outside my house a few days ago! Spring is in the air!!!

Easter Dress Practice

2008-03-12T19:04:00.004-04:00

2008-03-08T16:01:00.006-05:00

Yesterday we were all in the car and there was a huge truck behind us. Chad told T look at that truck and he turns around and says in a high pitched voice "That's supafly yo"! Then a few seconds later he says look there's a taxi on the GPS. He also was playing at the table with his cars and started dabating the horsepower each one had. He is four where does he come up with this stuff? He loves to test out things he hears other people say. Then he covers his mouth and says OOPS to check and see if it okay and not get into trouble at the same time. He is so funny. I love him!

In other news I signed T and Grace up for T ball and my girlfriend Karen's daughter C is playing too! They will all be on the same team! We will all have so much fun! I can't wait! I love t-ball time! T has been waiting for like three years to play, he finally gets to! I wonder what he will be like once it starts. I will let you know in about a month and a half!!!

March in Michigan

2008-03-05T19:56:00.007-05:00

Last night we declared today a family snow day. We knew the snow was coming. I was sure school would be cancelled. At 4:45 this morning the phone rang. I knew the number it was a phone tree from K's school to let us know it was an official snow day! We took advantage of what we hope will be the last snow of the winter. I made blueberry muffins and hot chocolate for breakfast and then we bundled up the oldest three kids. They played on their swingset, kicked around a soccer ball and made snow angles. I brought Bell in and the other two followed. They had another cup of hot chocolate and went right back out. Chad was making them a sledding slope. They got out their sleds and went down over and over. My Dad came over and saw the hill and informed me that it will still be there in June! The incline on their hill was a bit much causing them to slam into the garage every time they went down. They thought that was hilarious. We had a wonderful snow day and I am thankful for the memories made today! I am posting some pics of them playing in the snow!!!

T, Pie and Bell

2008-03-03T17:44:00.002-05:00

T - trying to make a sad face through the laughter! Hudsyn - known in our home as Pie. As in sweet as pie! Bell - If you look close enough her lips are blue. She ate the blue marker after she colored her entire left arm K was at school!

Monkeys!

2008-03-01T08:59:00.012-05:00

Again with the randon placement of pictures! No matter how many times I move them around they still aren't in any sort of order.

Update

2008-02-17T09:26:00.004-05:00

The doctor came in last night and said that things are looking grim. They took some x-rays and the tumor in her lungs has grown substancially. He said she can't go on for long breathing the way she is. He is putting her in hospice. He doesn't want to move her so hospice will come to her room. My Dad and I are supposed to meet them later today. My Dad said she was crying because she doesn't undestand why she can't come home. She has a home care person so she thinks she should be able to come home. The doctor said she is progressing to rapidly to have someone take care of her at home. He told my Dad that he wants to sedate her so she isn't so aware of the situation. She is very confused which only makes it harder. I think sedating her will be the best thing for her. I hate for her to lay thinking all sorts of awful thoughts. I leave you with these two pretty cool things she said when Chad and I were up there Friday night when she was in the ER. First she was sleeping and woke up and said It is well two times then fell back to sleep. Then she told me and chad she kept waking up to the most beautiful orange flowers. Please pray for our family for strength for whatever the days ahead hold. Thank you all for you prayers and love. update: It's 4:10, I just got home and I am going back to the hospital at 6:30. At 7:00 my Dad and I have to meet with hospice. She was pretty well sedated when I was up there. In and out a few times but mostly out. She is swelling more and more. Her wedding ring is now swollen on her finger. They are going to give her another treatment of lasiks (sp?) to bring down the swelling. I will post again when I have another update.

2008-02-15T23:19:00.002-05:00

Please pray. Mom is not doing well. She is admitted in the hospital again, we had to call the EMS to get her. She is having trouble breathing, her heart rate was 160 and her respirations were 45-47 when they admitted her. She was very confused. She is not on any meds that would make her this way. They gave her fliuds as she was dehydrated again and she is doing better. Her heart rate decreased and she is comfortable. I will post the whole story tomorrow. Tonight I am going to bed.

Talent Show

2008-02-09T07:54:00.000-05:00

First an update on Mom. She came home a couple of days ago and she is not having her port replaced. At least not just yet. She isn't feeling so great. She has been in bed since she got home. I am not sure where she goes from here. Her doctor put her on a new antibody. I was hoping she'd feel better than this. I am going to go over there this weekend and visit her. It's always hard to see her like that. We have been busy over here. K had spirit week last week. To end off spirit week she had a talent show followed by a Valentines party. She is off next week so party was yesterday. Chad, myself and the kids went to see the talent show. Most of the kids showed off their talent in groups. K did her with "C" her good friend. They did the cheer Cookies and Cream They were so cute C got her hair cut just past her chin so K got hers cut to her chin (I'll have to post pics of the new hair cut). K got HSM glasses so C went and got the exact same ones. They are similar in size and C's hair is just a shade darker. K's grandparents own a T shirt company. They made K and C tee shirts that said Cookies and Cream with pics of cookies. It was a lot of fun. She has such great teachers. They do so much with the kids. I have seen them do thing s that went so far beyond the call of duty I couldn't believe it. They do extra field trips have fun Friday as a reward for all the hard work during the week. They went to bat in ways that put them in the line of fire for a friend of mine whose son has special needs. They got him the help he needed. They are encouraging and loving and fun. There are five of them for 50 kids. Two lead and three assistant teachers. Yesterday for the talent show they choreographed a hip hop dance routine. It was one of the funniest things I have ever seen. K's teacher was a cheerleader for U of M so I am sure she made most of the dance up. It is such a blessing to have such a great school for my kids to go to. I am a little nervous about T going to kindergarten next year but I know he will be in the best school for a kid to grow and learn. I am so thankful.

Please Pray

2008-02-04T16:32:00.000-05:00

Please pray for my Mother. When my Dad got home from work this morning she was bleeding from her port. My Dad called the doctor and he told him to take her in through the ER. He called me a few hours ago and said they were checking for another blood clot and doing some other tests. The doctor said they may admit her. I will post when he calls and let you know what is going on. Update: My Dad called and said that she is being admitted. The main reason, as I understand, is that they can't get her heart rate down. They are still doing tests to determine what is going on. I will post again when they have the results. Update on my Update: Just spoke with my Dad and she is resting. They haven't found anything alarming in her tests. I am not sure if they got all the results back yet but what they did get back seem okay. I will post again in the morning if I find out anything new! Okay it's 7:00 Tuesday night and I have another update. No news about the heart rate but her port is in the wrong place. They also put in a device to help brake up the blood clot. The blood thinners are not working. She will have to get a new port put in. She will find out when after she sees her doctor. I will let you know if I hear anything else.

Mom

2008-02-01T10:07:00.001-05:00

Yesterday around noon my Dad called and said they were letting my Mom come home. They gave her a medicine to thin her blood Thursday. They are going to try a new antibody on her. It was so new her nurse had never heard of it. The doctor didn't say anything at discharge about hopsice so my Dad is thinking that maybe as long as he is trying treatments they will not need to use hospice quite yet. After she got out of the hospital she met us for dinner (a rare occasion for our family). I mentioned that we were going to go out and she said maybe we'll come. Sure enough they did. She did pretty well. She was very tired but she ate a whole piece of pizza minus the crust. I don't know if I've mentioned in previous blogs but she hasn't even eaten anything for a few weeks. Then she progressed to a bite or two and now a whole piece of pizza. Continue to keep her in your prayers, they are helping!!! Thank you all for the love you have shown.

Status on Mom

2008-01-30T11:14:00.001-05:00

Yesterday my Mom went to see her doctor. She told him she had decided not to take any more chemo. My parents told him what a hard time she was having breathing and that she had pain on her side. He ran the tests last night. This morning they found out that the tumor in her lungs had grown substantially she has a blood clot in her lungs. Chemo is no longer an option. They have to make up their minds in the next couple days if they want to have hospital hospice or home hospice. I think they will go with home hospice. I just came back from visiting her. She is doing okay. As good as can be expected for someone that just got that news. We are all believing that God will heal her. God is bigger than cancer.

A Great Weekend!

2008-01-26T19:08:00.000-05:00

This past weekend was our fifth anniversary. We go to the Auto Show every year. This year it didn't start until the day after our anniversary. So on our anniversary we took our kids to see the new Veggie Tales movie. Lots of fun! Then Saturday we went to the Auto Show. We have went alone every year but this year we both thought it would be fun to take T, we took the girls too. I thought it would be a nightmare taking four kids to the Auto Show on the first day that it was open to the public. It turned out to be great, they were very good. They didn't wander and stayed in a good mood being as that we stayed for almost five hours. We stopped a couple times for snacks and that kept everyone happy. Sunday night my girlfriend Karen and her Hubby came over and watched the kids and let us go to a grown up movie. We saw 27 Dresses. We had a great time and a wonderful weekend. I am posting some pictures of the kids at the Auto Show. In every picture T wanted to kiss K. She was cracking up and maybe a tiny bit embarrassed as every passerby thought it was cute.

My Mom is doing okay. She is trying to decide if she wants to take the next round of chemo or pass on it. She is having a lot of trouble breathing, she can't even talk on the phone for a minute or two without asking me to hold on so she can catch her breath. Pray that God will guide her down the right path and that she is able to clearly know His will.

I will try to do better posting next week. Sorry about that I didn't realize it had been so long. I hope you all have a wonderful Sunday.

Yet Another Update on Mom!

2008-01-17T22:31:00.000-05:00

I just spoke with my Dad. He said that my Mom is going to come home tomorrow. They are going to do her next round of chemo next Wednesday as an out patient procedure. He said she is sore from having the port replaced two times within one week. She is also getting a shot to bring up her white blood count. That shot is causing her side to hurt. Other than that she is doing well. Eating better. Just tired. Please continue to pray for her and my Dad, he is very tired. Thank you all, Amber

Antoher Update on Mom

2008-01-15T22:34:00.000-05:00

Kaitlyne and I went to see her Granny tonight. She looked good. Since they took her off the morphine she is more alert and makes sense most of the time. It is causing some pain however. Tonight she was in a quite a bit of pain. She had me get her nurse to give her some pain medicine through her port. She took something that was not nearly as strong as morphine. She was nauseated so then her nurse went to get some nausea medicine. Kait and I left around that time, I didn't want her to see her Granny like that. She looked good but was in poor spirits. She found out tonight that she has to have her port replaced again, if they can't get a blood return. If not they will do the surgery in the morning. Apparently they are now going to let her come? Don't ask me what going on, I am just relaying the messages given to me! So having the port replaced means she can't come home in the morning. She will be able to come home tomorrow if she does well and alert after her surgery. My Dad and I appreciate all of your prayers, calls and e mails checking on her and offering to help and visit her. Love you all, Amber

My Mom!

2008-01-10T20:36:00.000-05:00

Today my Mom had to have her port replaced. This has been the cause of a few of her panic attacks in the past. She was so worried about the portogram, a test to see why no blood will come out. Turned out the test was no big deal. Replacing the port went well. They replaced it with a double port. This way they can give her two things at once...chemo and nutrients or other things she needs. That was a really good part of the day. On the other hand she was not doing well. It is the worst I have seen her. It was truly heartbreaking. She was disoriented to the point of saying nothing you could make sense of. She mentioned some strange things that freaked me out. She doesn't want to take any pain medicine. She thinks if she doesn't she will be able to come home. What I don't think she realizes is that they are sending in hospital hospice to her soon. At this point I don't think she realized she was somewhere she didn't want to be. She is too much for my Dad to take care of, at home as she need around the clock care. She is in pain and knows to some degree she is not mentally with it. She is very frustrated with both things (and trying to hide she is in pain). Please pray for my Dad and myself and everyone giving her care. I am waiting on the virtue of healing to flow from the Father to her body.

My Crazy Life!

2008-01-09T23:22:00.000-05:00

Bell is in a dress up stage right now, she will prance around all day in her fairy or princess dresses! The other pic is one Chad took, although not perfect, it captures the very essence of Bell, that is "her" face, it goes along with an ooo sound when she is concerned about something. I love that girl.

I don't know about your life but my life is crazy. I love my crazy life, I love having four kids. I love being married. I love being a daughter. Sometimes though, my life runs me, I don't run my life. There are the things that are out of my control, that is where life running me comes into play. I have been so overwhelmed the last couple of weeks. My husband has had bronchitis, both K and T have had pneumonia, Bell has an upper respiratory infection and an inner ear infection and Hudsyn has bronchitis. The little girls can't seem to shake their ickys and have to go back tomorrow to be reevaluated. They are almost done with their meds but are still very sick. Bell is by nature the sweetest girl on planet Earth and she has done nothing but whine, mostly to be carried and sweet quiet Hudsyn has cried nearly nonstop. Add to that all my Mother is going through and I feel as though I am losing ground. She has been having some very bad days lately and I don't even know the person sitting across from me. She is very confused and easily agitated. The confusion is coming from the morphine, the agitation is coming from knowing she is not all together mentally and the frustration of not being able to do things for herself. She has lost mostly all of her independence. It is a very hard thing to see your mother deteriorate. I go through times where I cry hard, to the point of hyperventilating and then I go through times where it is so surreal that I think I am in a dream. I wait until everyone is in bed to sort out my feelings. It is usually hit or miss whether I cry or feel life as I know it is simply too surreal to believe. I can't wait until everyone in my life receives their healing. Until then I will hide under the shadow of Gods wings and cling to the hope I have in Him.

Christmas Pictures!

2008-01-08T20:00:00.000-05:00

I haven't felt like posting much lately. I have been quite busy with addition of our sweet Hudsyn. Not to mention the kids have all been passing back and forth their sickness. I am going to post some Christmas pictures. The one is of the kitchen set they got for Christmas. The rest are just pictures of them in their Christmas outfits!

Blogger will not let me move around the pictures. So they are all over the place!

Thanks Aid!

2007-10-13T16:39:00.001-04:00

Just wanted to thank you Aid for all the help you give me. Doing my dishes, helping with the kids and being so good to visit them. They will grow up having great memories of the time you guys spent together. But especially for helping me make 85 cupcakes at 8:00 at night, just a couple hours after bringing Hudsyn home from Children's . On your day off, none the less. I was so tired and half brain dead. Kaitlynne was so excited she had a cupcake for every kids in her class and all the teachers and other staff at her school. You are the closest person I will ever have to a sister! Thanks for all the help and your friendship! I love you!

Update!!!

2007-10-12T20:24:00.000-04:00

So I know I haven't posted lately, sorry. We have been so busy and not in the good way (if there is such a thing). Hudsyn is home and doing well. She threw up again last night even though it was a ton it was only one time. I am believing that she is and will be fine.

Today I chaperoned a field trip for K to Apple Charlies! I love apple orchards, not necessarily searching for wandering classmates of my daughters. Her teacher mentioned something to the tune of blah, blah, blah and oh yeah I gave you my difficult kids, Amy said you would be great with them. Thanks Amy (she was K's kindergarten teacher). I had a wanderer, every two seconds I lost him. How will I explain this to his Mom??

Yesterday was K's birthday, she is 8 now. It's amazing how you can't stop time. A little birdie told me that she did super on the writing portion of her MEAP test. I've always known she was brilliant!

Also I have a friend who I spoke with this morning for a few minutes. She shared with me an awful part of her past. I already knew she had a few miscarriages but she shared today that she had a full term baby and a few days after his birth he passed. She told me his name and said how much he looked like an angel. This was over 25 years ago and she was still hurting so much today. I am not sure that you can ever get over this but today it was very fresh in her mind. I am sure because she saw me and said K told her all about Hudsyn.Please keep her in your prayers she is a strong woman of God and very special to me. I would really appreciate it!

Pre-School and Other Fun Stuff!!!

2007-09-27T08:43:00.000-04:00

In the truck on the way to T's first day of pre-school!

So Monday was Tristin's day of pre-school today was his second. Next week he will have a full week that means two and a half hours a day for four days. Lots of fun for him a small break for me! So far he thinks he likes it unless he changes his mind which happens every five minutes. Once he's there he loves it and runs right into the class without looking back. It is going to be great for him.

In other news I am still dilated to 3 and 70% effaced but now her head has moved down real low. As soon as my Dr. began the exam she could feel her head. So she was sure I would be in labor any day now, which seems to be going no where. If I don't go into labor she is going to induce me on Monday. I go in at 9:15 and we'll go from there! I am very excited, I am ready to meet Hudsyn! Chad is even more ready than I am, I have never seen anyone so excited.

I will try to post again soon!

Making Progress!!!!!!!!

2007-09-12T22:24:00.000-04:00

I went for my ultrasound yesterday morning and much to my surprise found out Hudsyn had flipped on her own!!! Great news! I am so excited, my next appointment was this morning for my 36 week check. However, last night in the shower I was rinsing out my conditioner and slipped and took a little spill. So I had to call my husband home and my Mom over to watch the kids and head in to the hospital for monitoring. UUGGGHHHH.....I hate having to do that. But some good did come from it because when I had the dreaded vag exam I found out I was dilated to 3 and 70% effaced! Hooray! I have been having contractions for the last week or so but nothing real strong, just uncomfortable! I was shocked to find out because I have been induced the last two times and K took her sweet time. When I was talking to my nurse she suggested Castor Oil to help get stronger contractions started. I have the measurements and what to mix it with for the bad taste but I was wondering if some of you had any insight on this method. Anyhow I will keep you up to date our progress and let you know what I decide on the Castor Oil!

Third Grade

2007-09-04T12:18:00.000-04:00

Today was the first of of third grade for K! She had a pretty good morning getting ready she got to wear her new Reebok's, they are bright green, blue and pink. She was so excited about them. She changed schools back to Summit from Allen Park. She only went to Allen Park for one year, it was very convenient because we lived across the street. However she did not learn very well there. The schools have a very different teaching style and she did so much better at Summit. I also love the community there. I have such a great peace about her being there. It is very good for our family, it is a free school but I would be willing to pay for the education they offer. When we got to school we waited out side in line and she saw old friends and I saw their parents who have became my friends. Then we went to the class and found her seat. We found her seat and realized we knew almost no one, (one person we would rather not know that we met at church. Very loud in your face type people). She started working on her packet and I kept noticing that the kids on the other side of the room were so much bigger than those on her side. They have two rooms together then they pull a divider when needed, each room has it's own teacher. So finally I went to verify that she was on the right side and sure enough she was sitting on the second grade side. We went and switched with the Kaitlynne in her seat who just so happened to be wearing the exact same outfit, and she was fine. She knew several of the kids and was sitting at a table of all girls, instead of the previous one with very rambunctious boys. I felt better leaving her there. Before we left for school she asked the one question I hadn't prepared to answer...Mommy, where do babies come from? You pray for them and God waits until you are ready and puts one in your belly! Shortly after she announced I can't believe I am in third grade before you know I'll be starting fourth grade. She is growing up so fast!

Hudsyn

2007-08-31T08:28:00.000-04:00

I think Hudsyn may have turned sideways or transverse. We were watching T.V. the other night and Chad and I both felt her turn, her head stopped on my right side. Before we could cup her head with our hands and now what we feel is very different. So exciting! If she stays sideways they will still have to do the procedure but it should be a lot easier and less painful.

In other fun and exciting news we are going to go today and buy the rest of the stuff she needs! Which isn't much because of her and Bell being so close in age we can use all of the same stuff! This is the first time ever I didn't get rid of all the baby stuff. We bought our double stroller and carseat (I lost Bell's carseat somehow). I am getting anxious with just a little over 5 weeks left until my actual due date. Unless I can convince them to induce me or the procedure puts me into labor! I need to start packing my bags and getting everything that isn't ready in place.

K starts school on Tuesday and I am sad and excited, it's a lot of driving and time in the car but it will be nice to have her back in school getting her brain exercised. T doesn't start until the week of the 21st and he goes for two and a half hours a day four days a week. That will be nice, I haven't been without him for that long in at least six months if not a year and probably only 6-8 times in his whole life. I hope he loves it and has fun.

I am boring myself at this point so I am going to go now!

Upside Down!

2007-08-24T19:25:00.000-04:00

The last thing I fear being pregnant is the labor. After K the other two pretty much slid out. A couple of pushes and out they came. I felt great and didn't much look like I had delivered a baby (unlike after I had K ). I have said time and time again the delivery is not the hard part. I had an OB appointment this morning and the Dr. said Hudsyn is breech. During my last appointment another Dr. (I have five) thought she may be breech but didn't say much as she still had plenty of time to flip. My Dr. today is my favorite one, he did me a favor and induced Bell. He said to reschedule my next appointment to make it with him (instead of one of the other Doc's). He tells me she still can turn upside down but if she doesn't there is a procedure they can do at the Hospital. Apparently they would give me an epidural, pull her out of my pelvis, and rotate her until she is head down. There is still the chance she can turn back head up and I would have to have a c-section. But there is an even greater chance that it will either put me into labor or break my water which will also start labor. They will wait to do this procedure until I am 37 weeks. That is only three and a half weeks away. I am praying that she flips and things stay calm. We have a lot going on in the next few weeks. I would love to have her early and be out of my misery. But we have a bit going on. I am not so nervous that I'll have her in the next few weeks but that I will have to stay in the hospital for a couple days. So now I am nervous and excited all at once. I know God has everything in his control and it will all work out as he has planned! That is our day in a nut shell! Can't wait to see what happens in the next few weeks!

ME!

2007-08-16T22:40:00.000-04:00

1. I never wear shoes. I wear flip flops if I have to leave the house until there is snow on the ground.When I was little my Dad duct taped my shoes on my feet. I wear shoes no more now than I did then. 2. I love to clean. Love it, I am in my own world when I clean. 3. I have a very hard time sleeping if my house is not clean. 4. I use entirely too much butter in and on everything I cook. 5. I met and married my husband all in a span of about 7 months. 6. I love my husband to pieces, he is my best friend. 7. I organize everything, then reorganize it again for fun! 8. I like to be girly but lack the time. 9. I am having a baby in less than 8 weeks. (I put that one in writing just so I could believe it, it didn't help). 10. I check my online banking about one zillion times a day. 11. I am addicted to music. 12. I love to do our finances, I also read over bills and the days I have scheduled to pay them about a zillion times a day too! 13. I love to read. 14. I hate to go to sleep. 15. I would like to be a pre-school teacher and a hair dresser when I grow up. 16. I make a dessert almost every time my desert dish is empty. 17. I am finding that I like to cook! 18. As much as I love to clean I hate to do laundry. 19. I can no longer see my feet. 20. Most importantly I am a child of God and I love to be in his presence. Enough about me what about you?

Bedtime Fun!

2007-08-14T21:26:00.000-04:00

So last night after we put the kids to bed Chad and I thought we heard T through Bell's monitor, which would be impossible if he were not in her room. Chad went to check and yelled AMBER...I thought of multiple scenarios, all that ended in disaster as I ran to her room. When I got there I found an entire crib full of almost every stuffed animal we have in our house. Add to that a few blanket and pillows. Chad spanked him for being out of bed and I put all the animals back in their containers. I laughed to myself because that child can not keep himself out of trouble. Usually after a spanking he falls right to sleep and that's the end of the night. Not last night, he pulled this routine several times each ending in a spanking. You would have thought he would have learned but no after he nap today I find him in her crib with her and all the animals. Needless to say I am looking forward to preschool starting this fall. My hope is that he will tire his brain and not be able to scheme. I don't think that will actually happen but it sure would be nice!

Question?

2007-08-08T08:20:00.000-04:00

Tristin sleeping in his new green frog rain boots!

Bell playing in her bucket of toys in the livingroom!

T playing with a frog

I have question...why will our insurance company pay for prenatal care, then health care for that child until he finishes college but is not willing to pay $200 for sterilization? Just a question.

Recipes?

2007-07-26T13:19:00.000-04:00

The above pictures have nothing to do with my post as usual but I thought I would share them just the same. And yes that is a picture of my son dancing in a dress with K's satin P.J. pants on his head. I will be sure to save this for his graduation party poster!

You have to scroll down forever to get to my post. Sorry Blogger will not let me move the pic's an inch or pull my post up.

So I was wondering if any of you have any great recipes? I have never cooked more than two nights a week, we always have went out to dinner. Now that Bell is getting bigger and we are having Hudsyn it is getting too hard to go out to eat and expensive. I have about 10 to 15 recipes that I make all the time but I was checking to see if any of you had any tried and true family favorites. We eat pretty much any kind of food but seafood. I would really appreciate any suggestions...Thanks!

Bell Bell

2007-07-19T23:33:00.000-04:00

Bell Bell is starting to walk! We are all so excited!! Today she started walking from one side of the living room to the other. Exciting and sad all at the same time. She is, however, over 13 months old and walking 4 months later than T and 3 months later than K. She is a very relaxed girl and I love that about her! She has also gotten two new teeth this week! Bringing her total to six! Just a quick little update :} I haven't posted much lately because my laptop crashed and I don't really like using my desktop being that it is set up on a storage bin? We should man a hunt for a new desk!

Summer Vacation

2007-07-12T22:48:00.001-04:00

Above: Bell kissing a carebear on command, although she refuses to kiss me! We were supposed to go camping two weekends ago. We decided we did not feel like going and instead used our camping money to buy the kids a pool. It's one of those Intex ones it's only 3'x12' but it has been great! We have had a great time in it together. If you should know any one thing about me it's how much I love to swim! I could stay in the water all day. Yesterday Chad had to drag me out after everyone else got out :) Chad has been off for almost 3 weeks, he's only had to work one time. It's shutdown at Ford and that means less work at the railroad. This coupled with three vacation days strategically placed means a wonderful vacation right in the middle of summer. We have never worked shut down like this. We have had the greatest summer I can remember, doing nothing never felt so good! On the brink of a major change, having a new baby in October and one that turned one last month plus the older two, I am very thankful to have so much time to relax. God meets our needs when we don't even realize we have need of things! What an amazing God!

Summer Fun Pics!

2007-07-05T21:55:00.001-04:00

I'm not sure why they posted this way but it'll have to do!!! Blogger wont let me move them around any more.

Potty Training

2007-07-03T23:37:00.001-04:00

So sometime in the last few days I decided that it was time for T to potty train. Enough of this garbage about them "just doing it" when they are ready. He had decided he would not to be ready ever. So Thursday night the pull-up fairy came and took the pull-ups and left a dollar. T was so excited that he had a dollar when he woke up. Then he ran through the house and checked everywhere a pull-up could hide and then resorted to crying. He was very upset they were gone. He said he wanted to keep putting all his pee in his pull-ups. For at least three months he has stayed dry all night but he will not potty in the toilet because he does not want to. So all day Friday he peed in his underwear. He said he he thought if he peed in them all day I would go buy him more pull-ups. He peed so much that he ended up sleeping in his sisters unders, we ran out of unders for him. The next day was better and so on. By today he didn't have any pee accidents!!! The best part was that we ran around quite a bit and every time we came or left a store his Daddy would tell him how fun it would be to check out the bathroom. That prevented any accidents. We still have to tell him every half an hour or so to go and escort him and sometimes drag him but we are getting there. He pooped in his unders once today and the next time he took them off and went on the floor in his play area but that means he's getting the concept and no longer likes the feeling!!! I am thrilled. He gets to go to preschool this year and that will be a welcome break with a one year old and an infant. It's only two and a half hours, four days a week but I think it will be great for him! I know I will be sad and he will grow so much in a year but that's what happens as they grow older. Anyhow for now we are celebrating the milestone of potty training. I could bake a cake and throw a party I am so happy, but that may be pushing it!!!

P.S. I have potty training pics that I could post but I don't think any of you should have to see them!

Prayer for Kaitlytnne

2007-06-29T12:43:00.000-04:00

Most of you that know K know how sensitive she is. She and I are nothing alike in this respect. I am wired in a way that is very different from most women. I like chick flicks and I even can tear up if they are good enough but generally I am not very emotional or sensitive. Kaitlynne is very tender and sweet. She is so sensitivve that if you look at her with a stern face she will cry. She has always been like this, very easy to rear and guide. Recently I decided that it was time I tell her about my Mom. She has been battling cancer since K was 4, she is almost 8 now. She has never known nor have we felt she needed to know. With my Mom losing her hair and with all that she is going through I knew it was time to tell her. So yesterday I sat her down at the kitchen table and explained it as simply as I knew how. She took it well, she chewed on her bottom lip which is something she does when she is upset. Other than that no real expression. We talked about what it meant and treatment and I answered all the questions she asked as good as I could. We went about our day and it never came up again. This morning just a few minutes after I woke up I got a phone call from her other grandma, she was picking K up at noon. She asked me if I had heard on the news of an 11 year old boy being hit by a car, I said no. She siad it was K's cousin. That horrifying shock fell over me and I didn't know what to say. Her grandparents also have a son that is 11 so the two boys were very close. She said her son was very upset and she thought I might to tell K so she would be prepared for what she was going to encounter today. I agreed that it would be best if I did. So this morning at the table I had to tell her of the tragic way this little boys life ended almost before it had begun. She chewed on her lip and teared up and it broke my heart. She obviously can't grasp the reality of this (I know I can't) but she is still hurting. There is a wedding reception in the back yard of her grandparents home tomorrow for another cousin. Please pray that the family can make it through this tough time. Pray for the cousin getting married that they can still enjoy their day. This family is battling with a lot of sickness and disease. Please lift them up in prayer as none of them are christians and can't do this for themselves. Her grandma came over to get her and sat down in the backyard and told us how badly she is hurting and how she is becoming angry with God, I understand that. When I say this family has been through a lot I mean more than most families ever go through. Lets remember them all in our prayers.

Reba

2007-06-10T20:52:00.001-04:00

The other night our neighbor came over to visit. He is a couple years younger than me, we grew up together. We got to talking about his dog and we remembered he used to have two. I asked what happened to Reba? She passed away but before her passing she lived out the following experience. The neighbor on the corner behind them stole her and sold her to a woman a couple of houses down. They looked all over for her only to have the sister of the woman who bought her come and tell them she heard that Reba was their dog. They then got her back. I had forgotten this story but I laughed so hard hearing it again. It's one of those stories that you think you dreamed as a kid but hear years later and it's twice as funny.

Snuggle Bunny!

2007-06-02T09:12:00.001-04:00

I love Bell. She is sweet almost all of the time. She smiles and plays nicely. She loves to snuggle and cuddle. She woke up a little before three this morning and I picked her up. She curled up and put her head on my shoulder. She was as happy as humanly possible, what could make getting in the middle of the night better? I wasn't thrilled to get up but I sat happily in the chair holding her. What a blessing to be a Mom!

We are Having a......

2007-05-21T14:27:00.000-04:00

Okay so we are back from our ultrasound appointment. I should first point out here that each time I have been pregnant God has been gracious to bless me with the sex of the baby that I really desired. This time was no different, it is the first thing that pops in my head every time I hear Psalms 37:4 . It is a one time only granting but it is the biggest thing I could ever hope for bigger than a house or business or car, it will always be my ever present reminder that God cares about my hearts desire. We are having a girl. We are all excited, I wanted a girl because Bella and her could share a room, I could pass down clothes, and they would be so close in age that they would grow up together sharing girly secrets. T had a fit when he found out we were having a girl, he slithered out of his chair and started whining I don't like grills (girls). We were laughing so hard. By the time we were leaving the office he had decided that he liked her a tiny bit, and within five minutes in the car he loved her. I think he is more excited than the rest of us.

Boy or Girl???

2007-05-18T10:55:00.000-04:00

I am so excited!!! Next Monday is my ultrasound. I am finally at the half way mark! We will get to see our baby again. This time we are taking the kids, so they can see too. I hope that we get to find out the sex of the baby. I am ready to start buying things for this little one. I love being pregnant but this time it has been a little different. I was really sick in the beginning and now I am barely showing, this is not normal for me. I am usually huge by the time I find out. At our last doctor appointment she measured and said that the baby seems to be growing right on trac and the heart beat was good. I have gained 2 pounds and I'm supposed to have gained ten by now. I have never had a problem putting on wieght. Maybe taking it off but never putting it on! The doc mentioned that it could be from having three children at home and tending to them, come on they are kids I am not chasing them in a marathon. After all my concern I am still feeling like everything will be fine. I trust that this last baby is a gift from God and we have prayed for it since we found out. So I remain excited, I will take my children and mentally prepare myself for the reality of being a mother of four. That has still not set in. I am blessed to get to stay home with them while they are small and witness all lifes firsts. Reading Margie's blog made me remember what it is like to have to work twice as hard just to survive. I am glad that I have had that experience so I know how much to be thankful for now. Hold on Margie your day will come and it will be worth the wait.

Boy or Girl any guesses?