A Few New Toys

Will absolutely loves his new toys from Christmas. It has been so nice to have weather that has allowed the kids to play outside.

And there is nothing like Will's favorite toy... that would be Lauren's new doll house. Isn't that cute!

Pray

I know most of you follow MckMama's blog, but Stellan has become very sick. Plese pray for him and his doctors. He is in ICU and from what I read is being sedated and hooked up to a ventilator.

What Today has in Store

Laundry...
Dishes...

and, Wii!

I'm not sure if you have noticed, but I got a new, fantastically, fabulous camera for Christmas and I LOVE it. So I have taken a ton of pics.

A Week in Pictures

If you'll recall this post you would remember me telling you about Jacob's accident on his dirt bike. He went back for his six-week follow up last week and they did more x-rays. From the dr's initial perspective it looked as though the two vertebrae were stable but he wants him to wear his back brace for 6 more weeks. Jacob was very devastated to hear he needed to continue wearing it, but like I've tried to say all along, we need to be thankful the injury wasn't more serious. So that brings us to today when I was shopping at Wal-Mart and I got a phone call from the clinic. It was his neurologist who said they just got the official radiology report in and it did indicate that there was a loss of volume in those 2 vertebrae.This translates to them not being stable. He said to have Jacob wear his brace faithfully and even more than he had before. I would consider this a definite setback in his healing. We go back to his dr at the end of January for more x-rays. I need to petition any/everyone to please pray that God heals him fully. From what I have heard it doesn't look like there could be any serious reprocutions with these fractures later on, they did say that it would take years to regain the height in those vertebrae, but we definitely need them to be stable. So again, please pray for complete healing of these two fractures and for Jacob's patience and understanding in the recovery process. As you can remember when you were nine, a week seems like a month, so wearing this for another 6 weeks seems like an eternity to him. Thanks you for taking this matter into your heart and praying for my son.

Weekend Getaway

Preston and I left town Saturday morning to go to Dallas. We had to go up there to pick up some furniture that Lauren is getting for Christmas. We took this opportunity to go somewhere...together....alone, which never happens. We had a great time. Sometimes it is nice to just be. We had no timelines, nowhere to be. We could just do whatever we wanted. While we were waiting to make sure we could pick up her furniture from the warehouse, we looked around at other furniture and fell in love with a living room set. We sat on it for a while and then did it. We bought it! I love it. It is fantastic. So that will be my Christmas for some years to come I'm sure. Then we went to lunch before picking it up. Once we squeezed it all in the trailer (we were only expecting to pickup bedroom furniture so we took the small trailer) we had the rest of the time to do what we wanted. We stayed in Grapevine most of the time and did some shopping but it was BUSY!! I had gone on Hotwire.com for the first time to book our room. If you know me well, you know I am a complete germ-aphobe when it comes to hotels. I have been known to make reservations and pull up only to keep on driving because I wouldn't feel safe putting my luggage on the floor. Anyways, I was a little nervous about what I had just done and it is totally non-refundable, but we pulled up and it was great. I was shocked. I paid $44 for this hotel and it was fantastic. The lord was watching over me for sure. So we slept in and went to breakfast and came home slowly. When we travel with kids, we try to get home fast to minimize the car time for them, so it was nice to take our time. Then we put the living room all together and I haven't left it since. With roaring fires and cold days, we have hung out and just played. But today I need to venture out to do some shopping for Preston. I have no idea what to do for him. He is hard. Wish me luck. ;)

I'm typing this post with my poor, sick baby in my arms. Why is it that they get sick over the weekend when you can't take them to the dr? I hate being in a dilemma about what to do when one of my children are sick. Am I the only one? Do I take them to school and see if they can make it, or take off during a really bad time at work? I know what my heart tells me to do, it just isn't always possible. Anyway I have a few more hours to pray for complete healing by morning.

On another note, this month has already been SUPER busy. Whether it's Christmas programs, work parties, meetings, I feel like there has been no time to really prepare for the birth of our Lord and Savior. I've tried to stay diligent in prayer in preparing my heart, but it's not just my heart that needs to be prepared. I have to make sure that our children really understand the meaning of this time of year. Too often they ask "how many more days until Santa comes?", instead of "how many more days until we celebrate the birth of Jesus?". It is so difficult to live in a society that doesn't necessarily reflect what I believe in. To some degree I blame them for commercializing such an important event in the lives of Christians. I'm just as guilty though. I can easily get sucked into this whirlpool as well. Such a struggle. I can say that I have an incredible ache to know Jesus better. I have been listening to my Christmas CD, the new Faith Hill one, and it talks to my soul. If you get a chance to listen to it you should.

On yet another note...I have been reading the book The Sacred Marriage by Gary Thomas. MckMama talked about it on her blog, and it is really good. With some of our best friends going through a very shocking divorce, I am compelled to do whatever it takes to make my own marriage not only survive, but also incredibly successful.

If I can possibly ask for more prayers, could you please pray for Will, that he is just simply suffering from a cold and nothing more serious, and that no one else gets it. I really need to make it through this week at work. Things are a little stressful right now.

For Pete's Sake!

So last night when I got home I was going throught the mail (it took a minute since it was over 2 weeks since I last checked it!) and while I was sorting through it Lauren and Will were looking at the tree. That's when Will took and ornament and threw it and it naturally broke. So then Lauren was helping Will sweep it up when she rested the broom on the wall, which somehow slid down and knocked my clock off the wall, which then flew into my precious nativity set. You can imagine the heap on my concrete floors and nothing could be salvaged. :( My nativity set now consists of baby Jesus, Joseph and some livestock! So I got over that eventually... and this morning I set off to go to school, 15 minutes late!, and got half way down the road and realized my car wasn't driving right and sounded a little deep. I turned around and came back home, only to realize my tire was so flat I was driving on the rim. Preston took it to Discount Tire and they said on that tire the valve stem was leaking which caused the flat, but my other tires only had 5 lbs and 10 lbs of pressure! Craziness! And tonight I think the baby might be getting sick. He was up all night coughing-to the point of throwing up. It's only gotten worse today. Bummer.

On another note, my first born is turning 9 tomorrow! Unbelievable. More on him tomorrow.

Commercials

As I posted my last post I heard a commercial that said "Shake your money maker, shake it, shake it hard" This is on ABC family where my kids are watching a Christmas movie. Am I the only one who has a problem with these types of commercials? I hate the television!
*now I was typing this and it said "the sexiest night on television...."! I am done typing I need to monitor what my kids are watching.

I can't believe today is December 1st. We had a wonderful Thanksgiving. We had family in and made the rounds to other family and really enjoyed our time together. Preston tried to stay home as much as he could the entire time I was off. I got so spoiled. It was really hard to go back to work today and not be together. Anyway, Friday morning my sister and I went shopping like we always do and had a ball. I love doing that. This is the first year, though, when we were actually one of "those" parents who had to get the hot item. I didn't think we would ever be that. My children only get three wrapped presents besides the one Santa gift, so we try to make them all special and something they really want. I also made Lauren some super cute skirts on Friday. I can't wait to take her picture in them. I think I will make those for our Christmas cards. I am a little behind though if I haven't even taken the picture for the card, much less ordered them. Oh well, if you get your card after Christmas just know I love you and am a little time-challenged. ;) The kids made a gingerbread house with their aunt one afternoon and I meant to take pictures of it. I still haven't and I think Will has eaten about every piece of candy off the roof top by now. That stinker! He is so mischieveous, but oh so sweet. If I can ever get these cookies made that Lauren and I have been trying to make for the past two days I will be sure to post pictures of them, they are a labor of love most certainly, or an obsession by now. I am determined to make them work! Jacob's birhtday is on Thursday. I cannot believe it. He will be NINE years old. Is that even possible? Wow I was young ;) This post is all over the place isn't it. I hadn't thought it through really and when blogger actually let me on, I jumped at the opportunity to write something! ha! If you have read my other posts then you know what I am talking about. I am so technologically-challenged. (is that a word?)

Diligence Pays Off (sp?)

Notice the guilty look he has in this picture...

and the not-so-guilty look he has in this picture!

So.....this is what happened while I was blogging my last post. Guess I won't be getting those after he goes to sleep. Luckily they were just a stocking stuffer!


(Please excuse the dirty, pumpkin cheesecake covered face he has, he hasn't made it to the bath yet either.)

Lost Count

I lost count of how many days behind in "Thankful" posts I am, my computer is driving me crazy and will never let me on to post. Anyway, I am so happy to be off this week. I almost finished my shopping this morning, and this afternoon I put up the tree. The kids all helped me put on the ornaments and everytime I would hand them a different one to hang, they would say "Oh, I remember this one." Then Jacob told me that putting up the Christmas tree "brings back a lot of memories". It was really precious. Will is currently picking off all of the ornaments, well at least the breakable ones. This is going to be the fun year for Will. He loves the lights.

He found one of his presents and has walked around with it in the box for most of the day. I don't feel like fighting him on it so I'll take it away when he is sleeping and hope he forgets by morning! I have a few things more to do before Thursday, but other than that I am ready. I hope all of you have a wonderful Thanksgiving! (just in case I can't get back on before then to blog)

We bought Will this dinosaur for one of his presents. It looks so cute, I can't wait until he opens it!

** I think he just opened his present from its box :( Guess I should have fought harder.

Health

Health. I am thankful for our health. Will had his 6-month post-op appointment this afternoon with his ENT. It went fantastic. His ears are completely clear, his ear drums are normal, and there is absolutely no scarring. CAN you believe that. My baby who suffered severe infections for over 12 months of his life has absolutely no scarring. Amazing. We have "graduated" as the doctor put it from his care. Praise God!
I was very sad to hear this last week about a family we know that has been battling cancer for a few years now. They just received word that it has spread and really are left with few option in his care. Their kids go to the same daycare as Will and this morning as I was dropping Will off at the breakfast table I overheard the teacher asking their little boy how his daddy was doing. As most kids would, he very casually said"good" and got up from the table to put his cup away. But before he turned around he said "I'm going to try to be strong though". I almost didn't make it out of the daycare before I started crying. I sobbed the entire way to work. I had to call Preston to tell him and really thank God for our health. The person I am talking about is not much older than us, so no one is in the clear. My heart his very sad for this family. My wounds are still very raw from Vickie. It's hard for me to even imagine having to go through that with my spouse. Please pray for this family. The need all the prayers they can get.

Missed a Day

I didn't get a chance to blog yesterday, I knew that would happen. But I still spent time being thankful for something. I know I have blogged a lot in the past about my work and not wanting to do it. That is only because I desire strongly to stay at home with my children, to be with Will more, as well as be more of a fixture in my older kid's school. But I am very thankful for my job. It allows me to be home when the bus drops off the big kids. I have most holidays off and get weeks off for Thanksgiving and Christmas. Better yet, I get the entire summer to stay at home with my children. If I HAD to have a job, I would want mine. I realize there are people all over the world who are desperate to have a job, let alone one that allowed as much time for family as teaching does. So for that I am thankful.

I am also very thankful for my co-workers. This week is especially stressful due to district benchmarks. Because we are now departmentalized and I teach reading, which in third grade is THE most important subject, I really feel the pressure. But, everyday I go to work and am surrounded by caring supportive people who would bend over backwards to help me. I love where I work and who I work with. I wouldn't change it for anything!

And on Veteran's Day, I feel it only appropriate I post on how thankful I am to live in this wonderful country. I am eternally thankful to each and every soldier who has risked their lives so we can enjoy these freedoms. I complain because I don't get to spend all day with my children, but our soldiers miss out on months and in some cases even a year of their families lives. They miss births, birthdays, anniversaries, Thanksgivings, Christmas's, and so much more. So on this Veteran's Day, I am thankful to each and every person who has ever represented out country in such a way!

Small Group

As I am finally putting my kids to bed and cleaning up from dinner, I am thinking about how thankful I am for our small group. It is a couples bible study that we started a few weeks back. It is based on the Fireproof movie. We were asked to join in with some couples that we "knew" but didn't really "know". The first few times were a little akward. Knowing how shy Preston and I both are and being in a group where you really open up about marriage, and our marriage nontheless, to say that we were intimidated at first would be an understatement. This week was our turn to lead it. The pressure was on. Not only did I need to prepare dinner for these five other families, but we had to lead the discussion. You would think being a teacher would ease those anxieties, but I'm here to tell you teaching in front of eight year olds is a walk in the park versus teaching in front of your peers. Well, it went off without a hitch. I am so grateful that we have had this opportunity to grow in our marriage and really turn the focus to a Christ-centered relationship. I know we have always desired it, but really living it resulted in half-hearted trying and ending in frustration. The most important thing I'm learning is to stay in the Word. The minute you drift away from the Word, you get sucked into society and that is NOT where we want to be. We have come to realize that society is not marriage-friendly. It is so easy to get wrapped up in the "me" frame of mind. My husband has become the most amazing person and is learning and growing every day, I fall in love with him more and more every minute. He wanted a tangible way to show me how much he appreciated me and bought be a Pandora's bracelet. He made it with the kids initials and another bead that represents strength, faith, and love. It was such a wonderful surprise!

My House

The past few nights we have been sleeping with our bedroom window open. I love waking up in my warm bed, next to my warm husband (and usually warm toddler) when the air is crisp and cool. But last night I woke up several times, I was sooo cold I couldn't even get up to add another blanket or shut the window. When the daylight came streaming through I still couldn't get up. It made me really think about all of those without a home. Even those that have homes, but the windows are broken, or no electricity to heat the house. As a teacher of a lot of low socio-economic status children, this was a hard lesson to learn. I come in contact regularly with these very people. So often I go through my day busy as ever and never even once think of those less fortunate than I. Although my husband and I are far from wealthy in a monetary sense, we are wealthy compared to most. We have a roof over our head, running water that gets hot, electricity, and food in our refrigerator. We even have enough blankets to put 3 or 4 on every bed. We ARE blessed. If I think back to the time when Preston and I first got married, I'm not sure I would have ever pictured us being where we are today. The Lord has blessed us immensely and we are truly grateful. And so for today, I am thankful for my house.

Silly Boy

This is how will spent most of the morning playing. It was so funny. He said everything was "lello". I'm thinking it was more like orange, but close enough ;) Just thought I would share the funny moments in our house. Sporting his new shades!


Here is Will going "giddy up" on my legs.

On another note, Jacob's appointment went well. They did confirm the two fractured vertebrae. Because of his age surgery is not an option (thank the Lord). What we are doing is we had to go to the Rehab center for him to get fitted for a brace. It will go from directly under his armpits to his hip bones. He will have to wear it for 6 weeks and we will go back for more x-rays. If they are not healing properly, then he could have to wear it up to 3 months. Yuck! But I'm thankful that it will heal on its own.

My Children

So I have started off my "thankful" list with the two components in my family that I live for. Yesterday was my husband. Today I am thankful for my children. As a little girl I can remember that is all I ever wanted to do and play with, babies. I am pretty sure I played with baby dolls even up to an age that was probably a little embarassing for little girls to play with dolls. I didn't care. I loved them. I loved the thought of one day being a mommy. And now I am. God has entrusted me with these three precious lives. What a gift. I know I am far from being a perfect mommy. I am easily frustrated by probably the simplest of things, and I know that is a work in progress for me. But for today (and everyday) I am thankful for my children. Jacob was our first-born. He was a "surprise" to say the least. But wanted more than anything!If you read this post you would have a little history as to why he is a miracle. Lauren, on the other hand was very much planned. We had so many struggles with Jacob as a baby/toddler it was a wonder we ever wanted more children. She was the complete opposite. She was very content, never fussed and actually wanted HER bed to fall asleep in! She was (is) amazing. Everyone that comes in contact with her falls in love. And finally, there is Will. He is a complete combination of our first two children. He is WILD, but in a good way. He wants to be just as big as his brother and sister. He is very loving though, much like his sister. He will immediately apologize, without a prompt, no matter the offense against someone. His conversation skills have increased so much, it is so much fun just to sit and "talk" with him. He is a man who knows what he wants and will do whatever it takes to get it.....usually win you over with charm. My list could go on and on but this is just a small snippet as to why I am so thankful for my children.

Jacob

Lauren

Will

It Did it Again!

Any suggestions?...possibly a new computer ;) (jk)

Oh how I love them!

FRUSTRATED!

Goodness! I have tried countless times to get on and post and always my computer says something about cookies and being disabled. Sometimes is works and sometimes it doens't. I have been more than frustrated with the whole thing. It has given me time to really read a lot of other blogs that I have really enjoyed.

The election had put me in a bit of a bad mood, but I have moved on from that. I believe God has a plan, and I also believe God can change people. I know it is my duty to pray for the leader of our country no matter who it is. So that's what I'll do, PRAY!

I cannot believe we are already in November. I can't wait to put up my Christmas tree, right after we enjoy a fantastic Thanksgiving dinner. I am thankful for sooo much. During my time off of being able to read, I found several people who are blogging everyday for something they are thankful for. Great idea. I might try that, but I'm not sure I will be able to get on my computer every day. I'll try though. For today (I do realize though that I am already off by what 6 days?) I am thankful for my husband. He is the head of our family and I rely on him for so much. No matter what has broken, he can fix it. No matter what the problem, he will listen. He is my kid's hero and I love that. He is everything I could have imagined my husband to be when I was a little girl. I am so thankful that God chose ME to be his wife.

On another note that I contemplated not even telling anyone about...I haven't worked but two days this week. This would be because my son (the oldest) had a bit of an accident on Sunday. Every Sunday after church and before our Bible study Preston takes Jacob riding. Dirt bikes. He has been riding for quite a while now and absolutely loves it. I have been so very hesitant in this department and feel like I have gradually become more understanding about this love of their's, until now. Apparantly on his last go round (nothing good comes out of "just one more time") he jumped this hill and when he landed his shocks didn't absorb the landing, but his back did. We went to bible study and had him just lay on ice on the couch and gave him some Tylenol hoping he would start to feel better. So we got home and put him in bed and come Monday morning, there was no getting him OUT of bed. He was H-U-R-T. So we took him in and had some x-rays done and what do ya know? It appears he has 2 compression fractures on his vertebrae (yes, his spine!). He went to school for about half a day Wednesday and Thursday and tomorrow we have an appointment with the neurologist. I'm not really sure what will come out of this appointment. I think they are plannning on doing a CAT scan to make sure nothing was missed on the x rays and other than that he just can't have contact for 6 weeks. They are thinking since he is young and his bones are still growing that they won't want to do surgery. That would be a big deal. So he is done with football. This too is very sad for him. His team is the number 1 team and are going to the play-offs. Oh well. I am thankful that, for the most part, he is okay. He will heal. Praise God!

Well, that sure was a long post and that didn't cover much of anything from the last few weeks. I'll spare you. Hopefully I can get back on the computer tomorrow to telll you what else I am thankful for. The list is so long, I might have to carry over to December ;)
Pray for a good report from the doc tomorrow.

P.S. Check out Bring the Rain's blog from today. Great idea!

Broken-Hearted

I almost had a melt-down on my way to work today. It seems like every time a turn around I hear of some tragic event that has happened. And I am not talking about CNN and the national news (that's a tragedy in it of itself), but local news and not just to somebody in the community, but to people I know! I was so sad when I finally digested it all and was on the phone with my mom on my way to work and I couldn't help but cry. Cry out for these people who are suffering. One of my friends wrote a very good piece on one of these tragedies. You should read it. It is very true, and really helps get a handle on what is happening all around us. Please pray for our best friends whose marriage is all but over, for my friend who was attacked and assaulted in her home and for the families involved in a horrific car accident.

They're In!!

So my mom couldn't wait either and called Jenny at Sprinkle of Grace photography to find out about our pictures. She said they wouldn't be done until Thursday, but emailed a few for a sneak peek. I think she was a little disappointed there wasn't an abundance of great pics. I think she said she took close to 700 (?) pics that day, but come on shooting 5 kids aged 9,8,7,6,and 2 is not easy. They are next to impossible to get them all to cooperated at the right moment. I like the candid look better anyway. I'll post more after Thursday. Enjoy!

So much has been going on, it's hard to put it all down on paper.

Preston and I started doing the devotional Love Dare from the movie Fireproof. I love it! It makes you be thoughtful in your actions towards your spouse. He has really gotten into the role too and it has been awesome. It is so easy for me to become consumed with my roles in everyday life as a mother, teacher, etc. that I often neglect the most important person in my life. It's easy to drift away from that Christ-centered marriage and just get into a routine. All the while I'm thinking everything is okay, but it can be so much better. I'm probably not making much sense right now. It flows better in my head. Anyway, I would encourage anyone to do the Love Dare and see what heights it can take your marriage.

Lauren had a friend spend the night on Friday and she was so precious. I love seeing Lauren with her friends. She is such a good person and has a wonderful heart. Jacob won his soccer and football games this weekend and had a great time. It keeps us so busy bit Jacob loves playing sports. Lauren and Jacob both want to start gymnastics. Maybe after Christmas. I can't take much more right now.

After church today, we took the kids to a little pumpkin patch, well it's not really a patch since they've all been picked, but I have always wanted to do their pics with the hay and pumpkins. We got there and took their pictures and let them each get this little pumpkin (I actually think they are gourds, but whatever) and as we were paying, the guy behind the register was making a sign that said "Pictures only with a $20 or more purchase!" I would say we went just in time since all we spent was $4.37.

Here are the pics from this morning.

I've cleaned house all afternoon and now we are watching football. The weekends go by way to fast. And we still haven't gotten the pictures back from last weekend. I cannot wait. The suspense is killing me. I'll post them when we

get them.