March SNOW

Look and smile at the same time ... seriously!

She's pulling up - train world is no longer safe from the giant baby!

The incredibly pitiful snow man that Hudson thought was SO AWESOME and I was the most awesome mom for making it!  We'll do better next year :)

The snow storm - Never plant anything in Oklahoma until April!

Are You Kidding Me?!

Tuesday was one of those days where I didn't get enough sleep or enough coffee to be a happy mom.  Kids naps didn't line up, so mommy didn't get a nap either.  Then David called to say he had a late appointment and wouldn't be home until 7:30 or so.  Well, I hung up from him and immediately called my parents - "Can we please come over before I go crazy?"  Sigh of relief.  We went to Mimi & Papa's house.  My dad ordered Olive Garden for dinner and bought Bolt for the boys to watch!  Hooray!  No left over roast.  I can make it until bedtime!  

Mom's phone rang and it was for me.  "Hello, this is Carol from South Crest Hospital.  We have your husband.  He's in stable condition.  Do you think you'll be able to come down here?"  WHAT???!!!

David had over-medicated his six-week-long sinus infection.  One way or another his inner-ear was affected.  Acute onset Vertigo hit him while he was driving down Hwy 169 during 5:30 traffic.  He said he had no sensation of the gas or break.  He made the decision to head to the easiest emergency room to navigate to, drove 80 down the highway crying out to God for his life (he had no idea what was going on with his body).  He pulled his car up to the emergency room doors and FELL OUT!  He had no balance at all.  Someone helped him into the hospital, they put him on a gurney and hauled him off.  After evaluation they gave him a steroid shot through his IV that sent painful tingles all over his body.  He told the nurse what he was feeling and she said, "Oh, it's probably your imagination" !!!  (South Crest is not on my good hospital list anymore!)

He was released around 10:30 with prescriptions in hand but without any good directions at all - like DON'T DRIVE YOURSELF HOME!!!  My parents cam to the rescue again and went to pick David up where he had pulled off the highway. Seriously!

All this time I've been communicating with David or a nurse from home - kids asleep, praying and crying and not really knowing what's going on and feeling so helpless to do anything.  I picked up my Jesus Calling book and read the daily reading:

"This is a time in your life when you must learn to let go: of loved ones, of possessions, of control."  Are you kidding me?  The rest of it was encouraging and all that, but that first line threw me!  All I could think about were the what-ifs in my situation.  My husbands life and the huge hospital bill, just to name a couple.  I hate to admit this, but the whiner I am, I immediately went into the "why me" prayer.  All I want is for everyone to be well and to be able to pay the bill.  Seriously, is that so much to ask?  I don't want to be rich and famous.  I don't even care if I'm ever skinny again (cause that's such a big deal, right?!)  This is the most awful day!  What is going on?

It has taken me a few days to settle down and look back on the situation to get a handle on my Israelite ways.  The next day I read Jesus Calling again, "Let thankfulness temper all your thoughts.  A thankful mind-set keeps you in touch with Me.  I hate it when My children grumble, casually despising My sovereignty.  Thankfulness is a safeguard against this deadly sin.  Furthermore, a grateful attitude becomes a grid through which you perceive life.  Gratitude enables you to see the Light of My Presence shining on all your circumstances.  Cultivate a thankful heart, for this glorifies Me and fills you with joy."  1 Cor 10:10; Heb 12:28-29

Don't make another pot of coffee, don't grab your comfort food or go shopping or clean house to make yourself feel better.  Sit down and count your blessings.  Be thankful right now for where you are and what the Lord has put on your plate.  Don't let yourself fall into that deadly sin of casually despising God's sovereignty in your life.  And please don't make me learn this lesson again!

PS - David is doing much better :)

Because I think they're beautiful

My happy girl at 8 1/2 months.

If you ask Hudson who his best friend is, he'll answer, "Pierce,"  and vice versa.  All a result of parental brainwashing ;)  I think it works.

She's singing here.  She lalala's and sways back and forth.  We love it.

Nothing new here, except that Alayna has officially graduated to 12mo clothes and size 3 diapers.  And everyone is WELL!!!  ...

I'm typing this from my couch while the kiddos "nap."  I heard the boys in their room jabbering.  Just when I'm writing a post about how great my kids are and life in general, they do something.  So I went in their room to find Pierce's pants totally soaked.  Hudson said, "I'm going to tell you the truth (because Frederick's never tell lies - that's another one on the brainwash list!).  I poured my water on Pierce."  He poured his drink on Pierce while Pierce was in his bed, so there's water all over the sheets and blankets.  Thank you for telling the truth!  Anyway, mess cleaned up, discipline administered, apologizing and forgiving all taken care of, and everyone is now asleep.  Good grief, now I need a nap.  

So, I took this quiz on face book about what kind of TV mom you are.  I'm June Cleaver!  HA!  and I vacuum in pearls!  I never take quizzes, but I took another one that is supposed to determine how many kids you'll have.  My result was SIX!  I don't think these are very accurate quizzes.  

If the weather stays nice this week I'm going to start cleaning up the flower beds and the yard.  I hate the leaves that have piled up around the fence line.  We have a big yard, so it'll be a big job - but I plan on raking those leaves out away from the fence so David can mow over them and mulch them into oblivion.  Anyone interested in a severe allergy attack is welcome to join me!  And now for a nap.

Alayna On the Move

One minute you see her, the next she's gone.  I was making coffee.  How did she sneak past me?  I found Alayna in the office this morning wading through a bag of trash she had dumped all over the floor.  She was gnawing on an empty cereal box.  Thankfully this is the sack we put the recycle stuff in - no rotten left-overs!   Yesterday she pulled up to her knees on the couch ... then fell over and SCREAMED.  I love this stage (sarcasm).  

Well, I stretched our groceries out over two weeks and unless we want to eat salted rice tonight (I'm even out of sugar) I need to go to the store.  My stash of coupons and sale flyers looks pretty good though.

The giant baby is destroying the bookshelf now.  Guess I should go.

A picture post

Crazy playing in the play room.

Boys being silly - they dressed themselves - it's about 40 degrees outside when this was taken, so of course they're in muscle shirts.

I had to get this shot because Hudson dressed himself in black cords "because they're black and they look awesome."

I told the boys that I wanted to take a "nice" picture, so they held hands - ha!

This is what bedtime looks like.  Daddy usually does this part.  Tonight he was the photographer.

The boys are into setting up their plastic super heroes and having me take a picture.  Seriously, I have 40 of these.  The boys are way into Planet Heroes.  Every planet has a hero and, for a price, you can collect them all.  They want the big $40 HQ.  We haven't given in on that one yet.  So right now the kitchen is called "Solar Quarters" and all of their guys are space heroes defending the universe from space monsters.  Any time Alayna gets hold of one of their guys she growls.  Think there's any chance of keeping her girly?

Notice my husband's handy work around the fire place.  Love it.

Hudson and I had a discussion today about limiting computer/TV time.  He'd been on the computer for about 30 minutes and I told him his time was up.  He came into the kitchen with shoulders slumped and sighing and said, "Mom, my imagination is telling me that I should throw a fit, but I prayed to God to help me obey and not throw a fit."  He's said this kind of thing on several occasions now.  It's great to see a little conscience becoming aware.  We've been praying for a few of his friends and family in different situations.   One of his friends had a scary visit to the hospital recently.  We prayed together for him and Hudson prayed that he would remember Daniel and the Lions Den and that he would be brave and know that God is with him.  I love hearing lessons we're teaching come alive in sincere little prayers.  It's amazing and so rewarding.

Abundant Life

"Instead of trying to fit this day into a preconceived mold, relax and be on the lookout for what I am doing.  This mindset will free you to enjoy me and find out what I have planned for you to do.  This is far better than trying to make things go according to your own plan." --Jesus Calling, Sarah Young

David needed my help with a mail-out to all his merchants this morning.  Monday morning, hmmm.  I like to think of Monday's as a fresh start.  A day to get back on schedule: wake up, get dressed, do school, clean house, organize coupons, grocery list, etc.  It's the day that sets the tone for the rest of the week for me.  If I don't get things done Monday, they get pushed back, the week gets messy, I feel out of control and overwhelmed.  So, it was good for me to read that this morning, because while I addressed all the envelopes and David stuffed them with letters, the boys made "forts."  I should have taken a picture.  They drug all of their bedding and pillows into the living room.  I can handle that, no big deal.  Then they got all of my bedding and pillows (I didn't realize that was part of the pile).  Once they got their fort built, they got all their plastic super heroes and other random toys to play with in the fort.  I don't know that they every really sat down to play.  They just kept building and dragging out more toys.  At noon, when my house is generally clean, school is usually done, I am usually dressed with makeup, dinner is usually planned or cooking and the grocery list with corresponding coupons is ready for my evening trip - none of that was done.  But I helped my husband and my kids had fun and it'll all get done tomorrow and that's okay.

Wait on the Lord

A couple of funny things before I dive in:   From the back seat of the car Hudson asked me, "Mom, what's a 'jerg'?"  For those who need translation, I think he meant "jerk."  Hmm, wonder where he heard that?!  Oddly his very next question was, "Are blue birds and red birds cousins?"  Crazy little four-year-old brain.

An insight from Bible study this week has stuck with me.  

They that wait up on the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run and not grow weary; they shall walk and not faint.

Is 40:31

We know it well.  We recite it when we're weary.  The insight (stolen from Beth Moore) is that we should be waiting on the Lord.  We're always waiting on events.  When the house is organized, when the kids are older, when the baby gets here, when I get married, when the kids are well, when we make more money, when the weather is nicer, etc.  Our lives are consumed by events and waiting on the next event to happen instead of waiting on the Lord, seeking the Lord, delighting in the Lord.  I'm always praying for the Lord to work in a situation, or fix a problem, instead of praying that the Lord would make me the woman He wants me to be through the problem.  My friend, Lisette, quoted Warren Wiersbe in a note on facebook,  "If we value comfort more than character then trials will upset us.  If we value the material and the physical more than the spiritual, we will not be able to count it all joy."  So, in the midst of the trial, when we're weary, instead of fighting to get OUT of the trial, wait on the Lord.  What does He have for you in this?

Sleepy Me

I drank 2 diet dr. peppers, 1 mt dew, and two cups of 1/2 the caff coffee today, that's all I had.  We did get school done, I did make dinner, I did teach water aerobics, and I did pick up the house ... but I was not very nice about it.  I'm blaming the time change and the resulting sleep deprivation.   We love that it's light out later.  I'm sure little body clocks will eventually adjust.  The boys actually have done fine, but poor Alayna doesn't like it at all.  She went to bed at her normal 7:45ish bedtime, but her body still thought it was 6:45.  She slept fine until midnight, then woke up every hour or two after that and decided to wake up for good at 5:15.  She's saying "Mama" now.  So she doesn't cry in her bed any more.  She wails for me.  That's harder.  I get frustrated because this is the baby who actually slept through the night at 5 weeks.  She's an angel all the time.  We're finally through these bouts of sickness and finally sleeping through the night again - then no sleep.  I don't like being tricked.  I don't remember ever having a problem with this before.  Anyways - I'll fix her, just thought I'd share.

I'm thinking about getting back on coffee.  Tiredness and kids are not copacetic .  I have to function.  I have to be a nice mom.  If sleep is not an option, maybe coffee should be.  I never drink that much pop.  Reasor's had this deal, buy 4 boxes for $9.  Saturday's sale was crazy.  I probably wont do that again.  Anyway, pop is in my house, so I'm drinking it.  I can quit that, but I really like coffee.  Hmmm.  Just thinking tired thoughts.  I think I'll go to bed.

Friday Photo Fun

Super Hero Central - defending the play room against the giant baby.

Pierce coloring basketball color pages in his basketball clothes.

We went to the zoo today.  My generous sister invited us to use her FREE passes including FREE carousel rides.  So we took advantage of some gorgeous weather and FREE fun!  A few pics of the day ...

Pierce on his horse - Riley, Amanda and Kate in the background.

Claire on her Sea Horse making her "beautiful" face in her beautiful sunglasses.

Poor Kate didn't feel well at all, but she was such a good sport.

Amanda and Riley - this picture is crazy for me.  Amanda looks so grown up (she's only a year younger than me).  A part of me still thinks she should look like Riley.  Is that weird.  I still feel like we should be kids - but we HAVE kids!  Crazy!

And my boys - Hudson wasn't really excited about riding the penguin.  Someone else already got the shark.  Ah rats ... or as Pierce would say, "Wats"!

Alayna and I were there too - Guess I forgot to take a picture of us.  We had so much fun and we were SO worn out.  Even after good naps we were tired.  I'm headed to bed early tonight and up early in the morning to hit the sale at Reasor's - woohoo!

The Luxury of Ignorance

I must admit that I live in a somewhat superficial state most of the time.  My greatest "tribulations" are having sick children or being sick myself (and when I says sick, I mean a cold).  And, if I were honest, those are only "tribulations" because I can't go to Bible Study, I can't go to church, I can't go to play group, I can't got to the Y, I, I, I can't do what I want to do.

In Beth Moore's Esther Bible Study she says, "As painful as the process may be, that which shatters our superficiality also shatters the fetters of our fragility and frees us to walk with dignity and might to our destinies.  We are not the fragile flowers we've considered ourselves to be.  We, like Esther, are the warrior princesses of God."

But, does it always have to take pain and trials to learn a lesson.  Can't we just seek and learn God's wisdom and be comfortable doing so?  Because, I would rather be comfortable.  I would rather pretend the world is all flowers and rainbows, I would rather live in my little Owasso bubble with my little happy family and be happy.  Or maybe I just don't have a very high "pain tolerance."  Maybe it takes bigger things for some people to learn stuff than it does for others.  Seriously, someone set me straight on this issue.  Gently - I don't like criticism.  Remember, I like to be comfortable - heh.

Sunday

Two Teeth!  Sitting up and crawling (break dance worm style).

Alayna is eight months old - How is that possible?

We all pass out after this chaotic cleaning frenzy.  Only grocery shopping at Walmart parallels the exhaustion of this task!  The boys ask to have a bath just about every day at this stage in their young lives and they love playing in the bathtub.  I'm hoping this love of cleanliness hangs on.  No stinky teenage boys in this house!