Hair & Mud

This is my new hairdo (pardon the no-make-up-sleepy-eyes face) - nothing too exciting or different.  But I like it.

This is what the boys did after the storm last night.  I should have taken a picture of the bath water!  DISGUSTING! 

Fruit

This is the bookshelf I put back together every day at least once.  The giant baby is also sneaky.

The boys and me watching Bolt.  I'm obviously way into this movie or just really tired - probably both.

This is what boys do - he thought he was pretty funny.  I did too, so I took a picture ;)

My green-eyed big boy.

Ah, the giant baby sleeps.

Went to a Gracia Burnham conference last Saturday that my Women's Ministry at Discovery sponsored.  For those who don't know her, she and her husband were missionaries in the Philippines.  They were kidnapped and held hostage for a year by a terrorist group connected to  Al Qaeda.  On the day she was rescued her husband was shot and killed.  

The whole talk was incredible, but one thing that stood out to me was the woman she became through her affliction.  She said she was married to a great man, had three great children, they were missionaries who daily ministered and gave of themselves to others - and she thought she was a pretty great person.  After they were captured, they were constantly on the run through the jungles, always hungry and exhausted.   She had cried every day for eight months and lived in absolute misery (and she really did have every right, as far as man is concerned, to cry every day and be miserable) when she asked her husband, "Where is all the love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, etc that I'm supposed to have?"  She was not liking the woman she saw once she was put in the fire.  His response to her was that those were gifts of the Spirit and that they should ask the Lord for those things.  So they began to pray and experience a great transformation of their own hearts.  They were able to see their captors as the lost young men that they were, and they were able to show love and compassion toward them and begin serving and ministering to them.

I was recently in my own small jungle when David was in the hospital.  When the pressure was on and the future was uncertain, I didn't like the woman that I saw in myself.  As I prayed this morning I began really asking the Lord for EVIDENT fruits of the Spirit in my life.  I've heard at least 100 times, "Don't pray for patience"!  But here I am.  I don't want affliction, I don't want jungles in any way, shape or form.  However ...

"Before I was afflicted I went astray, but now I keep Your Word ... It is good for me that I have been afflicted, that I may learn your statutes."  Psalm 119:67, 71

No News is Good News

I'm blogging because it's been OVER A WEEK since I've written anything!  Where does the time go.  I think I feel pressure to put a picture or two in every post and that usually takes more time than I have.  Really - the kids look just like they did last week ;)

We've been busy, but who isn't?  I've always got kids hanging off of me, but who doesn't?  Even as I type, Pierce is spread across my lap.  He's getting so big.  

I'm so thankful for a night of nothing to do.  No church activities, no aerobics classes, and daddy will be home.  Last night was crazy.  The Y clocks are different than mine and I don't really know which ones are right.  I got there about 15 minutes early according to their clocks.  I had a new lady in my class who was just silly.  I gave her preliminary beginner instructions, but had to focus a lot of energy on her through the whole class.  She kept flailing her arms around awkwardly and splashing her feet out of the pool on our kicks.  It was crazy.  By the time class was over I was exhausted!  David has Bible study on Monday nights, so we got home for a late dinner, said goodbye to daddy and played star wars & planet heroes all night.  Then we read 473 library books before bedtime.  The giant baby likes to read books too - she wants to climb over them and turn the pages for us and chew them a little bit.  The boys don't like that.  I don't like being outnumbered at bedtime!

I'm making chicken and rice for dinner - cheap and easy, that's how we do dinner around here.  Come on over - we'll have plenty ;)

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.