The mystery picture-taker

I think someone got a hold of my camera..... Here's a nice shot of a thumb.

Hmm......is that the wall?

This looks like the little trouble-maker's clothes......but who could it be?

I think I know!!!!!

It's my little 2 yo! My little budding photographer! (And wall artist, trapeze artist, chef, athlete, little mommy, and all over goofball!) She is surely a girl with many talents!

11 months and growing!

11 months....already! I'm really getting to be a big guy! Wanna know what I'm up to?

• I'm 22 1/2 pounds and can barely fit in my carseat anymore
• I have 6 teeth now!
• I love to climb-on top of things or out of things. I love the challenge of a grocery cart seatbelt!
• I really enjoy pushing cars around-I learned it by watching my older brother.
• I can stand by myself for a few seconds-watch out, I'll be walking soon.
• One of my favorite things is to go for walks outdoors-I am king of my stroller.
• I love to laugh and I love to be tickled too!
• I talk all the time in baby-ease, but it seems like other people don't understand what I'm saying.
• My fave food picks? Bananas, grapes cut in half, and applesauce.
• My favorite game is the throw-everything-on-the-floor game. Blocks, books, movies, whatever-plus Mom picks everything up so I can start over!
• Life is good around here-I don't cry as much and I spend most of my time exploring. I still don't like Mom to get too far away. I need my hugs!

Still here!

My posts have not been very regular lately, as you've probably noticed. No, I haven't disappeared, life has just been very full. My hubby has been having back pain for quite some time, which had gotten progressively worse, until it had gotten to the point of him being unable to go to work, to stand for more than a few minutes, or drive the past week or so. Fortunately, he was able to have a back surgery done at the hospital yesterday and I am happy to say, so far it has provided a great deal of relief. Sure, he has a long way to go in his recovery, but the pain he has now is mostly from the incision site, not from the nerve being compressed. I am so thankful for that! Needless to say, that is why I've been absent. With him unable to be up and around, I've been responsible for all the child and house care lately, which leaves little time for blogging. Really, I'd be happy to do it all everyday if it means he'd be out of pain. Watching hubby go through this gave me a whole new perspective on how difficult it is to be sick. Your entire day revolves around your ailment and the pain it causes. Sometimes it's just enough to make it to the next dose of meds. I truly feel for anyone who has to deal with chronic pain on a daily basis-I can't imagine. Even trying to get the help you need can be difficult. Sometimes it can feel like others don't care. While in the hospital, the flashing nurse's button seemed to just be ignored, requests for pain meds had to be made 2 or 3 times, and a visit from the doctor was delayed for hours. I looked around at some of the other patients there-many in far worse condition-and felt sad that they didn't have their loved ones there to fight for them. And yes-sometimes you have to fight! Today, I went to fill a new prescription for painkillers and was encountered with a pharmacist who refused to fill it. Though she didn't come out and say it, I knew the reason-she thought we were drug abusers. I was very upset-here I was with a legitimate prescription from a doctor and she wouldn't fill it. I was not rude to her, but my words were most definitely not loving or kind. Upset, I took the prescription and left. After calling the doctor, who was surprised at the pharmacists decision, he encouraged us to visit another pharmacy. Another one was out of stock, but we finally found a 24 hour one several miles away. While driving there at 8 pm, tired and worn out from the day, I prayed that God would help this go smoothly-better than the last time. It was at that point the Lord convicted my heart. I'm sure that other pharmacist had a reason for doing what she did, but at the time, I really wasn't interested. Whatever situations she was going through in her life, maybe she just needed someone to show her the love of Jesus today. Whether that made a difference in her decision shouldn't have mattered. Sadly, ashamedly, she didn't see Jesus through me today. She just saw another upset customer that she probably assumed didn't care about her either. It's so easy to love others when they love us back, isn't it? But God doesn't often surround us with people who are always loving and kind. He puts all these difficult types in our path, I'm sure to grow and develop us. I can see that now, but it's just so hard to do! Still, I wouldn't want it any other way. The Lord knows what is best for me-and my hubby-even if it causes pain or suffering for us along the way. What started out as a complaint has turned to a praise!

Friend or foe?

Do you know what this is? It's a picture of my computer, whom I can call "Acer", who has seemed to have developed a mind of his own the past couple months or so. Apparently, Acer has grown weary of sifting through so many emails that end up in my inbox and has decided to start sorting them himself, based on whatever his mood may be that day (and no, they're not going to my junk email box-they're going to his own special hidden place!) It never seems to be the junk mail he sorts out either, but more of the important emails that include information I may actually need-or a note from someone that I would love to read! So forgive me if you have emailed and you never heard back! Has anyone else had this happen with their computer..or is it just me? It seems to me that me and electronics just aren't so compatible-we're like oil and water-we just don't mix. Sure, I get along okay, but it's really just muddling through it. The picture I took here with my camera is a little grainy because I can't figure out the settings-I usually just start punching buttons until it looks like I want..or I go fetch hubby or my 16 year old. Another thing I can't figure out? My cell phone..yes, I know..welcome to 2009, right? I can pretty much answer it and that's it. I've got phone numbers programmed in it by hubby, of course, but don't know how to get to them! I just texted for the first time a week ago. It took me 10 minutes to send one sentence, but I did it, only to be promptly texted back and made fun of. How do teens do this all day? I'm sure if I really sat down and took the time to figure out all these things, I could. I mean, after all, I used to be that teen that rolled her eyes at her parents because they couldn't figure out these simple things! Well, for now, I can always just pick up my landline and call someone if I need to-does anyone have one of those anymore, except me? Sigh....I miss those simple days!

A year goes by so quickly

It is hard to believe, but yesterday marked one year since my Dad passed from this life. Though part of the year seemed kind of like a blur, it has gone by so quickly. Now that I've come to this milestone, I can truly say that the saying -"time heals your wounds" -has been pretty accurate with me. In the beginning, things were very tough and at times I wondered how life would ever go on as "normal" again. Well, it never did go back to normal, but it seems like there's a new normal in my life. At this point, though, I'm able to look back on fond memories and smile, instead of being only sad. Occasionally, I even have a dream about him interacting with me and my family-again, always happy. My kids, too, always talk about their great memories of Grandpa-when he took them out for ice cream, a movie, or golfing. The distance of many miles never lessened their love, or mine, for him. To mark the day, I wanted to do something special-something to remember him in a happy way-he would have wanted that. We got a dozen balloons at the party store, filled with helium. Each of the bigger kids wrote a note with a favorite memory of Grandpa or just a note of love and tied it to the string. Around dusk, we all took our balloons (little ones included) and set them off into the sunset.

What a sight it was to see all those balloons floating into the sky!

My favorite moment was when my 5 yo, John, set off his balloon and yelled out, "I love you Grandpa!" It brought tears to my eyes. Beloved Dad..sweet Grandpa...your memory will live in our hearts forever.

How are you feeling?

I haven't posted in a few days, as I've been out of town, but now that I'm back, I wanted to share something the Lord has put on my heart lately. It is the issue of feelings-or should I say, letting those feelings dictate actions. Our feelings are God-given and all of us feel sad, angry, or jealous at times. The question is, how do we react when we feel these things? Do we choose to act rudely or unkind to others because of what happened? I am ashamed to admit, I have done this far too often. It is so easy to blame our situation or others' behavior for our sin. In fact, we could probably find many others to agree with us. After all, who would blame a wife for complaining when her husband just won't pick up his clothes off the floor? Or who would fault a mom for yelling at her kids when they consistently misbehaved that day? Probably not many, but God still says it's wrong. Sadly, it's just so easy to blame our situation for our wrong behavior, so we do it. So what are we supposed to do? I mean, when someone is rude to us, can we really respond in love? Yes, but only with the Lord's help. I don't know about you, but it's not a natural thing to respond lovingly when someone has been unkind! Only God can help me do that! It's also possible to have a thankful heart when someone does something that makes me angry. What amazing things we can do when we allow the Lord to work through us! Not in our own efforts, but because of Him! Jeremiah 17:9 tells it very well- "The heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked; who can know it?" It is a mistake for me to trust in my feelings or to follow what my heart says-it will only mislead me- rather, my trust needs to be in the Lord-He is the truth!

Little guy update

Little guy, my cutie patootie Luke, is 10 months old now. Actually, he turned 10 months a couple of weeks ago, but I'm a little slow at updating. I swear he gets cuter everyday! He has developed such a personality and loves to play. He is quite independent and even climbs the stairs now (yes, all of them!) He also loves walking while holding onto furniture. I know it won't be long before he won't need the furniture! He has sprouted a couple of new teeth, which is helpful in his exploring new foods. He is a great little eater and eats just about everything we do, so long as it's not too hard. His favorites? Fruit, kix or honey nut cheerios cereal, and pasta. As you can see from the picture, he's not missing any meals! He still gives me hugs when he gets up in the morning and it truly warms my heart. I am so happy to see him developing, but a part of me is sad to see him grow out of his babyhood! Soon, his little sausage feet will outgrow these cute little crocs, so for now, I'm enjoying every little babble, kiss, and pinch of those little chubby cheeks!

From one extreme to the other...

In our house, we've got all ages, from little babies up to big ones! Here is my littlest guy, just 10 months old-crawling, babbling, getting into everything, and making messy diapers!

It's funny sometimes to go from that, to this.....

My oldest, 16 years old! Doesn't he look nice, by the way? This picture was taken this week just before he went out for a job interview. He's been on the hunt the past few weeks. Amazingly, of about a dozen applications he put in, he really only got an interview with one. A sign of the times, really. Jobs are hard to come by these days-even those ones that were so readily available to teens years ago. Hard to think that one day my little guy will be big like this! They sure don't stay small for long enough. Enjoy all those ages and stages-before you know it, they will be all grown up!

Science at our house...

My 2 oldest are doing a science experiment on osmosis that spans over 3 days. The first day started with them immersing an egg in vinegar for 24 hours. When they checked it today, at the end of that time, here is what they found:


An intact egg, without the shell! Wow! I didn't even know you could do that! The next step involves soaking the egg in a corn syrup solution, so we'll see how that turns out. John, on the other hand, decided to investigate the prevalence of fire ants in our front yard, when he went outside with no shoes to play. Well, he discovered there were many of them, when he came back in about 10 minutes later with one foot looking like this:

Poor guy-apparently he didn't learn from Eden's incident just a few days before. Lest you think we're awful parents, letting our kids get bit like this-rest assured, we have treated our yard for fire ants for the past 2 years. As soon as you close down one nest, though, they just pop up with another one somewhere else! Almost worse than roaches! At least our backyard doesn't seem to be a problem., so the kids can have a place to play. Fortunately, this time wasn't as bad and since we treated it quickly, it didn't seem to bother him much. I have to say, I think I'm ready for winter, when those ants hibernate!

What's in your pocket?

Our days are always busy, it seems. Whether it be homeschooling, taking care of the house, fixing meals, or even making a run to the doctor for an unexpected appointment. (Yes, this happened today-I have two words for you-pink eye!) With so many people in one house, with so much going on, things tend to get a little...messy! I don't do well with lots of messes sitting around, so I find myself just picking up small messes as I see them, throughout the day, rather than waiting for it to turn into something larger! It might be a small piece of trash, a lego, a matchbox car, or maybe even a cheerio or two. I don't always have time to find the nearest trash can or put the object back where it goes, so I usually end up stuffing it into my pocket (or apron, if I'm wearing one) to throw or put away later. Well, undoubtedly, the "later" becomes "never" and the many pickings up throughout the day leave me with some pretty stuffed pockets. I have had times where it looks like I'm storing up nuts for the winter! At the end of the night, when I'm getting ready to take my shower (happiness!), I always empty out my pockets and get a good laugh out of what I find. It's just so obvious I'm a homeschooling mom, as I take out small blocks, erasers, and magnetic letters. Better in my pockets, than scattered on my floor-that's my motto! Though I don't appreciate it so much now, I know there is a day when I will miss not having all those little toys to pick up! (sniff) So for now, I'll just make sure to buy clothes with very deep pockets! :-)