It's Swell To Be Twelve

Today is Brad's 12th birthday. I can't believe that he could even possibly be that already. At almost 5' 2" and exhibiting quite a bit of independence and a take-charge attitude, I guess I must admit that it is indeed here. **Sigh, I remember when he was toddling around everywhere I went...it seems like only yesterday....

His birthday festivities began on Wednesday with a sleepover at a friends house and continued on into Thursday when they switched houses for the 'super sleepover' which ended today. My husband took Brad and Brisan out to breakfast or at least it was breakfast for him. The boys ordered fish and chips and spaghetti. I guess that's what growing boys do.

Then they headed to the local bike store to supposedly drop off Bob's bike for a tune-up. When they arrived, a new royal blue dirt bike was rolled out ready to be sized up just for Brad. What a surprise that was for him! (And if I catch it laying out in the rain.....!)

They swung home to pick up the rest of us and off we were to the zoo. It was a beautiful day....82 and sunny!

When we arrived at the zoo, we found that every school in the area had decided to take a road trip to the same place as us. It was wall to wall people. However, once we got past the front exhibits, it wasn't' so crowded.

We saw monkeys, lions, tigers and a red panda and let's not forget to mention the strutting peacock!

We saw Brad getting too tired to walk and his super nice friend willing to pull him in the wagon. Of course, Brisan's only comment about that was that he picked a fine day to wear a long sleeve shirt and pants! What are friends for?!! Brad was constantly scanning for overly priced ice cream and slurpee's because he was so hot. What better way to spend your birthday money than to support your local zoo!

By the time we got to the polar bear exhibit which is one of my favorites, the gang was all tuckered out from the heat and from pulling each other in the wagon even the polar bear thought so. We all sat down to rest our throbbing feet and to smile at the camera.

We managed to work our way to the back finally after going around and around to make sure we got everyone's agenda accomplished when right before our very eyes was a train with a one way ticket to the front! When Brisan yelled 'Thank You Mr. Bob quite emphatically I knew right then and there that whoever thought out the layout for the zoo knew that people would give their right arm and maybe a child just to hitch a ride back to the front to soothe their aching feet. Of course an added benefit was two very excited little boys named Ryan and Aaron who were whooping it up with their squeals about getting to ride on a train. It was worth it! Since we could take the stroller on but not enough hands to hang onto the stuff that was loaded into the bottom of it, Bob trucked it back to the front by himself while we got a ride on easy street.

After sitting in rush hour traffic, we had birthday dinner at the local coney island which is one of Brad's very favorite places to eat....fast and a lot of it! Then we came home, opened presents and had cake. It was quite a fun day and now I'm ready for a long winter's nap!

Happy Birthday, Brad!

Officially Unemployed

Today is Bob's official first day unemployed. I wasn't sure what to expect when I woke up this morning but today doesn't feel any different. The birds are singing, the sun is shining and the kids are lively as ever. It's not like I expected it to be raining or everything frozen in place but shouldn't something indicate there's a enormous change going on in our lives? Perhaps the changes are on the inside. Here is what we see:

1. Bob is happy.

2. Bob is very happy.

3. Bob is not stressed.

4. Bob is different.

5. Bob is smiling.

We've made our decision on what path we are going to take for the next few months. It all started a few months back. My husband has been really stressed at work and hasn't been all that happy with things the way they were. He has always desired to have his own business but felt like we couldn't just quit and go that route because we have responsibilities like say...a house payment, food for the children, Starbucks, etc.

A dear friend of mine and I started praying about what direction God wanted us to take. Then as you've read previously, Bob was laid off. This was totally not what we were expecting. We've had several confirmations to that direction and feel that God is giving us a unique opportunity to embrace that would benefit all of us. Even though the future is uncertain, we are confident that this is the way God is directing us.

So with all that said, we've made a decision to start our own business, Bob's PC Pro. We are very excited about this new adventure. It's a little scary but yet exciting. God has opened a door that we weren't expecting and are seizing the moment. Even though the market may seem like this isn't a good time to go off on our own, we know that God is bigger than all that and are trusting Him with whatever may come.

And The Prize Goes To.......

Our insurance is about to run out. So, because of that, I scheduled all the family to get their teeth cleaned, flossed and looked at by the dentist. If you know me, that takes quite some spurring on. I hate going to the dentist. That metal scraping against my teeth about sends me through the roof. However, the kids think it's just another adventure in life that leads them to getting to pick from the treasure box.

After Mr. Dentist looked at all of our teeth, he announced that everyone was in great shape except for my dear, tooth-cavity challenged husband who had to come back the next day for a couple of fillings. It just wouldn't be considered a complete dentist trip if we weren't contributing to the 'send the dentist on a trip via his new YACHT' fund.

One of the perks of going to our dentist is that they have a monthly drawing that you can enter if you are under the age of twelve. It involves a cute, cuddly, stuffed animal. This months prize happened to be a duck named Flappy Jumbo.

We got a call on Wednesday that our five year old, Ryan, had won the prize. He was so very excited and could not wait until I took him there to pick up his prize. He decided that Flappy did not suit Mr. Duck so his named has been changed to Quackers. I was so very excited for him especially because if you remember back in October, I posted about our family pumpkin prize winning events which had left Ryan the only one without a prize and also because I didn't have more pumpkin to figure out what to do with.

Yay! Ryan! You have a winning smile!

The Amazing Kara Strikes Again

Kara had a surprise up her sleeve she was just waiting to reveal to us. Here is her shining moment:





She really is amazing and quite determined!

First Birthday: Take 2

I was able to salvage one lone cupcake from the 'birthday cake disaster' to present before the birthday girl with her very first candle to blow out. I was getting all kinds of advice about not getting it too close to her because she could burn herself. Man, my kids are going to be fabulous parents one day. They have the scolding thing down to a science.

At first Miss Kara didn't know what to do with it. Daddy helped her blow out her candle and then she was given the 'go ahead' to dive in. All of my other children were gun-ho on that being that cake plus frosting equals yum-o. They had this all figured out from the start but Kara is different. She picked off a little piece with frosting and ate it, then she picked off another little piece with frosting and ate it and kept at it until all the frosting was gone. None in her hair, none up her nose, none in her ears. I didn't even have to spray her down. So she has been dubbed: Our dainty little crumb eater.

After thoroughly enjoying her cake which she ate entirely except for the last bite that Grandma helped get rid of, she was introduced to the gifts. She wasn't all that interested until they were removed from the box and placed in front of her. She didn't even care about the wrapping paper. Now the others.....were very willing to help unwrap, play and discover.

All in all, she had a very nice birthday spent with her family and she decided to give us a surprise in return.......

(look for the answer in the next episode!)

It's Kara's Day To Be...ONE!

Kara is now one years old! This year held all kinds of changes for her. She was just a little 'peanut' and now look at her....I believe a friend of ours told me just today that she has some very cute 'tree trunks'...I wouldn't expect anything less from our family genes! I suppose if she reads this when she is older, I'll have to take some flack for sharing that. It's risky business being a Mom.

She is a very happy little girl. She loves to be right in the middle of all the activity. She loves to dance, sing and clap her hands. She loves to kiss. She also loves to push buttons...whether it's the TV, a computer keyboard or if she happened upon the mother-lode of all buttons....the gameboy. I suppose it's too be expected. The four that came before her also have it too!

The day was spent at the park with our homeschool friends. It was quite muddy from raining the day before but that didn't deter our three year old and our five year old from enjoying their time there.
In fact, they found the first mud hole in zero to thirty seconds and visited it quite frequently throughout the afternoon. Our five year old even imagined that it was a slip and slide and was the center of attention when he took a running start and slide head-first into the mud. I suppose I should have made an attempt to put a stop to it but I've learned over the years that it's a lost cause. My kids just love mud. I've resigned myself to it.

If you were wondering how our cupcake disaster turned out, there wasn't much to be done but this is what I came up with. I guess all that matters is that it's chocolate and it has frosting. We've got those two items covered!

With a full day of fun, fun, fun, Miss Kara tuckered out before she could even open her presents. So we will just have to extend her day till tomorrow when she can enjoy her wrapping paper and discover what's underneath it.

Happy First Birthday, Kara!

An Evening With A Five Year Old

Once again, I found myself frantically shopping for a birthday present on the 'eve' of a birthday. Every time one rolls around, I swear to myself and everyone around me that I WILL NOT wait till the last minute to do my birthday shopping next time. It always end up that I don't get what I want or I just can't find the very thing I thought would be perfect or so cute a couple weeks earlier. But here I am, at 10:30 at night cooking cupcakes for tomorrow which I might add are not turning out as planned and am frantically trying to figure out a creative way to turn them into cute, picture-worthy first birthday cupcakes so Kara is not adding that to the list of things she needs to work out as an adult. I, also am needing to wrap the presents I purchased about an hour ago.

Ryan, our five year old has been feeling a little left out (he's my emotional child) and he loves to go with me so I invited him to come along with me to go birthday shopping. He was ecstatic. Off to he went, like a flash, to get his shoes. I, then, found him waiting by the car door very patiently. As we were zipping down the road to get to one of our destinations, I hear this coming from the back seat: I wish we were riding in the 'red' car, I wish we were riding in the 'red' car, I wish we were riding in the 'red' car.

As a bit of a side note, let me just explain to you how very much Ryan (5) and Aaron (3) love the 'zurban' (Aaron's name for it). If we should happen to be going somewhere, those two boys jump up very enthusiastically and are all for 'going' but if they should hear that we are taking the 'green' car (minivan), they drag their feet and say things like, "why does Dad always have to take the red car" or "I wish we were riding in the red car". Let me say this also...it's not just because of the DVD player. It's quite fun to ride around watching your favorite movie but it's also fun riding around in the 'zurban'. You can see things from a different view than you can in a smaller vehicle. It's like looking down from a mountain to the scenic view below compared to being on top of a dirt pile in the middle of a baseball diamond looking up at the crowds. It's just a very big blessing to have such a vehicle. Oh, did I mention, the energy it emits to one behind the wheel??? I highly recommend it (see, it's not just for the kids!).

Getting back to Ryan saying to himself over and over again that he wished he was in the red car. After he had said that for a few times, I heard him say this....my temperature is getting hot. Of course, the mother in me jumped into full gear. I thought maybe he wasn't feeling good which is never good, in my opinion, to be on the road with a child that could potentially throw-up in your car. But he pipes up with this: I'm hot and mad! I took the bite and asked him why he was so hot and mad. The answer is because he wants to be in the red car which at that moment was in Port Huron with his Father. I never knew we'd be having the 'war of the red car' and that the children would be involved in the fight. They can be very persuasive which does work to my advantage.....**cackle** It's all my secret plan and it's working....**cackle***

A Bouncin' Good Time

A dear friend of mine invited the kids and I to a night at Bouncin Kidz. Who would of thought to create a play area full to the brim with inflatable jumpy things. After paying, we were instructed to go into 'Area A'. When we opened the door and entered inside, the eyes of my five year old were bulging out of their eye sockets. He was hooked.

However, when he actually got in front of the inflatable slide, he was overwhelmed by the vastness of it and decided to sit with the talking mothers. He didn't stay for long. The pull was just to great to resist. He found an inflatable ball about the size he is and enjoyed playing with that for quite some time.

Finally, between his older brother and sister, he was persuaded to give the jumpy things a try. I only saw him briefly after that, his face rosy red and his hair wet from running from one inflatable to another. To add to their fun, 'Arena B' which is connected to 'Arena A' was opened up also. What is more fun than one room full of jumpy things?? Two rooms of jumpy things!

My most favorite part of the evening was not only talking with my friend but the moment she decided to join the kids at the top of the slide and let out a squeal as she slide down the slide. All I have to say is.....Mom's Night Out???? I'm joking of course, I don't think I could give up my coffee but it would be an absolute scream to see certain somebodies giggling hysterically while they slid down the slide or bounced in the moon bounce. It really would be something to see and to blog about **snicker, snicker** !

A Helping Hand...

Time after time after time, I find myself wondering why we even bother to mop the floor, clean the toilets or even fold laundry. In two seconds flat, one of the darling babes that live in this home have what was done undone without any effort at all. I realize there is this thing out there called Murphy's Law....my children like to put their own personal spin on the 'law'.

Here's what I found when I followed the delightful squeal:


Would you ever have guessed how absolutely fun it is to pull the newly folded clothes out of the basket and see what the responses from the adults in the house sound like....and let's not forget the responses from those who are not currently adults that were asked to help refold the clean clothes.

But she's just so cute! How could you be frustrated with such sweetness??

A New Found Freedom

I was recently standing in line at the grocery store to purchase my cartful of groceries when several people all kind of congregated together talking about the unemployment state Michigan is in currently. Of course, it was very obvious to me that Governor Grandholm was not at the top of their 'favorite people' list.

This group went around giving their unemployment story to each other. Most of their stories centered around the auto industry. I thought it was kind of amazing that right there in the grocery store that this group found a kind of like support group in each other for a brief period. It was so sad to hear how long many of them have been looking for work. I was so thankful that our family had not been touched by unemployment.

My husband showed up around lunch time today. I thought to myself, uh oh...look to see if he's smiling or if he has his mad face on. The kids assured me he was smiling so I allowed relief to set in and quickly dismissed his early arrival home as maybe he has a long conference call that his boss was allowing him to take from home.

As he entered our home, the inquisition began. He responded with the fact that he no longer worked for EDS. Shock flooded my mind. How can this be, I asked myself? He just got back to work from being off for his surgery. Then of course, other questions started zipping through my mind. This is NOT a good time to be finding a job was screaming inside my head. What are we going to do? He just hugged me and assured me that everything was going to be alright.

His response was simply this:

You know in the movie, Braveheart, when Mel Gibson is about to be beheaded and he yells at the top of his lungs...FREEDOM. That's Bob. That's how he illustrated today at the office.

His boss mentioned something about RIF (reductions in force) yada yada yada. However, I find it very coincidental that he's back to work for less then a week after being on short-term disability due to his previous health issues and now find they are letting him go. So it's great you have benefits just so long as you never have to use them? When he was off work last year for his ankle surgery, they weren't happy either and it reflected in his review. I'm sure his medical time off, has something to do with this too.

So now we've joined the ranks of many others.....unemployed. On a good note, his boss gave him a letter of recommendation which I have no idea whether it will help him find a job or not but at least, it's something. We've got some big decisions to make in the near future. Please pray for us that we will have wisdom in those decisions.

A Funeral.....

If any of you caught the local news this past week, you might have seen a report on a 13 year old boy that was out skateboarding with some friends in the middle of the night. He was killed when a drunk driver on a suspended license hit him sending him right out of his shoes. Then proceeded to take off... adding 'hit and run' to the list of offenses. Fortunately, he was caught and is now in the Wayne County jail awaiting his trial.

We attended the heart-wrenching visitation last night as this is a relative of ours. A cousin. We lost touch through the years through divorce making this all the more sad. They lived with us for a couple of weeks when they lost their home before moving in with my Mother-in-law for a time. Jonathan was two at the time. I cannot believe that eleven years has gone by just like that.

What do you say to parents who have lost a child or to a Grandfather who has lost his Grandson or to a four year old brother who wants to put on his Power Rangers cape so he can fly up to heaven to get his big brother? It is so hard to make sense of such a senseless tragedy. The hardest thing is, what do you say to someone who doesn't know the Lord in a time like this? I can only pray that through all this that somehow their hearts turn towards Christ. He is the only one who can fill their empty hearts with the peace and comfort they need right now.

A Prayer Request

Twelve years ago and some change, we got a call from my sister-in-law. She was pregnant at the time and wanting to name her baby's middle name after my husband. Matthew joined our family in the cold month of January and has had the pleasure of growing up with all of his crazy relatives.

About a year ago, he was diagnosed with ADEM. It is a neurological disease that affects the brain. He spent lots of time in the hospital while they administered a steroid treatment. He recovered and has been doing pretty well until recently. He was prescribed an MRI. Upon getting the results of that test, he was sent back into the hospital.

Apparently, a percentage of patients who are diagnosed with this disease end up with Multiple Sclerosis which is what the doctors now think he has. He will be going to Children's Hospital today for a consultation.

Please pray for them as my sister-in-law has her own physical disability and is a single Mother trying to make ends meet. They have a huge financial need which now is going to include a car to transport him back and forth to doctor appointments and such.

Why We Blog....

Why do we blog?

I'm sure everyone has their very own personal story. For me, I've got a lot stuff floating around in my head wanting to come out. So this is a creative outlet for me. I was blogging before blogging became popular, sending out emails with life stories as they happened here, to all who would listen. It also let's me get down the crazy things that happen in our life. So I guess it's also like a journal, a biography and a scrapbook all wrapped up in one. It also is like my very own therapist. I can say whatever is on my heart and in my head all while notes are being taken.

Why do we read blogs?

Some read blogs because their friends strong arm them into it. Some are just interested in what's going on in the lives of those that blog. And others just like to have something to read and what is more fun than reading about real life?

What do we blog about?

I've read some on computer technology, video gaming, coffee drinking experiences, life according to pink and my personal favorite....personal life stories. You can blog about anything. Anything that inspires you.

Blogging is a great way to communicate with others. I hope that my blogging experience does inspire others or at least give them a good ol' belly laugh from time to time. Life is full of great moments to cherish, to capture, to laugh at and to blog....

What Is Your Passion?

I recently listened to a sermon on 'What is your Passion"? I believe that God put that in all of us. It is different for everyone which makes us all unique. Passion is linked to our gifts and talents. I think I am happiest when I'm using those gifts and talents passionately.

One of the reasons we homeschool is to be able to hone in on each of our children's passions and equip them with the skills to develop that into something they can use for the rest of their life. Have you ever come across someone who is absolutely miserable because they've found themselves in a place they've grown to loathe. A place where they just robotically go from one thing to another. It has removed the passion, inspiration and life from what they are doing.

We don't want this for our children. Now, at some point, they will have to make that choice for themselves but it won't be because we didn't give them a foundation to work from. Our oldest is very passionate about video games. It is not only an enjoyable pastime for him. He finds it interesting and wants very badly to learn how to create them. Last week, my husband found a free software program that helps you build your own game. Brad's eyes lit up like fireworks in the sky, the energy surging from his pores was oozing into the atmosphere as he awaited the installation to his computer. He spent the entire day working on one. Now this is just an elementary place to start but who knows what it will bring in the future. My favorite part was when he stated to me that he needed to work on his math so that he can get better at programming. Ahhh, it does a Mother's heart good!

Our second child is very passionate about art. She loves to draw and create projects out of nothing. To watch her in action, is simply amazing. God put this in her! She has loved it since she was able to pick up a crayon. People will tell her she will probably be an artist someday and she replies with, "I already am!" She's not being snotty, she just knows what she is.

Our third child is passionate about life. His exuberance vibrates from the very top of our home to the foundation that it stands on. His mind thinks like no other and he has me in stitches many times throughout the day. Perhaps he'll be our comedian or write his own book. He can tell a story ad lib and it can keep going and going and going longer then the Energizer Bunny Rabbit can beat his drum.

Our fourth child is very rule oriented. He does not like things to be as they should not be. He is very passionate about this and will tell you what he thinks. Perhaps he will be our engineer.

At eleven months old, our fifth child is already showing signs of 'independent thinking', which we encourage in all of our children. She knows what she wants and she loves to squeal. I think she may make a great project or program manager someday.

Our hope for ourselves and for our children is to find ourselves passionately doing things that God created us to do in our job, in our home and in this world that inspires others around us. We all want to live life alive and with gusto so that not one moment that we've been blessed with will be for nothing.

So, what is your God-given passion?

The Waiting List.....

I just want to know this one thing. Does anybody realize that as a mother of five youngsters, it is imperative for her to eat on occasion???

This is what I'm finding out:

That before I can sit down to enjoy my 'hot' cup of coffee that I've now nuked for the seventeenth time and part of a piece of toast that was once warm and now cold and hard that I haven't had to share 'bites' with someone.....

I must get my eleven month old situated in her high chair with something to nibble on (a decoy since she has decided she likes sitting on my lap and sharing above-mentioned toast).

I must get up every two seconds to settle a squabble, change poopy diapers at various intervals because they are NOT in unison, get drinks, snacks and kiss boo boo's.

I must make 'second' breakfast for my three year old who says he needs more food.

I must also wear a pathway on the floor between the kitchen and livingroom, putting the TV back on the proper channel or lowering the volume to a normal level since Kara has found buttons she loves to push which totally upsets certain other little people. How upsetting it can be when your program gets switched right when you are about to find out if Swiper swipes something that Dora needs? That is very disturbing indeed!

And then there is dinner:

There is the endless, I need a dwink.

Can you get me.....?????

I need a different fork.

I need my food cut up and ranch or ketchup put in just the right spot.

Find something for Kara to eat.

And then finally when everyone is happily eating, I turn around to sit at our table and glance over at everyone realizing once again that we must eat in rotation since there isn't enough seats for everyone. I, being the waitress, have lost my window of opportunity to find a seat in the process of accomplishing all that must be done before I can partake of the 'hot' food. I have been bumped to the 'waiting' list.

I use to think that sitting down as a family at dinner time was of utmost importance but now that I'm looking at it from this perspective, I find that once a couple kids finish their dinner, it's of utmost importance for them to go play......

....just so I can sit (instead of stand) and enjoy my luke warm meal while they are preoccupied and not needing me for a brief moment in time. It's called survival.

Here's The Scoop.....

Thursday was "T" day (test day). After registering and finding out where we had to go, we arrived at the radiology room. A HIDA scan was scheduled. This is the test where they shoot some radioactive tracer into your arm and then watch it go through your liver, gall bladder (if you have one), intestines and pancreas.....and just as a bonus, you get to watch it do all this on the screen. Your organs light up quite nicely as it moves along. Of course, to one who isn't skilled in reading the screen, it might seem a little un-nerving as you begin to wonder why everything looks a little bulgy and funny shaped. And then you wonder, if your eyeballs would glow like two little beady eyes in the dark of night. Hmmm.....that might be fun to check when Kara gets me up at 2 a.m. I need to find some amusement for being up at that time of morning, otherwise, I might just be cranky.

This particular tests can take from an hour to four. Last time he was in the hospital, the doctor thought it would be nice if he took the four hour. What a long test! However, since they were just checking things out as a precaution this time, he only had to lay there for an hour....long enough for me to amuse myself with my camera phone taking pictures of Bob laying there trapped under the machine with no escape.

We then had to make our way over to the lab for seven vials of blood to be removed from his arm. After all this is said and done, I wonder if he might feel like a test specimen. However, no animals were hurt in the process of finding out the mystery.

Waiting for the results:

For many of you, you've already heard our news but I'd thought I'd share it with the rest of you.

We heard from the doctor last night and this is what she said.....

Bob's tests all came back clean as well as his blood work. His doctor thinks his spleen is alright. His blood work did not indicate any problems that usually are present when something is wrong. Perhaps his spleen is just bigger than some as people are all different shapes and sizes. His happens to be a millimeter of an inch bigger on all sides which according to her is only slightly enlarged. However, he will have to go have another CT Scan in 3-6 months just to make sure it's not getting any bigger.

As far as him still not feeling well from his surgery....they think he probably just has a lot of fluid buildup that just has to work it's way out. She also mentioned that she had to do some repair work on his umbilical hernia that he had when he was a baby. No wonder he walks around holding his belly and feels every bump and defect in the road when he's in the car! If he's not feeling better in a few weeks, he will then have to go through some more tests but for now, medication is his friend.

Currently:

We are trying to rest this weekend and get ready for his return to work on Monday. Somehow in the midst of all this, he is going to have to try, with pain meds, to function at work. I am going to have to try to function, without meds, at home. A couple of my children mentioned at breakfast this morning that how awful it was that the worse things keep happening to us. I quickly responded to them that we need to keep perspective on things. They have no idea how 'worse' things really could be. We need to be thankful that even though we've gone through a bit of a roller coaster ride of emotions, the end results are things we can handle. We can handle a flood, a bad ankle, and a mysterious gall bladder. All these 'detours' that happen, are all useful in helping us grow in character, in patience and in understanding of others.

I do pray that God allows us to have a bit of a 'resting' period before he throws us another 'detour'. However, I'm ready to 'rest' in His presence, should something else be thrown onto our path. Our strength comes from the Living Water, Jesus Christ.

Life's Detours

As I was contemplating life and all it's recent events, I was going to title this blog 'Roadblocks'. However, the more I thought about it, the more I thought that that title didn't really apply. Here is my thinking on that. When you are driving down a particular road and run into a road block, typically it steers you back where you came from. I don't want to go back where I came from, I want to learn from that and keep moving forward. Then the idea hit me! I should entitle this blog as 'Life's detours'. We are still moving forward, maybe in a different direction then we originally planned or maybe it takes us a little longer to get where we are going since we perhaps have to go around curves, valleys, hills or slow drivers in front of us, but nevertheless still heading to our destination. Hence...my title.

Yesterday morning we received a phone call from our primary care physician. They had test results. Bob was still sleeping and I didn't want to disturb him and they really wanted to talk to him about it. I thought to myself, that's a little odd since it's been a month since his surgery. Does it really take that long to get results to your doctor from the hospital? But I quickly dismissed it as they probably were just going to tell him that his liver enzymes were up which we already knew.

After Bob woke up and cleared his head, he made the call to the doctor. They told him the doctor was looking at his CT scan and found an enlarged spleen which they wanted him to get checked out right away. Ok, I thought to myself, this isn't what I was thinking. I started feeling nauseous. This is what I do when things like this come up. It's either nauseousness or a feeling of complete exhaustion overwhelming me. On this particular day, both are hitting me.

The surgeon that recently took his gall bladder out, has scheduled him for a gamut of tests which we originally thought was going to happen today but couldn't get him appointments for that until tomorrow. They also want to check out why he's still not feeling well from his previous surgery. So we will be spending the day at the hospital tomorrow, the day he was scheduled to go back work. I'm sure they, meaning his boss, is NOT going to be happy about that.

This has been a doosey of a year already and it's only April. I was sure that once we got through his mystery of a gall bladder, that things would level out but I guess life doesn't necessarily work that way which leads me back to my contemplation of life's crises'. I was thinking that one can be traveling along and BAM! you have a severed ligament in your ankle to deal with which sends you on a 'detour' or BAM! a flood hit's your home and again, detour or BAM! health issues suddenly come up...again...detour.

How do we deal with detours? Some may get mad or frustrated because we don't have control over situations that we have to deal with. Some may embrace it and get excited to see where it may lead them. Some may shake their head in disbelief. But really, how do we deal with these crazy detours because we all have them? I personally hate the emotional roller coaster I put myself on. I tend to fall apart on the 'what if's'. I wish I could maintain a level of calmness until a determination has been made. And why does all the symptoms you have usually lead back to cancer?

I am so thankful that God places special people around you to hold you up, to encourage, to do whatever God puts on their heart that will minister to you. They are reminders that God is there. He does care about what you are going through. And He gives you the strength to get through it. And He uses his people to accomplish all this. I am always awed when He calls me to be one of those people, an ordinary Mom to five beautiful children.

It Happened Again!

You all are going to start wondering if I actually watch my children when we are out and about. The answer is a resounding 'yes, I do'! However, they can be here one minute and gone the next. This is the nature of kids, I am finding out.

Today is 'park day' for us. During the nicer weather, our homeschool group schedules Wednesdays to meet at the park and let the kids play while we Mom's get some adult conversation. Well, I say adult conversation loosely...it's usually in between bouts of chasing after kids, pushing them on the swing, kissing hurt fingers, toes and heads, and the occasional, Mom, he pushed me.

The kids had a great time playing and being outside at the park. Aaron found the muddiest mudhole there was in the park and decided to jump in it. After getting after him trying my hardest to get him to understand that mud and the car didn't go hand in hand and that maybe he should find something else to do, I walked to the bench to gather up the coats and say our goodbye's.

As I was finishing up my conversation with the other families that were there, I began to look for Aaron but he was no where to be found. Of course, a bit of panic started settling in. We called for him but no answer. Finally, Brad heard a little cry and started heading in the direction it was coming in. What do you suppose was making that little cry from the very back of the park? A little boy sitting down just waiting for someone to come find him!

I am so glad we found him and that he was just fine other than a little scared. After my marathon type sprint to the very back of the park giving up my love for oxygen, I realize that perhaps I need to up my exercise intake so that I'm trained and ready to fall into Olympic running speed whenever the need arises since this seems to be the 'norm' for us lately.

More On My Addiction...(oops, I mean habit)

I previously posted a blog on my addiction of video gaming. Since my 'secret' has come out of the closet, I have decided to share a little bit more of my addiction.

I would have never discovered the wonderful world of gaming if it hadn't been for our first gaming purchase in our marriage of a Sega Genesis. Sonic the hedgehog was my friend and then Toe Jam and Earl was my undoing. It creeped into more serious gaming when Command and Conquer entered our home. I found the unleashed excitement that came from Bob and I pitting our vast armies against each other in furious battle. (which by the way, I hear from a secret source that Command and Conquer III is about to be released!)

Now as I find myself fighting gnolls and naga's with my dual wield abilities, my 'Screaming Dagger' and 'Hellfire skiver' allow me to kick some serious petukus. Together my husband and I can conquer Hellfire peninsula and beyond.

As my gaming continues, I am beginning to wonder what I can give up so I have more time to conquer unknown worlds......

-dusting be gone
-mopping..ack...Brad can do it
-sleeping....it's overrated anyways
-dinner....there is always 1-800-pizza
-brushing my teeth...oh, well...I heard recently they might be coming up with a tooth decay vaccination for this making it an easy decision to let go of it

and then there is....

The International Geek song (maybe it should be geekette!)

As good ol' 'Martha' says...Video games, It's a very good thing!

It's A Good Day...

Have you ever had something happen to you that set your heart to soaring above the clouds? Have you ever had the urge to do a happy dance because something so wonderful has happened? Have you ever grabbed hold of your child's hand and jumped up and down repeatedly until you both were laughing so hard you fell over?

These very things happened to me today! Our son who is the middle child, who has had a bit of emotional trauma since his sister was born ten months ago taking away much needed attention and who is already very dramatic in personality, has entered day five of pooping in the toilet!

This makes me a very happy mama. She squeals with delight when she is called to the restroom to be shown the surprise that her number three son has to show her. She has been known recently to dance excitedly around the house singing a song. She has also been seen jumping up and down yelling 'yeah, Ryan'....you are the man! When I asked him what changed his mind about going in the toilet, his response was simply this.....sometimes, Mom, a brain just has to change. My response:...for now...I'm enjoying the moment.

He has been rewarded with his favorite treat...a medium-sized slurpee from our friendly neighborhood 7-eleven. However, I must ask myself, how long I'm willing to go along with the slurpee a day keeps the poop in the toilet way of thinking. Then, I remember just a week ago, how much I running upstairs to do the not-so-silent scream into my pillow when he wasn't using the toilet. I could potentially be willing to run to 7-eleven for a very long time. It's worth it, my friends! Very, very worth it!

All of the children have found all this celebration that is exuding from my heart to be entirely to hysterical for them. My oldest, who is a fan of the 'Captain Underpants' books thought that he would share with me some insightful information from Chapter two of the "Captain Underpants and the Preposterous Plight of the Purple Potty People."

And I quote, straight from the book.......

Chapter Two: Those Wacky Grown-Ups

It's been said that adults spend the first two years of their children's lives trying to make them walk and talk....

It's the same way with potty training: Most adults spend the first few years of a child's life cheerfully discussing pee and poopies, and how important it is to learn to put your pee-pee and poo-poo in the potty like big people do.

But once children have mastered the art of toilet training, they are immediately forbidden to ever talk about poop, pee, toilets, and other bathroom-related subjects again. Such things are suddenly considered rude and vulgar, and are no longer rewarded with praise and cookies and juice boxes.

You are probably wondering, why would adults do that? Why would they encourage something one day discourage it the next?

The only answer I can think of is that adults are totally bonkers and should probably be avoided at all times.


As I read the above mentioned chapter, I thought how amusing it is to have your children bring you a ridiculous book that actually has a bit of wisdom.....perhaps us adults are bonkers but it's the children who have helped us become what we are.

The Amazing Kara

This afternoon, I heard Grace running for the stairs asking everyone most urgently who helped Kara, who is now ten months old, up the stairs to the landing. Everyone that she interrogated promptly answered that it was not them.

The incident was a little unsettling as she could have fallen down and I wanted to make sure her pesky brothers understood the cause and effect of the whole situation. One by one, I had a little heart to heart with. Again, the same response....it wasn't them. I even made them pinky swear that they were telling the truth....but still, they stuck to their story.

Hmmmm....I thought to myself. Could it possibly be that my little sweet girl who is only ten months old have the ability it climb the stairs herself? So I set out to catch her at her game. I sat on the stairs and called her by name. She came quickly crawling to the stairs and made her way up the landing without much effort. So then I put up a chair to block her from continuing on with her antics but do you know what she did next? She grabbed hold of the chair, brought herself up to the step and began hanging there contemplating her next move to get through the blockade. As she hung there, doing a few chin ups to get her muscles warmed up for leaping on over the chair, she let go landing on her cute little 'petukus' with this wide eyed look of what just happened, mama?

You little sneaky sneaker, I thought to myself. What else do you have up your sleeve to do next that you are keeping hidden from me. Only time will tell because I'm sure she will not give up her secrets!

Crisis: Version I, Episode V

My husband went in a couple times this past week to get his liver enzyme levels checked. He is still feeling quite lousy and in pain. The doctor called him on Thursday evening to let him know that the enzyme levels were still coming down, although, very slowly.

Saturday evening, he got another call from the doctor telling him that she was concerned about the pain he was still having and that she wanted him to talk to a surgeon on Monday. She said they may have to do a liver biopsy. My mind began to go in all different directions. I am too young to be a widow. As I was letting fear take over, I began to wonder why the heck a doctor would tell you that so that you have two days to fret and worry. Why can't they just call you on Monday morning and tell you to come in to the office a hour later or at least have weekend appointments available. If I was a doctor, I certainly wouldn't want my patients fretting any more than necessary.

The long, agonizingly long weekend finally came to a close and Monday arrived. The appointment time came and went. Finally, the verdict was out. The surgeon was fairly certain that it is his gallbladder. They found some proteins in his blood work that is only found in the ducts of the gallbladder. The recommendation was that he have it out. She did inform him he was quite the puzzle. She doesn't realize that is the way my husband likes to do things....never uncomplicated.

His surgery is scheduled for Thursday. He must be at the hospital at 6 a.m. and his surgery is tentatively set for 7:30. He can't have anything to eat or drink after midnight and he must be accompanied by an adult. Certainly, he would have chosen one that is a morning person but instead he gets me. Miss non communicate until she's had her second cup of coffee and definitely not before 10 a.m. I suppose I can make an exception this one time but only for him. It's one of the 'perks' that I give out only to a privileged few.

If you think about us in the next 24 hours, I wouldn't mind if you prayed for us. I'm a bit on edge and he's a little nervous.

My Thoughts

I've had several people comment on the quantity of hardships our family has had to endure recently. My brother, even wanted to know how I was doing and if I had any thoughts or revelations through this 'season' we are living. Of course, I began to analyze it and this is what of come up with.

Through all that we experienced over the last year, the flood in our home, my husband's ankle, having a baby and a dash of this and that thrown in there for extra flavor and now this liver trauma, the very thing that God has been impressing on my heart is this:

There is nothing more important then your faith and trust in God and your obedience to Him. It is so very important to deepen that faith which is your root system that will hold you up through life's trials. If you don't have that, every little bump you come across in your life will send you toppled over. When things appear to be running smoothly, I encourage you to not let that opportunity run by but to communicate with God, ask him to help grow your faith. Then when life's trials come, you will be well equipped to handle the strong winds.

A very dear friend of mine asked me recently if I ever got angry at God. I won't lie to you or put on any front. My honest answer is yes. I've even had times when I got quite cynical. While I was going through it, I even felt guilty that I could even feel that way towards God. Think about it this way. When something or someone makes you so angry, it rises up and out it comes before you even have a chance to realize what is happening. I think that God is very familiar with anger. I also think that it's just fine to feel that way...for a time. What makes it wrong is when we seep in it and refuse to move away from it. Anger is another emotion that is part of the equation to working through or coming to terms with something.

You don't want to seep in it because that is when bitterness begins. I never want my heart to be bitter or hardened towards anything or anybody but I do want to acknowledge that it's there and I've felt it.

My other thought on this is that even though these 'trials' are overwhelming at times and stretch the very fibers of my sanity, I'm in awe as I see all the ways God uses each situation. I'm very thankful that he loves me enough to want me to grow closer to him, to lean on him and to learn more of him. I don't really learn as much when things are smooth sailing...but give me something difficult to tackle and I learn more about who God is and more about his traits during that time than I would in a lifetime of tulips, butterflies and rainbows.

I also look back and see how he's strategical placed his people around me to hold me up when I'm feeling at the end of my rope. He will never give us more than we can handle. Often times, I would like to know if I'm getting close to that fine line but I will just have to leave that in his hands. God takes the situation that you've endured and turns it around for you to minister and empathize with someone else whose experiencing something similar. I absolutely love it when I have the opportunity to be used by him to hold someone else up. How honored I feel that God would be able to use me in that way.

My conclusion is that the 'big' traumas that we experience help us to get the 'main' thing God is trying to teach us and these 'smaller' but still traumatic experiences are just refresher courses. I figure, when the time comes for me to leave this earth, I should have enough credits to get my doctorate!

Oh, No! Another Crisis!

If you haven't heard already...we've had yet another crisis to contend with. I recently took my husband to the emergency room with severe abdominal pains. Pain that as he described it, felt like his insides were trying to push their way to the outside. So bad that he could hardly talk or think, if you've ever given birth, I think you can relate.

I figured maybe he was having an adverse reaction to the antibiotic that he was taking and they would give him something for that and send us home. But instead, they ran many, many tests trying to figure out if it was his gallbladder, his liver, his heart or his pancreas which led to an overnight stay at the 'Cape Crittenton' in suite 627B.

What they found was a mystery. His liver enzymes were highly elevated putting his liver in distress. However, they aren't positively sure why that could be. One doctor says he was having a very rare reaction to the antibiotic shot, Rocephin, that he received the day before in the doctors office for his bronchitis. They told him to not get that shot again. Another doctor said it could have been some spinach he ate that night or even perhaps could be a virus.

After taking more blood and finding that his liver enzymes were indeed coming down, although very slowly, they felt confident that they would continue in that direction and released him to go home. He had to get more blood drawn this week and is waiting to hear what the results are when he goes in for his appointment next week.

He remains very tired and sore which can be discouraging when you want to be back to health very quickly and when the demands of life, job and family want you doing just what you were when you dropped off the line for a second to find out what was making you feel so awfully bad, can be a bit discouraging when all you want to do is take a moment to rest.

People are going to start wondering if my life is for 'real'. Do normal people have this many crises going on in their life? I wonder this myself sometimes. The answer is..yes! This is really happening to us. I tried waking myself up but then I realized I never did go to sleep. I know this is possible because I'm up more than I'm down and if there should ever be a night when I get a whole span of 6-8 hours in a row, I'm checking to see if everyone is breathing!

Homeschooler's On Board....

Let me ask you this question: As a homeschooling parent, when you are out and about, in the eye of the public, do you feel extra pressure for your children to act a certain way because you do homeschool?

My mom had an appointment to get her hair cut today. Most of the time when she has appointments, I find it best to stay in the car and wait for her. It alleviates any potential for me to be pushed to the edge and on over, falling to the depths of insanity. It does get crazy in the car while we are waiting but at least it's only involving me and them...not other people. I often find myself snickering at the people who walk by shaking their heads in either disbelief or shock, noticing that my car is swaying this way and that. I can't help but think they are very fortunate that my very alive and exuberant children are in the car with me rather than out there with them.

Today, I decided to schedule an appointment for my two boys, thus taking care of their hair cutting needs while my mother was getting her's done. I was pretty proud of myself. At least, until we got there. Aaron decided from the minute we got their that he was making himself at home. Off came the boots and the socks. To the bucket of toys, he went, finding just the right one. Where does a three year old settle in with a good toy, you may ask? Right in the middle of the walkway, spread out on his belly totally unaware of anyone else around him. It was just him and the toy. As people we stepping around him and over him, I said in a firm voice with my teeth clenched but with a smile on my face so that it didn't make it obvious that I was irritated with his behavior, GET UP, Son! Of course, he looks up at me giving me a grin from ear to ear, staying right where he was at. Apparently, because I wasn't threatening in my 'yelling' voice, I must not be serious.

While all this is happening, guess what topic of conversation came up? Homeschooling, but of course! I'm not ashamed of it, in fact, I'm always ready to discuss it. However, since there are so many bad cases that most people hear about via the media, I feel like we need to represent it in a good way.

Instead, I have a three year old lying in the middle of the floor, not a care in the world and a five year old opening and shutting the door because he likes to hear the little bell that goes off every time you do this. And then, they are given suckers which makes them all the more exuberant. As I'm trying to get Kara in her car seat, I am fully aware that the other two are running back and forth (with suckers in their mouths) along the sidewalk not listening to their mother who had told them to get into the car and to not run with sucker's in their mouths.

After I got every one settled in their appropriate seats in lock down, a sense of relief flooded my soul that that was over...at least until the next time. I don't know what I would do, if every one started applauding when it was time for us to leave. Perhaps, never show my face again in public or perhaps get me an alias.

As the car was swaying back and forth between lanes, I thought to myself, what a crazy mother I am, trying to grab the sucker out of one kids mouth because he is laughingly trying to pretend he's choking and the other is trying to feed his to baby Kara. What must those people in the other cars think.....Thank Goodness, I don't have a bumper sticker on the back of my car stating that we indeed do have, unsocialized homeschoolers on board!

Why?

Quite often, I receive these cute little emails talking about the things boys do. As I read down the list of things, I often hear myself saying..yep, one of our boys has done that and then as I read on, oh, mercy...I hope they don't do that.

As I was cooking dinner tonight, I went to put the milk back in the fridge. From behind me I heard a little cry. I turned around to find Ryan jumping up and down, yelping that his tongue hurt. I asked him what happened and he replied with.....I licked the pan with my tongue. It took a moment for that to sink in and then I realized that the sucker was going full force on the burner. I grabbed some ice and put it into the cup for him to rest his tongue on.

The only question that keeps running through my mind this evening as the whimpering continues is this: What ever possess a boy like Ryan to give that one a try???

Number 5

Kara is nine months old now. I think she has the idea that being number five means that she surely is five. I know when I look at her that something else is going on behind those adorable little blue eyes. I think she is thinking about how to create world peace or perhaps even is thinking about molecular science. But then, it could be she is just contemplating her next escape plan from the mesh netting that is holding her back from exploring more of the house.

When you make eye contact with her, her face lights up like the sunshine of the morning and she starts swinging her arms up and down letting you know that she is excited as can be. This past week, she decided that she would choose one day to accomplish the art of going from the crawling position to the sitting up position and then back down to the crawling position. She figured out how to get one knee in front of the other and much to her pleasure, if she kept doing that, it would take her right to the very thing that caught her fancy. She also figured out that if you wouldn't pay attention to her sitting there in her crib or playpen, perhaps she would catch your eye, if she stood up.

And then there was the mom..mom..mom..mom. If any of the previous things didn't bring your attention about face, surely those little words would grab at mommom's heart. She was right...

Land, Ho!

My Mom has been, over the years, been paying on the opening and closing of her cemetery lot so that her children will not be burdened with the expense. She finally made her last payment and she is good to go :-)

I, then, got a phone call from that cemetery informing me that I needed to come by and pick up the deed. I was under the assumption that, as her beneficiary, that is what I needed to do so that when that time came for my mother to use her new digs, everything would be in order.

When I arrived to pick up the deed, I was ushered back into one of their offices. He wanted to get me some coffee or tea and wanted me to sit down. I let him know that my mother was waiting in the car with my children so we needed to make this a rather quick meeting.

Much to my surprise, it was revealed to me that the deed I was picking up was not for my mother but for me and was part of the promotion they were running when she signed the contract for her purchase. However, wouldn't it be a shame, God forbid, if something were to happen to you and you didn't own a double crypt in the space right next to your parents. And wouldn't it be a shame, if, God forbid, something should happen, if you were laid to rest in the opposite end of the cemetery with so much distance between your loved one currently and you, God forbid.

I thought to myself, is this guy for real? Am I really going to care at the point of my death whether I am right next to people I know. For that matter, why don't people buy all the lots up around them so that they will feel more comfortable when they pass on, knowing that they have familiar neighbors.

To top this off, I can have all this just for the mere asking price of $4995.00. But wait! There is more...since we, Michigander's are struggling financially right now, I could purchase at almost 11 percent interest for the next 60 months the double crypt by only paying for one of them. He informs me that nobody is going to want to buy the other since people don't usually mix with other people for only $2500.00 and then when I finish paying for that, I could purchase the other for another $2500.00.

But what if someone decided to go ahead and purchase my upper bunk? What if some strange person were to be in there with me, what would we ever talk about? What if he was a smoker. I don't know if I could live with that. And what if he had smelly habits? How would that work out? I thought about asking him if he had people fill out personality profiles before placing them together but I thought maybe he would think me odd.

I thanked him for his time, but told him that this was definitely not a decision I could make on my own. My husband would really like some say in the matter. Besides I really didn't have the down payment that he was requiring anyway. He suggested I talk to my Mom about lending me the money...you just never know what could happen. I laughed as he mentioned that as my mother state of affairs doesn't allow for gifts of this kind.

In the end, he thanked me for stopping by, handed me my deed...the land that I now own in the Garden of Flags, far, far, far away from the Garden of Creation and off I went realizing I just had managed to escape a salespersons claws and that alone put a spring in my step and a song in my heart.

Anger Management: Part II

By the influx of comments, emails and phone calls that I received today, I see that you all are on the edge of your seat waiting to see what happened next. The long awaited moment has arrived....brew some coffee, grab a snack and let's begin:

As we began to drive home, the realization of what happened sunk deeper into our thoughts. I looked over at my husband and what do you think I saw there? It wasn't that stressed, wrinkled spot between his eyebrows that our little Kara has just like her Father, it was anger seething in his cheeks and in the atmosphere circling around him. Have you ever been around someone who is about ready to explode with anger? You don't even have to look at them, you can just feel it. That is what I found there, in the seat next to me.

All of the sudden, I realized that he had whipped the car around and headed back to church. All I could think was..oh, gosh, oh, gosh...and as a anti-conflict type person that I am, began to feel a bit queasy. As he parked the car, and stomped angrily inside, I knew that he wasn't going to listen to my advice and not yell. People were waving at me as I sat in the parking lot with my family and as I waved back with a stressed smile on my face, all I could think was, I am glad you are currently not inside. And then it occurred to me that there were indeed people inside. Who was hearing all the commotion and what were they thinking? As I slid down deeper in my seat and refused to continue making eye contact with people, I thought for sure, people would find our family's name on the blacklisted forum momentarily.

After he returned to the car, he informed me that he did, in fact, yell. He informed the parents that this had been going on long enough and that in no way, shape or form was it acceptable for our son to come home with teeth marks on his arm from their eight year old nor was it acceptable for their oldest son, who was suppose to be in the kids class as a teen helper, to be verbally tormenting our son every week. He also informed them that they needed to get their kids under control. That this kind of behavior needed to stop now.

What do you suppose was their response? Well here it is: We are sorry you feel that way. (Things not to say to an irate father.) Obviously, they were not getting it. I am sure they thought we were over-reacting. But what would you do if this had been going on for three years and it kept continuing? Would you just let it go, if speaking nicely to them didn't work? My main goal for the past years, was to address issues in a kind manner, one that I thought would honor God but as one of my dear friends brought to my attention and reminded me, Jesus was a bold speaker. He wasn't one to beat around the bush. He also had the maturity to be able to turn the other cheek because He knew that he had the power to take them out right then and there. But He was there for a higher purpose....to die so that we could live.

Later that afternoon, my husband received a phone call from the father of the biter. The conversation went nowhere. But what was revealed was that he had interviewed other children to find out if anyone saw anything which now means more people are involved and also the question was asked of my husband... would you be willing to accept the fact that your son might be lying? Now let me ask you this, if your son came home with a bite mark on his arm, would that be evidence enough to believe him? Or would you assume that he had bit himself just for the fun of it?

When it comes to our children being physically and verbally abused to the point that they feel helpless to do anything about except to just take it, us as parents, especially the father needs to step in to defend their boys.

On a positive note, later that day, I noticed a definite difference in our sons attitude. He was smiling and was acting like we all do when our love tanks are filled up. I think by standing up and defending our son, in some way spoke beyond what any hug between my husband and my son could have ever said. For that, I am thankful.

As far as the rest of the drama, it surely will be interesting to see what plays out as I am involved in several different ministries at church....the same ones the other families are. It could be a bit awkward for a while. If you think about it, I wouldn't mind if you prayed that I would have the grace to face each situation as it comes.

Thank you all for your advice and for your prayers, we are thinking on many options and are going to pray that God directs our footsteps as we move forward. Hopefully, our son will be bully-free for a long time to come.

Anger Management

Have any of you seen this movie? I hate to even admit that I saw it but there it is....for all of you to know now. I'm not recommending it :-) I say all this to say....it is a good thing to get things out in the open and it even has benefits you don't even realize. What am I talking about, you may ask? Have I lost you yet? Well first of all, let me give you a bit of background, then I would like to get your opinion, if you will share it with me and then I will give you the conclusion....so pull up a chair, grab some popcorn and let's roll 'em...

For quite a few years, we have been dealing with some bullying. My oldest has been dealing with this at church. Now, let me say this, I know..I know...I KNOW that my son is not innocent but he does know that as my husband would say, it would be a life changing event for him if he was to treat someone like that.

I've addressed issues as they've come but I am realizing more and more that women can be a bit catty when it comes to conflict. I am not negating that protective instinct that overwhelms you when someone threatens your young but let's get real here.....when it becomes physical, something needs to be done.

I won't go into all the dramatic details but I will say this.....after trying to address the ongoing issues, it is always turned back around and implied that either my son is lying or they were just playing around. Never is their an admittance, that maybe just maybe, there is a problem that needs to be addressed within their own families....at least, it's not said to my face.

On many Sunday's, after we've all gotten in the car to go home from church, I find out how very upset my oldest is and then I get to hear all the things that went on in his class. Sometimes there are lots of tears, sometimes it's anger and other times he just doesn't want to talk about it. Then there are the times when he makes himself physically ill from fretting about it. Well today, he informs me he doesn't want to go to church. He begs me to stay home. That right there has me infuriated to no end. When is it ever right for your child who has loved to go and never ever wants to miss a Sunday, change his mind and decide he doesn't want to go.

We all managed to get there today...making some options available to our oldest to counteract another episode but he still chose to go to his class. Only this time, he came home with teeth marks in arm leaving a bruise.

I'm tired of addressing issues with these same families. I must admit, I've let much of it go as the past history of how it's handled has wearied me to infinity and beyond and then there is the..why bother, it doesn't ever change anything. One of the families that I had to address for a pretty severe incident, turned up in an explosion of drama which then was shared with several other families leaving the remnants of friction still to this day...two years later.

I could really use some advice here. Obviously, everything I've tried isn't working and I really want my child to want to go back to church....what are your thoughts?

Does anyone have some input here? Check back in a bit for the rest of the story.

It's Java Time

If you are interested in reading yet again another blog, I've started another one. It involves coffee and my passion for it.

Come check it out:

www.lovemyjava.blogspot.com

Looking forward to seeing you there!

The Hackles Are Up Again...

I recently had to take a couple of my children to the doctor because of illness. I'm always leary of running there too quickly as I feel that they may get cured of one virus but they often come home with another.

On this particular trip, we were called back by what I call the Nazi Nurse. There is always the routine of getting on the scale and getting your height. I've had this nurse in the past and although, she seems a bit rough around the edges, she has been pretty patient with my kids. I always appreciate that in a Higgleytown Hero. (Some of you...have no idea what that is. Ask me sometime and I'll sing you the song that goes along with one of many favorite shows of my kids).

Upon getting weighed, the Nazi Nurse made a disapproving comment to one of my children and decided to take it upon her not-so-thin self, to get an attitude which she took out on my kids who are now traumatized even more so by a strep throat test that was done so roughly. Now in the medical field, I would assume the medical staff would come into contact with people of all shapes and sizes. I ask this....why in the world, if you are big yourself, would you get an attitude of disrespect and feel it necessary to treat someone, especially a child, in that manner. I don't get it. If I was the mayor, she most certainly would have lost her Higgleytown hero badge and most certainly would have been boo'd off the show.

I chose not to address the issue as it happened because I didn't want to draw attention to the matter while little ears were with me. Well, today I had to go back and I began dreading it because I knew she was there. It occurred to me that I should not have to feel that way. If there were not families who had their own personal parking space at the doctors office from being their one millionth customer or were know by their first name, such badgeless nazi nurses would be tormenting some other poor creature in a different profession.

After the examination, I decided to address the situation with the doctor while I was there. He listened very intently and his response was this....I'm so sorry, Mrs. Peanut Butter Kisses. We will take care of that right away and he whisked out the door most promptly. Upon his return, he profusely apologized again and again. Let it be known that I've told people in the past, that I would certainly fall on the floor from the shock of it all if someone actually did the right thing and said that very thing. Now it has happened. Now I know that it can happen. There is hope.

For those of you who I told that too, please forgive me...I didn't fall on the floor as I was holding my baby at the time. I will, at a future date, when I have some help to get back up...do so in your honor.

Time Out!

As many of you know, I hate poop. It is the bane of my very existence and has been since the day that my oldest son had his first blow out on my mother's white couch.

For some reason or another it seems to be my 'thorn in my flesh' as Paul says in Corinthians. Let me just share with you what he says in that verse in the New Living Translation: ...But to keep me from getting puffed up, I was given a thorn in my flesh, a messenger from Satan to torment me and keep me from getting proud. Three different times I begged the Lord to take it away. Each time he said, "My gracious favor is all you need. My power works best in your weakness."

I have been known to have 'poop' meltdown moments in the past. Like sitting down on the stairs and having a good cry in the middle of running up the stairs to take care of one child and then running down the stairs to take care of another and then running back up the stairs...you get the point.

This morning began a bit crazy as usual. Upon one of my many trips up the stairs to check on the little ones, I took a moment to shut the door of my bedroom and pray that God would help me today because it is already appearing to be way out of control and I am feeling overwhelmed. Little did I know that a 'messenger from Satan' would soon be making an appearance.

As we were sitting around the table schooling this morning, we came to a point where I instructed the older kids to continue working on what was before them so that I could take a quick shower. Only a few minutes into my shower, I hear Grace yelling urgently on the other side of the door that my five year old had poop up his back and it was everywhere. Oh, and that my three year old was poopy also. A major groan escaped my lips along with the words, why, oh, why must I be tortured. I have begged the Lord way, way more than three times to take this agony away but yet it seems to continue from one child to the next.

It took every ounce of will power to get out of the shower and face what laid beyond door number one. As I opened the door, what did I find but the evidence of leaking poop everywhere. It was on the sheets of many beds, on the floor, down the stairs, on the kitchen chairs, on the kitchen floor, in the living room and on the blankets. All that I could say is...Lord, help me NOW, please! As I was shaking my fist in the air, yelling...I will NOT be beat down, I will overcome this, I felt God's peace for the moment.

Never in my wildest dream, did I ever anticipate that my prayer would be answered so quickly. Under normal circumstances, I tend to yell, scream, fight the urge to beat something and run screaming from the room. But today, Brad and Grace had already begun to clean up the mess that had hit the floor, sheets, etc without me asking. This never happens so I believe that God was behind their motivation. He does say that when you have the faith of a mustard seed, you can move mountains.

Another evidence of my prayer was the fact that I didn't have a meltdown poop moment. God was there making me strong in my weakness. I was able to get it all cleaned up including two children and still my sanity remains in tact. If anyone should ask me about my day today, my answer will be: Go to the blog. I cannot talk about it but you can read about it. The line between sanity and insanity is still hanging in the balance.

My Secret Life....

Guess where I found myself at 11:20 p.m. last night?

(pause...)

At Gamestop. Is this where you were thinking I'd be?

I admit it; I am addicted to a certain online game and the expansion to it came out and was able to be picked up at 12:01 a.m. So my husband and I stood in line with so many other people of like-addiction. I must interject here, that it was an interesting crowd of people. Young and older; hip and no so hip; and the conversation was all centered around the game and what people were going to do when they loaded up the game when they got home.....me included.

I played some video games when I was a kid when my brother would allow us a few moments to actually touch the controller but I wasn't really drawn to it a whole lot. It wasn't until my dear husband introduced me to Command and Conquer which is a military type game where you build up your troops and your tanks and attack the bad guys that I found how very much I enjoyed playing. Then there was Halo for the Xbox. Are you noticing a theme here?

Then I found myself playing laser tag with some friends for a Mom's Night Out and loved it. Running around all stealthy like and shooting my targets was a thrill beyond belief. I can't wait until the laser tag night for us parents. Can you even imagine the thrill of that?

I've discovered something about myself. This fiesty, no-nonsense, spirited gal loves to get her big bad glowing daggers out and get in there and kick some gluteus maximus. It's a great way to relieve stress!

A Fight With The Vacuum...

I hate my vacuum cleaner. There I said it. I really do hate it. Who ever invented it didn't ever use one. The extensions on it barely reach where you need it to go.

If you have to lift the entire vacuum cleaner with the extensions already added to reach the ceiling, in my opinion, that is a BIG problem. Seriously, who can single handedly hold a vacuum cleaner up in the air while whisking all those cobwebs from corner to corner while dancing around the livingroom all in one swoop because your arm is going to fall off from the weight of that machine....being expected to actually get the job done sufficiently.

Today, stuff fell behind the dryer. Have you ever looked behind your dryer? It's a very scary place...unless of course, you are one of those fanatical people who have it on the calendar TO clean behind your dryer. I, of course, can't do that. My vacuum won't allow me to....nor my desire but that is material for another blog.

After looking behind the dryer, I decided to clean up all the dust and since I can't actually reach down there because of where my dryer is, the solution was to add the extensions to the hose and suck it up with the vacuum. Brilliance in the making.

Upon hooking up the vacuum and proceeding to let it work it's magic, I banged my head on the rack above the dryer sending me into a fit. A fit, you ask. Yes, a fit. A fit that was brought on not only by banging my head on the stinkin' rack but in the process the extensions falling off and the hose coming loose from the vacuum. I hate that thing.

After many attempts to keep the extensions on and the hose in place without banging my head one more time, the final straw broke my last nerve. As the extensions hit the floor behind the dryer and I was left standing there holding the hose that WAS not attached to the vacuum, I decided to do a smack down on that vile thing.

I was so done with that! I even yelled at the top of my lungs which echoed through the house that I, indeed, hated that thing. The fight was on. Me against the evil devil of a vacuum cleaner. Upon trying to wrap up the cord and put all the accessories back in their places ready for some other sucker to come and use her, the cord fell off the wrapping hooks and the extensons fell out on the floor.

Did you know that vacuum cleaners can fly?