Sunny Side Up

My Philip is 7!

2012-02-13T22:54:00.000-05:00

I used to hit these birthday blog posts right on the date but life is busy and things take higher priority. However, not to let our little miss's 1st birthday (this Friday!) overshadow her big brother, here's a post about Philip being our big 7-year-old guy (even though his birthday was back on January 22).

Wow, how the time REALLY has flown. Having a 7-year-old throws a mom into fully declared parenthood. He's no longer my little toddler which I can really shelter from the world. Philip is now aware of world events (he wants to be in the army and checks out books from the library about Afghanistan), affected by social dynamics (there was some neighborhood drama and he had to realize that we as a family are living for Christ and so are called to love others even if they are not liked by everyone else on the street), and coming into his own with moments of wanting to be my little buddy but others when he wants his freedom to be with the guys.

Having a son gives a mom such a special, unique journey to travel. I've never been a little boy and seeing life through his eyes is completely different. I praise God for my strong and fully involved hubby Matthew who is such a great role model for Philip. And I praise God for Philip who is such a great brother to his sisters. Even though he can bring Braewyn to shrieking out of frustration and Juliet to squeals when he sits on her, he also is Braewyn's favorite playmate and the one who can make Juliet laugh the loudest. These last 7 years have truly been the best of my life, and it seems each year just gets better than the last. I am so excited to watch as Philip's life continues to unfold before us and pray daily that he would desire to follow the path Jesus has created for him.

Philip with his birthday cake.

Philip is enjoys playing Upward basketball.

Three generations!

Preparing his own recipe, Chipsafiso, on Super Bowl Sunday!

Heading out into the woods with Daddy, a favorite for both of them.

My first born baby boy...

is now one really AWESOME kid!

Just Something to Say I Posted Something

2012-02-04T22:47:00.000-05:00

I really have had many things floating around in my head which I've wanted to post about... going through the Daniel Fast with my church, meeting Michelle and Jim Bob Duggar, realizing that a good day really does start the night before, and just living life with my wonderful hubby and three funny, frustrating, precious, gifts-straight-from-God children. Not sure if you've heard the phrase but it's true for this house. "The days are long, but the years are short." My youngest blessing, Juliet, will be turning 1 in just 13 days (February 17!). My how this year has flown. But in the same breath I can say, from the time my head leaves my pillow until the moment I lay it back down seems like an eternity sometimes. I finally nailed down my daily schedule on paper and it really has helped me to be more productive during those long hours. We're not to the point of following it perfectly (no need to be a slave to my schedule!), but it does keep me going in the right direction. I thank you for your prayers for me to be faithful to the Lord and to my family as I try to make the most of the time He has given me. Drumroll, please... (click on the schedule to see an enlargement)

If you love babies, watch this video please.

2012-01-13T09:03:00.000-05:00

Goodbye 2011!

2012-01-07T12:09:00.000-05:00

So far 2012 is going very well. Matthew, Philip and I welcomed the New Year by watching the ball drop on TV. Braewyn almost made it but fell asleep at 11:45pm! We enjoyed New Year's Day with our church family at church that morning, lunch with our next door neighbors, and then a leisurely family afternoon. The Brooks Academy began our Spring Semester bright and early on Monday, January 2nd. The kids and I are reading through the Bible via summary overviews which I read from My Father's World teacher's manual, Philip reads a similiar passage from his Bible Reader, and then he writes a summary sentence with an illustration in his Bible Notebook. Philip is almost done with the 1st grade level of Math U See and still excels despite saying he dislikes math! Reading / phonics are also in our My Father's World curriculum, and he is also signed up for the Pizza Hut "Book It!" program. If he reads 20 books each month, he earns a free personal pizza!

Science is new this semester as I just changed to a curriculum published by Answers in Genesis. We'll be studying "The World of Animals" as we learn of the many different types of animals which God created: "the livestock, the creatures that move along the ground, and the wild animals, each according to its kind” (Genesis 1:24). Philip and Braewyn continue doing a few pages of their Building Thinking Skills workbooks and we're going to begin basic Spanish (we're talking picture flashcards!). All that with field trips and play dates should make for an educational and fun spring! I thank the Lord that Juliet is a wonderful napper still as she's asleep most days from 10am until noon. How things go once she no longer naps is a question mark. Cross that bridge when we get there!

Anyhow, before I get totally caught up in 2012, wanted to post some wonderful Christmas pics my friend Suzanne took of the kids. I used a few to make my photo books and calendars for family presents. Here are a lot more great ones and funny outtakes too!

Juliet and her friend Pate, who is Suzanne's son. They are buddies from baby Sunday School.

The kids with my friend and neighbor Greta. She came over to watch Pate while Suzanne photographed. She loves these four kids bunches and we love her! And here's where it goes crazy...

The bench photoshoot was unraveling,

Philip's doing his thing,

Juliet began grabbing the scenery at Greta's house,

and Philip says, "Are we done YET??" Yes, thank you sweeties! And a BIG thank you to Suzanne for taking such great photos!

Once Upon A Time

2012-01-02T00:01:00.000-05:00

Matthew said a few of his coworkers had begun watching a new tv show called "Once Upon A Time" and really liked it. ABC aired a marathon of the show's first 5 episodes today which he recorded. I wasn't sure about it but said I'd watch the first episode with him. When it ended, I said, "Let's watch the next episode."

The general premise is the Evil Witch is so mad at Snow White and Prince Charming (everyone really) that she puts a curse on all of fairy tale land sending them all to a place where there are no happy endings. However there is an enchanted tree which can hold one person who will escape the curse. Snow White gives birth to her first born child and Prince Charming places the baby into the tree just before the curse takes place. The person who escapes the curse is the only one who can break it. The place they are all sent is Storybrooke, Maine. It's a small town where they all now live but do not know of their former fairy tale lives. The show jumps between Storybrooke and flashbacks from fairy tale land. It is written by the same team that wrote "Lost" and I am already hooked. It's my new favorite show. That said, it's still just a tv show.

However, there is another story, a true story. There is an evil wizard and a mighty king. There is a baby who was sent to break a curse. There are people living their lives without knowing their true purpose. There are others who understand that one day we will no longer live here but arrive where we truly belong. This story is called the Gospel of Jesus Christ. The mighty king is the One True God. He created the heavens and the earth. He knows the needs of each person on earth and can meet every one of them. The evil wizard is Satan. He is a former angel of God who chose his own way and is now banished from heaven, roaming the earth looking for those he may destroy. The baby is Jesus, both the Son of God and God Himself (I know, it's confusing). He left all the splendors of heaven to come to earth as a poor, helpless baby. He lived a sinless life and sacrificed Himself to break the curse and provide a way for sinful man to enter heaven. There are two kinds of people: those who know Jesus as Lord and Savior and are no longer under the curse, and those who do not know Him and are still under the curse of sin.

After watching "Once Upon A Time", I wanted to get on Facebook and tell everyone to watch it. Then God brought these thoughts to my mind. His story (and truly all of history is His Story!) is so much more powerful, amazing, awe-inspriring and TRUTHFUL than something created in Hollywood. If you want to watch "Once Upon A Time", I will say it's a really good show, but if you want to experience a more joyful, satisfying, real life, get to know Jesus. He loves you more than you could know.

Dickens Christmas

2011-12-06T22:50:00.000-05:00

Well my plan to blog every day recapping the holiday highlights all through this Christmas season didn't really pan out. As always, I'm having a hard time keeping up with the laundry and dishes not to mention plan extra fun Christmas crafts and activities all along the way. That said we have had a few really fun days so far.

The evening of Tuesday, November 29 (so it really preceded my 25 Days of Christmas anyway!) was spent shivering in the cold fall air downtown amidst thousands of people all ready to ring in the Christmas season at our city's Dickens Christmas Festival. Matthew, my dad, the kids and I enjoyed the hustle and bustle of walking down the middle of Main Street, watching the reenactments of Victorian life in the storefront windows (hence the name Dickens Christmas, i.e. Charles Dickens' time) and then finding a fun indoor activity. Lowe's had set up shop in the lobby of the Denny's Corporate building where the kids could build (with hammer and nails!) tiny sleighs. It was a great night other than when we got home and I realized Juliet's feet were little red chunks of ice! She had footie pajamas on and I thought the thick blanket I tried to keep around her would be enough. Nope! Next time, shoes and socks for my little sweetie.

(Click on any of the pictures to see them larger. Great new feature from Blogger!)

25 Days of Christmas

2011-11-30T23:21:00.000-05:00

Christmas is such a wonderful, joyous time of year but we somehow seem to let it fly by each year too quickly. In an attempt to slow down and cherish each day, I hope to blog about how we celebrated Christmas each day this month. Having three small children (one of which is celebrating her first Christmas this year!) does bring an extra dose of cheerfulness to this month, but also in my adult, spiritually mature mind, I can also get quite caught up in the mystery of it all.

Jesus, the Creator of the universe, humbly took the form of man and came to live on earth for one purpose: to allow His creation, mankind, a chance to get to know God personally. It is just amazing! To be a mother is to know firsthand how fragile and helpless a newborn baby is. Jesus left the splendors of heaven and was born as a baby into a dirty, animal stable. And we get upset about having to run errands on a rainy day.

Thank you, Jesus, for being our best Christmas present ever!

Merry Christmas!

Nine-month-old Screamer

2011-11-18T20:13:00.000-05:00

When I was pregnant with Juliet, she barely moved and I was quite nervous about her a lot of the time. Then when she was born, she didn't eat for 13 hours just because she didn't want to. I was astounded by how mellow she was. Hence the nickname "Marshmallow". I really don't call her that much, marshmallow is a mouthful, and anyway she's really not that mellow anymore. Other that being a very patient baby when it's meal time if I'm carrying her around, Juliet has become quite the little impatient eater and screams out at random other times for no reason too. She's so funny.

Happy Birthday to Me!

2011-11-14T23:05:00.000-05:00

Today is my 36th birthday. According to Philip, I've been around the sun 36 times now. It's been a good day filled with reminiscense back to some of my favorite things. This morning my friend and neighbor Greta came over and she, the kids and I drove to North Greenville University where her son and daughter are students. It's beautifully located in the mountains of northern South Carolina. Fall is my favorite time of year to go to the mountains because you can see red and yellow leaves for miles!

So my first flashback was eating a meal in a college dining hall. The wide variety of food, unlimited supply and seemingly all of it for free (Greta treated us but I remember never handing over cash when I was in college; just scan my ID, thank you!) brought back many memories. However the differences were extremely apparent too. Never at my days at Winthrop University did I ponder, "Can my 8-month-old eat that?", "Where is my four-year-old?" (with Greta at the waffle iron), "Will my 6-year-old hurt himself as he does pretend karate on a makeshift stage area?" and last but not least, "What I wouldn't give to be able to walk in here and eat everyday instead of staring into my fridge and pantry trying to find something healthy/tasty for my family to eat!" Our friend Suzanne, who also came with her 11-month-old son, and I did discuss just staying through lunch too as we don't eat that good at home, but reality kicked in and it was time to drive home. It was a nice visit and we all decided that we'll visit again in the spring and maybe spend some time wandering around campus.

On the way home, I stopped at the park at the lake (just a mile from our house!). The kids had done a great job at the college so I thought it would be fun to enjoy the pleasant fall weather. We had the park to ourselves and so I enjoyed another favorite flashback... swinging as high as I could! It was exhilerating to be on that swing with the fall foliage surrounding the beautiful lake in my view. Swinging could definitely be the next fitness craze as it really does work your ab muscles!

After that, on to the house and Kim's grown-up, real life once again. My birthday afternoon was spent making lunch, nursing Juliet, teaching Philip and Braewyn as school-time was pushed to the afternoon, and washing a load of laundry.

Life is good and I thank Jesus everyday for which all He has blessed me. I pray I might use my next 36 years to glorify Him more than I have with my first 36.

Confused about the neighbors

2011-11-05T23:51:00.002-04:00

My kids are growing up and with each stage comes new joys and new challenges. Philip is now 6, almost 7, and thrilled that six boys live within walking distance of our house. I love the small community feel of our little, dead-end street but it seems recently that it's turned into the set of a soap opera instead of a sitcom.

So I'm trying to share the love of Christ with the boy Philip plays with most often. His parents are divorcing and I'm happy to provide him with a peaceful haven for a few hours after school. His mom is at home during this time so I'm not techincally babysitting. The friend who I will call Charlie is an overall good kid but somewhat on the hyper side but I've grown to love him and he and Philip play really well together. There's been a few potty humor jokes said and pretend injuries to the groin area but Philip sees that stuff from his church friends as well. At this age, that kind of stuff seems to be on the minds of all boys no matter how strong his family is spiritually.

Well, Charlie's mom and I are acquaintances. I'll listen when she tells me how things are going with her husband and I try to encourage her to turn to Jesus. Not that I'm trying to be preachy, but He is truly my only source of hope and strength, and I want that for her too. She is a seemingly nice lady but I don't know her well enough to ask her to babysit my kids. I don't think I should feel bad for saying that I don't know exactly what is said or done in their house and so I don't want my kids influenced to the point of not being able to come home if they want to (only Philip goes over there, but she's offered to watch all three).

Here's where it gets complicated. Another mom on the street called me last week. She and I are even more distant acquaintances but she's always seemed very friendly and I know their family to be Christians. She called me with much hesitation as she didn't want to gossip but she told me that she and Charlie's mom are no longer friends due to Charlie's mom saying some very unkind things about her to other neighbors and being involved with things that the mom calling me disagreed with (being places and saying she was elsewhere, lying to her husband about things, etc.). This other mom said that Charlie had gotten too rough with her kids and was not allowed to play there anymore. The mom was calling me to make me aware of the situation and not trust everything I see or hear.

Now I feel silly writing all of this because it does sound so 6th grade. But the bottom line is that I love my son and want to protect him with my life. Where do I draw the line as to whom he can play with, whose houses should I let him go into, how do I say he can play with certain kids if they come to our house but not to their houses? I don't really think I'm a good judge of character as I'm quite gullible and often buy into whatever the person says. I do know I should pray for discernment and not let my mind go all "after school special" coming up with crazy thoughts of what might happen.

A friend whose kids are older teenagers now told me, "When your kids are little, it's physically exhausting, but when they get older, it's mentally exhausting." I'm going to be all-around exhausted if I'm in the tough physical and mental stuff all at the same time!

A Healthy Family

2011-10-19T07:53:00.000-04:00

I do desire to help my family stay healthy and well. It doesn't take a PhD to know that the way Americans are eating is making us unhealthy. My goal is to get to a place where I'm not making dinner out of a box. Also I'd like to move away from processed snacks for the most part. No more cookies and chips aisle! Yikes! I need to pace myself because I get overwhelmed with the whole idea of making a dinner menu, writing out a list of ingredients, trying to save some money by using coupons (I am so not an extreme couponer!), and then getting to the store to buy all the needed things.

I think this is on my mind tonight because here's what I fed my family today...

Breakfast: Dry cereal and milk
Lunch: Fish nuggets and tater tots (Philip ate a banana with his; Braewyn says she doesn't like bananas these days)
Dinner: Mushroom pizza from Pepperoni Express around the corner

NOT ONE VEGETABLE ALL DAY. That's shameful. I'll do better tomorrow.

And finally, I'm going to bed with a clean kitchen and I think I might vote for Ron Paul for president.

Back to Blogging

2011-10-15T23:14:00.000-04:00

Hello, blog world! I'm deciding to blog without pictures whenever possible and with pictures when possible. We've been doing a lot of fun things recently and I've been taking pictures to blog about however the time runs out and the thought of saving pics to the computer, resizing them, posting about them seems too daunting a task. Whew, breathe... I make myself crazy thinking I'm so behind on blogging when in actuality this blog is the least of my things I'm so behind on, things that really matter and would make like run more smoothly. But I thank my God for my wonderful husband who recently blew new wind into my sails!

Last week, my children, my parents and myself took an 8 day trip from SC to GA to FL to GA and back to SC! It was wonderful introducing Juliet to her last three living great grandparents on my side of the family (she's now met all 5 of her living great grandparents!) and letting them and some of my aunts get to know Philip and Braewyn better. The downside was a packed to the hilt Trailblazer, sleeping 8 nights with my loveable yet sprawling sweetie Braewyn, and breaking up countless fights between my older two as I parent-ed solo for the week (albeit Nana and Papa were there but just not the same as Daddy).

All that said, we came home to a very cleaned up house thanks to my main sweetie, Matthew! He said he didn't get to the vacuuming but I didn't care... every toy was in its place and the final boxes which we never unpacked in our master bedroom were now gone, put away into more appropriate places! He even changed the kids' bed sheets!

It was a wonderful feeling walking around a picked up house and rejuvenated me with a desire to keep cleaning harder each day. Ok, ok I'm not making any promises but just saying that currently, I am in a much happier mood and do want to be a wife Matthew will be proud of by keeping a tidy house and making this a place we are happy to call home.

All that being said, I'm going to sleep with a spotless sink! Some of you know how I've struggled with housekeeping all of my married life and how I've tried 3 or 4 times to follow the FlyLady's system (www.flylady.com) only to bail out a few weeks in. Her number one rule is to go to bed with a clean kitchen sink. Seems funny but I'm going to stick with it and see if it rubs off onto a better grasp on cleaning the house in general. Also, need to make time to sit down and right out a monthly chore chart for the kids and me. I'm still hanging in there with my daily schedule I created after reading Managers of Their Homes (www.titus2.com) but only successfully sticking to the schedule until 1pm. The afternoon hours are still getting off track because I don't have the schedule printed out in front of me and every day seems to go a little different from the others.

Ok, more to come about how things are going these days... we've enjoyed meeting twice now with our once a month 1st grade co-op, read through Charlotte's Web and then saw the play, began attending Children's Choir with Philip in the choir and Kim leading a 4th grade class through their rotations, spending a super fun weekend in the Georgia mountains, having fun and learning at the same time at an apple orchard and an aquarium, and watching our newest little Brooks grow by leaps and bounds overnight! And I'll throw a picture in now and then too.

Ok, here's one picture!

We were visiting a bear attraction/zoo in Helen, GA. I love my three bears!

Happy Half Birthday, Juliet!

2011-08-27T00:04:00.001-04:00

I seem to be struggling every day to keep up with laundry, dishes, school and not dreading starting it all over again each morning. However, I'm taking a moment (at midnight) to say Happy Half Birthday to my sweet Juliet! She technically turned six months old last week on the 17th. How these six months have flown. I praise Jesus for you and for the joy you bring to our family.

Back to Football... and to School!

2011-08-05T11:34:00.000-04:00

Matthew and I started watching the Carolina Panthers play football on TV together when were dating. It was something fun to do and he taught me everything I know about football. Can't say I've followed them closely ever since but they are still my favorite NFL team. The team actually does its preseason training in our town so we decided to take our little Panthers fans to their opening day celebration!

So that was Saturday, July 30th. A good end to our official summer vacation and therefore it was time for school to begin. One of my favorite pro's for homeschooling is that I make our schedule, both class days and materials used. August 1st seemed like a good day to begin and so we did. This year, we are using My Father's World for Philip's 1st grade Bible, reading, writing, and science lessons. For math, we are continuing in Math U See. Braewyn is working with Hands On Homeschooling which I used when Philip was 4. And both kids are using a critical thinking skills workbook called Building Thinking Skills. For these workbooks, I decided at least two pages each a day but more if they chose. Braewyn has been doing 6 or 7 pages a day and she loves it! Very encouraging to me because last week she was telling me that she NEVER wanted to do school and that she would just take care of Juliet all of her life.

So far we're one week in and things are going fairly well. I think it's a large part due to the Managers of Their Homes scheduling book I've mentioned before. I've made out a daily schedule for the kids and I from 6:00am until 1:00pm. It keeps things moving along smoothly. Now I need to make time to nail down 1:00pm until 10:00pm and we'll be set.

Beach Trip -- Day 2

2011-07-23T00:21:00.000-04:00

After the long post below, I wanted to throw some more beach pictures up here. So here goes Day 2. Pretty self explanatory!

My brother Mike, sister-in-law Andrea and nephew Holden arrived Monday night to spend the rest of the week. That last picture with the ferris wheel still makes me cringe. For about 30 seconds, I lost Philip in the middle of downtown Myrtle Beach. There was a kids' night at the boardwalk with blow-up bounce houses. Philip and Braewyn went into one which had a slide out the side. Braewyn came out and back in about 5 or 6 times. I told her it was time to go and she needed to get Philip. She said she didn't know where he was. I called for him with no answer. I asked the man "working" the bounce house to find a boy with black shirt and red shorts. He pulled out a 3-yr-old! I was beside myself as it was now about 9pm and there were hundreds of people all around us. I think either Mike or Andrea finally noticed Philip through the mesh still inside that bounce house. He could see a nearby stage from the top of the slide and was watching a magic show! My sweet, attention-focused boy had scared the life out of me! I cannot imagine really losing a child. Praise God we didn't that night.

My Time Spent Wisely in a Different Way

2011-07-23T00:08:00.001-04:00

Last week, Philip attended science camp each day from 1-4pm. It was my plan to arrange play dates for Braewyn, take Juliet with me to the science center, and spend the time waiting on Philip reading my schedule making plan book. Well, the week didn't go as scheduled but I can clearly see it was according to the plans God had for me instead of the plans I had for me.

Monday, I took Braewyn across the street from the science center to a water fountain park. It was a lot of fun until another little kid ran right into her and she literally skidded across the concrete. Bandaids on both knees and one forearm and then we were headed home. Matthew thankfully only works two blocks from the science center and so he was able to bring Philip home.

Tuesday, Braewyn did play at a friend's house while I spent three hours attempting to read through my scheduling book while Juliet napped on a bench. Alas, I didn't know dance camp would let out in the hall where we were and Juliet ended up awake most of the afternoon, happy yet attracting lots of attention from passersby!

Wednesday, Braewyn and I joined a friend and her daughter for a swim date at their neighborhood pool. It was a relaxing afternoon and a special time to catch up on what was going on in each other's lives. She also lent me a precious baby float. It makes Juliet look like she is floating in the middle of a flower!

Thursday was intended to be a day to drop Braewyn and Juliet off at my mom's and return home to clean. Well, I ended up staying as my parents bought one of those plastic baby pools and it was too much fun watching Braewyn "go underwater" in one foot of water!

Friday was a great day for Philip and I to spend together. A field trip was scheduled for this last day of science camp. Maybe I'm overprotective, maybe I'm appropriately protective but I wasn't going to sign the release form for Philip to ride with an insured parent whom I had never laid eyes on. I decided upon receiving that form that I would be the insured parent and drive him myself. It worked out well as I drove Philip and another 7-yr-old boy just 5 minutes down the road to a beautifully landscaped garden which I'd never been to before. It was a fun day and a nice unexpected escape from my busy life.

However, I have been plugging along with reading the scheduling book and have written out mine and Juliet's Daily Activity sheets. On this, you list all the activities you feel God wants you to do in your day and state how long each activity takes. Here's the rundown on my typical day.

Quiet Time with the Lord -- 1/2 hr
Nurse Juliet -- 3 hr (obviously not in one sitting!)
Prepare breakfast -- 1/2 hr
Eat breakfast -- 1/2 hr
Prepare lunch -- 1/2 hr
Eat lunch -- 1/2 hr
Prepare dinner -- 1 hr
Eat dinner -- 1/2 hr
Exercise -- 1/2 hr
Laundry folding -- 1/2 hr
Morning chores -- 1/2 hr
Afternoon chores -- 1/2 hr
Sleep -- 7 hr
Computer time or read -- 1/2 hr
Time with Matthew -- 1 hr
Shower/hair/makeup -- 1/2 hr (we'll see if I can stick to this!)
School (Philip 2 1/2 hr; Braewyn 1 hr) -- 3 1/2 hr
Kids' bath or Book time -- 1 hr
Individual playtime with Mommy (Philip-T/Th, Braewyn-M/W,Together-F) -- 1/2 hr
Evening family devotion -- 1/2 hr

It feels really good to get it down on paper!

My Favorite New Book

2011-07-11T09:36:00.001-04:00

More beach pictures are on the way but in the meantime, here's what I have going on this week. Philip is attending Science Camp this week each day from 1-3pm. He chose the Invertebrates (bugs!) camp to attend. It's for ages 6-11 so I'm excited to hear about what he gets to do and any new friends he meets. Since it's two hours long, I plan to drop him off and then spend my time wisely reading my new favorite book, Managers of Their Homes. A friend gave it to me and I felt like it was a literal gift from Heaven! It's a thorough manual with other real moms' sample schedules and a scheduling kit for me to use. I'm excited to begin our third year of homeschooling however with Juliet's schedule added to our family and the neverending housework (I'm really trying to overcome my feelings of archenemy as my house is such a blessing from God!), I was really in a big need for some schedule overhauling! Therefore, I'm going to bring my book along and scan through it this week while Philip is in camp and Braewyn is either dropped off for a playdate or entertaining Juliet with me. The following two weeks (last two weeks of July), I'm working HARD at nailing down our own schedules (yes, every member of our family will receive a schedule; Matthew's on his own although their is a chapter in the book for Dads to read about how to support and encourage Mom in sticking to her's and the kids' schedules). School will begin the first week of August and I pray to hit the ground RUNNING this year! I'll keep you posted.

Just a picture to post...

2011-07-08T21:32:00.000-04:00

Juliet LOVES this Bumbo seat. She's simply overflowing with joy!

Back to June -- Beach Trip, Day 1

2011-07-08T21:10:00.000-04:00

So we left the kids' dance / tumbling recital around 5pm and arrived at Cherry Grove Beach at 10pm. We vacationed at this same beach and the same condo building three summers ago so we knew the place when we got there. Only difference this time was that our room key didn't work! Yes, three tired kids hung out on the balcony with Mommy until Daddy returned with a resort employee 20 minutes later. Actually my mom and dad (Nana and Papa) arrived at the condo just 5 minutes after Matthew left to go meet the resort employee.

The next morning, Braewyn and Philip were all smiles. They loved being at the beach!

And she's all suited up and ready to hit the beach!

Juliet tolerated the sun and sand very well. Too bad she won't remember her first beach trip.

However we did make sure she felt the sand in her toes!

Philip was a ball of energy on the sand. Thankfully the kids had lots of room to run!

And now Braewyn will herself remember being at the beach as she was just one year old the last time she was there. She had a ball running around. Cherry Grove is a wonderful, family-friendly, non-crowded beach! We'll probably never go anywhere else (in the Myrtle Beach area that is.)

Juliet snoozed comfortably under her own little cabana which I borrowed from a friend. It made staying down on the beach a possibility with an infant.

The sun and water wore us all out that first day at the beach. I am so thankful that I came across this great, low-priced condo as it has everything we need and is oceanfront! Can't beat that! (Click on the picture to enlarge and you can see the ocean out the window.)

Juliet is such a happy baby. I think Cherry Grove Beach got a big thumbs up from her -- great place to sleep and eat!

The Blessing of a Kidney Stone

2011-06-24T00:40:00.000-04:00

If you haven't heard, I was attacked by a kidney stone last week. Sounds pretty bad, I know, but God's hand was all over the situation. Funny how a little thing like a kidney stone can remind me how real my God is! Here are my list of blessings which came from my kidney stone.

1. The kidney stone waited until my last night of my week long beach trip to attack.
2. It hit me at 1:00am when the kids were asleep.
3. My brother Mike and sister-in-law Andrea were still at the condo so they could stay there with four sleeping kids (my three and nephew Holden).
4. I brought a container of formula and bottle for my parents or Mike or Andrea to feed Juliet in case Matthew and I went out to dinner while at the beach.
5. A wonderful brother and sister-in-law who will rummage through our room in the dark looking for said formula and bottle to feed Juliet at 4:00am since she was too sleepy to eat at 11:00pm.
6. The incredible tolerance for pain I have from the Lord. Yes, the drive to the Grand Strand ER was horrible. I felt as bad or worse as I did while Matthew drove me to our hospital when pregnant with Braewyn. When I got there, I was measuring 9cm!
7. My most loving husband who did not ask me, "Do we really need to go to the hospital?" at 1:00am but instead immediately began looking for directions to the hospital on his phone. I guess it's because he's seen me in similar pain as mentioned above.
8. No waiting at the ER! Other than having to fill in papers which only took about 15 minutes but those were excruciating 15 minutes.
9. Meeting very friendly nurses and a doctor at the ER and being told I was a very stoic young woman after they discovered I had a 9mm kidney stone and was actually quite calm by that point.
10. Again my high pain tolerance and stubbornness because I was able to turn down morphine because I knew I wouldn't be able to nurse Juliet the next day if I took it.
11. The 24-hour CVS where we filled my Vicodin prescription but also bought Extra Strength Tylenol.
12. God's blessing of moderate pain during the packing up and cleaning of the condo and during the 5-hour drive home the next day.
13. Matthew's ability to drive home those 5-hours after getting only a few hours of sleep the night before.
14. The ability to see a wonderful urologist Monday after being told that she didn't have an opening until August (she was on-call Monday and they squeezed me in).
15. Incredibly loving mother-in-law who took me to the doctor that Monday morning and ended up staying with me there for about 5 hours (and then watched my kids most of the next day too!).
16. Amazingly NO PAIN from 2:00pm on Monday until after the next day's procedure. (My urologist was agast when she saw my x-ray. "That's the kind of stone that has most people rolling on the floor in pain!")
17. The strength to survive not eating from midnight Tuesday morning until 3:00pm that afternoon.
18. My SUCCESSFUL 11:45am procedure on Tuesday to blast that 9mm kidney stone (which was blocking my uterer!) with 2400 shockwaves. My urologist said if the stone didn't break up with the shockwaves, she would put in a coil from my bladder up to my kidney to decrease the pressure it was causing. Yeah, no coil needed!
19. Incredibly loving mom who drove me to the surgery center on Tuesday morning so Matthew wouldn't have to drive all the way home from work to pick me up.
20. Blessing of a great friend who babysat me and Juliet that Tuesday evening while Matthew, Philip, and Braewyn were at VBS.
21. Juliet's ability to drink from a bottle as I had to pump and dump my breast milk for 24 hours after being under anesthesia.
22. That container of formula which I opened a month ahead of that week because I knew she's probably need some while I was helping with VBS, but in fact she drank a bunch of it during that 24 hours.
23. The fact that VBS was going on last week as Matthew, Philip and Braewyn had dinner provided for them each evening.
24. The fact that my VBS assignment was dispensible (I was a crafts helper and I heard they had plenty!).
25. The realization of how precious my health is and how my Lord has each day of my life in His control.
26. So many friends and family members praying for me throughout the week.
27. Peace which only comes from the Lord in knowing that I have two more kidney stones in my kidney but that if either one begins to travel toward my ureter on it's way to my bladder, the Lord will give me the strength to bear up under it and the friends and family to get my family through it.
29. Now the ability to say, "Yes, having a kidney stone does feel like having a baby!"
30. The knowledge that no, I'm not pregnant as they give all women of child-bearing age a pregnancy test before administering anesthesia!

Busy June, Part 2

2011-06-17T15:40:00.000-04:00

The first weekend of June was action-packed! It actually started on Thursday night with the kids' StarMakers dance and tumbling rehearsal. Philip did really well going through his routine with his class on the big stage of a local college's auditorium. Driving there, Braewyn was saying she wasn't doing the recital. Should have heeded this as actual advice. I played the encouraging mom card and told her all the reasons it was going to be so much fun. I did get her in her recital outfit but then ended up sitting back stage with her trying my best to help her gain confidence. So that was Thursday.

Friday morning was the last day of Preschool Science Camp (remember I held a baby snake? If not, see below.), but that evening was Philip's Kindergarten graduation! I received an email about two months ago from our homeschool activity group asking if anyone was interested in participating in a kindergarten graduation. I quickly emailed back "Yes!" as I remember (or maybe just remember seeing pictures of) my kindergarten graduation and wanted the same for Philip. Philip is a tough guy with a kind heart, but it turned out the graduating class would be him and five girls! He's ok with that as it was the same way in his tumbling class! Any way here are the photos to recap the evening.

Proud parents and the happy graduate.

Silly group shot before the processional. Yes, we had "Pomp and Circumstance" playing!

Looking very studious on stage.

I presented Philip with the Milky Way award (each parent chose a candy bar award that suited their child) for his love of science and because he pretended to be Luke Skywalker often during school.

During the student moment, Philip describes a drawing he made of two boats, one from the Revolutionary War period and the other from World War I.

A shot of a composite photo of the graduates Matthew helped me work into a DVD slide show for the graduation. Each parent sent me photos of their child from birth to current day. It was set to music and very emotional. These kids are only 6 and we're already tearing up about how old they're getting!

I presented Philip with his diploma.

The LINK Homeschool Graduating Class of 2011!

So next came Saturday morning and Braewyn surprised us by acting excited to get into her dance recital outfit. She let me do her hair and put a little blush and lipstick on. She makes a beautiful little ballerina.

However those are the last pictures we have of Braewyn in her outfit. Matthew had the camera in the audience when it was show time but here's how it went down. We kept Braewyn in the audience with us until 10 acts before her group was to go on. At that time, I walked her to the "Ready Room" (aka holding room) and met up with another mom and some of the girls from her class. A few minutes later, her class was called and we waited in the line that wrapped around the back of the stage. Just as her class was to be waiting backstage just behind the curtain, I told her it was time for me to go back around the back of the stage so I could be waiting behind her teacher, Miss Jordan, and all she needed to do was walk across the stage and stand beside me behind the curtain. At this point, if she did that I would be happy. I turned and ran for the hills. Matthew said he could hear her crying even before seeing her on stage! I should have told the women ushering the kids on stage to let her go first but instead they planted her on an "x" on the stage. She was bawling! I tried to motion to Jordan who was getting the girls in a straight line. A moment later, she heard Braewyn, walked to her, picked her up, and carried her to me behind the curtain. Braewyn settled down but wouldn't dance one step. I really don't blame her as I'm not a fan of being on stage myself. Chalk that one up to experience. However, we'll probably let her take ballet/tap again next year as she LOVES Jordan and must do very well in class. Jordan actually chose Braewyn as Star Student from the class for which she received a medal! Yeah, Braewyn! If she says no to the recital, fine by me. It saves us $100!

Philip's tumbling group performed about 45 minutes later. He did great and didn't appear nervous one bit even though later he told us he was a little. Philip even directed a few of the younger ones in his group to their spot on stage when they got mixed up. Such a big helper!

Here he is rolling backwards over a huge cylinder.

Skipping off the stage!

Matthew and I decided together that we would spare Braewyn any more agony and leave after Philip's routine was over. Braewyn's class actually still had their ballet piece but we were placing our money on her crying again. It was an easy decision to make as the truck was loaded up and we were BEACH BOUND! Yes, driving 4 1/2 hours to North Myrtle Beach made for the last portion of our busy June weekend. And beach pictures are up next on the blog. Stay tuned...

Busy June, Part 1

2011-06-13T19:08:00.000-04:00

We wrapped up Philip's Kindergarten year on May 25. It was just a few days and then our summer activities began. Philip attended our local science center's Preschool Summer Camp when he was 3 and 4. Braewyn and I toddled around the grass outside or wandered through the next door art museum. This summer, I thought it would be great for Braewyn to have her own Science Camp experience. Well, not only did she (the appropriately aged child) go to science camp but Philip basically got to go to Preschool camp for free too as Braewyn was a little too shy to stay by herself. Philip was bummed the first day as I had told him he and I would have a special hour by ourselves while Braewyn was in camp. However he quickly remembered how cool it is and was actually a great source of confidence for Braewyn to have at her side. On Friday, Mr. Green brought out the snakes. Braewyn pulled enough courage together to touch one and I asked to hold a baby king snake (while holding Juliet and taking a picture to prove it!). Juliet was again such a little trooper and slept wonderfully through most of each day. Have I thanked You today, Lord, for our newest little blessing? I do love watching Philip and Braewyn grow and learn about God's world and how their sweet personalities are taking shape more each day.

Big Three Month Old

2011-06-03T02:19:00.001-04:00

Juliet is growing like a weed. Not much time to blog these days (a whole post coming soon about that!), but here's a peak at what my blue-eyed girl looks like these days. She's such a little blessing!

Thank you, soldiers!

2011-05-29T22:57:00.000-04:00

This Memorial Day weekend, I'm realizing how much I take my freedoms for granted and take for granted the self-sacrificing work of the men and women in the armed forces. Matthew's cousin Casey's husband Mike is in the Air Force. A few weeks ago, he returned from a 9 month deployment. On the day he returned to his wife and two small girls, their friends shot video and took photos of their reunion. Casey turned that footage into this wonderfully heartfelt video. (Casey, I hope you don't mind me posting it on my blog too but since it's public on youtube, I thought it would be ok. I really wanted my friends and family to have a chance to see it and appreciate Mike's service as a way to be reminded of the sacrificing military families across the country!)

School's Out for Summer

2011-05-28T22:57:00.000-04:00

Philip and I finished kindergarten this past Wednesday. I feel a tremendous sense of accomplishment knowing that he and I worked through the rough days and laughed through the fun days to learn to read, write, understand an overview of history of the world, a lot about magnets, water and light, adding, and telling time. He also enjoyed field trips to our local youth theatre's plays and recently some outdoor adventures.

The last Friday of April, we joined my friend Trista and her kids, Jacob, Ella and Luke, and traveled up to the mountains to visit the Pisgah Center for Wildlife Education. I was a little hesitant to bring Juliet, but thankfully Trista encouraged me to bring her and I'm so glad I did. Not only did it prove to myself that I can take care of my three kids out and about but I loved cuddling her in my Snugli carrier all day. The older kids had a great day learning about God's world and what goes on in streams. We first had a mini-lecture from one of the forest rangers. She taught the kids about what could live in a stream and how everything affects the habitat there. We ventured outside and walked a short distance to a rapidly flowing stream. With Juliet in tow, I didn't want to brave crossing the river so Trista helped all five big kids get across.

Next up was a lecture about salamanders and other things which live among mountain underbrush. We hiked a short way up a trail to a spot where the kids were told to carefully turn over rocks in hopes of finding creeping creatures. It was a beautiful day exploring God's creation and once again realizing how much we LOVE field trips!

Our second outting with Trista and her kids came a few weeks later. It began as a day with us heading toward another organized field trip but unfortunately when we arrived at the location, Trista and I were told the event was cancelled due to a chance of rain. We were told there was a pioneer town not too far away so we switched gears and created our own field trip! What we found was a grouping of 18th century building which had been brought together on a small piece of land for historical sake. Thankfully we pulled up as a member of the local historical society was just finishing a "tour" and so he was gracious enough to do the tour again.

After exploring "Pioneer Town", eating our bag lunches on a picnic table, and going potty pioneer-style (i.e. outside behind a rock wall!), it was only 12:30pm. Trista and I were not ready to call it a day so we decided to stop at Walnut Grove Plantation. It is an actual home from the Revolutionary War time period and holds great historical significance. The kids enjoyed running around the main house and small out buildings. Once again we were treated to a tour by a very informative guide. One huge benenfit that I love about homeschooling is that field trips are not several chaperones and a bunch of kids but instead a few moms and their own kids. Much more comfortable feeling and not so rigid due to safety requirements. Again another wonderful day with friends and such a fun, hands-on way to learn.

Juliet slept peacefully through the Walnut Grove tour.

Matthew and I asked our kids what they learned that evening. Philip answered, "The people had horns in their kitchens." (Bull horns used to carry gun powder, etc.) Braewyn answered, "No touching!"

My Birthday Girl

2011-05-15T20:49:00.000-04:00

For a good portion of Braewyn's life, I thought she'd always be our youngest. That said, it's hard to believe my baby is now four years old. With Juliet's birth, Braewyn became my Sweet Middle (child that is), and she (Braewyn) seems to be growing up overnight. Her birthday, May 2, fell on a Monday this year so we celebrated on the Saturday before with a cookout and then a little more the night of her actual birthday.

We met Saturday evening at my parents' house for a cookout with Nana, Papa, Grandma, Uncle Mike, Aunt Andrea, Holden, Aunt Debbie, Uncle Curt and Thomas. It was a good time and Braewyn received lots of fun things: playdough, coloring books, a Dora scooter, Disney princess shoes, a puzzle, and a Leapster 2.

Enjoying the cookout with brother and cousins.

Smiley big 4-year-old!

Good morning on her actual birthday!

Playtime with her new things.

Birthday lunch of her favorite foods: cashews, black olives, cheese stick and chips!

Riding her new scooter wearing new high heels!

Mini-party with Braewyn's friends who live on either side of us! She and Anna (4) are BFF's and she thinks Yvonne (16) is so cool!

I love you so much Braewyn and thank Jesus for you daily. You bring out the best and worst of me but both are leading me to be more like Him!

Two Months Together

2011-04-21T23:08:00.001-04:00

Juliet is amazingly two months old. She had her first well-baby check-up yesterday. She is growing well at now 10 pounds (up a good bit from her birth weight of 7lbs. 3 oz.) It was heartbreaking to watch her get three shots. She was looking at me with her sweet eyes just before they stuck the needles in her legs and then the tears just started flowing. It wasn't that hard to watch Philip or Braewyn get shots as I knew they needed the vaccines and it was just part of growing up. I suppose with Juliet, I see her as my little angel who has yet to talk back or manipulatively try to steal a piece of candy without being caught. I know the day will come when she will receive well-deserved punishments, but until then I don't want to do anything to her to make her cry. Here is our two-month-old Juliet.

As for Philip and Braewyn, they are enjoying playing outside on our new swingset. My dad was gracious enough to help Matthew with the initial construction work. They spent about five hours in our garage getting the main structure together. My grandparents sent large amounts of money for Juliet so technically it's her swingset, but her brother and sister are just breaking it in for her until she's ready to join them!

PS: I think we are over the thrush. Juliet has been fine for a few weeks, but I could still tell it was hanging on in my body. I'm now taking garlic tablets and probiotics every day. I did take ten days of Diflucan pills to balance out the yeast levels in my body too. Nursing Juliet is worth fighting through this process. The lactation specialist at the hospital said I should be able to keep it under control if I continue taking the probitics throughout the duration of my breastfeeding. I'm learning to enjoy plain yogurt with bananas and blueberries!

Hooray for springtime!

2011-03-31T14:01:00.002-04:00

I'm changing my background seasonally to keep myself from changing it too often. It was time to lose the snow and brighten things up. The above picture I took from the very back of our yard looking toward the house. The twigs are limbs of one of our peach trees which Matthew excitedly noticed began flowering recently. We pray this means it will bear fruit next year! How fun to pick apples, pears and peaches from our back yard (we have six fruit trees)! Spring time also means more playing outside. Hopefully in the next two weeks, we'll have a new wooden swingset constructed in the backyard. My grandparents sent money for Juliet. I didn't want to earmark it for diapers so after some thought, I decided a swingset would be a blessing to all three kids for years to come. We'll get Juliet into a baby swing by summer or fall at the latest, and Philip and Braewyn can burn off the extra energy they have and get some fresh air at the same time. I look forward to watching them enjoy it like my brother Mike and I enjoyed our swingset as kids!

Better Yet Worse

2011-03-15T22:59:00.003-04:00

As far as adjusting to being a mom of three, I feel like I'm moving one step forward two steps back. Each morning I wake up feeling ready for the day but sometime during that day I begin feeling quite beat down. I'm partly to blame as I'm not getting enough rest (somewhat hard to do with three kids at home all day) and not eating meals in a timely manner (pushing lunch back to finish school or nurse Juliet when I'm starving).

That being said, I am now completely in love with my newest little daughter. It just takes me a while to emotionally bond with my children. I don't see it as a fault but just the part of my personality which cringes at big changes. A good friend gave me great advice before having Braewyn. She said that even though I'm already a mom and know how to be a mom, a new baby is a brand new person and I should give myself time to get to know her. Great advice and it helped me adjust to have Juliet around too.

Juliet and I are getting over thrush (I pray!). It's kind of like when you are on antibiotics and the bottle says, "Take complete dosage even if symptoms disappear before doing so." I know I need to keep up the routine for another week, but I'm not feeling as compelled to do so as when Juliet was having trouble nursing. She still has some whiteness on her tongue but nursing is going so much better. She no longer fusses and even eats great at night (yeah, no longer pumping at night!). She is really coming around as far as not being so severely sleepy all day. Juliet has reached that normal infant state of crying at night to eat and then crying once I put her back to bed afterward. Still trying to decide if she really likes pacifiers and if I want to get her to like them or not. Matthew and I are definitely feeling the effects of sleep deprivation. I'm feeling pretty good physically however I'm struggling with avoiding dairy and sweets. I'm rationalizing how much I can get away with and still combat the thrush.

Philip and Braewyn seemed fairly well adjusted to having Juliet around. They are getting more comfortable with her which means I have to watch them closer. Braewyn really would like to carry Juliet around but we've restricted her to holding the baby while sitting down. Philip likes to place blankets over Juliet's face and watch her squirm around underneath. He really does love her but just has a funny of showing it.

One Bottle of Milk in the Night, One Bottle of Milk!

2011-03-10T08:40:00.005-05:00

So I thought I was adjusting well to three kids and then this week happened. On Monday, I began homeschooling Philip again attempting to get our daily schedule back on track as it had been before having Juliet. Also on Monday, I realized why Juliet has been such a fussy eater and why I'm feeling out of sorts... we're both battling thrush! Her little tongue is white and throat probably hurts. I had been experiencing some pain while nursing. It made for a bad combination and an emotional struggle to feed my newborn. Additionally, Juliet is still the sleepiest baby I've had yet. She is three weeks old today and still, day and night, I have to wake her up to eat every 3-4 hours. The daytime is not too bad as she rouses pretty well after I change her diaper and talk to her for a few minutes. However the nights were wearing me down very quickly. To maintain my milk supply, my body needs to feed Juliet every 3-4 hours (preferably every 2-3 but she is just too sleepy). That said, I've been setting the alarm clock for 3AM to wake up to then wake her up. Monday and Tuesday night were just horrible. After dragging myself out of bed, I would change her diaper. She ends up wetting on her pajamas while I'm trying to change her and that gets her screaming. I get her redressed and then try to nurse her. I guess her mouth hurts extra badly at night because as she's still crying, she arches away from my body and I struggle to get her to latch on. Once she would latch on, she falls back asleep. I would get frustrated and almost resentful of having to care for my precious new baby. After enduring that on Monday and Tuesday night, I decided on Wednesday night to pump and then give Juliet the bottle. I had the alarm set for 3AM but she began grunting at 2:30AM. I pumped and was so happy to see Juliet happily drink 3 ounces of milk from a bottle without fussing. It made for a much more pleasant late night feeding.

My mini-pharmacy in our bathroom...
I pray the thrush will be gone within another week with the regimen I'm currently using so I won't have to use the purple-colored dying liquid Gentian Violet which I used with Braewyn. After each feeding, I swab Juliet's mouth with liquid Nystatin. At each diaper change, I dab her bottom with vinegar water, let air dry and then apply Lotrimin cream. For myself, after each feeding, I rinse my nipples with water, pat dry, dab with vinegar water, let air dry and then apply Lotrimin cream. I'm eating plain yogurt but avoiding all other dairy and sweets. Also four times a day, I take an Echinacea pill and a Garlic pill. The first day, it seemed like a lot of hassle. It still is adding more to my days but I'm used to it and feeling better. Now I just need to make myself get more rest so my emotional state can get back to normal along with my physical state.

I bought this little blanket in Charleston in December when we didn't know Juliet's gender. Reading the words on it, "God's Little Lamb" has brought me peace when I've felt frustrated with caring for her. He has made her just the way she should be for whatever plans He has for her in life. I look forward to getting to know Juliet like I know Philip and Braewyn.

Here's proof that Juliet is occasionally awake.

Our newest student and her big sister...

Oh, what a week!

2011-02-24T21:51:00.006-05:00

Hard to believe that one week ago right now I was laying in a delivery bed praying that my epidural would work as I awaited the time to push and welcome my newest child into the world. Matthew, Juliet and I stayed in the hospital until Sunday afternoon due to my being Group B Strep positive. However, I thoroughly enjoy the hospital stay with its room service and visits from family and friends. Once we arrived home, reality set it and my hormones raged. I swung between feeling confident and completely blessed to overwhelmed and completely incapable. Philip and Braewyn have loved getting to see Juliet on a daily basis but have had moments of insecurity caused by the changes. Juliet has also caused me several moments of mommy anxiety.

Tuesday I thought I might have to give up breastfeeding and resort to pumping and giving her bottles. She began to scream and turn beet red every time I brought her to my breast. I realized the next few days it was probably due to my using hand sanitizer right before feeding her and accidentally getting some in her mouth. That stuff is nasty as I licked my finger to see what she was experiencing. Last night, she became even sleepier than she had been and upon taking her temperature, Matthew and I realized it was because she was so cold -- 95.4 degrees F! I immediately called our hospital's 24-hour nurse line. A wonderfully kind male nurse reassured me that my concern was valid. He told me to bundle her up with blankets straight out of the dryer and take her temp again in an hour. We praised God when the temp came back as 97.9 F. She ate much better after than. I fed her (she is now again breastfeeding with little objection) at 11:30pm and then climbed into bed at 12:30am. I woke up at 4:00am to see her sleeping peacefully. I awoke her and she ate very well again. We both went back to sleep and I woke up with Matthew at 6:30am! A very good night for week one.

Here's the week in photos.

Meeting her grandparents.

Hanging out in the hospital.

All ready to go home!

Finally at home.

How We're All Doing

2011-02-21T14:33:00.002-05:00

Matthew -- Daddy is loving his new little girl. Although he had wanted another boy, I've told him how much I love seeing Braewyn hug his neck and how I can't wait to see Juliet do the same thing. He is taking Monday thru Wednesday off work to spend time together. Matthew and Philip assembled Juliet's new crib in Braewyn's room (now the girls' room!) yesterday morning and it looks great. Not the most of exotic locations to take a week's vacation (hospital and home), but Matthew enjoys days out of work to spend with us any time a good reason comes around. I'd say adding a family member is a good reason!

Kim -- I'm doing pretty well. I greatly enjoy those days in the hospital after giving birth as nothing beats breakfast, lunch and dinner brought to me in bed on a tray! Juliet is such a sweet, peaceful baby that the transition to newborn land has actually been very easy. It really has all come back to me fairly quickly. The breastfeeding is still slightly challenging as I'm either working hard at waking Juliet up from her almost constant semi-coma or I'm working at getting her to latch on as she arches her back away from me and suckles on her hands which are always in the way. We're getting there and at least she's not screaming in hunger as Philip did the first few days.

Philip -- I really haven't worried about how Philip would react and he's proven me right. He's in love with his baby sister and does pretty well at being gentle with her. That being said his favorite part of this week is having Daddy home. He is becoming quite the little man and thrives on time with Matthew. The only time he has shown to be upset was when I was feeding Juliet and Matthew was getting Braewyn settled down for a nap. Philip said, "Daddy just got home from the hospital and he can't even play with me now." I told him that it was ok to be mad (something I picked up when I took Braewyn to Sibling Class), but that now there were three kids and two parents so sometimes he would have to wait his turn. All in all, he's doing great.

Braewyn -- It seems Braewyn took the adjustment the hardest due to her disruppted schedule and getting hit with a stomach bug this weekend. When my parents brought her and Philip to the hospital on Friday, Braewyn acted shy toward all of us. After a while she warmed up and was all smiles holding her new little sister. Unfortunately she threw up at my parents' house Saturday morning so we didn't see her again until Sunday evening when they brought her back to our house after we had returned home. She had thrown up again Sunday morning and had had diarrhea three times that day. Her poor bottom was burning she would say and just wanted us to hold her. Being sick, we had to be extra cautious around her with touching Juliet and telling her often to use hand santizer. A couple of times, my sweet middle child would whisper under her breath, "Nobody loves me." It broke my heart to think that she saw herself as lost among the way things now were. After she started feeling better physically last night, I can see her emotionally getting stronger too. I have let her hold Juliet when she asks and she beams, saying "I love my little sister!" Braewyn gives the baby back after 30 seconds.

Juliet -- This new little one is coming out of her shell a little more every day. The post-birth coma is wearing off and the personality God created her with is becoming more evident. As I said before, she fights settling in to nurse but then is quite content once latching on. Last night we began that rough time of "how many times will Mommy have to put my pacifier back in my mouth". I wasn't sure if she would take a paci at first as she was so sleepy in the hospital and didn't even open her mouth. Then she seemed to be restless after nursing and would settle down once getting the paci. Last night I nursed her at midnight, and proceeded to get up every few minutes for the next hour popping that paci back in after she had popped it out. The joy of not knowing how to use your own hands! That said, we are all in love with our little Juliet.

Our New Little Angel

2011-02-19T23:28:00.005-05:00

Awestruck. Grateful. Amazed. Thankful. I am experiencing all these emotions and more as I look at the sweet face of our newest miracle from God. Matthew and I welcomed Juliet Hope into our family on Thursday night. She is a beautiful, sweet, precious baby and so far seems to have a calm, peaceful demeanor (I hope I won't regret saying that later).

On Thursday, I wasn't feeling like myself, actually wondered if I might be getting the flu. I went ahead and took the kids to BSF, returned home, ate lunch and then all three of us laid down for naps. At 2:15pm, I had a contraction (nothing to get too excited about as I've been having 5-6 contractions a day for the last two weeks). When more came at 3:00, 3:15 and 3:30, I called Matthew to say I thought I might call my OB's office so they could examine me to check if I had dilated. Thursday afternoons are also when Philip and Braewyn go for their tumbling and ballet classes respectively. We decided that I could let Braewyn play with our neighbor Anna before both girls went to ballet (Anna's mom Leigh would take them), I would take Philip as his class begins 30 minutes before Braewyn's, and then drive myself to the OB office. Leigh would bring the kids home from their activities.

When I called the OB, I was told it would be too close to 5:00pm to come in so I should go to the hospital instead. Driving myself to the hospital was a little nervewracking but I was just hoping and praying that this was the real deal even though that thought scared me a bit too.

Upon arriving in the Labor & Delivery area, the nurse declared me to be dilated to 4 cm but after giving this info to my doctor, she told me that he thought my contractions were not regular enough to admit me. She asked if I felt like walking and I said that yes, I'd do that before just leaving the hospital to go home. I began walking through the hospital but not wanting to get lost, I asked a nurse I was passing if there was a loop or track I could follow through the hospital. She led me to the employee workout room and said I could use the treadmill. That's a new twist -- working out just prior to giving birth!

With two kids already, the details of possibly having the third began to mount. My dad was now at the hospital looking for me to get my car key to get Philip's carseat out to take to Leigh's house to drive Philip and Braewyn back to my parents' house! I also would tell my dad to give our spare house key to Leigh so they could let Chloe out to potty later that night. A lot easier having the first child and no dog than all this.

Any way after getting back to L&D, the nurse said I was now at 5 cm and the doctor would admit me. Matthew arrived around 6:45pm after returning home to change clothes and let Chloe out. Around 7:30pm, my doctor said he wanted to break my water to help things progress. I asked how soon after that would I get an epidural. My nurse jumped in and told the doctor that we would like the epidural first and then he could break my water. Yeah, nurse! I was scared that breaking my water would progress things too quickly and I might miss the opportunity for the epidural.

The next few hours included getting the epidural, praying that it would work, having my water broken, feeling A LOT of pressure, reaching 8 cm, catching a short nap, feeling even more pressure and arriving fully dilated at 10:15pm. I began to push and felt great anxiety about if I could get through it or not. I kept thinking of Isaiah 41 which we studied in BSF last week. The Lord will strengthen me. He will uphold me with His righteous right hand. Be still and know that He is God. After 14 minutes of pushing (about 4 contractions), the doctor helped our beautiful third child enter the world. Matthew and I saw at the same moment that we had a little girl, Juliet Hope!

Overall, it was a routine and relatively quick delivery. I praise Jesus for no complications and a healthy 7 lbs, 3 oz little girl. We've enjoyed our hospital stay (room service!) and getting to know Juliet. She was such a sleepy girl at first that she actually didn't eat until Friday afternoon! Since then, we've worked hard at learning how to breastfeed (me remembering how it hurts those first several days and Juliet realizing that she has to open her mouth to eat!). Between her sleepy, calm nature and my higher level of confidence this time, I'm actually enjoying this little vacation away from home very much. We'll be discharged from the hospital in a few hours after spending the last three nights here. It will be nice to return home and settle in together as a family of five. I've also missed having Philip and Braewyn with me but they've enjoyed some great, quality grandparent time this weekend.

A Very Thankful Valentine's Day

2011-02-14T22:15:00.003-05:00

Today was a great day as I cherished my family. Matthew is a wonderful, loving husband whom I thank the Lord for daily. He's the kind of man who works hard all day but will still come home and help me with dinner. He's changed diapers when Philip and Braewyn were babies and I know he will with our third little one. He loves playing hide-and-seek with the kids (to the point that they come get me because "We can't find Daddy!"). He surprised me at Christmas time by saying he would like to buy us tickets to a marriage seminar because he knew I would want to go... Kirk Cameron was the speaker (it was last Saturday and we did have a good time)! He helps get the kids dressed for church and makes sure they go find their Bibles before we leave. And he is getting quite handy in his hobby of woodworking.

With Chloe confined to the first floor of our house, the bottom of the stairs became our dumping ground for everything that needed to be returned upstairs. Matthew and I were both annoyed by the pile of junk that accumulated there everyday. Putting our minds together (and a 50% off sale on baskets at Michael's), we designed and he built our awesome new organizing shelf. Bottom basket is for shoes, middle basket is for Philip's and Braewyn's things, and top basket is for Matthew's and my things. I love it. Great job, sweetie!

And of course, we are all so thankful for the new baby Jesus has blessed our family with and will be welcoming home soon (two weeks to my official due date but we're hoping sooner!).

Yesterday's OB Appt.

2011-02-12T11:19:00.004-05:00

Well I'm now going to see my OB practice every Friday until the baby arrives. After yesterday's appointment, I'm thinking of not making any more appointments and telling them I'll just call when we're headed to the hospital.

Ok, so I'm now 35 years old and was told that this age demands more thorough monitoring of the pregnancy. Three weeks ago, I went in knowing that I would have a non-stress test during which the baby's heartbeat and movements are monitored for 25 minutes. I told the nurse I had been having a few contractions each day and so I was interested to see if the monitor would pick up a contraction. It showed one (I could have told them that!), and since the baby didn't move that much, an ultrasound was suggested also. The ultrasound showed the baby is fine (good fluid levels around baby, good fine and large motor skills, good breathing repetitions, etc.). When I met with the doctor, she said since I wasn't having any blood sugar, protein level, blood pressure problems, there was no need for more non-stress tests. That sounded good to me!

Fast forward to last week... I arrived at my appointment and was told I would be monitored for 25 minutes again. This time I suppose the baby moved enough so they didn't need an ultrasound. I was examined to see if I've started dilating (nothing to report) and swabbed to check for Group B Strep. Ok, not that bad an appointment.

Now for yesterday... Matthew met the kids and I at the OB office. We bring them when we think it will be a short appointment so they can hear the baby's heartbeat. We followed the nurse back and she say's, "We're going to start with putting you on the monitor." Argh!! What is the purpose of this? I sat in the chair and let the nurse strap the monitors onto my belly. She couldn't get the heartbeat to register very loudly so she moved the monitor around for several minutes. I wasn't worried as the baby was actually pushing the monitor off from wherever the nurse placed it. A moving, wiggling baby obviously has a strong heart beat even if the monitor is not registering it. After trying this for 10 minutes, the nurse said, "Let's just check on the ultrasound. You can wait out in this area until the tech is ready for you." Another ultrasound? These are not free! Ok, back in the ultrasound room and everything is fine. I asked if she could measure the baby for a weight estimate since we were there. After computing everything, she said the baby weighed in at 6 lbs, 5 oz. I bit smaller than I had assumed by this point but still healthy and strong. We then traveled to an exam room where my doctor said I did test positive for Group B Strep. All that means is antibiotics before delivery and two nights in the hospital instead of one! Yeah, room service for 48 hours! Maybe I'm crazy but I really like the hospital food.

The kicker to yesterday's appointment was upon check-out. I went ahead and made an appointment for next Friday, but then the receptionist asked if I was going to be paying any toward my Global fee. My OB office handles the fee of pregnancy and delivery with a Global fee program: no co-pays during pregnancy but instead a lump sum which can be paid in increments during the pregnancy to offset the doctors' office visits and delivery fees for the OB staff. Matthew and I had paid the Global fee in full a few months ago. So why is she asking if I want to pay more toward Global? I was told that the ultrasounds they've said I've needed have been costing us money which they've been pulling from the Global account. So now we're paying out of pocket way more than the original Global fee amount when we have a very good insurance plan which would be paying 80% coverage for these things if they would just file them. Again, argh!!

To summarize, if I was pregnant this time last year at age 34, I wonder if they would be requesting these non-stress tests, ultrasounds, extra money, etc.? With the other two kids, I would arrive at the office, pee in a cup, and hear their heartbeats for about 5 seconds. If that sufficed then, why does 3 months past age 35 cause all this excessive fuss? I might just ask them that next Friday.

What They've Said

2011-02-07T23:13:00.002-05:00

A few days ago I was telling Matthew about a magazine article I had read about giving children allowance starting at age 6. He said that Dave Ramsey encourages not giving allowance but instead assigning wages to certain chores. We were discussing this when Philip came in the room.

Matthew: Now that you're six, Philip, we could give you a way to earn money.

Philip: What? You're going to give me away to earn some money?

Matthew (and me): (Laughter!) No, we would never sell you!

----------------------------

Braewyn has been aware that many people are sick these days with the flu and such. I suppose she was feeling just a little run down this morning but she is not sick by any means. In her dramatic ways, she said, "I have coughs and bless you's." Adorable! The funny thing is that I hadn't heard her sneeze all day.

Our Philip is 6!

2011-01-30T22:19:00.005-05:00

I can hardly believe that my first born child is now six years old. How these years have flown by and what AMAZING changes a little boy goes through in six years. I couldn't be more proud of the boy Philip is growing into. A friend of mine said once, "No matter how many kids you have, you'll always be a first-time mom to your oldest." It's true and that's why I'm astounded at the great kid Philip has become. Matthew and I didn't really know what we were doing when we taught him to walk, talk and go potty. Now with homeschooling, I'm enjoying so much watching Philip learn to read, write, work math problems, and soak up world history and science. The best moment of all was praying with him to accept Christ as his savior. After all we've been through these last six years, I look forward to the next six plus years as he grows into a young man.

Philip enjoyed his birthday as we began the day with his basketball game and then a pizza birthday party dinner with Nana, Papa and Grandma.

This past Friday, we continued his birthday celebrations with a field trip to a local science center. Accompanied by our friends who live up the street, we enjoyed a planetarium show about space and then a visit inside the observatory. We saw Jupiter and four of its moons! Pretty cool. Philip picked the planetarium for his birthday outting because we began studying space in science after our Christmas break. I've enjoyed learning things along with Philip. Did you know Alan Shepard hit a golf ball off the moon in 1971? (Yes, that's Philip with his hat down over his face!)

The next best thing to a space field trip is doing your science work with your dog at your side!

More on the Baby

2011-01-15T07:24:00.002-05:00

Yesterday I had an OB appointment. I was thinking it would be the standard heartbeat check with an additional stress test to monitor the baby for 30 minutes since I am now 35 and considered "high risk". However much to our surprise and excitement, I was told I was due for another ultrasound to determine if the baby's growth was on track. Well, again we're looking at another whopper as this baby is coming in at 74% for weight at a current 5 lbs., 6 oz. I have 6 more weeks and it is estimated that the baby can gain a half pound a week during this trimester. Our third little one should be well over 8 lbs. like his/her big brother and sister were.

I am feeling an occasional contraction now and then but just hoping it's my body getting ready for the big day. Extra water and time on the couch seems to calm things down. The weeks are going to fly by and we are getting more excited my the day. However we still have lots to do; i.e. pick a name, set up the bassinet, buy diapers, dust the whole house!

On another note, we've had a wonderful Christmas and New Year season. Matthew's grandma spent three nights with us and enjoyed the Christmas Day snow. Our house was overrun with new toys and their packaging. Matthew, Ruth Ann (his mom), the kids and I enjoyed three days in Charleston the week after Christmas. Yesterday we finished a great week of homeschool as the public school system as been out for inclement weather. Needless to say, we were not feeling the cabin fever that others may have. I do have pictures to post of our activities of the last month but no time now. Matthew bought me a new video/picture software which I pray will allow me to post slideshows to my blog. Stay tuned!

Our December

2010-12-24T07:49:00.008-05:00

This month has flown by but in a fun way. Here's a glimpse of how we've filled our month.

We decorated the tree. The kids had fun remembering the ornaments from year's past.

The kids and I rode on our church's float in our town parade. These are all of the kids who attend our Wednesday night groups where they learn about missionaries. It was fun aside from my legs falling asleep and getting a few splinters from the truck bed!

Last year, I bought all the ingredients for gingerbread and never got around to making it. This year I was determined to do so and had a fun morning baking with Braewyn! This rolling pin was given to my by my elderly friend Mrs. Cordie who is now with Jesus. I think she would be happy to know that it is still being used!

Instead of our normal history lessons from History for Little Pilgrims, the last two weeks of school the kids made lots of crafts celebrating the names of Christ. They were all found in an article in the Fall 2010 issue of The Old Schoolhouse magazine (wonderful resource for homeschool families!). These activities helped us all to remember that Jesus is so much more than just the little baby in the manger. We learned He is also Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace, Lamb of God, Emmanuel, the Good Shepherd and Alpha & Omega!

This past Tuesday, we joined some friends who were going to a holiday lights display. We stopped at Chick-Fil-A first for dinner and look who we ran into!

I liked how this last picture came out because it looks like a Light Bright image but is really a six-foot tall angel!

This year, my energy level is little low with being seven months pregnant. However I did want to make our living room and kitchen area festive. Here's the mantle with the kids' portrait from Walmart. I was thrilled that it turned out so good and looks great with our stockings! The next two pics are in my kitchen table area, just a little collection of breakable things to remind me that I am still a grown up amongst all the toys in our house!

Chloe has done remarkably well around the tree. The only time she bothers it is if her toy gets kicked underneath it!

Yesterday for our last day of school before Christmas break, the kids and I made colorful snowflakes using crayon shavings and an iron!

Pregnancy Update Overdue

2010-12-12T13:44:00.004-05:00

I am 7 months pregnant and have mentioned the pregnancy probably only twice on the blog. I think during my pregnancy with Braewyn, I posted about every appointment! Poor neglected third child! Anyhow, I'm feeling farely well even with a fair share of crazy side effects. As with both of the other kids, I've had a head cold which leaves me with an annoying cough for a month afterward. Pregnancy + cough = bladder control issues + frustration! I think the cough is almost gone (praise the Lord!), but the last few days have left me with a sharp pain in the left side of my rib cage whenever I do cough. I'll ask about that on Tuesday when I go for my 30 week check-up.

The other thing plaguing me are vulvar varicosities. Sounds lovely, doesn't it? In layman's terms, that is vericose veins in the pubic area. I developed this while pregnant with Braewyn but thankfully they go away after delivery. They came back earlier in this pregnancy because of it being a pre-existing condition. The doctors just say try to stay off my feet as much as possible but how possible is that with a 5-year-old, 3-year-old and a puppy? (I know, the puppy is my own fault.) After actually praying for Jesus to help me find it, I found my VV support band in an unpacked box under our bed just last week. For the past two months, I've been sporting underwear and my bikini bottoms under pants. That was fun! The support band looks like a jockstrap with some lacey material sewn across the front. No matter the look, it works and that's what matters. However, even wearing it, I still can't stand or sit for long periods of time. Oh, the joys of pregnancy! If I stand too long (i.e. our three choir programs last weekend), my thighs go numb. If I sit too long (i.e. the two hours in BSF), my back end goes to sleep. Yeah!

People tell me I look "so cute" because my weight gain is only in my stomach (yes, God has basically strapped a 15-pound watermelon to my waist). However what scares me is the 10-15 more pounds I'll gain over the next two months and how I'll need a wheelbarrow to get around for the last few weeks.

Ok, all that said, we are having a new baby in a few months and I am getting more excited about that reality by the day. It has brought a new excitement to this pregnancy with not knowing if we're having a girl or a boy. We're still mulling over name ideas but have narrowed down Juliet as our girl first name choice. (Not as original as Braewyn but still has that princess ring to it! Plus a favorite character name from TV's "Lost" and "Psych".) We are still completely undecided on a boy's name so feel free to offer suggestions.

My Birthday by the Hour

2010-11-19T21:09:00.008-05:00

I want to thank my friend Jessie (Thank you, Jessie!) for recently posting an hour by hour recap of her day. My 35th birthday (yes, when I think about it, I'm feeling a bit old probably due to my age now declaring me a "high risk" pregnancy with my OB office!) was this past Sunday and so I thought it a great day to recap with a photo every hour. Here we go...

Up at 7:00am when I heard Chloe barking, i.e. "I need to go outside and potty!"

8:00am and Matthew surprised me with chocolate chip muffins for breakfast. FYI, don't insert wax candles into muffins just out of the oven. He had to carve the molten candles out of the muffins!

It's 9:00am and I'm still putting on my make-up for church. I'm supposed to be READY by now so I can get the kids finished up. Thanks, Matthew, for always pulling everything together when I'm running late!

At 10:00am, I'm in Sunday School with my wonderful Senior High girls. I am blessed to have been teaching teenage girls for the last 10 years. Teenagers experience so much more these days than when I was their age. My prayer is that I might make some sort of small impact on them so when they are in college a few years from now, they'll make better choices than I did.

11:00am (or a few minutes before) finds me in our church choir's practice room, warming up and praying before going into the sanctuary. The choir is a family to me as it's my weekly dose of adult interaction. Our church is blessed to be led musically by Pastor Butch.

Our church service is almost over at 12:00pm and I must say we are equally blessed by the Lord to have such a godly man as our senior paster. Yes, I get to hang out with Hank Williams every Sunday (that's really his name!).

1:00pm and we're eating lunch at La Paz, a Mexican restaurant in town. Ruth Ann treated us for my birthday to which I told her the phrase which normally applies to men is true for me these days, "The path to a man's (or my) heart is through his (my) stomach!"

We arrived home at 2:00pm and the truck became a playground to our energetic kids.

At 3:00pm, our family enjoyed birthday cake with my parents who stopped by for a short visit. Matthew, Philip and Braewyn made the delicious cake Saturday night. While I sat on the sidelines watching it all, I had to tell him at one moment, "When you bake with kids, you need to assume the worst might happen."

4:00pm came and I tried my best to squeeze a nap in. I had left Braewyn to play in her room with the command to let me sleep for 30 minutes. About 6 minutes after this picture was taken, I was woken up and not a happy Mommy! That's what unconditional love is all about, right?

At 5:00pm, when we would be leaving in 10 minutes for evening church, here is what I found in Braewyn's room. Thankfully, she did fall asleep but only after playing really hard in her room.

At 6:00pm, you'll find me on Sunday nights helping with Braewyn's Awana Cubbies class. It's a Bible verse memory club for 3- and 4-year-olds. Braewyn's face is under the arm of the girl in the pink shirt with her arm raised.

Cubbies is over at 7:00pm and it's time to clean up our room.

Dinner comes at 8:00pm on Sunday nights after we get home. Yeah, Mexican leftovers! Thanks, Ruth Ann, for two meals.

Bedtime at our house is 9:00pm (one of the perks of homeschooling is that the kids sleep until 7:00am or at least that's the goal). Even though I'm usually exhausted and ready to lay down myself, it's a sweet, sweet time of family devotions as we teach our children about our God.

A long day, but such blessings all along the way!

A Castle for My Birthday

2010-11-14T21:54:00.006-05:00

Today is my birthday and I'll have another post about that tomorrow. Yesterday we began the festivities by going to lunch as a family. I wanted to pick a restaurant that would be fun for all of us but some place special too.

This past week, Philip and I have been reading about how the Gospel spread through Europe from 300AD to 1000AD through the teachings of Augustine in Italy, Patrick in Ireland and Boniface in Germany. Strong men of God who sacrificed much in telling others about Jesus. Philip's history book also touched on the fact that at this time, Europe was not made of large nations but rather of kingdoms in which all the town people lived in a castle governed by a lord. The special project actually suggested constructing a castle from Legos (the key to Philip's heart) or other building blocks and surrounding it by a moat if possible.

Here are some pics of what we constructed. What could be more fun than Legos and a bathtub full of water!

Building the Lego castle helped me realize what a great restaurant choice would be... California Dreaming! It would provide a chance to visit the next best thing to a real castle!

Don't fall off the drawbridge!

Randomness of Childhood

2010-11-11T19:52:00.002-05:00

A few nights ago, we were putting the kids to bed in our normal fashion. Brushing teeth, reading a Bible story, saying prayers (Braewyn: "Thank you God for Grandma, Nana, Papa, Daddy, Mommy, my brother, my brother in my mommy's tummy" -- does she know something we don't? Philip: "God bless the African children and let them believe in You." Future missionary?), and tucking them into beds. I went to leave Braewyn's room and simply said, "Sleep well, honey. I love you." To that Braewyn says, "I'm telling my doggy that aliens aren't real. She doesn't need to be scared." What?! Too many Ben 10 cartoons with Philip I suppose.

Driving to church for dinner Wednesday night, we passed a strip mall. Philip asked if the moose store had closed (it's a hunting / sporting goods store with a deer head on the sign). I said no, but the school supply / hobby store had closed. He said, "That's where we went to look to buy Andrew (his cool 9-year-old neighbor friend) a birthday present." I replied, "That's right, but then we found him one at a Kmart after the last family reunion." To which he replied, "There's smart and then there's Kmart smart." What?! I vaguely recall seeing a Kmart commercial on tv but that kid is a tag line junkie.

Sweet funny kids. I wonder what kind of things this third baby will say in a few years.

Arts & Crafts

2010-11-09T19:53:00.008-05:00

I wouldn't consider myself a very crafty person. I did enjoy scrapbooking before the days of blogging and Facebook. I'd really rather paint a room in my house before trying my hand at oilpainting. All that said, kids like arts and crafts and so I did want to incorporate that into our school year. The best part of helping Philip and Braewyn do crafts is seeing their personalities displayed through their artwork. It's amazing how two kids raised by the same parents in the same circumstances can be so different. Yes there is an age difference to consider but yet there is a difference in color preference and the ways things should be. First here are their scarecrows we made a few weeks ago. They each colored the pieces of the scarecrows themselves, Philip cut his pieces out, I cut Braewyn's, and then they each glued them on construction paper. Very cute finished projects and each unique. Philip likes things to look the way they should. Braewyn goes for eclectic and bold.

Walking through the children's hall of our church, I often get ideas from the preschool art on the walls. I really liked the idea of handprint fall trees so we gave it a try. Philip thought it was a dumb idea but I told him he wouldn't be saying that to an art teacher at public school. Braewyn tried to jump on Philip's bandwagon and whine about it too but then jumped into her work and went overboard. Not sure but I think her painting depicts burning fall leaves on the sides!

After Philip finished his handprint tree, he said, "Now I want to paint a picture from the book." What he was referring to is our Usborne Book of Famous Paintings. Once before I let him look through it, pick a painting and recreate it himself. This time he picked "Sunflowers" by Vincent Van Gogh. Braewyn is still in the modern art stage but thoroughly enjoys the experience. Here are my little artists at work.

Here is Van Gogh's work, Philip's underneath and finally Braewyn's pop art. Not bad for an unexperienced 5-year-old! He said three flowers were enough for his painting.

Philip's Decision for Christ

2010-11-01T21:33:00.003-04:00

As a follower of Jesus Christ myself, I've been praying for my children to decide to accept Him as Lord and Savior of their lives since they were born. It's a joy to teach Philip and Braewyn how much Jesus loves them and all that He did while on earth and is still doing today from heaven and in the lives of Christians. I've thought for the last several months that Philip was possibly getting close to making a decision to give his life to Christ based on the questions he was asking and the comments he was making. I thank the Lord that we are blessed with a wonderful Bible-teaching church and have been also able to attend BSF (Philip's been attending every week since his 2nd birhtday).

Three weeks ago we were coming home and in the car. He began asking which of his friends would be going to heaven. He asked about Andrew and Daniel (9- and 6-year old boys next door). I said yes they would as they've asked Jesus to be their savior. He asked about their sister Anna. I said I hope she will make a decision to follow Christ when she's older but she's only 3 right now. Philip then said, "Mommy, in three days I'll ask Jesus into my heart." I said that was fine and whenever he was ready we could talk with Mrs. Ann, our children's ministry director.

Two days later, Philip said he still wanted to see Mrs. Ann the next day. I said that was fine and maybe we could find her at the church (it would be Friday), but that I did want him to know that he could pray to Jesus with me and Daddy. He thought about it for a minute and then said, "Let's just do that now!" It was such a special moment as I prayed with him and he repeated what I said, admitting his sin and asking Jesus for forgiveness. We then called Matthew at work to tell him the good news. I then took Chloe outside to go potty and when I came in, I couldn't find Philip. After looking downstairs and heading upstairs, I found him sitting on his bathroom counter, washing off his feet in the sink. I asked him if his feet were dirty from being outside earlier. He said, "I'm washing off my sin." Just precious the faith of a child. We talked about really being baptized at church and how it was a symbol of his decision to follow Christ. He said he'd like to get baptized when he is 7 (two years from now).

That Sunday, we encouraged him to tell Nana, Papa and Grandma and whomever else he wanted. He told his grandparents and one Sunday School teacher but was bashful about telling others, just pointing at me to tell people. We made an appointment to meet with Mrs. Ann that next Wednesday as I was looking forward to someone other than Matthew and I to talk with Philip and let him express what his decision meant. After our meeting, Ann said she definitely could see that Philip really understood what it meant to be a follower of Christ. She took us up to the baptismal area of the church so he could see where he would change clothes, the view from the baptismal pool, etc. He left there saying maybe when he was 6 he'd do it.

After some more discussion about how great a decision he had made and how excited our church family would be to see him baptized, we did offer the idea that maybe it would be great to schedule his baptism for the Sunday after Thanksgiving when his cousins Hannah and Madeline would be visiting. At first, he became so excited that he wanted to get baptized the soonest Sunday possible but I told him it would only be four weeks until our relatives came for the weekend. He was satisfied with waiting so everyone could be here.

It's such an exciting time in life to see Philip growing in his relationship with Christ and also a little worrisome for me thinking if I'm doing enough. People have told us to just keep doing what we're doing and I suppose they're right. So refreshing to receive a first-hand reminder that the Lord really only requires the faith of a child.

"Yet to all who did receive Him, to those who believed in His name, He gave the right to become children of God— children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God." John 1:12-13

Annual Day at the Apple Farm

2010-10-26T22:47:00.004-04:00

For the last 3 years, we've been visiting Niven's Apple Farm on our first free Saturday in October. It's not too far from our house, has plenty of fun activities to burn off some energy and is our Halloween pumpkin-carving pumpkin supplier. There's a huge measuring stick by which to see how much the kids have grown since last year. Here's Braewyn's first appearance by the stick to provide a quick walk down memory lane and a slide show of pics from our visit this year.

20-week Ultrasound, and it's a...

2010-10-13T22:21:00.003-04:00

Baby! Yes, we followed through with our plan to not find out the gender of our baby at this morning's ultrasound. However, it was still the most miraculous, comforting experience to see that the Lord has indeed blessed us with a perfectly formed, squirming little new person growing in my body. Although I haven't felt many strong kicks yet, this new little Brooks was wiggling around in there rather well. I've had two ultrasounds of this type before, but yet I was still blown away and amazed by the creative hand of God in creating such an intricately designed human being. My fears of something being wrong and doubting the pregnancy itself have all been settled. In four months, we'll be welcoming the newest member of our family to the world. I cannot wait and it will be especially exciting discovering if it will be another sweet little son or darling little daughter. We love you already!

Relaxing Weekend Getaway

2010-10-08T22:40:00.007-04:00

A few weeks ago, I went away for a weekend with the first man I ever loved... my dad! My grandparents (his mom and stepdad; however they married when he was 4 so always my grandparents) passed away over the summer -- Grandma in June and Grandpa in August. They were each cremated and the family decided to have a joint memorial service to remember their lives and 52 years of marriage. The timing worked out perfectly as I am now through the yucky sick early weeks of pregnancy and Maine in September is absolutely wonderful. The 65 degree Maine days were a great change from the 80 degree SC weather I left behind. Dad and I flew up alone because Mom doesn't prefer to fly since her sickness and I was actually thrilled to leave behind the duties of wife and mother for a few days. Absence makes the heart grow fonder, right?

We flew from Charlotte, NC to Boston, MA. From there, we had a 3 1/2 hour drive to Rockland, ME. It was really not a bad trip at all. We came home on the following Monday. Here's a recap in pictures.

Thursday was spent traveling and then enjoying a dinner at Applebee's with my cousin Jeff, his wife Beckie and their sweet daughter Trinity. Friday, our family members were working so Dad and I did the tourist thing and strolled around Camden, Maine. I was glad Dad suggested it as "A Man Without A Face" (a Mel Gibson movie) was filmed there. Yes, I was a HUGE Mel fan before he got crazy. Poor Mel, but I digress. This is the town and harbor of Camden.

My favorite part of our day was eating this enormous lobster roll! All the pleasure of lobster but none of the work!

The memorial service on Saturday was perfect. There was a service at my grandparents' church at which some men spoke about Grandpa's days in the Navy and as a Mason and my dad shared a letter my mom had written about the early years of getting to know the family. A touching, heartbreaking moment. We all then drove to the cemetery at a which a 10-gun salute was given and an American flag presented to the family. The day was especially sweet as longterm bitterness and grudges were amended and the years of separation seemed to melt away.

It was wonderful spending time again with Beckie, Jeff and Trinity. Dad and I both hugged Trinity a lot which helped missing my kids not so bad.

My cousin Hillarie whom I've not seen in 10 plus years.

Dad (second from left) with his siblings.

The blue container held half of my grandparents' ashes. The other half will be sprinkled at a later date into the ocean.

On Sunday, we met Jeff, Beckie and other family members in Port Clyde for church. We were blessed by their church just happening to have planned a "Church on the Dock" service. It was picturesque Maine!

Jeff is one of the captains of this boat. He delivers mail and supplies to an island 10 miles off the coast of Maine three times a week and gives ocean cruises in the summer.

Church was great and very laid back... as most things in Maine are.

People in Maine dress comfortably most all of the time. Nice change of pace.

After church, we drove around the corner to the local beach (no sandy white shorelines here) to witness four church members' baptisms. The pastor spoke about how John the Baptist baptized Jesus in the Sea of Galilee.

What a memorable day... to be baptized in 50 degree ocean water!

Before flying home, I tracked down one more lobster roll for my dinner in the Boston airport. Not as good as the other but it'll do.

And the last thing to say about New England... there are Dunkin' Doughnuts EVERYWHERE! Matthew and I have a friendly family feud regarding this because as a yankee (I was born in Massachusetts) I will always prefer DD over Krispy Kreme! The pumpkin spice cake doughnut is awesome.

More Fun with Chloe

2010-09-11T16:44:00.005-04:00

So we've had our dog Chloe for 6 weeks now. Things are going well to a point. Yes, she barks a lot when she wants someone to play with her, jumps on the kids and makes them scream (they scream "Ouch!" because that's what the dog training video said to do), still pees in the house if I don't take her out every hour or so, and cried in her crate at night sometimes. (We do begin puppy training classes at Petsmart this Monday night!) However, the kids LOVE her regardless! Braewyn has to be reminded not to be so rough with Chloe but Chloe does a fine job of telling Braewyn to stop. And then Braewyn screams.

A big thank you to Matthew whom I've already thanked many times in person for doing such an awesome job building Chloe's childgate wall. Our staircase has a curved landing which makes a standard childgate impossible to fit. I do not want the dog upstairs for potty accident reasons and a billion choking hazards. The wall works great; Philip can climb over it and Braewyn can push it open and closed. Thanks, sweetie.

Jitterbug Braewyn

2010-09-08T16:16:00.003-04:00

Tomorrow night Braewyn begins Ballet and Tap lessons and Philip begins Tumbling lessons. I have thought Braewyn would enjoy dance for a while as she's been dancing around the house for months. We weren't sure which activity Philip would choose this fall but once we toured the dance facility and he saw the tumbling room, he was sold! A place to roll and jump around and maybe even learn how to do flips! The best part is that their lessons are on the same night at the same time! Easy for me! Well, this past Saturday the four of us plus Braewyn's BFF (best friend forever) and next-door neighbor Anna attended our local minor league baseball game. This gives you an idea of how much Braewyn likes to dance... albeit it's not ballet but hopefully she'll learn to pirouette just as well as she can boogie!

My parents are on YouTube!

2010-08-29T16:36:00.004-04:00

Just wanted to catch your attention but it's for a really good cause. Mom is a very active member of Colon Cancer Solutions. It is an awareness group in this area working hard to let everyone know that colon cancer is preventable if detected early. Some time ago, groups of people began making "Pink Glove Dances" to promote breast cancer awareness and posting them on YouTube. Mom's group decided it would be good to make a "Blue Glove Dance" (blue is the color of the colon cancer ribbon) and here it is. See if you can spot my mom and dad if you know what they look like! The man who swings his doctor's coat around while dancing is Mom's surgeon, Dr. Dunn. We praise God for him removing her cancer.

Revamping the System

2010-08-26T14:58:00.002-04:00

No, I'm not ready to take on the state welfare and foster care systems, although both do need a considerable amount of help. What I do need to do is get my own life back in order. Tomorrow will be the last day of our fourth week of homeschooling this year. I've been tweaking our daily routine almost every day and it's burning me out quickly. On any given Monday, Wednesday or Friday, Philip's assignments include Spelling/Phonics, History and Math. On Tuesdays and Thursdays, we cover Spelling/Phonics, Science and Math. Three subjects each day shouldn't last five hours for a kindergarten student, but that's the way things are going these days. It's not that I strap him to a chair for five straight hours but it's that I've tried random variations of busting through the work with Braewyn at a loss of entertaining herself; intermingling school and chores, school and errands, and school and free play time; and threatening Philip with timers, loss of toys, calling Principal Dad, and corporal punishment for active disobedience. With that said, adopting Chloe was a choice I fully participated in but she has thrown a huge wrench in the system with having to go outside to potty every few hours and whining/barking when we try to have school without her or outside with her.

Ok, no one wants to hear me whine (or bark for that matter), so moving on... I've prayed about how our day should run and I'm returning to my original thinking. I'm not a free-spirited time person. I've struggled for years with getting my housework under control and will not let our disorderly school schedule span that long. Therefore this is me putting my new schedule down in writing.

6:00am -- shower (a big one I've struggled with but if I want to feel alive I've got to begin showering every morning)

6:30am -- quiet time with the Lord (ESSENTIAL to the rest of the day going smoothly)

7:00am -- breakfast with Matthew and the kids (they wake up at 7:00am on their own)

7:30am -- get everyone dressed if finished with breakfast

8:00am -- free play (but clearly understood will end at 8:30am)

8:30am -- prayer, song and calendar time (again prayer is a necessity to get us all in the right frame of mind)

9:00am -- Spelling worksheet (it's Philip's most hated item of school so we may as well tackle it first thing); I'm allotting 25 minutes for it because any longer begins driving us both crazy

9:25am -- jump around time (we did the hokey pokey a few times last week when we reached the breaking point)

9:35am -- Phonics worksheet (he balks through it most days but wanted to tell his Wednesday night missions group it was his favorite part of school, just couldn't remember what it was called)

10:00am -- snack break (these days I'm famished by this time of day so even if the kids don't need it, the baby and I do!)

10:15am -- History or Science depending on the day (getting done in 45 minutes will require me to be fully prepared with all needed supplies)

11:00am -- Math (Philip loves it and takes him on average 10 minutes to cover 6 workbook pages)

11:30am -- We're done with school!!!!

This looks like a tight run ship which I usually don't tolerate for long. However, I am grateful for the chance to teach Philip at home and must do my best at making it work. All things of substance are rarely thrown together with little thought. If school is done before lunch, I can begin gaining my strength and determination back to keep the house in order during the afternoon and spend time just playing with my kids.

A few years ago, I was hooked on this TV show about women with life issues who went to live in an LA house, meet with life coaches, and work their problems out through activities and assignments. There have been times in my life at which I thought having a life coach sounded good. That's when I remember I do have one. His name is Jesus, and He has told me,

"Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light." (Matthew 11:28-30)

These days, an easy yoke sounds good.

Brooks Family Training Facility

2010-08-14T19:49:00.007-04:00

Some of you might remember the BBFF, well I'm pleased to announce we've opened up a new branch of our company entitled Brooks Family Training Facility. Some people joke about having their husbands or wives trained. I don't buy into that and actually think it to be demeaning. I hope Matthew's not plotting my training schedule and I'm surely not doing so to him but instead seeking to become a better wife and helpmate to him. However, the Lord has blessed us with two precious children and another to arrive in the spring. As we believe these little ones to be from Him, I find God's advice most comforting when seeking to raise them to know Him. A particular verse I take to heart is Proverbs 22:6,

"Train up a child in the way he should go, even when he is old he will not go from it."

Training has come to my mind a lot this week as we finished our second week of school. We decided to up the fun level (er, crazy level) and adopt a puppy from the pound this week too. Her name is Chloe and she's a 2 1/2 month old Blue Heeler. Having Chloe has brought back many happy memories of my childhood dog Sparky whom we adopted from the pound when I was 10 and passed away a few years before Matthew and I married. However having a puppy in the house brings about another complete level of training. Here's the list rolling around in my brain of the training which is going on in our home these days.

Me getting up on time in order to have a quiet time before the house wakes up (failing currently)
Philip and Braewyn not watching TV before breakfast and school
Philip staying focused on his school work
Me trying to find a schedule for his subjects which isn't cumbersome to either of us
Braewyn being told to play independently or color quietly during school time
Chloe being housebroken (actually going well; using puppy pads or crate when not able to walk her outside)
Chloe staying down from jumping and nipping (Braewyn says, "She's eating me!")
Chloe to stop chewing the fireplace rocks and furniture
Philip and Braewyn to stop running past Chloe which makes her think they're playing and she begins nipping
Me at getting my mind around preparing meals for my family when I have no appetite (due to being 11 weeks pregnant)
Me at finding a desire to fold clothes, wash dishes, clean bathrooms, (fill in the blank with ANY housework)
Philip and Braewyn at completing chores (unloading the dishwasher, folding towels, cleaning their rooms)
Me getting enough rest and even remembering that I am pregnant (aside from the appetite and digestion issues)

I suppose that is enough of an exhaustive list for now. And to think we're adding another human in March! However by then Chloe will be at a different behavior level (we pray!) and the baby comes out relatively motionless. I told Ruth Ann today that Chloe is like a crawling toddler who really has the ability to destroy things. Our newborn won't be destroying anything other than diapers at first! I would say my good night's rest too but I'm not finding that very common these days anyway.

Here's our sweet little rambunctious pup.

Back to School

2010-08-07T08:38:00.007-04:00

This week has been long but fulfilling at the same time. Monday was Philip's first day of Kindergarten! It wasn't as much of a milestone as for families who send their little ones into the "real world" of public school as we were together all day, but it did help me realize my children are growing and changing more everyday. We began the morning with prayer, a hymn, calendar time and pledges. I decided that we'll say our pledges (to the American flag, the Christian flag, and the Bible) only on Mondays to keep it from becoming too repetitive.

This year, I am not using a integrated curriculum but subjects from different publishers. For writing and reading, we're using the American Language Series workbooks I purchased at Children's Books (a fabulous local home school supply warehouse!). They are colorfully illustrated workbooks which focus on phonics and handwriting. There is also a little reader which accompanies it. Philip has proudly been reading a one-page story (4-6 lines) each day. It's exciting to see him growing in his reading skills without feeling overwhelmed by tackling a whole book. The one problem with this series is that the phonics lesson is 5 pages long (most of which involved him 'x'-ing off the pictures which start with the designated sounds) and the handwriting lesson being a front and back page of copying letter combinations. All week (as we do this each day), I've been trying to run phonics and handwriting back to back, getting it all done in a solid hour. As the week went on and Philip got S-L-O-W-E-R each day with it and after talking to a friend who is a kindergarten teacher about the attention span of average 5-year-olds, I've decided to split these lessons up next week with some form of physical activity.

On Tuesdays and Thursdays, we have science which is coming from an Usborne Books Science Activities book. Tuesday we learned some properities of water (i.e. how water takes the form of its container, how it only flows down, how it doesn't change quantity between different shaped containers) and on Thursday we discovered which items float and which things sink. Science is Philip's favorite subject right now as it's all hands on.

We're also studying math using a great program called Math-U-See. There's a workbook but also a DVD with 5 minute lesson introductions and manipulative blocks which are a hit since Philip is a lego fanatic. For history, I found a great program called "History for Little Pilgrims". There's a text book, instruction book and coloring book. The best thing is that it focuses on history from the point of how God's Kingdom has grown through time. The keypoint for this first week was teaching the student that Jesus Christ is the central figure in ALL OF HISTORY! Everything prior to Jesus' birth looked forward to Him and everything since is reflective of His life. What a great truth to begin planting in a 5-year-old mind.

We'll begin attending Bible Study Fellowship later in September. It's a complex Bible study for me, but also the children's program is designed in such a way to teach the little ones the same content in a fashion suited for them. This year we will study through the book of Isaiah. Can't say that I can think of any other children's program which teaches Isaiah. It's surely to be a great experience for all of us.

I pray now for stamina to keep us motivated through the school year. There is much work ahead but much fun too. We'll throw in some field trips and with the school year also comes a renewed love of Saturday mornings and snuggling with Daddy!

Big News

2010-07-29T15:40:00.004-04:00

Next spring, our family will grow by one small, loud member. I'm expecting our third child and although feeling very blessed, the reality is still sinking in. I took a home pregnancy test on June 22. It was positive which didn't completely surprise me but still did at the same time. Matthew and I were thrilled but waited to tell the kids for a few days. I had an appointment on the following Monday (June 28; Matthew's birthday). The ultrasound tech somewhat crushed my spirit when she told me I was not even four weeks and therefore couldn't measure the baby nor give us a due date. We left having been told not to tell anyone because there was no guarantee the pregnancy was viable but to come back in a month. If I was still pregnant, then I would be told a due date. So was I pregnant or not? This made my anxiety level skyrocket and I no longer felt the queazy pregnant feeling but a knot in my stomach feeling. Anyway, we told our immediate family and a few close friends.

The following weeks involved our trip to Kentucky and teaching VBS. I told more friends as I was queazy more often and snacking that much more often. The weeks dragged by and I confided in a friend about my fears over the pregnancy (was it real? should I be telling others?). She reassured me that God creates new life from conception so even if something happened, God had blessed us with a new baby and to just focus on that. Until the doctors definitively told us differently, I was pregnant.

Finally Monday, July 26 came and my follow-up appointment. I was no longer fearing if I was pregnant as my body was reacting with all of the normal early pregnancy symptoms: heartburn, intense hunger, headaches, and not being able to button my pants. The ultrasound this time around was much more comforting (a good thing too as I was so nervous going in). There was our baby, tiny but with a strong 166 heartbeats per minute. We were given a due date of March 1. And plus I was thankful to know we would be having only ONE baby. I was wondering as my waistband at 8 weeks pregnant was matching about 5 months along from my pregnancy with Philip. The rumors are right about third baby just pops out when you find out.

My same dear friend knocked on our door the next day with her two kids. They gave us the most precious gift. A frame reading, "mom + dad = me". She said they printed Philip and Braewyn's photos from my Facebook album and had found an ultrasound pic of a 10-week baby on the internet. I've updated the frame with my real ultrasound pictures. Thank you so much, sweet Steinert family. I praise Jesus that you can love on all three of our kids from just up the street.

Hot Summer Day

2010-07-29T15:23:00.005-04:00

Tomorrow we're going to the library, the weekend follows, and on Monday we begin Philip's Kindergarten year and Braewyn's (very loose) 3-year-old Preschool year. With that in mind, I woke up this morning and asked the kids if they wanted to go to the park this morning before it got hot. The answer was yes but unfortunately it still felt like 90 degrees went we got there at 8:45am. We stayed for an hour, played Star Wars (cast: Philip - Luke, Braewyn - Leia, me - Yoda), drank water, swang on the swings, tossed some bread to the geese, drank water, tried to avoid the geese gang fight (white geese and Canadian geese hissing at each other trying to get to our bread), walked on the rocks and in the water, and drank water.

Water, Water Everywhere

2010-07-22T22:08:00.006-04:00

Spring ended hot and summer hasn't let up yet. Therefore in an attempt to get us outside as much as possible I wanted to get the kids a little pool. The summers when Philip was 2 and 3, we had this great 8-foot wide, 18-inch deep pool that worked wonderfully for me and a toddler (and the second summer, me, a preschooler and a toddler!). Our old yard was small, but FLAT!

Well, we move to this new house with a yard FOUR TIMES AS BIG and it has not one flat spot in it. There are not massive hills but just enough slope (and it's just inches!) that these little pools are giving me the worst time. I never got a picture of the first pool (identical to that one we had at the last house) but I will say when "fully" filled there was a 5 inch difference (one side of the pool overflowing and the other 5 inches from the top of the pool). Anyhow, the water was sparkling and I had worked so hard at getting the bottom as close to perfectly flat as possible. That day I decided we needed some time to cool off inside after filling the pool so in we went. The neighbor boys (ages 9, 7, and 6) had been watching us fill it and asked if they could swim. I said yes as I was unaware of what these age boys could do to a baby pool. Within 30 minutes, they had cannonballed all the water out and there were a few inches of standing water left in our pool. Philip saw the scene out our window and cried, "Those boys trashed our pool!" He was devastated and with reason.

After a few days, I decided to try to relocate the pool. The sides had warped badly from leaving it drained in the sun. However, my plan was to prop it on a large trunked tree. Now we just had a baby pool with one side against a tree and a waterfall overflowing as gravity pulled the water to the side of the tree! I declared us officially redneck! So wish I had taken a picture of that setup.

Round two of a backyard pool came in the form of an inflatible pool which I thought would hold up better as it was only 5 feet in diameter. That gravity will get you everytime and there we are redneck again!

Thankfully Philip and Braewyn have truly become little fish this summer but obviously not in our yard. Philip attended his third summer of swimming lessons and has gained such confidence and skill. He attends at an indoor pool which hosts high school swim teams during the school year. The last day of lessons, his instructor took the kids to the deep end (not their first time down there) and had them jump off the starting blocks of the second lane from the side. Philip jumped off, swam about 10 feet to his instructor and then another 10 feet to the ladder -- without any floation devices in 12 foot water! I was so proud. That was just a perfect prologue to our trip to Kentucky.

Over July 4th weekend, we traveled to Ruth Ann's homestate to visit our extended family. We always have the best time visiting everyone and I think this was the best trip yet as all the grandkids are getting old enough to really enjoy each other. Even though Philip was the only boy (other than sweet 2-month-old Dennis) out of 7 kids, he had a ball with Bailey and Windy (both just a few months older than him). Ruth Ann's sister Linda and brother-in-law Dennis are such generous hosts. Their home is beautifully furnished but so kid friendly at the same time. I love visiting because we are with loving family members but it feels like a real vacation at the same time due to the peaceful surroundings and pool fun. (Linda and Dennis, I always intend to send a note saying how much we enjoy coming but life hits and I forget. Hope you read this and know how blessed we feel by coming to visit!) (Lindsay, I apologize for not getting a picture of Amber. I hope we'll still be buddies!)

Braewyn made great progression too as she left the steps after a day to begin swimming on her back!

On a sad note, I do want to ask for prayers for Jackie, Matthew's cousin Patrick's wife. Just last week, we received word that her younger brother died from a tragic accident. Please lift up her family during this hard time. (Jackie, our thoughts and prayers are with you and wish we could be there in person. We love you lots!)

Our Day at Dupont State Forest

2010-07-16T09:15:00.002-04:00

Back in June, I was wanting to head to the mountains and out of the heat (and I thought June was hot; now we're really feeling it everyday!). The weekend before Father's Day, the four of us drove to the North Carolina mountains to explore the beautiful landscape of Dupont State Forest. It was wonderful "hiking" up to three different waterfalls and spending the day together.

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Something New

2010-07-10T23:26:00.001-04:00

Here's a video of one of our favorite Disney moments.

Checking Things Off

2010-06-19T22:50:00.004-04:00

Sometimes "To Do" lists can be burdensome but when you start checking things off, it provides a great sense of accomplishment. There's still a battle waging between me and household chores (laundry and dishes) while I'm finding more pleasure in those extra projects (hanging shelves, pictures and curtains). My ultimate goal is to finish these extra projects in the next three weeks and then use the rest of July to map out Philip's Kindergarten school work before we begin in mid August. So far so good, but Philip has swimming lessons the next two weeks and then comes 4th of July! Here are the updates I've made around the house. Check!

Added framed photos from our Disney trip to the wall at the bottom of the stairs. We enjoy them daily on the way downstairs and others can see them on their way out.

Curtain rod: mine from teenage days
Curtains: from bathroom window of old house
Hem tape to create layers: $1:50
Joy of "making" my own curtains: yeah for me!

We had the large shelf at our old house. The small one I found at a consignment store for $4. These make me proud as I used a level, electric drill, anchors and screws to install!

Natural Birth 101

2010-06-19T22:31:00.003-04:00

It's not everyday someone happily welcomes you into their birthing room and lets you experience the miracle of new life up close and personal. Last month, Philip and I were treated to just such an experience. Well ok, the mother wasn't human but a cat and no, I wouldn't let Philip watch a human birth just yet.

Our neighbors' cat, Ruby, began hanging around our yard early in May while the parents were at work and the kids were in school. She was clearly pregnant but let us pet her whenever we wanted. Philip and Braewyn became quite comfortable with her after first thinking she was scary and "has claws" as Braewyn would say. Philip called her our "daytime pet".

On May 18, we had attended MOPS and upon returning home, Ruby ran into our open garage and jumped into a box in the back of it. I scooped her up and shoo-ed her outside. A little while later, Philip and I were testing our hypothesis (yes, we watch "Dinosaur Train") as to if she would like milk or water on our front porch. After drinking some milk, Ruby stood by the front door and when I saw it happen, I knew that her water had broken! What to do?! I actually called our vet and asked what to do for a cat who was having her kittens on our front porch. I was told to provide her a box or other safe place and not do anything unless she looked in distress. What would a cat having kittens look like if in distress?

Anyhow, Philip and I (well he wandered off now and then) watched four kittens come into the world and their mom clean up all the mess. Yes, all the mess. I'll spare you the details. I can't think about it too long as it makes me queasy. The kittens were tiny and high-pitched. Matthew and our neighbors came home and we announced the happy news that Ruby was the mother of four. We went inside to eat dinner and after finishing, I checked Ruby to find SIX kittens. Wow, good work, Ruby! They are all growing up nicely in our neighbor's front porch area now and I'm still pondering if we should take one as I was their mom's midwife and all.

My Ever Present Foe

2010-06-08T22:06:00.002-04:00

How horrible to describe my prayed for and wonderful blessing of a house in that manner. Yes, I will admit to being a messy; you know there are some people who are tidy and have well-kept homes and then there are "messies" (a term coined by someone I heard speaking on Focus on the Family). I grew up with a wonderful, loving mom who made me do chores but kept the rest of the house very well put together. When Matthew and I married and bought our first house, I thought to myself, "Now where is the person who is supposed to keep this house clean?" Yes, I struggled through clutter for 8 years in that house before renting a storage unit, throwing half of our belongings in it, and living in perfect harmony for four months while "showing" that house. I did really like how it looked and felt. Fast forward almost a year...

We moved into this brand new, beautiful home and I had an emotional meltdown. On top of not knowing where to put anything (and then not knowing where anything was once placed), that storage unit vomitted its contents back into our lives and now it seems every closet in this bigger house is almost full. How does that happen? Let me just say "Thank Heavens for Summer!"

We struggled through setting up house amidst our first year of home school. Philip and I were both overjoyed with the end of K-4 even though it astounds me how much he developed emotionally and intellectually. I now have mornings free and a renewed excitement to finish unpacking those few boxes and tackle the mini-projects I've decided on. Between visiting my sister-in-law Lori over Memorial Day and gleaning from her home management wisdom and stopping by my friend and neighbor Greta's beautiful home (it always looks ready to show and they're not moving!), I'm reinspired to keep my nose to the grindstone and tackle my house on a daily basis.

Some of you readers will laugh to yourselves when I say I happily invited Flylady to my email inbox again. Today I wiped down my kitchen cupboards and my kitchen sink currently holds one single cutting board. In addition to the norm, my summer project list included the following:

- Decorate the kids' bathroom (paint and new curtain/fixtures)
- Hang shelves in kitchen (DONE!)
- Buy storage items to organize school material (DONE!)
- Create chalkboard on bonus room wall
- Find a small table and round rug for entry way
- Paint Braewyn's headboard white with her name
- Paint stairway wall with brick faux finish
- Install curtain over jet tub window (Rod installed, curtains tomorrow!)
- Hang Grand Canyon / Walt Disney photos
- Clean out master bed boxes
- Purchase new desk for computer
- Rearrange Braewyn's room (changing table in closet)
- Rearrange bonus room room to be half school / half play
- Add shelves to the bonus room for more toy storage

Well, that's my June schedule.

Gotta Remember This...

2010-06-07T14:31:00.002-04:00

I want to always remember Braewyn's use (or misuse) of grammar at age 3.

"Not me want to take a nap."

"Not me can do that."

"Not me know where Thomas (her doll) is."

Sweetness.

Disney World Recap (part 2)

2010-06-04T09:15:00.007-04:00

Ok, I've got so much to post about but I'm striving to not leave things half done this summer. Therefore, here's a recap of the last three days of our Disney trip. It's fun for me to look back at the pics too and remember what an awesome time we had.

Day 4 -- Animal Kingdom

Here's the trademark tree with animals carved all over it. Yeah, it's not a real tree. They had me fooled!

Bashful Braewyn on a bridge. This glimpse into what an African town is like was really cool. We've been sponsoring a boy named Talent who lives in Zimbabwe through World Vision for several years. It was neat telling Philip that Talent might live near a town like this.

Just before we left Animal Kingdom, we happened upon Mickey and Minnie with a very short line for photos. The kids (especially Braewyn) were much more comfortable with the costumed characters than the live Princesses. Funny!

Day 5 -- Magic Kingdom

We decided to head back to M.K. after seeing all the parks because this one is most preschooler-friendly. First ride of the day was Cinderella's Golden Carrousel. This might have been Braewyn's favorite ride of the entire week.

Here's the Barnstormer which we all rode 3 times. It's a baby rollercoaster which flies you through Goofy's chicken coop but it still took my stomach!

We left M.K. about 3pm after seeing everything we hadn't the first day. This was our hotel, Coronado Springs Resort. We came back to the room, changed into swimsuits and walked over to the beautiful pool area. I didn't take my camera with me but here's the link if you want to see it.

DAy 6 -- Epcot Center

We headed back to Epcot with the goal to visit all the countries of the World Showcase part. Thankfully Philip did have an understanding of world countries as we had colored maps and flags of eight countries in school. I love meeting people from all over the world so it was fun talking with the employees. Here are Braewyn and I posing by a fountain in "Italy".

I'm thinking this was also "Italy".

We enjoyed a wonderful lunch in Norway at the Akershaus Banquet Hall. It is a character dining restaurant at which the princesses mingle through the tables, chatting with you while you eat. It was actually much more fun than waiting in line to meet the princesses for one moment and leave. However definitely a reason to have the dining plan because without it we would have spent over $100!

Disney World was wonderful week full of memories. I feel good to not going again for another 10 years!

Not Sleepy

2010-06-03T04:26:00.002-04:00

It's 4:26am. I'm not sleepy. I've read my Bible and several blogs and I seem to be getting more awake than sleepy. Yes, probably bad idea to get on the computer but I couldn't find my copy of "Pride and Prejudice" (yes, I'm adding it to my sidebar as my new book On The Nightstand when I find it and take a pic of it). Random thoughts woke me up and then I had to check on Braewyn anyway.

No, I don't generally check on the kids when I wake up in the middle of the night. I do right before I go to bed because I love seeing their peaceful, sleeping faces. However tonight Braewyn's peaceful, sleeping face has three stitches over her left eye. Last night during supper at church, she tripped and gouged her temple on the corner of a chair. I scooped her up after Ruth Ann said, "She's cut!" Quite horrific as blood quickly ran down her face. The three of us drove to the ER while Matthew and Philip followed behind. Braewyn was amazingly brave. I think the Lord put her into a somewhat natural sedated state due to not having napped all day. The ER doc was wonderful and so caring. He said his 4-year-old daughter split her forehead open last summer and he had to stitch her up. I told him to treat Braewyn like his own.

Two nurses positioned Braewyn into a full-body velcro wrap and called her a burrito. All you could see were her Princess sneakers and her face. After I had held a cotton ball with numbing agent on her cut for 30 minutes before being burrito-ed, Braewyn didn't seem to feel anything the doc did. Thank you, Lord. I had been praying repetitively for that cotton ball to work while I held it and we all watched "Kung Fu Panda" (wonderful pediatric ER rooms!). The doc flushed out her gouge (yes, there was chair debris in her head!) and stitched up our little trooper. She winced a few times but remained motionless, not even struggling against the wrap.

I thank the Lord our trip to the ER is over. Who knows what health issues we'll face in the future but it was amazing to feel the love and peace which comes when your church family is praying. Since her fall happened in the fellowship hall just 15 minutes before our Wednesday night prayer service and adult choir practice were to begin, probably 150 people knew what happened even before we arrived at the ER.

If you were praying, thank you!

And now I think I'm sleepy.

Disney World Recap (part 1)

2010-05-20T22:32:00.008-04:00

My perfectionism got the best of me and delayed my Disney World post for three weeks. I was hoping for a detailed day-by-day recap which I never found the time to deliver. Therefore here's the cliff notes version with my three favorite pics from each day. We drove down on Saturday, April 25 and spent that night in a nearby Motel 6, only $30! We went to Downtown Disney for a few hours that night as we couldn't wait to get into the Disney mood. The next morning we headed over to our "real" hotel, the beautiful, old Mexico style Coronado Springs Disney resort. After check-in, we took the Disney bus to Magic Kingdom. We were finally here!

The fountain in the lobby of our resort, Coronado Springs.
I was thrilled that Braewyn's fear of the Chick-Fil-A cow didn't transfer to Pooh Bear.

My self-taken photo at Planet Hollywood. I designated this as our official 10th anniversary dinner. I love you, Matthew!

On Monday (day 2), we spent the day at Hollywood Studios. I had never been at this park and found it very classy and that day not very crowded!

We all were excited to find the new Toy Story Mania ride and it met our expectations. A bonus was meeting Woody and Buzz. Philip and Braewyn make such cute toys on Andy's bed.

All of Hollywood Studios lets you feel like you're a movie star! Do these toys come in the cereal box?

I think the Star Wars simulator ride was Philip's favorite of the day. Disney does an awesome job of creating an atmosphere from the moment you get in line for all the main rides to the gift shop that awaits you after exiting the ride. Full submersion = money leaving your pockets without flinching.

Day 3 of our trip was spent at Epcot Center, my favorite park. This park feels the largest to me and so we only managed to see all of Future World and a bit of the World Showcase area. We knew we'd spend one of our extra days here again visiting all the other "countries" (we had a 6 day pass to see four parks one day each, with a day back to our two favorites).

Philip and I both loved the crash test dummy simulation ride, "Test Track", but no pictures to show for it. My second favorite was the trademark Spaceship Earth (you know, the big silver ball Epcot is known for!). I remember riding it in 1990 with my parents. Since then they've added this cool interactive feature with touch-screen monitors in the seats. At the beginning of the ride, your picture is taken and then at the end of the ride you get to design your future. Yes, I choose to have a self-cleaning house and new clothes presented to me every day!
We ate lunch in "China". I enjoy speaking to the employees as they are all native to the country represented. They come as part of the Disney program: come work at Disney world and experience American life for one year. This sweet waitress had been in America for 3 days! Culture shock, but another waitress had been here for 10 months and they all live together in apartments.
The fireworks show at Epcot and Magic Kingdom are both so worth staying late for. Lights, music and smoke! I laughed to myself because Disney is very concerned with being "green". All that goes up in smoke literally as the air pollution is palpable by 10pm. Maybe it's some kind of environmentally-friendly smoke, right?

Braewyn's New Phrase

2010-05-07T11:10:00.002-04:00

Not sure if I should laugh or scream. Braewyn's newest favorite phrase is "I can't." It's in a dire tone of voice but used for very much non-dire situations.

Me: Braewyn, please keep the dominoes downstairs with the other game pieces.

Braewyn: I can't.

Me: Yes, you need to.

Braewyn: Ok.

There have been other far sillier scenarios but that was just the latest.

Oh and her second most used phrase is the old stand-by, "Why?" I don't want to fault her for being inquisitive so I just answer the why's. I think it went on for five why's earlier this morning. Hey, she's learning and gaining reasoning skills, right? :)

My 3-Year-Old Princess

2010-05-06T22:21:00.013-04:00

I've mentioned here before that upon finding out I was having a girl when pregnant with Braewyn, I decided I wouldn't buy into the Disney Princess craze. Well, you might know how that went... Braewyn adores Sleeping Beauty only from the image of her on products. We've never even seen the movie. The one good aspect is that if you ask Braewyn if she's a princess, she'll say, "No, I'm just Braewyn." At least, she's not a diva!

Well, last week we let her dreams come true... a week at Disney World and a chance to meet her favorite princess and all the others too. Matthew and I celebrated our 10th wedding anniversary on April 15 and Braewyn turned 3 on May 2. We decided to roll it all into one and head to Orlando for a week of fun. We had a ball and it was the vacation I dreamed it would be. I'll be posting day by day photos of our trip, but since this post is to give God the glory for our precious daughter, here are a few recapping her life and my favorite pics of her from Disney.

Our sweet Braewyn at a month old.

Her 1st birthday.

Her 2nd birthday.

Braewyn on her 3rd birthday.

So proud to raise those 3 fingers!

With my Grandma and Grandpa Diemer (Mom's parents). We stopped at their house for two nights after our week at Disney.

Opening up a present with Philip and my Aunt Liz and Aunt Cathy.

Already in love with the dollhouse my parents gave her. It was mine and I totally forgot that they still had it! One oldschool dollhouse!

Meeting Sleeping Beauty and feeling quite bashful.

Reaching for change in our hotel lobby fountain.

Chatting away with Snow White probably about how great it was to meet Sleeping Beauty!

Springtime Wonder

2010-04-12T22:25:00.004-04:00

I actually STILL haven't finished reading "Childwise" as it resides in our guest bathroom and I pick it up here and there. However, I'm putting a new book on my sidebar and I'm actually close to finishing it. I started "Billy" on the way to New Orleans and have enjoyed it more than any book I've read in a long time.

Most people know the name Billy Graham. Yes, he's the elderly man occasionally on tv preaching to 1000's of people in stadiums and bidding them, "Come to Jesus!" Well, I hadn't really ever given it much thought about how one gets to that status in the Christian world until I saw this book laying on a table in a book store.

Wow, how has it been eye-opening. For example, when Graham was 15, he was more often making spit-balls in church than praying. He said to his friend after talking about a traveling evangelist, "You may like him, but I'm just sayin; two things I'll never be: a preacher or an undertaker!" It's been a powerful retelling of how God can use an ordinary person in incredible ways if you just give your life over to Him.

However, another thing I want to say is related to another man mentioned in the book. Have you heard of Charles Templeton? No, me neither before reading this book. In the mid- to late-1940's, he was a nationally known preacher, much more well-known that the just beginning Billy Graham. Templeton preached to stadiums of 40,000 people and had his photograph on the covers of magazines. He, unlike Graham, began to unravel spiritually as his mind and spirit began to disagree.

The following is a conversation between Graham and Templeton (pg. 179).

Chuck looked perplexed, as though he was searching for just the right words. ... "Billy, how can anyone take the Bible as the literal Word of God?"

"What? What do you mean?"

The floodgates had burst opened in Chuck Templeton's heart, and his questions and doubts flowed out like an escaping rainswollen river. "Jonah and the whale? Do you think a whale really swallowed a man and spat him out? Or God making the sun stand still. Do you honestly believe the earth stopped revolving? Where's the hard science to back up these stories?"

Chuck leaned even closer to Billy's face. "And if the Scriptures aren't true in each and every case, doesn't that cast doubt on all of it?"

Billy was astounded and distraught; the pain from Charles's words showed in his face, but he wanted to be helpful to his friend. "Charles," he said, looking Templeton in the eyes, "it's the Word of God."

As I finished reading that section, I looked up and out the bay window in my kitchen. There before me I saw the bright green leaves of springtime lining the branches of the trees outside. Just two months ago, those trees were tall, dead timbers covered in ice and snow. Maybe I haven't seen the whale that swallowed Jonah or was alive to witness the day the earth stopped spinning, BUT I can see leaves growing where there were no leaves weeks before. God's majesty is all around us. If He is able to bring life from apparent death, I find it easy to believe all the Bible to be true. I am saddened by Templeton's departure from the truth, but greatly inspired by Graham's ability through the power of the Holy Spirit to live by simple faith.

"Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see." Hebrews 11:1

(Click the book image in sidebar for more details.)

New Orleans slideshow

2010-04-09T08:57:00.002-04:00

(You might want to read "What I Learned in New Orleans..." first so as to understand the pictures.)

What I Learned While in New Orleans...

2010-04-08T23:11:00.007-04:00

1. It takes a LONG time to drive to New Orleans from South Carolina. Especially while riding on a church bus with 4 teenage girls and 22 teenage boys!

2. Thanks to those boys on the bus, I know the words to "Ice Ice Baby" and "Party in the USA".

3. The city of Norco, LA is based around the New Orleans Refinery Company.

4. There are many wonderful people in Norco including the Smith family and Emily.

5. I am a grown up able to chaperone four wonderful teenage girls far from their families and far from mine.

6. The French Quarter has that special charm you've heard about but in the early afternoon, there's really nothing to worry about (especially when walking in a group of 15).

7. When called upon to give a testimony or present the gospel, the teen boys of my church are amazing.

8. Walking house to house with three teenage boys in a neighborhood I couldn't find again hanging info packets on front doors inviting people to Easter Sunday service at FBC Norce is a fabulous way to spend a few hours.

9. I passed many thousands of people and wondered if they know Jesus. Seeing many living blatantly for worldly desires, I was quick to judge but then quick to repent and lay them before His feet in prayer. I stopped to think that even though some in New Orleans might look extravagantly outrageous, Jesus still longs for them to know Him.

10. Stepping out in faith and leaving behind everything (just for a few days!) that I thought meant security did bring me to a place of recognizing that Jesus should be my sole sustainer and provider. Matthew, Philip and Braewyn are definitely blessings in my life, but Jesus is the center.

(A slideshow of our trip is in the works. Blogger wasn't cooperating tonight in the uploading process.)

Another funny song...

2010-04-05T22:36:00.003-04:00

I need to make time before 10:30pm to post about my trip to New Orleans. If I'm your Facebook friend, you can look at my album there. If not, please know the post is coming. Anyway, to post something in the meantime and to maybe give you a laugh, here's my favorite video from today's search for "Itsy Bitsy Spider" on YouTube. That was Philip's song selection today from our 4-K curriculum. The "song" itself is funny, but watch to the end because the "credits" crack me up!!! Sorry for the HUGE spider on my blog. Just quickly click the arrow and the video starts. There are mostly cartoon spiders in the video. I'm making myself crinch looking at that spider!

New Blog on the Sidebar

2010-03-22T22:43:00.002-04:00

The blog of my good friend Bethany is now on my sidebar, Never A Dull Moment. She and her sweet hubby Bert are the proud parents of 3 boys and a new baby girl. I enjoy peeking into their homeschool life and viewing the recaps of family trips. Welcome to my blog, Bethany!!

Is It Really Spring?

2010-03-22T22:23:00.005-04:00

Well, it's the second day of spring and we were freezing outside today -- around 45 degrees! I had wanted to post a few of my snow pictures on the last day of winter before I thought it would begin to get warmer. Oh well, it's cold again!! After trying to understand Picasa in hopes of making some cool collages (I need help, Lori and Jessie!) and realizing only a few photos were worth sharing, here are my favorite shots from our three blizzards of 2009-2010.

Mission Trip this weekend...

2010-03-22T14:58:00.003-04:00

Thanks Bethany for being curious because I hadn't thought about getting back on here today. Anyway, yes I'm heading to New Orleans this Friday with about 20 members of our church. It's a youth mission trip to assist a church there at which one of our former youth members works. We'll be driving down on Friday (I think it takes around 10 hours!!). Saturday morning and afternoon will be spent giving out church info packets inviting local families to their Easter service the next weekend. Saturday evening, we'll be hosting a youth party for the teens of that church. We'll worship with that church on Sunday morning, including our whole group singing "God of This City". Sunday afternoon, we'll be visiting the French Quarter for some shopping and Louisiana culture. KidFuge (a type of Vacation Bible School really charged up on caffeine and led by our teens) will hit New Orleans on Monday from 9am to 3pm. Monday night, we'll be visiting our youth pastor's favorite NO restaurant for some authentic Cajun food. The trip wraps up with us traveling home on Tuesday. Sounds like a packed schedule, but I'm excited!

Seems like short notice but I just signed onto the trip this past Wednesday. Matthew and I attended two week long out-of-state trips with the youth before having Philip. Then we went to Myrtle Beach with them when Philip was 18-months-old. Since then I haven't gone on any major trips. At first, I tried to talk Matthew into attending too but he said for me to go and he'd stay home with our kids. My mom will watch them on Friday and then fortunately Ruth Ann will be on Spring Break next Monday and Tuesday and will watch them then. It's really a great opportunity and came at the perfect time.

Our pastor challenged the entire church to fast (give up something you value in order to spend more time thinking about the Lord) during the month of March in preparation for Easter. I've chosen to fast all liquids other than water. It's been a great chance to focus on how Jesus is the living water (John chapter 4) and to realize He is really all I need and on Him I should depend completely. I've often felt my protection came from Matthew and purpose was in raising Philip and Braewyn. obviously I love my husband and children dearly. However after hearing Anne Graham Lotz, the daughter of Billy Graham, speak on Saturday and now preparing to leave town on Friday for New Orleans, I am convinced that my reason for living is to bring glory to Christ through my life. I can't wait to share the recap of my trip when I get home!

New Orleans, here I come!

2010-03-21T23:23:00.001-04:00

I'll try to write more soon, but the title gives you the general idea.

My Brush With Lupus

2010-03-11T21:23:00.003-05:00

My mom noticed a mole on my arm that looked suspicious to her and since I agreed, I scheduled an appointment with a dermatologist. My appointment was last Monday, March 1st. The dermatologist looked at the mole and said she didn't think it looked too bad but would take it off just in case. Next I asked her about some red spots on my face which have been there for a few years. She studied my face for a few seconds and said it looked like what is called a butterfly rash: redness in a symmetrical pattern sweeping over both cheeks and up to your temples. She asked if I had anyone in my family with auto-immune disorders. I told her I have an aunt with lupus. She said, "Yes, that's the one I was thinking of as the butterfly rash is a symptom of lupus." She suggested blood be drawn to test me for lupus. She also said the ANA test was not conclusive but would give us a base line to chart from in case I developed other symptoms. I agreed and left with a bandaid on my arm and a lot of questions in my head. I didn't want to tell our parents to keep them from worrying, especially my mom as worry aggravates her system, but of course told Matthew, a friend from church who's husband has lupus, and over the next four days several friends who I knew would pray.

On Friday, I called the dermatologist's office but the bloodwork had not come back. More waiting and wondering. On Saturday, I did tell our parents because I didn't want them to receive questions from friends at church and not have any idea what was going on.

I called again on Monday, March 8th, and spoke with a nurse. She said the report was back and it said "POSITIVE". I asked her if there was a number associated with that and she said no. Although the dermatologist was fairly friendly herself, I was feeling put out with the office after having to call twice to receive my test result and then not to have received any type of explanation. My friend Ann earnestly encouraged me to talk to my family doctor about this test result and whatever follow-up would be suggested.

The appointment with my family doctor yesterday was truly an answer to prayer. By this point, I was more frustrated at the medical community (I had to drive back to the dermatologist's office to pick up my lab report because they said if I wanted it faxed over to my doc I'd still have to come and sign for it to be done!) than I was upset with the idea of having lupus. I prayed for my doctor to have wisdom which would provide me with clarity of the situation.

Dr. Gibson (whom I think highly of because he is originally from South Africa and extremely straight-forward and blunt about things which differs from the American political correctness which I can't stand) first asked if I had any other symptoms. I said I am tired a lot. That alone doesn't even convince me because it came about with the arrival of the kids and is a common "symptom" with ALL moms. He gave me the answer I was looking for based on reading the numbers on my lab report which WERE THERE right beside the word, "POSITIVE". It read 1:80. He explained that states the level of antibodies in your body. If it is 1:160 or higher, more tests would definitely be recommended. However 1:40 to 1:160 (these are ratios I'm assuming) is considered the "gray zone". Based on info he pulled up on his computer, Dr. Gibson said 1:80 means I have a 1 in 5 chance of actually having or developing lupus. That I am fine with as it's much more comforting than being told I am officially diagnosed with it. He said there is a more definite test which I could take, could possibly test positive and then be asked if I'd like to begin taking chemotherapy formula drugs for no other symptoms than a butterfly rash. Well, that makes total sense to me, and my answer is "No, thank you!".

We'll see what comes to my body in years down the road. Today, I am healthy and praising my God! I thank Him for providing me with that peace that surpasses all understanding (Philippians 4:6-7). Not once during the last week did I get upset thinking about what having lupus would mean. I thought about the strength I would need to push through hard days of feeling awful to take care of Philip and Braewyn and it made me love them all the more. It made me think of how Matthew might have to take care of things I don't mind doing for our family, and seeing his subtle, quiet reservation while not knowing the result made me love him more. I have found a deeper, more rich dependence on Jesus knowing that anything that comes my way will not be dealt with by me alone. His power will always be made perfect in my weakness (2 Corithians 12:9) and by leaning on Him, He will always direct my path through life (Proverbs 3:5-6). For this, I am thankful.

My Big Little Guy

2010-02-28T20:43:00.003-05:00

Philip has now been five for a whole month. It seems we've really entered into the next level of childhood. For his birthday, he received money from my grandparents and his aunts and uncles. We headed out to Target in search of some legos. He spotted the Star Wars sets and we thought, "Too many pieces!" After a few minutes of deliberation, we said ok to him purchasing the Tie Fighter set and decided he could put it together with Matthew the next night when he got home from work. Well, it was too much of a temptation and Philip put the whole thing together HIMSELF while Matthew was at work! Wow, notice the age suggestion on the box. We might have a future engineer or architect on our hands.

After asking Philip what kind of cake he wanted, here's my best attempt at a Lego cake! Not the prettiest but he thought it was great. Note to self: never ice a dark chocolate cake with light-colored icing.

Time's just a' slipping away...

2010-02-22T15:21:00.002-05:00

So many things to post about and yet I can't find the time to devote to it. The last few weeks have been fun yet so busy. The last weekend of January brought a snow / ice storm which made for great sledding and plenty of family time around our fireplace! The following weekend, we took a trip to Greenville to visit a new children's museum. We were celebrating Philip's birthday since he was sick the weekend of his actual birthday. On Friday, Feb. 12, we attended our first LINK event. LINK is a local home school support group. They were having a Valentine's party at a nearby church. It was great making connections with other home school parents and plus the kids decorated lunch bags and brought home about 40 Valentines each!! That afternoon and night brought in a beautiful 5 inches of fluffy snow. Another great day of staying home together as a family and building a snowman bigger than Matthew! To finish the weekend, I left Sunday morning with Philip, Braewyn and my mom for a week-long vacation to visit family. We drove to Georgia to see her parents and sisters and then on to Florida to visit my grandma and aunt on my dad's side. It was great seeing loved ones again after so long but the drive also was so long! Home on Friday night only to have another action-packed Saturday with Philip's basketball game and a short drive to Grandma Mary's town for a quadruple birthday party! I think the youngest of the bunch was 62! Fun times. Pictures to come.

And meanwhile in my spare time... Matthew and I have decided to homeschool Philip in the fall for Kindergarten. I'm so thrilled knowing that all the dedication and habit-building struggles of this year will pave the way for a greater next year. A friend recommended that I begin researching the philosophies of education (a topic I didn't even know existed last year) and it has been so refreshing and inspiring. There is classical education which focuses mainly on memorization and developing one's mind (including studying the ancient languages of Latin and Greek). Then there's the method based on an English school teacher named Charlotte Mason. She felt children learn best through hands-on education including exploring outdoors with a Nature Journal and having books read to them only then to narrate back what they have understood. It's just fascinating me so much as I have never attended one education class in my life. I am grateful and daily reaffirmed by Jesus that this should be our current path. He continues to let things fall perfectly in place. For instance, this month's manners emphasis in our K-4 material has been on caring for the family pet. Yes, I read the kids a few books about pets and asked them what they thought however there wasn't a real-life interaction. Last week we spent Tuesday through Thursday with my Grandma Allen and Aunt Maureen in Florida. Grandma has a little dog named Buddy which Philip and Braewyn enjoyed tremendously. Jesus provided the kids with a hands-on opportunity to experience caring for a pet! Maybe that seems trivial to some but I just smile!

Daddy's name is...

2010-02-03T22:38:00.003-05:00

I was talking with Braewyn about some friends of ours. She asked what the kids' mom and dad's names were. I told her and then asked Braewyn the following.

Mommy: What is Braewyn's Daddy's name?

Braewyn: Daddy Faith Brooks

Mommy: What is Braewyn's Mommy's name?

Braewyn: Mommy Faith Brooks

Mommy: What is Braewyn's Bubba's name?

Braewyn: Philip Faith Brooks

In case you didn't know, her middle name is Faith!

Almost suckered!

2010-02-01T14:08:00.004-05:00

Please agree with me when I saw we all have our moments of studipity. Well, the phone rang a while ago and the caller ID read a (321) number and Not Available. That means telemarketer in my mind but since they had called a couple of times before when I didn't answer, I did answer this time planning to say, "No thanks" and end the calls. Well, a very friendly guy is on the phone telling me he's with Miller Plant Inc. and asks if I have a septic tank. I say yes and he proceeds to tell me about their great product which not only breaks down the waste better than the store products but also keeps the runoff pipes free from buildup. I know nothing about septic tanks other than the smell of one being pumped when I was 7 or 8. He says the Dept. of Agriculture uses this product and it's the best thing available. Blah blah blah. Well, yes, I should have said what I planned to, "No thanks" but then he snagged me with the honesty card. "We are refreshingly old-fashioned and actually work on the honor system. We'll send you the product free of charge and you can return it in 30 days if not satisfied. Only 2% of our products are ever returned!" I was suckered (for the moment) and said ok.

After hanging up the phone, I typed in Miller Plant Inc. on the web. SCAM!!! I found a website which identified who actually calls from unknown numbers and MANY people have received calls from "Miller Plant" offering supposed septic tank products. I saw a link to a Ripoff Report article with this as it's title, "Miller-Plante & Jerry Plante ripoff employs convicted felons and drug addicts to sell bogus septic helper". Great, I might be helping to put money in a druggie's pocket.

Thankfully, the man on the phone said someone from the shipping department would call back to verify the order. The phone did ring again about 10 minutes ago. Lo and behold, the caller ID read "Miller Plant"! A woman started in with her "speech" about verifying my address and I kindly said "I've decided not to order the product." She surprisingly asked why and I said we will continue to use the store brand. She said something about the quality level and I said, "Actually I don't think you are an actual company." She gasped and said, "We've been in business since 1982, of course we are a real company." I then said, "There is no website online and other accounts of it not being a real company." She said, "You can go to millerplant.net and maybe order online." I said, "Ok" and hung up.

Guess what? When you type in "millerplant.net", you find, Internet Explorer cannot display the webpage!!

Yes, I am embarrassed by my over trusting nature, but I am appalled by people who try to swindle others. The Ripoff Report article was from 2004, that's SIX YEARS these losers have been running this Miller Plant thing. It's one thing to be a thief and just break into someone's car. Argh, but another to sweet talk people out of their money. I'll quit now because I'm beginning to feel like an ad warning the elderly against sweepstakes scams. I wasn't even getting tricked into the possibility of millions, but simply a clean septic tank. That's sad! I pray they don't send anything.

Two Great Outtings

2010-01-29T16:23:00.002-05:00

My preface will be that Braewyn's eyes look great so I'm praying the pink eye is gone for good and Philip seems to be back to his old self so the amoxicillin must be doing its thing. Yeah for a healthy house!

Now, the real reason for this post...

Outing No. 1: Ingles grocery store

Last night Braewyn and I roamed the aisles of our local grocery store while Matthew coached Philip's basketball practice. The store was having triple coupon week so I had BIG plans. My entire married life, I've always thought it to be a good idea to have a family meal menu. And that's exactly what I've always had, just an idea until last night. With the enticement of tripling my coupon value, I scanned through 4 weeks of newspaper coupons, clipping anything we normally used or a coupon $0.50 or less which might make for a good meal. I listed out three weeks of meals based on the coupons I found and felt very accomplished. Braewyn had slept for 2 1/2 hours yesterday afternoon so she made for a very sweet, funny, attention-grabbing (from other shoppers, not me) little shopping partner. To save you any more details (because yes, it was just me shopping for groceries), I'll give you the exciting part.
Total purchase price before discount: $266.09
Price paid after discount: $204.07
Total savings (coupons and store discounts): $62.02!!!

So exciting to save that much and to come home with stuff for real meals instead of just snack food! Yeah!

Outing No. 2: Grandma's Elementary School

With Matthew and I still discussing the decision between home school and public school for Philip next year, I thought it might be helpful to visit a public school kindergarten class. We are blessed to have our own personal contact, Ruth Ann! She has been a kindergarten assistant for 13 years! I asked her when would be a good time to come and she said 8am is when the kids are having their main teaching time with Alison, her lead teacher. To be somewhere at 8am for a stay-at-home mom whose children have not reached school age is a stretch but today it was worth it.

Miraculously, we did arrive at 8am. We observed math lessons, centers time, calendar time, story time, lunch time, and walked with the class to music time. We left the school at 12:10pm but it had been such a full morning I felt like it should be at least 2:30pm! Philip really enjoyed the experience and even answered one of Ruth Ann's questions during calendar time. However, I think he warmed up a tad too much and was called down for running in the hall... by Mommy and Grandma! Braewyn was quite shy for the first hour or so but opened up at centers time. She was quite the homemaker in the housekeeping center. So much so that when Ruth Ann began calendar time, Braewyn continued cleaning much of the room floor (around the centers, not near the children gathered on the floor) with a small broom and dust pan. She didn't miss many scraps of paper no matter how small.

All in all, our field trip to school (yes, we learned "T" this week at home and so our field trip was to visit a Teacher!) was very beneficial. I know that every teacher is different and we probably did witness the best (I'd say that's factual as Alison was awarded "District 2 Teacher of the Year" last year!), today's visit did at least affirm that if we decide to home school, it will not be for the sole reason of keeping our children out of public school. Many friends' children go to that school and others in town and are doing just great. I want to home school (if we choose that route) in order to raise Philip (and Braewyn down the road) to be a godly young man to the best of my ability. Although public school would do a fine job of educating him academically and even socially, it would lack Christ-centered, Scripturally-based learning. Home schooling would also allow Philip and Braewyn more time together allowing for a tighter family dynamic. I feel absolutely blessed by the Lord to be able to stay home with them and to have been given by Him the desire and ability (only through Jesus' strength in me!) to home school Philip this year. I do hope for it to continue.

In the Sick House

2010-01-27T20:54:00.003-05:00

Well, Matthew's had a deep cough for about a month. He started taking antibiotics this week and I haven't heard him cough much.

Braewyn came down with pink eye a week ago from last Saturday. She let us put the drops in like a trooper. However I failed to wash her sheets and favorite blanket, "Lankie", and so the crusty eyes were back this past Sunday. Thankfully, there are enough drops for round 2.

Philip said his stomach hurt a little during his birthday dinner on Friday. Saturday morning he woke up feeling very hot. By noon, his temp was 102 F, and that afternoon it hit 103 F. I didn't give him any Tylenol as he said he didn't feel that bad so I hoped it would burn off a virus or whatever he had. Sunday he awoke with a temp of 98.6 F so I assumed he had had a 24-hour bug like I had earlier last week. We took the kids to Sunday School (Philip to Daddy's senior high boys' class and Braewyn to my senior high girls' class) and morning worship to keep them from infecting the other kids in the nursery hall. Monday and Tuesday, Philip seemed ok but a tad less energetic than normal. This morning, I was trying to decide whether he was feeling well enough to meet some friends at Chick-Fil-A for a playdate. I then received a call from a friend who was also going to Chick-Fil-A to say her son had strep throat. This made me wonder if I should call Philip's pediatrician to find out if he should stay away from other kids due to his symptoms. After telling a nurse about his fever over the weekend, she told me to bring him in since he had been sick for 5 days. What do you know, Philip has strep throat too! I hope he didn't give it to his friend, but maybe so. Now he's on antibiotics too. We'll see if all four of us will be healthy at the same time before winter is over.

Unfaithful

2010-01-25T23:28:00.004-05:00

I've been unfaithful to my first love. I was swept up by the glitz and glamour provided by the fast pace of another. Immediate gratification took me in and sold me for all I was worth. I want you to know, my dear Blogger family and friends, I'm sorry for neglecting you while I was enticed by the immensity of the Facebook world!

Joking aside, I do like Facebook as it's a quick way to keep touch with people you rarely see or send a short message to someone I passed at church and forgot to mention something. However, I believe reviewing the daily happenings of 200+ friends (er, acquaintances!) and their who-knows-how-many comments from people I've never heard of has begun to slowly errode my brain and caused early onset Alzheimer's (sorry, if anyone has a family member really suffering from that). I'm trying to keep track of where I need to be on a daily basis, which supplies I need to gather for Philip's school lessons each day, if I've washed our underwear sometime this week and IT'S ALL BEING CROWDED OUT BY RANDOMNESS WHICH DOESN'T MATTER AT THE END OF THE DAY!!!

Therefore, I decided (after momentarily thinking I would delete my whole Facebook account but then reconsidering) to only check Facebook on Saturdays. I still receive emails from Facebook which include messages specifically to me from my actual friends and any comments people make about my daily (or weekly now that I'll only be checking in on Saturday) status. This will alleviate my wasting countless hours virtually snooping and allow more time and concentration toward adding posts to Blogger for those of you who really matter to me.

Whew, I feel better already! Here are a few of the cutest moments from recent weeks.

Happy Birthday, Sweet Munchkin!

2010-01-22T10:30:00.006-05:00

Five years ago today, I was laying in a hospital bed having just received an epidural and feeling pretty good. About 4 hours later, a nurse placed in my hands something that would change my life forever. Matthew and I were thrilled (albeit he a little more relaxed and I a little more "what do I do with him?") to welcome Philip Walker Brooks to the world.

Wow, how time flies! Here's a look back on our sweet Philip through the years.

1-day-old Philip

1-year-old Philip

2-year-old Philip

3-year-old Philip

4-year-old Philip

5-year-old Philip! We love you so much and cannot wait to see what plans God has in store for you.

My Glimpse of Christmas

2010-01-15T03:55:00.006-05:00

It's 2010, but I'm already looking back to 2009... for just a moment. I look forward to what all this year will hold, but am needing to close out the last year first. Here are my favorite moments.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

"You the Braewyn"

2010-01-06T11:18:00.003-05:00

Braewyn is now into role playing, i.e. chef at her new kitchen, mommy with her baby dolls, and exchanging roles with me. She's now sitting at the kitchen table playing with play dough. She's cutting a piece of purple playdough with a plastic knife. She looks at me and says, "I'm making your lunch. I need to be careful, right Braewyn?"

Me: "Yes, Braewyn, be careful."

Braewyn: "No, I'm the mommy. You're the Braewyn."

Me: "Ok, mommy."

Lori's Christmas Recap

2010-01-03T13:53:00.002-05:00

Make video montages at www.OneTrueMedia.com

I plan on blogging this afternoon, but in the meantime, here's a great recap of our Christmas week from my sister-in-law Lori's perspective! She did a great job putting this video together. Thanks, Lori! Miss you guys already. (Click on the green circle in the middle of the video to begin.)

Funny Video of the Week

2009-12-17T19:19:00.003-05:00

Each week in our K-4 curriculum, there is a new song to learn. It either has to do with the letter of the week or our physical movement skill. This week Philip was to learn how to skip (which he did and I found to be harder to explain than I thought). Therefore the song selection was "Skip to My Lou". For about six weeks now, we've been going to YouTube, searching for the week's song, and enjoying a wide variety of interpretations. I should have been posting my favorites all along because I've been laughing out loud watching at least one of them each week.

Finally thought of the idea of sharing the joy. Here's my favorite YouTube video for "Skip to My Lou"!!

Christmas Encounter

2009-12-14T22:25:00.001-05:00

Here's the cast photo from our church Christmas program. We had a lot of fun but it was a lot of hard work too. Kind of made up for not being in the high school musical back in the day. Plus this time I got to sing about Jesus!

More 25 Days of Christmas

2009-12-12T22:46:00.004-05:00

And here we go with the rest of week 2...

December 8

Today's school craft called for decorating angels on paper plates. The kids enjoyed "painting" the angels with glitter glue. Very festive!

Philip also decided that our Little People nativity set should be placed under our tree.

That evening Matthew and I hit four stores in four hours and our Christmas shopping is complete. It was great as there were NO lines in any store probably due to it being a very cold, rainy night. Hey, we had a great time together and I am SO EXCITED for Christmas morning!

December 9

We spent a few hours outside this morning. It was miserably cold but the kids played in the driveway with ride-on toys and I hung Christmas lights on the front porch roof. Braewyn decided our Christmas reindeer could be a ride-on toy for Baby Green (yeah, I'm not really creative with the baby names). I put the lights on as I had on the other house porch and they just didn't look quite right. Quite off centered and not quite done.

Later in the day Philip began coloring his Poptarts box gingerbread house. I found the gingerbread flavored Poptarts to be my new favorite flavor. Probably should go buy a few more boxes before they are discontinued with the end of the holiday season. I finished the day with our final choir practice for "Christmas Encounter". We ran through it twice and everyone felt fairly comfortable.

December 10

Thursday night, we watched "Prep & Landing" together as a family. It was on Tuesday night so we taped it as that was our shopping night. Good thing too because we love it. I was skeptical as the commercials announced it as Disney's newest holiday special meaning to me, all commercialism and nothing traditional. Well, it was strictly Santa and no baby Jesus, but it was a spy movie for kids! The little elves arrive at the house before Santa and scope it out before hand. Very cute references to "The Night Before Christmas" story and teaches a great lesson: hard work is more important than notoriety.

December 11

I decided to venture back outside and rework the Christmas lights. Now they hang uniformly around the doorway of the porch and to either side. Not too flashy but very nice. Philip finished his Poptarts gingerbread house which is also very nice! At lunchtime, we watched "A Charlie Brown Christmas" which was a great way to finish our school week. This week's story had been Luke 2:8-20, the passage Linus recites in the show to remind Charlie what Christmas is really about. Thank you, Linus! And next we watched "Prep & Landing" again.

December 12

Tonight was the first presentation of our church choir's program, "Christmas Encounter". It seemed to go very well although I'm so glad to have the chance to do it again tomorrow -- twice! Tonight I had a bad case of stagefright prior to walking into the sanctuary. The first song was pretty much garbled up but I eased into my pretend mall browsing after that. The last few songs were very worshipful and I pray anyone in the building who didn't know Jesus personally felt His love at that moment. We returned home tonight to watch "Prep & Landing" for a third time! Good night.

25 Days of Christmas

2009-12-07T13:23:00.006-05:00

My friend Jessie mentioned in her blog about keeping a running list of her family's Christmas activities this month. I felt a little healthy competition rising up in me to see if I could keep up (and maybe I'll encourage you, Jessie, to keep going with yours too!). Well, here goes...

December 1
I attended MOPS in the morning. Our speaker discussed many fun ideas to do with your family during the Christmas season. She handed out a special menu to accompany "The Twelve Days of Christmas" song. I might try it. We also attended the Dickens Christmas festival in our town. I was very much looking forward to it, but likewise it didn't seem to keep our family's attention. We did stay from 6:15pm until 8:10pm outside in the cold because I was determined to stay for the tree lighting. The kids weren't that thrilled but were overall good sports. We ducked into a dance attire store where Philip and Braewyn each snagged a free cookie while I daydreamed about the day Braewyn might take dance lessons and wear the cute outfits. I did get a Christmas card photo which I'll post here after sending my cards out (got to keep my card recipients in suspense!).

December 2
This week's Bible story in Philip's school curriculum was Matthew 2:2-10, the arrival of the wisemen to worship baby Jesus. We discussed how far they had walked (a few years time) and how we're so glad we don't have to walk to church or the store (probably less than 5 miles which may have been a daily task in Jesus' day). That evening I attended choir practice which lasted from 6:00-8:00pm. Our Christmas program is this coming weekend (Dec. 12 @ 6:00pm, Dec. 13 @ 9:00am and 11:00am!! You should come if you live in town or want to visit.) so we're getting all the last minute kinks out.

December 3
I'm drawing a blank as to what we did Christmas-related on Thursday. Matthew and I attended a Gideon dinner while the kids did watch a Christmas movie with Nana and Papa. Maybe that counts.

December 4
Philip and I got all the Christmas decoration boxes down from the attic. When Braewyn woke up from her nap, I decided to make Christmas cookies with them. We had a great time but I'm sure that hosting a children's cooking class is not one of my spiritual gifts. We were moments away from covering the entire kitchen in flour but things turned out for the best.

That evening we bought our Christmas tree which is beautiful but looks small to me. Our last house had a vaulted ceiling so we could buy an 8 foot tree. This one is about 6 1/2 feet. Still beautiful and casts cool shadows on the wall from the LED lights on it.

December 5
I snuck away to the mall by myself! The mall commotion really doesn't bother me and especially not if I'm by myself going my own pace. I bought new glasses as my prescription has changed (for the better!) and picked up a few surprises for a few of the people in my house. Can't wait until Christmas morning... I know what Santa's bringing one special little girl! That evening we decorated the tree. I forgot that you have to teach someone how to put ornaments on the branches. Braewyn really didn't get it and so was happy just passing them to me to put on. I tried several times to have her do it, but she wasn't interested.

December 6
Last night we attended our church's children's Christmas program. It was very cute, but I had one child who sat and watched attentively and one child who pranced around in the aisle and crawled under the pews. Any takers on which was which? :)

December 7
Today in our school lessons, Philip and I read Luke 2:8-20, the story of the angels appearing to the shepherds. His memory verse for December is "Glory to God in the highest," Luke 2:14, so it was nice to read the surrounding passage. Tonight I again attended choir practice from 6:20-8:20pm. I think we're getting a little closer to being ready for "opening night". No matter what happens, I pray God is glorified!!

More Pics

2009-12-06T22:05:00.003-05:00

Here's the recap of our awesome day at the State Fair. It's our second year running and this year was a tad more fun since Braewyn could really enjoy things also this time. Thank you again, Elise and Arden, for letting us "crash" your big family day at the fair. It worked out to be a cool field trip as we had just finished our "F" week in school. "F" is for Fair!!!

Our first Thanksgiving in our new house was likewise a wonderful day. Why not christen a house by inviting 15 people over for your first gathering? They were all beloved family members who love us just the same and plus it gave me a little fuel to get the house in order. Everyone brought an item to add to the menu, Matthew fried the turkey to a yummy crispiness, and the Foards (Matthew's great aunt's family) brought their cornhole set which provided great outside activity. So much fun in fact that Matthew's currently building one for us in the garage! Yeah, maybe I'll actually improve my cornhole skills.

Long time in coming

2009-11-30T08:20:00.002-05:00

I finally decided to MAKE time to post something again on Blogger. Facebook has been easier to update recently so that's where I've been. Anyhow, I've really wanted to put photos of our new house on here since we've gotten to a place of feeling settled. In the days to come, I'll upload photos from our day at the state fair, Halloween, Thanksgiving and our homeschool activities. It will just be a time of playing catch up before Christmas is upon me.

I do thank the Lord daily for our new house ("Now it's just regular house because we've been here a while," Philip reminds me.) and look forward to sharing it with friends and family for years to come.

New book for the nightstand

2009-11-02T15:58:00.005-05:00

I finally finished "One Tuesday Morning" which was a great book. Karen Kingsbury is truly as good a writer as I've heard people make her out to be. The book gave me insight into how September 11 would've affected the families of those New York City firefighters. Sad but so heroic. Also in the book's narrative you see how someone who has no personal faith in God comes to know Him as her own Lord and Savior. Great reminder for a girl who grew up in church of how God really can work in a person's heart and change their life.

Anyhow, on the the new book. After a few weeks of struggles with the kids, I was happy to find, "Have A New Kid By Friday" by Kevin Leman as I was opening up the boxes labeled "Books". I bought it a year ago but never got around to reading it. Now seems to be a great time!

I just read the introduction and chapter one, simply titled "Monday". It lays the groundwork by saying if you believe you should have a healthy level of authority over your children, this book is for you. I agree with that statement and am excited to begin implementing Leman's plan of action after finishing the book. The first guidelines he gives is the reaction I should give when confronted by my child (i.e. a temper tantrum, asking for something I know they don't need, etc.):

1. Say it one time (i.e. You don't need that; You're not having candy before breakfast.).

2. Turn your back (makes the child realize they no longer have your attention which is what they are after).

3. Walk away (Leman says do this even in public places because then the child no longer cares about winning the arguement but getting back in the safety of being near mom.).

I am already looking forward to seeing the results and I still have the Tuesday - Friday chapters to read. Click on the image of the book in my sidebar to link to it on Amazon.com.

A lot to say, a lot to do

2009-10-31T22:37:00.002-04:00

We've been very busy and so I've neglected to set aside time to post on the blog. We all feeled settled in emotionally at our new home. Unfortunately it's that "cluttered at-home" feeling which might be why it's feeling like home. I have to tell myself to take a deep breath and dig my heels in. With a lot of hard work, this home can get to an orderly, decorated state which we lived in while the last house was on the market. It doesn't have to be perfect like I kept that one but I would love to one day buy a nice dining room table and have a room to put it in. My parents helped me unload the last of the items we had stored in the storage unit. Almost all of it was deposited in our dining room to join the many other boxes sitting there until they are unpacked and contents find real homes. Pictures are soon to come as I think we've gotten a lot done in the four weeks we've been here.

In other news... Braewyn is daytime potty-trained!! After several weeks (ahem, months!) of giving it half-hearted attempts, a week ago she walked into the bonus room wearing a t-shirt and panties and I said, "We're going with panties from now on." I almost reversed back to diapers after she wet her pants standing on the front porch as we were leaving for Bible study last Thursday (a week ago). Matthew encouraged me to keep her in panties and stick with it. Thankfully we did and she had been doing great... when I remember to escort her to the bathroom every few hours. I think we had a great milestone today as we attended our church's Harvest Fest with her in panties and no accidents in her Pooh Bear suit! On the way driving there, she said, "Need to go pee pee." We asked her to stay dry and she did all the way there, walking across the street, around the building, getting a few pieces of candy, signing in at the registration table and then heading to the bathroom!! Yeah, Braewyn!! I think the key was buying super cute Disney princess panties which she loves.

Philip is doing so well with his school work. Yes, it still takes a lot of work to get him motivated to start (especially after a few tv shows; I know, those mornings I'm shooting myself in the foot!) and not play with toys which are still floating around the disorganized bonus room floor. I'm so excited to look for an old book case at Goodwill and buy canvas totes to store all the toys. He has not only gotten super at writing his letters but is now asking me how to spell words which he then writes. And his drawings! I need to take pictures of his drawings to post as any piece of paper he gets his hands on, he'll cover the back with adorable pics of trees, animals and even his own rendition of The Fantastic Four which are his newest favorite super heroes.

We did have a great Halloween with attending Harvest Fest as I mentioned (games, rides, chili cheese fries!!), resting at home for a few hours, and then Trick-or-Treating on our street. We met about half of our neighbors. I was so excited! They all seem very nice. There's even a family with three kids who are homeschooling too. We hope to go to the park together sometime. After finishing collecting candy, we left our light on to provide some for other trick-or-treaters. I smiled every time the doorbell would ring and Philip would cry out, "We have customers!" So precious.

Bittersweet

2009-10-14T22:26:00.003-04:00

Today my dear sweet 95-year-old friend Mrs. Cordie Hawkins passed away. I was heartbroken the moment Matthew told me as I've not seen her in a month. But in the same moment I rejoiced! Mrs. Cordie has loved Jesus for most of her life and now she is in His presence. Also she is free from her earthly body and all it's ailments. And also she is now reunited with her husband, her parents and three of her children who passed away before her. I cherished my friendship with Mrs. Cordie as our conversations allowed me to see things from her perspective, one that did not involve the fast-paced, materialism-driven culture in which I live.

Mrs. Cordie was born in North Carolina and then moved to this area as a girl. She married and had nine children, six boys and three girls. They had a farm and built a house on that land in the 1960's. She lived in that same home until her death. I have been blessed to get to know all six of her still living children who all live nearby. I don't know how often I will see them from now on as it was at Mrs. Cordie's home I ran into them.

After telling Philip that Mrs. Cordie has died and now is in heaven, I asked him if he was sad. He said, "No, I'm not sad. Don't you remember that we're going to heaven too and we'll see her there!" It made my heart soar.

I do praise God for that hope. It's not a hope like "I hope it doesn't rain tomorrow." But instead a hope to come of what has already been promised to me.

"Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for He who promised is faithful." Hebrews 10:23

"Brothers, we do not want you to be ignorant about those who fall asleep, or to grieve like the rest of men, who have no hope. We believe that Jesus died and rose again and so we believe that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in Him." 1 Thessalonians 4:13-14

Here is Mrs. Cordie with Philip and Braewyn.

I love you, Mrs. Cordie. I'll see you soon!!