Independence Day

I took this picture of Elijah this afternoon. We had great services today at my parents church. I always enjoy hearing my Dad preach. He preached a really good Independence Day message. He preached on 1 Samuel 8:1-22. He talked about how people give up their God given freedoms so quickly. It was very good and very pertinent to our world today.

Friday night, I took this second picture of the older four children sleeping at Memaw and Daddy Jim's house. I had a hard time getting Jonathan to settle down, but when he did this is how they turned out.

We went to the Canton Trade Days on Saturday. There was a lady there that was a blessing to me. All five of my kids and I had gone a separate path from my parents. I was buying toys for the kids when Elijah started crying in his stroller. I knew he was hungry, and was trying to hurry the others along so that I could take care of him.

It was at this point that a lady in another booth came over and asked him what was wrong. I explained to her that he was hungry and I was about to feed him as soon as the kids were done. She left for a second and then asked me if I breastfeed. Then she offered a chair she had behind her booth where I could feed him beside a fan. I gave the kids each a dollar and she offered to take them over to a booth where they could buy themselves something to drink. When she came back she told me she had been one of five children herself and knew how nice it was to have someone offer help. I was very impressed and silently prayed that God would bless her.

"And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me." Matthew 25:40

Why?

Why did Scott agree to go to Thailand? And why am I driving 5 children to Michigan? These are two questions I will attempt to answer in this blog post. I am not only answering these questions for anyone who may express concern, I must answer them for myself as well.

If God ever did call our family to a foreign field in a long term capacity, we would have the same good questions to answer. How else would we know if it is God's will or not?

Thailand isn't a great vacation spot this time of year. It is hot and there won't be air conditioning in the village where he will be helping, and he may be served foods that we in America may not consider palatable. He may even wind up sleeping on a pallet on the ground. Why would he want to go? There was a need, and Scott was willing to help. God provided the money. Yes, it was our own personal money. We did not ask for financial help and no one sent any money to help him with this trip. I realize that we might could have used our money for a lot of other things. But we both felt that God wanted him to go help in Thailand. It is one thing to pray that someone else will go help when there is a need. And another to say, "Here am I, Lord, send me." We both knew it was God's will for him to go.

Our church where Scott is pastoring is small and there isn't anyone there that will mind us being gone a few weeks. They all know we will be back. The community we live in is so small that I doubt anyone will miss us much besides on Sunday. I've wondered in the past if the church members would have a problem with Scott being away 3 weeks this year. But since they do not have to pay him while he is gone, no one has voiced any opposition. In my mind this is one way our church is able to tithe to Missions, by allowing their pastor to go on a short term mission trip. He may not be preaching from a pulpit while there but he will be a witness to about 600 children and their teachers who may have never heard the Gospel of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Wouldn't it be wonderful if even a few were saved?

I miss him when he is gone, but the joy we will have in hearing what God has done when he returns will make up for the loneliness now. I can't fully explain it. In my mind I have often wondered in our nearly 14 years of marriage, why God had never called him to a foreign mission field on a long term basis. We are both willing to go, but I leave it up to God to do the calling. I feel God must call my husband to a field first and then my children and I would follow. But since that has not happened yet and may never in the future, maybe it is God's plan that we just go and help others. Mostly it will be Scott going, and maybe occassionally I will go, and maybe even our children as they get old enough to serve.

While Scott is gone, I may seem crazy for taking the kids, (one of whom is being potty trained, and another who I must stop and feed every couple of hours) all the way to Michigan, without Scott here to help. I must admit I do have a little bit of nervous anticipation about it. I am going to be leaving my comfort zone behind, but I think this is for the good of Scott's family. I have several reasons to believe God would have me do this. I have always felt that Scott's mother needs us to visit at least once a year. There have been times that we have missed a year. But we try to see them each year when it is possible. And maybe my own spritual growth will benefit from my forcing myself to leave my comfort zone occassionally.

Some of my reasons for going are: (1.) Scott's mother has never met Elijah, (2.) I want Scott's family to see that even when Scott's away, I still see our relationship as important. (3.) I want them to see that our family is committed to each other even when he is away.

I would really like to be with him right now to help in Thailand, but I also realize that Scott needs me here to help take care of our family. I would really like to go on a Mission trip as a family, but that would cost a lot more for a family of 7 to go than for one or two to go.

I also realize that maybe what seems clear to us, may not seem clear to everyone else. I value the insights of others, both for and against what God may or may not be doing in our lives. But I also know that God would want us to do what He wants not necessarily what we want. It may not even be comfortable for us to do what God has in store for us, but sometimes He still wants us to leave those comfort zones and do what he wants us to do anyway. Even if we meet some opposition along the way. Ultimately He will bless our efforts if not in this world then in the next.

I pray for Scott every night as he is waking up that God will help him during his day. Then in the morning I pray that God helps him sleep in whatever hot and humid condition he may find himself. Then I pray that God will help the days go by quickly, when He will bring us all back together as a family once more.

Isaiah 55
1Ho, every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters, and he that hath no money; come ye, buy, and eat; yea, come, buy wine and milk without money and without price.

2Wherefore do ye spend money for that which is not bread? and your labour for that which satisfieth not? hearken diligently unto me, and eat ye that which is good, and let your soul delight itself in fatness.

3Incline your ear, and come unto me: hear, and your soul shall live; and I will make an everlasting covenant with you, even the sure mercies of David.

4Behold, I have given him for a witness to the people, a leader and commander to the people.

5Behold, thou shalt call a nation that thou knowest not, and nations that knew not thee shall run unto thee because of the LORD thy God, and for the Holy One of Israel; for he hath glorified thee.

6Seek ye the LORD while he may be found, call ye upon him while he is near:

7Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts: and let him return unto the LORD, and he will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.

8For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the LORD.

9For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.

10For as the rain cometh down, and the snow from heaven, and returneth not thither, but watereth the earth, and maketh it bring forth and bud, that it may give seed to the sower, and bread to the eater:

11So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it.

12For ye shall go out with joy, and be led forth with peace: the mountains and the hills shall break forth before you into singing, and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands.

13Instead of the thorn shall come up the fir tree, and instead of the brier shall come up the myrtle tree: and it shall be to the LORD for a name, for an everlasting sign that shall not be cut off.

Growing up...

I got an e'mail from Scott saying that he arrived in Taipei, China. If I have the times figured that means he should be arriving in Bangkok right about the time I'm writing this. It would be really nice if he could e'mail me from there.

The kids and I finally arrived at my parents house this evening. It took us far longer than I had planned to get everything packed. I was hoping to get to visit my sister today but we left so late that I decided to go straight to my parents and visit my sister and her husband on another day.

Tomorrow we will be going to visit my grandparents in Henderson. I think we're planning to possibly visit Canton on Saturday on our way home from Henderson. I have never been to Canton for their trade days. I've always heard really neat things about it, and seen things people have bought from Canton but I've never experienced it personally. I'm looking forward to that. I think the kids will have fun with there as well.

Joshua's birthday was Sunday. Joshua wanted a chocolate cake with strawberry icing. But he didn't want it to look girly so I tried to decorate it so that it didn't look too pink. He was quite pleased with how it turned out. We had a party for him and another boy in our church whose birthday is 3 days after Joshua's. They both turned 12 this year.

After church Sunday we had hot dogs, chips, cake, and ice cream for anyone that would stay and celebrate the boys birthdays. They both had their own cake and candles. Then after eating we passed out water guns to all the children that came. There were 10 children present at church that day. A few of the children stayed and played with the water guns outside. He told us that evening that his birthday turned out a lot better than he thought it would. I'm glad he had fun. It's hard to believe he's already 12. It won't be long and he'll be driving.

Then to think that when Elijah turns 12, Joshua will be turning 24. I'm not even going to think about how old I'll be when Joshua turns 24.

I plan to cherish these years while my children are young. They grow up so fast.

"The Best Picture"

I printed this picture for Hannah this evening after we dropped Scott off at the airport. She had told me that she was worried about forgetting her Daddy's face. After I printed this picture for each of the children, Joshua announced that this was the best picture ever. I think because we all look like ourselves. I mean I just grabbed a cloth and through it over our bookshelf for a background, and then we set the camera on the desk. I was in a hurry for a picture that day and barely got everyone together I didn't even worry about what everyone was wearing or how our hair looked. So this is a picture of our family. The last professional picture we took did not have Elijah in it and Scott had a beard. This one has our complete family in it.

Scott will be flying for Thailand tonight. I miss him already. In fact as soon as I drove out of the airport I felt sad. I had hoped we would get to go inside with him but we wound up having to drop him off at the door. We let the kids out of the car to give him a hug before he went in. Then we went and parked in a free parking area at the airport. I had hoped Scott would be through all the lines by the time I was finished feeding Elijah but when I called him he was in a long line and had bad cell phone reception. I couldn't hear much of what he said but I knew he would call me if he had problems. I decided to go ahead and go. Scott did finally call me and told me that there were no problems. He made it through all the baggage checks and was sitting at his gate. It will be a long flight for him and I know he will be extremely tired from the jet lag.

So why is he going to Thailand? That is the question I know is on a lot of minds. In February or March I had seen that there was a team being formed of volunteers to go on a Short Term mission trip to Thailand to help the Missionaries there work in a village school teaching ESL and basketball. At the time I mentioned it to Scott but he had somehow dismissed it and wasn't considering going. I guess it was because he had just gotten back from a Mission trip to Paraguay and maybe he thought it was too soon for another trip. I'm not really sure.

Instead we planned to go to the ABA meeting which was held in West Virginia this summer and afterward we thought we would take the kids to see Washington D.C. and then take them to visit Scott's family in Michigan. Then in May the missionaries in Thailand sent out a plea for an Emergency back up team since the original team was considering backing out due to the political troubles in one of the major cities in Thailand. As soon as I saw the message about the need for another team, I felt like if I could go I would. I knew Scott was good at that kind of ministry and so as soon as I saw it, I approached Scott with the possibility of him going. He said he would have to pray about it. I think he was waiting to see if the other team really backed out or not. We thought he would have a week to decide. Then another plea came out after a few days telling that the team did back out and that this would be a major disappointment to the village. The missionary and his wife were still going to have something over there even if no one else came. I went to Scott and had him read the message. He wanted to go but couldn't see how we would have the money that soon.

We weren't expecting any money in until June and that would be too late. I asked Scott if he had checked the bank lately. He said he hadn't in a few days. I told him, "I'll call the bank and if the money is there maybe you are suppose to go." I called the bank and sure enough the money from our Tax refund had come in early. There was enough to pay for his airfare. I handed him the phone so he could hear the amount in the bank. He looked surprised and said, "Well, I guess I'm going to Thailand." I wasn't too surprised because God had done that kind of thing in our lives before. I remember early in our married life and in Scott's ministry we used to wish God would just show us a neon sign, when he wanted us to do something. But now I known he has always shown us His will. We just have to keep our eyes open to see it.

I'm glad that our church hasn't given Scott any problems with going on short term mission trips. I think it is good for him to go and use some of the talents he has for the Lord's work, that he is unable to use as much at home. Scott loves learning new languages. I have often wondered why he would want to learn a language that he may never use. He worked on Russian and Ukranian for our short term trip to Ukraine. He speaks Spanish well and was able to use it a lot in Paraguay. He has also been working on Chinese and Japanese lately. Then when he started preparing for going to Thailand, he started working on Thai as well. (He has admitted that Thai sometimes gave him a headache to learn.)

We went to some of the Asian markets in Houston where he got to practice a little of what he has learned. We've even eaten out at a couple of Thai restaraunts. He talked to several of the owners about his trip and asked them questions about which part they are from.

I have come to see that most people are proud to talk about their homeland and are excited to hear someone try to speak their native tongue. Scott isn't afraid to speak at all. I have more of a tendency to worry about what they might think if I mess up. Someday I'll try to work on a language but right now, I'm undecided which one I need to focus on. I'm not good at doing like he does and learning several languages at one time.

I definitely am missing him. This month I have quite a few plans for the kids and I while Scott is away. We will be visiting my family here in Texas for one week and Scott's family in Michigan for the next week. I know Scott will miss getting to see his family. But we would not have been able to go see them at any other time this year. So I decided that Scott's mother needed to see the kids. Especially since she has not yet met Elijah.

I will be continuing to blog as much as possible during the time we are traveling. I do not expect to hear very often from Scott, but as I find out how he is doing I will post that as well.

Please pray for Scott as he is helping out in Thailand. And pray for me as I travel across America with our 5 children. It's going to be hard to travel without Scott beside me to help me with decisions that I'm sure I will have to make. But I know God can help me make it through these next few weeks.

"I thank God, whom I serve from my forefathers with pure conscience, that without ceasing I have remembrance of thee in my prayers night and day; Greatly desiring to see thee, being mindful of thy tears that I may be filled with joy, When I call to remembrance the unfeigned faith that is in thee..."

2 Timothy 1:4-5

Mastitis

I wasn't feeling well yesterday. I knew I should have stayed home, when my symptoms started getting worse. It hurt when I nursed Elijah on my left side, I had a headache most of the day, and by night I was running a fever of 101.7 degrees.

We were invited to a home of some homeschooling friends that have started attending our church. I knew I should have told Scott and gone on home but I suffered silently hoping it would just go away. It didn't and last night I had a splitting headache. Poor Scott tried to figure out why I was crying. I told him that I just wasn't feeling good. I think he thought I was upset with someone. I wasn't, I just had a headache my body ached and to have to admit I was sick was upsetting.

I'm feeling some better today. I don't feel feverish, and my headache went down to just a slight ache, and I started nursing Elijah every hour instead of 2 hours in order to keep from becoming engorged and to clear the infected milk duct. So I'm feeling quite a bit better. I just don't want to feel like I did yesterday again.

Today, Joshua was asking me what my favorite part of yesterday was. I explained that I wasn't feeling very well yesterday so there really wasn't a favorite part. He said, "Oh, I thought your favorite part was watching The Wiggles" I found that funny.

I told him, "If watching The Wiggles was my favorite part, that doesn't say much for the rest of the day." I think he must like them more than I do.

There was a panic this afternoon as I heard a loud crash in the kitchen. I had asked Joshua to take out the scraps. He was going to empty the crockpot and it slipped out of his hands and fell. I was on the phone with Scott (who had called to check on me) and I told Joshua it would be okay just make sure no one hurt themselves. Joshua was worried that he was going to have to pay for it. I told him that he wouldn't and that it was okay. Accidents happen. Scott thinks we should get a cast iron Crockpot. Is there such a thing? :)

Today I plan to take the kids to karate class as long as I'm continuing to feel better. This is Scott's last week to drive the school bus. The kids and I are looking forward to spending extra time with him this summer.

This is going to be a busy summer. Scott will be going to Thailand to help the missionaries there. While he is there I am planning to visit my parents and also take the kids to Michigan to visit Scott's family there. Then we'll only be back a week before Church camp begins.

I'll be posting more about our Summer activities as the time draws closer. The picture above is what might be going on while I'm blogging. Right now I'm blogging with Elijah sleeping in my arms. I've gotten pretty good at typing one handed.

Time Flies...

Time sure goes by fast. It either zooms past while you're on the computer. (You mean I've been looking at GPS's for over an hour?)

Days go by fast. (Didn't I just take the kids to Karate class?)

The weeks go by fast. (Yep it's been at least 2 weeks since I've blogged!!!)

Months go by fast. (Elijah is 2 1/2 months old already?)

And then the years go by fast. (Joshua is about to turn 12!)

It all happens so fast.

I remember when I was younger (that wasn't so long ago). I used to say, "Ah it's not going by that fast." Of course that was when Joshua was a baby and I thought the days were a lot longer. But now with 5 kids, the busier life has gotten and the faster the time seems to go.

Sometimes I look at the time going by so fast and think about all the things I have left to get done in the day or in the year. It can be overwhelming sometimes but that is when I have to prioritize and use my time as best I can. Getting organized with my office space helped a lot. I'm always surrounded by distractions but at least I can keep an eye on them all.

The picture is one I took a few months ago. Joshua and Jonathan are wearing some of their Daddy's clothes. It won't be long and they will be able to wear them by themselves.

I have to remember as I try to keep up with everything to cherish each of these moments. I even need to cherish potty training, even though I wondered about it this morning as I cleaned up yet another pair of dirty pants. But at least progress was made yesterday even though he seemed to forgotten it all today. Maybe we'll leap two steps forward tomorrow.

When I was a child my best friend and I would visit at each other's houses. One day her mother told us that my parents would be coming to pick me up in about 10 minutes. I remember we wanted to play but we knew the time would go by too fast when we are having fun. So instead we stared at the clock, to make time go by slower.

I could do that I guess. Not plan any fun activities just plan to stay home and do the same thing over and over in order to keep time from going by too fast. But I would rather enjoy life and the time God has given me hear on earth to do things for Him. I enjoy watching my children grow up and learn. Time may go by too fast but at least we are working for a purpose.

One day God will be calling me home and I will look back and say, "Wow! That was quick!" I don't want to look back over the years with any regrets when it's my time to go.

I need to cherish every moment God has given me and use them for His glory. Then when time flies by and I look back on my life I can say, "I've redeemed the time."

Ephesians 5:15-16 "See then that ye walk circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise, redeeming the time, because the days are evil."

Colosians 4:5 "Walk in wisdom toward them that are without, redeeming the time."

James 4:14 "Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth even for a little time, and then vanisheth away."

7 Hours, Potty time, You Name It...

I can't decide the best title for this blog since so much is going on. Elijah is now sleeping 7 hours straight at night. He has even slept 8 on a couple of nights. So I've been able to get a little caught up on sleep. I do have to make myself go to bed sometimes, instead of doing all the hundred odd jobs I can't do with a baby in tow. But I'm very happy that he is now sleeping at nights.

The second title I could give this blog was Potty Time. We have now officially started potty training Jonathan. I told the kids that we want to make going to the potty a positive experience. So we are not commanding him to go right now we make it exciting to get to go. We have started by setting the timer for every hour. When the bell rings we all excitedly exclaim, "It's Potty time!!!" Jonathan then gets all excited and runs to the bathroom and sits down on his potty. So far he has been keeping himself dry. I'm not sure yet what will happen when he needs to have a bowel movement. Yesterday he dirty himself during Karate class. I had the potty there and after I changed his dirty pull-up I had him use his potty in the bathroom. He did go and stayed dry the rest of the time. So I hope that it was a case of not getting him to the bathroom soon enough and that he will go in the potty when he needs to next time.

But we have only one pull up left. I decided to go ahead and save that one so we have put him in big kid undies as I call them. They are actually cloth training pants. I also have plastic training pants to put over them in case he has an "accident". I'm hoping that accidents will be few and far between. I would hope he would never have one but I don't want to get my hopes up to high.

So I have one child trained to sleep through the night and another in the process of learning to use the bathroom. My husband was teasing me when the bell went off and Jonathan hollered, "Potty Time" that he may one day be a heavy weight boxer or something and when the bell rings he suddenly has to use the bathroom. Oh well, at least he'll know that he's suppose to go in the potty. Right?

Well, it's only day 3 of potty training and I'm not going to vouch for this method just yet. I'll keep everyone posted as to how it goes. I will say that not every method works for every child. They all have their own individual personalities and what works for one may not work for another. So I guess that's my little caveat (I need to ask my brother if I spelled that right. He's probably looking at that word saying a what?!? Hmm.. Maybe I should have googled it.) Anyway, you know the small print at the end to keep you from getting in trouble.

Well, I have a new computer and so far it hasn't shut off completely in the middle of this blog. So that should mean I'll be able to blog more than I have been. My other laptop was having some real issues. The top didn't stay up and the battery wouldn't stay charged, then it would just shutdown for no reason in the middle of my working on something. I then went to using my husbands mini-laptop and I think he wanted it back. So he bought me a new one. So all that to say keep checking back I'll try to post more often now that I'm back in business.

Until next time... "Ding!" Was that the bell? "It's potty time!!!"

I love being a mom!

Too Long...

It's been too long since, I've blogged last. It's actually hard to believe that a whole month has passed. My mom has been checking my blog every day for a month to see if I've updated it. Has anyone else been wondering about me?

One of my problems in blogging lately was that our dial-up wasn't working. I finally called the tech support for our internet and they gave me three other access numbers for our area. They pretty much told me that if one didn't work try another one. I mentioned the fact that it was running a lot slower than normal and they told me that depended on my phone line and how good the connection was. So it's a good day when I get online at 48 kbps. It's a slow day on the internet if I get on at 28 kbps. And an impossible time on the internet when it connects at 8 kbps. I'm looking forward to Hi-speed internet getting to our area. I may have to wait awhile though.

A lot has actually been happening this month. Elijah is now a month and a half old. He has definitely grown a lot since he was born. He has just started sleeping longer through the nights. Two nights in a row he has gone 6 hours between feedings. I feed him around 9 p.m. and he doesn't wake up until 3 a.m. for his next feeding. I've been remembering to lay him down at nights instead of sleeping with him in my arms. I'm hoping to get a little better sleep. Now my only problem is getting myself not to do all the work I didn't get done while the kids were awake. One of those nights I stayed up two hours doing dishes and clothes. But the next night I was so tired I decided to go on to bed and skip the chores.

Another thing to add to my sleep deprivation was a house full of sick children. I felt like I was cleaning up after everyone while they were sick. Trying to find foods they could eat that wouldn't hurt their throat. Also fixing hot tea for them and making the older two who had soar throats gargle salt water. Even Scott went through a spell with it. We were afraid it was strep throat. We took the kids to the Doctor for a test and the results came out negative for strep. So she said they were going to be okay, and that since they were already feeling quite a bit better they wouldn't need any medication. They were especially glad that they wouldn't need shots.

This weekend Scott and Joshua are attending an "All the King's Men" retreat. It is a retreat that they try to attend each year. Scott was attending the annual retreat just himself and the past 3 or so years he has taken Joshua with him. They really have a good time of fellowship and encouragement during the two day retreat.

The rest of the kids and I decided we would go visit Memaw and Daddy Jim, where we would also see Papa and Nana. For those who don't know, Memaw and Daddy Jim are my Mother's parents and Papa and Nana are my parents.

So much more has happened this past month. I would try to blog about it all now but I guess I will save some for later. I will try to get my internet working quicker soon and hopefully I'll be able to post more pictures of the kids. I especially need to post some pictures of the kids at their karate class. Ruth just got her white with yellow stripe belt. Joshua will be testing for his in June. Hannah is even endeavoring to gain that belt instead of just going for the little kids stripes which is a different system from the big kids and adults.

Please don't give up on me with my blog. I am really hoping to get my computer cooperating for me and connecting faster to the internet. I'll try to post more pictures soon.

Hannah's 5th Birthday Cake

Elijah was finally born and so Hannah finally got to have her birthday. Her birthday was last Friday. She seemed to think that her birthday was connected with the birth of her brother. The longer it took him to come the longer she thought she had to wait for her birthday. He was due the 10th and born on the 19th. Her birthday was the 26th. She only had to wait one week after he was born to finally get to enjoy her birthday.

I let the kids pick their birthday cakes each year. The cakes were usually fairly simple Chocolate, Strawberry, etc. I think last year Hannah wanted a Banana cake. But even that turned out fairly simple. This year she wanted a Vanilla, Chocolate, Vanilla cake. That wasn't the hard part though. I had two round cake pans and so I was able to make the 3 layers out of two cake mixes. The chocolate one being rather thick, since she only wanted one layer of the chocolate and I didn't want to waist the batter. She originally wanted "up-down, up-downs" on it. Those being zig zags but when we went to buy the specific cake mixes she saw the candy decorations and wanted the pink letters and the soccer balls instead. The hardest part of the cake was that she also wanted the icing to be vanilla, chocolate, vanilla. Most people I have described this cake to at this point are picturing a mess. But as you can see in the picture I was able to pull it off and she said the cake was, "Perfect!"

So score one for mom with that cake. Of course now the kids have the idea that they can come up with just about anything. They did decide that 3 layers were way to thick. So they decided to be satisfied with two layers at this point. I just don't know how difficult some of their cakes are going to get. I think I'm going to have to practice making cheese cakes, because I've already had one of the older kids talk about wanting a two layer cheese cake for their birthday. At least I have until June and July for those cakes.

The pictures above are from Hannah's birthday party. It was just our family but we had fun. Hannah wasn't feeling 100% herself that day and even ended her evening with a slight fever. The fever broke during the night and she was all better by morning. I did feel bad for her having a fever on her birthday. I think she had just worn herself out. We have all been suffering from sniffles and coughs this week. I think it is because of the pollen that has come out. It's been pretty thick outside. I also need to do some spring cleaning and will be washing all our curtains to get the dust out of the house. I hope that helps.

We are looking forward to visiting my parents on Friday. We don't have much time to see my brother's family before they go back to France. So we want to take advantage of Scott having this Friday off. I'm glad that the kids got to spend a week with their cousins at my parents while we were waiting for Elijah to be born.

I know everyone is looking forward to getting to see him. We need to plan a visit with my grandparents as well. At least my grandparents are a little closer and we just need to pick a Saturday to visit them.

This will be a pretty busy weekend so keep checking back I plan to post more pictures this weekend.

Elijah

I just wanted to post this quick blog to let everyone know that Elijah has finally arrived safe and sound. He was born yesterday at 1:09 p.m. He weighed 9 lb. 3 oz. and was 21 inches long. He has a full head of dark hair.

It was probably the hardest labor I have been through. I hope to never have to be induced again but I was able to make it through even though it was hard. I'm just glad that the Lord helped me when I thought I wouldn't make it. My husband was a real blessing. He watched my contractions on the monitor and held my hand and told me when they were about to go down. He could see them lower before I felt the pain lessen. It was a big help to me to have him say, "It's about to go down now."

I actually found that the contractions didn't seem to last long but they were very intense and fast. Also since I was on Oxytocin the contractions were coming faster than I had ever felt them before. I felt a bit out of control of my normal pain management. It made for a very tough time, but my doctor was very good and arrived as soon as I hollered, "I need the Doctor now!" She was running in the door.

But the real blessing is that after such an intense moment it was an even greater relief when it was all over and they handed Elijah immediately to me. They even let me hold him while they cleaned him. I was even allowed to feed him before they took him to the nursery and moved me to another room. I was so happy to hold him. It made the whole experience worthwhile.

My parents and the kids came today to see Elijah. My parents went home and Scott took the kids to the house. They will be picking me and Elijah up sometime tomorrow afternoon or evening. I am looking forward to our all being home and getting back into a routine again. This time with our newest family member.

I feel so blessed to have such a wonderful, beautiful family.

Psalm 127:3 Lo, children are an heritage of the LORD: and the fruit of the womb is his reward.

Not Yet...

This has been the start phrase of all my phone calls to my Dad. He warned me whenever I call someone that they are going to think I'm in labor. He recommended that I start my phone calls with, "Not yet."

I actually have been saying that a lot lately. Everytime I get a phone call, I answer and of course their first question is, "Is the baby here?"

And I respond, "No, not yet."

I had a Doctor's appointment Monday and she separated my membranes hoping that would start me into labor "naturally". I'm not actually sure how natural that was but it did start contractions. After my appointment Scott took me shopping and then around 8 p.m. we decided to go to the hospital again since my contractions were steady. I arrived there and after about 3 hours of monitoring they told me I wasn't in labor yet and again they sent me home. I never blogged that I had false contractions last Friday as well.

My parents were sweet and came as soon as I called Friday with contractions. After it turned out to be a false alarm they offered to take the kids home with them, so that I wouldn't have to worry about who will watch them. So my other 4 children are at my parents along with their 4 cousins and my brother and sister-in-law. I know things have to be hectic around there. It's too quiet around here. But Scott has been off this week for Spring Break and so we've been trying to get as much done around the house as we can before the baby comes.

My Doctor told me that she does not want me to go beyond 41 weeks and so we've agreed to go in Friday morning to induce labor. I'm not very excited about being induced but I am glad to know that I'll definitely have the baby this week. Waiting can be so hard. I will probably be pretty nervous Thursday night in anticipation of Friday. But maybe my nervousness will bring labor on by itself and I won't have to be induced.

Pray for me and baby Elijah this week. I just want everything to go smoothly and to soon deliver a happy, healthy baby.

I know our other children are anxious to see him too. They will be coming to see us either Friday afternoon or Saturday. I have a 9 month picture of me but it's on my camera which is still in my bag in the car. I was not wanting to forget to bring it to the hospital. So I'll have to post that picture later.

In the mean time I'll do like my Dad and post a random picture. The above pictures are of Joshua and Jonathan wrestling. Jonathan loves to wrestle with his big brother. Joshua will be 12 in June and Jonathan turned 2 in November. It won't be long and Joshua will have a second little brother climbing all over him too.

I love to watch him wrestle with his two year old brother because he's so careful not to hurt him. They just have fun. I worry more about Jonathan hurting Joshua. Just because 2 year olds don't know how to be as careful. But Joshua is good and manages not to get hurt while keeping his brother from getting hurt as well. You know his two younger brothers are really going to look up to their BIG brother. He's a good big brother too.

I may not post again until the baby comes, but I will definitely post as soon as he does. And I'll post more pictures soon too.

Ultrasound Picture

I had an ultrasound done today. My Doctor ordered it since my fourth child, Jonathan, was a big baby at birth. When Jonathan was born he weighed 11 lb. 4 oz. I asked my Doctor if there was any way we could know the size of Elijah. She asked me again how big my last one was and when I told her 11 lb. she decided to order me an ultrasound just to see.

This is the picture with some of the measurements the ultrasound machine took. The technician told me that it wasn't 100% accurate on getting the exact weight. This picture is the best we were able to get. You can see his nose squished up against the placenta. The other pictures we got, we can barely make out his face at all. The technician also assured me that he was very much a boy. I'm glad because it would be incredibly confusing for our children if there had been a mistake and we had a girl instead.

Now according to this ultrasound, my due date would be March 13. But I'm still considering it March 10. Of course all of my babies have been late so I wouldn't be too surprised if he was born a few days late. It also set his estimated weight at 7 lb. 4 oz. I kind of think he may be a touch heavier than that. I'm guessing he'll weigh around 9 lb. at birth. He doesn't feel quite as big to me as Jonathan did.

I felt good about the measurements they took. I have my twinges of nervousness about the approaching due date. But then I'm excited that I will finally get to see my baby and not just feel him kicking. Only a week or so left to go!

Toasted Toaster...

There are so many titles I could give this blog. But since Jonathan cooked my toaster this morning, I decided on this title. My guilty cook has a pretty serious face in the picture below. I actually took this picture of him right after I took the picture of the toaster. The toaster isn't in the exact same spot I found it, I had actually tampered with the evidence a little bit to see what the exact damage was.

This morning I got up and had some phone calls to make. After I got off the phone, I went to check on the kids and change Jonathan's diaper. As I was changing him, the central heat kicked on in our trailer. I asked the kids, do you smell toast? They all agreed. They said it smelled good and wanted toast for breakfast. I wasn't planning on making toast but I was curious what would cause the smell.

I had Joshua check inside the vent in the kitchen. One disadvantage to central heat in a trailer house is it's easy to get crumbs in the vent. I thought that was where the smell was coming from. But he didn't see anything cooking inside the vent. So we didn't worry about it.

After I got up from changing Jonathan, I decided it was time to fix some oatmeal for breakfast. I started the water boiling when I felt heat beside the stove where the toaster was. The levers weren't pushed down on the toaster, I had seen that earlier, but I realized that the griddle had been plugged in.

When I came out of my room, I had seen Jonathan doing something in the kitchen but nothing seemed amiss. I didn't realize he was tall enough to reach the plugs above our kitchen counter. I had placed the toaster on top of the griddle yesterday after making the kids some peanut butter toast before bed. Jonathan had seen the cords this morning while I was on the phone and decided they needed to be plugged in. He just forgot that he's not allowed to touch them.

I'm just glad I found it when I did. The bottom of the toaster was melted to the top of the griddle. Even the toaster's plug was scorched. We had a fire hazard on our hands, but thankfully I was able to unplug it before any real damage was done. I called and told Scott about it, and he just laughed. He said that Jonathan must have wanted to fix us breakfast. The only problem is your not suppose to toast the toaster. But that's okay, Scott never really liked our toaster anyway. This will just give him a good reason to get us a new one.

And the lesson I learned from this: Never underestimate the height and abilities of a two year old. As Scott told me on the phone, "Nothing's safe now!"

120 Hours Worth of a 24 hour Virus

Your probably wondering how we managed to make a 24 hour virus last that long. Well, when you have 5 people that catch it, it adds up. We started with Ruth and Hannah getting sick Sunday night. They were sick all Monday. Hannah has deemed "spit-up" as her least favorite word and if anyone says it. She grumbles. I went ahead and took them with me to my doctor's appointment hoping that they were getting over it. Hannah wound up spitting-up in a bucket she brought with her in the car.

Then Tuesday, they were feeling a bit better but Jonathan got sick sometime Tuesday night.
So I had more sheets to wash on Wednesday.

Then Wednesday night Joshua "spit-up" in the bathroom sink. Then that night he spit-up in his bed which meant more sheets for me to wash. Also on Wednesday night Jonathan "spit-up" in his car seat. Then once we arrived home, he spit-up on my lap and on the floor at my feet. I'm not sure if he was more disturbed at spitting up on me, or just the fact that he "spit-up".

The kids were starting to feel some better on Thursday, but then sadly it was my turn. Thankfully I never did spit-up but I had another problem which lasted through Wed. night and all day Thursday. My stomach was in such sad shape that I couldn't eat much of anything. We all knew once we got to feeling better we'd be starved. The kids were perkier on Thursday, but I had to sleep the whole day, with brief bathroom breaks and breaks to solve problems for the kids. They got to watch a lot of veggietales. I was too tired to make them do much else.

Today, I woke up and told Scott, "I'm hungry!!" I was so happy to be feeling better. I'm still tired but I hadn't had the stomach troubles I had yesterday. The kids all greeted me with the same excitement this morning. "Mom, I feel much better!" Then came all the requests for all the foods they thought they could eat for breakfast. I decided to go easy and fixed them Cinnamon Toast.

Wednesday night, I called my Mom to thank her for all the times she cleaned up after me and my brother, and sister. If you haven't called and thanked your mom lately you should.

We're on the mend now. I just hope it ends here and that Scott doesn't have to go through it.

It sure has been a long week.

Snowy Day

The kids and I have been enjoying our stay with Papa and Nana. We will be going home soon, and I wanted to post their snowman picture.

We bundled them up pretty good this time. My Mom got out all their gloves and hats they had in a box in her room. They were a bit big on the kids but it kept the kids warm.

I'm looking forward to getting home. Scott will be there before us. We're getting a late start. We wanted to get all the kids clothes and shoes dried out before we take off.

We have a busy weekend. We'll be decorating for our "Love Your Neighbor" banquet. We'll also need to start cooking the brisket and side dishes for the dinner. I hope we have a few visitors come.

Now it's time to get packed and take our things out to the car. I'll try to post again soon. I now have batteries in my camera so maybe I'll have more pictures for my next post.

Peanut Butter and Gum in the Hair

Yesterday evening, Ruth had gum stuck in her long blond hair. I finally got a chance to test the remedy I had heard from a few people that using peanut butter will get the gum out of hair real easy. It took quite a bit of peanut butter. Well, maybe not as much as you would use on a sandwich, but enough to make a greasy mess in her hair. But it worked! She gets to keep her beautiful long blond hair.

She was near tears when she told me that she had gum stuck in her hair. She must have thought I was going to have to cut it out. Which would have probably been my normal answer. I just had her wash the peanut butter out of her hair afterward with shampoo. She came out happy that her hair was still in tact. Of course Hannah made a lot of wierd faces about me putting globs of peanut butter in Ruth's hair. I usually get onto her and Jonathan for making a mess like that. I just had to explain that this was for a good cause, "Ruth gets to keep her hair."

We've been so busy, I've missed a lot of posting. We had our Keepers of the Faith meeting last Friday. My parents came for a visit. My Dad spoke to the Contenders for the Faith which is the boys class. He was very impressed with the boys. They are all homeschooled children and very attentive and polite. Most people imagine a room full of 15 boys between the ages of 5 and 14 as chaos, but these boys are very well behaved and well mannered. They really enjoyed my Dad's presentation on hiking. They asked a lot of very good questions. They sat in the class for about an hour and a half before we broke for refreshments. Even remaining quiet for the prayer my Dad gave at the end. Then they played kick ball for the remaining half hour after refreshments.

Saturday, we had a Mom/ Son night with the Contenders for the Faith group. We had 5 pairs of Mothers and Sons meet at a restaurant and then another mother with two of her children came for the Live Concert we attended at the Liberty Opry. Everyone seemed to enjoy the Country Kidz Show. The singers were all young people under the age of 16. They had some amazing voices for being so young. They performed to the live music of the Liberty Opry band. Joshua enjoyed it so much that when some of the others were planning to leave after the first hour when they had a break, he wanted to stay. So I bought him a bag of popcorn, a sprite, and some M&M's and then we went back in and watched the rest of the concert. The Concert ended at 10 p.m. As we went home, I stopped at Jack-in-the-box and bought Joshua and myself a milk shake.

That was a night he'll never forget. Which was what I wanted for him. He got to order anything off the adult menu he wanted. It was a Mexican Food restaurant and he got excited over them having Cheese enchiladas. It didn't take him any time to make his selection.

Monday, I had a Doctor's appointment and our baby has turned head down. Jonathan was funny Monday night at home. In the evenings after one of the children gives their devotional, I sometimes let them see the baby kicking. Jonathan went right up to my tummy and yells, "WAKE UP, BABY!" Then he just cackled at himself. I just hope Jonathan doesn't wake the baby that way once he's born.

Tuesday, was our homeschool park day. It was very cold out that afternoon but we braved the weather. My daughters braved the weather more than I did. We arrived at the park and they informed me that they both forgot their coats. I had announced that they needed to remember them before we ran out to the car. But they forgot them anyway.

I loaned an extra light weight jacke I brought to Ruth and Hannah told me her Keeper's of the Faith teacher was going to bring hers. I asked Hannah what she would do if the teacher had something happen and couldn't make it. She could have worn one of her other coats. But thankfully her teacher came with her children and Hannah's coat.

We had fun despite the cold. The kids all passed out valentines and one of the mothers brought cupcakes for the kids to ice and decorate.

Then we came back home where we took a short break and then left for the kids' Karate Class.
Saturday there were belt tests. Hannah and Scott both tested. Hannah earned a yellow stripe for her belt. Her Karate teacher put her stripe on her belt at Tuesday's class. Scott will get his yellow belt next week. My digital camera had run out of batteries, so I couldn't get digital pictures of her getting her stripe but I did have a disposable camera and need to get the pictures developed sometime.

Today the kids and I plan to go visit my parents. Scott had a business trip this week and is at a Technology Convention. I sure miss him. I had nightmares Monday night, which was the first night he was gone. But then last night I tried putting some happy sounding music on and my dreams were much nicer. Okay, I was dreaming of Cinderella. LOL So you know the music had to be real calming. Cinderella dreams are much better than nightmares any day. I was almost afraid to go to sleep last night until I turned the music on repeat.

Hopefully a change of scenery at my parents will help the time pass a little quicker. I'm looking forward to Friday. We will be heading home and Scott will be heading home as well.

Then Saturday we'll be getting prepared for the "Love Your Neighbor" Banquet we've planned at the Church. I hope we have a few new visitors come. But it should be good even if they don't. It's the effort that counts. I made up invitations for our church members to give to family and friends. In the note I mention that this is our way of showing our appreciation for our neighbors in the community.

Well, I better get things ready for us to head for my parents. I just wanted to throw out a quick post before we leave. I need to get some more batteries for my camera so that I'll have some good pictures for my next post.

Mark 12:30-31 And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this [is] the first commandment. (31) And the second [is] like, [namely] this, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. There is none other commandment greater than these.

Best Friends

It's funny the phrases I don't even know I've coined until I hear my kids using them. When I was a child people would call out in a sing-song voice, "Sta-cie?" and I would respond in the same tone, "What-ee?"

I realized that I have never stopped that even in my adulthood. Now it's "Mom-my?" and I unthinkingly respond, "What-ee?"

You're probably thinking, "Huh, big deal."

But it's only truly funny when you hear, "Josh-ua?" and he responds "What-ee?"

Even Jonathan if you call his name out responds, "What-ee?" It's really funny.

Scott shook his as he heard this and said, "It's not a real word!"

I just smiled and said, "Well, I guess it is now."


March is right around the corner. I have about 8 more weeks before our baby is due to arrive. I had a doctor's appointment yesterday. I found out that I had passed my 3 hour glucose screening, so I have nothing to worry about there. Although I did worry a little the week or two I waited to find that out. My blood pressure is good, and the baby's heart beat is good.

I just found out yesterday that my brother and his wife are expecting their 5th child. I told my kids about it and they are all excited. Their response was, "Now Elijah, can have a best friend too!" :) They have each paired themselves up with one of their cousins as "best friends". Joshua is the oldest of our set of cousins, but he matched up with Caleb, since Ruth and Lilia are the same age. So Ruth and Lilia are "best" friends, Joshua and Caleb are "best" friends, Hannah considers herself "best" friends with Micah, and Jonathan (even though he doesn't remember Andrew at all since he was just a baby when they left for France) was automatically paired with Andrew as "best" friends. Now we are having Elijah and I think the kids are the happiest to have a new "best" friend for Elijah, even though Elijah and the other baby aren't even born yet.

The truth of the matter is that my kids are their own best friends. They have other friends but they don't consider the fact that they are actually best friends with each other. When I mentioned that fact to them before they looked at me like I was crazy. "Mom! We can't be best friends, we live in the same house!"

I can only smile to that. So I allow them to think that even though they rarely see their cousins except occasionally over Skype, that they are best friends with their cousins. They are so looking forward to when my brother and his family all come back to the U.S. for a visit. I picture them all being shy at first, but then warming up and playing like they used to do. I'm positive even Andrew and Jonathan will enjoy being "best" friends.

The above picture was taken sometime around May of 2007. Jonathan was born that November so he is the only cousin that is not in the picture. I plan to get another picture come April or May when my brother and his family visits. We'll finally have the "best friend" cousins together again to get another family picture. I want to get one with Elijah in it. They'll have to come back again sometime after their baby is born to get one with him/her in it. Either that or we'll have to plan a trip to France for that picture.

There is so much to look forward to this year. Last year was full of precious memories and now I am able to look forward to so many blessings ahead in 2010. God is so good!!!

"O give thanks unto the LORD; for [he is] good; for his mercy [endureth] for ever. "
(1 Chronicles 16:34; Psalm 106:1; 107:1; 118:1,29; 136:1)

Happy New Year!

I want to let everyone know that Scott has made it home safely. He had a really good trip. He didn't have any problems with any of his flights.

Scott had some really neat experiences. He preached just about everyday he was there. He fixed several computers. He even brought back a Guampa (pronounced "wampa" - a type of cup), Bombilla (a metal straw with a spoon shaped filter on bottom) and a Termo (a thermos), which he is continuing to use. The picture is of a guampa with the bombilla on top, and a morter and pestal type of dish which I believe they use to crush the leaves and herbs they use to make the terere. Scott even brought back some of the terere which he had taken a liking to since it's a healthy drink. However it hasn't caught on here in Texas yet. He has mostly been greeted with some funny looks like "You want me to drink that?"

In Paraguay they share the drink with others, kind of like a sign of trust. They put the bombilla (metal straw) in the guampa (cup), then they put the terere on top of the filter part of the bombilla. Then they just add cold water from their termo for terere. They do have a hot water version which is called mate (pronounced mah-tay).

They had a 4 hour Christmas eve service. Scott preached during part of the service, which ended around mid-night.

Scott also got to preach on the national radio there in Paraguay, he also preached at a women's prison there.

On Sunday, Dec. 27, he preached at the church in Paraguay which has their services at 8:30 in the morning.

Then he went over to a Chinese church that met at 10 a.m. He said that was a really neat experience. At the Chinese church he preached in English while someone translated his sermon in Chinese. Then after the service they ate real Chinese food which was prepared by the members.

That afternoon he and Bro. Barker visited a family of the Paraguay church who had a family member die. They do not embalm people there in Paraguay. On Monday, he attended the funeral and he said it sure made a bigger impact to attend a funeral where you can smell the loved one decaying.

Sunday evening they had to go through a couple of border crossings in order to go to the Church in Argentina. The traffic was bad and they actually made it to the service when they had just let out. But that didn't phase the people there a bit, they just said, "Hey, let's go back inside and have services all over again." So they did! They went back inside started the song service and asked Scott to preach.

Then Monday they attended the funeral. The family had prepared the body, and they had a service in their home and then a burial service afterward.

Then on Tuesday, Bro. Barker took Scott to Iguacu falls. Scott took some beautiful pictures which I'll have to get from him. He took a lot of pictures but they are on his camera. I didn't get them on my computer yet. When I do, I'll have to post some. While at the falls, Scott got pick-pocketed by a coati (a racoon looking critter with an attitude). The coati took his bread that he had in a bag on his belt. It ran off before Scott could get it back.

Wednesday, he preached again for the Paraguay church. I got to speak with him on Skype on Wednesday as well. He told me about how many computers he had fixed during those two weeks. He also learned not to touch any metal parts on the computers. He got shocked about 6 times during the first week, then he remembered to be careful.

Then Thursday, he got on the plane in Ciudad del Este, Paraguay, and flew to the airport in Brazil. He had a 9 hour lay over there in Brazil where he worked on some of his Portuguese and was able to talk with quite a few people there.

Friday, Morning he arrived in the Dallas Fort Worth airport right on schedule. It was so good to have him back. He was glad to see me and my Dad in the terminal waiting for him to come out the door. He had been afraid he was going to have to call us and then wait an hour for us to arrive, but we had looked at his flight schedule and were there at the perfect time.

We came arrived back at our home Saturday evening. It's nice to be home and have our family all back together under one roof. I've started the kids back on their homeschool schedule and am working on my plans for this year. I'll try to finish my list and maybe in my next blog I'll post about my plans for 2010. Maybe I'll have some more pictures of Scott's trip by then.

Looking Back on 2009

I haven't written down yet my goals for 2010. Some of the things I had planned in 2009 came out just like I had in mind and some things turned out completely different. Tomorrow my Dad and I will be picking Scott up from the airport. I also want to sit down and write out my plans for 2010. I like that I blogged about this past year, since sometimes it's hard to remember what all took place within a year. So much happens that it seems like it had to be several years in one sometimes.

I was about to write a month-by-month review of what all took place this past year, but I realized that just one month would take up to much space so I'll just write a few memorable highlights from this year.

At the beginning of the year, the older three children were able to take a few riding lessons from a friend of ours at church. That was a dream come true for Ruth.

Hannah celebrated her 4th Birthday in March. She has grown a lot this year, from wanting to be Bibleman, to wanting to be a football player, and even a rough tough cow girl.

Joshua turned 11 in June, he's grown a lot in this year as well. His biggest lesson I think he learned this past year was to be patient with Hannah. Their personalities were always clashing. I helped them resolve their problem by having them work together on things. They still have their squabbles but at least Joshua has learned to be patient with his sister.

Also in June we took a trip to Michigan and visited with Scott's family there. We had a great time and got to visit with a lot of his family there. The kids had a wonderful time over there. They got to go camping, fish, ride on a 4 wheeler, walk the dogs, ride on a motorcycle, and even got to eat birthday cake they had for Joshua's Birthday there.

Ruth turned 9 in July. She has grown as well in this year. The main trait she has worked on and is growing in, is not being too critical of others. She is a very smart and detailed young lady, but when things don't go her way, she can be very critical. I can tell she has been working on not being as vocal with her criticisms. She is a wonderful big sister and we all call her the second Mommy. Whenever I can't hold Jonathan, she's the one he'll go to for hugs and cuddles.

Jonathan turned 2 this year in November. When I look over previous pictures of him I think he has probably been the one to grow the most this past year. He is becoming so independent and vocal. I tell people, "We spend two years trying to get them to walk and talk and the rest of their life trying to get them to sit down and be quiet." He is definitely becoming his own person. He still has his moments copying Hannah but now he is throwing in his own ideas.

It was about the middle of July that we realized we were expecting our fifth child. We found out in October, that we are expecting a boy and we are naming him Elijah Scott.

I found out that two of my cousins are also expecting babies. I'm due in March, one of my cousins is due in April, and the other in May.

Scott took Joshua and Ruth hiking this year. I stayed home with Jonathan and Hannah. We set up an indoor tent, made from chairs and blankets. I even let them eat inside their tent.

I started coordinating the Contenders of the Faith class in a homeschool group in which we are a part. It's a Christian alternative to Boy Scouts. The Keepers of the Faith meet at the same time which is the Christian alternative to girl scouts.

Scott became a bus driver at the local school, and was offered a job in the tech department as well. We were blessed with a good price on a van, and we were able to get Scott a ticket for a trip to Paraguay to visit a Missionary there. Even though that meant having him away from us during Christmas, I was glad that he went and feel like it was good for him. I'm hoping it encouraged him as well as the Missionaries he visited.

Well, that was my brief overview for 2009. If you want a more detailed view of it you can always look over my past posts. I tried to post somewhat regularly although I tend to fall behind occasionally.

Well, it is now 2010 and I'm looking forward to seeing Scott in about 5 hours. I guess I should try to get a little sleep before then. I'm so excited to see him. My next post will be about my goals for 2010. HAPPY NEW YEAR!

This is My Blog, Not Dad's...

Okay, I left my computer open beside my Dad. I had to change Jonathan's diaper. So here is what resulted.

"Blogging, yes, yes, Its so good to be blogging!!!!! I am blogging while changing a diaper!!!! I bet there are a lot of you who could not do that!!!! Did I mention that I am blindfolded also. You see mother's from Texas can do most anything. The picture is of me and my children talking to Scott on Skype. We watched "Calamity Jane" starring "Dorris Day" now my youngest daughter wants to be a cow girl. She watched "Facing the Giants and wanted to be a football player. We are going to watch "Yours Mine and Ours" next in hopes we will have more than a dozen grandchildren, who will play football for the Dallas Cow Girls. "

Hmm... I think I won't leave my blogger signed in while changing a diaper anymore.
Although some of what he said was true. No, I didn't change the diaper blindfolded (I'm not that good.) And for that matter I wasn't blogging while changing a diaper. I was about to.

Hmm... The Calamity Jane part was true. Hannah was inspired. You already heard about the football thing with Hannah from another post so that wasn't anything new.

Let's see, I'm not sure if my Dad was talking about me having a dozen grandchildren or him having a dozen grandchildren. But with 5 kids it won't be hard for me to have a dozen grandkids one day. So who knows I may have some football players in there. Oh, he said that was my grandchildren he was talking about.

And we were talking to Scott in that picture.

Okay, well, now you've heard it all. Not much more to write about, except that you won't have to worry about this duo-authorship anymore. At least as long as I can keep my password secret from my Dad. :) Hope everyone has a Happy New Year! You too, Dad!

Two More Days...

Only two more days and then on Friday we'll be picking Scott up from the airport. I sure do miss him. We got to skype with him a couple of times. That was nice getting to see him online. I also check my facebook to see if he or Bro. Barker post anything about what they are doing.

This is a picture of our kids sitting on my parents couch this past week. They've been having fun. They're missing Daddy too though.

Sunday we enjoyed the services at my Dad's church. It has been a long time since we've been able to go to his church on a Sunday. I enjoyed his Sunday School and his sermon during the Morning Worship. Sunday Night their church had business meeting.

There was one funny thing that happened Sunday Night. Before the evening worship service, I gave each of the kids some change to put in the offering plate. They were pretty excited about it. Well, the usher didn't see that my children had money to give and they walked right past them. When we looked behind us and saw that they were taking the offering a few pews behind us, the kids were a little panicky.

They are normally very quiet and proper during services but I knew they would be sad to not get to put their offering in the plate. I decided to "unleash" them. I told them, "Okay, go catch up with the usher and give him your money." There weren't as many people present in the evening as in the morning or I would have never done it. But everyone in the audience found it funny. They all know how still my kids normally are.

My Dad did ask me what happened all of a sudden he's up on the stage and all he sees is his four grandchildren running wildly up the isle. But once it was explained he understood completely.

Monday a couple at my Dad's church invited us all out to eat at McDonald's. We let the kids play in the play place. They had fun, except for Hannah who was only brave enough to go to about the first level of the play area. She just wouldn't go beyond the steps. She decided she would go in it when she's older.

How does a girl that is brave enough to talk to anyone in a room be scared to go inside a play place. Well, that's my Hannah. I asked her how she could be afraid of that when she says she isn't afraid of anything. She said, "Well, I'm afraid of some things."

Today, we were suppose to have Lady's Bible Study here at my parents house, but Dad was feeling sick last night and was running a fever most of the day today. I hope he starts feeling better tomorrow.

Tomorrow evening will be midweek service. I don't know what we will do Thursday, but Friday morning is the day we pick up Scott. That's not too far away. Please pray for him that he has an easy trip and makes it safely home to us.

Hope you all had a Merry Christmas and are looking forward to a blessed New Year.

The Night Before Chirstmas...

I let the kids open one present before bed tonight. I thought it would be nice for them to get to sleep in their new pajamas. They all love to dress alike and I was thrilled to find pajamas where they could be "twins".

The only problem with spending a couple of weeks with my parents is that my Dad beats me to all the pictures. So yes he has a picture of the kids in their pajamas on his blog as well.

We had a Christmas Eve Candlelight Service at my Dad's church tonight. It was real nice. Couples went up and read through the Christmas Story from Luke 1 and 2. We sang carols between the readings. Then at the end we all had candles that we lit at the end. Jonathan was especially excited about the candle. I let him sit in my lap and hold the candle with me. He was really good and didn't touch the flame which I knew was incredibly tempting. Then I let him blow out the candle at the end.
We all had fun.

Well, it is now Christmas. Merry Christmas everyone! I guess I better get busy with a little bit of last minute wrapping.

Scott's in Paraguay

I took this picture of Scott right before he went through the security at the airport. My Dad took us over to the airport Monday and we watched as Scott went through the process of checking his luggage, and getting his tickets. Then we watched until we couldn't see him any more. We did see that he passed through the security line without any problems, so I was glad that it all went smoothly. He called me from his plane in Florida, before the plane took off. That was Monday night and he said that he wouldn't be able to call me on his cell phone after that. So I was glad he called and let me know he made it that far.

Then Tuesday evening he e'mailed me to let me know he had made it safely and would write more later. Which I also read a message that Bro. Barker, the missionary Scott is visiting wrote to say that Scott had arrived safely and they enjoyed him playing on his ukulele at a meeting in Paraguay. So I knew Scott was having a great time.

I talked to him on Skype this afternoon. He is doing well. He had preached at a prison in Paraguay and I think he attended another service. He will be preaching on the radio tomorrow. He will also be attending a Christmas Eve service in Paraguay. It will be a 4 hour long service. I can't picture any services here in America running that long. I'm looking forward to his getting back with pictures and telling us more about what he is doing. We have 3 hours time difference. When it was 8 o'clock here it was midnight there. Tomorrow sounds like it will be pretty busy for him. He is starting the morning by going to the airport to pick up the luggage that was lost in transit. Thankfully he had all his personal items as carry-on. We are hoping there won't be anything missing from his checked baggage. It was mostly items that we had bought for the missionary and his family.

The kids and I are doing well. My parents invited us to stay with them for the two weeks Scott is away. Monday night was the hardest for me. After I talked with him on the phone I felt sad, because I realized he really will be gone for two weeks and we hadn't been apart that long before. Normally I would have gone with him rather than have to miss him for two weeks, but since I'm close to my 7th month of pregnancy I didn't want to be that far away. I also knew Scott would have an easier time going from place to place without worrying about my health and keeping me comfortable. I guess if we keep busy enough maybe the time will pass quickly.

Tuesday night my parents took me and the kids to see the Christmas lights in Athens. They were really pretty. Then today we had Wednesday night service at my parents' church. My parents even brought refreshments for everyone to enjoy fellowship after service. Tomorrow we will be having a Christmas Eve candlelight service. Also my sister and brother-in-law will be coming to visit us on Christmas Eve. So tomorrow should be pretty busy. And then of course we will have Christmas on Friday at my parents house. I'm hoping maybe Scott will be able to join us on Skype. That would be nice. I'm not sure exactly what they have planned for him that day. So I guess we will see.

Well, I was going to try to post two more pictures but for some reason my browser isn't letting me. I guess I'll just have to blog again tomorrow with those pictures. Maybe Blogger will cooperate better then. I hope everyone has a Merry Christmas Eve.

Our Texas Snowman...

My brother posted on his blog some beautiful snowy pictures in France. Sooo... I decided I would post our picture of the snowman Joshua made a couple of weeks ago. (Don't laugh all you Northern Folks. Okay, you can laugh a little.)

This is actually a handsome snowman for down here. I remember making a snowman when I was a kid, that was just a lump. Mainly because the snow didn't stick that year. So this snowman was actually quite nice, and he's even dressed in his own leaf apron. (He's a modest snowman.) And how many snowmen do you see able to stand in such green grass. :)

Joshua made this snowman on a Friday night and we took this picture the next day. The rest of the snow had melted around it. By Sunday our poor snoman had a shrunken head, and he was dearly departed by Monday. But at least we got this picture before he was completely gone.

Our colds are still lingering. Scott sounds the worst. I think it is because he has to use his voice a lot more than the rest of us. Hopefully he'll be feeling better over the weekend. He only has to work a half day tomorrow, so maybe his voice will be fine by Sunday.

Sunday, we have a Christmas Skit planned with the children. Hannah will be Mary, Jonathan will be Joseph. Ruth will be an Angel, and if there are any other girls present, they can be angels too. Joshua and Andrew (a boy at our church) will be shepherds. I'll be reading Luke 2 and they will sing Christmas Carols between each of the sections of the skit. We have a doll cradle that we are going to use as a manger and we will borrow some hay from someone at church. We would like to use their new baby goats for the cattle but I'm afraid that would be a little too messy. The goats would probably steal the show or at least the hay. I'll try to take pictures.

Then after the services, we plan to have a Birthday cake for Jesus. I am hoping to make the cake on Saturday. I'll try to get a picture of the cake as well.

Then Sunday night after our service we will head to my parents. We will be taking Scott to an airport on Monday. He'll be visiting Missionary Ted Barker and his family in Paraguay during the Christmas Holiday. Bro. Barker had invited him out a few months ago, and I encouraged him to go ahead and go. He loves helping Missionaries. He would have like for me to come with him, but I wasn't sure if I was quite ready to go with him on a trip that far away so soon, and also the fact that I'm entering my Third Tri-mester in my pregnancy. I would hate for something to happen while I was in another country. He understood and I told him that I would go with him another time, after the baby is born. I sure will miss him though.

The last mission trip we went on was to Ukraine in 2006. We spent 2 weeks over there with a group that was formed by Bro. David Smith and X-STREAM global missions. Before that we hadn't been on a trip since right before Joshua was born. Before we were married Scott had taken several Mission trips. I find that it is good for him. It gives him a chance to use his language skills that he doesn't get at home. He also enjoys being able to help and encourage missionaries.

Pray for him while he is on this trip. Also pray he doesn't have problems with the climate change. It's going to be in the heat of Summer there in Paraguay. We'll be cold here and he'll be melting there. Sure sounds odd.

The kids and I will be spending Christmas with my parents this next couple of weeks. We are all looking forward to it. I'll try to be a little more prompt at posting while we're there.

Dr. Hannah

Hannah caught a cold Friday evening. She had gone outside in the snow and got too cold while she was out there. I noticed her cough on Saturday. I asked her when she started coughing and she told me that it was while she was playing in the snow. "I'm allergic to snow," she explained.

Monday morning she still had a cough. She asked me if she could have oatmeal for breakfast. "I need some hot oatmeal. And I'm not going to blow on it because hot is good for your throat," she told me, "and I need some hot tea too."

I told her that I didn't mind her having some tea, and oatmeal as long as she didn't let it burn her mouth. So hot tea and oatmeal was the breakfast of choice yesterday morning.

Hannah is amazingly good at giving us all a good laugh. She turns into the little expert about everything.

I let her feel our baby kick. Babies are a facinating thing for 4 yr olds. She asked me, "Mommy, do I have a baby in my tummy?"

I explained that she did not. And that she had to grow up and get married before getting a baby in her tummy. Then she asked, "Does Daddy have a baby in his tummy?"

I guess in her mind Daddy is grown up and married. I did explain that Daddies don't have babies in their tummies only Mommies can have babies in their tummies. Thankfully that seemed to have cleared it all up for her.

Yesterday, I had a Doctor's appointment and had the kids all ready to go for my appointment. Hannah announced, "I'm going to be a Doctor when I grow up!"

Of course a sibling had to ask, "I thought you wanted to be a football player."

I came to her rescue though, "Ah, so are you going to be a football playing doctor?"

She just smiled. The picture above is one I took yesterday. Hannah wanted to wear her stethoscope to my Doctor's appointment. And I had to take a picture of her all dressed up to go.