Randomness

Three reasons why I voted early for "LIFE"---Stephen, Matthew and Elizabeth.

Join me in praying for revival for our nation. I pray that next Tuesday our nation is shocked by the winner and that the polls and the liberal media are proved WRONG! If not, then I pray that Obama has a "come to Jesus meeting" and that he realizes that life truly does begin at conception and that it's not "above his pay grade" to know that. Search the Scriptures, it's clear. It's not open for debate.

We are surprising our kids with a trip to Disney for Christmas if Mrs. Claus can keep her mouth quiet. Santa however will have no problem because he could very easily take a secret to his grave. Seriously, he could work for the Secret Service or be a spy and no one would ever know. We're not going to tell them until we pick them up from school and then there will be a "package" for them with clues. Not sure what all is going to be in there, but that's the plan. I'm so excited to surprise them. I hope they get excited when they find out, otherwise Mrs. Claus will be so disappointed.

The funny of the day....Last night, we were studying Matthew's spelling words for the night and he had both its and it's on the list. I was asking Derek if "its" without an apostrophe is really a word. We're having this discussion and I'm trying to think when you would use its in a sentence and Matthew says "62 is better than you". I'm looking at him like "What conversation are you having?" Then he says, "Mrs. W is 62 and she's knows. She's older than you. She's not wrong." I dropped the conversation, but was still perplexed. Well according to webster.com, Mrs. W. is correct and I'm wrong. I give you the vocabulary lesson of the day.

Main Entry:
its
Pronunciation:
\ˈits, əts\
Function:
adjective
Date:
circa 1507
: of or relating to it or itself especially as possessor, agent, or object of an action
going to its kennel, a child proud of its first drawings, its final enactment into law

To My Creative Friends

We're thinking about taking the kids to Disney the week before Christmas. This will be their Santa gift. (No, absolutely we normally don't spend this much money on Santa gifts...it's just a good deal and I've always wanted to go at Christmas time)

Any creative ideas about how they receive this gift early and that they shouldn't expect anything else from Santa except for stocking stuffers.

Leave me a comment if you have an idea.
Thanks!

Hooray, Hooray, It's Saturday!

I'm thankful today because

I got to sleep until 7 a.m.!

Derek is coming home from Nicaragua this afternoon. We have missed him terribly and can't wait to see him and hear about his trip!

God spared my dad's life this week. He had a mild heart attack this week and it could have been so much worse, but God still has plans for him here.

My parents are in a great Sunday School class at church. I saw church happen this week as the class poured out their love at the hospital, through phone calls, emails, etc. This is how the church family should function. They should love so deeply that when a church family member is hurting, they offer to come home early from their vacation if need be. As I watched this all unfold this week, it challenged me to make sure that I am loving others more than myself. Would I offer to come home early from vacation? Would I drop everything to run to the hospital to be there in time of need? The bar has been set high, but I can guarantee that my parents know they are loved and that this Sunday School class "did church" this week and that Christ is smiling down on them.

God creates families in all different kinds of ways. Through family, through church, through adoption. When God blessed us with Matthew and Elizabeth, he blessed us with incredible birth grandparents. Tears came to my eyes this week as my boys received cards and money from Ken and Jeanne. They were congratulating them on their baptisms. Let me just brag a few minutes on Ken and Jeanne (paternal birth grandparents). They have embraced our family...not just us, but Stephen as well. They consistently send cards to all three kids for each holiday. I don't think Jeanne ever misses one. My kids get so excited to receive this mail. I'm amazed at how God unites hearts. Sometimes it's people that you don't expect. Sometimes he uses a trial (infertility in our case) to bring incredible blessings. We are not just thankful for Stephen, Matthew and Elizabeth, but for the "extra family" that came with them. Thanks Ken and Jeanne! You're the best!

What are you thankful for today?

Pulling Weeds

***Update***
I have great parents! Guess who came by and aired up the wheelbarrow tire and took the lawnmower battery home to charge it? They did! I'm so thankful to have them living here in town!

Well, today I pulled weeds that have needed to come out since July...seriously. Some of the weeds were as tall as my waist. I'm sure the homeowner's assocation was close to sending us some kind of ordinance violation for overgrown flowerbeds.

Here are some lessons I learned.

• I got mad at Adam and Eve. If they would've made a better choice, there wouldn't be any weeds in my flower beds. Then I remembered that sometimes I make bad choices and it affects others.
• If God were to call Derek home to heaven anytime soon, I would be moving out of this house. The yard is too big and I can't handle the work. I don't know how to trim or edge and the lawnmower battery died and I have no clue what to do about that. Instead I pushed a riding lawnmower from my yard into the garage. The wheelbarrow tire needs air...not sure what to do about that either. Derek can deal with it later. (I know I sound completely helpless. I suppose I could google these items and figure out how to fix them, but then I wouldn't be able to whine about it)
• What is the purpose of picker weeds...is it just to remind us that Adam and Eve sinned?
• How in the world do you keep bermuda grass from taking over your flowerbeds? Seriously, if someone has an answer, please leave me a comment.
• My hair does not like damp, misty weather. It is very frizzy to say the least. I'm glad no one stopped by to visit.

On a more serious note, I really did learn two things while mowing the yard and pulling weeds today.

Sometimes, I let weeds grow in my spiritual life. I don't ask for forgiveness from my kids when I yell at them. I don't make things right immediately with my hubby after a disagreement, because I was right after all. He should be coming to me...really, that is just pride. Whether he's right or I'm right, the right thing to do is to make things right with one another. (Go see the movie Fireproof if you need a reminder just how important this is.) Sometimes I let a thought linger too long. Sometimes I covet my neighbor's house or car or vacation. Sometimes I'm jealous of someone's talents or gifts.

Then before I know it, the weeds have taken over and I can't even see any value in myself. I've lost focus and my identity in Christ is hidden by a forest full of weeds. So I bow the knee and admit my mistakes to God. He starts refining....pulling those weeds out of my life and sometimes it hurts. Just like sometimes I snap the root of my shrub because the weeds are intertwined in those roots, sometimes the refining hurts oh so much and I wish I would've never allowed the weeds in the first place. I hope that I'll remember the lesson and next time, I'll get rid of the weed immediately.

The other thing I learned is that sometimes you can't see the true person because of weeds. As I weeded my waist high weeds, I found a tomato plant that I had given up on. I figured it had died since I hadn't taken care of it...no water, no fertilizer, very little sun because it was hidden by weeds. Well, guess what, there were three beautiful ripe tomatoes on the vine. I picked them and Matthew will be very happy to have some tomatoes tonight. Sometimes I judge a book by it's cover. It's hard not to. I went to a college where the men all looked sharp. Collared shirts every day, pressed pants, dress shoes and their hair never touched their ears. So when I meet someone with long hair, earrings and tattoos all over their body, it just throws me for a loop. (I have issues, I know. Legalism...it's a post for another day) Anyway, one of the nicest guys I know has lots of tattoos. He loves Jesus and is an incredible guy. Another one, has earrings in both ears I think, and he loves Jesus a whole, whole lot. On the flip side, there are a lot of collared shirt wearing, earring free, tattoo free guys who don't love Jesus and I'll pick the one that loves Jesus over the one that doesn't. So, this is just a reminder not to judge a book by it's cover! When you pull back what you might think are weeds, you might be surprised at what you'll find!

"They Need to Come Out"

Those were the exact words from the ENT today. We got "official" word today that Elizabeth's tonsils need to come out. The surgery will be over Christmas break, since the doctor said the recovery would be 7-14 days of misery. You have to love that prognosis. He also told me that I would have to become the wicked witch because she has to drink lots of fluids and she's not going to cooperate. Lovely...how's that news to brighten your day?

But, it needs to be done. Her tonsils are huge...they have always been huge. I am not kidding either. Just take a look sometime if you're that interested, but I'll spare you the details of a picture on the blog. We can improve her quality of life by getting them removed...that means a better night's sleep for her and no snoring. :-) She already has a great life if you ask me. She's always the happiest in the family, she complains the least and has an incredibly high pain tolerance...that is unless you hurt her feelings.

If you have any advice about pre-op, post-op or tips on making kids drink plenty of liquids when they feel terrible and don't want to cooperate, let me know.

They Did It!!

Our boys were baptized on Sunday and there were no surprises! I say that because Matthew told Pastor Reagan a couple of months ago that he would do the backstroke when Reagan baptized him just to be funny. We explained to Matthew that there is a time to be funny, but your baptism is not one of those times. Thankfully, this time he listened to us. Derek and I were both nervous that he would decide to do something silly.

We're proud of our boys and our sweet friend Rachel! We hope that God blesses their lives beyond all that they can ask or think!

Love Notes

My kids like to give us notes/cards at random times...which is good I guess. I just sometimes wonder why they choose this method of communication rather than just telling us what they're thinking.

The funniest note ever given to me was from Stephen several years ago. It was a post-it on my pillow that I found when I went to bed. This is what it said, "Dear Mommy, You are mean. Love, Stephen" Several things are humorous about that. If someone is mean, I probably wouldn't refer to them as "dear" and I probably wouldn't sign the note "love". But he made his point. That day I wasn't mean (I probably am on some days). I was just being a mommy and he didn't like it.

Here's the note Derek and I received last night.


It's hard to read, so let me fill you in. "I was not the best I could be. To say sorry, I will (after I get home) turn all the socks inside out, and I will make your bed. And I promise I will bring my folder home."

This probably needs some explanation. We gave all the kids an illustration last night about how to take your socks off so that they're not turned inside out. (It's a pain when you do wash to turn all the socks right side out. Their wives will thank me someday. Thanks to Mom J. because I have probably never had to turn Derek's socks right side out) Anyway, why he's making our bed...who knows? But he did make it this morning for us. The folder issue...well, let's just say we have two absent minded boys that consistently forget to bring their school folders home. Also, notice that it's "from" Stephen this time instead of "love" Stephen. Is there a hidden message? Probably not.

Seriously, they all crack me up! The joys of being a parent!