One Hour At A Time

As all of us mothers know there are many nights that we don't get sleep. Usually this is very true when our children are very young and they've had a fever, cough, colic, or the flu. As our children get older it is easier for the most part. Tonight is one of those kinda nights that is a little harder. For the last week my family has been hit by some kind of flu bug. Tonight Brandon has woke up several times coughing, and Madeline has been up and in the bathroom most of the night. As any good mother does I've rubbed heads, backs, prepared cold wash cloths, refilled water cups, supplied fresh clothes, and held hair back when it was needed. Now as soon as I get them back to somewhat sleeping state I pray. As I'm praying for the youngest two I say a special prayer for the oldest and my new grandchild. It seems that the grandbaby is trying to come a little early. I pray for all of them until I get peace, and then I go back to rubbing heads, backs, etc. I share all of my business with you all to say...it's going to be okay. It's easier sometimes to hold your baby in your arms and rock them to sleep. Once they out grow your arms you hold their hand. Once they don't hold your hand you hold their hair. And once they out grow living with you you continue to hold their spot in your heart that connects you to them and continue to love and pray and be there...just as you always have.

The Sermon

I must share with you what's on my mind. As you all know me and Wendy went to hear Steve Payne preach this past Sunday. Normally you wouldn't hear much more from me about a sermon, however as I've quickly learned this week it wasn't just a sermon. He didn't give a regular Easter sermon. He gave my soul the food it needed. The presence of God was there and my soul desired that above all else. The message he preached has been with me all week, and that's food I can use. There are so many little details I could share with you on how this one service has changed my entire week, but for now I'll hold on to those details. I thank God that I went on Sunday, and I thank Him even more for being there with me.

Easter Part 4

Heather & Casey...new and exciting. Heather has such a glow about her right now. She only has 12 weeks to go before the baby arrives. Being pregnant has so many challenges and they live so far away I was so blessed to get to see them for Easter. They made that trip, and for that I'm grateful. They even brought each of the kids an Easter basket. She is so thoughtful. It's easy for me to see Maddie & Bub growing up at the stages they are in. Heather growing up at the stage she is in is leaps and bounds every time I see her. I get to see the woman she is growing into. I thank God for letting me be a part of her life.

Easter Part 3

Wendy & Dave. They worked extremely well today with each other and the kids. You won't hear me saying this much....but these two made things look easy today. They run a tight ship with the kids and they both knew how and where their ship was going today.

Easter Part 2

My children and Easter...beautiful. My kids are so wonderful. They each have their own personalities and it really shows during the holidays. They both wanted to look nice for church today, but still wanted to be themselves. That translates to no pastel colors. They still get Easter baskets and hunt for eggs but it's not quite the same as it use to be. They now say thank you for everything they get. They did very well in church today. There was no Sunday school, but Miss Molly did give Brandon a coloring book and crayons to help with grown up service. Steve preached an excellent message that was an Easter sermon that was different in the best way possible. Dinner went very well, and the kids behaved good. Maddie is getting to that stage that she is a huge help, and she got to spend time visiting with the kids and adults.

Easter 2008

Happy Easter!! I have so much to say about this Easter that I will be making separate posts with separate pictures for each of my topics. Mom made dinner this year and did a fabulous job. She cooked all day while we left for church. She did everything all by herself. My hats off to her for a lovely day. Mom tries so hard with each and every one of us, even if we don't always appreciate it. I love you mom and appreciate the effort you go through for all of us.

Holidays

Easter is almost here. I'm looking forward to spending quality time with the family, and welcoming spring. The children have gotten older and are trying to bargain for their baskets early. Brandon is also trying to negotiate his Easter outfit for church on Sunday. As with every holiday we go over the reason we celebrate it. As the kids get older these conversations get deeper and deeper. It is a great time to talk about God and answer questions that they have. This is always followed by having to look up answers in the Bible. They start having some of their own ideas and interpret passages sometimes different than I would. There isn't the magic that their once was, but what it is replaced with is still such a great gift. Have a Happy Easter and enjoy family.

VCD Update

I thought I'd give the latest update to Madeline's Vocal Cord Dysfunction. She has done a great job during gym class. She says it is fairly easy compared to basketball season. She has gym everyday for almost a hour. Instead of softball this year she wanted to try track & field. She may try a women's softball league over the summer or go to several of the basketball camps they are offering. Anyway the track & field is something entirely new to her so she thought she'd give it a try. I contacted the coach prior to the start of the season to give her a heads up on Madeline's condition. As usual with these school coaches I had to leave a message with no return call made back to me. The coach did talk to Maddie though. Maddie gave a brief overview of her condition. She tries to down play the VCD so the coach would let her do more. (I don't understand kids sometimes.) She has struggled a little with her VCD and track. The coach is letting her set her own pace during the conditioning practices. She is complaining about being light headed on some of the longer distance runs. (We are keeping an eye on this and writing it down in her journal) Her doctor appointments are going really well. She was hooked up to this stress breathing test thingy last week. He showed her how her breathing controlled the 'stress'. She loves the fact that she can control this. I had already read online the technique, but the doctor was able to explain why this worked and why this was so important to her. He even had me try this. Believe it or not it was harder than the diagram made it look.

The Program

Last night was Brandon's fifth grade music program. They did the opera 'Carmen'. The school actually had performers from the Cleveland Opera come in to perform with the children. I really enjoyed it personally, however my family didn't feel the same. The adults did more performing than the kids which was a real bummer. For any of you that has been to kids plays you will notice that there are a few that get the good parts and my kids are usually part of the chorus anyway so again it was fine for me. Brandon played the part of a street urchin. He was the cleanest street urchin there was. He really enjoyed the play, but is quick to agree with family members that the play wasn't the best it could have been. Last night before he went to bed though he asked if I wanted to hear more songs he learned from the play, and I listened.

Imaginary Camera

I forgot my camera today when we went to Cleveland. It was a beautiful day. Me and Maddie spend the day taking pictures of things we liked with our imaginary camera. It was so much fun. She even said 'cheese' and took one of herself. Days like today may not have the pictures to back them up, but it will always be etched in our minds. Even she said how much fun she had. Imagination doesn't stop when you are a child it continues to grow with you. How are you going to use your imagination today?

Having Fun

We had a little fun with the snow this afternoon. We mixed water and food coloring in a spray bottle & water bottle and the boys went out to paint in the snow. It was perfectly safe for the environment, and it broke up all the white out my kitchen window. I loved the boys creations very much.

Blizzard & A Bird

Yes that's right it's a bird. I walked outside and could barely see for all the wind blowing the snow around, but I heard a bird singing. I looked around and way up high in the tree was this bird. I can only hope that the bird was trying to tell me spring is so close now.

Loving The Blizzard Cooking

Mom headed over to our house after work yesterday evening and is stuck trapped indoors with us now. Mom can't sit still for very long, so today she is looking for things to do. She started our morning off with Gravy & Biscuits!! I love these and since I don't know how to cook them I have to wait for someone to fix them. Today was my lucky day!! She is getting ready to work on some baked goodies next.

Blizzard

I think the bottom picture is one of the best pictures of Brandon ever!!! He loves the snow even in a blizzard. We had our blizzard warning out all morning. I've got some great stories and pictures to add throughout the day. Don't forget to check out Brandon's video. I loved it.

Bub's Forecast of The Backyard

Emily Jade

Emily Jade! Yes I borrowed a picture from her website to post for this segment. I am having Emily withdraw lately. My little voice of reason has returned back into the work force for the last two weeks, and she is still keeping up her old schedule too. She has a great job that she is happy about, and I'm very happy for her. However, I miss her terribly. I have found myself saying well Em would tell me this or that. If you are reading this Em I miss you.

Green Kiss

My new favorite kiss!! These are great. They are dark chocolate kisses with mint inside of them. They are a special kind for St. Patricks Day. I knew you all would deeply appreciate my new finding so I thought I'd share them with you. Now according to the new research out dark chocolate is suppose to be better for you than milk chocolate, but I'm sure in a few years they will come out with why dark chocolate is bad for us. So in the mean time I'm going to enjoy it.

A+

I attended a baby shower for my cousin today. Maybe I don't get out enough, but this shower was remarkable. It was very classy. My hat goes off to Danielle for creating a lovely party for her sister Jona. The atmosphere was devine, the food delicious, and the company was great. Jona looked so happy so glowing and isn't that what bringing a baby into the world for the first time does to a new mom. Madeline went with me and that is all she has talked about all afternoon. She appreciates food, and when it is displayed well she appreciates that even more. I was running short on time, and took Brandon with me. Brandon was a little out of his element, but still enjoyed himself. He appreciates detail like
Sienna, so he noticed how everything matched. He was impressed. I had a lovely time today. That was one of the best baby showers I've ever been to.

The Joys of Snow & Children

I had the girls over last night. I can not begin to tell you how special they are to me. They add a new dimension to our family in such a great way. Sienna has such an eye for detail, she doesn't forget a thing. This little four year old was giving me advice on how I should arrange my furniture, and I think she may be on to something. Sierra is still an extension of my children. This one knows where everything is, and has her own area of the house or what she thinks should be her area. Brandon and Sierra act more like brother and sister sometimes than cousins. Now let me explain picture two. Sienna didn't have snow boots with her, and she didn't want to get her shoes wet. So....she had Maddie carry her when there was too much snow. Now Maddie must have been tracking through some heavier snow, because she was carrying Sienna like a sack of potatoes. I yelled out the window to carry her better right after I took a picture. Sienna came in shortly after due to it being too cold. (You know she's a little bit like her Mommy wanting to be in tropical temperatures all the time.)