not-so-wordless Wednesday

It's homecoming week!

Remember homecoming week? Pajama day, backward clothing day and orange and blue day stick out in my memory.

Seems that all the schools get in on the fun around here, not just the highschool. So far, Caleb has participated in Super Hero day and Crazy Hat day.

Guess what today was?

Come on, guess......

mismatch day.

Okay, this is the kid that at LEAST twice a week, without fail, has to be persuaded to make a return trip to his room for clothing that doesn't look like this.

this day was permitted, since it was apparently the best that he could dig up.

But this morning, he comes down in a black pair of pants and a yellow shirt with a monster truck on it. When I asked him about it, he said, "Mom, I'm wearing black. Nothing goes with black."

Imagine the despair on his face when I told him that no, everything goes with black. At least when one has the fashion sense of a seven year old.

Thankful Tuesday!

I have to tell you- I am overflowing with thankfulness.

Some day, I will have the patience to type it out and time to tell you the story of how I started out in this life. It's a pretty incredible story of how God always knows what he's doing.

From the minute we enter the world, and all through our lives, He has a plan for us.

We can't always see where He's leading us, but we are given the ability to look back at situations and see His hand.

And that's amazing!

I am thankful for my friends. Nothing is quite as good a reminder of just how much they have each enriched my life as having my birthday yesterday. I was blessed by so many of my friends who wished me well yesterday- it does this girl's heart good. Some of them I only know online, and some I haven't been regularly in touch with since high school, but I am blessed to know each one.

I am so thankful for my parents. They are real-life examples of Christ. They've been together an awful long time and compliment each other in amazing ways. I got an amazing voicemail from my Dad yesterday in which he sang "happy birthday" to me and then he started to cry as he told me how much it is that he is proud of me and he loves me. I started to cry while listening to the message, of course. And I immediately put in a return call to him to tell him that I loved him too. I love them both and am eternally grateful for all they have done for me.

And I am thankful for each of the members of my home. About every 5 minutes last night, Caleb would say "happy birthday, mommy". On Sunday, he mentioned to me that he thought that he, Matthew and Daddy should get me a present. When I told him that this year, he was my present, he wanted to know if we had any boxes. When I asked him why, he said that he wanted a box so that he could get in it and I could open it and he would be my present. It made me chuckle and melted my heart all at the same time.

Can I tell you how thankful I am that Christ died for me? That even if I were the only one, he would have given His life, just for me. That He has paid the penalty so that I don't have to? That He rose again and calls me His child? Amazing, incredible, awesome stuff, I tell ya!

What are YOU thankful for today?

proof

I have to admit, I've been having some denial.

Till now, I've refused to acknowledge that our firstborn is growing up, right before our eyes. Sort of the "I don't feel older, how can HE be older" thing.

He and I spent a portion of Saturday working on an assignment for his Communication Arts class. That's English class for you old-timers. He was to compose a picture timeline of his life, from birth to present day.

He enjoyed going through the pictures and I enjoyed the little trip down memory lane.

Please allow me to share some of my favorites with you.....

This is the first day that we brought him home.


He loves spaghetti. One of us was always on kitchen clean-up and one on kid clean-up afterwards. (taken just after his first birthday)


Here he is on his second birthday.


He is more than ready for Kindergarten, just 2 days before he turned 6!


By Christmas 2005, he's already NINE years old!


And here he is, starting 5th grade....


And then just 2 months ago, as he was looking forward to starting 7th grade and becoming a TEENAGER!


Needless to say, but you know me, I will anyway.....this project was humbling for me. Whether I admit it or not, he's growing up. It's exciting and scary at the same time, but I'm ready for whatever the future brings!

I hope.

Six Word Saturday!

It's time for Six Word Saturday everybody! This carnival is hosted by the blogger at Call Me Cate! Just hit the button below for more info on how to get in on the fun!

My six words:

It's fall.....please don't mention Christmas!

Flashback Friday!

Here's the pitch......

He swings.....

Fly ball to right field....

Seventh inning stretch....


Now, there's a rookie at the plate, folks.....


Play ball!

they say it's your birthday

September seems to be quite the jackpot month for birthdays. In addition to one of my children, my BIL, my MIL, one of my sisters-in law (sister-in-laws?), my grandpa and two nieces, September means birthday for several of my friends.

It seems that not a day goes by without my friendly little Facebook reminder that I need to wish someone a "happy birthday!"

Did I mention that my birthday is in there too? I didn't? Well it is.

Which brings me to the subject of gifts.

My husband is always badgering me (to use a Big10 term, haha) about what I want for a gift. And when it comes down to it, I don't really want anything. Except for maybe a nice, quiet, child-free dinner with him at the place famous for "endless shrimp" this time of year.

Really.

My in-laws are purchasing some gladiolus for the front yard. Recently, I found out from my mom that they were our Grandpa Nichols' favorite flower. I think they're really pretty, so I have a place for some in the front yard. My parents and my Grandparents will send me money, which I am sure I will spend on necessities like clothing, books and Starbucks grande caramel frappuccino with the whip.

Yay.

But when it comes down to it, I have all I need and I really have been blessed with much. I have awesome family, great friends, a comfortable home and plenty to eat. And at my age, which is noneofyourbusiness, thankyouverymuch, my birthday is a chance to reflect on just that.

With some cheddar bay biscuits and maybe some snow crab legs thrown in. And a Diet Coke.

Wordless Wednesday-the waitin' is the hardest part

Thankful Tuesday!

Today I am thankful~

-that we are all well, and both boys were able to get back to school this week. Nothing crazier than one sick at home one week and the other sick the next.

-for our church family. They prayed extra hard for us the last couple of weeks and we felt it.

-for my Dad's successful surgery and recovery. Also, that he was able to get back to work this week!

-for the bounty of my sister-in-law's garden. She shared with us some tasty veggies that we are still able to enjoy.

-for the rain. Yep, it's cold and gloomy outside, but it also means that I don't have to remember to purposefully get out and water the plants.

-for fall in the air. Nothing I like more than this time of year. God's beautiful handiwork is evident everywhere and we have college football! GO BLUE!

- for my husband. With my pain issues over the last couple of weeks, he has really picked up the slack around here. I am grateful to have him by my side.

What are YOU thankful for today?!?

Flashback Friday! Distractions captured by Grandpa

"Caleb, can I take your picture?"

huh, what's this?

"Caleb, can you look at me?"
if I put my hand in here....

"Caleb, can you look at me?"
"Excuse me, Grandpa. What'd you say?"

"Can you smile for me?"
Cheeeese!

"That's perfect, thank you, Caleb."

Giveaway!

Emily over at The Lamb Family is hosting a giveaway with Becky's Bows N More.
Here is your chance to enter to win a cute product from Becky's blog. The value will be up to $6 for any one product on her blog. So if you have a daughter, niece, granddaughter, or neighbor who would look cute with a new hair bow or other product then this giveaway is for you.

There are several ways to enter, just head over and see!

Giveaway will end Sunday night at 11:59PM with a winner announced on Monday, September 21.

You asked, I answered- the finale

***Before we get to the post for today, please pray for E over at The Mommy Diaries and for her dad today. He's having prostate cancer surgery in MN this morning. Circumstances being what they are, she cannot be with him and her mom today, and naturally she's a bit anxious. Pray that the surgery goes well and that E's heart will be calmed, knowing that God is in control and He has what's best for her dad near His heart. Thanks!***

You might remember that in July, I asked my faithful readers if there was any burning question that they wanted to ask. There were a few, and they were good ones.

If you are interested in my husband's and my "love story" go here.

The reasons behind why we moved to this tiny village are all revealed in this post.

Dying to know if we plan to add to our clan? See that story here.

So, for a finale of sorts, my irl friend E over at The Mommy Diaries asked:

"Ok, friend, payback time.... If money and time were no object, what would YOU do?"


I deserved that. Really I did. I had asked her the same question and she answered it beautifully. So now I guess it's my turn.

Drumroll please......

Time AND money? Interesting.

Well, first of all, Jon and I would travel to Canada to meet his extended family. I have heard many a story about several of his uncles (his dad is the fifth child of ten; God bless that woman!) and would really like to spend time with them. Jon's mom has some big plan in the works for a "family wide" trip to Canada next summer, but I'm not really sure that's going to work out for us. So, time and money being no object might be the only what that would ever happen.

Second, we'd travel to England. Jon's mother was born there and both of her sisters live there. Jon's auntie Margaret came to the states in the summer of 2002. She is a really sweet woman and we had an incredible time getting to know her. Caleb shares her birthday, by the way. Not to mention, of course, that there is so much that I have always wanted to see in London. We'd get to do that too! Jon also has cousins who have spouses and children that we'd love to meet!

We'd pay off this house, for sure. And hire someone to get it exactly the way we always wanted. Maybe doing some of the work ourselves, for the satisfaction of doing the work; but the hard stuff we'd hire out. I'd start with the kitchen; recessed lighting, new cabinets, laminate flooring, matching appliances. Big plans, I tell ya.

Jon would want to buy a motor home and travel the US. I can get behind that. Jon's never been west of the Twin Cities, so there are several destinations that we have talked about. Of course, not all of them are west of there, some are east. LOL

I take my Mom to Gettysburg. She's always wanted to go there and hasn't had the opportunity yet. So I'd fly her here (which is about a 45 min flight, by the way) and we'd fly there. And I'm sure that we'd have a great time. Of course, I'd take any time with my mom, we wouldn't have to do a thing. Just sitting and talking over coffee is good enough for me. And if time and money were no object, I'd just go up to her house and do just that; handing her some money to pay off the mortgage so that she could "retire" and stay home to chat, of course.

While it's fun to dream of things we'd like to do if we had all the time and money in the world, I'm humbly blessed with what I have and that's good enough for me!

What would YOU do?

Wordless Wednesday- You're turning violet, Violet!

round two

Sometimes being a parent is awesome. I loved when the boys were small and they would run up to me, put their chubby little arms around my leg and say "I wuve you, Mama".

I have beamed with pride at every band concert. At the first one, I even cried. Thankfully, no one noticed but Jon and he understands; he knows that half the time, I can't even help crying at commercials.

But sometimes being a parent is hard. It's scary, it sucks and I don't like it.

If you read here regularly, and THANK YOU!, you know that over recent days, we had some trouble with Caleb medically. Scary, really scary, trouble. Which, as you know, resulted in him missing the entire week of school last week. He was seen by his pediatrician on Thursday and cleared to reenter the world yesterday.

Imagine my joy when Matthew started complaining of not feeling well on Friday. And I called my Mom in frustration (and for advice) on Friday evening to tell her that Matthew's temp was 101.8 and "what in the world do we do now?" She advised me to keep an eye on him and have him see the doctor if he wasn't fever free once the weekend was over.

So, you guessed it. Yesterday after my physical therapy appointment at 10am, I had a follow-up with our family doctor at 12:30, and as wonders would have it, I could get Matthew into the 12:45 slot for the day.

Yep. Knowing that Caleb tested positive for Influenza A the previous week, the doctor advised that Matthew be out of school this week. For the ENTIRE week. Since, you know, they are trying to keep the flu from spreading and this is really the only way to do it.

After the doctor's office, we hit McDonald's drive thru and headed home. I dropped him off at home and then continued on to his school to turn in the doctors note and make the request to pick up his assignments.

That poor secretary. When I mentioned to her that Matthew was out, she asked me why. As soon as she heard "infl....", she grabs a paper and a notebook and starts asking me questions.

"Every case, even probable ones, need reported to the county", she told me.

After just the general questions, she put her head in her hands and sighed. Apparently I wasn't the only one that day to bring that news into the building.

Oh boy!

cheer

Do you like sports? Do you have a favorite team (or two)?

I sure do.

Yesterday, in sunday school, our leader asked if there were any prayer needs that needed lifted to the Lord.

(Isn't it good that God already knows the details of even the unspoken requests?)

I just mentioned the good report that my Dad received from pathology last Friday. If you and I are facebook friends, I'm sure you'd already seen.

What? Oh, sorry, the report from pathology is that Dad is cancer free!

(psssst,come on ahead and be my facebook friend anyway!)

One of the gentleman that was sitting in class was a visitor, but we know him from various church functions that our denomination does over the course of the year. He pointed out that there was a general "oh, that's great, praise the Lord" mumble about the room.

But shouldn't we cheer?

Shouldn't we want to stand up and shout when God does miraculous things? Shouldn't we want to praise Him in a fashion fitting the situation?

I certainly was, following Friday mornings phone call.

But why don't we? Is it really that looked down upon to yell "Amen!" and lift our hands? If it is, it shouldn't be.

Don't we give everything we have to cheer on sports teams? I sure do. I'm guilty of getting TOO into games sometimes. I cheer and scream and cover my eyes in anticipation of a "clutch kick" to win the game.

Why isn't that our first reaction to the great things that our God can do?

But you'll love this.

One of the other gentlemen pointed out that maybe the reason we cheer for sports and not for God is because we expect God to do the impossible.

Sports teams are human and it's exciting to see them do the "impossible".

But nothing, and I mean NOTHING, is too big for God.

And that deserves a CHEER!

Six Word Saturday!

It's that time again! Six Word Saturday!

Wanna join in the fun? Just click the button below!

My entry this week:

Dad's cancer free! Praise the Lord!

Just for laughs

The wisdom of Larry the cable guy......

1. A day without sunshine is night.

2. On the other hand, you have different fingers.

3. 42.7 percent of all statistics are made up on the spot.

4. 99 percent of lawyers give the rest a bad name.

5. Remember, half the people you know are below average.

6. He who laughs last, thinks slowest.

7. Depression is merely anger without enthusiasm.

8. The early bird may get the worm, but the second mouse gets the cheese in the trap.

9. Support bacteria. They're the only culture some people have.

10. A clear conscience is usually the sign of a bad memory.

11. Change is inevitable, except from vending machines.

12. If you think nobody cares, try missing a couple of payments.

13. OK, so what's the speed of dark?

14. When everything is coming your way, you're in the wrong lane.

15. Hard work pays off in the future. Laziness pays off now.

16. How much deeper would the ocean be without sponges?

17. Eagles may soar, but weasels don't get sucked into jet engines.

18. What happens if you get scared half to death, twice?

19. Why do psychics have to ask you your name?

20. Inside every older person is a younger person wondering, 'What the heck happened?'

21. Just remember -- if the world didn't suck, we would all fall off.

22. Light travels faster than sound. That's why some people appear bright until you hear them speak.

23. Life isn't like a box of chocolates. It's more like a jar of jalapenos. What you do today, might burn your butt tomorrow.

Blessed are the Cracked, For they are the ones who let in the light.

vice

vice: an evil action or habit.

I have a love for certain types of "reality" television. Nope, not Survivor. Not even so much American Idol.

Definitely Top Chef. More specifically, Top Chef- Las Vegas, airing right now on Bravo.

Last night for the elimination challenge, the chefs were to create a dish based around a vice that they have in their lives.

What does that mean to you?

To me, it means something that I do that is bad for me, and I know it's bad for me and I do it anyway.

Several of the chefs last night took that to mean the same way I did. One chef's vice was smoking, so he created a dish that had a smoked steak. (He was eliminated from the competition at the end, by the way.) Other chefs used things like bourbon in their dishes.

What is my vice, you ask? Okay, you didn't, but humor me.

Diet Coke, without a doubt. Not the trendy stuff with lime, or the cherry variety, but good old Diet Coke. Although, I will admit to being crazy about Diet Vanilla Coke when it was out! Anyone??

Some weeks are better than others. This week, with Dad having cancer surgery 400+ miles away and then all that has been happening this last few days with Caleb medically, I have a problem.

Last Thursday, when I met a friend in town for breakfast, I had stopped by the store on my way out of town. Whadda ya know, but cases of Coke products were on sale. Knowing the price I pay for a 12-pack in the town nearest to me, I grabbed one case of coke for Jon and 2 cases of Diet Coke for me. (I go through it faster than he does, based solely on the fact that right now, I'm home all day.)

Looking in the refrigerator this morning, I discovered that there were three, yep, three, cans of Diet Coke there. So, naturally, I went out to the garage to get the other case out of the van.

Coming back into the house, it hit me.

I had consumed three cans short of an entire case in seven days. While I know that it isn't evil, I do know that it isn't very good on my body to consume quite so much.

Yikes.

But I had to smile when last week, I saw this Diet Coke commercial. Who stars in it, but Tom Colicchio, head judge on Top Chef.


Yay!

And the other thing that made me smile? They've gone back to the slogan that they had when I was a kid. "Just for the taste of it"

It could be worse, right?

stop the ride

Sorry for my blogging absence. This post will explain.

Friday morning when he woke up, Caleb complained of a headache and said his feet hurt. I kissed his forehead, which is a tried and true method to check for fever, in case you didn't know, found none, but gave him a dose of tylenol and sent him to school.

When he got off the bus Friday, I asked him how he felt and he said "fine". But as evening wore on, he was dragging and by bedtime, fever was present.

Saturday starts out typical. We check Caleb for fever and find that it is just low-grade at that point. We dose him up and Jon and I go out for breakfast. I called Dad while we were gone just to see how he was feeling (he was doing fairly okay) and then we headed home.

Most of Saturday, Caleb runs some low fever and just kind of flops on the couch. We've seen it before, so no alarm; we're just keeping an eye on him.

After supper on Saturday night, Matthew and I are upstairs watching tv, Jon is at the computer and Caleb on the couch. Jon heads for the kitchen to get some ice cream and (later, he tells me) while he's in the kitchen, hears a noise that he can't place. He comes out to find Caleb seizing on the couch.

From upstairs, I hear him calling Caleb's name, but it's not in a tone any different than he uses when he's scolding Caleb for teasing the cat. So, I don't think anything of it, til he calls my name, of course. And at this point I'm thinking "good grief, what in the world?!?!"

When I get downstairs and see what's going on, he hollers "call 911!" Of course, I do. Two first responders show up; I stay outside. I discover that I can't reach my mom from that phone, as her number isn't programmed into it and my cell is inside. So I called a friend from church.

Medics show up what seems like an eternity later, although it was probably less than 5 or 6 minutes, there is a gurney with my little boy on it and at this point, he's at least responsive, so that's good. I was scared to death. The paramedic told me that febrile seizures are common, which I told my MIL later that "that may be, but it's scary **** when it's your kid".

We spent almost 4 hours at the hospital. A rapid test for Influenza type A came back positive and his fever was 102.3 at the ER. He had a couple of chest xrays which were negative and around 10:30pm he fell asleep.

My friend that I had called and her husband drove almost 2 hours one way to get to the hospital to be with Jon and me. And our pastor and his wife came too. They all stayed til around midnight and we were discharged just before 1am.

Being that Caleb tested positive for Influenza A; all the rest of us have been on a preventative dose of Relenza to keep us from getting it. Oh, and quarantine, which was a great time. The ER doc said that if none of the rest of us were symptomatic by Monday, we could resume normal activities today. Everyone but Caleb, of course. He needs to finish his Relenza and then be seen by his pediatrician before he can get back to school. That'll be Friday at the soonest. And the kicker? he had to have picked it up from school. School, the bus, and home were LITERALLY the only places he was last week. Gah!

It was Matthew's 13th birthday on Sunday and he spent it in the house, taking medicine so that he didn't get ill like his brother. Good times.

Yesterday he didn't have much fever, but he was sick to his stomach and today the fever is back. I'm not so good at this part of parenting. I want my Mommy.

Oh, and just in case you wondered; he WAS tested for "swine flu" but that test had to go to the state lab, which is totally backed up, so it could still be days before we know for sure whether this was it.

And Amanda's mom passed away just before 4:00 this morning. Please pray for Amanda and for her family.

Dad's doing well. Missing his routine and itching to get back to work. And he's not cleared to return to work until the 21st. Surgery went well and there's no reason to suspect that all of the cancer was not removed.

Thank you so much for your prayers, friends!

Flashback Friday

prayer

I had another post written and scheduled to post, and then something was brought to my attention.

My college roommate, Amanda, and her family need your prayers right now. Her mom is not doing well and hospice has been called in; no one is sure of the amount of time she has left. Pray that she finds relief from pain and that the family can have comfort in these hours. There are several small grandchildren in the family who don't really understand what's going on.

And then my Dad is scheduled for prostate surgery this afternoon at 1:30 EST. He and Mom were both planning to go to work a bit this morning and then he will pick her up and head to the hospital for 11:30EST.

Pray that the surgeon will be able to preserve as much of the prostate as he can, while also being able to get all of the cancer. And for Mom, that she will be at peace while she waits out the surgery.

God is good, and He knows best.

Thanks, friends!

Wordless Wednesday- Yesterday's obligatory first day "waiting for the bus pics"

music expresses it best

Happy first day of school!