86 years...

Aaron's grandma died today.
A year and a half after his grandpa died.
He was able to say good-bye to his grandpa...not so with his grandma. This was out of the blue.
She had been doing alright.
86 years...60 years of marriage....7 kids....and too many grandkids and great-grandkids to count.
Aaron spent every summer of his childhood there.
I LOVED hearing the stories she would tell about Aaron.
How they were walking back from the point....a 7 mile hike I think...she told him not to take off his shoes because he would have to walk back and get them if he left them...he left them...back he went.
She would tell me how he would always sit close to the garbage disposal so that he could slip his veggies down the sink.
The time that she made Aaron make his bed and he cried because it was too hard. She made him make that bed and by the end they were both crying.
He LOVED her bread and blueberry pies.,,I'll try but I know that they'll never be as good as hers.
She always made sure that I could eat what she was fixing so that my stomach wouldn't be upset.
What a wonderful lady. We know that she is happy up there with her husband.
Maybe the two of them are having coffee and blueberry pie with my grandpa.

The Lord's Day...

First...a few reminders to myself...

The other day we were sitting in the living room playing on the floor and Max was crashing his cars together like all boys do. I hear him say to himself,
"Crashing trains sold separately. Batteries not included."

At dinner the other night Max was trying to think of a movie title. He had seen the preview on tv or a picture of the characters somewhere and was trying to tell his daddy about it. He had that puzzled look on his face telling us that "doggonit, I know the title I just can't think of it".
Finally, he looked at me and said, "Momma, what's the name of that movie with the animals?"
I replied, "I don't know which one you're talking about honey".
He looks back at me like I'm crazy...
"Yea, Momma...you know it, the one from the creators of Shrek."
"Oh!!!!" And of course since he threw that in there I knew he was talking about Madagascar.
You should have heard my 2 kiddos trying to pronounce that one!

I am so grateful for our children's Sunday School program, as well as our own.
The other day I was singing "Jesus Loves Me" to Maggie. (Bless her heart...when I sing to her she looks at me like I have the most beautiful voice of anyone on the planet).
When I was about halfway thru the song, Molly comes running into the room, puts her hands on her hips and says, "Momma, that is my song from my school with Mr. Freddie and Ms. Shirley".
Sassiness aside...I'm just am praising Jesus that she knows who He is.
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Once again, our Bible Study this morning seemed to be just for Aaron and I...especially Aaron.
"Assessing One's Lifework" was the topic of our study this morning.
How blessed we are to have Bill in front of us sending the Lord's message directly to us. No matter where our future takes us, I will ALWAYS believe that the Lord send us to Kentucky, if for no other reason, then to become friends with the people that He placed right in our path. I believe that He lights and clears our paths, but also positions others on that path just for us.
How Great is Our God!!!

We moved from our Bible Study in the worship hour.

Aaron and I just looked at each other when we opened our worship folders and saw that the title of the message was "There Must Be More". He preached on Haggai 2:1-9
In this scripture the Lord says,
"Be strong, all you people of the land, and work. For I am with you....And my spirit remains among you. Do not fear.....In a little while I will once more shake the heavens and the earth, the sea and the dry land. I will shake all nations, and the desired of all nations will come, and I will fill this house with glory....The glory of this present house will be greater than the glory of the former house...And in this place I will grant peace."

Our pastor spoke on disappointment and discouragement. That God wants more for us than those 2 things. There is one of 2 things we can do when faced with disappointment and/or are discourage.
We can either give up and say this is all there is and live out your life like that OR you can move forward and try to make to make it better.
First...DESIRE for something more. Don't just be status quo (which was the subject of last week's sermon). It's not all bad to be disappointed because it means that you desire something more...something better.
Second...EMBRACE the hope of something more
Be strong...DO NOT FEAR. Don't give into disappointment. Our relationship with Christ should be a source of hope for us when we are faced with disappointment.
Thirdly...HIS spirit is within us. We are a temple of God. What an honor!!!
He will deal with the disappointment with in us. He is in all things if we just look.
Lastly...the PROMISE for something more. Grab a hold of God's promise...let go of the disappointment. Our pastor told the story of a little girl who got her hand stuck in a vase that held a lot of sentimental value. They tried every which way to get her hand out of that vase. Finally, they had to smash the vase in order to free her. When they broke the vase, they saw that the little girl's hand was balled up into a fist. She opened her hand and saw that she had been clenching onto a penny. Holding onto that worthless stuff crushes our relationship with our Lord. Let go of that disappointment and allow God to work within you.
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Lord, thank you for being my Tower, Upholding me always...even if I'm not aware of you, being the Vinedresser, and being Wonderful. I praise you for sending me your messengers. You are doing amazing work in me through them. Thank you for blessing all of my days...especially this day. Forgive me when I do not recognize your nudgings. I ask that you be with my family this coming week. Please let your will be known to us. Be with all of those that need your comforting and upholding. I know that there are many Lord.
It's in your precious and Holy name I pray....
Amen

Funny little bits...

"For unto you is born a savior" Luke 2:11
That was Max's AWANA verse for this week. The way he says it,

"Hold on to you was born a savior. Luke 2:11"

I ask him who his savior is. He replies,
"Jesus".

That's all I wanted to hear.

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This afternoon the kids were trying to work hard on cleaning their room, but like their mother when they come across something interesting they'll sit there forever looking at it. (No wonder Aaron gets after me when it takes me FOREVER to clean out old stuff...can't help myself.)
Anyhoo...
Molly heard a car pull up. She looked out the window and started to carry on a conversation with our neighbor, Ms. Tracy.

Ms. Tracy: "Whatcha doin up there Molly?"

Molly: "We're cleanin up our room to get McQueen macaroni & cheese."

Ms. Tracy: "That sounds like a great idea."

Molly: "Of course that sounds like a great idea."

And off she went cleaning.

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Max went last week to get his 4 year old shots. Aaron took him and I told him to buy him anything he wanted afterwards. I know that the shots are for his own good, but still. I think that I offered him a gift because I was too chicked to take him myself.
He was very brave and got a cool toy out of it. He was fine by the time he got home, but when I asked him about it he immediately turned on his sad face. He told me that the nurse hurt him with "those nails". I explained to him that those were not nails that they are syringes and those shots give us medicine to keep us safe. Off he went playing with his cool new toy.
Anyhow, tonight after Awana he was WIRED. And just like a light switch he turned again. On the way home something must have triggered the memory of getting his shots a week and a half ago. He told me again how that nurse hurt him with those nails. I told him that once upon a time Nana had to take me to get shots just like him.

He said, "Momma did you cry like me?"
"Yes, I did."
"Did Nana buy you a cool toy?"
"Yep, Nana would take me to buy a new coloring book and brand new crayons."

Lately, Max has been asking me about my feelings. Why I am angry (which breaks my heart) Why I am goofy? Why I am sad?
Didn't I just bring him home? Wasn't he just sleeping on my chest? Wasn't he just crawling everywhere?
When did he start reciting Bible verses????

God's servants....

What an honor it is to be one of our Holy Lord's servants. He wants me to be a light for Him. Little ol me gets the great honor of working for our Lord Jesus Christ.

In my Sunday night Bible class we are studying the book, Pray with Purpose, Live with Passion by Debbie Williams. We are studying the Lord's attributes A through Z. Today we talked about our Lord being a Just Lord, King of Kings, and the Lord being our Light in darkness.

A few notes that I don't want to forget:

Help me to be merciful to those that wrong me, just like God has shown me mercy & grace when I screw up.

I don't have to worry about getting vengance...God will take care of the sins of others. I don't have to worry about that. Just let God take care of it.

When I deserve it the least is when He is most merciful.

Micah 6:8 "But he's laready made it plain how to live, what to do, what God is loking for in men and women. It's quite simple: Do what is fair and just to your neighbor, be compassionate and loyal in your love, and don't take yourself too seriously - take God seriously."

Deuteronomy 32:4

The Rock: His works are perfect, and the way he works is fair and just; A God you can depend upon, no exceptions, a straight-arrow God.

God cares about our joy. He is FAR WISER than us on what will bring us joy!!!

Real joy is found in His service.

We can pray BIG because we have a great big King to listen.

God gave me His children for a season. I must raise them according to His standards, not mine. I must pray to Him to give me guidance.

"We have no light in and of ourselves. He ignited us with His spirit so that we would be light drawing others to Him." Debbie Williams

I take comfort knowing that God lights the path He wants us to take.

When you are kind, gentle, loving in the midst of a difficult situation, you are a Light for the Lord.

Do others see Christ's light in me and glorify God?

Some thoughts I needed to note before I forgot them.

As far as the last question. I hope that one day it becomes as natural as breathing to me to go to the Lord with EVERYTHING. I can feel Him tapping me on the shoulder in the middle of the day saying, "Um, my dear child...how do you expect little Max & Molly to be gentle, kind, loving, show self-control, patient, when most of the day you are anything but those things? You fly off the handle, spank, yell, put them in time out when they probabaly don't deserve it."

I want others to see the Light within me. I am so blessed to feel Him closer and closer to me these past several months.

A few notes on the kiddo front:

Max's new negotiating tool is after I tell him no he says, "Will you think about it momma?" He is so sweet and grown-up and polite about it I have to tell him I will.

Oh and last week I got upset about something....I forget what. I came down the stairs and Max asked me, "Why are you so mad Momma?" About broke my heart.

I'm not sure if I wrote this last time, but when we were coming back to KY from MI, Molly was in the back seat talking to her baby doll. She was grabbing her cheeks telling her "to listen whne I speak to you". Then she turned her doll over and spanked her.

She had a naked tea-party yesterday. That girl is unreal. I can't wait to see what God has planned for her.

Our Maggie is as sweet as can be. She started rice cereal. She is still in the phase of trying to figure out exactly what it is that I am putting in her mouth.

Friday night we spent the evening downtown at the Corbin OctoberFest. The kids had animal balloons made and then we got out our chairs and blankets and watch the Charlie Brown and the Great Pumpkin movie in the park. It was followed by about 6 episodes of Tom & Jerry. They had a blast and fell asleep on the way home.

I LOVE the small town movies in the park nights. There is just something about it. I just love it!

God just keeps the blessings a flowin'

In Christ Alone....

God is faithful...even when we are not.

It is a statement I have seen over and over everyday for the last 7 days. It was a theme in bible study last Sunday. It was in my reading for our morning Sunday school class. It was in the Karen Kingsbury book I just finished tonight. It was a theme in one of the sessions I attended at the Hearts At Home conference this weekend.

Then why am I allowing Satan to creep in. Why is it that it is so easy for the devil to squirm his way into our minds & hearts? he causes doubt & fear & sadness & worry. Why can't it be just as easy to call on God when Satan comes near? I suppose it is that easy...just get down on your knees and call out to Him.

He is Almighty, the Beloved Son, Comforter, the Door to all that is good, Eternal, Faithful, Guardian of our Souls, Immanuel, Just...All of the things I am learning in the Bible Study on Sunday night.

I know it's sinful to worry. I truly try not to worry. I try not to worry about my husband, my kids, the house that can't even attract potential buyers, the upcoming election, etc. etc. But man, that devil knows how to get to me. He places that fear & worry right on my heart. I need to remember to immediately get on my knees and ask for my God to be that Comforter & Guardian to my soul. How great is it though that I don't have to ask Him to be those things for me...He already is.

The question that won't leave my brain tonight...
If God places an opportunity in front of us, how do we know it's a good one?
If he didn't want us to come to Kentucky, He wouldn't have placed the opportunity to do so in our laps would He?
I believe that we are here for a reason. I truly believe that.
It's just not working out as we had planned.
I know it's not our plan. I know it is all His. I know that He will show us what is next in our lives. I know He didn't promise easy. He promised that He would be there to show us the way.
That's enough for me.
Who knows why He brought us here? If for nothing else I am opening my Bible everyday. I feel Him transforming my heart. I know He has a plan for me and my marriage and my journey as a mom to His children.

Those children He has for now blessed us with...they are amazing. I have new pictures to post, but of course the battery is low and charging. I'll post them later.
Max is looking a little like Shaggy these days. He likes that I call him Shaggy and doesn't want to get his haircut. The other day we were walking down the Halloween costume aisle and they were all going a little nuts over the costumes. Max was talking about the Spiderman costume, Molly about the princess ones. They were both finding cute ones for Maggie. Molly says, "Momma look at that princess one for Maggie".
Max shoots back with, "Molly, that's not a princess one, that's for Dancing with the Stars".
I thought I was going to pee my pants right there from laughing so hard.
I swear that I have cut way back on my television watching, but apparently ABC is still on a little too much :)
My Molly is my Molly. It is still up for grabs whether it's all DNA or if it's from the great amounts of sugar water she got in the hospital when she was just 3 weeks old. I can't wait to see what God has planned for her.
My Maggie...oh my Maggie. How I missed her when I was gone. She is growing so big. Holding her head up...looking like a whole new little girl. She will start cereal here in a few short weeks. She is now officially rolling over even though if you ask my mom she'll tell you that she was rolling over at 12 days old. She was. (Even if it was the bouncy couch helping her out).

Thank you Lord for blessing my life. For loving me so much, for being my Comforter & my Guardian. Forgive me for the times I forget you when the devil is working overtime in my life. Please hold our little family in your hands and clear the path so that when you want us to take the next step we will be able to hear you and yield to your plan for us.
It is in your Holy and Almighty name I pray, Amen.

Too long of a break...

Too many funny & important things have happened in the last 10 days that I have failed to report. We've been busy with Aaron coming home and taking a few one day road trips, me getting sick, and then the work with comes with making up the time for being sick.

Here goes....

Praise Jesus...Aaron made it home Thursday late....less than 24 hours before Ike pounded Houston. He had a layover in Houston. I'm not sure how much longer it would have taken him to get home had he gotten caught in that horrific storm.

My babies were so glad to see their daddy. He got home after midnight so when they came into our room in the morning and figured they would peek a look at their baby sister and wake me up they were surprised to see him.

Several weeks ago, Molly said something to me and I told myself right then and there to blog it b/c I would forget. Sure enough, I did. I remembered tonight though.

The kids were getting their pjs on one evening. Max was busy trying to get everything right side out and not on backwards. I took Molly's shirt off and went to put her nightgown on. As I reached for her nightgown she looked down at her chest. She says to me,

"Momma, I still got my boobies. I didn't lose them. You can't lose your boobies."

I thought I was going to pee my pants right then and there. Where does she find this stuff???

We had Max's second birthday party for his 4th birthday tonight. He has already had a Michigan party with some of his cousins. Tonight was his Kentucky birthday party with some of his best buddies here. It was fun. We really have been blessed with some wonderful friendships down here. Ones that I will treasure whether we are here for a year or 20 years.

Well before I start drifting and typing things I don't mean to type I am going to sign off for now and try to get back to reporting to myself at least every other day. Maggie will 3 months tomorrow and I feel like I don't remember any of it!

A few notes

Talking with my Grandma today, I remembered that I failed to blog about a little story last Wednesday. Max has been in Awana for a couple of weeks now and has been busy memorizing his bible verses. Last Wednesday afternoon I was drilling him on his bible verse over and over, "God loves us so he sent his son". So as we were walking out the door and climbing into the van, I said, "one more time buddy".

He replied,
"God loves us so he mailed his son."

Oh how I love my little boy!

I also found kind of a neat sight tonight.
www.wordle.net

You can type in a bunch of words and click "go" and it'll make kind of a cool little picture of it.
Or you can type in your blog address and it'll take a bunch of random words from your blog and jumble them all together. Kind of neat.

A little more than 48 hours until Aaron returns. I CAN'T WAIT!!!

A filling day....

...but not even close to being full.

What a wonderful day in Lord!

(even though I took the kids to Shoney's tonight...as soon as we ordered Maggie started crying...hard...Molly decided to start doing flips over the back of the booth, and then Max put his hand in my water, I went to smack his hand, he pulled back...yep, water and ice EVERYWHERE....later he went number 2...in the toilet...only to go in his pants 5 minutes later...while I was on the phone with the phone company trying to figure out how to make an international phone call to my husband...apparently I put a block so that no one could make international phone calls from our home...I have no idea why I did that...it'll take 4-5 days to take the block off...he'll be home by then...anyone have any idea how crazy I am going to go not being able to contact my husband?!? anyone who knows me will....)

Anyhow...on to my heart-warming Sunday....

I said good-bye to my husband early this morning (hopefully for the last time for a while), climbed back into bed and prayed that he would make it to Guatemala and back home safely.

He comes home on 9/11. I know that he will be okay.

Satan smiles knowing that deep down I worry.

This morning I woke at 6 a.m. wondering why my husband still had not called me from the Lexington airport...less than 4 hours earlier he had told me he would call from every stop.

I attempted to call knowing that he was already boarded. I knew he probably forgot and that he would call from Houston. He did.

I got all of the kids around in time for Sunday School. I was hoping to be Super Mom this morning and get some nice pictures of them before we went to church. Nope. Decided I would cut my losses and take them after church even though Molly's hair wouldn't be nearly as cute. I was right.

I got the kids to their Sunday school classes and myself to Sunday school on time. I was amazed!

We studied 1 Samuel 1:1 - 2:11. It tells the story of Samuel's birth. How his mother, Hannah, wanted a son so badly but was unable to have children. The Lord finally blessed her with a son.

I could not help thinking of my dear friend and her husband who want a child, but like Hannah, are having trouble. In our study guide there is a question posed in the margin. "How can a Christian encourage someone who is struggling with a difficult situation such as childlessness?"

What I really wanted to know is how a Christian, who has never had difficulty getting pregnant and now has 3 kids, encourage her dear dear friend to trust in the Lord, that he has a plan for her and her husband.

I pray for her. I want to point her to scripture. I want to remind her that her Lord Jesus loves her and has a wonderful plan laid our for her. But...that is all coming out of the mouth of a women who has 3 healthy kids.

One verse that did pop out at me at Sunday school was from 1 Samuel 2:2. It's part of Hannah's prayer.

"There is no one holy like the Lord:

there is no one besides you;

there is no Rock like our God."

I hope she learns to lean on Him. I hope that if I were going through what they are going through that I would be able to lean on Him. That I would still be able to trust in Him.

I will continue to pray hard for you dear friend.

After our time together in Sunday School we gathered for worship.

To be honest, I missed most of the message due to my youngest not being able to find a comfortable position to nap. Therefore, I spent most of the message walking around the hallway. I still love her. And I can't wait for Aaron to come home.

The kids and I came home and enjoyed a nice lunch, played playdough, called grandparents for Grandparents Day. We headed back to church for a new bible study that started today.

It's on Debbie Williams book, Pray with Purpose, Live with Passion.

This study is going to change my heart. I know it. I hope it.

Lately, I have really been hearing how I speak to my husband. How I discipline my children. I catch myself after it leaves my mouth and impossible to get back.

The way I am with them sometimes brings absolutely no glory to my Lord Jesus.

By being disrespectful to him, I am being disrespectful to our good Lord. After all that He has blessed me with how could I do that to Him?

It makes me feel awful when I take a breath and realize how I just spoke to my kind husband. I would fall to the ground if my husband ever spoke to me the way I speak to him sometimes.

I realized tonight that when I snap at my husband, or lose my cool with my kids, or doubt that my God is a sufficient God, the devil is smiling and couldn't be happier.

I am not to live my life according to Suzanne Turner, but I am to live it according to my Lord Jesus Christ.

How would my life be different? Would I truly believe, no matter the hardships, that my Father's grace is sufficient? Would I finally take advantage of this abundant life like He wants me to?

My goal this week with my husband and my children is to take a tip from p. 13 from the book that we are studying.

"Each of us has the opportunity to stop and think about what we are doing or about to do."

"The moment we smell a defeated attitude or sin overtaking us, we can stop and turn to God's Word or stop and pray."

"Look to the Lord and his strength; seek his face always." Psalm 105:4

A shout out...

First and foremost....

A HUGE shoutout to my very dear friends, Sheri & Mike, who will be getting married next fall. They were just engaged this past weekend in my very favorite place on Earth, northern Michigan.

This shout out was supposed to happen on my last Hodge Podge post. It was supposed to be about all of these different things I wanted to write about, but of course, I end up losing out to my exhaustion and my posts are cut way shorter than I intend.

I am so excited for their wedding. I think maybe because it's in the fall when Aaron and I got married. Maybe I am so excited because I know how great our wedding was...how much fun we had...how we didn't even spend a whole lot of time together while we were at our reception, but he caught me starting at him a whole lot and I caught him staring at me a whole lot that night. I wouldn't change one thing about it. I can't believe that it'll be 6 years next month.

He truly is my best friend and my rock. He is the head of our home and having him as a husband and a father to my children is more of a blessing than I deserve. He is the one person I am not afraid to tell anything to and I know that it won't change the way he sees me...not even for one second.

Oh how I miss him...I don't know how wives send off their husbands for these long extended tours of duty. May God Bless them.

Let's see...what have we been up to???

Aaron came home to visit last weekend. Molly is seen up above working on the blueberry pie she made for him. I think she was more interested in eating as many blueberries and as much cool whip as she possibly could everytime I turned my back to stir the filling. She has taken a nice turn in her behavior lately. We made a sticker chart and who knew that stickers would be so powerful in Molly's world. The last thing she wants to happen is for her mom to take a sticker away from her. She LOVES her stickers.

A few things out of Molly's mouth lately:

"I hate you Max."

"Momma, this tape is really pissin' me off."

"Momma, it was my fault."

"Absolutely, Momma."

"I want my daddy."

The first was because the 2 of them were fighting. They were arguing b/c Molly insists on teasing Max. They were in the back of the van. She kept telling him that he was 2 and that she was 4. Well....that drove Max CRAZY. He started yelling at her. She yelled back.....back and forth back and forth. Finally, Molly said, "you aren't my friend anymore. I hate you Max". I felt awful. We had a nice long talk about how our brothers are very important to us...especially to their sister and that it's ok to be mad at him, but not to say those hurtful words. Last weeks bible verse has helped alot..."be kind and loving". It has really come in handy over the past few weeks. (It's a real testament on just how the bible can truly get us through our days!)

Molly's verse this week, in case you were wondering, "God knows everything about me". Thank goodness because I am not sure I want to know everything about Molly. It's a little scary to think about if I am being honest.

Now, the tape thing. I said it under my breath in the kitchen. She was in the living room. 10 minutes after the fact she comes in the kitchen with her own scotch tape saying the same thing.

Unbelievable.

That is another one of their words lately. They love unbelievable.

Max is doing great. Loves school. Loves Awana. Loves Sunday School. I really couldn't be more proud of him. He comes home singing a new song. Telling me stories about his day. He loves going to bed at night knowing that when he wakes up in the morning he gets to go to school. He spends Fri-Mon. night asking when he gets to go back. I hope this enthusiasm for school will last. If he is anything like his father it will.

Maggie is doing wonderfully. She is getting on a bit of a routine and I can't say enough how lucky and blessed we are with 3 healthy children who sleep thru the night regularly. Her smiles melt my heart and remind me in an instant that I have absolutely nothing to complain about.

I told her she can't move into her crib until her daddy gets home.

Oh, that reminds me. When Aaron came home this past weekend he brought gifts for the kids. One of the gifts was a stuffed snake for each of them. The second night Max had a horrible nightmare. Monday night he brought the snakes downstairs to me telling me, "Momma, their eyes are too big. I want daddy to get me a new snake with small and nice eyes". The snakes now hang out on the chair with me at night.

Again, here I go with the bobbing head and droopy eyelids.

A Hodge Podge....

A few different things running through my mind tonight....

Do I have the faith that I have b/c nothing really awful has happenend in my life?

The Lord has showered me with blessings...it's an honor to be married to Aaron, I have 3 of thee most beautiful and caring and adorable children, loving parents, fabulous sisters, a great brother, hilarious nephews, wonderful niece, I get to call some of the best people in the world my friends, my family and I attend a terrific church where I get to praise my Lord and my children are learning about their creator, I have a home, 2 cars, the ability to visit my family when I want, food for my children, the means to send my son to a Christian preschool and my daughter to gymnastics class...I could go on and on.

If I was crushed by devestating news am I strong enough in my faith to say, "I believe my Jesus is the same Jesus before this news"? I hope so.

I read some of these of these blogs and sometimes the tears just flow and then I get on my knees and grab my children and don't let go. The faith of these women is truly something special.
I believe that God works all things for good. I believe he has a plan that we are neither supposed to question or know.

A little something on the kids.

They are learning bible verses in Sunday school and Awana. Molly's last week was from Ephesians 4:32 Be kind and loving.
Anyone who knows our little Molly knows that when she is kind & loving no one can top her. However, when she is not, I pray this verse over her sweet little head.
This weeks verse is from Psalm 139:1
God knows everything about me.
Thank goodness he does, because I can't be everywhere and it brings comfort to my heart knowing that God can see her and know everything about her.

I was going over Max's bible verses with him. We were talking about all of the people that love him.
I asked him, "Max, who loves you?"
His reply, "John and Clay do."
Those are his 2 new buddies from church.
The answer I was looking for was, "Jesus loves me".
My little boy is going to be 4 in 20 days....I can't believe it.

My other Max story (this is why the title of today's post is hodge podge)
The kids have this frisbeet that is hollow in the middle. They enjoy putting it on their heads and wearing it as a hat.
Max put it on his head yesterday as we headed out to the falls.
He put it on his head, grabbed it between his fore finger and thumb and said, "What can I do for you ma'am?" ADORABLE.
Oh and Aaron brought the kids home these huge stuffed snakes. The kids were really excited at first. We are pretty sure that they caused some pretty major nightmares Saturday night. I was sitting downstairs tonight watching the Scrubs marathon when Max came down for the gazillionth time carrying his snake. He asked if I could hold onto the snake because he was scary. He told me that he wanted his dad to get smaller snakes with smaller and nicer eyes.
I told him I would speak to his dad about that. Up the stairs he went and a few seconds later was down with Molly's snake too.

My little Maggie. She missed her daddy. She was smiling at him all weekend.
I am in awe of those women who ship their husbands off overseas and are alone in raising the children months, sometimes years, at a time. May God bless them.

Well my eyes are slowly shutting and we have another busy week.

My cynical side....

Ugh! I hate how Satan works in me to bring out the worst.

First things first though.

Maggie had her 2 month check-up today.

9 pounds, 8.5 ounces

23 inches

I thought she was pretty long compared to the other guys. Nope. When I got home I checked their calendars. Max was 12 pounds, 9 ounces and 24.5 inches long and Molly was 10.5 pounds and 23.5 inches long. Anyone who knows Max knows that he hasn't grown too much in height since then :)

She is beautiful though. I know I said the same things about my oldest 2, but somehow it seems different this time around. Maybe it's because she is my last.

Now on to my cynical side....

doctors, media, drug companies, government....

Maggie got 3 shots today and an oral vaccine.

Yes, I made the decision to have them done. I think vaccines are extremely important and my kids have always handled them very well....their biggest side effect being more sleep.

Yes, being poked 3 times as opposed to the 4 times Max and Molly were poked at 2, 4, & 6 months is better.

However, one of those shots had THREE different vaccines in it. One shot had Hep B, polio, & Dtap in it. And doesn't DTap have 2 or 3 vaccines in just that one alone?

So vaccines today were:

Hep B

Polio

Dtap

Prevnar

Hib

Rotovirus

Are things really that bad out there? I do it because I want to keep my children from getting polio or hep b or ending up in the hospital for a week. But do really need to do it all within the first 12-15 months of their lives? Do they do it this early just because they can't run away?

I don't give my kids the flu shot...never have and they have never had the flu.

I know people who get the flu shot EVERY year and their entire family gets terribly sick with the flu EVERY year. Who knows???

Max is due for the chicken pox booster next month. Not a chance. What's wrong with getting the chix pox? I am with those moms who have chicken pox parties.

The cynical side of me says that the government is making big bucks off of this stuff.

Not so many years ago you didn't hear of ADD, ADHD, Autism, allergies to peanuts, gluten allergies, etc. WHERE IS IT ALL COMING FROM????

You have doctors saying that all of these vaccines are safe.

You have doctors meeting with kids for all of 20 seconds diagnosing kids with ADD & ADHD and sending the ridalin to schools so that the kids can line up 10 minutes before lunch to take their pills.

Organic, organic, organic....if it is SO good for you then why on earth is it SO expensive????

If the government truly wants us to be healthy and cut health care costs and all of the other nonsense then why does milk from a normal cow cost almost 7 bucks a gallon.

And if anyone knows me they know that I don't have a lot of faith in doctors anymore.

After one wanted to cut me open and put a stint in for a kidneystone that I had already passed....

After another told me to prepare for the worse when my 3 week old baby girl's blood work came back abnormal...only for them to come back 4 hours later and say oh never mind she is just fine...

I don't have a lot of faith in them. I go for the well visits b/c I want a second pair of eyes to check her over and make sure her eyes and ears look good. The vaccines b/c I think that they are important and if my kid has an illness, I go for the scrip. I don't let them fool me into making me think they know my child better than I do.

I'm one of those people who believe that cancer will never be cured b/c the drug companies make WAY TOO much money off of it. People counter that with "yeah, but won't they make a ton more money off the drugs that they will use to cure it". There is probably big money in that, of course. But if you cure it then people won't keep coming back for the chemo and radiation treatments that cost thousands of dollars per treatment.

The media loves a good story and vaccines is where it's at that's all we hear about.

If it's eating organic...that's what we hear about.

If it's about getting the latest vaccine...that's what we hear...until we hear that all of these great vaccines suddenly may have a problem and they are pulled.

The government, media, drug companies....they certainly know who to go to to make their big bucks...a mom.

Tell a mom that their kid needs it or he could get terribly sick and end up in the hospital or worse.

The guilt of a mother...not too much out there with greater power.

pottery, subway, dead batteries, target, & LOTS of smiles...

What a terrific day spent with my kids!

Did they drive me nuts? ABSOLUTELY

Was I at the brink? DEFINITELY

Did they know it? OF COURSE...Molly was even asking..."Are we driving you nuts Momma?"

That one is something else.

I LOVE LOVE LOVE her. Even when I tell her not to touch the bathroom door again when her brother is in there and she looks me straight in the eye and touches the door. Not only does she intentionally defy me, she tells me she is doing it. "I touched the door Momma," she says. She is unbelieveable.

Which reminds me...movie night was this past Friday and we rented Herbie from the library. (Very cute movie).

During some of the race scenes Max just kept saying over and over, "Whoa Momma, did you see that? That was unbelieveable!" The first girl to break his heart better watch out!!!

I decided a few weeks ago that I wanted to take the kids to one of those paint your own pottery places. Today was the perfect day to go. It was raining.

The kids were very excited when I told them that they could pick out a piece to paint. Molly chose a puppy and after a bit of consideration, Max chose the jet. The jet won out over the skateboard, trophy, & crocodile.

They chose their 4 colors very carefully and for about a half hour only the puppy's head was painted. Molly was more interested in getting as much paint on her brush, sticking it in the jar of water, and watching what color the water turned. The other tough task of the day was getting the kids to dab their brushes after they rinsed them off.

Needless to say, the paint was a bit drippy.

The kids had a blast. When I told them that we had to leave the pieces there to dry and get shiny they told me that they could blow on them so that they would dry before we left.

They seemed to get it by the time we left.

I chose to do a dinner plate with the kids handprints on them. When the guy told me that we would only be able to do Maggie's footprint and not her hand, I just nodded my head in agreement. Of course this guy had no clue what a mother will endure to get their little girl's handprint on a plate.

Maggie passed out.

I laid her in the stroller.

We painted her hand.

Brought the plate to her hand.

Wa-La!

All 3 handprints on the plate.

I can't wait to see it next week.

The kids and I then had lunch at Subway. The kids split a pizza when Max figured out that Subway doesn't not serve cheeseburgers or chicken strips. Subway now serves pizza though. Who knew???

So out to the parking lot we go. I got diapers changed & kids clicked into the careseats. I get clicked into my seat only to put the key in the ignition and turn it...nothing happens. I instantly start grilling the kids on who left the very back light on in the van.

A few seconds later I am on the phone with my husband very upset with myself that it was in fact my fault that the battery was dead. I left the headlights on. Apparently, I didn't know that they were still making cars that have headlights on them and don't turn off when you turn off the car. Oops.

Aaron tells me to call a towing company. I wouldn't have any idea where to call. I'm in this city for the first time without my husband and 3 kids.

Out of nowhere and out of ALL the cars in this mall parking lot, the people parked right next to us come walking out of the mall asking us if we need a jump.

It was like the Lord knew that I was on the brink sitting in my car just staring.

And just as quickly as they showed up they were off. THANK YOU! I can't imagine what kind of afternoon that would have turned into had they not shown up.

We were off. Found Target. Max really wanted a new bag for school so he found a nice Thomas backpack. We also found a suitcase for Maggie. We won't have to pack her clothes in plastic bags anymore.

We were finally on our way home after spilling bit of popcorn in Target and trying to eat it all off of the floor and bottom of cart. Not too long after we leave Max starts freaking b/c he has to go #2. We pull off the freeway. All 4 of us make it to the not-so-clean restroom. Max gets on the toilet. Peed a few drops. That was it. No number 2 until well after we returned home. There was no way I was getting everyone out to do nothing again.

Anyhow, hopefully everyone gets some rest tonight b/c they have to get up early for school.

Oh and is my Maggie's smile the most beautiful thing you've ever seen????

It was a great day with my kids, but am really looking forward to being away with my sisters in a few short weeks. Our little traditions of the evening are something I look forward to for 364 days a year. I can't wait. And my new book should arrive shortly before the conference. Since I can get ZERO reading done here, I plan on having my book read cover to cover by the time I arrive home.

Just a few more short weeks....yippee!!!

The first day of school & 2 months old!

A big day around here....my baby boy started school today. He LOVED it! Didn't want to leave when I picked him up. And my baby girl is 2 months today. She is starting to smile and my heart jumps just as far as it did 4 years ago when Max started smiling at me.

And our big girl...our Molly is Molly. I think she had a harder time being away from Max than I did. So our day...I am going to attempt to put pics throughout the blog...we'll see if it works. If not, then you can just match the pic with the paragraph!

This morning I had to wake Max up to get ready. His eyes popped right open and said ok. Then he saw the computer and asked if he could get on NickJr. first and then go to school. When I told him no (b/c who actually thinks that I got anyone up early enough to have NickJr. time...they were lucky they got their teeth brushed!) he said "ok momma" and hopped off the bed and into the bathroom he went. He did his own hair... Don't worry...he brushed it after that :) He brushed his teeth all by himself and then went right into his room to get dressed. Even Molly cooperated this morning. All four of us were ready in time....well with about 60 seconds to spare for pictures outside our house.

Oh and a group one inside. The backpack Max is wearing is the one his daddy used and his Uncle Ben used. He wanted to take his red one today, but I think he only did it for me and my taking pictures addiction. I think he really wants a new one to go with his new school. He is my baby boy...of course I am going to let him get a new one! :)

We took a few pics inside his classroom. I told myself I was just going to drop him off and take just a handful of pics. Nope...although I don't think I did too bad.

I told Max that we were leaving and he said, "Can't you just stay for 10 more minutes Momma?" I told him that we would stay one more minute and then we had to go. He was ok with that.

A minute later I told him that we had to go and again he asked, "Please Momma can't you stay just 10 more minutes?"

"Nope," I said. "This is school and mommies and daddies aren't allowed to stay."

He replied with a long "okay". And he gave me a hug and a kiss and we were off.

Molly didn't throw a fit like I thought she would. We got to walk back through the school and she enjoyed that. We went out for a muffin and hot cocoa (yes it was over 90 degrees here today). She loved the coffee shop. How could she not with the flat screen and comfy couch?!?

After we left the coffee shop Molly told me it was time to go and get Max. I told her that he was still in school and that we would pick him up in a little bit. Off to WalMart we went. We printed a few pics, got some eggs, picked up Joshua's birthday present. Of course, I forgot paper towel, but I figure we need something to do tomorrow morning. We were on our way back home for a bit before picking up Max and Molly informed me once again that it was time to pick up Max. She forgot about it once I gave her a grape/animal cracker snack and planted herself down for a few minutes of Sesame Street.

Off to pick Max up and of course he didn't want to leave. He was tugging at me to stay, but got over it fairly quickly. It's amazing what a drinking fountain can do for a little stubborness.

We got home, had a good lunch, played, colored, painted, cleaned up and went to the post office. Then we had dinner and ran a few more errands. I ended up nursing Maggie in the back of the van in the parking lot. (I think I'm definitely learning to put my idea of what my day and house should look like to the side.) We got home and gave Maggie a bath. Molly told me that "all 3 of us can go at same time". I don't think so. They enjoyed their bath, 2 stories, and then crashed. Before going to bed though I told Max that he had to get some sleep b/c he had school tomorrow. He looked at me with those big hazel eyes and said, "I get to go again tomorrow?!?" I'm so glad he likes it. I hope his love of school continues for years to come.

Last but certainly not least....my little one is 2 months today.

Smiling more

hates her baths

sleeping 7-8 hours a night

hanging in there with her rough and tumble brother and especially sister

growing more and more everyday...almost out of her 0-3 onesies

a little blessing from our Lord Jesus...thank you.

Do you get dumber with each child???

I have no idea how we spent as many days in Michigan, went as many places as we did and nothing seems to have been left behind. My brain seems to have taken a vacation since we've arrived home.

We got back Wednesday later in the afternoon and I went out for about an hour while my dad stayed with the kids....(bless him because the kids were on speed the minute we walked through the door). I can't believe that I actually remembered the pizza that I went out for the way my mind has been forgetting things the past 48 hours.

The kids went to bed fairly early Wed. night. They crashed pretty hard after all of their fun up north. They got a good nights rest and we were off to the festival yesterday morning. (More photos of that later.) We found a good parking spot, got Maggie in the wrap, and the other 2 in the stroller and we were off. We had enough cash for lunch and a little something for each of them, or so I thought. We shopped the vendors, tasted samples of italian ice, played in the beach volleyball court created in the middle of the street, had hot dogs and chips for lunch, and then Max found a Spiderman hat. After all of that we had one dollar left. Molly found a tinkerbell bag that she liked so we were off to find the ATM. After getting caught up in a very long conversation about wood carving and finding more free samples we were finally standing in front of the ATM machine. I grabbed the $60 bucks, turned the stroller right around and told the kids we could now get ice cream. I left not only my receipt, but my card as well. IDIOT! I didn't realize it until about 4 hours later when we were home resting up for the parade.

After calming down and calling the bank and cancelling we headed back downtown. The parade was a big hit with the kids. I feel weird going to that kind of stuff though without Aaron. He would have had a good time watching the kids run for candy and watching them stick their necks out to see what was coming next in the parade. So since we spent all day at the festival we had lots to do today.

We were supposed to be home from WalMart by 10 am. We left for WalMart at 10:30. We had to get the rest of Max's school supplies. The kids were CRAZY!!! I'm not sure what to do with Molly & her attitude. It's going to be an interesting few years I think. Finally we got everything....only after burying Maggie in rolls of toilet & paper towel and plastic spoons & forks. We paid and then headed to the stamp machine. I put in $8.50 and it shot 10 cents back to me...no stamp booklet...or so I thought. After dealing with my kids antics for 45 minutes in the store, I had one nerve left and it was wasted on the guy telling me that they would have to call the post office to get me a refund. Are you kidding me???

I'm the IDIOT though b/c if I would have just put my hand in there and felt around I would have felt the stamp booklet. I think I called my sister for the 2nd time after that.

So we are back home...I have bags and bags of stuff in front of me and I go to get the school supply list to separate everything.

No list.

No yellow pads of paper with everything I need to accomplish by 5 o'clock written on it.

All of which I left in WalMart at the end of the checkout line.

Back to WalMart we go.

We get our lists back.

Back home. Drive momma nuts. Eat lunch. Drive momma nuts some more.

My big accomplishment for the day though....all the kids were bathed, teeth brushed, side dish made for picnic, myself bathed and hair straightened, ALL ahead of schedule.

Now more on the reasons why I seem to have left my brain somewhere and can't find it.

Max:

Had his school picnic tonight and met his teachers. He is so excited. I got a few pics of him in front of his school. I'm sure I'll be crying to much on Wed. morning to get one.

Molly:

Attitude, attitude, attitude. any ideas? shoot them my way!

Maggie:

smiling, cooing, growing so fast

Thank you Lord. Please be with all of us over the weekend as we travel to be together.

Amen

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