Great Article

If you have young kids, you have got to read this article. I promise, it will only take 2 minutes!! So worth it!! It's about teaching your kids about sexual purity when they are young. It is shocking to me how many parents think it's cute when their 3 year old has a "boyfriend" or their 2nd grader has a "girlfriend." In my opinion it's totally inappropriate and it is most definitely teaching them the wrong thing about relationships. Okay, I'll climb off my soapbox now :)

Driver

My munchkin can almost sit up completely on his own, so it was time to break out one of my favorite toys!!! I love this little car. I have such sweet memories of both Christian & McKenna in it. Although hopefully we won't have a repeat of THIS incident!

You Guessed it!

We were thrilled to find a nest of bunnies in our front yard. Their momma could have picked a better spot. We discovered them when Ryan ran over their nest with the tractor. oops! Thank goodness the tires missed them! The kids loved showing their friends our "yard's secret." I think we peeked at them a few too many times because before we knew it they were gone!

Can you guess what this is????

For the First Time Ever....

My THREE kids sat and played a game together! It was so sweet. They bascially just rolled the ball back and forth with Will. He loved it. They thought it was hilarious that he would try to bite the ball everytime he got it in his hands. This moment only lasted for about 5 minutes, but it made me smile and gave me a glimpse of fun family times to come.

Surgery Update

We're home! Ryan's surgery was a success! It was fast. Ryan's surgeon felt totally confident that he was able to fix the exact cause of Ryan's pain. Thankfully they were able to do most of it laproscopically. They did have to do one extra small extra incision, but I don't think it's going to make recovery more difficult.  They gave Ryan a lot of local anesthesia so they went light on the general anesthesia. He woke up pretty quickly and is feeling pretty good right now. Of course he's got some pills to keep him happy and pain free. Thanks for praying for him! Praise God for answered prayer! Now we've just got to keep Ryan pain free and I need to convince him that he will NOT be driving anytime soon (doctor's orders, but Ryan seems to have other ideas).

Ryan

McKenna adores her daddy! Of course she does, he plays Candy Land with her and wrestles and they both love to make silly faces together. In fact, she prefers it when he puts her to bed!

I'm at the hospital right now and Ryan is about to head into surgery. Our big prayer request is that the doctors will be able to fix everything laparoscopically and that they won't have to actually cut open his shoulder. The doctor thinks it can all be done laparoscopically, but Ryan has signed off on the fact that he can slice him open if necessary, so we'll see what happens! I'll keep you posted. Thanks so much for praying for him!

enough said

so I have my first ear infection in over a decade. and a sinus infection to top it off.  it's safe to say that the last 5 days have been slightly miserable.

that's it. i don't have the energy for anything more.

but prior to my sickness did you notice that I have a slight addiction to http://www.picnik.com/???  if you're a blogger you should check it out...that will keep you busy until I get back in the swing of things.

good night!

Teething

This is the sad little face I've been seeing a lot of lately.

Teething.

Not sleeping.

Very long days for him

 and even longer days for his mom.

It's a stage, so we will survive.

It's taken 3 kids to get me to this point...but

right now I'm okay with the fact that my house is a disaster because I'm holding this sweetie all the time.

Weekend

It was sort of a miserable weekend around here.
Ryan had a migraine that started on Friday and he's still got it. No fun.
Will and McKenna both have bad colds.
My throat is sore.
Will does not nap at all during the day. It's been four days now of no naps.
It's making me insane.


BUT....
Christian is great.
He was so happy ((almost)) all weekend.
I saw his smile almost every time I looked at him.
He did crafts and played with McKenna.
He rode is bike & his scooter & played basketball.
He made us all have a picnic dinner this evening and then he put on a "show" for us by doing tricks on his scooter.
We collected leaves for a class project.
He rode bikes with the neighbor kids (that's a big deal, we haven't had neighbor kids to ride bikes with until recently).
He had a good weekend and I'm thankful the rest of our misery didn't seem to affect him.
Tonight he just wanted to lay in bed and talk.
I told him that I could see Jesus living in him this weekend.
I really could.
If you've been reading this blog for ...oh a few years...you know that it's been a hard fought battle with Christian.
He has been extremely hard to parent.
So many times I failed and felt like I was completely ill equipped to be his mom.
There were some ugly and painful moments.
It hurts my heart to even think about them.
I can't dwell on it because it just makes me want to cry. For real.
But all the frustration and prayers and tears and sacrifice has been well worth it.
It has taken years and years of seeking God's help....

I am so PROUD of the six year old that he is today!!!
And believe it or not, I can actually say that I am thankful that God gave me a difficult child to parent early on. I'm so thankful that he humbled me and that he saw fit to give me this precious challenge named Christian. I am certain that I have a much closer walk with the Lord because of Christian.
I am much less judgemental of others because of Christian.
I also have a head full of gray hair because of Christian.
And I know that there will be challenges ahead but Christian has a strong foundation now. He knows who he is. He has a strong sense of right and wrong. He has a compassionate heart. And even at six years old I can tell that he is serious about his desire to please the Lord with his life!

I just have to give you an example of how awesome he is!!
Yesterday he was outside with McKenna and Ryan was in bed with his darn migraine and Will was screaming because he was exhausted but wouldn't sleep.
So Christian was in charge of McKenna and they were riding bikes in the driveway.
I kept worrying about McKenna riding her bike out into the road, so I went out into the garage and told Christian to put something in the driveway and to tell her that she wasn't allowed to go past it. And Christian said "Mom, will you just look at the driveway...I already did that."
Without me saying a word he had laid a rope across the driveway and told her that she wasn't allowed to cross the rope.
Who would have ever dreamed he would be that responsible!

Tonight I was making him a bedtime snack and he said, "Well since you're helping me, what could I do around here to help you??"
Ummmm....what???

So I guess the weekend wasn't all bad! I've got a pretty awesome kid that I get to love on everyday!
I'm one blessed mommy mom! Christian told me that big kids don't say "mommy."

Love that boy!!!

Christian's teacher emailed me this morning and this is one of the things she had to say:

"He is a superb Kindergartener and is a great role model for other students!"

Cannot even tell you how much it blesses my heart to hear her use the word "role model" in reference to my son!!!

He had a sad night last night. He was tired. He made a bad choice. He knew it and felt bad and ended up sobbing about how he's the worst brother in the world. He ended up going to bed happy, but it took awhile to get there. So I can't wait to tell him what his teacher thinks of him.

He's no dummy!

Wordless Wednesday!

It's almost here....

McKenna and I spotted these in the store today. And she is officially over the moon that fall is almost here! I'm excited too, but not because of candy corn...I think they're too sweet...give me a fresh apple pie anyday and I'm happy. God knew just what this girl needed when he created seasons!!! I'm feeling ready for some change, how about you?

Cooker Girl

This little sister misses her big brother. Although she also loves a little peace, quiet and unlimited access to his DSi. She rarely leaves my side during the day, so we are finding lots of fun activities to do together. Her favorite thing is cooking (even if it's just a rice krispie treat cake). She told me that when she grows up she wants to be a "cooker" like me. I hate to tell her, that her mom isn't really much of a "cooker." I actually like setting the table way more than I like cooking. I know...weird. I lay in bed at night and think of ways to set a beautiful table and am always on the look out for napkins, tableclothes and other decor on clearance. But I think it would be great she aspires to be something I'm not.

Today we remember....

Half

Today Will is 6 months old!!! We've gotten to snuggle him and love him and kiss his chubby little cheeks for half a year now. How can that even be posssible??? He is such a JOY!

Will's Stats:

• On the move big time!! He rolls everywhere. We are constantly dragging him out from under the couch or away from something dangerous.
• Has 2 teeth on the bottom.
• Can do an army crawl.
• Is an okay sleeper (these days he just wakes me up at night because he's rolled into a corner and can't figure out how to get back onto his back...so annoying)
• Likes to smile
• Beginning to develop some stranger anxiety
• Loves to laugh at Christian & McKenna
• No official stats on weight or height because I forget to make a 6 mo. pediatrican appointment for him (poor third child), so we'll have to wait a month for the official word, but I think he's getting taller and thinner. Starting to loose some baby fat and look more like a little boy.
• Eats: applesauce, rice cereal, peas, green beans, bananas, blueberries, sweet potatoes and his favorite squash!
• Hates cold food. It makes him gag, so I warm up all his baby food.

So in honor of Will's 6 month birthday we're going to set up his jumperoo today and see how he likes it!! He loves his exersaucer, so I'm hoping the Jumperoo is a hit!

On Day SEVEN I cried

Today was Christian's 7th day of school. I was priding myself on the fact that I haven't even cried about him going to Kindergarten. Christian's got a cough and stuffy nose, so I decided to let him sleep in an extra 40 minutes this morning and skip the bus. I thought he might be excited to have me drive him to school. In fact as I considered it this morning I actually worried that he might like me driving him to school so much that he would want me to do it everyday. I couldn't have been more wrong. He was ticked off! He was so mad that he missed the bus and I didn't discuss this with him first. Oh boy. I even told him that he could get an egg and cheese sandwich from McDonalds (his favorite) and he barely ate it.

As I walked him to the door of his school he took off without me and headed into the building and down the hall. A teacher standing at the door said "Good morning Christian" as he walked by. I watched the back of his blue backpack get lost in a crowd of other kids heading to their classes and I realized that for him the transition is over. He's there, he loves it, teachers even know his name. He knew where he was going and he didn't need a hand to hold. And that's exactly the way I want it!!! This is what I've worked hard to prepare him for, my heart is just a little sad.

Stupid clouds....I didn't have my sunglasses with me so all the other kids getting dropped off could clearly see a crying mom walking back to her car.

Happy Birthday Grampy!!!

Well forget that....

I just got a call that Ryan's surgery is canceled for tomorrow because they're evacuating the city. I was baffled since the only TV I've seen all day was a little Strawberry Shortcake. I flipped on the TV to find scenes like this:

 That's Hershey Park.

 Another pic of Hershey Park. Crazy!!!

Even this cop waited too long to get out of harms way. This is insane. Inconvenient for us, since we had everything all planned out but things could be a lot worse. So sad for the people who's homes are flooding.

Warning....this is gross

Nice huh??? I've gotta tell ya, Ryan is a great husband, father and boss. He's one of the wisest people I know. I love sitting and talking with him on the couch once all the kids are in bed. It's funny how they head to bed around 8pm and before I know it, it's past 11pm. Love him. I tell him all the time that marrying him was the best thing I ever did! But he's got a little flaw. (((gasp)))

Are you ready for this???




He still thinks he's 24!!

He hasn't seemed to realize that a decade has passed him by and he just might not be able to play ball or lift weights the way he did a decade ago. And that is why he's going to be having shoulder surgery tomorrow. The surgery should be pretty routine (but I would still love it if you would pray for him that things go smoothly and that there are no surprises), but I'm dreading the recovery. His right arm will be in a sling for quite some time which is rather inconvenient since he happens to be right handed. He's not going to be able to play ball or pick up Will for quite some time.

Oh and are you wondering what caused that bloody mess on his arm?? Shards of flying rock. You see we've got some rocks in our backyard that poke up just enough that we have to mow around them. Ryan's been wanting to take a sledge hammer to them to get rid of them. Naturally a good time to get rid of those rocks is when your rotator cuff is torn and hurting like all get out. Never mind the fact that those rocks will still be there next spring, they had to go now. See just a little flaw :)

Snazzy shoes & a pink ball

 McKenna had her own take on bowling.....she could have cared less how many pins she knocked over, she just loved the shoes and the noise they made when she tapped her feet. And she loved her hot pink bowling ball.

Christian on the other hand, was set on winning. Somehow Ryan convinced him that in the end they all tied, but technically McKenna won (she was using bumpers and having some help from daddy). Most importantly, it was a fun outing with Grampy.

Grammy's Girl

McKenna loved having her Grammy here for a visit! They played games (for the record Grampy was a great sport about playing Candy Land too)! They did their nails several times and went for walks and sang songs. McKenna adored all the special attention Grammy gave her! She couldn't wait for her to wake up each day and pretty much didn't leave her side! It was a special time for both of them.

Discernment

Navigating the murky waters of parenting a child in public school is challenging. We're on week two and it's hard. The actual school, teachers and academic part is great. The kids and social part is hard. Christian is sensitive. We've been hard on him and not allowed him to be mean. We've corrected him and disciplined him for being greedy or for being a show off or for being mouthy or rude or selfish. It hurts his feelings when other kids act like no-it-alls and make him feel bad about himself. It hurts my feeling too and makes me want to cry. The bottom line is that he is going to have to toughen up. He is going to have to learn to stand alone and be self assured.

Lord Jesus, I need wisdom and discernment to help him do that.

Thankfully he is talking to us about it and not keeping it inside. And he is recognizing the ugly rudeness and meanness in other kids and he knows it's not right.

This is hard!

What did you learn today??

I've been asking that question every day so far this Kindergarten year and so far the answers have been rather hilarious. He hasn't learned anything academic so far which does not come as a surprise to me, I know it takes awhile to get the school year going. But he has learned lots of  "social things."

For example on day two he learned:
"Mom, did you know that if you miss your mom at school they won't let you go home? Even if you cry your eyes out you can't go home. This one girl cried all day and they still didn't let her go home."

Day four he learned:
"Mom, you are totally wrong about the library. You are allowed to be LOUD. I know because my whole class was really, really loud. Why did you always make me whisper in libraries?"

3 Generations

It's not often that we have 3 generations playing ball together in the backyard!

I'm sure the boys would not use the word "precious" to describe their time together, but I sure think precious, priceless memories were being made! Ryan spent hours playing ball with his dad growing up. Christian's childhood will be filled with many of those same memories and was fun to watch all three of them playing ball together!

Weekend Fun!!!

We've been enjoying some very special guests this weekend!! Ryan's parents (also known as "Grammy & Grampy") came out for a visit!  They got to meet Will for the first time and I think we're sending them home pretty worn out. Christian would love to play baseball with Grampy every waking hour of the day!! And McKenna has played games and puzzles and gone on countless walks with Grammy. Will is in love with his Grammy and looks at her across the room and smiles. It is so sweet!

We are all feeling pretty sad that they will be leaving today.

I'm feeling to need to go take some more pictures, so I'll be back later with dozens more pictures to share!!

Flashback to the 1980s

Stumbled across these pictures and they made me smile. I'm not sure what year they are from, but the picture on the left is my sister Amy (the leader), brother Tim in the middle and I'm in the rear. We played that bike train game for hours growing up. Amy was riding her green bike, appropriately named "green bean." Tim was riding "Little Blue" and I was on "Big Red." I think my kids should start naming their bikes. Did you name your bike growing up??? I know some people who name their cars. I've never done that :)

I was probably about 3 in the picture on the right. That's me in the white bonnet! That swing set is one of those memories that I'm not sure if I actually remember it or if I remember it because I've seen it in pictures.

Fun to remember....

Irene

For us Hurricane Irene was kind of fun. We just got a little wind and some really good rain (which we needed). My kiddos thought it was fun and enjoyed running around in the rain and puddles. "Fun" is probably not the word my brother would use to describe this storm. He lives in Virginia and it hit his family pretty hard. The power has been out and there are trees down everywhere. His in-laws had 5 trees fall on their house and miracle of miracles the chimney sustained no damage and their roof sustained minimal damage. We definitely need to continue praying for the people affected by this storm.

Blogger Question???? Important.

This is for all of you who have blogs with blogger and it probably only applies to you if you've had a blog that's updated frequently for quite awhile.

So do any of you "blogger" bloggers pay Goggle for storage????

Goggle keeps telling me that I need to pay $20 a year for storage (I guess to store all my pictures on their website since I have thousands of them on here). I ignored their pleas for money and nothing bad seems to have happened, but now I'm nervous that my precious blog is going to disappear. Help???? Do you pay google for storage?????

September for our family....