tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-51165970963114361752024-02-06T19:56:07.769-07:00Emily Makes SixAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17209533038362847981noreply@blogger.comBlogger187125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5116597096311436175.post-70676415758480052392013-09-03T12:44:00.001-06:002013-09-03T12:44:48.539-06:00The Noise of Emotions<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">After writing my last post I realized there was so much more to my story than just feeling the weight of making the right decisions on behalf of my children. The bigger concept was in fact knowing the voice of God was speaking into my heart and mind concerning matters of direction. Having security in the journey because of having heard from the Lord. I longed to know more than anything that I was in the center of God's will for my life and the life of my family.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Prior to 5 years ago, I felt fairly confident at my “calling
in life”. We were moving through life
easily with glimpses of a future that was secure, promising and very
predictable. Surrounded by a steady life
brought great comfort and directing the paths of our children was not wrought
with life altering decisions. I cannot say that life was a perfect bed of
roses. There were plenty of struggles
and difficulties but being surrounded familiarity and tons of people who loved
and cared for us made those tough spots of life easier. And then that all changed, feeling led to
give up our comfy existence we relocated to Colorado with the dream of serving the Lord through full-time ministry. Not
knowing what that would look like exactly we spent the first couple of years
exploring and assessing the terrain in more ways than one and while we had some
hard moments of settling in it was kind of fun doing life very
differently. And then reality set in and we realized the
kids needed to be in full time school and we needed some direction. For the first time in the life of our family
I felt confused, scared and unsure as to what was best for my kiddos. Gone was the familiarity of knowing what to
expect as well as the support of people to loved us and had an investment in
our lives as a family. Not having a long history in our community we didn't have the luxury of insight of the pluses and minuses of choices. We did we thought
was best and moved in the direction of placing them in a school near our home
that was touted as the best school in our area.
I left my adored position as a stay at home mom and took a job in order
to get the kids into the school. We
embraced our new direction with open arms and settled into a very different
lifestyle. Along the way, there were
bumps in the road. Challenges that I
wonder now if I should have opened my eyes a little wider or slowed down a bit
to listen to what God may have been telling me about what was happening in the
hearts and minds of my children while they were at school. That first year was hard for everyone. The kids struggled but we trudged through
because we were convinced that this was the best place for our kids. After all there were literally thousands of
people who would have loved my spot in this school therefore it had to be the
right place. We made it through the
first year and at the encouragement of my husband, I remained on staff. We continued on the path never questioning
our direction however slowly seeing the joy in our family diminish. I took a full-time position that ended up
being more than 40 hours a week. My
children were stressed, overwhelmed and tired and I found myself in a constant
state of wondering what was our purpose, why were we here and what did God have
in store for us. It had to be something
more but I didn’t even have a tiny glimpse of what it might be. I have to admit, at a couple of points, I was
just mad. I mean we had come to serve,
uprooted our family and after 3 years we found ourselves with no opportunities
on the horizon. Again, while my
faithfulness was waning, I didn’t question our direction. My husband was
confident there was promise awaiting and I trusted his wisdom. We embarked on
yet another year but this time we tweaked things a bit. Feeling compelled to move our high schooler
to the hybrid online school where I worked.
He was still enrolled in the same school just a different program and I
thought having him near me would make a difference. There was still the absence of what the long
term future held but we thought we were making a good decision for our
kiddos. My life became consumed with
managing my work schedule leaving me oblivious to what was transpiring with my
kids. I worked many hours leaving me
with no brain capacity to manage my life at home. In the midst of the turmoil of our family and
home life we were given a glimmer of hope when my husband was hired as a COO
for a local ministry. We were so excited
about this opportunity to finally serve only to have our fire of our excitement
extinguished within a few short months at the hands of a few individuals who
were eager to preserve their own skin and cushy positions as opposed to seeing
the potential of growth within a stagnant ministry. We were left devastated, hurt, sickened and
in shock at the hypocrisy of individuals who claim to serve the Lord and
profess to be Christ followers but behave very different behind closed doors. The
support of employees and field servants within this ministry as well people
working outside of ministry was unprecedented however it didn’t soothe the deep
wound of having been attacked so viciously by fellow believers. As I have written in previous posts, instead
of getting better life became worse and I came to the realization that no
amount of tweaking was going to make it work.
My kids were struggling because they were not in an environment that was
conducive to them thriving, I couldn’t manage working a full-time job
and support my husband and kids so we were faced with a decision that was hard. Believing that our oldest son needed a
full-time school we chose to enroll him in a local Christian School. It was one of the hardest things I have ever
had to do but something we felt we had no choice. He was spiraling downward and
we had to rescue him. My heart was consumed with guilt in that why
had we not done this earlier. Mommy
guilt is the worse and I have had heaps of it as I have come to the realization
that while it has been so difficult watching my son acclimate to this new
school, at 11<sup>th</sup> grade, struggling socially, emotionally as well as
academically this school provides more than I could have ever hoped for
him. The guilt rises from seeing how
different every aspect of his life could be and regretting not having placed
him there when we first moved here.
Hence all contemplative thought about decisions and choices. Why would God allow us to walk so deeply into
the woods of life knowing there was a beautiful green meadow just on the other
side? How can we know for certain that
the choices we make are exactly the perfect will of God? Why would it seem that
he directs us into places of service only for us to be attacked and wounded by
our brothers in the faith? My humanness leaves me so flawed in my ability
to make decisions sometimes and I long to have God's voice boom in my head as to
what is the best direction. Even in the
midst of our choice to move 3 of our kids to a new school my mind is filled
with the questions of “am I doing the right thing”. Because I certainly have
made what seems to be poor choices over the past 5 years. But this does seems like it is the best for
them right now. We just completed all of
our Back to School nights and my heart was filled with security in knowing that
my kids (especially my little’s) are not only in a great educational
environment that is perfect for their learning styles but that their teachers
love them and pour God’s love and truth into them every day. Their hearts and minds are filled with
encouragement and praise for the things they accomplish no matter how small and
their unique God given talents are celebrated.
They each feel special and “wonderfully made”. They don’t live in a box looking like square
pegs in round holes. I pray every day
that God will make perfect all my imperfect decisions made on behalf of my
children. I long to hear God’s voice
confirming in my heart that He is directing our paths. I have said so many times I think I could do
anything as long as I had the confidence that I was living out the will of God
but how can we know for certain that we are in the center of His will
particularly when there is so much confusion and turmoil surrounding us. I have
walked in faith since I was 5 years old and have struggled at various times
throughout my life with hearing the voice of God. Is He silent or am I not listening. Or maybe I am just distracted….I desperately
needed to know.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">My quest to know
this led me to Amazon, a few nights ago and I did a book search of the words
“Hearing God”. And the first selection
was a book by Peter Lord called “Hearing God”.
Peter was a pastor of a church in FL that Mike and I attended often
early in our marriage. Peter’s teaching
played a significant role in my husband’s salvation therefore I knew Mike
probably had this book downstairs in his library. I grabbed it off his shelf and as I always do
I skimmed the chapters searching for something to quickly jump out at me and
where did I end but at the beginning of the chapter on “Hindrance’s”. And what would in the first few paragraphs
but a section entitled “The Hindrance of Runaway Emotions” Could it be that my
uncontrollable feelings about my situations be hindering me from hearing God’s
voice. It was really ironic or rather
God like that I keep finding myself coming face to face with my runaway emotions. Sitting on my bedside table are the following
books:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>Unglued: Making wise choices in the midst of raw emotions<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>She’s Gonna Blow: Real help for moms dealing with anger<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>Defuse: A mom’s survival guide for more love, less anger</i><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I am seeing a pattern here…..I truly struggle with my
taming my emotions at this point in my life and my reading list evidences my acknowledgement
of this. But my feelings of anger, fear,
worry, frustration, disappointment, bitterness, doubt and unbelief couldn’t be
standing in the way of God’s voice, or could they? I mean emotions are normal and after all, I
am a 45 year old woman with hormones running amuck, managing life with 4
emotionally charged kiddos with medical as well as mental health needs. I live 3000 miles from the support of family
therefore the loneliness in dealing with this stuff is mammoth. Surely God understands that and can speak
through the craziness in my head and point me in the right direction. But despite my self talk I soaked in some
powerful yet convicting words that gave me a bit of a wake-up call with regards
to my desperation of hearing the voice of God. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; text-indent: -0.25in;">First of all, I needed to admit my emotions to
God. </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; text-indent: -0.25in;"> </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; text-indent: -0.25in;">Tell Him exactly how I feel,
confession is the first step to breaking down the barriers of communication in
any relationship but especially our relationship with God.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; text-indent: -0.25in;">Secondly, I needed to acknowledge that these
emotions were preventing me from hearing God.</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; text-indent: -0.25in;">
</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; text-indent: -0.25in;">So often we hastily make decisions in highly charged states of mind when
we should just be still, give the feelings to God, focus on surrender and let
Him overwhelm the our desire to fix the situation.</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; text-indent: -0.25in;"> </span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; text-indent: -0.25in;">Then I needed to remember that my emotions are
much harder to control when you are physically down.</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; text-indent: -0.25in;"> I found as I read a profound</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; text-indent: -0.25in;"> rule
for women to follow, "you should wait to make decisions based on the will of God
until you are restored in body."</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; text-indent: -0.25in;"> </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; text-indent: -0.25in;">For me,
this hit home as I think about that “time of the month” when emotions can be
SUPER CHARGED.</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; text-indent: -0.25in;"> </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; text-indent: -0.25in;">Finding that sane moment can be a bit
difficult for all of us premenopausal women who feel that this “time” hangs
around much more than just a few days before we start our periods. But I knew that if I could be very sensitive of those days when I was feeling most clear and take
advantage of that time to seek the Lord earnestly and make crucial decisions the result would be far more sound.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; text-indent: -0.25in;">And lastly, I should ask the Lord to help me
deal with my emotions.</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; text-indent: -0.25in;"> </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; text-indent: -0.25in;">“He may have
allowed them to surface just so that you can present them to Him to deal with
and He can transform them for His Glory."</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; text-indent: -0.25in;"> </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; text-indent: -0.25in;">Or perhaps He is allowing them to emerge in order to change our thoughts
or force us to deal with something we had repressed.</span></li>
</ul>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">This final point was something I needed to process….was God
allowing the difficulties, the uncertainty, the darkness, and the chaos to
remain in my life in order to get my attention and make me aware of something
that needed to be addressed in either my personal walk, or my relationship with
my kids or my husband or perhaps our position in life. This was very possible therefore I knew my
first step was to offer my unrestrained emotions to the Lord and ask Him to
help me deal with them. As in all
things, we must take care of ourselves before we can take care of anyone
else. This is true in a physical sense
as well as a spiritual sense. Instead of
wondering where God was in my time of need and feeling hopelessly abandoned by
the One who saved me, I needed to cease my endless cries for Him to fix the
chaos and dysfunction of my outside world and allow him to heal all the hurt
parts of my internal world. So often I
think that external fixes will heal the hurts that bring about those frenzied
emotions and the highs and lows remain. This was an internal compartment that
needed to be cleaned out. Perhaps when
the God who designed me in my mother’s womb brought light into the darkness of
that compartment bringing order into my disordered life I could have the eyes
to see the perfection in my life. I
found confidence on that day in knowing that if a submitted my emotions to Him
in humbleness those life choices wouldn’t seem so overwhelming. And now I must put into practice what I have
learned, one day at a time.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: x-small;"><i><br /></i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: x-small;"><i>"In the silence of the heart God speaks. If you face God in prayer and silence. God will speak to you. Then you will know you are nothing. It is only when you realize your nothingness, your emptiness, that God can fill you with Himself. Souls of prayer are souls of great silence." Mother Teresa</i></span></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17209533038362847981noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5116597096311436175.post-12486634535658712962013-08-30T16:39:00.001-06:002013-08-31T09:38:01.455-06:00Taking it One Day at a Time<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Today we finished our 2<sup>nd</sup>
full week of school and I consider it a miracle that we survived. My days since beginning school have not been
spent sipping coffee with friends at the local Starbucks nor have I been able
to tackle the mounds of laundry or the garbage dump that I think was once our
basement. I rather have found myself
spending these precious moments alone crying out to God on behalf of my
kiddos. Begging Him to make His presence
known to them in their lonely days. Pleading for Him to bring loving friends
into their lives and desperately asking Him to allow them to catch a glimpse of
brighter days. To say that this
transition to a new school environment has been difficult would be an
understatement. We have all felt the
agony of the pain of change. The routines, the procedures, the curriculum, the
rules, the students, it all has been beyond overwhelming. I have ached with a hurt that only a mom
could know as I have watched the 3 people I love the most in the world step out
of my van each morning and enter a place where they feel somewhat invisible and
lost. It is not because they are going
to a school that is not wonderful, in fact they are in a place surrounded by
some of the sweetest people I have met since moving to CO. They each have some of the most amazing teachers I have ever known who shine the light of Jesus in every word and every action. But it is more that they are the new kids and
being new is hard despite ones age. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">This whole transition has literally plunged me into a state
of deep introspection about this journey called life and choices along the
way. The simple act of changing schools
has caused me to wrestle with some issues that I think I have struggled with
for a long time. A topic better saved
for a solo post but for now sit here contemplating the massive role of being a
mommy and the incredible responsibility that accompanies that title. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Until that baby enters your life, you walk a
path of where the decisions you make effect only you and perhaps your husband
or wife. Those forks in the road of
your journey are monumental and life impacting but if you somehow head down the
wrong road, it sure is easier make a u-turn and change directions when other
people are not involved. And then the
family expands, little ones are added to the pack and suddenly those choices
bring with them more weight when as a parent you think about the impact certain
decisions have on those lives you now control.
It is a heaviness that has weighed on me in the recent weeks as we have
made some tough decisions to take a new direction in the lives of our
children. And as we have endured a
difficult first few weeks of school the natural response is to second guess the
decision and thus question even more.
As a wife my greatest desire is to be a source of encouragement for my
husband, to submit to his authority as the spiritual leader of our home and to
love him unconditionally. As a mom I
equally long to encourage my kids and provide for them every opportunity to
grow into the men and women God wants them to be while passionately loving them
along the way. Those great desires carry
with them many facets of responsibility and for moms those duties can be at
times overwhelming. We are faced every day with decisions that can greatly
impact the trajectory of our children’s lives.
What are we to do when those choices collide with the hopes, desires and
dreams of other members of the family?
What happens when we move in a direction only to realize we are heading
the wrong way and that u-turn could possibly break their hearts? I have to say that there
has been more than one time I have wished for a crystal ball to help me know
what is the right thing to do. There is
no crystal ball and I cannot know the future.
I simply have to take each day that is given and walk in faith that God
will show me the way I should go, order my steps and when I make a mistake He
will honor the attitude of my heart and His grace will be sufficient for ALL of
our needs. My neighbor recently posted this quote on Facebook and it so resonated with the emotion of my heart:</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>"Behind every great kid is a mom who is sure she is screwing up."</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">I was reminded earlier today
of that old hymn “One Day at a Time Sweet Jesus” and have decided that it is
going to be my anthem for this year…..</span></div>
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<b style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></b></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 107%;">One day at a time sweet
Jesus<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span></span></b></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="background-color: white;">That's all I'm
asking from you.<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span></span></span></b></div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"></span><br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b><span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="background-color: white;">Just give me the
strength<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span></span></span></b></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">
</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"></span>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b><span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="background-color: white;">To do everyday what
I have to do.<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span></span></span></b></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">
</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><div style="text-align: center;">
<b><span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="background-color: white;">Yesterday's gone
sweet Jesus<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span></span></span></b></div>
</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><div style="text-align: center;">
<b><span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="background-color: white;">And tomorrow may
never be mine.<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span></span></span></b></div>
</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><div style="text-align: center;">
<b><span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="background-color: white;">Lord help me today,
show me the way<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span></span></span></b></div>
</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><div style="text-align: center;">
<b><span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="background-color: white;">One day at a time.<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span></span></span></b></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b><span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="background-color: white;"><span class="apple-converted-space"><br /></span></span></span></b></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<b><span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="background-color: white;"><span class="apple-converted-space"><br /></span></span></span></b></div>
</span><br />
<o:p></o:p><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I pray that what ever you are facing today you will take it one day at a time....no more and no less....just a day!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">First Day Photos</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1cpS3xbqD_AftFvzls0x1T8zTZUNQ0FcWiTB7IGXs32Lha5NZ251u86SP4Oo8gi9MvAFeCNYYDzLPzlZrXAMfzZjQ5L_m3hbaH5DcGN1cxk3utYLe3ujrInPW6us-GSiakPUUqWqrpbM/s1600/DSC_0932.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1cpS3xbqD_AftFvzls0x1T8zTZUNQ0FcWiTB7IGXs32Lha5NZ251u86SP4Oo8gi9MvAFeCNYYDzLPzlZrXAMfzZjQ5L_m3hbaH5DcGN1cxk3utYLe3ujrInPW6us-GSiakPUUqWqrpbM/s640/DSC_0932.JPG" width="428" /></a></div>
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<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17209533038362847981noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5116597096311436175.post-40888964677644006182013-08-07T05:11:00.000-06:002013-08-07T05:12:21.973-06:00Year in Review 2012 -2013<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">We are just a
few days away from the first day of school.
The kids have a nervous excitement as they anticipate traveling a new
direction this year in school which is a topic for another post. In order to start afresh I am going to do a
year in review post. I didn’t take a ton
of photos this year but will try to bring things up to date as best as I can.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">This past year
found Cody in 10<sup>th</sup> Grade, Grace in
4<sup>th</sup> Grade, Emily in 2<sup>nd</sup> and Joshua, well he
started Kindergarten which lasted about a week and then we moved him back to
his preschool class. Cody, joined me at
my school trying the hybrid, early college type High School, Grace and Emily
remained at the same school that they had been in for 3 years and Joshua headed
to a local public school which was a very disappointing experience. He finished up the year in his preschool from
the previous year. All were incredibly
blessed with wonderful teachers who loved them lots which is always an answer
to this mama’s prayers. We didn’t do
much in the way of exciting things due to my working like crazy. The highlight of our year was spending
Thanksgiving with my family. My mom,
dad, sister and her family flew out and spent the unseasonably warm holiday
with us. It was so much fun to spend
this time together as a family. We
enjoyed a white Christmas that was a super quiet one. And by New Year’s I was ready to have some
friends over for a party which was tons of fun. We had not hosted anyone in
our home in a very long time so I was thrilled to entertain once again. Winter
wasn’t too bad this year except for the fact that it seemed to last forever so
when we were still wearing winter coats and snuggling by the fire in May, this
warm weather girl was not a happy camper.
We celebrated birthdays and manage to squeeze out memories that I know
we will always treasure. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">You know when
you find yourself is a rainy season of life all you can think about is when
will this end. You are convinced that
there is nothing good to be absorbed from stormy times but as I reflect this
morning I realize that while this previous year wasn’t the best there were lots
of moments to treasure. So here is our
year in review…..</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
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</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">First Day of School </span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">2012-2013 School Year</span></div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"></span><br />
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<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Miss Newton</div>
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Mrs. Vandewalker</div>
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The Birthday Princess.....how can she be 10 years old?</div>
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Emily on Pioneer Day</div>
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Now this is an example of my comic relief....He is like this ALL the time and loves to dress up in his sisters stuff. This is "Hula, Hannah Montana, Cheerleader"</div>
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Daddy Daughter Dance</div>
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The Birthday Boy</div>
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Celebrating Medieval Day</div>
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Emily's Birthday at Trampoline World</div>
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Her best friend Isabella</div>
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Family Celebration</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiV9pTQvAwPfDxhLDZKFqIJexpOkRuBVTQfEWyZoQc9G61w0coV7XbiNXal0bZWldgd5d237Ll4OdIklV1VFwhUtAkayh_sAPyqfB0WTd8pFXmusLVK1JOYCKZKUu7PEF-3_49H76MS8is/s1600/DSC_0848+%25282%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiV9pTQvAwPfDxhLDZKFqIJexpOkRuBVTQfEWyZoQc9G61w0coV7XbiNXal0bZWldgd5d237Ll4OdIklV1VFwhUtAkayh_sAPyqfB0WTd8pFXmusLVK1JOYCKZKUu7PEF-3_49H76MS8is/s400/DSC_0848+%25282%2529.JPG" width="267" /></a></div>
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Grace Plays the part of Martha Washington on Patriots Day</div>
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And this was taken in May.....yes May in Colorado</div>
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After reviewing my photos I realized that Thanksgiving and Christmas need their own post so....more to come!</div>
</span><o:p></o:p>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17209533038362847981noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5116597096311436175.post-90649170303760935262013-08-06T07:10:00.000-06:002013-08-07T05:13:57.573-06:00Celebrating 16 years with my #1 Son!<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">On May 22<sup>nd</sup> we celebrated our #1 son’s 16<sup>th</sup>
Birthday. In all honesty it was far from
a super 16. Partly because his birthday
always seems to fall during the week of final exams and it is really hard to
celebrate when you have end of the year tests looming on your birthday. But mostly, this past year has been a tough
one for my big boy. In order to protect
his privacy, I don’t share a lot about my oldest son. He is a typical teenage boy and even though I
get very little traffic on this blog he doesn’t want his mom broadcasting his
life to anyone even if it is just to my mom, sister and best friend. Nevertheless, I can say that growing up in
today’s world is downright hard for kids.
There are countless vehicles for the enemy to attack our sons and
daughters in ways that debilitate them emotionally. They are faced with temptations and pressures
that force them to comprehend things that I didn’t encounter until I was an
adult and for kids who are fragile or who naturally struggle with self-esteem
issues, life can be brutal , a minefield
loaded with explosive hurts and unexpected confrontations. Then you add on the pressure of succeeding academically, throw in the need to build a
resume full of activities in order to look attractive to a college and for a
kid who does<o:p></o:p>n’t fall naturally into these things, it can be a rough road to adulthood.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">And so as we celebrated his 16 years of life we remembered the promises of God that He will never leave us or forsake us. And that 16 years ago when God performed the miracle of placing our son in our family He did so with a beautiful plan for his life. He embedded within our son characteristics, gifts and talents that would give him the ability to serve God and do great things for Him. There are many times that I wake in the middle of the night and go into my son’s room to perform a middle of the night blood sugar check and as I watch him sleep I am reminded that when you peel back all the layers of confusion hurt and anger, he is simply a little boy who like most of us longs to be loved, accepted and to feel that he is important and valued by others but more importantly that there is a purpose to his life and the future awaiting him is exciting.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Like never before, I have been reminded of the fact that Satan is a liar. He is the author of the confusion. If he can get into our minds and cause us to believe that we are worthless and without hope then he has taken major ground in the battle for our souls. He wants us and our kiddos to live in desperation. As a mom of a teenager, I recognize the importance of pouring truth into my son…whether he wants to hear it or not I need to speak words of life that build oasis’s of hope and encouragement in the recesses of his mind. So that when the lies come and he feels like he is in a barren land of dry nothingness, he can run to that refuge of the waters of truth given to him by Jesus through the voice of his mom. In thinking about this, I was reminded that when my son was small and would experience a hurt he would come running to me and I would scoop him up and love the hurt away…..that’s what mom’s do. Well now that he is older, he doesn’t run into my arms when he is hurting so I need to deposit my seeds of comfort into his mind so that I can mentally love the hurt away.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Reminding my son that he is precious not only in the sight of the Lord but in the eyes of his parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins and friends, my mom and dad put together a birthday celebration for him when we were visiting in FL. It was a fun time and it warmed my heart to see him smile. Happy Birthday to my #1 son!!!!!!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b><i><span style="font-size: 12pt;">For I know the plans I have for you, declares the <span style="font-variant: small-caps;">Lord</span>, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future</span></i></b><i><span style="font-size: 12pt;">.<o:p></o:p></span></i></span></div>
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<i><span style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17px;"><a href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Jeremiah+29:10-12&version=NIV"><span style="color: windowtext; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; text-decoration: none;">Jeremiah 29:10-12</span></a></span></i></div>
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<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17209533038362847981noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5116597096311436175.post-35915425007608765982013-08-03T11:44:00.000-06:002013-08-03T12:38:32.839-06:00Being OK with an Imperfect, Messy and Chaotic Life<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I can hardly believe that summer break is almost over and in
2 ½ weeks the kids will be back in school.
Part of me is very sad to see the lazy days of summer come to an end but
then there is a degree of excitement at settling back into a routine and having
some moments to myself in the house to finally get my organizing projects done. I wanted to try to catch up with some
blogging by doing a few back posts from last year but in doing so I have found
myself dwelling in a state of conviction with regards to social media/blogging
and its purpose in my life. It all began
a few weeks ago when I posted something on Facebook and my 16 year old saw it
and asked why I posted about “being thrilled with my new blinds”. I had to admit that I really didn’t have
reason other than I really loved finally having some privacy in our family
room. But why did I feel the need to
tell people on Facebook, I didn’t know.
Then a couple of days later our pastor challenged us to strongly
consider our motives for Facebook/Twitter posts as well as the reasoning for
blogging. I took some time to read
through my posts and considered what was behind some of what I was saying:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>Did I somehow feel the need to vent a hurt,
frustration or that someone had just made me mad?</i></span></li>
<li><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>Was I feeling insecure about myself or my family
and felt the need to bolster my ego by exaggerating an event through words or
pictures.</i></span></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-size: 7pt;"> </span></span><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">Did I feel the need to broadcast every event of
my day so as to let everyone know just how full, exciting and perfect I wanted my life to seem.</span></i></span></li>
<li><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>Or could I have been trying to fill a void
caused by loneliness by posting so as to draw attention to myself, receiving
comments and/or “likes” hoping to make myself feel significant in some way.</i></span></span></li>
</ul>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; text-indent: -0.25in;">All of which I am ashamed to say were true. For me and many others social media has
become a platform to satisfy a need to feel important and has given us all yet
another mask to hide behind. A venue to
create a persona that we live perfect lives with perfect husbands and perfect
kids. We are incredibly spiritual, have
homes that look like they are right out of a Southern Living and cook meals
that would rival anything on Food Network.
And so, we now don’t have to look next door to try “keeping up with the
Jones’s” we merely just log onto the computer.
I have witnessed what a
seemingly innocent post can do to a fragile teenagers self-esteem causing him
or her to feel that their life could never measure up to the grandiose lives
that others profess to have but it is not just teenagers who are caught in this
web of emotional destruction. Grown men
and women (myself included) walk through life feeling devastated by the thought
that everyone around us is living a better life than we could hope for. Dissatisfaction overwhelms us and why are we
surprised that anti-depressants are the most prescribed medication in United
States.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">What was I to do with this conviction? Should disconnect from Facebook and close my
blog. I seriously considered doing both
but then I was reminded of Ephesians 4:29, <b>“Do not let any unwholesome talk
come out of your mouths but only what is helpful for building others up
according to their needs that it may benefit those who listen.”</b> Considering this scripture not only in
my verbal conversations but in those written online conversations can be
helpful in keeping myself in check with Facebook and Blogging. Does that mean that I can’t post something
funny that our Joshua says, write a blog about how proud I am of my kids or
post pictures of my home decorated for Christmas? I don’t think so because personally I love
all those things. In fact there is a great joy logging onto
Facebook and seeing photos of my friends and family or reading something hilarious that a friend did. Being so far away from many of them it helps
me stay connected….it is edifying for me.
But I do think that prior to posting something I need to consider if
it is wholesome and building someone else up and complaining about my plumber is not exactly edifying. So, it is my hope to strive for wholesome
posts both here on my blog as well as on Facebook that will create a balance
between documenting the journey of our family in our very imperfect life and
building up a reader through encouragement, laughter and joy. And so in honor of making posts real here is
a photo of what my kitchen looks like this morning. This is our life….imperfect, chaotic and
messy and I am OK with that so whatever your life looks like today, I hope you
feel OK.</span><o:p></o:p></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17209533038362847981noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5116597096311436175.post-67832415362985773642013-07-15T11:16:00.000-06:002013-08-03T12:41:29.225-06:00Fun, Family and FLORIDA!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;">
I was blasted with a reminder this weekend as walked into Target and saw the Back to School display that summer is a little more than half way complete. That makes me sad because this is my most favorite time of year. I absolutely love warm weather, relaxed schedules, warm weather, sleeping in, pool days, yummy summer fruits and did I say warm weather. And while the revolving door of neighborhood kiddos in and out of my house makes cleaning about like trying to "brush your teeth while eating oreos" I have loved seeing the kids having fun and enjoying being outside. Ahhhh..summertime and the living is not so bad. We haven't done anything spectacular since returning from our visit to FL but the backyard fun here at home has made for some memorable times. In honor of summer here are loads of pics from our recent trip to FL. Wish I hadn't forgotten my camera so the phone had to suffice......Happy Times!!!</div>
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Beach Day Fun</div>
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Cooking at Grandmas!</div>
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My dad built this Cobra and Joshua found his favorite spot in the drivers seat.</div>
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Ready for a spin!</div>
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The tractor would have to do!</div>
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Bee found his little helper.</div>
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Now this is what happens when the cousins get together....</div>
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A nighttime swim is a perfect end to a perfect day</div>
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Super silliness before lunch at my favorite luncheon spot in Cocoa Village</div>
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Here we all are in our "old stomping grounds" My dad and the boy who made him "Bee"</div>
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My beautiful girl</div>
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Another beautiful girl.</div>
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Cousins are the BEST!!!!</div>
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The kids spent their days in the pool.</div>
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My sweet niece Bella</div>
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Grace was on a constant look out for lizards which fortunately are plentiful in FL.</div>
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Lily, my sisters Labrador had been chasing this lizard for days and was eager for Grace to award the efforts of her lizard hunting labor.</div>
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Rainy days are good for a trip to the Bookstore and some hat fun.</div>
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Everyone needs a "Bee" to help with the fishing....Joshua and my nephew, Garrett fishing in my sisters back yard.</div>
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Grace and Emily enjoyed some time with Mikes mom and sister. Dress up tea parties are tons are fun!</div>
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More Pool Fun!</div>
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Dinner out with the FAM! We love good food especially when we can eat together.</div>
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This is my life......</div>
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Cody with Nana and Grandaddy</div>
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Nammy and Bee with their girls.</div>
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I just had to get a pic with Lily....She is the sweetest dog.</div>
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Nothing like an afternoon nap!</div>
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We enjoyed a wonderful evening with Pastor Erick and his kiddos. Jenna is his gorgeous daughter from Taiwan. She and Emily look like sisters.</div>
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This was a terrible shot with my phone but I had to include it because it reminds me of how much I love these two, my sister and Erick. This was our last night and a perfect ending to a wonderful trip. Can't wait for the next visit!</div>
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<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17209533038362847981noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5116597096311436175.post-81442213702511484702013-07-13T09:49:00.000-06:002013-07-13T09:58:45.194-06:00Revive, Refresh, Restore, and Renew<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Revive, Refresh, Restore and Renew: the four R’s of my life
as I embark on our new lifestyle of being at home full-time.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It has been a bit of adjustment as I try to
manage a summer schedule of 6 people.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I
literally returned to a home that hadn’t been fully addressed in 3 years while I was consumed with my work outside of our home. Believe me when I say it was kind of scary so we
have been in a recovery mode in order to have a fresh start to
our new way of life.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The chaos and dirt
has created an overwhelming desire to restore my house to a more functional
living space and I have been bound and determined to get these projects done
before school begins however, I have been reminded of my purpose to build
memories with my kids that will last long after I am gone and have thought well,
maybe all of the Pinterest inspired organization projects can wait until my
kiddos are spending their days in school and I have time alone. So rather than
tackling the storage closet in the basement that desperately needs a good dose
of purging or a garage that should have the same, we will hit the pool, take
some bike rides, see some movies and just soak in summer life for it will be
gone way too soon.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">This whole attitude of recovering and restoring my home to
what it once was has reminded me of a more personal journey of reviving,
refreshing, restoring and renewing my life in a deeper sense.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As the school year drew to an end during the last
week of May, I found myself in great need of resuscitation.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> I was physically, mentally and emotional drained and I looked and felt as if I been hit by a truck. </span>The previous 6 months had literally sucked
the life out of me and as I boarded a plane heading to Florida with my 4 kiddos
I desperately needed some life support.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>As I think about that plane ride, I am amazed that I managed the flight
without major complications.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Arriving to
the warm sunshine of the place I used to call home was like the CPR for my
mind, body and soul and upon feeling the embrace of my mom, dad and sister, I
could feel the life returning to me within minutes of arriving.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is truly amazing to know how the love of
family can revitalize the weariness.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For
12 days I soaked in some of this<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"></span></span> </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"></span><o:p></o:p></span> </div>
and t<span style="font-family: Calibri;">his<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">but most of all this<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<o:p><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> </span></o:p></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">There is nothing more soothing to the a weary heart to see
the sweet faces of your children light up with a joy that cannot be captured in
words….happiness that overflows from feeling loved and adored by those who
treasure your very presence.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> Who feel as though every second with you is a treasure to behold and to simply do nothing other than bask in the beauty of being together! </span>To say that
I needed those 12 days is a huge understatement.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It wasn’t a grand and lavish vacation but
simple moments of <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>peace soaking in what
is important in life and it was just what I needed to revive all parts of me.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">The end of our visit came much too soon and we all longed
for more time with our family but <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>the
vacation had to end…much like when you are drawing to the end of a relaxing
massage and your body begs for more yet you know it has to end and you have to return to the real world.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And so with heavy hearts I gathered up my
pack and we journeyed home.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Revived but
needing more refreshment and wondering if I could manage it once I returned to
CO.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I was reminded of the 23<sup><span style="font-size: x-small;">rd</span></sup> Psalm
during a morning devotion while in Florida and found myself soaking in the words of the MSG
version.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“You have bedded me down in
lush meadows, you find me quiet pools to drink from.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>True to your word you let me catch my breath
and send me in the right direction.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Oh
how do we all need from time to time, a rest in the lush meadows of life, a drink
from quiet pools.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Having a chance to
catch our breath so that we can hear God sending us in the right direction.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
</div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">I find myself still in a state of needing refreshment.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Trying to find quiet moments to drink in the
goodness of the Lord.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I have been
overwhelmed with this sense knowing that my Lord wants to envelope me in the
peace of His embrace that breathes life into me much like the hugs of my mom
and dad did on the day of my arrival in FL.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
I literally didn't have the time for this when I was trying to manage a 50 hour a week job along with a house, 4 kids and everything else that life threw at me but now t</span>he question is will I take the time to rest in His embrace feeling the
fullness of His love and desire to let me “catch my breath” <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">I have a glimpse of restoration and ultimately renewal of
all those things that have been absent from my life.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It may take time to re-learn and re-establish
a new way of life and recover my mind (which according to Joshua has been lost
at Target), my spirit and my body but I am excited for the first time in a very
long while at what the future holds for me as a wife, mommy but more
importantly as a child of God.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"></span><br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">I fully realize having left the comforts of my life as a
stay at home wife and mom for a period of time that there are so many incredible
women juggling the balls of life right now, wearing way too many hats and
feeling frustrated, alone and desperately needing to “sit for a spell”, as my
grandmother would say.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I pray today that if you somehow have
stumbled upon this post and your body and soul are weary that you will find a
moment in the day to sit.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It doesn’t
have to be in a porch swing with a big glass of sweet tea although if you are
able to manage that I sure do envy you but just take a few minutes to catch your
breath, drink from some quiet pools and visit with the God who made you.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<o:p><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> </span></o:p></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17209533038362847981noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5116597096311436175.post-6271854812636133122013-07-07T07:44:00.002-06:002013-07-07T07:44:20.564-06:00Reflections and a Beloved Starbucks Coffee Mug<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDdiFKKUeFMAUe18A7W9sbq8p0z7k2CfrR3hwcmk-8wNrEp_5n7yMuhkieI8Uv-S4V37MJQXS-Gd7Dh2Hu96SsKmuG2dEpC3JTlhYIl-ujrggZp6ysOyd2P9NhiJZ0jMVFMIwSBLUs6cc/s1600/mirror.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="305" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDdiFKKUeFMAUe18A7W9sbq8p0z7k2CfrR3hwcmk-8wNrEp_5n7yMuhkieI8Uv-S4V37MJQXS-Gd7Dh2Hu96SsKmuG2dEpC3JTlhYIl-ujrggZp6ysOyd2P9NhiJZ0jMVFMIwSBLUs6cc/s400/mirror.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Have you ever found yourself in a
season of life where you feel like you are standing on the platform deck of a high
speed train trying to get on but you just can’t seem to figure out how to stop
the train long enough to catch a ride?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Or perhaps you wake up one morning, take a long look in the mirror and
realize that the person staring back at you is not someone you really know at
all?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>How do we lose ourselves in the
ocean of life, how can we force the train to stop so that we actually get on
and soak in the beauty of the ride?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">We find ourselves at this point
in life sometimes for a specific reason and at other times accidentally and not of our choosing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Perhaps we made choices which landed us on
the platform unable to get on maybe a crisis forced us to get off the train and
it sped up and it was just too difficult to get back on.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But what if these two word pictures collide
in the reality of life.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That is where I
have found myself recently.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A few months
ago the train of my life was traveling much faster than I could keep up and I
woke one very cold and windy morning at my usual 5:00 am, after a shower and a
strong cup of coffee I glanced in the mirror and realized I didn’t quite
recognize the woman in the mirror.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Where
did “I” go? Had the circumstances of life shattered the person who was so
familiar to me?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Somehow I felt my
beloved self was still within me; she just had become buried in the
rubble of all the popping of being stretched in too many directions.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">I was reminded of this reality a
week ago as I walked through the ashes of what was once the home of a good
friend of Mike’s.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Fires raged once again
through our community a few weeks ago but unlike last year this fire was far
more destructive and much closer to our home.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Over 500 homes were lost and as we drove through what was once a lush
and beautiful forest to arrive at Mike’s friends’ home last week we were in
utter shock at the loss.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Standing in
the rubble of everything that this couple owned which was now reduced to a
literal pile of ashes, I listened and watched as they pointed out the remains of
a dishwasher, or a few items of pottery that has survived.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They recovered gears of a mountain bike and a
few other insignificant items however, everything they owned was gone including a “beloved
Starbucks mug”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Any coffee drinker knows
that a good mug is like a loyal hound dog….well-seasoned to welcome you every
morning. It fits perfectly in your hand and somehow an extension of it's owner and so I understood to well the longing that Sid had to sift through
the ashes with the hopes of locating his mug.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>It hasn’t been found but as I have pondered this lost mug I thought
about myself.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Sometimes we have fires
in our lives.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Fires of many different
origins and many different degrees but they all char us in some way.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For me, the fire has been kind of like a
burning ember that would flare when the winds of life blew hard and in the
midst and “I” much like Mikes friends’ beloved Starbucks mug got lost in the
charred debris left behind.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> When the fires raged I didn't have the time nor the mental energy to attempt to put out the fires or even discover the cause, I am ashamed to say that I simply just tried to evacuate until they somehow were reduced to smolders again. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">I have great hopes of finding the
lost remnants of “Nichole” as I return to the loves of my life….my husband, my
children and my home.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I have said
goodbye to the job that took me away from those loves in order to reinvest in
that which I know is my “true purpose”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In
Rick Warren’s book The Purpose Driven Life, he states “Knowing your purpose
simplifies your life.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It defines what
you do and what you don’t do.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is
impossible to do everything people want you to do. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You have just enough time to do God’s
will.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If you can’t get it all done, it
means you’re trying to do more than God intended for you to do.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Purpose driven living leads to a simpler
lifestyle and a saner schedule.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Oh, how
I am looking forward to a simpler lifestyle with the time and brain capacity to
exploring every facet my true purpose while building beautiful memories that my children will
treasure long after I am gone. And along the way, I hope to recover the beloved mug of me and recognize that reflection of the woman in the mirror.</span></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17209533038362847981noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5116597096311436175.post-79258295742442101852013-03-25T11:21:00.002-06:002013-03-25T11:24:28.330-06:00The Shelter in the Storm<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Oh “the best laid plans of mice and men often go astray” seems the story of my life these days especially when it comes keeping my blog up to date.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I am constantly thinking that I will take the time to do a big catch up but somehow get distracted by the in’s and out’s as well as the to do’s of everyday life.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So since today is the first day of our Spring Break and you would never believe it by looking out the window, I decided to take a moment of this cold and snowy 25<span style="font-size: x-small;"><sup>rd</sup></span><span style="font-size: small;"> day of March to pop on and say hello.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As the cold winds blew this weekend I found myself dreaming of some warm ocean breezes.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There are many things I love about Colorado, one of which is this amazing view which I soak in every day of my life</span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJQQbO9i2SNhrPV7yhcmvvxcjbt_i8SkbAiFAkH5m-9IbX_vP5tAuwIT7Ywf4wW9AS-magKplZCJ1UMzq-WL2PNQPgmOqDdua8MWwYvMMEusLOPTWRXytfydnrlZLurXLIRRSBInCFEpo/s1600/colorado+view.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJQQbO9i2SNhrPV7yhcmvvxcjbt_i8SkbAiFAkH5m-9IbX_vP5tAuwIT7Ywf4wW9AS-magKplZCJ1UMzq-WL2PNQPgmOqDdua8MWwYvMMEusLOPTWRXytfydnrlZLurXLIRRSBInCFEpo/s320/colorado+view.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman;"></span></span><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"> </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: small;">but I will have to say that around this time of year there are many more things that I dislike about Colorado living, one of which is spending Spring Break snowed in.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Somehow it just seems wrong to even call it Spring Break.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In fact our Emily announced today that it should be called Winter Break and I couldn’t agree more.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So for those of you basking in a warm day, enjoy some for me.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: small;">Since my last post honoring my sweet sis on her birthday, we have embarked on a new school year, welcomed my family to Colorado for one of the best Thanksgivings ever, started new jobs, transitioned into new positions, made new friends while also walking through some really difficult times as a family. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Life’s circumstances can sometimes dish out some really tough stuff and we have had quite the serving of hard times over the past couple of months.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Situations that have been so difficult to process and work through while testing the strength of our family and faith.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There are times when you just cannot fathom why you find yourself in the midst of a raging storm. It is our human nature to become anxious, and scared when we are faced unknown circumstances. But during that storm we can hear God saying, "I am with you, and I always will be. I know life is hard. So I provide relationships that refresh and sustain truths a that enable you to persevere and keep hoping, and My Spirit to guide and strengthen you. And I Myself am always here for you." We know that God IS our protector and that He is full of promises to be our Shelter, the cleft in the rock. He will not just give us shelter but he IS our Shelter.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: x-small;"><em>I lift my eyes to the hills....where does my help come from:</em></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: x-small;"><em>My help comes from the LORD, the Maker of heaven and earth.</em></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: x-small;"><em>He will not let your foot slip...he who watches over you will not slumber, indeed, he who watches over Israel will neither slumber nor sleep.</em></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: x-small;"><em>The Lord watches over you, the Lord is your shade at your right hand, the sun will not harm you by day nor the moon by night.</em></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: x-small;"><em>The LORD will keep you from all harm, he will watch over your life</em></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: x-small;"><em>The LORD will watch over your coming and going both now and forevermore.</em></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">And so in the midst of this storm we as a family find a place of rest, comfort and hope in the Shelter of our Lord.</span></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17209533038362847981noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5116597096311436175.post-76569886769677277152012-06-29T11:22:00.000-06:002012-06-29T11:22:37.918-06:00Happy Birthday to my Sister!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;">
Yesterday, my sister celebrated one of those "milestone" birthdays. I won't say which one because as we all know once we hit 29 we are 29 forever. Nevertheless, I thought of her all day giving thanks that God brought her in my life. God made us sisters but life made us best friends! Our lives have always been so intertwined in that there were many times we were just extensions of each other. Time and physical distance have created separation that is a constant reminder of how much I miss her and my heart aches to know that yet another birthday has passed without me being able to celebrate with her. We haven't seen each other in 2 years and given that she is a busy stay at home wife and mom of three very active kiddos and I live a life with a full time job, 4 kiddos and a stay at home husband, we just don't even get a moment to catch up on the phone and although physical distance keeps us apart our hearts are always connected.....that is the way it is with sisters. In fact just this week, Emily and Grace were arguing and fussing with each other saying things like, "I wish you weren't my sister" and I had to remind them that one day their relationship would be the most precious one in the world.</div>
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So, Happy Birthday to an incredible wife, an amazing mama, and a most wonderful sister!!!!! I miss and love you beyond words.</div>
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Here she is with her beautiful family!</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgh1R5PQffHeGQ5y1Hc63WOcP7wMBFucSDwmtx42djMHgw8qCQgUJJ0l7jK_Z1kuowJXvgI6ip6P99Jytbsb4pGsgNnslWjgpTJjvQEtRbYAVj_eFkXTDDFJouJBKeNmvGDkYaNjXMwDz0/s1600/Chrystal.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="478" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgh1R5PQffHeGQ5y1Hc63WOcP7wMBFucSDwmtx42djMHgw8qCQgUJJ0l7jK_Z1kuowJXvgI6ip6P99Jytbsb4pGsgNnslWjgpTJjvQEtRbYAVj_eFkXTDDFJouJBKeNmvGDkYaNjXMwDz0/s640/Chrystal.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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4 years ago at Cody's Baptism and our last photo together.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjD3-VwzI0Kel2odQ538Vbw7p9hiFybTZgaQHofDCsZLBmy1cU6b51l5hrFNX0W-hRleoRqWaDXb0bCrvYny1hoGXpUAKx3NenKnlRcptpKBr8r6pO6YFN4vvBML-bduhuPRFS_ezH-ACY/s1600/me+and+Chrystal.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="428" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjD3-VwzI0Kel2odQ538Vbw7p9hiFybTZgaQHofDCsZLBmy1cU6b51l5hrFNX0W-hRleoRqWaDXb0bCrvYny1hoGXpUAKx3NenKnlRcptpKBr8r6pO6YFN4vvBML-bduhuPRFS_ezH-ACY/s640/me+and+Chrystal.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17209533038362847981noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5116597096311436175.post-30116847668988817162012-06-27T12:35:00.003-06:002013-03-25T11:29:37.611-06:00Colorado Fires<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;">
Having lived in Florida for many years I weathered my share of hurricanes and witnessed first hand the devasting destruction of how powerful weather can be but never in my experience have I seen something as frightening as what we witnessed here in my city yesterday. Last Saturday morning as the girls and I left the gym I looked out over the parking lot where there is usually a magnificant view of the mountains and saw a large black plume of smoke. We listened to the radio and discovered that the canyon just behind this ridge was on fire and for three days we stayed tuned to the news praying for rain and for fire fighters to keep the fire from crossing the ridge into neighborhoods on the west side of our City. The fire fighting seemed to be going well until yesterday when weather conditions provided the perfect opportunity for this fire to cross the ridge and as I left my neighborhood to pick Joshua up from summer school this is what I saw.......</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAyk8EKgWhbB3Rw2QpUoyTe6iuwqU0ufpoqb_u7oy__VYa_UK2SIU96mNNi1yRhHWNMU6A9RtRaZVo7wv0r6SitTrRScEn8eP26MRyLGT5tfY5pV01t48rdviKfx0k5fP4LZVTaPqc5ak/s1600/DSC_0147.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="427" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAyk8EKgWhbB3Rw2QpUoyTe6iuwqU0ufpoqb_u7oy__VYa_UK2SIU96mNNi1yRhHWNMU6A9RtRaZVo7wv0r6SitTrRScEn8eP26MRyLGT5tfY5pV01t48rdviKfx0k5fP4LZVTaPqc5ak/s640/DSC_0147.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKAmliL-z_QgUgHbsSh7_KcH7Tz5yP7RDmBZqH0nP2ZAUhnhy1D09tto2dV1_BUyQLCTRtaJyWw8Izjfmgax5t_a-R4Esu2QLdOFhxesLKMlA0IXkYOW5r9VGNJ6ajEaWG6NAYAth5doI/s1600/DSC_0141.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="428" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKAmliL-z_QgUgHbsSh7_KcH7Tz5yP7RDmBZqH0nP2ZAUhnhy1D09tto2dV1_BUyQLCTRtaJyWw8Izjfmgax5t_a-R4Esu2QLdOFhxesLKMlA0IXkYOW5r9VGNJ6ajEaWG6NAYAth5doI/s640/DSC_0141.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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Within, a few hours this was the scene as the fire invaded a neighborhood where Mike and I had seriously considered moving when we were searching for homes in preparation for our move. In fact the street of the home we looked at was mentioned in news casts and we are certain that it probably was destroyed. The fire was so powerful that fire fighters were forced to retreat while over 32,000 residents were evacuated within a very short time. Although we live on the other side of town and far from any danger we still found ourselves scared and in shock as to how quickly one could lose everything as well as how uncontrollable fire can be. We awoke in the middle of the night with the smell of smoke in our home even though our windows were shut tight and air conditioning having run all night long knowing just across the highway from our home an entire community was going up in smoke.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghBim_ttN_xV3_pkvdxPVBFpaG-Qe3319Dzw9gIpdyUfu7LBkdFYf05dG6w7ZeeIy293lqBpjbDwy6hjQPU-DihpCMTP-zTSHIUn1FEz0eTMtwuiA_59JrsAk5Vx7BSe5pT0FaOSQ-9gA/s1600/CS+Fire+3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="372" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghBim_ttN_xV3_pkvdxPVBFpaG-Qe3319Dzw9gIpdyUfu7LBkdFYf05dG6w7ZeeIy293lqBpjbDwy6hjQPU-DihpCMTP-zTSHIUn1FEz0eTMtwuiA_59JrsAk5Vx7BSe5pT0FaOSQ-9gA/s640/CS+Fire+3.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6uIdiIHCrryVPRcmaYOM9dxNQj6X-46l33bzjQlPJlvZ-UdmdCcUFsF4ka88c2xM-6TmlGe_IeG0WO8GoO81_Cgq1SA6LIpjhg_KwkJBySZLXa7PEmzSBgTF_C1MaR94b3KN-xu-Ru4g/s1600/CS+Fire+2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="571" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6uIdiIHCrryVPRcmaYOM9dxNQj6X-46l33bzjQlPJlvZ-UdmdCcUFsF4ka88c2xM-6TmlGe_IeG0WO8GoO81_Cgq1SA6LIpjhg_KwkJBySZLXa7PEmzSBgTF_C1MaR94b3KN-xu-Ru4g/s640/CS+Fire+2.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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We currently have no news as to how many homes have been lost and the weather conditions are favorable for spreading today so we are praying for a mighty God to reach down from Heaven and heal our land.</div>
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A shot from the AirForceAcademy Chapel which is about 5 miles west of our home with smoke plumes billowing behind.</div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17209533038362847981noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5116597096311436175.post-30017698062896510402012-06-24T10:19:00.001-06:002012-06-24T10:25:36.402-06:00Is it Summer?<span style="font-family: inherit;">Well, it is summertime but I will have to say that the living is not exactly easy. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In fact I sat in my office one day last week after having just traveled over 60 miles in one morning dropping 4 kids at their camps and activities, with an inbox full of emails from some pretty impatient and demanding parents and dreamed of this……</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggkQgHqVGxrKtgSY5cZFoLPqNRPAIOihIO2kicCLVmu_NwI-yl6CTsbeDi3SUdK7iNZ_wGyrYtqt1NJax9sN_ra_wNsIOpYtWHVKXuGsSjOf4GcymSxdn4cE_AP8jJUO7tZx1UkWiOLjk/s1600/Seaside+FL.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="424" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggkQgHqVGxrKtgSY5cZFoLPqNRPAIOihIO2kicCLVmu_NwI-yl6CTsbeDi3SUdK7iNZ_wGyrYtqt1NJax9sN_ra_wNsIOpYtWHVKXuGsSjOf4GcymSxdn4cE_AP8jJUO7tZx1UkWiOLjk/s640/Seaside+FL.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Ahh, to sit on the beach with a warm breeze blowing
listening to the soft sounds of waves crashing against the sand.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Then the phone rang, jolting me back into the
reality of my life.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A life that is now
characterized by chaos and stress.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I
honestly believe that somewhere along this path I have been walking, my mind was
lost and I do wonder if it will ever be found.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Just in the past couple of days I have brewed at least 2 maybe 3 cups of
coffee in my Keurig only to discover coffee pouring down my kitchen counter for
lack of a cup.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I drove out of the
driveway the other morning without a child, ran a stop sign, tried to make a
bank deposit at the dry cleaners all the while leaving the house every day not
remembering whether I brushed my teeth or not.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>The stretching that has occurred over the past 1 ½ years has caused me to
become frayed, not at all like what I used to be.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I lose my temper so easily, I am disorganized
and unfocused and filled constantly with negativity and fatigue.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I have neglected some of the most important
things in my life in exchange for a full-time job working, sometimes 45-50
hours week with the addition of weekends spent working on all the things I
couldn’t get done during the week. I am exhausted all the time having poured my time and energy into other people and lacking the energy to make it through a page of a chapter book with my own kids before falling asleep. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I
have debated on whether I should just close the blog given that I don’t have the
time to devote to keep it current coupled with the fact that we just don’t do
much blog-worthy stuff anymore.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I
barely even take photos.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I know, not a
very pretty picture which is why I really haven’t wanted to blog.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I am a firm believer that if you can’t say
anything nice, don’t say anything at all and I really haven’t had anything
uplifting to say recently.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Life
certainly hasn’t turned out exactly like I had planned but then sometimes it doesn’t,
we are forced to accept things that we can’t change and live with decisions we
thought were a good move at the time.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We
simply just have to make lemonade out of lemons. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Well, along with my mind my love and ability
to pull together culinary treats has vanished amidst the chaos of managing a
demanding job, 4 kids, a house, laundry, grocery shopping, errand running and just making sure I am fully
dressed (with matching shoes) when I leave the house.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I am hopeful however that with a few weeks of
disconnecting from my job that I can at least recover a recipe for some
sweet lemonade in life.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It may not
happen but I desperately desire to reclaim some order to my house (at least have some clean clothes to wear), re-connect
some friendships and family relationships that have been severely neglected and
love on my kiddo’s who I know have missed their mommy.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So while this blog post is not filled with
beautiful pics of fun summer times of our family, I do hope it may let some mom
who may be struggling with life know that she is not alone.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Hoping for some Lemonade!</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"></span></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17209533038362847981noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5116597096311436175.post-34661438759790496962012-02-05T10:05:00.002-07:002012-02-05T10:08:19.863-07:00Sunday Brunch: Fruit and Yogurt Parfaits<div style="text-align: justify;">This weekend has been filled with yummy food and great fellowship and we are in full preparation mode for Super Bowl so this Sunday we are enjoying something quick and easy for breakfast which is so healthy and satisfying. I created this last spring after returning from China with more than I expected. Being diagnosed and treated for Giardia left me with chronic tummy troubles so I concocted these yogurt parfaits as a way of bringing some healthy bacteria into my system. The greek yogurt is so delicious, great for the digestive system and the added flax is very beneficial for many different things. Flaxseed supports normal functioning of the digestive tract and the fiber, alpha-linolenic acid, protein and SDG lignans found in the flax have heart healthy omega-3 fatty acids while the SDG lignans have antioxidant properties that have positive effects on balancing hormones. All of which all of us need on a daily basis which is why this is my standard daily breakfast. Now I typically don't serve it parfait style given that I don't have time to eat breakfast until I settle in at work and may get some teasing from my students if I whipped out my Lenox Crystal while writing tardy passes but it is nice to serve it this way when you are entertaining. Of course if you aren't a fan of flaxseed you could always substitute granola instead. So after last weeks sinful Krispy Kreme Bread Pudding, I hope I have redeemed myself with some healthiness. ENJOY and may you be blessed!</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
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</div><div style="text-align: center;"><em>This is my favorite kind of Greek Yogurt, I find it at my local King Soopers as well as Whole Foods</em></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCi5mZ5sO0byzD1jCxm5GufA3d1gLEjhhapGDtxX3co2qCr3AK8o9T2F2MdR29vCk8RrGDHYp5wejbY8GA8eRBJAIN3xyqmB8nsN6y6OLx94ANKBsjt0LujOe1Mc3gInrv2b0u2m38AAw/s1600/DSC_0914.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="428" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCi5mZ5sO0byzD1jCxm5GufA3d1gLEjhhapGDtxX3co2qCr3AK8o9T2F2MdR29vCk8RrGDHYp5wejbY8GA8eRBJAIN3xyqmB8nsN6y6OLx94ANKBsjt0LujOe1Mc3gInrv2b0u2m38AAw/s640/DSC_0914.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><br />
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<div align="center"><em>I purchase my flaxseed with dried fruits at Whole Foods. I use 2 Tablespoons every day.</em></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh85Noi35WQXAo0IXsDnrtp0S0Ai3Gzlg3e2pJYx1p0_frvaI5uerl6rQb13cU22bxmAjmlvsbtjwaxuYBREWysMLhp94WT4hQykRpuqr2hxrUCyCQdtfWvG8dAsOzdF12ANICeohFo1jg/s1600/DSC_0915.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh85Noi35WQXAo0IXsDnrtp0S0Ai3Gzlg3e2pJYx1p0_frvaI5uerl6rQb13cU22bxmAjmlvsbtjwaxuYBREWysMLhp94WT4hQykRpuqr2hxrUCyCQdtfWvG8dAsOzdF12ANICeohFo1jg/s640/DSC_0915.JPG" width="428" /></a></div><br />
<div align="center"><em>Voila, Delicious and Healthy!</em></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSjIhqHDKE2lNvXwilIVAu4qAkDhWPHEdeX4wPlwH2VYx2_u2qxAVFpuaGskdqUcyWztaCsZqlfuKBEuwj7LyaJWd_GI-1Zl-i8E2Di2mrLpncqY6jyXq_MIf8EFF1IBbO08LYiiFfAsw/s1600/DSC_0917.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSjIhqHDKE2lNvXwilIVAu4qAkDhWPHEdeX4wPlwH2VYx2_u2qxAVFpuaGskdqUcyWztaCsZqlfuKBEuwj7LyaJWd_GI-1Zl-i8E2Di2mrLpncqY6jyXq_MIf8EFF1IBbO08LYiiFfAsw/s640/DSC_0917.JPG" width="428" /></a></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17209533038362847981noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5116597096311436175.post-51637412174049815012012-02-04T07:33:00.000-07:002012-02-04T07:33:14.521-07:00On the Campaign Trail<div style="text-align: justify;">Wednesday evening our family had the pleasure of attending a Rick Santorum Campaign Rally. It was so much fun and brought back some fond memories of times when we were campaigning for various candidates while living in FL. Election season was always a time we enjoyed, feeling strongly that as Believers it was our responsibility to contribute in promoting those whom we thought would honor the conservative values if elected. I had even thought early in our marriage that Mike was destined to serve his country in political office however our lives took a different turn so we were thrilled to once again stand behind a candidate who probably is one of the most genuinely conservative politicians we have ever supported. We were very impressed with Rick Santorum prior to the rally and were not disappointed after hearing him speak on Wednesday. Although, the numbers indicate that he won't make it to the Oval Office and we will happily support whoever gets the nomination but whatever the outcome may be in the primaries we are honored and proud of men and women like Rick who remain faithful to their beliefs and stand strongly consistent in them once they arrive to their political offices.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1XeDkuH9ADo2Qo-BOt2ptnauRlJEaxFl1FsQX3mloCbcZj3zlOyZmxFHfBLasYyOAtlTipvPlB80IBpkEYZ9YnVT36Soh_Fu9Bi3X_a3Q8vj_cSVFHxXQPOpS8id5_UByaAuYc5sH_ZA/s1600/DSC_0911.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="428" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1XeDkuH9ADo2Qo-BOt2ptnauRlJEaxFl1FsQX3mloCbcZj3zlOyZmxFHfBLasYyOAtlTipvPlB80IBpkEYZ9YnVT36Soh_Fu9Bi3X_a3Q8vj_cSVFHxXQPOpS8id5_UByaAuYc5sH_ZA/s640/DSC_0911.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17209533038362847981noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5116597096311436175.post-83117948082692280292012-01-30T05:03:00.000-07:002012-01-30T05:03:33.460-07:00Sunday Brunch: Krispy Kreme Bread Pudding<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQePmPRJeafSkTJCb7tNle_iOLErPy1sDYWxZQRT6LTzI2JobulLJrlgfYqVB4A_p59f14Id2aI2cnT53IdRUH1qrjHk3qycSv_R_0HNc7v4mZGO0dEnzzwgK3jv1NzvxYzfwqmsg6FIA/s1600/DSC_0908.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="428" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQePmPRJeafSkTJCb7tNle_iOLErPy1sDYWxZQRT6LTzI2JobulLJrlgfYqVB4A_p59f14Id2aI2cnT53IdRUH1qrjHk3qycSv_R_0HNc7v4mZGO0dEnzzwgK3jv1NzvxYzfwqmsg6FIA/s640/DSC_0908.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">May I begin by saying that there is absolutely nothing healthy about this Sunday Brunch recipe that I prepared for Mike's Mens Group on Saturday. It is full of sugary carb filled donuts, sugary sweetened condensed milk, fatty butter and a little bit of booze if you like. Not exactly heart friendly but oh is it good and nice to share with friends when you want to wow them with something wonderfully delicious. I would highly recommend that you prepare this to share because the temptation of having leftovers will certainly sabotage any New Year diet goals.</div><br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">The recipe is a Paula Deen special and one that reminds me of my college days and our late night drives downtown Birmingham to the Krispy Kreme for a fresh batch of warm doughnuts. Those were the days, when we could devour late night carbs and fat and simply work them off the next morning with a brisk walk to class. Ahhhh...to be young again.</div><br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">I have a few things to share but haven't had a spare moment to post. We have soaked in some wonderful worship and teaching at our church recently, the kids are staying super busy, we continue to absorb new things about Joshua's medical situation, there are possibly some big changes on the horizon for me personally and our family is looking forward to getting together this weekend with some old and new friends. Soooo, lots of fun things to post about if I can ever get a chance but in the meantime find an excuse to indulge in some Paula Deen's Krispy Kreme Bread Pudding.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;"></div><div style="text-align: center;"><strong><span style="font-family: inherit;"><em>Ingredients</em></span></strong></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><em>1 pinch salt <br />
1 9 ounce box raisins <br />
2 Eggs, beaten <br />
2 4.5-oz cans fruit cocktail (undrained) <br />
1 14-oz can Sweetened Condensed Milk (not evaporated) <br />
2 dozen Krispy Kreme Donuts <br />
1 or 2 teaspoon cinnamon </em></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><em><b>Butter Rum Sauce:</b> <br />
1 stick butter<br />
1 pound box confectioner’s sugar<br />
Rum to taste </em></span></div><h2 style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;"><em>Directions</em></span></h2><h2 style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><em>Cube donuts into a large bowl. Pour other ingredients on top of donuts and let soak for a few minutes. Mix all ingredients together until donuts have soaked up the liquid as much as possible.</em></span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><em>Bake at 350 degrees for about an hour until center has jelled. Top with Butter Rum Sauce.</em></span></span></h2><div itemprop="instructions" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><em><b>Butter Rum Sauce:</b> </em></span></div><div itemprop="instructions" style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div itemprop="instructions" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><em><strong>Melt butter and slowly stir in confectioner’s sugar. Add Rum and heat until bubbly. Pour over each serving of Krispy Kreme Bread Pudding. (In case your like Jack Sparrow and find yourself saying "why is the rum gone" you can substitute Apple Juice for the rum)</strong></em></span></div><div itemprop="instructions" style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div itemprop="instructions" style="text-align: justify;">Enjoy and may your week be full of blessings!</div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17209533038362847981noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5116597096311436175.post-25043387590071034332012-01-23T05:23:00.000-07:002012-01-23T05:23:47.229-07:00Sunday Brunch a day late: Asparagus and Tomato Fritatta<div style="text-align: justify;">Well, another insane week as come and gone and here we are ready to hit the ground running for another one. Last week was just frustrating in that I felt I started behind and never caught up so yesterday I was still lost in about 20 loads of laundry and the house was a wreck so I worked like a mad woman to try to get caught up. Fortunately my sweet baby girl, Grace who just happens to be a wonderful organizer played "clutter catcher" which made cleaning so much easier. This is where I found her last night when she should have been in bed</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLIVXavZRPfjP7sLFC0WCzooYzPKAdoTWCQNS1e0-Tqz-cMHJ0Y-w2_UcjnCYrjRkHUfF8wFXwZdFyKceE7NtexjbPBj-H9UA8LnQ8zoApba62Sjo6T0fQaMGV-NIGI5eruPU2CsQKdA4/s1600/DSC_0901.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="424" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLIVXavZRPfjP7sLFC0WCzooYzPKAdoTWCQNS1e0-Tqz-cMHJ0Y-w2_UcjnCYrjRkHUfF8wFXwZdFyKceE7NtexjbPBj-H9UA8LnQ8zoApba62Sjo6T0fQaMGV-NIGI5eruPU2CsQKdA4/s640/DSC_0901.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">organizing our kitchen junk drawer. I just love this girl. I have to take a picture and post the finished product...it is a masterpiece. Anyway, we started our day with a healthy breakfast of Asparagus and Tomato Fritatta. We don't eat out often (way too stressful with the pack) but when we do there are just a couple of restaurants that we enjoy. One is a little breakfast spot that serves this wonderful Mediterranean Frittata. I love it so when I saw this recipe I couldn't wait to try...I wasn't disappointed. It was just as yummy as our beloved breakfast spot and South Beach friendly (yay). So here is the recipe from Kayln's Kitchen. I substituted Reduced Fat Feta for the Havarti and served it with some Aussie Bites from Costo. YUM!</div><br />
<div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.kalynskitchen.com/2010/03/recipe-for-asparagus-and-tomato.html">Asparagus and Tomato Frittata</a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
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</div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17209533038362847981noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5116597096311436175.post-69225606919315644492012-01-16T09:44:00.000-07:002012-01-16T09:44:02.208-07:0019 Years of being "The Mrs."<div style="text-align: justify;">19 years ago today I said "I Do" to the man with whom I would spend the rest of my life. My wedding day was the most magical day of my life and I love remembering all the special details of a moment in time when I felt like the happiest girl on earth. It was a perfect day and the beginning of a journey that would take me places I never dreamed of going. Destinations in life to which I only arrived because of the man by my side. He is a dreamer, a risk taker and is never afraid of stepping out of the ordinary in an attempt to experience the extraordinary and on January 16th, 1993 he took my hand and has never let go. Holding me tight he has walked happily with me through some of the most joyful times of our lives while carrying me through the fires of pain and then holding me closer than I ever imagined when those fires left us standing in heaps of ashes. Through it all he has been as near as my own heart beat. The walk has not always been easy nor has it been perfect. There have been disagreements, disappointments, and many times when we didn't see eye to eye but our love for each other has never waivered. I am blessed beyond words to share my life with my husband by my side and to know that out of all the people in the world he is mine. And so I celebrate today, the day when I traded my Miss for his Mrs. with an excitement in my heart of knowing I have the rest of my life to love on my man. </div><div align="justify" class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">This is probably my favorite wedding photo...I shared more photos of our wedding <a href="http://emilymakes6.blogspot.com/2008/01/wow-15-years-of-marriage_15.html">here</a>.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgU3yF-R19tcwD2RHiQN0F56_ElbZCldPFkPnhhbMOA-p9et02xVD_MIym7sJC-lL2UYmSSjt2ynWdY_9RL57c2VfYKlqNsjEzIcD0IVosV2hL4IxsJAtxbzDtZz0Am47fe2AhzVi4FnCU/s1600/001_edited-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgU3yF-R19tcwD2RHiQN0F56_ElbZCldPFkPnhhbMOA-p9et02xVD_MIym7sJC-lL2UYmSSjt2ynWdY_9RL57c2VfYKlqNsjEzIcD0IVosV2hL4IxsJAtxbzDtZz0Am47fe2AhzVi4FnCU/s640/001_edited-1.jpg" width="626" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2EuR_79ql3BuTgW8FRNN2gb3KNowfBYjVayRIKk1lVxZE89qIuYtVfNyiFtzxmnDnxP6MC1G-fFS1hzqXvrvpfjmq47en8RaQak5DqHU3WWVbVmD5WiaHLV0d1361A8FCmz6pjCPra_E/s1600/002_edited-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="638" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2EuR_79ql3BuTgW8FRNN2gb3KNowfBYjVayRIKk1lVxZE89qIuYtVfNyiFtzxmnDnxP6MC1G-fFS1hzqXvrvpfjmq47en8RaQak5DqHU3WWVbVmD5WiaHLV0d1361A8FCmz6pjCPra_E/s640/002_edited-1.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqALU8INGiX5DXwN7ll3r-D3Y7P1Lr8gqC3-OOJYzBgz5uoN9sLwTvlibLKwFrQct7GlzWvK4pGp_38mJjtjD4EOmymH-oYq57MU3zCeLFlYDMvRE-UoDxofOf8qT7OS2DRuHMffSblRY/s1600/003_edited-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="632" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqALU8INGiX5DXwN7ll3r-D3Y7P1Lr8gqC3-OOJYzBgz5uoN9sLwTvlibLKwFrQct7GlzWvK4pGp_38mJjtjD4EOmymH-oYq57MU3zCeLFlYDMvRE-UoDxofOf8qT7OS2DRuHMffSblRY/s640/003_edited-1.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17209533038362847981noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5116597096311436175.post-60104537301209808372012-01-15T10:44:00.000-07:002012-01-15T10:44:58.391-07:00Reconnecting and Rediscovering<div style="text-align: justify;">Many years ago when we were just beginning this journey of life as a family, Mike and I participated in a parenting class at our church. I will never forget the words of the teacher speaking in length about the importance of staying connected as a husband and wife. Something that stuck with me was his encouraging husbands to routinely take their women out of the roles of being mommies and give them opportunities to just be wives. While this was directed to men there was also an encouragement of us wives in being willing to allow our husbands to do this for us. At that particular time in our marriage, doing this was somewhat easy. We only had 2 little boys with 2 set of grandparents eager for every opportunity to spend time with their grandsons giving us many chances to escape the everyday life of mommy and daddy and reconnect as husband and wife. Fast forward 12 years, and add 2 more kiddos to the mix and a cross country move far away from grandparents and we find ourselves in a very different place. Those reconnecting times as husband and wife are much more difficult to mine out of the all consuming responsibilities of doing family. Lysa Terkeurst says it so well in her book, Capture His Heart,</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><em>"When we are dating one of the things that makes us so exciting to each other is the new discoveries about each other that we spend time unearthing....All the newness is exhilarating and serves to stoke the fires of romance. Then you get married, have a couple of kids and suddenly every conversation becomes the Cliff Notes versions. There is no time for in-depth reviews and new discoveries. We slip into survival mode and stop discovering all together. I look at him everyday, sleep with him at night, talk, kiss and even make babies with him yet there is still so much I don't know and sadly what I do know has gotten lost in the shuffle of life. It helps to think back to those days of dating and resurrect the desire to discover what makes him tick a priority."</em></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
<em></em></div><div style="text-align: justify;">When you are a busy mom and dad taking care of a family finding those moments to rediscover each other is down right hard. It takes energy, effort and time that often isn't readily accessible and we go for weeks, months and years without knowing what lies deep within the hearts of our mates yet this is a vital key in keeping our marriages strong and vibrant not to mention fueling us with what we need to weather the storms that rise within our families.<br />
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I am blessed with a husband who has always encouraged me to sneak away with him and enjoy just being his wife but I am embarrassed to admit that I haven't always been a willing party. I get so consumed in meeting the many needs of our family that I don't believe I can take the time to date and enjoy the love of my life. This is something that I have vowed to make a priority in my life and after a little get-away he and I just experienced I am even more motivated to take advantage of every opportunity we have to reconnect and rediscover each other.<br />
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In an effort to take me out of my encompassing mommy role my man arranged for his sister to fly out and keep the kids over night while we escaped to the mountains. We spent a day soaking in this<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj00-UUx3UAENCEK1D6xNyA-AXhuCCfrUtuen6RXtHLaeDB2e7yOec5SYcaAtUP0TW9sHU4vuC0U3960MwYKCnlv6ps0ZWpKJnny_oVjoD8YTHb0oxy0507gwMWBKRpkGU5vHjEpD7kmFk/s1600/copper+mountain.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="299" kba="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj00-UUx3UAENCEK1D6xNyA-AXhuCCfrUtuen6RXtHLaeDB2e7yOec5SYcaAtUP0TW9sHU4vuC0U3960MwYKCnlv6ps0ZWpKJnny_oVjoD8YTHb0oxy0507gwMWBKRpkGU5vHjEpD7kmFk/s400/copper+mountain.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />
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<div style="text-align: justify;">and each other. It wasn't necessarily a time of discovering new things about each other but rediscovering and enjoying all those things that we already loved. We shared quite rides up the mountain on the ski lift where we laughed, reminisced and just enjoyed being together. Giving up the black runs, Mike skied greens and blues with me and patiently waited for his slow skiing wife at the bottom of each run. We sipped hot cocoa together like dating teenagers and enjoyed a couple of calm meals where we actually finished a sentence. We talked about our hopes and dreams reminding each other of how precious we are to each other. Mike even spent an hour checking out the new IKEA store with me and was willing to DVR the Bronco game to prolong our time alone. It was a blissful 30 hours and something that I hope to repeat as often as we can.</div><br />
</div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17209533038362847981noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5116597096311436175.post-26710797062290219042012-01-15T07:28:00.000-07:002012-01-15T07:28:22.967-07:00Sunday Brunch: Gorilla Bread and the Denver Broncos<div style="text-align: justify;">I know you are wondering, what in the world do these two have in common. Well, I woke up this morning feeling really sad after the Denver Bronco's loss last night. We have enjoyed the excitement of watching our guy, Tim Tebow navigate through this roller coaster of a football season and were so disappointed with the outcome of the game last night but as always, incredibly impressed with the character and humbleness of Tim as we watched his post game press conference. This is a young man whose priorities are in the proper place. I am amazed and encouraged by the way he responds in all situations, never pretending that he isn't disappointed or sad but always honoring the Lord in victory and defeat. We will miss our Sunday afternoons with him. So, to drown our sorrows I will be whipping up a pan of this:</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUdnQS8jUK9RyBRvUs707vBmqYfhN5ZU1h0zu6RrmMplJav172OcJLbQqfXzwoxqhVdbPtCsxR2nvx4aVdwP29_yXjBKOYEcJncNh-BchGYuBp2-PxVzHBvfwz1SX9aKdN6pqGLHm8EV4/s1600/gorilla_bread1217-291x437.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUdnQS8jUK9RyBRvUs707vBmqYfhN5ZU1h0zu6RrmMplJav172OcJLbQqfXzwoxqhVdbPtCsxR2nvx4aVdwP29_yXjBKOYEcJncNh-BchGYuBp2-PxVzHBvfwz1SX9aKdN6pqGLHm8EV4/s640/gorilla_bread1217-291x437.jpg" width="426" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;">This Gorilla Bread is a Paula Deen special and as with most of Paula's recipes...very sinful which just might be what we need to lift us out of the post game blues. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><strong>Paula Deen's Gorilla Bread</strong></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><em>1/2 cup granulated sugar <br />
3 teaspoon cinnamon<br />
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter<br />
1 cup packed brown sugar <br />
1 8-ounce package cream cheese <br />
2 12-ounce cans refrigerated biscuits (10 count) <br />
1 1/2 cup coarsely chopped walnuts</em></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><em>Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Spray a bundt pan with nonstick cooking spray. Mix the granulated sugar and cinnamon. In a saucepan, melt the butter and brown sugar over low heat, stirring well; set aside. Cut the cream cheese into 20 equal cubes. Press the biscuits out with your fingers and sprinkle each with 1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon sugar. Place a cube of cream cheese in the center of each biscuit, wrapping and sealing the dough around the cream cheese. Sprinkle 1/2 cup of the nuts into the bottom of the bundt pan. Place half of the prepared biscuits in the pan. Sprinkle with cinnamon sugar, pour half of the melted butter mixture over the biscuits, and sprinkle on 1/2 cup of nuts. Layer the remaining biscuits on top, sprinkle with the remaining cinnamon sugar, pour the remaining butter mixture over the biscuits, and sprinkle with the remaining 1/2 cup of nuts. Bake for 30 minutes. Remove from the oven and cool for 5 minutes. Place a plate on top and invert.</em></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;">Enjoy and have a Blessed Sunday!<em></em></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17209533038362847981noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5116597096311436175.post-59033899686950772892012-01-12T06:11:00.002-07:002012-01-12T06:19:10.306-07:00<div align="justify"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKQoXaZxermy-2wSkRIjDczEwDX1aY4vKMqj103FuuCeJTM-VjLFwEqT-L76mnuD2VGLA52LQ47LDT2pbCuZd2ExKsmmUVjmJBsoB01Va2kvoAOzlHw3iwyYjwaQVkA9VigOy4ev5_ln0/s1600/gone+skiing.png"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; width: 275px; height: 183px; text-align: center; display: block; cursor: pointer;" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5696732728499092514" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKQoXaZxermy-2wSkRIjDczEwDX1aY4vKMqj103FuuCeJTM-VjLFwEqT-L76mnuD2VGLA52LQ47LDT2pbCuZd2ExKsmmUVjmJBsoB01Va2kvoAOzlHw3iwyYjwaQVkA9VigOy4ev5_ln0/s400/gone+skiing.png" /></a>This week has been insanely busy. I have been buried at work and home. In all honesty, I haven't known whether I was coming or going but <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_0" class="blsp-spelling-corrected">tomorrow</span> morning, my man and I will leave it all behind for two days and head to the mountains for some MUCH NEEDED time alone and a little bit of skiing. My sister in law arrived from FL last night to watch over the pack so I am looking forward to decompressing and soaking in the love of my life. See you when we get back!<br /><br /></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17209533038362847981noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5116597096311436175.post-7591566711477586762012-01-07T09:48:00.007-07:002012-01-08T07:07:02.832-07:00Sunday Brunch: Triple Berry Coffee Cake<div><div><div align="justify">I love Breakfast and Brunch. It is my most favorite meal of the day. Although I don't get to do it as often as I would like, I enjoy trying new recipes on the weekends and love it when I can share these dishes with family, friends and co-workers. This weekend I had the opportunity to finally try this delicious Triple Berry Coffee Cake.....</div><div> </div><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNYyOPrhiASGyqelUX5vXzuJrpBVjS382y6oNLqYzQO3MPxuGztYBTfG0UWPKD4k158nOk507VwWQvb-YUrSSkaXdIi3jcLgJJpMPWq4Xoh-UtfeJ1GaqZN_mpITeGbPvQ1EmJVXroD7g/s1600/DSC_0898.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; width: 400px; height: 268px; text-align: center; display: block; cursor: pointer;" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5694933944310546994" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNYyOPrhiASGyqelUX5vXzuJrpBVjS382y6oNLqYzQO3MPxuGztYBTfG0UWPKD4k158nOk507VwWQvb-YUrSSkaXdIi3jcLgJJpMPWq4Xoh-UtfeJ1GaqZN_mpITeGbPvQ1EmJVXroD7g/s400/DSC_0898.JPG" /></a></div><div align="justify">It was amazingly easy which was an added bonus. In a moment of weakness I abandoned South Beach and savored a few small bites of this wonderful morning treat (would also make a great dessert too) and had an idea of creating a continuing Sunday post to include some of my favorite breakfast and brunch recipes so here you go. ENJOY!</div><div> </div><div align="center"><em>Triple Berry Coffee Cake</em></div><div align="center"><em></em> </div><div align="center"><em>2 boxes of <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_0" class="blsp-spelling-error">Krusteaz</span> coffee cake mix</em></div><div align="center"><em>2 cups of frozen triple berry mix (any berries will work)</em></div><div align="center"><em>2 eggs</em></div><div align="center"><em>2 Tablespoons brown sugar</em></div><div align="center"><em></em> </div><div align="left"><em>Preheat oven to 350.</em></div><div align="justify"><em>Mix the two packages of white batter mixes with the needed eggs and water. Add 2 cups of frozen fruit and blend into batter. Grease and flour a <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_1" class="blsp-spelling-error">bundt</span> pan. (I just used Pam Spray for baking) Pour half of the batter in the bottom of the pan, add one package of cinnamon mixture from the box, take a knife and swirl into the batter. Pour remaining batter into pan and sprinkle with second package of cinnamon and swirl into batter. Sprinkle with brown sugar. Bake for one hour. </em></div><div align="justify"><em></em> </div><div align="justify"><em>Can be baked the night before and warmed in the microwave. Brew of cup of strong coffee and savor the deliciousness!</em></div><div align="justify"><em></em> </div><div align="justify">Have a blessed Sunday!</div><div align="justify"> </div></div></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17209533038362847981noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5116597096311436175.post-22015709947348950872012-01-07T06:41:00.007-07:002012-01-07T07:39:10.278-07:00Awakening<div align="justify">Well, we are back into the swing of things here at our house and as I look around this morning I see visible evidence that the chaos of life has returned. Yikes, how does this happen so easily? Before I run my Saturday defense against the mess I wanted to take the time to reflect on something I have been pondering this week.</div><div> </div><div align="justify">I have been digesting <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_0" class="blsp-spelling-error">alot</span> of beautiful posts concerning picking a word to focus on through 2012. I was inspired to think about what theme I would want to represent my life for this year. There were many words that came to mind but nothing I could really wrap my heart around until yesterday as I was running at the gym and heard this song from Chris Tomlin...</div><div> </div><div> </div><br /><iframe height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/XM8gUiYHDB0" frameborder="0" width="420" allowfullscreen=""></iframe><br /><br /><div align="justify">I listened to <strong><em>Awakening</em></strong> over and over while I finished my work out on the treadmill and with each time I felt overwhelmed with emotion as I prayed to have my soul awakened so I could sing. See, I feel that for the past year, I've been asleep spiritually. I have gone through the motions of going to church, and even praying but I am ashamed to say that I really haven't allowed The Word to live in and through me and the passion for my God and a depth of faith in Him just hasn't been present in my life. For many reasons, my faith has been a little shipwrecked, desperately needing to be rescued and awakened to sing.</div><br /><div align="justify">In thinking about being awakened to sing I recalled a time in my life when <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_1" class="blsp-spelling-error">pre</span>-dawn runs were a frequent part of my life. I would wake up before sun rise and run down the beautiful scenic road in front of our home. As I ran, the world would awaken. The birds would begin to sing, the fish would start making ripples in the waters of the Indian River and there were even some flowers that would open with the light making its way into the darkness. I absolutely loved this time of day. The whole scene was a beautiful expression of God's <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_2" class="blsp-spelling-corrected">magnificent</span> creation and I was always thankful that I was able to experience it. Remembering this, I decided that during this year I want God to awaken my soul to reflect His beauty just as He does for his creation along an <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_3" class="blsp-spelling-corrected">inter coastal</span> waterway in central FL.</div><br />So my word for 2012 is<br /><br /><div align="center"><strong><em>"AWAKEN"</em></strong></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17209533038362847981noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5116597096311436175.post-60717368457179126652012-01-05T04:36:00.004-07:002012-01-05T06:02:34.725-07:00Celebrating Joshua<div align="justify">On Tuesday we celebrated one year of our brown-eyed boys birth into our family. Sometimes it seems like it was just yesterday while most of the time I feel the weight of a long year and it seems like forever. I love remembering my journeys to China. Those tender weeks of getting know your babies are priceless time. A moment where the hope and dream of holding your son or daughter for the first time becomes real are often placed into the recesses of ones mind once we arrive home and life begins. How encouraging and sweet it is for this mama to dwell if only for a day on a special time when a spicy little China boy blew into my life and left me with a joy that was beyond explanation. </div><div> </div><div align="center">A <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_0" class="blsp-spelling-corrected">nervous</span> and very jet-lagged mama</div><div align="center"> </div><div align="center"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYe2LFCxxm0qvy9s1B6JdZFL7MMJ7huaH5bBeI_dzZ32yztZCtaRmRE6VU3HDjM64OlBkHbZnQKIsmk6AglxixHP3bCpMXd5-vaIXvVRY_jVQrvjEuS5FQutbnmBUImRXq8PTdxhtDtG4/s1600/011.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; width: 268px; height: 400px; text-align: center; display: block; cursor: pointer;" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5694112334979066114" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYe2LFCxxm0qvy9s1B6JdZFL7MMJ7huaH5bBeI_dzZ32yztZCtaRmRE6VU3HDjM64OlBkHbZnQKIsmk6AglxixHP3bCpMXd5-vaIXvVRY_jVQrvjEuS5FQutbnmBUImRXq8PTdxhtDtG4/s400/011.JPG" /></a>Daddy looking a little more confident<br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsYSRTvB43rVeZkN0HJN0E5czLa3jm_Cg6ApzMSmehs9rSWaFYUUYeJim5izu4_jd5C0UJNZdxcEPr8WAAvYfvjxL7gDpSurTqZWWe1RQOs4Gm7ym8ldYb80vxsuYbqJiGMnZ5-Wn2Kxk/s1600/008.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; width: 268px; height: 400px; text-align: center; display: block; cursor: pointer;" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5694112327290498178" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsYSRTvB43rVeZkN0HJN0E5czLa3jm_Cg6ApzMSmehs9rSWaFYUUYeJim5izu4_jd5C0UJNZdxcEPr8WAAvYfvjxL7gDpSurTqZWWe1RQOs4Gm7ym8ldYb80vxsuYbqJiGMnZ5-Wn2Kxk/s400/008.JPG" /></a>I see him for the first time<br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIkNMVL1dx-_mnx73evyxkC_5s5NaZH11v-AaCSp_FjZ2YjYza94EPrCci_eJmdbIBUcLKOKNqA4Rw1V7ZyjbeobQcACnyyQxQlxc28vynlHD8xHo_4zdrV6yy5GwsM2xa7rTlvUU5WJc/s1600/013.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; width: 268px; height: 400px; text-align: center; display: block; cursor: pointer;" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5694112169986462770" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIkNMVL1dx-_mnx73evyxkC_5s5NaZH11v-AaCSp_FjZ2YjYza94EPrCci_eJmdbIBUcLKOKNqA4Rw1V7ZyjbeobQcACnyyQxQlxc28vynlHD8xHo_4zdrV6yy5GwsM2xa7rTlvUU5WJc/s400/013.JPG" /></a>Holding him for the first time and him checking out my red lips<br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYhJpCZVZaOh9E41DDyejcLimTuUgvOViv4vYEvWJex7xpR2NbT95Zjwgfpes-JkN58bRvZDGKcw6UtKYGq3yQ7JyV6cY0zPvDEtjBnHPzgD6iFRvq8Hzcrh-rEKgOJUH2k2byhhdU9uo/s1600/016.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; width: 400px; height: 268px; text-align: center; display: block; cursor: pointer;" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5694112146136920642" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYhJpCZVZaOh9E41DDyejcLimTuUgvOViv4vYEvWJex7xpR2NbT95Zjwgfpes-JkN58bRvZDGKcw6UtKYGq3yQ7JyV6cY0zPvDEtjBnHPzgD6iFRvq8Hzcrh-rEKgOJUH2k2byhhdU9uo/s400/016.JPG" /></a>We are a family....<br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2T_qE1WI8XMXzfyrG1wT7b-henT4ObSKwv-VkFJkGzKgqdQN2OOzlGgpGOFu1iGBGdbmWzd3B9wUGkexOiSwzeOwQqK03_HfhxDGyhfvVtTCo2ku5N8uRLVoJaW7edEcNr_koKrq7m1w/s1600/017.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; width: 400px; height: 268px; text-align: center; display: block; cursor: pointer;" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5694112144324672386" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2T_qE1WI8XMXzfyrG1wT7b-henT4ObSKwv-VkFJkGzKgqdQN2OOzlGgpGOFu1iGBGdbmWzd3B9wUGkexOiSwzeOwQqK03_HfhxDGyhfvVtTCo2ku5N8uRLVoJaW7edEcNr_koKrq7m1w/s400/017.JPG" /></a><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixgeoh6VOZ0LJuPJmKgmPvBu5sfJthX5KnMcB7JblJzKfzn4K0Av51ZaghtlRhBYNMpmjgos0FfcHglfFi3O8qzc__4-4Xr67E-nL5H9187DnZbhsDGBadq-_i_7F8GcYUg13ebMP4rW4/s1600/038.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; width: 400px; height: 268px; text-align: center; display: block; cursor: pointer;" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5694112144350765586" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixgeoh6VOZ0LJuPJmKgmPvBu5sfJthX5KnMcB7JblJzKfzn4K0Av51ZaghtlRhBYNMpmjgos0FfcHglfFi3O8qzc__4-4Xr67E-nL5H9187DnZbhsDGBadq-_i_7F8GcYUg13ebMP4rW4/s400/038.JPG" /></a><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyVIRrSQsK_NYx1Q1eWyLfEdcbEHDkKMcH8VhRYAqz58vukK4cRZoMIw3PIuvXnkU6H3CUIAJGB10eHk9AFjZX7Z_232Y7UCunz4A3la87Lf5CTSHyUrlZJy_ura0rGXnhzVGiFUvLe6E/s1600/053.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; width: 400px; height: 268px; text-align: center; display: block; cursor: pointer;" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5694111485528480786" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyVIRrSQsK_NYx1Q1eWyLfEdcbEHDkKMcH8VhRYAqz58vukK4cRZoMIw3PIuvXnkU6H3CUIAJGB10eHk9AFjZX7Z_232Y7UCunz4A3la87Lf5CTSHyUrlZJy_ura0rGXnhzVGiFUvLe6E/s400/053.JPG" /></a>Back in the hotel room...already hamming it up<br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOSSHQC4xGOpolLuYHhFV11VUZAWOIfIhjNGycLjwAUT0V1iBbKBXgD2xdSMPQ-JCRMGPvI6tF-F1MrxPz48ociANfmcDCQ1qVAEqySdTjOSLtgEWUX-l7vJlUQYia16tO9uZfIJ9WfRY/s1600/055.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; width: 268px; height: 400px; text-align: center; display: block; cursor: pointer;" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5694111478187257314" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOSSHQC4xGOpolLuYHhFV11VUZAWOIfIhjNGycLjwAUT0V1iBbKBXgD2xdSMPQ-JCRMGPvI6tF-F1MrxPz48ociANfmcDCQ1qVAEqySdTjOSLtgEWUX-l7vJlUQYia16tO9uZfIJ9WfRY/s400/055.JPG" /></a><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhs7UFtVGelHnN_DcM6eAxcLxm_M58IVIEaXZMXJWoEQby6qOMPqCcn94uark-MnImKuCYfjuXTBPTkqtqfbMWRhtYzbeliIwLDQLF9TFibvfT6Mu03J7MQ9oK5Bh9yVgcYk9RLSafyuys/s1600/062.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; width: 268px; height: 400px; text-align: center; display: block; cursor: pointer;" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5694111475016884066" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhs7UFtVGelHnN_DcM6eAxcLxm_M58IVIEaXZMXJWoEQby6qOMPqCcn94uark-MnImKuCYfjuXTBPTkqtqfbMWRhtYzbeliIwLDQLF9TFibvfT6Mu03J7MQ9oK5Bh9yVgcYk9RLSafyuys/s400/062.JPG" /></a><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhduoTT0_LeZNJ50AIJNwJVoqRqxSk9tefXKyt1BG3hUnCLe9Uv9xWAIuhEFK4aLNNr2uKhm2JTiDt0Hoesu6Ivc7VPoimEmODylKB5WSOBsmsSE6apPBSB8NcuGkgfmo2p88f6gjo8GEk/s1600/063.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; width: 268px; height: 400px; text-align: center; display: block; cursor: pointer;" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5694111459357449778" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhduoTT0_LeZNJ50AIJNwJVoqRqxSk9tefXKyt1BG3hUnCLe9Uv9xWAIuhEFK4aLNNr2uKhm2JTiDt0Hoesu6Ivc7VPoimEmODylKB5WSOBsmsSE6apPBSB8NcuGkgfmo2p88f6gjo8GEk/s400/063.JPG" /></a><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEik_nMzrhw5W2ryEIiHtGH-Q-NUGpOZ72yknwHA-sRNMePW506P_Ohz67aI7JyiLOffkFzzV83vsAcyyXTEbPbi5N68LMRg6ihpKV1vJ3PIRWrCFu0x8CsKSE4dcCrkyTLWUzegpikryc4/s1600/072.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; width: 400px; height: 268px; text-align: center; display: block; cursor: pointer;" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5694111457016484466" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEik_nMzrhw5W2ryEIiHtGH-Q-NUGpOZ72yknwHA-sRNMePW506P_Ohz67aI7JyiLOffkFzzV83vsAcyyXTEbPbi5N68LMRg6ihpKV1vJ3PIRWrCFu0x8CsKSE4dcCrkyTLWUzegpikryc4/s400/072.JPG" /></a><br /><div>SO VERY THANKFUL!!!!</div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17209533038362847981noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5116597096311436175.post-6411301764195137642012-01-02T19:46:00.002-07:002012-01-03T04:43:59.182-07:00<div align="center">This was me on New Year's Eve....</div><br /><div align="center"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8FZiEaA4Ey41DqwqVGkl_2RCl0dpoNLzLLAwCGDpwHmyc65fm5jyhkAGOpduoCsrUb4xvxCtgOMBUKWra_gPVcygiAr2UJx69NRH5AvbSMu6uEmu5RUO-Z-mf7CNhVsY08sWgBnBOEo4/s1600/DSC_0608.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; width: 400px; height: 268px; text-align: center; display: block; cursor: pointer;" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5693232141542577298" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8FZiEaA4Ey41DqwqVGkl_2RCl0dpoNLzLLAwCGDpwHmyc65fm5jyhkAGOpduoCsrUb4xvxCtgOMBUKWra_gPVcygiAr2UJx69NRH5AvbSMu6uEmu5RUO-Z-mf7CNhVsY08sWgBnBOEo4/s400/DSC_0608.JPG" /></a>I know glamorous huh? While everyone was sipping champagne, I was spending a magical evening doing laundry, cleaning toilets, putting away about 30 containers of Christmas decorations and falling asleep before 10:00.</div><div align="center">Maybe I am getting old or maybe I am just a mom with way too much to do and not enough hours in the day to do it but New Years seemed like just another day. I didn't even prepare anything special to eat. No greens or black-eyed peas for me. Not that we ever ate those anyway.</div><div align="center">Oh well, I feel good to be heading back to work this morning with sparkling toilet bowls, half filled laundry baskets and Christmas all packed away for another year.</div><div align="center">My marathon blogging will end today with the reality of leaving my lazy mornings spent savoring my coffee and blogger in exchange for heading back to work.</div><div align="center">It has been so good for me to organize my thoughts and be reminded of what a blessed life I lead with my wild and crazy pack. I have enjoyed catching up on the lives of some of my favorite old families in blog world and have loved discovering some new blogs that have now found their way to my favorite list. WOW, you women are amazing, inspiring, creative, thrifty, thoughtful, beautiful and how fun it is to get a peak into your worlds.</div><div align="center">Although, I enter back into the time stretching machine of work in just a couple of hours I have committed to leave better memories for the kiddos by not falling behind with the our blog like I did last year so while it won't be a post a day I promise not to fall off the face of blog world.</div><div align="center">Wishes for a Happy Day!!</div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17209533038362847981noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5116597096311436175.post-74076933360430155232012-01-02T05:02:00.012-07:002012-01-02T19:45:52.182-07:00We've come a long way...Joshua Part II<div align="justify">As we prepare to celebrate the day of Joshua's birth into our family, I wanted to share some details about his 1st year with us. I know that I shared some highlights <a href="http://emilymakes6.blogspot.com/2011/12/joshua.html">here</a> but there was so much more to his year.</div><div align="justify"> </div><div align="justify"> </div><div align="justify">We arrived home from China and he completely embraced with open arms his new brother and sisters. I was in awe of how well he <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_0" class="blsp-spelling-corrected">acclimated</span> instantly to life with 3 other kids. The day after we got home my friend Sara, the kids and I hit Target and he found it to be a fun adventure. He was such a ham and although I am sure he didn't understand a thing we were saying he did a great job of pretending that he did which has been a pattern throughout this year. I have discovered that he is masterful at deflecting attention away from his struggles with humor and masking. His struggles have been few but I know that despite how well he settled in, the loss of those women and the life he loved in China coupled with having to cope with all the newness here had to be painful yet he continued to deflect the pain with hilarious antics and his intense <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_1" class="blsp-spelling-corrected">curiosity</span> revealed itself in his trying to "help". He watched everyone (especially me) carefully wanting to absorb all that he could and then try to gain our acceptance through helping. He quickly picked up all the cleaning chores, how to operate every electronic and appliance, what I did to start the car, how to prepare food and tons of other things. Just think about all we do during the day, there are so many things that we don't even think about yet he was watching everything like a hawk committing it all to his memory so as to call it up when he thought he could assist. I cannot imagine the information overload that he experienced yet he managed it well. His high energy and constant need for intense supervision wore us all out. We could never relax for we never knew what he would explore next. </div><div align="justify"> </div><div align="justify"> </div><div align="justify">Language has been more of an issue with Joshua than it was for Emily. He seems to fully understand everything we say but has a hard time communicating. He tries really hard but we still only understand about 20% of what he says. He never appears to get frustrated and will exhibit his extreme <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_2" class="blsp-spelling-corrected">resourcefulness</span> and try to let us know what he is saying through gestures and actions. I am not sure if it is language or issues with speech due to his cleft lip but this piece seems to be a long time coming. Speaking of his cleft we have had many different medical issues come up with Joshua that have kept us hopping with visits to the doctor.</div><div align="justify"> </div><div align="justify"> </div><div align="justify">We knew from the moment we saw him that he was very small for his age and that was confirmed by his pediatrician as soon as we arrived home. There were many questions concerning this issue that have yet to be nailed down. According to the <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_3" class="blsp-spelling-corrected">birth date</span> we were given, Joshua was almost 4 years old when we got home. A bone age scan revealed shortly after that he had the bone age of a 2 1/2 year old but blood work revealed that his thyroid was non-functioning. All of these inconsistent medical findings left us with so much confusion regarding Joshua's age. Every document we received from China was consistent with the same birthday and according to his finding ad he was abandoned around 2 days so a 2 year mistake just didn't see possible so we have leaned toward the belief after <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_4" class="blsp-spelling-corrected">vacillating</span> back and forth for a year that the <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_5" class="blsp-spelling-corrected">birth date</span> we were given in China is accurate and that there are some underlying medical conditions that are effecting his growth. We are still exploring and searching and hopefully we will find some answers soon. Currently he takes thyroid medication which makes him absolutely manic and his growth has been extremely slow even with the medication so it looks like there will be more doctor's visits in the future to continue to put the pieces together. I addition to the growth issues he had 3 surgeries...the first was a cleft revision which was painful but he did beautifully. The second, was to repair two hernia's that didn't exist, yes, a doctor insisted that he had two hernias, he underwent another surgery with three incisions only to discover that there were no hernia's UGH!!!! Third surgery was to remove a huge <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_6" class="blsp-spelling-corrected">ugly</span> growth called a <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_7" class="blsp-spelling-error">granuloma</span> which appeared on the side of his nose and was the result of a <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_8" class="blsp-spelling-corrected">dissolvable</span> stitch that didn't dissolve from his cleft and nose revision. He has been such a trouper with every surgery and enters the operating room each time goofing off with the doctor's and nurses. I love it that they now let mommies and daddies go with their kids into the operating room and stay with them until they fall asleep. It is not easy for the parents but I know with Joshua it helped him know that everything was going to be <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_9" class="blsp-spelling-error">ok</span>. He is doing great now and we are not planning ANY surgeries for a while. His lip and nose will need some future work but I am not in a hurry to do anything. I want him to have an opportunity to settle into life without going to see some doctor every week. </div><div align="justify"> </div><div align="justify"> </div><div align="justify">We are making decisions as to what to do about school for next year which is not very easy considering his growth physically and developmentally but are thankful that we have the support of all of our physicians as well as the school and are hoping between all of us we can choose what will be best for Joshua.</div><div align="justify"> </div><div align="justify"> </div><div align="justify">In some ways it seems that Joshua has only been with us a short time and others like he's been with us forever. The year has been filled with exciting new discoveries, disappointments, frustrations and a stretching for everyone in our family. Adoption is beautiful yet full of sacrifice for an entire family and we have never experienced that more than through bringing Joshua home. Joshua has a strength about him that I admire. He is strong and courageous and never gives up. Due to my being stretched I haven't always had my own strength to give him what he needs but thankfully Joshua is so forgiving and I am so grateful that God chose Joshua as my son and me as Joshua's mommy. God continues to grow our relationship equipping us both with what we need to love each other more perfectly. My days are richer and certainly more lively because he his with me.</div><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbiHPG6pLil-ghwszsZI5BBVavy3monln3x_IzUfqxjdGWFKugBQwc7PsPhOdEAXqtY04YBSprJ66ZD_I7Pte5NMgbXP1dHpEe3DZmZtg2QuVPY6vc1B1Kxm5jPtaGUEhF5C3_oGdxMi0/s1600/DSC_0649.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; width: 268px; height: 400px; text-align: center; display: block; cursor: pointer;" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5693007289646505810" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbiHPG6pLil-ghwszsZI5BBVavy3monln3x_IzUfqxjdGWFKugBQwc7PsPhOdEAXqtY04YBSprJ66ZD_I7Pte5NMgbXP1dHpEe3DZmZtg2QuVPY6vc1B1Kxm5jPtaGUEhF5C3_oGdxMi0/s400/DSC_0649.JPG" /></a><br /><br /><br /><div align="center">He loves bedtime and is so easy when it is time to go to sleep</div><br /><br /><div align="center"><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"></span></div><br /><br /><div align="center"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAorzfEItYf87aNWuHjmFrwFbth4mQZngIGJD48s2Q0FYoN3UXMRNl3lrKsyB84DWhYCersl5B3No0KGvj8OZko-s_YIlW8R1ec79EPtwFGlwU6S8kNtd8FA0MafgwXgZHog2PcSoEW0Y/s1600/DSC_0471.JPG"><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"></span><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; width: 268px; height: 400px; text-align: center; display: block; cursor: pointer;" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5693007280140885602" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAorzfEItYf87aNWuHjmFrwFbth4mQZngIGJD48s2Q0FYoN3UXMRNl3lrKsyB84DWhYCersl5B3No0KGvj8OZko-s_YIlW8R1ec79EPtwFGlwU6S8kNtd8FA0MafgwXgZHog2PcSoEW0Y/s400/DSC_0471.JPG" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqXuNQ1-HGuFNDmjk87k0M-psKCZAm-beY6vvHAjFJHLpF5X7HEPIJyFcbNo_JFrk1EaXlWKxnWWHtB4E_TGjWQibVkDAC-salHYDjxgeeTGGBY0yCg_OmkCvT4ZbQz75-KQqArTa2_sE/s1600/DSC_0470.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; width: 268px; height: 400px; text-align: center; display: block; cursor: pointer;" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5693007272503606946" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqXuNQ1-HGuFNDmjk87k0M-psKCZAm-beY6vvHAjFJHLpF5X7HEPIJyFcbNo_JFrk1EaXlWKxnWWHtB4E_TGjWQibVkDAC-salHYDjxgeeTGGBY0yCg_OmkCvT4ZbQz75-KQqArTa2_sE/s400/DSC_0470.JPG" /></a>Just an example of the high heel shoes<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHnirkF6ao5NbRhQGOi7t-yoB2WzX4C7a6yf1Qm8aUuhfQ84R-WchtvJYQy55P-GzQ7vJrNvc9y7lKds0kNT1m1I-N0V6ojTkbMEPiKlwZRNpp986uYxHbX7464pbELt6HthzcEY8gWHg/s1600/018.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; width: 268px; height: 400px; text-align: center; display: block; cursor: pointer;" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5693007269176177634" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHnirkF6ao5NbRhQGOi7t-yoB2WzX4C7a6yf1Qm8aUuhfQ84R-WchtvJYQy55P-GzQ7vJrNvc9y7lKds0kNT1m1I-N0V6ojTkbMEPiKlwZRNpp986uYxHbX7464pbELt6HthzcEY8gWHg/s400/018.JPG" /></a>Trash can on the head...the fun never ends.<br /><br /><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguI63iWxcchq0cVQR4DFF30xYUGBp_PF55wVDJRG-vTZfeoPW4UQ9dKFjSm74dWzamAKfG6w5Ieoygdh62gxa1aJi1VCv4AlTgmSxrnVeOc1nOkBXp6QqO1xiGJ84r8Qq79PNZVS6u-tk/s1600/108.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; width: 268px; height: 400px; text-align: center; display: block; cursor: pointer;" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5693006430677065410" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguI63iWxcchq0cVQR4DFF30xYUGBp_PF55wVDJRG-vTZfeoPW4UQ9dKFjSm74dWzamAKfG6w5Ieoygdh62gxa1aJi1VCv4AlTgmSxrnVeOc1nOkBXp6QqO1xiGJ84r8Qq79PNZVS6u-tk/s400/108.JPG" /></a>Hair drying....Joshua style with a <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_10" class="blsp-spelling-corrected">vacuum</span>. Still learning what all these tools are for<br /><br /><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMNUj_4vIPLao-etYDVDS9eeKR-kq_Dbe1c2GsNK3qUhDsps4X3PF-jnZuU89NtCL_rbNZ8rKRNmoW81qt94eSdnFFZlU-wOZ6W2tJsWXBVPYFd3ZHtYlk1oBjP2X3V47iyJ2ggUfv5fY/s1600/025.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; width: 400px; height: 268px; text-align: center; display: block; cursor: pointer;" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5693006423983329218" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMNUj_4vIPLao-etYDVDS9eeKR-kq_Dbe1c2GsNK3qUhDsps4X3PF-jnZuU89NtCL_rbNZ8rKRNmoW81qt94eSdnFFZlU-wOZ6W2tJsWXBVPYFd3ZHtYlk1oBjP2X3V47iyJ2ggUfv5fY/s400/025.JPG" /></a>And such a little doctor...maybe it is all the visits to the doctor.<br /><br /><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhg1dWD3RMKJSeD8BguEuahH0orfP14twAHxgaALx2avCVbEgOTv8UQF1r96AX66vc6dcKz0uqq9GBx-P_dDOpTI65CKSqQjUImKkjBYAQHB5gVMrywOGaf6BnrqCvPGEiDLpt3d3soU-k/s1600/008.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; width: 400px; height: 268px; text-align: center; display: block; cursor: pointer;" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5693006419923584034" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhg1dWD3RMKJSeD8BguEuahH0orfP14twAHxgaALx2avCVbEgOTv8UQF1r96AX66vc6dcKz0uqq9GBx-P_dDOpTI65CKSqQjUImKkjBYAQHB5gVMrywOGaf6BnrqCvPGEiDLpt3d3soU-k/s400/008.JPG" /></a>Oh and the endless help with the chores...<br /><br /><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEistvBIGnV_ByghVDURXBeZzL6aTOQ_k7wLMsroDnYoaDOClbahWKxJKLesMvGTQz6LF8Q_uwVJpk4npIUEBv_4AAqBb8Zg2EPFV5dh2U5B0RGxJdTG4T_ibmD_wzHZQSdGg24ri08Zc6E/s1600/001.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; width: 268px; height: 400px; text-align: center; display: block; cursor: pointer;" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5693006414204318738" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEistvBIGnV_ByghVDURXBeZzL6aTOQ_k7wLMsroDnYoaDOClbahWKxJKLesMvGTQz6LF8Q_uwVJpk4npIUEBv_4AAqBb8Zg2EPFV5dh2U5B0RGxJdTG4T_ibmD_wzHZQSdGg24ri08Zc6E/s400/001.JPG" /></a>His first morning home<br /><br /><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6u7wRlmES22szy39cTSKKKNHPtiafHzuQlWj6IUpL9uvXLMBKaSiyK6UnLljQJAfbcfGxlLVZhJQyfeGNdr2vjgc04IniqoWhE0JvTU4e0_z6ZJJPSBoRU12LkmZgTR_GOkaVkul2NBU/s1600/664.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; width: 400px; height: 268px; text-align: center; display: block; cursor: pointer;" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5693005315688353682" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6u7wRlmES22szy39cTSKKKNHPtiafHzuQlWj6IUpL9uvXLMBKaSiyK6UnLljQJAfbcfGxlLVZhJQyfeGNdr2vjgc04IniqoWhE0JvTU4e0_z6ZJJPSBoRU12LkmZgTR_GOkaVkul2NBU/s400/664.JPG" /></a>Second day home<br /><br /><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfGIlcTnms8qn1BLgIF2mq1r3_eo1jfq7-6ZEnfMOxjI70fBFnHIw59CE_xT6V3DbGsutXr4QQSpPx5cy7mdMKtP6G8iiDmTwOuZ45Qf5oiNXLPFNccpmaWOYr8YlwzP7c-xBvcVegjSA/s1600/661.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; width: 400px; height: 268px; text-align: center; display: block; cursor: pointer;" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5693005300629254594" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfGIlcTnms8qn1BLgIF2mq1r3_eo1jfq7-6ZEnfMOxjI70fBFnHIw59CE_xT6V3DbGsutXr4QQSpPx5cy7mdMKtP6G8iiDmTwOuZ45Qf5oiNXLPFNccpmaWOYr8YlwzP7c-xBvcVegjSA/s400/661.JPG" /></a>Second day home and we hit the mall...he found a little horse to ride.<br /><br /><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEji7tFa1NEHD0uRYGn8_-SFqKtVvykN2OM2vbkRznjlm6jM12GkB4ZPRwjrZsjjkPqzbCANdIeGhEWyF_E8YNxV4zNruGm1fyw8jgZlH2U-lcfVjZ9ngncPj_JydC9PXoHH09RUXk6FpVE/s1600/683.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; width: 268px; height: 400px; text-align: center; display: block; cursor: pointer;" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5693005291618684354" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEji7tFa1NEHD0uRYGn8_-SFqKtVvykN2OM2vbkRznjlm6jM12GkB4ZPRwjrZsjjkPqzbCANdIeGhEWyF_E8YNxV4zNruGm1fyw8jgZlH2U-lcfVjZ9ngncPj_JydC9PXoHH09RUXk6FpVE/s400/683.JPG" /></a>Already checking our the <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_11" class="blsp-spelling-error">Wii</span> Remote...oh this was a sign of things to come.<br /><br /><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuFCar9R-o5PWMYw4snrOPvg5q90BojbHPV9cDZNbK0n7jIEMY5YDhap9iOkAXKh33NjQ2JFxS_6QFnB1DEEGO_7c4BI0zR6wc9dtZ0LlA5hGTyCnJauw_3mfMhTTxe7HGhxy9KHW5E3c/s1600/718.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; width: 267px; height: 400px; text-align: center; display: block; cursor: pointer;" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5693005293339195858" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuFCar9R-o5PWMYw4snrOPvg5q90BojbHPV9cDZNbK0n7jIEMY5YDhap9iOkAXKh33NjQ2JFxS_6QFnB1DEEGO_7c4BI0zR6wc9dtZ0LlA5hGTyCnJauw_3mfMhTTxe7HGhxy9KHW5E3c/s400/718.JPG" /></a><br /><br /><br /><div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17209533038362847981noreply@blogger.com1