Evening Prayers...

From a 5-year-old. :) First, however, I need to give a little background information. We had strawberry shortcake for dessert this evening and afterwards ushered the boys upstairs for their baths, and I went downstairs to fold the load of laundry that had just finished drying. The boys came downstairs after their baths to finish watching Peter Pan with the knowledge that it was time for bed as soon as the movie was finished. Well...the movie finished, they went upstairs, but not directly to bed. I could hear little boy giggles through the house as it sounded like they were having the time of their lives staying up just a little bit longer. I noticed, after they were both finally in bed, that part of the angel food cake was missing--it had been torn off by little boy hands when someone had snuck into the kitchen without his mama or daddy noticing. Rob asks David about this when he was tucking him in, just before prayer time and David tells him (with a sigh, I'm sure), "Yeah Dad, I did it" or "Yeah, it was me..." Rob told him that he wasn't mad at him and that we appreciated him being honest about it when asked and then proceeded to pray with the D-man.

Rob finishes praying and David tells him, "Dad! Dad! You forgot something!"

Rob tells David that he can pray for whatever it was that they "forgot" and David proceeds to say, "Dear God, thank you for my dad not being mad at me for eating that cake. Amen."

Leave it to David. :)

5 Things I Dig about Jesus.

My friend, Jenn, tagged me to share the 5 things I dig about Jesus--drum roll, please...

1. He is the same yesterday, today and forever. (Hebrews 13:8)

2. He gave up all his glory and splendor in heaven to come down here on earth as a man to later die on the cross for me--as payment for my sins and rose again 3 days later. Giving me hope that the best is yet to come. "He went from commanding angels to sleeping in the straw. From holding stars to clutching Mary's finger. The palm that held the universe took the nail of a soldier. Why? Because that's what love does." (Max Lucado)

3. I'm created in His likeness!

4. His love for me--for all of us--is unconditional.

5. I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. Phil. 4:13

The rules state that I am supposed to tag 5 others, but many of my blog readers do not have their own blogs. So, if you want to participate, feel free to comment!

Feelings of thankfulness...

Have you ever been so thankful for an appliance? You know...those extreme feelings of gratefulness and feelings of wonder as to how you could have ever gotten by without it? Yeah, that's how I feel about my Bissel Mini-Green cleaner! I have used it SO many times since we bought it a year ago (and twice today, even). It worked great to get about a liter of white grape juice out of the dining room carpet just a few minutes ago and also got Aidan's pee-pee accident cleaned up too. Yes...I'm very thankful for this little appliance. It has truly been a lifesaver!

More from yesterday...

Here are a couple of others that I took of the boys together. They definitely made me work for these. :) We went back to Pandapas Pond this morning to take them on their first fishing trip. I'll post pics as soon as I upload them. Let's just say that fishing is a good lesson in patience for active little boys. :) They had fun though.

The boys...

I have been wanting to take photos of the boys for over a month now (I had something in mind for a Mother's Day gift, but it looks like it's going to be a very belated Mother's Day gift/father's day gift now?!?!). David doesn't really like to smile much for the camera anymore--naturally anyways, unless we're trying to get him to laugh. Both boys were a little tired after their mornings of swimming lessons too, so that probably didn't help matters much, but I did get a few cute ones. :) Plus, I kind of like the serious one of David--even if he does look so big.

Tragedy at Virginia Tech

As most of you have seen in the news, tragedy hit Virginia Tech with 31 reported dead and others injured. We just thought that we would let you know that our family is fine. However, of greater concern is the community of Blacksburg. Please be praying for this community as we begin the grieving process. We can't imagine what those people who experienced this first hand are going through but know that they can find healing through the Lord. Please join with us as we lift the burdens of HIS people up to Him that they may find the peace that only He can provide.

Back in the land of the living.

Everyone is finally starting to feel better in our house!!! I am so thankful for that! Thank you for your prayers and well wishes. Aidan doesn't have his appetite completely back, but he is starting to be his ornery and mischievous self again. I cannot begin to express how happy it makes me to hear him laughing and playing again. :) David kind of overdid things today when we were playing. He rode his bike on the little walk we went on this morning with our friends around our neighborhood. He crashed pretty badly once (he hit a pothole at the bottom of a hill--I had been warning him to slow down, but he wasn't paying any attention), but he stood up, shook it off (after crying for less than 1 minute) and got back on his bike. He's a trooper, that one is. :) After he practices riding his bike again with the training wheels on, I think we're going to try and have him learn how to ride the bike without them. Maybe he'll get it before he starts kindergarten?

Aidan.

He looks so little lying on the hospital bed...

Sleeping with his Larry the Cucumber doll while covered in the quilt his Grandma Kris made.

Aidan and I got back from the emergency room at Montgomery Regional Hospital between 2:30 and 3:00 this morning. Aidan has had the flu since probably late Tuesday night/early Wednesday morning. Rob took him to the Carilion Family Medicine after-hours clinic this evening and was told that if the little man didn’t drink 1.5-2 oz. of PediaLite every 10-15 minutes over the course of the evening, we were going to have to take him to the hospital so he could get an IV to rehydrate him. Well…the little stinker didn’t want to drink anything (he might have drank 1.5-2 oz. over the course of 2.5 hours…), so I was the one elected to take him to the ER. He did amazing and was told by his nurses that he got the best patient award for the evening. He didn’t cry at all when they took his blood or when they set the IV. Actually, he only cried when he would wake up and not remember where exactly he was, so I would hug him and cuddle back with him on his bed until he would fall back asleep. He liked having one of my ear buds for my iPod in one of his ears while he was drifting off to sleep so he could relax to some of his favorite, familiar tunes.

Me, on the other hand, didn't do as well as my brave little man. I almost passed out twice. :( I really don’t do well with needles, and found out this evening that it is even worse for me when I see one of my kids having had it done (I didn’t watch—otherwise I would have been lying in a bed myself!). Leave it to the mom to be more trouble than the patient. :)

While we were having tests done, the doctor decided that he wanted to do a strep test as well. Come to find out, Aidan not only has the flu, but he has strep throat on top of it. And, with him not wanting to drink many fluids, he had become a bit dehydrated. Yes, that would be the 2nd time this winter that he has had strep--he had it once in December…and it makes a grand total of 7 strep cases (possibly 8, Rob goes into the doctor for himself tomorrow…) in our family since mid-November.

He seems to be doing a bit better this morning. More energy. Expresses his opinion about what he wants to wear or watch on TV. Actually sits up on the couch instead of lying there like my little rag doll. The antibiotics should kick in by tomorrow, so we should be seeing more improvement then.

I am so proud of him and how well he did last night. I was so scared to take him in. Not sure what to expect...I prayed the entire drive to the hospital that everything would go smoothly. I prayed for God's hand to be upon not only Aidan, but also upon myself. I asked Him for courage and strength and for Him to take my anxiety away from me. God is faithful. Granted, it was still a bit scary seeing my baby lying there hooked up to an IV, but I was so thankful that we were in a place that would help him start to feel better. So thankful that we had a doctor and nursing staff who were taking care of him (and me too). Now, I'm going to be continuing to pray for His healing hand to be upon our house. Please be praying for us all as well.

Miscellaneous Monday. (a day late)

Here are 3 miscellaneous facts about me. :)

1). I had almost every major in the College of Business and Economics before switching over to elementary education studies.

2). I only had 3 wisdom teeth (my brother only had 1--so between us, we had a full set!).

3). I read 2 novels in less than 24 hours (between Sunday night and yesterday evening)...honestly, I just couldn't put them down!

Craziness.

I have been backing up photos from our old digital camera (and have been going through some to print--I can't believe that I have very few printed from Aidan's first year...David has an entire box of photos that I have to scrapbook still since I shot with a film camera when he was a baby). I came across these ones of David--a range of him only being days old to almost 2 1/2. He pretty much looks the same now, but has some bigger-boy features (and the attitude to go with). :)

He will be 5 next week. He is my baby, yet at the same time he is my big boy. Time has sure flown!

Give it All Away.

I have fallen in love with this song on Aaron Shust's album Anything Worth Saying. I hear it at least once a day on Spirit FM, and from the first time I listened to this song I could feel my heart stirring.

Search my heart, search my mind,
search my soul
Make me clean, make me new make me
whole

All of my plans, all of my dreams, I lay
them down before Your feet
All of my time, all that was mine, I now
submit to Your design
'Cause You are the one who can make
my life complete
You are the one who can give light to my
feet You are the one and only one who dared
to give it all away for me

You are my strength, You are my God,
you are my King
You make me laugh, You make me
dance, You make me sing

Everything inside, everything outside, I
give it all away
You never change, but You rearrange my
heart more everyday

Everything that I am and everything that I have is truly His. God gave up his one and only Son so that I wouldn't have to pay the penalty of death for my sins. Jesus took care of that for me--for everyone. God loves us so much. I want to make this song my lifesong. I desire for Him to change me from the inside out so that I can radiate His glory. God is the only one who can make our lives complete. He is our ultimate source of strength--our pride often prevents us from drawing from it. We feel that we are too independent and self-sufficient, but honestly, without Him, we can do NOTHING!!! Thank you Lord for daring to give it all away for me.

Christmas Overview.

I am still in a bit of a state of disbelief that today is actually Christmas day. Other than the presents we have opened, the traditional dinner prepared and eaten and the Christmas tree up, it doesn't feel like it should be Christmas. But, alas, it is indeed December 25.

Last night we opened our presents. It was wonderful chaos, and also really gave Rob and I glimpses the distinct differences between our boys' personalities. When it comes to unwrapping presents, David wants to jump in and help to open everybody's presents (in a hurried fashion). Aidan, on the other hand, will open one present and want to go play with it awhile before coming back to open more. I almost think he was a little bit overwhelmed at all of the excitement, the presents and chaos since he sat back for a little while quietly playing. The train table that we bought with their Christmas $$ from Grandma Kris and Grandpa Mark has been played with pretty constantly over the last couple of days. The table has allowed us to set up track that can actually stay set up (not like when it had been set up on the family room floor and I would make them tear it down and put it away each time). They got a wooden castle from their Uncle Dunny that has been a huge hit as well. :)

After we finished opening presents and let the boys play awhile longer, we put them to bed and went downstairs to watch Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby, the movie I got Rob for Christmas. Aidan went right to sleep, but David was wound up tight--too excited to even think about falling asleep. At one point in the evening, I went upstairs to check on him (because I heard a suspicious noise) only to find him playing with his plastic Revolutionary War figures and canons upstairs in the bathroom! He had a little battlefield set up on the counter next to the sink, next to the crust from the piece of pizza he had pilfered to snack on while playing out the big battle.

This morning was fun. Aidan woke up first, of course, and wanted to go downstairs to watch "Bob" (which means, I want to watch VeggieTales). Rob coaxed me to get out of the warm comfort of our bed so I could see Aidan's reaction to his "Santa" gift, a Little Tikes car. Well, Aidan didn't even care that there was a car sitting in our living room. The first place he went was to the train table to go play with the trains again. Rob worked pretty hard to get him excited about the car and about the filled stocking inside. David woke up more than an hour later, so we got to see his excitement over everything later (after he had dumped everything out onto the couch to inspect).

Overall, today was really relaxing. The boys played and watched their new movies. Rob finally got the present I gave him to start working, and I fixed prime rib for dinner...yum! Sydney thought the prime rib tasted good too. While I was upstairs giving Aidan cuddles , and Rob and David were downstairs playing and watching TV, she jumped up onto the counter and pulled what was left off of the cutting board and carried it into the living room. I came downstairs to see her lying in the middle of the floor gnawing on it--as soon as she saw me, she knew that she was in trouble. Rob had to throw the rest of the meat away (I'm so sad...no stew or French dip sandwiches now), and I had to clean up the garlic cloves that were strewn across the floor. Syd's punishment was banishment out into the rain and she will have to sleep in her kennel out in the garage tonight (well, that's also in case she ends up getting sick again like she did when she dug the ham out of the outside garbage can earlier this year). Bad princess!!!

Well, I need to go give a certain 4-year-old some night-night cuddles. Hoping you and yours are having a very Merry Christmas and that you all are experiencing the joy of Jesus this holiday season.

You know it's time...

...to potty train when your 2-year-old takes off his diaper immediately after he goes #1 or #2 and tries to parade around the house. Yeah...that would be Aidan. We never had anything like this happen with David. Frankly, when it was time to potty train that child, we had to convince him that it was his idea. Otherwise, he wanted nothing to do with the venture. Maybe Aidan will potty train more easily? We can only hope and pray! :)

Music Makers.

David standing between his buddies Noah (left) and Mason (right) during their Sunday morning performance.

David's digging for bats in his cave...

David in front of our tree before heading out for this evening's performance.

Music Makers is the name our church has given its preschool choir, which just by chance, happens to be an all-boys choir. 9-15 boys between the ages of 3 and 5. As you can imagine, they must be angels and really easy to handle. From what I have been told, they can be chaotic, but they're cute and have been doing well at learning their songs. The children's music program was held this evening at the BCM (Baptist Campus Ministries) building on campus. The Music Makers choir started things off and the Praise Kidz (elementary choir) performed their musical immediately following.

Rob took David this evening since he had not yet seen our little man perform. I stayed at home with the sick boy (Aidan) and frosted cookies until he finally awoke from his nap. He woke up this morning with a little stomach bug but seems to be doing much better since waking from his nap--yay!!! Rob said that David did a very good job tonight and that he was tapping his toes and bopping his head to the beat of the music.

Sunday morning, when he performed at church, he walked out onto the stage digging for bats in his cave (aka his nose) and ended up eating it! YUCK!!! After they were finished singing the second song, David told someone sitting just below the stage (while holding out just one finger), "We have one more song left!" He said this quite loudly and ended up getting the audience to chuckle quietly. He was also fascinated with the microphone and tried to stay behind to talk for a bit: "Okay, okay, okay..." he said before being coaxed off the stage by one of his leaders. One of my favorite parts Sunday morning was when Noah put his hands in his pockets and yawned (audibly) as soon as the last word of one of the songs was sung. It was done in perfect time with the music!

I'm looking forward to their spring performance!

So sad...

I think I'm allergic to my Christmas tree. :( Last night I noticed that my sinuses were getting plugged up, I felt really sleepy (like I do when I have other pollen allergies "hit" me) and felt like I was just getting a nasty cold. Well, I took a cold and sinus med earlier today that really helped clear my nose and got rid of the headache; however, when I was decorating that beautiful 7' tall holiday house visitor, my eyes started to burn and my nose started to run.

This is the first year that I have ever noticed an allergy to any sort of Christmas tree that I have been in contact with. It makes me so sad to feel miserable when I love getting a real tree. I love driving out to the tree farm. I love walking (or running like I do when I chase the boys) through the rows of trees looking for that perfect one. I love taking pictures of Rob and the boys cutting it down (and then having to pause to hold it up so it doesn't fall over on any of them). I love bringing it home and having to work over a period of 2+ days to make sure that it is not leaning in one direction or another. I love taking out all of the ornaments and reveling in the memories that surround each one--ones I have gotten as a child, ones we have bought for the boys or for each other, ones I or others have made...it is such a sentimental moment. Lastly, I love the smell of a fresh evergreen permeating through my house. However, that beautiful specimen (it's a type of fir--a frasier maybe? Reminds me a bit of a noble) just doesn't agree with me. Oh well. I'll enjoy the beauty of it while it is here. Next year, we'll probably break down and get a fake tree. I shouldn't be allergic to that. ;-)

Mara.

This girl had me in stitches with her silly antics yesterday afternoon during her photo shoot. Having clients like her totally make my job fun! We had a lot of "silly" poses, laughter, pretending to be sad and some semi-serious ones too. There are so many good shots of Mara, that it was really difficult to find just 3 to post.

Prost!

We went to Oktoberfest out at Mountain Lake last Saturday. Man, it was so much fun! The photo collage is a compilation of images taken from that evening of our rowdy group. :) 8 adults crammed into our 7-passenger Tahoe (one of those times that I wish that we had actually gotten the bench seat for the middle row instead of the captain's seats, yes Rob, I'm admitting that you were right!). Rob drove. All you can eat food that was mighty tasty. Plenty of beer (or cider/coffee/water) for all. Fun times all around. Some of my favorite quotes of the night were when Jan kept insisting that he was Swedish, and when Horst was telling everyone about why the cows wore the cow bells--still laughing over that one.

One of the women in the band came up to me afterwards and asked how I became so lucky to be the only girl amongst all of those dashing young men in our party...It was a hard job, but someone had to do it. ;-) Thanks guys for a great time. Ready to go again next year? I know that I am!

Learning and growing.

That's something we're all doing right now--learning and growing. The boys are learning more each day about how the world works, more about God, his creation, academic related things. They are growing like weeds physically (well, Aidan is a slow-growing one), and above are a couple of pictures to show how big they have gotten. I'm learning and growing more as a parent, as a wife, as a friend, as God's daughter and whatnot. I'm growing more in Him (and am trying not to grow bigger physically). :)

I had a MOPS meeting this morning, and let me tell you, it was awesome! My friend, Jennifer, posted a little bit about what our speaker talked about (as well as someone the 3 of us had listened to at the Extraordinary Women's Conference in early September). During the meeting and while reading Jenn's blog, God gave me a little nudge, or maybe it was more of a swift kick in the pants, and made me realize that I'm not ministering to others the way He wants me to. I'm holding back in fear. Fear of saying or doing the wrong thing. Fear of rejection. Fear that I will inadvertently turn things around to what is going on in my own life. Just plain fear of being stretched or made uncomfortable. Some of this fear is definitely due to my trying to stay somewhat guarded and protect myself from being hurt. Really, I should be handing that over to Jesus and be walking in his strength, compassion and power.

Jesus, train me how to live today. Teach me to be there for others. Help me to be a better friend and to not be afraid to reach out and befriend others. Thank you that we do not have to fear because you are with us, you are our God and will strengthen us and help us and uphold us with your righteous right hand (Isaiah 41:10). Train me to be more like you Jesus--I am giving my fear to you Lord. Mold me into the woman you want me to be and may people see you shining through me in everything. Amen.

Punker.

That's the name David bestowed upon a beautiful Monarch butterfly when we were up at Pandapas Pond this morning. I was playing fetch with Sydney, allowing her to swim and retrieve--two things she does quite well, and all of a sudden David comes up to me, ready to show me his prize catch. He was holding it gingerly by the wings and had this look of sheer bliss and delight upon his face. The butterfly was given the name of Punker because she was orange like a pumpkin (and I call him punkin) and he likes to have an 'er' sound be at the end of a lot of his made-up words.

My boy cried when Punker finally decided to fly away. It was hard seeing him so heartbroken. Maybe we will find more when we walk to the park later? This time we will come prepared with butterfly net in hand. :)

Photo Monday.

I was a busy girl Monday afternoon/early evening. :) Vicki and Jeff came over to have their photos taken--they just got married last week!!! And, Rob needed to have a picture for his webpage, so we got his done too. David had me take a few of him in his Halloween costume too, but I decided not to post any of those. He does make a pretty cute storm trooper though!

The sessions went really well overall; however, I had to do more editing than I had hoped since my lighting was a little bit off. Thank goodness for photoshop though! The proofs will be in tomorrow, so I can see if any color corrections need to be made, or if I'm good to go. Since Rob calibrated my monitor, I haven't been having too many problems though--unless it happened to be by user error. :) Like that would ever happen?!?! (ha ha ha)