I just wanted to share a few thoughts that keep ringing in my head from some bible study and preaching I heard yesterday and last night .... I wanted to share these in case it touches someone else out there ....
I recently started a Beth Moore bible study, Living Beyond Yourself. Yesterday I was reading about living a crucified life: living not for your own will but dying to yourself and living for God's will. There was a statment that just keeps ringing in my head. She said,
"Never misunderstand pain [emotional, physical, spiritual] as permission to forego the will of God."
"Never misunderstand pain as permission to forego the will of God."
I just thought that was a powerful statement because so often people say, "Oh, well, God would never want me to suffer so I'll...[you fill in the blank]." But what God wants is for you to keep His word ... even when it's difficult.
Another interesting thing I heard was last night while watching a show featuring pastor Henry Wright from Pleasant Valley Church in Thomaston, GA, author of A More Excellent Way. The focus of his book is connecting the dots between our sins and our diseases. It was a very interesting discussion. My husband borrowed this book from a friend but had to return it and now we are thinking about buying a copy of our own.
He was talking about blessings and curses. He said that when you follow God's word, He will fullfill His promises and offer you blessings. However, when you don't follow His word, you are essentially following a different word (Satan's word) and as the consequence, you receive Satan's "blessings" (aka curses).
... kinda makes sense ...
He also talked about how he did a word study and looked up the word "if" as it applied to the scriptures in Deuteronomy about blessings and curses. IF we obey the Lord and follow His word, we will receive blessings - he found that this "if" meant quickly, we'll receive the blessings quickly - but IF we do not follow His word, we will receive curses - he found that the different word "if" used here meant slowly - we will recieve curses slowly, in time... which is how diseases work.
.... hhmmmm...
...just a few things that I thought were interesting and I felt the urge to share, just in case it touches someone else out there...
Additional note:
Please don't get angry with me if you have an ailment and say "I'm not a sinner!" We are all sinners. I think we need to all pray and ask God to reveal to us how we can better follow His word. I'm doing this myself...
Thursday, January 31, 2008
Tuesday, January 29, 2008
Flannel Sheets - You Are My New Love!
Haaaallelujah! Haaaaallelujah! Hallelujah!Hallelujah! Hal-leee-luuuu-jaaah!!!!
Ahhh!!!! Flannel - my new love!
Every night as I sit like a moron at this computer until 1:00 a.m. ... 2:00 a.m., rather than going to bed at 10:00 p.m. at the LATEST (I've obviously not yet successfully achieved that goal for 2008), I freeze my butt off here in the dark and then eventually get into bed. I lay there like a popsicle, trying to snuggle up to John to tap into his body heat (without waking him up from a jolt of cold toes... wait, who am I kidding?! NOTHING wakes him up!), yet continue to shiver out of my skin until I have put on three pairs of thick, zero-degree hiking socks and retrieved my beloved fleece throw from the hall closet. Finally, I then have some relief and can drift off. I had considered using an electric blanket. However, after going up into the attic to dig out the old gotta-be-over-30-years-old-electric-blanket-of-my-youth from a box and plugging it in to see if it still worked, we felt no heat. Instead, I placed both of my hands on the blanket, paused, looked at John with my head tilted a little and said, "Do you feel that?" He placed his hands on the blanket feeling around for the eluding warmth and said, "What?" "That." He paused a moment and then we both realized that the "tickle" that I was feeling was ELECTRICITY!!! "AAaaahh!" I jerked my hands back, a little freaked by the feeling of live electricity crawling under my fingertips! So, uh, no electric blanket for me, thank you very much! We talked about buying a new one but then the whole electric-current-running-over-my-entire-body-thing flashed cancerous thoughts through my head (yes, I realize this is going overboard but that's what went through my head) and I wasn't as excited about the idea anymore.
Flash back to Christmas. Abigail received flannel Dora sheets for her bed. Followed were several 3:00 a.m. visits over the course of the next month, "Mommy, come sleep with me." Here I am zombie-shuffling to her bed answering, "Okay, but just for a little while, sweetie" (actually thinking "sure, anything, as long as it means sleeeeeep.....zzzzz!"). I realized during those sweet yet sleep-deprived snuggles in her small bed just how warm her bed was. Especially after I would wake at 4:00 a.m. and return to my own cold, cold sheets (repeat process: snuggle up to John for warmth and hope that I don't disturb him with my coldness). So, I was sold. Note to self: add "buy flannel sheets" to my To Do list in the morning.
And then we come to tonight. I finally got the sheets. I finally got them on the bed. I (again) was up too late tonight and therefore partially frozen by the time I crawled into bed. But, aaahhhh - my first socked foot slid under the covers. My other socked foot slid under the covers (yes, don't I just scream sexiness here!). I could already tell the difference! I slid the rest of my body under the covers and layed my head down on an already inviting pillow case. I was already halfway thawed rather than nearly to the deep-freeze stage! Snuggle to John and done. I was thawed and ready for sleep! And I must say the ensuing lightening storm of static shooting and darting around under the sheets as I was sliding in was quite entertaining!!
... then of course I couldn't sleep because I wanted to share my new found joy with the world! So here, again, it is 1:00 a.m. as I sit at the computer! But that's fine. I sit here wrapped in my fleece throw just knowing that I can crawl back into my flannel bed when I'm done (allthewhile giggling at the lightening show) and snuggle up nice and toasty!
Thank you God for flannel!
Ahhh!!!! Flannel - my new love!
Every night as I sit like a moron at this computer until 1:00 a.m. ... 2:00 a.m., rather than going to bed at 10:00 p.m. at the LATEST (I've obviously not yet successfully achieved that goal for 2008), I freeze my butt off here in the dark and then eventually get into bed. I lay there like a popsicle, trying to snuggle up to John to tap into his body heat (without waking him up from a jolt of cold toes... wait, who am I kidding?! NOTHING wakes him up!), yet continue to shiver out of my skin until I have put on three pairs of thick, zero-degree hiking socks and retrieved my beloved fleece throw from the hall closet. Finally, I then have some relief and can drift off. I had considered using an electric blanket. However, after going up into the attic to dig out the old gotta-be-over-30-years-old-electric-blanket-of-my-youth from a box and plugging it in to see if it still worked, we felt no heat. Instead, I placed both of my hands on the blanket, paused, looked at John with my head tilted a little and said, "Do you feel that?" He placed his hands on the blanket feeling around for the eluding warmth and said, "What?" "That." He paused a moment and then we both realized that the "tickle" that I was feeling was ELECTRICITY!!! "AAaaahh!" I jerked my hands back, a little freaked by the feeling of live electricity crawling under my fingertips! So, uh, no electric blanket for me, thank you very much! We talked about buying a new one but then the whole electric-current-running-over-my-entire-body-thing flashed cancerous thoughts through my head (yes, I realize this is going overboard but that's what went through my head) and I wasn't as excited about the idea anymore.
Flash back to Christmas. Abigail received flannel Dora sheets for her bed. Followed were several 3:00 a.m. visits over the course of the next month, "Mommy, come sleep with me." Here I am zombie-shuffling to her bed answering, "Okay, but just for a little while, sweetie" (actually thinking "sure, anything, as long as it means sleeeeeep.....zzzzz!"). I realized during those sweet yet sleep-deprived snuggles in her small bed just how warm her bed was. Especially after I would wake at 4:00 a.m. and return to my own cold, cold sheets (repeat process: snuggle up to John for warmth and hope that I don't disturb him with my coldness). So, I was sold. Note to self: add "buy flannel sheets" to my To Do list in the morning.
And then we come to tonight. I finally got the sheets. I finally got them on the bed. I (again) was up too late tonight and therefore partially frozen by the time I crawled into bed. But, aaahhhh - my first socked foot slid under the covers. My other socked foot slid under the covers (yes, don't I just scream sexiness here!). I could already tell the difference! I slid the rest of my body under the covers and layed my head down on an already inviting pillow case. I was already halfway thawed rather than nearly to the deep-freeze stage! Snuggle to John and done. I was thawed and ready for sleep! And I must say the ensuing lightening storm of static shooting and darting around under the sheets as I was sliding in was quite entertaining!!
... then of course I couldn't sleep because I wanted to share my new found joy with the world! So here, again, it is 1:00 a.m. as I sit at the computer! But that's fine. I sit here wrapped in my fleece throw just knowing that I can crawl back into my flannel bed when I'm done (allthewhile giggling at the lightening show) and snuggle up nice and toasty!
Thank you God for flannel!
Monday, January 28, 2008
Quote of the Day
Today's quote is not from one of the kids this time but shamelessly taken from a fellow blogger whose site I love to visit. I just loved this quote and wanted to share:
"Education is not the filling of a pail, but the lighting of a fire." (William Butler Yeats)
...just simmer on that one for a minute....
"Education is not the filling of a pail, but the lighting of a fire." (William Butler Yeats)
...just simmer on that one for a minute....
Wednesday, January 23, 2008
Guess what Grandma? I can say Sh*t!!
We often work with the older kids on saying their S's as they both tend to lisp, saying 'th' rather than 's.' This weekend, John had been working with Jared trying to show him how to hold his mouth with his front teeth together to get more of an 's' sound rather than letting his tongue come out and make the 'th' sound. Jared was doing really good. Grandma called about that time and Jared was itching to talk to her as always. The first thing he says to her is, "Guess what Grandma? I can say Sh*t!" Both John's and my head jerked around!! I leaned over toward the phone in Jared's hand and said, "We're working on our S's today. He's trying to say "sit!" I could hear Grandma quietly say, "Ooooh." John and I were silently dying laughing as Jared continued his conversation!
Thursday, January 10, 2008
Wanna Save Some Money?
I was just over on Kisses of Sunshine reading the feedback she received to her request for money saving tips. There were several websites for grocery savings and penny pinching that look great. I'll look at them in more detail later but wanted to share the link to her post "A Pain in the..." from January 7th.
Happy Savings!
Happy Savings!
2 More Goals
Adding to my list of Resolutions/GOALS.....
The proverbial "lose weight" will be added to my list as I still haven't lost all that 'baby weight' and Rachel is about to turn a year old! I will, will, WILL lose the final 10-15 pounds and will hopefully look half way decent in a swim suit this year - I hope!?! I at least want to fit back into my old clothes and stop feeling the need to "hide" behind big baggy shirts!
I'll steal one from Natalie - I too would like to scrapbook 30 pages this year. That would give me a quantifiable goal to help me on my way to at least making a dent in catching up on my scrapbooking.... which I've not touched in THREE years! I gotta a lotta work ahead of me!
The proverbial "lose weight" will be added to my list as I still haven't lost all that 'baby weight' and Rachel is about to turn a year old! I will, will, WILL lose the final 10-15 pounds and will hopefully look half way decent in a swim suit this year - I hope!?! I at least want to fit back into my old clothes and stop feeling the need to "hide" behind big baggy shirts!
I'll steal one from Natalie - I too would like to scrapbook 30 pages this year. That would give me a quantifiable goal to help me on my way to at least making a dent in catching up on my scrapbooking.... which I've not touched in THREE years! I gotta a lotta work ahead of me!
Wednesday, January 9, 2008
Resolutions ...er.... Goals for 2008 (and beyond)
While I don't believe in making New Years Resolutions and normally don't make them, Natalie tagged me to list my resolutions for 2008. I don't call these my "New Years Resolutions" but I did actually start a list a couple of months ago of habits I wanted to create, or one could call them my goals moving forward. I guess it's sorta like the difference between calling it a "diet" and a "life style change." I realize the list is long but I've been thinking about this for the last few months and adding to it when I think of something else I'd like to do from now on (another key difference - "from now on" vs "this year")... anyway.... here ya' go.
1. Bedtime 10:30pm (11:00pm at the latest)
2. kids bedtime 7:30pm (8:00pm at the latest)
3. get into the habit of Menu Planning Mondays (plan minimum one week menus and shopping list)
4. pick out the kids M-F clothes on Sunday night
5. fold and put away laundry RIGHT out of the dryer (no more wading through MOUNTAINS of clean laundry)
6. run dishwasher every night and unload every morning to keep kitchen cleaner/nicer
7. limit the kids TV watching time to 2 hrs max per day (and that still sounds bad)
8. moisturize hands every time I wash and every time I can think about it (they're always horribly dry and rough and screaming for me to pick at them)
9. stop picking! (I'm a picker - I pick at my fingers, my face, my lips, anything I can get hold of!)
10. start coloring my gray!!!
11. snack healthier (I'd gotten really slack over the last few months on my eating habits)
12. check my credit card statement online daily to help monitor my spending and maintain my budget
13. limit my own computer time daily
14. exercise minimum 2 times per week, preferably 3 times per week
15. prep/cook 1-2 meals ahead of time weekly
16. get kids up no later than 7:15am to avoid running late every morning
17. be less "busy" and more available to the kids
18. stop impulse buying, even if I have to come back on another (dreaded) trip to get it later after I've thought about it longer and determined that it's in the budget
19. read 20-30 minutes every day (Bible or other Christian material)
20. read to the kids daily (we already read Bible stories nightly but I want to read other books to the kids for their enjoyment and for more focused one-on-one or actually one-on-two time)
21. use coupons more
1. Bedtime 10:30pm (11:00pm at the latest)
2. kids bedtime 7:30pm (8:00pm at the latest)
3. get into the habit of Menu Planning Mondays (plan minimum one week menus and shopping list)
4. pick out the kids M-F clothes on Sunday night
5. fold and put away laundry RIGHT out of the dryer (no more wading through MOUNTAINS of clean laundry)
6. run dishwasher every night and unload every morning to keep kitchen cleaner/nicer
7. limit the kids TV watching time to 2 hrs max per day (and that still sounds bad)
8. moisturize hands every time I wash and every time I can think about it (they're always horribly dry and rough and screaming for me to pick at them)
9. stop picking! (I'm a picker - I pick at my fingers, my face, my lips, anything I can get hold of!)
10. start coloring my gray!!!
11. snack healthier (I'd gotten really slack over the last few months on my eating habits)
12. check my credit card statement online daily to help monitor my spending and maintain my budget
13. limit my own computer time daily
14. exercise minimum 2 times per week, preferably 3 times per week
15. prep/cook 1-2 meals ahead of time weekly
16. get kids up no later than 7:15am to avoid running late every morning
17. be less "busy" and more available to the kids
18. stop impulse buying, even if I have to come back on another (dreaded) trip to get it later after I've thought about it longer and determined that it's in the budget
19. read 20-30 minutes every day (Bible or other Christian material)
20. read to the kids daily (we already read Bible stories nightly but I want to read other books to the kids for their enjoyment and for more focused one-on-one or actually one-on-two time)
21. use coupons more
Tuesday, January 1, 2008
Quote of the Day
Scene: Daddy and Jared playing football (in the house no less!!!)
Jared: "You throw good Daddy. Like Me!"
Jared: "You throw good Daddy. Like Me!"
Thursday, December 20, 2007
Massive Marzullo Update.....
Ok - so I've been a total slacker in the last two months and haven't updated my blog in a while... I'm sorry. I've been fussed at for not updating it in so long and, believe me, I've wanted to on many occasions, but I established a new rule for myself back in the fall about going to bed on time and not staying up until the wee hours of the morning "playing" on my blog. Well, I'm blowing that one outta the water tonight but I figured I just HAD to get back on track. I'll just have to figure out some other time of day (heh! yeah right!) to do my bloggin.' Anyway, if you're ready to grab a cuppa joe and pull up a comfy seat, then I'll catch everyone up to date. Ready? ... here we go.....
Abigail's 3rd birthday party was a lot of fun. Her birthday is actually in October but it's so close to Halloween and we had so much going on that we ended up celebrating it the first weekend in November. It was so cute to see all the kids playing the games and running around. The kids all made their own party hats; we had tricycle relay races (everyone won little gold medals); we enjoyed bubble blowing and of course the big finale was everyone getting to take a whack at the pinata! They were all dying for the pinata to come out. Even more so than for the cake!
The next week we gave my mom a surprise birthday dinner for her 60th birthday. She said that she kinda figured something might be up Daddy's sleeve when she came home from work that day and suggested to Daddy that they go to a different restaurant than the one they'd already agreed on. Daddy said, "no, I really have my heart set on Provinos." Mom thought to herself, "it's MY birthday!" But, she quietly went along and SURPRISE! (the kids all LOVED shouting Surprise!) there we all were! I think she really enjoyed it! :)
I have to include this small "event" that occurred the following week. The kids and I had a teddy bear picnic in the back yard. It was such a beautiful day so we spread out a blanket and invited a few guests to have lunch with us. I believe that "Regular Teddy" and "Big Teddy" (yes, we're really original with names in this house) had a good time.
Thanksgiving was wonderful. Our craft this year was a Tree of Thanksgiving. I forget who I got the idea from (someone's blog or some other craft website?) so I'm afraid I can't offer proper credits but we had a great time filling it up with our leaves and reading everyone's answers. We had everything from drawings and thanks for grass, crayons and transformers to thanks for wonderful marriages, great kids, comfortable finances, good health and my grandad put "thankful just to be here!" We were too!!
Thanksgiving weekend, John and I took the kids to a nearby park to play. It was really cold so we bundled the kids in their coats, hats and gloves. As soon as they were released, the older two darted off for the playground while Daddy and I were still wrestling the baby into her coat and hat, etc. We were keeping a close eye out for the older two and once Rachel was set, we too headed for the playground. Unfortunately, in the midst of all the hub-bub, I forgot to hide my purse. So someone came along, busted out my window and stole it!! I'm thankful that it was just a 
smash-and-grab, no one was hurt and I had my most important items on me (keys, cell phone, main credit card and license). So all they really got was $20 in cash and a bunch of other useless stuff. As soon as we found the van had been smashed, we called the police and the banks. We cancelled everything and got new accounts set up. It was really just an annoyance more than anything. I was more irritated at me for leaving it in plain sight. I know not to do that and I always try to make sure nothing valuable is ever in plain sight but I just got busy and forgot this time. Well, approximately $350 later (new window, new purse, replaced several purse items), we were back in business. Oh but I had to share this photo. It's the sticker that used to be on my window which was now laying in the pile of glass in the parking lot. It says "This Vehicle Protected by Theft Deterrent System." Uh... apparently the thief forgot to read the little sticker and get scared before smashing it to smithereens! I am happy to say, however, that by a neat turn of events, we got a call about a month later (a few days after Christmas) from a gentleman who informed us that while on a walk down near the creek that runs through his property, he found a purse laying in the water! John met him the next morning and picked it up. It seems like it must have just been kids who had stolen it because all of my other credit cards were still there, my checks were still there, everything! Including a couple of gift cards! So, they really were only after cash! Well, they got $20. And I got a stinky, fishy smelling purse that had to be thrown out!!! Oh well.
Ah, and of course I can't forget to mention the loooovely stomach bug that visited our house the next week. Oh how fun that was! Abigail started throwing up (in my van no doubt, THREE times! I guess she wanted to make sure it was well coated...) around 6pm. I started getting sick around 9:00pm. Jared joined us as 2:00am. John had a peachy time taking care of us all night (while trying to keep Rachel isolated away from us and our germs) until he decided to join the party around 9:00am the next morning. What a lovely bunch we were. Thank GOD it was only a 24 hour thing and also that it skipped Rachel! By the time John started getting sick I was able to at least stand upright enough to take over. Hopefully that was our complete dose of ICK for the year.
Jared's school Christmas program was absolutely adorable!! Our son was the little boy on stage shouting the lyrics at the top of his lungs. There's always one in every performance and he was it this time. He was so cute. He did a great job. We were so proud of him!
Just a few days before Christmas we went on a family hike in the mountains. I carried Rachel in the backpack and put John on chasing duty.
And that pretty much catches us up to date. I hope I didn't bore you to tears! I will try not to go so long between posts again. And I hope you'll come back real soon now, ya hear?
Ok, since Halloween...
Unfortunately, my sister had a miscarriage. She was around 8 weeks along. She handled it really well though. She has a strong faith in God and said they will keep trying. So, I keep praying that God will bless them with another baby (preferably a girl - she already has two very energetic boys).
Abigail's 3rd birthday party was a lot of fun. Her birthday is actually in October but it's so close to Halloween and we had so much going on that we ended up celebrating it the first weekend in November. It was so cute to see all the kids playing the games and running around. The kids all made their own party hats; we had tricycle relay races (everyone won little gold medals); we enjoyed bubble blowing and of course the big finale was everyone getting to take a whack at the pinata! They were all dying for the pinata to come out. Even more so than for the cake!
The next week we gave my mom a surprise birthday dinner for her 60th birthday. She said that she kinda figured something might be up Daddy's sleeve when she came home from work that day and suggested to Daddy that they go to a different restaurant than the one they'd already agreed on. Daddy said, "no, I really have my heart set on Provinos." Mom thought to herself, "it's MY birthday!" But, she quietly went along and SURPRISE! (the kids all LOVED shouting Surprise!) there we all were! I think she really enjoyed it! :)
That next weekend, Mom kept all three kids for us and let me and John go on a weekend camping trip - - - just... me... and.. John!! Wow - after the hand-wringing nervousness and guilt ridden feeling of "abandoning" my children finally wore off, I soooo enjoyed the peace and quiet and lack of someone always being attached to my leg or needing me to wipe their bottom! It was great! We hiked. We slept in our two-man tent. We enjoyed real conversation with complete sentences! I'm afraid the weekend proved to be a bit more tortuous for Mom since Rachel wouldn't nap. So she was juggling all three kids the entire time - which means constantly fussing at the older two to leave the baby alone for TWO seconds, stay out of her face, stop knocking her over, give back her toy, etc etc etc. I felt really bad for giving Mom such a tough weekend. Of course the kids loved have Nana up so they had a great time!
I have to include this small "event" that occurred the following week. The kids and I had a teddy bear picnic in the back yard. It was such a beautiful day so we spread out a blanket and invited a few guests to have lunch with us. I believe that "Regular Teddy" and "Big Teddy" (yes, we're really original with names in this house) had a good time. 
Thanksgiving was wonderful. Our craft this year was a Tree of Thanksgiving. I forget who I got the idea from (someone's blog or some other craft website?) so I'm afraid I can't offer proper credits but we had a great time filling it up with our leaves and reading everyone's answers. We had everything from drawings and thanks for grass, crayons and transformers to thanks for wonderful marriages, great kids, comfortable finances, good health and my grandad put "thankful just to be here!" We were too!!
Thanksgiving weekend, John and I took the kids to a nearby park to play. It was really cold so we bundled the kids in their coats, hats and gloves. As soon as they were released, the older two darted off for the playground while Daddy and I were still wrestling the baby into her coat and hat, etc. We were keeping a close eye out for the older two and once Rachel was set, we too headed for the playground. Unfortunately, in the midst of all the hub-bub, I forgot to hide my purse. So someone came along, busted out my window and stole it!! I'm thankful that it was just a 
smash-and-grab, no one was hurt and I had my most important items on me (keys, cell phone, main credit card and license). So all they really got was $20 in cash and a bunch of other useless stuff. As soon as we found the van had been smashed, we called the police and the banks. We cancelled everything and got new accounts set up. It was really just an annoyance more than anything. I was more irritated at me for leaving it in plain sight. I know not to do that and I always try to make sure nothing valuable is ever in plain sight but I just got busy and forgot this time. Well, approximately $350 later (new window, new purse, replaced several purse items), we were back in business. Oh but I had to share this photo. It's the sticker that used to be on my window which was now laying in the pile of glass in the parking lot. It says "This Vehicle Protected by Theft Deterrent System." Uh... apparently the thief forgot to read the little sticker and get scared before smashing it to smithereens! I am happy to say, however, that by a neat turn of events, we got a call about a month later (a few days after Christmas) from a gentleman who informed us that while on a walk down near the creek that runs through his property, he found a purse laying in the water! John met him the next morning and picked it up. It seems like it must have just been kids who had stolen it because all of my other credit cards were still there, my checks were still there, everything! Including a couple of gift cards! So, they really were only after cash! Well, they got $20. And I got a stinky, fishy smelling purse that had to be thrown out!!! Oh well. Ah, and of course I can't forget to mention the loooovely stomach bug that visited our house the next week. Oh how fun that was! Abigail started throwing up (in my van no doubt, THREE times! I guess she wanted to make sure it was well coated...) around 6pm. I started getting sick around 9:00pm. Jared joined us as 2:00am. John had a peachy time taking care of us all night (while trying to keep Rachel isolated away from us and our germs) until he decided to join the party around 9:00am the next morning. What a lovely bunch we were. Thank GOD it was only a 24 hour thing and also that it skipped Rachel! By the time John started getting sick I was able to at least stand upright enough to take over. Hopefully that was our complete dose of ICK for the year.
Jared's school Christmas program was absolutely adorable!! Our son was the little boy on stage shouting the lyrics at the top of his lungs. There's always one in every performance and he was it this time. He was so cute. He did a great job. We were so proud of him!
Somewhere in December we went for about about two weeks without a microwave. Ours died and I never realized just how much I rely on that wonderful invention until it was no more!! It's amazing how much I use it for everything from re-heating my coffee, to heating the baby's food, to cooking Jared's hot dogs, to defrosting meat for dinner and then cooking that same meat in the micro. I'm too lazy to prepare dinner more than an hour ahead of time so I rely on the micro to nuke it fast! We got it fixed and our now back in business with a new appreciation for this wonderful invention!
My grandad and dad both had surgeries in mid-December. Thanks be to God that they were both successful and both gentlemen are healing nicely. My Pop had a roto-rooter procedure done on his main artery in his neck. His doctor found that he had a very large amount of blockage in that artery so they went in and basically performed a roto-rooter cleaning and scooped out all the 
goop. Lovely image, I know, but I thought it sounded rather odd - never heard of that one before. Thankfully, he did beautifully and was home the very next day! Daddy had his surgery two days later to remove all of the hardware that the doctors put his ankle back together with last year after it was crushed by a bob-cat (tractor). His body had been fighting having all that metal in him all year so they decided to take it back out. Here's an x-ray of what his ankle looked like before the extraction. After the surgery, the doctors handed Daddy a little container with the plate and all of his screws rattling around in it. I thought it was funny because it looked just like what you'd go to the local hardware store for. Nothing fancy - just average Ace Hardware type screws. Personally, I think Daddy's having fun carrying his hardware around and showing everyone. ;)
goop. Lovely image, I know, but I thought it sounded rather odd - never heard of that one before. Thankfully, he did beautifully and was home the very next day! Daddy had his surgery two days later to remove all of the hardware that the doctors put his ankle back together with last year after it was crushed by a bob-cat (tractor). His body had been fighting having all that metal in him all year so they decided to take it back out. Here's an x-ray of what his ankle looked like before the extraction. After the surgery, the doctors handed Daddy a little container with the plate and all of his screws rattling around in it. I thought it was funny because it looked just like what you'd go to the local hardware store for. Nothing fancy - just average Ace Hardware type screws. Personally, I think Daddy's having fun carrying his hardware around and showing everyone. ;)
Just a few days before Christmas we went on a family hike in the mountains. I carried Rachel in the backpack and put John on chasing duty.
I'm a horrible aunt to forget the birthday so soon, but somewhere in November my sister-in-law had her baby. A healthy, bouncing baby boy named Connor. Two days after Christmas, my cousin had her baby. A healthy, sweet baby girl named Mattie. Congratulations to both Mommies and Daddies!
Finally, New Year's weekend, (yes, I know the date on this post is pre-Christmas but that's when I started my draft. I'm actually finishing and posting on 1/8/08... or actually 1/9/08 since it's the middle of the night by now!!) my mother-in-law kept Rachel and let John and I take Jared and Abigail on a weekend vacation to Rock City, TN. We thoroughly enjoyed Rock City in the daylight and then went back after dark to see their lights display. Our accommodations that night were our new 8-man, mack-daddy, Ritz hotel of a tent. John and I felt so swank! Quite an upgrade from the small 2-3 man tents that we use when hiking the Appalachian trail. For those occasions, the smaller the better. But we had elbow-room on top of elbow-room here! The kids had a blast using their little lanterns and head-lights (flash lights that you wear like a coal-miner on your forehead). They loved camping and then exploring the next day while we broke camp. On Sunday, we rode the Incline Railway and played on top of the mountain before heading back home. We had a great time!
Finally, New Year's weekend, (yes, I know the date on this post is pre-Christmas but that's when I started my draft. I'm actually finishing and posting on 1/8/08... or actually 1/9/08 since it's the middle of the night by now!!) my mother-in-law kept Rachel and let John and I take Jared and Abigail on a weekend vacation to Rock City, TN. We thoroughly enjoyed Rock City in the daylight and then went back after dark to see their lights display. Our accommodations that night were our new 8-man, mack-daddy, Ritz hotel of a tent. John and I felt so swank! Quite an upgrade from the small 2-3 man tents that we use when hiking the Appalachian trail. For those occasions, the smaller the better. But we had elbow-room on top of elbow-room here! The kids had a blast using their little lanterns and head-lights (flash lights that you wear like a coal-miner on your forehead). They loved camping and then exploring the next day while we broke camp. On Sunday, we rode the Incline Railway and played on top of the mountain before heading back home. We had a great time!
And that pretty much catches us up to date. I hope I didn't bore you to tears! I will try not to go so long between posts again. And I hope you'll come back real soon now, ya hear?
Sunday, November 4, 2007
Boo, Y'all!
Happy Halloween! Hope yours was as fun as ours was! We had a great time. The kids were so excited to dress up and get CANDY!!! I had pirate costumes ready to wear and since Jared loves to play with swords I just knew he'd love it. But no, he wanted to be an elephant! An elephant?! Yes, an elephant. Okaaaay. After several days of casually asking him every so often what he wanted to be for Halloween and getting the same response, "I want to be an Elephant!" I thought ok, I'll do it. I went online and found instructions for making an elephant costume, made my list of needed supplies, called WalMart to make sure they had plain grey sweat suits (to be cut up and transformed) and I was ready to do this. I picked Jared up from school and in the WalMart parking lot confirmed his request one last time. Yes, he still wanted to be an elephant. Abigail pipes up and says, "Me too! I want to me an elephant like Jared!" Jared balks. I said, "Ok, you can both be elephants but as soon as we go in there and buy the stuff for it, there's no changing your minds." "No, I don't want Abigail to be the same as me! I don't want to be an elephant!" (roll eyes) "Ok, then what do you want to be?" "A power ranger!" ... and off to Party City we go. Jared wanted to be every picture he saw but was fairly consistant on choosing the Power Ranger once I narrowed down his choices. Abigail wanted to be everything she saw and had no consistency whatsoever so we finally left with one blue Power Ranger suit and a decision that we could just dive into the dress up box and put Abigail in whatever suited her fancy 5 minutes before we walked out the door for trick or treating. I had this cute princess / fairy dress that I thought she'd love but alas that stayed on only 5 minutes before she said she wanted to take it off and be Tigger. So, our final selections were: 1 blue Power Ranger, 1 Tigger and 1 Pumpkin Pooh. The funny thing is that when Jared was an infant he was Pumpkin Pooh for Halloween. When Abigail was a baby, she was Pumpkin Pooh and Jared was Tigger. This year, Rachel was Pumpkin Pooh and Abigail was Tigger. Too bad I didn't have a Rabbit, Piglet or Eyore costume for Jared! Anyway, here's how my crew looked:
((( By the way, if anyone can tell me why I can no longer click on my photos to see a larger version please send me a comment and let me know. In my earlier posts you could do that but in my last post and this one, you can't??? Thanks!!)))
((( By the way, if anyone can tell me why I can no longer click on my photos to see a larger version please send me a comment and let me know. In my earlier posts you could do that but in my last post and this one, you can't??? Thanks!!)))
Here's our crew - ready to go! Tigger, Pumpkin Pooh and the Blue Power Ranger
We went with our neighbors - the kids loved it! Well, all except Rachel who wasn't too thrilled at this point!
Rachel traveled the night in style - Giddy Up, Daddy!
Note Jared looking in the window - "Hey, I KNOW you're in there!"
Jared and Abigail in hot pursuit of the next handful of sweets, leaving Mommy and Daddy in the dust!
John, trying to get the kids to hold up.
Rachel - "Hey, who turned out the lights?! Oh, there you are...."
Abigail trying to manage her load on the way home! The kids racked up and those bags were rather heavy by the end of it all!
We stopped by Miss Ashley's house for one final handful of goodies and some fun. Since we live in a ranch on a slab, the kids are in HEAVEN any time we visit friends that have *gasp!* STAIRS!!!! Over and Over and Over, they leapt over that five or six steps at top and then relished every bump and thump as they did belly slides down to the bottom. Jared is doing some sort of Power Ranger pose here.
Aahhh, one semi-calm moment as they pause their sugar-rushed craziness for a photo opp.
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