Good and Bad

Today had it's good moments and it's bad ones too. They reflect my parenting... judge me if you want.

Good: On our way to Awana, Scott tells me that he has to apologize to a classmate for calling her a bad name. Thinking through a list of inappropriate words my son might have chosen, I asked him to tell me what he called her. He called her "bossy boots" because she was pushing on the bus. Phew, that could have been a lot worse. His classmate was at Awana and on his own, he apologized. She told him she'd forgotten about it. Apparently so, they were sitting next to each other during story time.

Now that I think about that one again, maybe its a bad mommy moment. Bethany gets called "bossy boots" a lot. If Scott thinks that's apology worthy, does he think I need to apologize to Bethany???

Bad: Last night I felt like crap. The headache clung on all day regardless of keeping on top of ibuprofen. When Ryan was gone for the evening, I thought I did well reading books with the kids, doing addition cards with Bethany (and facebooking about her description of Ariel), and being generally patient with the kids. At bed time, we pray with the kids, I snuggle them for a few moments and then go out. Being tired, I decided to snuggle an extended period and wouldn't mind falling asleep and let Ryan wake me when he got home. But when my antsy pants daughter couldn't keep still, and my son couldn't obey, my headache seemed to grow while my patience began to dissapear. When Bethany decided to get her body-sized shark pillow to lay on, it was the last straw. I arose from my warm spot, told the children I loved them and began to walk out. My drama queen immediately began to cry. No surprise there, she knew she was naughty and momma was done messing around.

You haven't read the bad part yet so stick with me.

Fast forward to tonight. We're following our nightly routine and when I go to lay next to Bethany to snuggle, with a sweet voice she says "momma, I have my shark ready so you can use it as a pillow tonight. Then it hit me... last night she noticed I didn't have a pillow. Tonight, she was prepared with a pillow for her momma. My heart sank with sadness. Asking my thoughtful little princess about it, she informed me that's why she was getting her shark last night. And I didn't even give her the chance to explain last night. Rightfully so, I apologized profusely, hugged her tight, and thanked her for thinking of me explaining a momma's view point to her. She replied with a tender "it's okay momma, I believe you". Well then... I had no words.

I was feeling like worst momma of the year. Now, I'll also say that she was in the wrong and was disobedient because I asked her to lay down. So, I wasn't out of line, but she was genuinely being thoughtful and I was so caught up on the "rule" of asking her to lay down that I missed a special moment. You better bet that I didn't miss it tonight. Thank you Bethany for loving others, even when those "others" are your grumpy momma!

Bits and Pieces

• Sweetheart Supper invites are done. Not as cool as I'd like them to be but I decided not to put hours and hours into their design this year.
• Judah's birthday is coming up soon!!!
• Our small group is doing a study on biblical manhood and womanhood. Very interesting and I'm enjoying learning more of what that looks like.
• I love my Awana kids. They're fantastic.
• I love my 3 kids. They're fantastic too.
• And so is their Dad.
• Each night my to do list is too long and I haven't managed an early bed time at all lately.
• Up next on that list: finishing some Ethio bead things for Betty.
• I'm cold and tired... time to go snuggle my honey.

Snow Day

We had a fun afternoon of sledding down the hill. This was the first time the kids would sled down the hill by themselves and enjoyed it. While I love sledding with them, I look forward to some sledding events that don't need momma and daddy with every step up the hill.

After one collision, Judah even lost his boot. Those boys were a blast to watch together.

Isn't he gorgeous? Yes, I think so. His natural herding instincts are amazing.

And sometimes annoying. He eventually had to go spend time in his kennel after lots of herding and nipping.

Eventually the wine picked up and Bethany was done. She informed us she was going back to the house. Her daddy joined her. A short bit later, the boys and I came in for hot chocolate too :)

Happy {1/2} Birthday

Around here our school celebrates half birthdays for summer babies. Scott was super excited about his birthday. He had several things to look forward to:

• being a line leader
• celebrating his half birthday
• sharing day
• smart board day
• his family coming to school

This afternoon the littles and I joined S at school for his half birthday celebration. We walked in from recess with Scott where he generously grabbed his siblings a chocolate milk. Back in the class, with heads down and eyes closed, he passed out the surprise cupcake snack. Then, like the big boy that he is, he got to wonder off and give away the extra snacks. What a sweet kid I have.

Happy half birthday son!

Thai Peanut Sauce

I bought a pre-packaged thai peanut sauce thing at the local grocery store. As usual, I loved what I ate but hated the price I paid for a packet of seasoning and some noodles. So, I started my hunt for a Thai Peanut Sauce recipe. I found several recipes that sounded good but wouldn't work. They required ingredients that I didn't have on hand. For those who know me, you know that I try to keep it simple in the kitchen. Finally, at cooks.com I found a recipe that I though

t would work. The recipe was for a stir fry with few servings - neither of which I was making. But I liked that it had few ingredients, I had everything on hand, and I didn't have to cook the sauce. Easy-peasy is what I like. I adapted the recipe a bit and voila, here's what I came up with:

Thai PB Sauce

1 c. peanut butter
1 c. water
4 T. soy sauce
2 T. brown sugar
4 t. minced garlic
1 tsp. crushed red pepper

I played with crunchy vs. smooth PB while I also increased the amount of PB. Neither of us adults liked it with more PB. We've also used more garlic at times.

I've served this the first time with rice noodles and shrimp and no or little veggies. The second time I used more of a stir fry mixture, with regular noodles and and chicken. You can do it several ways. Mmm, guess what we're having for supper!

picture credit: seafoodmadness.com

A Few of My Favorite Things

Bite Sized Update Coming Right Up:

Date Night

With the kids at the inlaws for a sleep-over, Ryan and I had a little date night. We met up with two other couples. One couple we see regularly, the other couple I haven't seen since I changed jobs in late August. It was great to see them, even though our time was short. I was thankful the kids were being cared for and getting some time with their grandparents.

Did I Cry Through That Whole Movie

I cry easy. Some movies bring my emotions out like crazy. Usually I can keep the tears from exiting my eyes and keep the emotions stomped down. Not today. Not sure if it was the subject matter, the exhaustion, or something else. But I cried. A lot.

Courageous

Speaking of movies, it was Courageous that Ryan and I saw. I love how the movie has a call to action for the men. Without knowing for sure, I think it's safe to assume that the church who created the movie has a book to go with it. I love how it calls men to be Courageous - to take seriously the leading and raising of their families. I couldn't help but sit and think of the call on my husband, the responsibility that he has. As a wife and a mom, I have responsibility too. And so I find myself challenged to dig through the bible to remind myself of my responsibilities.

Back to my Roots

Recently Bethany and I bought cowgirl boots. She'd been asking for quite some time. It had also been quite some time since I'd worn boots. Recently I've been back to my roots a bit wearing my sassy boots with jeans. Tonight Miss Priss asked to wear my cowboy hat which has become a decoration instead of a clothing item. Well, after the kids were done trying on the hat, it was placed on my big 'ol cabesa where it remained for the evening.

My Favorite

I love fried potatoes. Ryan made some the other night and I felt so at home. It's something my Nanny used to always make so it reminds me of her. Then this morning for breakfast, he made another of my favorites. I love chorizo and egg burritos. Another favorite of mine is almond joy candy bars. I'm not huge on candy but once in a while I just want one. I read a recipe online and when I suggested buying the ingredients, Ryan gently reminded me that I've chosen to eat healthy and don't need to make them now. And these three things is why Ryan is my FAVORITE. Love him.

Bad Mom?

Bad mom moments this morning according to Scott:

1. I wouldn't make him a bagel.
2. I let him choose a cereal instead. He chose one we never eat and have purchased to make a dessert with. I said no.
3. I took him to his Physical Therapy appt for his GI issues. He had to miss the movie time during music class because his appointment ran long.

I can easily think of ways to fix the above problems. Guess it's time to teach him to toast his own bagel. He was informed that he was to take part of the blame for the long appointment since he kept insisting on being Mr. Clown instead of being serious.

What horrible mom things will I be up to tomorrow?

On another funny note, Judah talked NON STOP!!!! This morning was not the case. At all. Scott suggested at one point that we call Ryan (he was gone early this morning) to tell Daddy of the odd reality of Judah being quiet.

P.S. Judah received his official citizenship paperwork in the mail today. He can now serve his country in the military and serve in public office.... where he will talk non stop.

Giving Up

Some weeks ago I decided to give up a few different things in my life to simplify it. Have you ever given up something during Lent? I know it's not the season of lent but I felt like there was so much distracting me from what I wanted to be a priority. I felt like I was spending more time looking in the mirror at my physical self than my spiritual and emotional self. Who cares how good my make-up, etc looks if I'm grumpy, hateful, easily angered, and lacking patience?

So, the first thing I did was give up putting on make-up. When I made the decision, it wasn't like I did it with a plan of a certain time frame. It just worked out that morning, and the next, and the next. And now it's been over a month or so and I haven't worn make-up.

Then recently I saw some hair-do's on pinterest and thought my hair naturally looks like some of those. So, I thought I'd try that. Well, I must say, I don't have the cute-ness of the pinterest hair-do's I saw, but it takes me 1 minute to scrunch gel in my hair instead of blow drying it. Which gives me more time to spend some time reading the bible, putting away a few dishes, and things like that that I value. It's going well. Not the vanity part, but the focusing on the right things part.

If you see me in public any time soon and I'm not looking so hot, please say a prayer for my crazy hair and the visible bags under my eyes knowing that at least I'm getting a few other things taken care of in my personal life.

p.s. I'll save the embarrassment of posting a picture of my vanity-free face and hair :)

Guess what this momma and her little chicks were up to this morning.

We collected all the broken crayons we could find.

And a few that weren't broken just for good measure.

Then we began the paper removing process.

I was amazed this part kept their attention the WHOLE time.

Here's what we used for our little project:

The oldest impressed everyone when he "broke a world record" by

breaking 4 crayons at once. He's such a strong boy!

The pieces of crayons went into a silicone baking tray. Each child filled two cups.

Well, truth be told, Scott began reading by this point and chose the colors and

mommy had fun filling the cups for him.

After baking at 250 for 15 minutes, some crayons were totally melted and some weren't. I'm guessing the 3 different brands of crayons impacted that. I read various directions about melting. If you try this, just watch it. I checked the crayons after 7 minutes and then kept adding 4 minutes until I thought they were done. After I pulled them out of the oven and they cooled for a few minutes, I rushed the process a bit and stuck them in the freezer. The end result was heart shaped crayons:

They are bigger than I'd prefer for size. But I'm not sure that the size is all bad. I think

they ended up being about 2" in size. They'd be a great size for pre-K hands to use.

And that was my Saturday morning. The kids folded their laundry, I peeked around pinterest and had coffee. Nap time began time for this momma to get some stuff done. After all, we've been gone every night since Christmas. Our Christmas tree is still up. I wish I could say it was because we're celebrating the Ethiopian Christmas and might use that as an excuse but plain and simple, it just needs to get put away.

Coming Soon: Sweetheart Supper

In just over a month many of us will be celebrating Valentine's Day. If not with our spouses, then with a group of our close friends. We'll get dressed up, go out to eat, maybe go see a movie or play some games. But there are many who have no one. They've either lost their spouse or have never married. Who will celebrate with them? It reminds me of the Reba song "All dressed up with no where to go".

In our small little combination of communities, we do something a little different. It's called the Sweetheart Supper. You can read about last year's event here on my blog: http://www.tam4buit.blogspot.com/2011/02/sweetheart-supper-review.html.

It is a joy and a privelege to serve the women in our community. To give them somewhere to go on Valentine's Day. To be treated to a meal and entertainment and ask for nothing in return. To be escorted to the door, to have their coat taken for them, to be seated. To just be loved on.

Every detail is considered from the invitation list, to picking up women, their entrance, their meal, the entertainment, the gift, the servers, the EVERYTHING. I'm so thankful to the many hands that help. And I'm super excited to see what we can do with it this year.

What are you doing for Valentine's Day this year? It would warm your heart to love on someone else. It doesn't have to be fancy schmancy. Our first year was a simple meal in my dining room with 11 ladies. Do you have kids? This would be a great opportunity for them to serve too.

Think about it. Plan it. You'll love it.

Like Mother Like Daugther

Guess who got new boots in our family...

That's right.

Not just momma

Bethany has been begging for some red boots so she could match her Grammy who has red ropers. We looked at lots of boots. No red ones. I couldn't talk her into the cute ones with pink on them. She HAD to have the brown ones. Oh how adorable she is... even if she thinks her brown pants match her brown boots.

And you know what, little Miss isn't the only one sporting new boots. It's been years since I've bought a new pair of boots. But this country-to-the-core girl is also grinning from ear to ear about her new purchase.

Now, all we're missing is Grammy. We need her to join the picture in her flashy red ropers!

Thank you honey for allowing me to buy new boots, even if I haven't been able to fit into my Wranglers for years! I love you husband!!!

Wrapping Gifts

Tips about wrapping Christmas presents… aka random thoughts based on a conversation from lunch today:

 

When wrapping Christmas gifts, you would be wise to take the toys out of the packaging, remove all those annoying wires and gadgets that hold the toy in place, insert batteries if need be, and then wrap the toy.  Then when it's time to open gifts, you will be able to enjoy watching the children open the gifts instead of constantly trying to remove all the excessive wires, etc.

 

Do your kids get gifts from Santa?  Do you have a good hiding place they're in right now?  Have you considered putting the gifts under the tree unwrapped?  At first I didn't like this idea cause then kids wouldn't have gifts to open.  But as I thought that through, they would likely still have a gift from mom, dad, grandma's, and others who will wrap them.   Unwrapped gifts are perfectly okay.  After all, every time you see Santa on TV with his bag of loot, are the gifts wrapped 100% of the time?  It will save you time, save on the piles of paper and if your kids are young enough, they won't care.

 

Now, if your family is like mine, we don't do Christmas gifts from Santa.  In fact, Santa is just another fun character like the veggie tales and Batman.  Yes, our kids have learned about Saint Nicholas via the Veggie Tales movie, but the actual fat dude in a red suit who crawls down the chimney only in "rich" countries, well, we don't focus on him.  And we're not criticizing you if you do, it's just my personal decision for my family.  Often times my parents will get a gift from Santa and so will Ryan cause it's fun.  Our kids probably will too when they're older but not right now when they're 6, 4, and 3.  So anyway, back to my point, I had another thought about gift wrapping.  Instead of spending endless hours of gift wrapping while the kids aren't staying in bed, or while you're exhausted, the thought occurred to me that we could get a big box, put all of their smaller gifts in it and wrap it.  That, my friends, would be awesome.  Kids still get to unwrap a gift.  I don't have to wrap a hand full of gifts, and we save on picking up piles of paper.  I'd be more than happy to let the 3 things of tape sit there for another year!

 

What are your Christmas wrapping thoughts and plans?

 

Christmas Greetings

I've debated and debated the Christmas card thing because I love receiving them. But I found two good excuses why I should not send them out this year:

1. When my hard drive crashed in October, I lost my spreadsheet with everyone's addresses.



2. For the amount of time I'd spend labeling and stuffing envelopes, I could actually use it to CLEAN my house that's become last priority lately.



3. I know I only said two but it's really, really hard to find a good pic of our family as you can see below:

The above picture was taken on Thanksgiving with a series of other pics. Judah was grumpy and looked like this in every single picture. The other two were hams for our chilly little photo op.

With that said, Merry Christmas from the B's. Here's a brief update on our family:

Ryan is in his 11th year of fixing pets and livestock at Valley Vet Clinic. He's also busy volunteering at church as sound-man, Sunday School superintendent, writing an advent devotional, leading junior high youth group, and he co-leads our Thursday night small group. In his free time you might find him writing articles for a local paper, cutting wood, or playing with the kids. Ryan's favorite thing this year was... well, I'm not sure and he's busy snoring at the moment or I'd ask. I'm guessing his favorite thing this year was seeing Wicked, the musical, or going back to Ethiopia.

Tamara is in her 10th full year with the USDA conservation agency but moved offices late this summer and has a much shorter commute. She's busy volunteering too. Some of her favorites are the crops project in Ethiopia and hanging out with her elderly lady friends in the community. She can also be found at the church modering meetings, leading the missions committee, and co-teaching both Sunday School and Awanas midweek. Tamara's favorite thing this year was all the travelling - Kansas twice, Missouri, Ethiopia twice, and California once. If oranges would've been ripe while in California, that would've made the top of the list.

S (6) is in 1st grade and is wildly intelligent. At conference this fall, his teacher bragged that he not only could read at a HIGH level but he could understand it too. Yes, he loves to read. Scott is generally easy-going and loves sharing his room with his siblings but doesn't always enjoy sharing his toys. While Scott would tell you that his favorite thing is playing the Wii, he spends most his free time reading. He fixes his own lunch, clears the table, folds his own clothes and loves to play at the neighbors.

B (4) is loving her first year of [pre]school. She also loves to dance and shake her booty. We have no idea where she got those moves from unless Grammy is skyping Auntie Sarah's dance studio for lessons. Bethany loves to be doing. Constantly. She likes to help in the kitchen and is great at drying dishes. Just this morning she was "reading" to Judah which meant she was telling the story as she flipped the pages of the book. She loves to take a bath, snuggle at bed time, and play with her brothers. This year she even started making some simple jewlery to help raise money for people in ethiopia affected by the famine. Wildly independent, she still loves to sleep with the boys with her duck blanket nearby.

J (not-quite-4) continues to grow and amaze us. He's the opposite of his sister and clams up when he's mad, frustrated, or not getting his way. But, on the bright side, he's handsome, intelligent and full of energy. Judah's favorite thing is whatever anyone else is doing and just doesn't want to be left out. He loves to be oustide tinkering with his daddy, putting together puzzles, and playing with toys. He's awesome at getting his clothes changed, brushing his teeth when asked, and listening in general.

The animals: yes, of course we'll include them. At Christmas last year we got an australian shepherd pup. He's got more energy then all 3 of the kids put together and chews on EVERYTHING. Our lawn is constantly scattered with something he's been chewing on. Late this summer, several kittens also joined our funny farm. We now have a total of 3. Harley still loves to chase the kittens but they are co-existing a little better these days. I'm guessing Harley doesn't like their claws on his nose. Imagine that.

Life as we know it keeps us hopping. There's always something going on and never enough time in the day to keep the house in perfect order. As a family we enjoy being together, playing games, having friends over, and snuggling up for movie nights. We are sinners thankful for the shed blood of Jesus, for His ressurection, and how He daily blesses us and calls us to follow Him. We aren't perfect spouses/parents/children, but we try daily and often times fall short. This Christmas, we're especially thankful for the richness we know and try to be thankful for it as we press on.

For the B family,

Tamara B

A Nice Gift

Hello all, guest blogger this morning. It's "the husband". Due to my current state of insomnia I find myself awake at all hours of the day/night, with no one else around. This has been giving me time to get extra things done.

I thought I' post a quick note about my wonderful wife. My family has had a tradition of giving each other tree ornaments every year when we decorate the family tree. This is one of my favorite traditions and I look forward to find the perfect ornament every year, and of course getting mine.

The kids and I found the ornaments we wanted way back in October when we were visiting family in Des Moines, but I had no idea when Tamara had found the time to get mine so I assumed she hadn't gotten me one.

I was delightfully surprised when I was passing out ornaments to have her walk up and give me something wrapped in tissue papper. I quickly unwrapped it and found a little Ethiopian mask Christmas tree ornament. I have started to collect the masks when we are in country. I'm not sure why but they kind of intrigue me, so I was very delighted to find that my wife had thought of me when she saw the little one and had the forethought to purchase it to surprise me with it on tree decorating day. She's a good woman like that.

Family Fun

Can you tell where we went to have fun today?

That's right, I got to join this good lookin' crew at the local bowling alley.

Fun was had by all today. The best part, I thought, was when we got home and it was nap time. Yes, I was one tired momma!

Highlight

Today was a stay-at-home day. That means it's Saturday at our house. The kids usually love S-A-H days and the movie night and popcorn that precedes them. Anyway, today I wanted to be doing some deep cleaning, pulling out the winter coats and that kind of thing. Instead, I just hung out with my kids. The boys got haircuts, they all played in the bath and then made a game of getting lotioned up. We did normal life stuff but didn't have a time to do something by. Instead of making lunch, we snacked on gardettos and waited for Ryan to get home from work to eat a real lunch.

After lunch, I kept my word to Bethany and took her shopping. Judah, who prefers his daddy EVERY time, wanted to go with me. The only way I could get Bethany to be okay with Judah breaking in on our mother-daughter date was to tell her she could get a "special" cart. She was sold. They did well in the big W store except that they asked for EVERYTHING. Umm, no. We walked down a couple of toy isles, through the Christmas decor isles and even checked out the patterns in the fabric department before getting the things we actually needed. It was a fun time and considering I'm always on a time frame, and I never once looked at my watch. I just enjoyed my slightly frustrating time with my I-want-that-children. We left and stopped at the golden arches for an apple pie before heading home.

Back at the ranch, I mean acreage, my rockstar husband and his mini-me had purchased a live Christmas tree, had all the decorations out, lights on the tree and were ready to decorate. He's awesome like that. So we decorated the tree, snapped a few pics like the ones below and laughed at how the kids reacted to those poky needles as they tried to hang ornaments. Ryan headed to the vet clinic and his two littles bundled up to go with him while Scott and I had some hang out time together.

Scott asked me to play with him. I don't actually play with him often. We read books, we chat. But I don't do 6 year old play time with him. So, I obliged my son. And I didn't want to just oblige him, I wanted to enjoy it. And enjoyable it was. His request was to play with his Veggie Tales nativity set that just came out of the storage box. Trying to help him set it up, he kept correcting me. It donned on me that he was setting up the story and baby Jesus wasn't there yet. It warmed my heart to hear him explain. So he set up the story line and then began telling it to me and role playing with the Veggie characters. He paused in the story and couldn't tell it with perfection. Now let me say that I don't expect perfection. He's just that good with stories and so I asked if he wanted to read it in the bible. Yes, he answered, but clarified that he wanted to read it in the "Action Bible". So, we paused from the role playing, read a story in the action bible, which got him distracted and he had to share about a naughty girl, and eventually made it back to the role playing with the Veggies. Scott continued with the story line when he got to the last king visiting Jesus, I took over. That particular veggie was vertically challenged and couldn't see over the manger so I made my role fun. Is it okay that I took the short king and totally added some to the story? Here's how it went, something along the lines of :
"I can't see the baby..."
as the king stands in front of the manger. He moves behind the cow and says
"wow, you have a big rear end..."
Trying to get a view of the baby, he then jumps on the hay stack and says
"oh there He is, the King of the Jews, our Savior, I shall bow down to Him"
as he falls on his face and scoots off.
Scott thinks it's hilarious and can't wait to role play the way momma just did. The first time he tried to mimic me he couldn't even talk he was laughing so hard. Of course, I thought it was funny that he thought it was so funny and ran over to post it on facebook. As I typed, I could hear him finally spit the words out "you have a big rear end". And later when Ryan got home, it was the first thing he showed my boy with an amazing memory showed his daddy. Oh dear, what have I taught my son?!?!?!

Fortunately before Daddy got home, I left my son to role play and started supper. Bethany's request: Pancakes. While Ryan and I were cooking, the kids were each playing with their themed nativity set. It was fun to hear them in the other room. Scott was, no doubt, the older sibling in charge as we heard him say "Time to play little red school house. 5-4-3-2-1. Judah, you're supposed to zip your lips, lock them and throw your key in the trash... Judah!" There is a reason Judah got the nickname he did. Two "mickey-mouse", one "minnie", and a bunch of normal blueberry pancakes later, we sat down to eat. Mmm, I love bacon! And I love the quietness of the room when everyone has food in their mouths.

Without question, the highlight of my day was Scott mimic'ing me role playing with the king. As I was chatting with my mom on the phone about it, the thought crossed my mind that with his memory, this could go beyond the nativity sets. Look out First Baptist Church. If my son gets a certain role, he just might go hide behind one of the older girls and call out "wow, you have a big rear end". that would certainly be more memorable than him picking his nose or checking out the baby Jesus. Not that he's done both of those or anything.

(side note: The action bible is really cool. It's basically the bible stories in comic book form. It references the actual verses from the bible and has amazing illustration is awesome! Scott will sit and read it for over an hour. If you haven't heard of or seen the Action bible, check it out at the actionbible.com)

Scott

I'm embarrassed to say that I hardly know what day it is.  That might be caused by the recent travels and then my even more recent three days of being bedridden because of my back.  So as I was reading facebook for a few minutes waiting for my pain reliever to kick in, I saw news that rocked my world.  It was a post by my friend Amy about celebrating her brother's 32nd birthday.

 

For those who know me well, know that while in my sophomore year in high school, my dear friend, Scott, was in a woodshop accident.  He died leaving behind his parents, his sister, and loads of friends who loved him.  Tomorrow is Scott's birthday.  He would be 32.  He had just turned 16 when the accident occurred.  I'll never forget the details surrounding those few weeks.  I cried and cried.  My heart ached for years.  Scott was a huge impact on my life.  He was the one who led me to Christ.  God used him in the lives of many and people like me and I never even go to say thanks.

 

Thinking of my friend, Scott, today brings tears to my eyes and at this point I can't even think straight.  I wish I could put into words how much my friend Scott means to me. 

 

Since I can't make my brain function, I'll share a quick story.  I was recently back in the town I was raised in.  When I crossed paths with Scott's parents, they were getting ready to introduce a guest pastor at church.  When I walked up to them, Bonnie introduced me to the guest pastor as being "one of Scott's old girlfriends".  In all of the last 16 years, I don't think I've ever been introduced that way.  Sure enough, once upon a time we were boyfriend and girlfriend.  But we were young (and I'm sure his parents wouldn't have approved) and our relationship was just a kid thing.  I remember Scott's sister, Amy, taking us to Baskin Robbins.  And if we were super secretive, we might have held hands on the 5 mile drive.  Regardless of that junior high relationship, I have a mature love for Scott.  Not because of the trip to Baskin Robbins, but because he loved me where I was at and shared the Truth of the Gospel with me. And almost 16 years later, his life still impacts mine.

 

Happy birthday dear friend.  I know you're celebrating with the King on your birthday!

Weekend in Kingsburg

For over a year now, I've been talking about going home. The driving factor has always been my grandma's. They're not getting any younger. And should anything happen to them, I'd be on a plane and headed home. So, why not go why they're healthy? It was more than that though. I wanted to catch up with my friends and family. I wanted to share with them about my heart for Ethiopia. So, when I heard my Abuela was in the hospital and a day later saw my other grandma who had aged quite a bit, I knew I needed to get home.

I'm so thankul to my husband, Ryan. He's amazing.

Going home wasn't going to be easy. After all, I was getting ready to travel to Ethiopia. How would we finance both trips? Did I even have that much vacation time? With the support and love of my husband, I purchased a ticket to fly to the home town I was (mostly) raised in. Because of ticket prices being so high, I wasn't able to take any of the kids with me. Which meant that I'd have a weekend to run around like crazy and enjoy some time with my family and friends.

Who knew that Wednesday I'd get the 24-hour stomach bug that had loated around. An early night to bed on Wednesday, with a short work day on Thursday so I could pack, I headed to the airport. My flight was late leaving Cedar Rapids but I made my connection just fine. When I did land in Fresno, I was met by my dear friend, Kristine, her sweet girl and these yellow roses from my husband. He knows these are my favorite:

Friday, I had a fun day with my family. Lunch with Mis and the kids, an afternoon with my dad, sis and niece and nephews. Then an evening with my aunt, uncle and a bunch of cousins. I loved being home and living life with them, if even only for a few hours each. Then Saturday morning I was able to sit in the corner of Starbucks with my friend, Paul, while we chatted and life happend around us. After a quick stop over at the winery, I headed to my nieces birthday party. For the first time in her 8 years of life, I was able to celebrate her birthday with her. Not sure that she cared but I did and it was sweet.

That evening, was the wine social to benefit my volunteer work with FOVC. I will write a more detailed post on my journey4hope blog later. But for now, just to share that this was only possible through the help of my friends, but especially that of Oscar, the winery owner, and those who came. Thank you Oscar and friend for loving, encouraging and supporting me!

And of course, a very important reason for my trip was my Grandma's. I got to see them both. And while we didn't exchange much for words or family history like I'd hoped for, I got to love on them, hold their precious hands and just be there. It was so sweet. Since I didn't get a pic with my nanny, here's one of nanny with one of my besties:

And of course, sitting with my abuela was such a blessing. But it wasn't just my grandma, it was seeing all my family. I consider myself blessed to have seen each of them. It had been a long time. Especially my dad's side. I hadn't seen some of those cousins since my grandpa died in 1997.

This morning, I got to hang out with Seebs, one of my fav high school teachers, lunch with my dad and Nina and then back to Krsitine's. As the time drew to a close today, I packed up my suitcase while still fighting some stomach nastiness. I grabbed my laptop since I'd lost my flight agenda before I even left, and realized that my flight left at 340pm, NOT at 430 pm. Who knew I was dislexic. Nina immediately rushed me to the airport. We were nervous, in need of gas, and hoping to get there on time. No dice. Seriously, even though I was standing there with my luggage at check-in, the not so bend-over-backwards-to-help-me lady informed me that I missed my flight. What? The flight doesn't leave for 30 mins! Well, I learned that in such a huge, I mean, dinky airport like Fresno, they can't manage to get me through check-in, security, and onto the itty-bitty plane in time. Stupid united. Stupid me for not having the time right. Well, $75 later, I'm booked and checked in for the first flight out tomorrow.

And I have to be there at 5am. Good to know.

So, back to Kingsburg I go. Still no desire to eat. But here one more night with my friends. While my husband thinks that I will do anything to extend my vacay, I am so ready to be home. seriously.

Done.

Last night was pretty rough when Bethany was curious and stuck her hand under a running, very textured, treadmill. I couldn't get downstairs fast enough when I heard the screaming. Then the sight of her hand literally made me sick to my stomach. We washed, she screamed and daddy got her bandaged up. She continued to scream and wail. I couldn't fix it which make my heart ache and my stomach hurt even more.

Today is a new day.

Before Pastor started the sermon, he informed us that one of our members was prepping for a c-section. No fun. As the sermon was coming to a close, someone announced in church that baby wasn't breathing. Everyone froze and we collectively prayed. With a few minutes the news began to improve a little at a time. Interesting that we'd been talking about how God redeems life. Oh God, please move mountains for this little baby.

No desire to stand around and chat after church today.

We head home. Quietly. Get home to our excited dog running circles around us. While getting out of the van to grab a few things and get back on the road, I heard the dog wailing. In pain. I met him a few yards away and saw that his front arm/shoulder was bit to shreds. Again. Walking around the garage, I see the neighbors dog. Seriously!?!?! Didn't this just occur 3 weeks ago? Harley wouldn't let us near him. So I ran in the house to grab him some food and coax him out from under the porch where he was still wimpering.

Was that a puddle in the floor?

Setting the food on the porch I came back in the house. Yes, water on the floor. I looked up to see water dripping from the ceiling. Really!?!?! Isn't water cascading from upstairs only supposed to occur other places - like hotels? Ryan headed up stairs to see the water in the sink still on. Darn kids. This isn't the first time they've left the water on. But it is the first time we've left with the water left on.

Clean that up quick. Place ice-cream buckets under the dripping spots. Coax Harley out with food. He runs to his kennel favoring his leg. I ask the vet about surgery and jump in the van letting the professional deal with him. I'm thankful Ryan can do the surgery but it isn't free. It does cost money to put the dog under, sew him up, and give him meds. So frustrating.

Heading down the road, I make another courtesy phone call to the neighbors. Not wanting to rock the boat, cause I love our neighbors, I want them to know that I'm frustrated and something's gotta change. Something has to change. The second time. In my yard. Grr.

A year ago, when the time changed, our wood pile caught on fire. At least that didn't happen again this year, right?

halloween pics

A few Halloween pics.  Judah got mad at something right away and did his normal "shut down" mode where he wouldn't smile, talk, or even show anger.  So very frustrating.  His kind of drama is so different than Bethany's.  Anyway, we managed to have a rushed but good time anyway.  Stopped at a hand full of friends houses plus their neighbors and got too much candy.  Carrying a candy bag and a light saber was hard on Darth Vader but we made it.

 

As a side note, I love eating halloween candy.  It's my weakness.  But yesterday when I stepped on the scale after being gone for 10 days to Ethiopia, it appears as though I'd shed a few pounds.  What a perfect motivator to not touch the candy.  So far, so good.  And since I'm up way too early again, I might go to the treadmill.  Then again, I might just fold laundry...