My Baby Girl

Today I want to share a little bit about my favorite little girl! That little girls is my precious, loving, compassionate, animal loving, sweet, strong willed, Princess Sara. I have ALWAYS wanted my very own little girl. From the time I was small enough to play with dolls I always wanted a baby girl. That's probably why when my little sister was born that I claimed her as MINE and refused to let other people hold her. From the time my sister was just a few weeks old I was bound and determined to have her in my bedroom with me! You see there are nine years between us. By the time she was a teen I was leaving for college in KY. I hate that I missed those 5 years with her. She was my maid of honor in my wedding and it was never because she is my sister, it's because I truly wanted her in my wedding :) and I had the honor of being in her wedding. I love her to death! I am thankful that she was there encouraging me to push when Jaron and Kristofer was born. She watched as they were born :) A very special time for us as sisters, a time I cherish very much. But this post is not about her it's about Sara.
Sara is very special to me. You see after we had Kristofer (our third son ~ remember I have one in heaven who would have been 13 on the 22nd of Nov this year) we weren't sure we were going to have anymore. But one night at the alter as I was praying I felt the Lord tell me I would have a daughter and I would name her Sara. When I shared it with Sean all he could say was, "Well I guess that answers our question on more kids." He was smiling! It was a few months later that we found out I was pregnant and a few months later that we found out that she wasn't coming alone :) She had a brother in there with her.
From the time we found out we were having twins and till now, Sara has been a very strong independent dominant child. I said earlier in my description that she is a strong willed child and most people associate those words with behavioral problem child. But this is FARTHEST from the truth when talking about my Sara.
Here is a definition and some other words to describe strong willed.

strong-willed - having a determined will; to be resolute, firm, single-minded, purposeful, fixed, intent, persistent, stalwart, persevering, tenacious, steadfast, unwavering, immovable, headstrong, unflinching, strong minded, self willed.

I pray daily for each of my kids and I pray that when it comes to Sara and her faith in God (of which she loves Jesus and many times ministers to her Momma without knowing it) will be all of these words that describe her to a tee! She is our little miracle :) She and Eli were born 8 weeks too early, she was born breech bag intact (doc had to break her umbilical sac), was bruised from heel to mid-back, needed a couple of blood transfusion and had a harder time breathing than Eli did. But because of the personality God gave her she over came those obstacles and is a beautiful 6 yr old who loves school and loves to socialize :)
I had Jaron take the pictures of us today. The above picture, where it looks like I am whispering a secret in her ear was taken accidentally and I think it is most definitely my favorite picture we have together. Jaron is a very good photographer for his age! He even told us to move from where I wanted the picture taken just so we wouldn't have the sun in our eyes. We are truly blessed with our diaperheads!

"This Is The Life"...my special project for Sean

These are a few pages from the book I made for Sean's 50th birthday to celebrate all that God has done in and through him in his life. I love you Sean!

Happy Birthday Sara and Eli

My tiny little babies are not so tiny any more! Today is thier 6th birthday! YAY!!! Just posting a few pictures of the early days and then ending with pictures of this afternoon as we celebrated their wonderful day!

Holding Sara for the first time!

Even in the NICU Sara refused to keep her feet in her sleepers!

Sara with her first doll!

Eli reaching for his sissy!

Oh so tiny Eli!

Valentine's Day - the day after they finally came home from the hospital!

For those of you looking for pictures of today's events...

I am having great difficulty getting blogger to upload them :(

Happy Thanksgiving

"AHHH....I'm stuffed!" Just what the cook wants to hear. Happy Thanksgiving everyone! For the last couple of years we have celebrated this day sparingly. Two years ago we drove to KY to spend time with our friends and family there. Last year I made a turkey but none of the other delights for the day, Sean had to work and the kids could of cared less about what we ate as long as they got to eat.

But this year...like years past we have much to celebrate! We are so thankful for all of the many things God has blessed us with! This year we had a wonderful friend of ours over for dinner as well. Ken and Darlene have been great friends and have poured their love on us and our children in great and small ways. Darlene went to Chicago to be with her niece who just had eye surgery due to complications with diabetes. Keep her in prayer, the doctor is unsure if she will ever see again and she is only 24! So we had Ken come and have dinner with us. He is a joy to be around, full of life and laughter. In fact I have mentioned them before, and our family fall pics were taken in their back yard. The live on the lake and it is just breathtaking there. They have their home for sale right now so if anyone is interested in a lake front 3 bedroom 2 bath home with boat dock in southern Illinois let me know.

Anyway, I made all the typical yummy foods....

Herb (Mrs Dash Chicken Herbs Seasoning) Roasted turkey

Mashed Taters

Cranberry Stuffing

Gravy

Broccoli Casserole

Candied Sweet potatoes

Fresh Green beans

Fresh Cranberry sauce

Biscuits

Veggie Tray with dip

Pumpkin Pie

Pecan Pies

Oh and can't forget the Cheetos. Yes the kids, well two of them anyway had Cheetos with their turkey. Sara and Eli enjoyed helping me skin the potatoes and sweet potatoes. Sara really loved helping me prepared dinner today. I know that I will cherish today's time of teaching her how to peel the potatoes and watching her has she tried to teach Eli!

I have to say this year was the best Thanksgiving dinner we have had in a long time! One because of great food and company but even more so because all the diaper heads sat at the table...including Kristofer. As most of you who read my blog know, Kristofer is on the autism spectrum and has many sensory issues. Part of his sensory issues deal with oral issues, he can not stand certain textured foods and the smell and sights of some foods sends him into orbit and causes him to start gagging. Eating lunch at school (brings his lunch) has given him much practice about looking down at his own food so as not to gag or be grossed out. Normally when we eat dinner he usually eats super fast or not at the table. Today for the first time, he was able to sit with us at the table and not gag. There was no screaming, whining or complaining at all from him. YAY! It was a peaceful dinner! It was great.

Oh we have gone out to dinner and he has done well but that is usually because we are all eating the same thing as him (pizza or chicken & fries, ect). But today he chose to sit in front of the broccoli casserole and mashed taters...two things that normally send him gagging and running to the bathroom. I thank God for helping Kris be able to remember to use his social stories and remember to look down or away from the things that gross him out. It was pure heaven to have everyone sitting and enjoy their dinner and participating in the conversations.

This week we put the tree up and I painted and created a new ornament for SeanPatrick. Something I haven't done at all. All the kids have pics of them from their 1st Christmas on the tree. Well this year I decided I wanted a pic of every one of my precious children on the tree. Here is a picture of the ornament I made for SeanPatrick...

You can also see a little bit of the popcorn and cranberry garland Sara and I made. We had a great time last night stringing the popcorn and berries. I plan to make another strand or two to make the tree look fuller. The tree is a bit lopsided and bare despite the ornaments. Next year I hope to get a real tree. This year we were planning to but we are going to Florida for vacation, unfortunately not at Christmas, before hand but we are thankful we get to go. It's been 3 years since the kids have been back to Florida. They are so excited! Anyway we decided to save the money we would have spent to get a tree and use it to go to Florida. I think its a great trade.

Happy Birthday SeanPatrick

Today 12 years ago our precious little boy SeanPatrick was born quiet on this earth but rejoicing in heaven in Jesus' arms. The joy and pain of that day is still as fresh as if it was today. How I wish I could hold him close again, how I wish he was here to be the big brother to Jaron and the rest of my diaperheads. Two years ago I posted the whole story about our precious little guy. If you want to read about him go here. This year his birthday sorta crept up on me. I knew it was coming, a momma never forgets their baby's birthday even those in heaven. But this year I guess I have been so busy with ministry and the excitement that we get to go home on vacation for a week that I just haven't thought about taking time to plan something special for this day. I was listening to the radio the other day and the song below came on. They were doing an interview about the song and when it played it hit me so hard I lost it. I bawled my eyes out listening to the interview and the song. I have to warn you if you listen to the song you may need tissues. I just have to declare that even if I had known the outcome of SeanPatrick's life I would have carried him the whole time! Memorizing the hiccups, kicks and movements. I cherish those memories more than anyone could every know. I remember every detail of his birthday, the cold rainy day, the smells outside and inside the hospital. I remember how he felt in my arms and how wide his hands were...Jaron had wide hands like his big brother.
SeanPatrick Eugene Kelly, I love you baby boy! Happy Birthday! I hope you are having fun dancing on streets of gold, running through fields of sweet grass and flowers and most importantly are enjoying the warm embrace of Jesus today.






I Will Carry You
by Selah

There were photographs I wanted to take
Things I wanted to show you
Sing sweet lullabies, wipe your teary eyes
Who could love you like this?
People say that I am brave but I'm not
Truth is I'm barely hanging on
But there's a greater story
Written long before me
Because He loves you like this

So I will carry you
While your heart beats here
Long beyond the empty cradle
Through the coming years
I will carry you
All my life
And I will praise the One who's chosen me
To carry you

Such a short time
Such a long road
All this madness
But I know
That the silence
Has brought me to His voice
And He says

I've shown her (HIS) photographs of time beginning
Walked her (HIM) through the parted seas
Angel lullabies, no more teary eyes
Who could love her (HIM)like this?

I will carry you
While your heart beats here
Long beyond the empty cradle
Through the coming years
I will carry you
All your life
And I will praise the One who's chosen Me
To carry you

*I added (HIM)

Blessings unexpected.

This week has been a week of unexpected happenings. Blessings and blessings have been poured out on our family this week. All I know to say is GOD IS GREAT! this week we were blessed with a wonderful day of boating and a great picnic. This same family then blessed us with a day swimming in the lake at the lake front home. Such a wonderful day of fun, sun and laughter. We were blessed with a financial gift this week as well. Which is a perfectly time gift. Our van once again died. A couple of weeks ago we had planned a special getaway...sort of a family vacation. Well that week our van died. Which pretty much threw a wrench into our plans. Something I am learning is about perspective. You see earlier this year I decided my word for the year would be perspective. Let me tell ya when you start seeing situations in a different way, a different perspective your attitude changes.
So our plans were completely crushed but let me tell you how God's plans changed everything. A dear friend, Micah called me up(actually chatted me up on facebook) and asked if we would like to borrow their tents. We were so blessed by that gesture that we took her up and went camping. We have never gone camping as a family and it was Sean's first time ever as well.
We had such a great time. Despite our plans being changed I have to say these plans were much better. The frogs seranaded us every evening, we ate s'mores by the fire and played Uno so many times that it has become a family favorite. We laughed and joked and so much fun. The first morning we realized that we had but one choice and that was cook over an open fire. Ever had bacon, eggs, french toast and pancakes made over an open fire? It's FANTASTIC! Well except when you forget what you are doing while putting in more wood and you burn your hand on the bacon grease and hot iron plate. Yes I did that and no it wasn't fun. But that breakfast was a hit! The boys loved it...Sara did too after a while...she slept in.
That weekend adventure led us to last week when we were blessed with a family boating on the lake adventure. So much fun! We have some great new friends, Ken and Darlene. They
have blessed our family in small ways and huge ways. they have let us borrow their car and taken us boating, open their home to our family which we do not take lightly...we do have 4 diaperheads! This week we were financially blessed. Like I said earlier a very timely gift with the van having more mechanical issues, of which we still do not know what the outcome will be.
Somehow this weekend I injured my left knee again. That wonderful knee that the doctor says needs a complete replacement. I believe I have torn the cartilege again. It's the same symptoms, pain and locking issues I had the last time. Only this time the pain is even more troublesome. I was heading to see my doc today but that was put on hold. Kristofer was up most of the night with a tooth ache. So off to the dentist we went instead. So that leaves me heading to the doctor next week.
Then the unexpected happened!!! We were giving a car! A 1995 Buick Centry, no strings attached! Just blessed with it. It needs a muffler and a tune up but it runs great! God has once again unexpectedly blessed our family! God is so great! I decided two weeks ago when things were slamming us and things were not going according to my plan that I would praise Him anyway! I would just keep singing:


"God Your so good to me, You've always been so good to me, I'll sing through eternity, God Your so good! Oh I'm gonna sing Your praise All night long and every day, I stand and worship You my whole life through!"
I have noticed that when you change your perspective to see things the way God does...you begin to see a whole lot clearer!

Family Fun

This past week I have been helping with VBS. It has been a blast working alongside another church to minister to the kids of our community. God is always amazing me! All week the kids have been singing this song... GADGET...

God's always doing great exciting things,
Creates new life in what Jesus brings,
He give me joy, my heart shouts and sings,
God's always doing great exciting things!

It's been lot's of fun and lot's of work. We averaged about 50 children every day and they seemed to have a blast! On Friday one of the other teachers came up to me and shared that God had spoke to her heart and she blessed us with a small financial gift. We do not take gifts like this for granted and when we are blessed like this we try to do things with it other than the typical pay bills. We try to use it to bless our kids either with things they need or want but always by doing a special activity with them. This weekend we did the later. On Friday we enjoyed a family picnic at the park. The kids love going to one specific park because it has a duck/goose pond. So we headed to that park. It was so much fun and just a great time to relax and talk. The kids played and Sean and I were able to talk of which we do not get much time to do.
Then on Saturday we headed to Ft Massac in Metropolis Illinois and also to the Superman Museum. We have already gone to the museum but the last time we went I didn't have a good camera so we went and just took pictures of the kids with the largest Superman statue I have ever seen. The kids had a great time as did we. We had never been to the Fort and I am so happy the kids are now getting old enough to enjoy those types of outtings. The kids thought the Fort was pretty cool. In a few of the buildings they were allowed to climb up a ladder and check out the second floor.

That was pretty neat. I naturally did NOT go up. I protect my knees as much as possible so going up a steep ladder just was not something I wanted to do. But let me tell you, Kris has no fear of heights or new things, never has which doesn't surprise us. He was so funny, once he was up there he shouted down..."this is so awesome...ya don't call me monkey boy for nothin!" We have always lovingly called him monkey boy just because he has been such a climber. Just a fun loving nick name. Anyway, he was the first and then was Eli. Jaron refused to go up but did finally make it up. Even Sean went up to check it out, such a great daddy!
The day was such a beautiful day. We ended it with a picnic dinner in the park and again the kids played and Sean and I were able to talk. So hard to do sometimes with his crazy work schedule and having four very active children under foot. BUt it always works out that we are able to spend time talking about family stuff, ministry and just our daily lives. I love my man! He is a hard working, devoted man of God and not many can claim they have that. I can! YAY ME! I do miss him terribly when he is working the 3rd shift and I do feel guilty that he is working and pastoring a church, he is always reasuring me he is doing what he wants to do and I can't take that away from him. We decided a long time ago that he would work and I would care for our kids. Now that they are all going to be in school, this hasn't changed. Although I do plan to apply to be a substitute teacher for the schools. That should be an interesting adventure.
In a few weeks we are going on a short get away. We are all excited about it and are praying for good weather so that we can enjoy the time away. It's late had a great day in the house of God and just wanted to update what's been going on.
So many things are moving and changing here. Soon I will have all four in school. I have considered homeschool them but have decided for this year we will send them to public school. Each year presents different challenges and one day I may homeschool. But for now we are happy with the education our kids are getting. That may change ya never know.