What was Lost...

NOW IS FOUND!


YAY!


I can't tell you how relieved we are!

Enough said!

Have no idea what this means? Read the last two posts!

Still waiting...

Well we are still waiting for that marble to pass. I have to say the treasure hunting is not my favorite thing to do these days! It seems as though what ever Sara was dealing with she must have passed along to her brothers. All three boys have been affected as well. I hate having sick kids! They are miserable which means we are miserable as well. Each one is dealing with a different sickness. Eli had a stomach bug that really wreaked havoc on his system...poor little guy couldn't keep in thing down or in. Kris dwelt with a headache and body aches yesterday. I am hoping he is better today. Keeping him home from school another day. Jaron is home as well. He has been running a low grade fever and has a very sore throat and headache. Thankfully Sara is completely better now!

As for the marble, the doctor consulted with a few surgeons and did some research and found that it could take Kris 3 weeks or more to pass this wonderful little thing. So treasure hunting we will continue. The doctor thought he would be funny yesterday. We were talking about options and what the plan is for the next few days and weeks if it lasts that long. He says, "Hopefully it will pass and you can clean it up and save it in his baby book!" HA-HA Doc! I don't think that is something I will keep. Let alone ever have in my house again! Although it is sorta funny it is still a bit scary as well.

This week has been long and I am SO thankful for all the prayer support we have gotten. I know it is because of prayer that Sara improved so quickly and that we have been able to deal with the marble issue and the fact that all three boys have gotten sick as well. So if you were praying for us...THANK YOU!

The Events of the last couple of days...

have completely left me drained of all energy;
physically, mentally and spiritually.

Sara has been sick since Thursday night. Yesterday I took her to the doctor and he admitted her to the hospital. He was thinking appendicitis but wasn't for sure. All I know is that from Thursday to Tuesday her fever grew every day from 99 up to 104 degree temp. Her stomach pain increased to the point that we could not chalk it up to constipation. I spent all day yesterday watching my little girl be brave. Every time someone new came in the room she would reach for me. When it was time for blood draw, IV set up and other tests,she was very interested in what was going on but was so scared. She was so weak and lethargic that she really didn't have the strength to even fight what was going on.

I spent most of the night either sitting next to, holding or laying next to her in the bed. What a long night! In the middle of the night the fever broke and we had to change the sheets and her gown. But by 5:30 am her fever was right back up to 103.8 degrees. The sun was beginning to rise as I gave her the motrin the nurse had for her. She and I laid in bed and watched the sun rise together. It was beautiful! As I held her and she kept saying, "It's pretty Mommy!" I felt the sweet presence of God surround us in that hospital room.

As the golden rays of sunshine began to pierce through the darkness and the brilliant pinks and purples filled the sky, God gently dropped into my spirit, "ALL IS WELL!" Within minutes, Sara was laughing at the tv. Her fever began to drop and by the time the surgeon came in to check on her (for the 3rd time in 20 hrs) and her doctor came in both of them
were stumped! So we waited to see if the fever would come back, it didn't.
Sara returned to her sassy little self. Laughing hysterically at Curious George.
Making puppets out of her stickers and decorating my shirt with stickers.

Now while all this is going on, Sean is at the mechanics with Eli and he gets calls from
the school. Kristofer has a terrible headache, Sean had no way of getting to him. Then 20 mins. later, Kristofer has thrown up...Sean had to wait another 20 mins and then he and Eli rushed to get him. Now remember Sunday night he swallowed that steel marble. So Sean called the doctor and Kris was sent to get an x-ray. Here I am in the hospital...sitting with one baby and can't even get to my other baby. Do you know how heart wrenching that is??? It's terrible!

So the x-ray reveals that the marble is in his stomach still. It should be in his intestines by now. So now what? The doctor gives us some options...

1. Wait it out and see if it passes, come in and have x-rays again on Tuesday.

2. Wait it out and chance it getting stuck in his intestines and causing major issues.

3. Schedule surgery and get it out of there before it leaves the stomach.

OK what do we do? We have no clue. Our doctor is searching for a surgeon that would do the surgery on a 6 year old. Otherwise, if we have to have the surgery we will be heading to St Louis All Children's Hospital. Three hours away from home with no family members here. Now what? Well now Kristofer is laying on the couch with a terrible headache and a fever. So here's a question...does he have the same bug that made Sara so sick? OR is this all due to that stupid marble! Not sure and neither is the doctor.

What I do know is that my God is a God who can move mountains! My God is the God who created Kristofer in my womb and protected him when the pregnancy was threatened in the beginning. My God is the God who heals all disease and can raise the dead! SO I KNOW my God can reach down and move that marble from Kristofer's stomach and out of his body!
Please pray for Kristofer, Sara and for our family. We need wisdom through this situation and we need God's strength and healing to come down from heaven and touch our kids!

Steel Marbles....

do not belong in your

mouth Kristofer!

Yes that is what I had to re-explain to him tonight at bedtime after we

had called IL State Poison Control. Oh what that boy does to me! I think I must shake my head more about him and his antics than any of the kids. Last year we dealt with him swallowing a very small watch battery and now this. Thankfully it was only one, but still!

Why Kristofer WHY?!? Why does a 6 year old put a steel marble in his mouth! Why do kids put things in their mouths other than food?! This drives me nutty honestly! But,

I actually know why...its his need for oral stimulation. But we have his chew sticks for that... oh the joys of Sensory Processing Disorder! UGH!!!

What's worse is I let them get the stupid toy! It was a free toy (Magnetix type of thing) from Toys R Us! Both of the older boys got them when we went to the store last week, using the money their Aunt Michele and Nannie gave them. It was marketed for children over the age of 3. Kristofer is 6 years old! SO I honestly didn't think twice about it. In fact all week the four of them have had a blast playing with them. I was even considering getting them for the kids for Christmas. Kristofer loves to build things and this was something new and fun to do.

Now before you send me a million comments or emails about the recalled Magnetix toys and all the stories that have been in the news, let me reassure you I have read the articles myself! But honestly I have been observing the kids playing with these little kits and they have been fine. UNTIL tonight. I thought I had them put away...little did I realize that Kristofer had gotten them out again.

So I get the fun "search & rescue" mission for the next few days till it appears. UGH! Oh the joys of that! NOT! I would much rather deal with marker on the wall than my next mission!

Sigh! The joys of motherhood.

Boys will be Boys

Screaming! Fighting! Yelling! Slapping! Crying!

That is what I woke up to this morning! UGH!

I hate waking up to my boys fighting with each other. It usually ends with Kristofer crying and running to Momma. Normally the fights start because of Kristofer. He has no patience and doesn't use his words like he needs to. He is behind on social development. Something we are working on at home, at church and at school. Thankfully at school it hasn't become an issue with him hitting others but it has happened at church and always at home. Which is NOT acceptable!

This mornings fight all started because Jaron and Eli decided they wanted to do something else. Never telling Kristofer they were done playing the game with him. Which made him lose his mind and decide that hitting Jaron and pushing Jaron's pictures, crayons and paper on the floor was going to make Jaron play with him.

I really hate days that start this way. Thankfully once we got both boys calmed down they forgave each other.

Kristofer's lack of social skills frustrates us completely. It use to be such an issue that we would not go out to dinner at a nice restaurant. We were always afraid Kristofer would start screaming in frustration. It was not a pretty thing when he was younger. Now days taking him and the rest of the kids to a nice restaurant is not an issue. Oh don't get me wrong, Kristofer still has issues with watching people eat in front of him and the wait for the food is excruciating but we know how to help him work through it.

On a much happier note, the first week of school went great for both boys. Although Jaron hates homework he knows that his teacher sends homework home every night including for weekends and we have been told that there are only 3-4 days through out the school year that he won't have homework. Which means homework for Christmas and Spring Breaks. YAY! NOT! But I get it. Kris has a behavior sheet that is sent home everyday. I spoke about it in an earlier post. It is fantastic! Great communication for us with the teacher.

Kris has a FANTASTIC week! He had no check marks all smileys! Which is definitely a great way to start the school year out!

Blessings....

God is amazing! Let me share about my morning. First off I headed to the school with Sara and Eli to get them registered for pre-K. We chose the morning class and found out today that there is no afternoon class. Unfortunately they did not get enough children signed up for pre-K for our school and they lost the funding to have two classes. So their class which was 12 kids last year will have 20 this year. Many of them will be heading to Kindergarten when the twins do so that will be wonderful for them. They will already know many of their class mates.

As I was walking home with the kids I was looking around our yard and thought to myself, "I wish we had a new weed eater, the yard needs it so bad." Let me explain, we had a weed eater, just a cheap electric one but it did the job...well, till I used it and it burned up. Thankfully Sean was understanding and he didn't freak out about it. But because of that the grass around the house and around my flower beds and tomato garden have grown up like crazy. Anyway, I was thinking about it and just figured maybe someone in the church would let us borrow it.

This is where God steps in! I was fixing lunch for the kids and the door bell rang. It was our neighbor David. He was standing there on my front porch with a weed eater! He proceeded to tell me that he wanted to bless us and started weed whacking the tall grass and weeds! Isn't that amazing!?! I didn't even pray I was just thinking about it and God stepped in and blessed us today! This really isn't the first time that this has happened. It happens alot, but today was the first time in a while that God just surprised me with this blessing!

The Bible tells in Psalm 94:11a "The Lord knows the thoughts of man." How much more could this prove that the Lord knows everything even our thoughts, our hearts desires, our motives, ect. The Creator knows us and He wants us to know Him the same way!

For those that don't know or are following the plot of our car troubles, we finally heard from the mechanic that Sean's little car (which has fantastic gas mileage) has major transmission issues. The car itself is 15 years old and has way over 100,000 miles on it. So it really is no surprise that it was eventually going to start having major problems. But it couldn't come at a worse time. Our finances are strapped as many people's are, with no extra anywhere for a car payment or the ability to get it fixed. We really need a miracle right now. We trust that God will provide some way some how. We have no doubt in that. God has blessed us over and over with cars. Either people giving them to us (which the car spoken of was) or God supplying the means to purchase one through direct blessings to us through a variety people (our van is a result of this). So I have no doubt He has a plan because He promises to take care of our needs and He always has. We are trusting in His provision again.
But again we need a miracle. After David was through weed whacking for us he came back and was telling me that he has a friend that might just have a transmission for Sean's car. That he has the means to tow it to a different mechanic that will accept payments and is cheaper than the one we have been dealing with. Could this be our miracle? I don't know but God does and even if it is not I will still trust in His provision and praise Him for the many blessings He has given us!

First days of school....

Yesterday was the first day of school!!! YAY!! I have a love hate relationship with school, I love it because the house is quiet and I can actually get the house in order and keep it that way or at least till they come through the door. I hate it because that means I have to get up at the crack of dawn and I HATE mornings! I have never been a morning person I am more of a night owl.

The boys although Monday night swore they did not want to go, were up and ready to head out the door by 8am which was a huge relief. Kristofer really was nervous Monday night. But when I woke him up Tuesday morning he was up, ready and wanting to leave before he had breakfast. It did take me 15 minutes to get him focused long enough to get his shoes and socks on because he was so excited.

When they came home both boys were happy and ready to share about their day. Kristofer was the most excited! In first grade they receive a behavior sheet. If they go all day without any checks then they earn a ticket and at the end of the week they get to cash them in for a prize in the class store. That was exciting for him. I am glad he has these sheets because I will know for sure what is and isn't happening in the classroom. I think it is much better communication than what I had last year.

Jaron is excited about 3rd grade this year. His teacher loves science and nature. She has bearded dragons that she will bring into the class when she believes the kids have learned how to stay calm and quiet in the class. Jaron is so stoked about that. This teacher loves everything he does; lizards, frogs, bugs, snakes and turtles. She has them in the classroom and the kids will get to learn not only about them but how to care for them. Jaron has been an avid lizard lover since he was 15 months old and caught his first lizard in Florida. It's the one thing he misses the most from "home". Here in IL we have skinks and salamanders but no lizards like there are in Florida.

The boys have been begging me to give them mohawks. We have been using hair gel and creating mohawks but the boys wanted real ones. So I broke down and did it. I figure it's just hair and they are just kids trying to be different. Jaron is the one that it most stands out. Partly because his sides are much closer because he moved when I was using the clippers but also because his hair is white at the base so it looks like he has no hair on the sides. So enjoy these crazy pictures! BTW Sara wanted a mohawk too but I have to draw the line on that one!!! (lol)

The twins start pre-K 1/2 days Sept 2. They are excited about going too. They were really sad yesterday when they didn't get to stay at

school with the boys. Eli was super sad because when we were dropping off the boys at school he saw his buddy, Andrew. Andrew is now a big Kindergartener so he won't be in Eli and Sara's pre-K class. "That really stinks Mommy!" was Eli's comment. I reassured him that he would still get to see him but that wasn't what he wanted to hear.

Yesterday the two of them were so bored. Although they played well all morning the truely missed their big brothers. I have to say I am glad that they did. It shows how close our kids are and that is a true blessing!

Most of the day they played baby animals, which is why Sara has her doll pacifer in her mouth. Eli was crowling around with the bottle in his mouth. They were baby tigers at that time.

Later in the afternoon they helped me make a 1st Day of School cake. It was a surprise for the other two boys. Something I started when Jaron started Kindergarten. It great way to celebrate the 1st day of school! Yummy chocolate cake.

What a Fantastic Weekend!

WOW! Is all I can say! We have had a fantastic weekend. I am not sure why I was so nervous or anxious about Sean's Mom (Addie) and his sister Michele coming to visit. It has been 5 years since we last spent time with them. All due to circumstances out of our control. The last time the older boys spent time with their Nannie and Auntie Michele, Jaron was 3 and Kristofer was 1 and the twins had never met them. The kids absolutely fell in love with their Nannie and Aunt Michele. Now when they pray at night they have memories of the Nannie they have been praying for each night of their little lives!

We had such a good time. It was very hard to say good bye today. Jaron cried most of the way home. He was pretty upset about not living closer to them (which by the way is in NY - Long Island to be exact). It is hard on the kids to be so far away from both my parents and Sean's mom and family as well. We have some great ladies in the church that have become surrogate grannies to them but nothing is like being with the real deal!

So I just wanted to share as many pictures as I can tonight. Before I do I have to say something to Michele and Joe.

THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU!

You know why! Michele I know how hard it was for you to bring Addie out here. We can't thank you enough! We promise to come visit! We do! We will! Already making plans to next spring! We love you!

Settling for the Imposter?

As promised here is something else God showed me yesterday at the park.

Yesterday

As I sit here at the picnic table watching the kids playing a nice little bee is buzzing by. He is attracted to our soda cups. Sean inadvertently grabbed coffee straws instead of the normal straws, so we have red straws that seem to be attracting this little bee. Not only is the bee attracted to the straws but to the soda as well. It has been quite entertaining to watch this bee flitter from straw to straw, cup to cup. (yes simple things entertain me! lol!) He took long sips of soda on the lids of the cups which I have to say was very interesting to watch!

But here is what I got from watching the little buzzing bee. It was willing to settle for soda instead of the sweet nectar of a flower. That bee was attracted to what the world offered and it was a fake. What was even more interesting is that despite how many times I shooed it way or dripped soda on it to get to it leave it kept coming back for the soda. Now I know soda has a lot of sugar in it but why would it be so attracted to this junk (soda) instead of the good stuff (flower nectar)?

Today

It still baffels me today about that bee. But aren't we just like him! I mean how many times are we willing to settle for the fake stuff. Oh it may look good, taste good and be good but why settle for the fake stuff? God wants to pour His spirit into us, He wants to bless our lives abundantly!

I remember a story that a friend told me about fake pearls. This little girl had a set of fake pearls and loved them so much she wasn't willing to give them to her father despite how many times he offered her a special box. He wanted to trade her his box that had something wonderful inside for her fake pearls. Eventually the little girl lays down her pearls because of her father's love and he presents her with the box. When she opens it she finds a beautiful set of real pearls.

God is like this like this Father. He wants the real thing for you but you have to be willing to lay down the fake stuff, the substitute, the settled for thing, and trust that your Heavenly Father has something wonderful in store for you!

I hope today you lay down the substitute and you find the true love of God!

The Rock Wall

We went into town today. Had some errands to do and since we are down to one vehicle all of us went. The starter in the van is on the brink of dying. Our normal mechanic is so busy he hasn't even looked at the transmission of our other car so Sean called another mechanic that was recommended to us. He had an opening at 1pm so we decided to make a day of it. Grabbed lunch and headed to the park for a picnic and then the kids played for 2 hours. Thankfully the mechanic was just down the street so Sean dropped the van off and met up with us at the park.
While sitting and enjoying the cool breeze I watched Kristofer as he tried to climb the rock wall. Two days ago while climbing up our cabinets he pulled his groin muscle. Yesterday he was barely able to walk. So watching him today I was nervous for him. I tried to tell him to get down but he was determined.
He kept trying and despite his injury he did it. As I watched him (which I am actually writing this as he is doing it-just happened to have a pen and paper w/me today)I have to admire his courage. He didn't let his pain or injury stop him from climbing that obstacle. I can tell he was in a great deal of pain, he kept pausing and he would hold his leg but up he went.
God showed me something today, actually a few things but the other deserves it's own post. Sometimes we face obstacles and we have a choice. We can either grit our teeth through the pain and move over it or we can quit. Through this depression I've been battling, I have not even had the will power to even attempt to face some of the obstacles I now know I have to live with (knee problems). But as I watched Kristofer grit his teeth and climb up and over the rock wall I realized that I just have to grit my teeth on the days I don't even want to get out of bed. On the days I know I have to do things when I just want to stay in my room I have to remember that God is with me and He will see me through the day.
I do have to share, I am doing better. I am pleased to say I have been spending more time out of my room than I have in the last 8 months. But there are days when I just don't want to get out of bed. Today was a day I wanted to just stay in bed and stay in my room and not deal with things. But I had to face the day and God is giving me strength to do so.

The Darkness....

Interested what it is like to be depressed? Watch Chondra Pierce share what she went through. I can relate to alot of what she has to say on both of these videos

Cookies & Fish

Ok so today's lesson....

what do cookies and fish have to do with each other.

Any Guesses?

Ok I won't keep you wondering!

Last night we had our Sunday School Picnic at the lake. It is such a great time! This time we had more in attendance than we did last year. Which is a nice blessing! Anyway, my kids being the bug and frog catching kiddos they are brought their jars in case they caught something. Jaron the smart kid he is, decided to put a ice cookie in the bottom of the jar and laid it in on the lake floor. Well low and behold the boy caught a fish! Yes a fish! A blue gill to be exact.

Not wanting to break his heart we allowed him to bring it home and place it in our fish tank. I figured we would wake to a dead fish floating.

NOPE! We have a 2 1/2 inch blue gill swimming along with the gold fish, 2 tetras, and 3 little sharks. I am completely amazed the thing lived. It was moved from one jar to a Juicey Juice container to a small gold fish bowl to our tank. So if you are ever stranded and all you have are cookies, a jar and a lake near by...here's a new way of catching fish!

Thirsty

Have you ever been walking, running or just working outside in the hot sun? Been so thirsty that you can't seem to get enough water to quench your thirst? Think about that time, it seems like you just can't get enough. It's like a sponge that can''t soak in enough water. The more you squeeze that sponge the more it takes in. That is how God wants us to be! He wants us to thirst for His presence to the point that we just can't get enough! And not just when we need Him but all the time! He doesn't want a "as needed" relationship with His children. He wants an "all the time" relationship!

The word of God says,

"Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled!"

(Matt 5:6 NIV)

I love how the Amplified Bible states this scripture,

"Blessed and fortunate and happy and spiritually prosperous (in that state in which the born-again child of God enjoys His favor and salvation) are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness (uprightness and right standing with God) for the shall be COMPLETELY satisfied!"

This scripture is a promise! If we hunger for the things of God we will be COMPLETELY SATISFIED! Our relationship with God rests on this hunger alone. A hunger & thirst for His presence, a hunger & thirst for the Word God, a hunger & thirst for communion and fellowship with the Spirit, hunger & thirst for righteousness, for kingdom power and for the return of our Lord and Savior! With out this hunger we have no relationship with God.

What happens is we start replacing that hunger for God with what the world offers. We replace His presence with "things", with food, with entertainment, with what ever distracts you from the things of God. We become pleasure seekers instead of God seekers.

Definition of Satisfy
To fulfill the desires, expectations, needs, or demands of (a person, the mind, etc.); give full contentment to: The hearty meal satisfied him. To put an end to (a desire, want, need, etc.) by sufficient or ample provision: The hearty meal satisfied his hunger. To give satisfaction.

Definition of Completelylacking nothing; whole; full; having all that's required; to make whole, to make perfect

When we hunger and thirst for God we are promised that we will be completely satisfied. That means according to the definitions of those two words that we will lack nothing, not only will our needs be met but so will our desires. The will be made perfect to the point that we will not need anything else to satisfy our souls.

If you are like me, a chocoholic, one small choc. kiss is not enough. Even if I savor it till it completely melts in my mouth I always want more. That is what the presence of God is like! For me a small dabble of the presence of God is not enough, I always want more. Maybe the reason for that is because when I am in the presence of God I am "completely satisfied" and as soon as I leave the presence of God I am seeking Him again, even if I am not doing it consciously. I may fill that hunger with "things, food, entertainment" but once I am in the true presence of God I am back to being completely satisfied.

The Bible tells us "pray without ceasing" basically that is staying in a frame of mind that you are always sensitive to the Holy Spirit. I believe it is possible to do this by being in the moment and seeing the beauty around us and realizing that God is always speaking to us if we only just stop and listen for that still small voice.

Tagged for a Meme!

Angela tagged me for a meme...her rules stipulate I must do this and tag 4 more people.

1. Where is your cell phone? In my purse needing to be charged
2. Your significant other? in the diningroom/computer room on the computer
3. Your hair? shorter...got a new do will post a picture later
4. Your mother? in Florida
5. Your father? with mom celebrating 61 yrs (birthday today - fri)
6. Your favorite thing? quiet days with family
7. Your dream last night? dreampt I was sailing in a huge sail boat
8. Your favorite drink? cold hazelnut coffee from McD's
9. Your dream/goal? walking without pain, owning our own home
10. The room you’re in? living room
11. Your hobby? blogging
12. Your fear? one of my kids dying
13. Where do you want to be in 6 years? anywhere God wants us to be
14. What you’re not? perfect, organized, or lazy
15. Muffins? yes, please blueberry or lemon poppyseed
16. One of your wish list items? a new van that has air conditioning
17. Where you grew up? Florida
18. The last thing you did? Looked at crazy pictures of my brother dressed as a sexy nurse
to make my dad laugh!
19. What are you wearing? night shirt
20. Favorite gadget? hmmm, has to be the snowcone maker
21. Your pets? Izzy (pup), (judah ran away), Woody & Uno (ferrets) and Tido (rabbit)
22. Your computer? Sean is on I am using his laptop
23. Your mood? relaxed
24. Missing someone? family & friends in Florida
25. Your car? Chevy Astro
26. Something you’re NOT wearing? pants
27. Favorite store? Publix (too bad we dont have one here!)
28. Like someone? lots of people
29. Your favorite color? blue and yellow
30. When is the last time you laughed? looking at the pictures of my brother
31. Last time you cried? last night~ knee pain

And so for my 4 I tag: Michele, Deanna, Laura, Tara

Happy Brithday...

to my Dad! Today is not only my Dad's birthday but also my Uncle Dale's birthday! Happy birthday you guys! Dad, I hope you have a fantastic day! You so deserve it after all you have been through this last week. I know you will be surrounded by your kids and grandkids. We wish we could be there today with you to celebrate but know in our hearts we are and we love you!

Uncle Dale ~ You are like a second Dad to me. I have so many fon d memories of growing up with you in my life. I pray God blesses you as well on your brithday!

For those that don't know my Dad and Uncle Dale are brothers, born exactly a year and a few hours apart! God must have had a sense of humor that day. My poor granma, I would say I can't inmage what it was like to have two under 1 but, well I have experienced that one now haven't I!