Snow Days

Izzy and Bentley loved the snow....Mister and SugarBaby not so much!


Armed and ready...

Sara's target....She laughed and laughed : )

All thumbs up despite the neg. wind chill!

Kristofer named his snowball "Snowy"

My twin Angels!

Snow Days...Storms of Life

Well for those that care our kids have another snow day! Tomorrow our kids get to spend Valentines Day at home with us. The roads are still very covered with ice. We are hoping that tomorrows fore casted highs of 48 will actually break through some of the ice. The problem is that we are also suppose to get some strong winds as another storm approaches. Which means if the ice doesn't melt quickly more tree branches are destined to break.

So where do you go to when life throws a storm your way. Are you easily tossed in the wind or do you have a solid foundation to hold on to? I go to the rock of my Salvation Jesus Christ when life's storms blow my way. I have found that in the years and seasons of stormy weather that my foundation has been strong and God has seen me through! It may not have always turned out the way I wanted or planned but He has always been faithful to give me grace to weather the storm and accept the outcomes.

Today has been a bit of a storm for our Kristofer. He has been very jumpy, touchy and in need of deep pressure. So how do you know he needs deep pressure...he is running full force into things and isn't stopping. He crashes into the couch, his brothers, the wall and me. So what is a mom to do who can't just get up and stop him...I grab him and basically sit on him. Let me explain...this morning while Sean was digging the car out of the ice...literally it took him an hour to get the ice off the windshield and then another hour and a half to get the car out of the icy ditch.

Anyway while he was doing that I was trying to balance our checkbook and pay some bills. Kristofer who would not stop jumping on his brothers despite their pleas and continued to crash into everything. I called him in to our room and he proceeds to jump on our bed near my leg, at full force as if the bed was magically going to turn into a trampoline and launch him into outer space.

SO what did I do, I pulled him down to the mattress and proceeded to squish him with pillows. When that didn't calm him I told him to lay behind me and I would lay on him. I "squished" him into a pancake as he was giggling with glee. It took a few times of "squishing" him but finally he calmed down and I could feel his body finally relax. Once he was relaxed then he just wanted to snuggle. I asked him if the squishing helped and he said, "oh yeah!" Now if we could get him to tell us what he needs with his words instead of his actions.

The day progressed and then another Hurricane Kristofer appeared out of no where. He had played most of the day quietly after that episode this morning until he realized that the sun was going down. Then started the screaming, throwing things, and the biggest tantrum I have seen in a while. All due to the fact that he could not find his shoes so he could go outside. You seen he had started the process this morning of wanting to go out in the snow. But because he chose to not put his shoes where they belong he spent more time searching for his shoes and just got distracted and started playing. I spent over two hours trying to find his shoes this afternoon the whole time he was screaming and crying. "I want to go outside! I want to go outside! I want to go outside!" Finally Sean and Jaron came home and he was distracted enough to give up the obsession of going outside.

I think that is one of the hardest things we deal with with Kristofer. We never know what he will become obsessed with and how he will react. The fact that his school schedule has been completely messed up doesn't help. Kristofer lives on his schedule. Its not something that is written down per say but he knows, two days off 5 days of school. This has thrown him for a loop. Plus the fact that it hasn't been the safest weather for him to go out and make a snowman in. I stand on God's promises of healing for Kristofer and know one day he will stand before a congregation and give God the glory for healing him. Sensory Processing Disorder not only affects him but our whole family. For us a small windstorm can come and blow through but we have a solid foundation and know that in the storms we go to the Rock for it is in Him that we find peace and when He speaks, "Peace be still" all things become calm.

I challenge you to go to the Rock for your peace! Jesus is there waiting to hold you and calm you so that when the storms of life have swept through you will be standing strong in the end!

QUESTION: What killed the dinosaur??

ANSWER

THE ICE AGE!!

Yesterday i wrote about the storm that was coming in. Well we woke up to a cold house ( electric was out for about 4-5 hours) and a icicle world of wonder! It is absolutely beautiful as well as saddening to see all of the broken trees that are down. Our small little country town has half of the people with out electric and half with. We are lucky enough to have gotten our electric back. In Marion where we go to do our shopping at is even more covered from reports from friends who live there. The kids have had a blast today! For four Florida born babies they sure do love the ice and snow! They have stated I wish our cousins in Florida could see this! SO make sure you call your kids in to see these pictures, for those of you in Florida...we miss you and although these are amazing pictures we sure would love to be laying on Venice beach soaking in some sun!

Some of these icicles hanging from our roof measure 6-12 inches long!

Just one of the many icicles the kids have played with today!

Two of my favorite pictures of the day...

what is suppose to a clothes line is a icicle line instead!

This is almost a two foot icicle that was hanging off the house!

Close ups! See all that ice, this is on the small maple in our front yard!

These two close ups are from the branches that now lay in our back yard!

The next two pictures are a before and after shot of the once beautiful tree we have in our back yard. The first is a fall picture from Nov 2006 when we were voted in and accepted as the new pastors of the church. The second picture is what is left of that tree after the ice has had its way with it.

More pictures of the now very sad tree in our back yard. We had a nice swing set in our back yard that another family had blessed us with. You will see in one of the pictures what is left of that swing set.

My once beautiful potted plant is now a ice plant. There is a plate of ice surrounding

it on top and then the bubbles of ice that formed down the side of the pot.

Celebrating Today!!

Hallelujah! I am free from that lovely medicine called coumadin! YAHOO! No more blood thinners! I am clot free! I left my house this morning excited with he prospect of seeing other human beings (other than my husband and kids) today and going shopping. Now here is the thing I want to share the most with you. When I left the hospital I was given my appointment time for today's ultrasound on my legs. It was set for 1:15. Which I thought was great being that Sean had to do the over night shift. It meant he would be able to get a little more sleep time. Well last Thursday I got a call saying my apt. was at 11:15. I figured ok that would be better because we would at least be home by the time the kids go out of school and we wouldn't have to get someone to pick them up.
Well I get to the hospital, get checked in and waited maybe 10 minutes and the tech comes out to get me. She proceeds to ask me if Icame early because of the storm that is coming our way. A winter storm as it is called...meaning we could get snow, ice, sleet and freezing rain. Bad stuff when mixed together. I looked at her and said no that I have been called by a woman on Thursday telling me my apt was at 11:15. She tells me normally it is a man (Doug) that does the apt calls so she was confused. I looked at her and said well maybe an angel called and changed it so that I could get home before it got bad outside. She just smiled.
Now I believe in angels and God was definitely looking over us and preparing today for us because not only did I only wait 10 mins to get it (norm wait is at least 30 mins) and we had Eli & Sara with us but as we left the hospital the storm started. Sleet every where and it took a matter of 3 minutes for the roads to start getting slick and dangerous.
Unfortunately we did not get to go shopping but we did grab lunch as we drove home. I was a short outing but it was nice to get out of the house. Another reason I believe God had a hand in today's events ... had my original apt time been correct we would not have been home to get the boys. On our way home I thought I better call home and check our messages, good thing I did. WE were about 5 minutes away from home when we learned that the boys were being released from school within the next 15 minutes. Had I not called we would not have gone straight home and the boys would have walked home and been stuck outside in the freezing cold. God was not only watching out for us but for our kids as well.
Next Monday I go to see the surgeon and I will be 4 weeks post op! I am so hoping that he will release me to do ROM exercises. Until then I can now rest easy knowing that I am clot free and no longer taking terrible meds.
Out side is looking more like a winter wonderland again. We have about 1/4 inch of ice on the vehicle windows which means the ground is probably worse. According to http://www.weatherunderground.com/ we are looking at 2-8 inches of snow and possibly up to 3/4 inch of ice falling before the snow comes. We are hoping that we will be spared the ice storm so that we do not lose electric or our heat! Keep us in your prayers~
Today as all days God is worthy of our praise~

The song I have sang all day is this:

WHEN I THINK ABOUT THE LORD
Words and Music by JAMES HUEY

When I think about the Lord

How He saved me, how He raised me

How He filled me with the Holy Ghost

How healed me to the uttermost

When I think about the Lord

How He picked me up and turned me around

How He placed my feet on solid ground

CHORUS:

It makes me wanna shout

Hallelujah, thank You Jesus, Lord, You’re worthy

Of all of the glory, and all of the honor

And all of the praise