Daddy's Girl

" I want to wear a dress today so Daddy thinks I look pretty," were the first words out of Rebecca's mouth this morning. Then when doing Annalise's hair she asked for braids so that she could be pretty for Daddy. Wow, what a tremendous charge Daady's have in loving their daughters. Jim and I have talked about this a ton over the years.

As the book reader he defers all these types of matters to me. He doesn't do alot of reading on child rearing but knows that since I do, what I say goes. I explain it to him all the time that it is so important that his girls know that he loves them and that they are special and yes even beautiful. If they don't get that from him, they'll look to some other male figure at some point to get it. This is all stuff that I already knew and we are already very concious of, but to hear it plain as day this morning really hit me.

We are so blessed to have three Daddy's girls in our house and a Daddy that thinks they're all pretty neat. This morning he spent quite a bit of time with Emily...playing peek a boo with her and talking to her in that baby voice that she loves so much. And yes, telling Rebecca how pretty she was.

Great times.

Backwards

We're having kind of a backwards day. Instead of finding what I thought would be a kid on the couch, I was startles to find Elmo laying there. Annalise is such a caretaker she thought the Elmo puzzle that she did needed to be more comfortable apparently.

At dinnertime I asked Annalise what she wanted for dessert. She told me that she didn't want dessert because it wasn't good for keeping our bodies healthy. I just nodded as my mouth was full of the cupcake I just crammed in it...so much for healthy!

Then, Annalise has been having a bad day today...she's had a bit of a problem controlling her tongue and keeping her attitude in check. As she was yelling at me for not helping her with her Spanish, I thought maybe it would be a good night for her to go to bed a little early. As I was explaining that she needed to try to change her attitude, she said she thought it would be best if she was just punished. Her exact words were "Mommy, I just need to be punished, that's all". Wish I heard those words every day.

I played a game with Levi when the others went to bed. The game ended up with him in tears...I do not allow a sore loser but I'm not quite sure how to handle a sore winner. "Mom, I just wanted you to win because I love you. Here, why don't you just take some of my money." Sob, sob, sob.

Next, Annalise brought me out a note that she wrote about how she wanted to try to be more perfect and that she was sorry that she sinned, sob, sob, sob. I seized the chance to point out that if God forgives her for her sin and I forgive her for her sin, then she should forgive herself too. She is always so hard on herself...gee, wonder where she gets that from?!

What is going on around here today? I feel like I'm either living in the Twilight Zone or Mayberry, not sure which.

Ballerina Girl

I finally have pictures of Annalise at her dance class. For parent watch day in December I brought my camera but realized that the picture card was still in the computer...ugh! These are of her doing tap. The dance they had prepared in December was amazing. It is incredible to see how far Annalise has come in dance over the past 3 years. She is always saying that dance class is such hard work and I kind of doubted her until I actually saw it for my own eyes...it is a really tough workout!

She has accomplished my reason for putting her in dance class which was to learn some gracefulness...this is something I definitely cannot show her. I'm the wold's biggest klutz and the only gracefulness I can show my kids is how to trip gracefully.

She follows all the moves really well, can follow the beat and looks really good doing tap. But the really cool thing is when she does ballet...she is absolutely beautiful. She even does those really pretty, graceful hand movements that ballerinas do and her arms have that real fluid motion when she moves them. She took my breath away when I watched her because I wondered what happened to my baby...she looks like she's at least 12! She is a vision of beauty and grace and an absolute joy to watch. She is finally tall enough to look elegant. I can't wait for the recital this year!

What a beautiful gift it is to watch her praise her Lord through dance...even though it does make me cry to watch my girl (she has lost the "little") How the years have flown!

Brother Levi

I know I know another post today but this was so cute I just had to put it up today. This is a look into my little Levi. He is such a caretaker and so protective of all his sisters, but he especially has a special love for Emily. His #1 favorite thing to do is take a shower with Emily on the bathroom floor with him. Every time before he gets in the shower he begs me to bring Emily up with him. She lays on the floor while he's in there. She loves the lights and the noise of the fan so she doesn't mind. The funniest thing though I just discovered tonight...he periodically opens up the door and says "Hi Emily...are you OK, baby" and other such phrases of adoration. She just looks at him and smiles.

The thing about his deep love for her that is so special is that he really wanted her to be a boy. When they came to the hospital a few hours after she was born my Dad asked Levi how he liked Emily. Levi responded "She was supposed to be a Sam"...this is the name Levi was insistent would be the baby boy's name. A few days later he asked if I could cut her hair really short and then she would be a boy (we had to remind him about the boy and girl parts that make them different). Within a week though, he turned into "Brother Levi" which we named him as a result of his brotherly love for Emily.

If you asked him today, he wouldn't trade Emily for all the brothers in the world! Funny how God knows even what our kids really need when they ask. Seems like a good opportunity to point that out again. Have I mentioned the joys of having so many kids?

The List

List of things that I am going to do in order
1. Wake up
2. Get dressed
3. Make bed
4. Make Becca's bed
5. Get Becca dressed
6. Go downstairs
7. Eat breakfast
8. Make notes
9. Work on book
10. Go outside
11. Make cards
12. Get other present
13. Wrap presents
14. Go to party
15. Come home from party
16. Play duck duck goose
17. Eat dinner
18. Go to bed
Now for those that know my type A, anal retentive self this list makes perfect sense. Except that it's not mine (OK, perhaps the duck duck goose thing gave that away). This is Annalise's list. Is she my daughter or what? She actually needs to schedule getting up and eating dinner into her day. The crazy thing is that she had her light on pretty late last night. I asked her if she could turn it off and go to sleep to which she asked if she could finish her list first. Twenty minutes later her light finally went off. She stayed up until after 10:00 working on this list. Had I known this is what she was working on I probably would have had her finish it in the morning. As she has completed each thing today yup you guessed it, a neat little check mark next to the item listed.

She too delights in actually checking the things off her list when she does them...I like writing things down simply for the sheer joy of crossing them off. I myself don't really need lists to help me remember. It is not necessarily a good thing to have a mind like a steel trap because along with that comes a mind that really never shuts down. I find I'm always thinking and thinking and thinking. I can't even seem to forget things I want to forget. So, yes the joy in the list for me comes in crossing them off. I noticed today that she really didn't need to consult her list to remember the things that was on it as evidenced by her constant nagging of the things that involved me...as though I would forget them or something. It is scary how much she is like me as this list thing is not something I have done much in her lifetime. It is somehow an inherited characteristic.

Although this list really is quite funny it concerns me as well as I see so much of myself (my bad self) in her. Her strive for perfection and scheduling her life like this. I need to pray even more fervently that I can teach her what I've only started learning over the past 5 years or so...that it's life not the list that matters most. Often times the best times in life are the things that aren't on our "list"

The Lone Prince

It really is princess land around here with 4 girls. I was noticing tonight as I was getting Emily dressed from her bath that everything she would be wearing was pink...even down to her socks as she was laying on her pink bath towel no less!

I am and always have been such a tom-boy. When I was little I played with matchbox cars and put holes in my big wheel wheels, my best friend was the boy next door and I could run faster than any of the boys in school or in the neighborhood.

Even in high school, except for my best family friend and my very best friend since sixth grade, all my other friends were guys. Even now some of my favorite things to do is lift weights and people mock me because I beg my husband not to snow plow the driveway so I can shovel it. What's wrong with me?

I realized today that I am really sad because I was all excited about putting a new hair product away that I bought today. Why was I excited you may wonder...because it was the first new hair product I've bought for myself in over 10 years...and I'm a hairdresser for cryin' out loud! Now for those of you that know me well you know that I usually get my haircut twice a year at most so this new product thing is a bit out of character for me. I must confess though, I've started giving myself my own haircuts and I just have to get someone to whack off the little section in the back that I can't quite reach (thanks Ris). Low maintenance, that's my motto.

What I really want to know is how did I end up with girly girls? Annalise always has loved wearing dresses and she dresses Rebecca in one every day but when I was little I wouldn't be caught dead in a dress if I could help it.

As I look around the sea of pink scattered about the house I can't help but think of what Levi has been talking about all day. We stopped by a friend's ( I use this term loosely since I recently found out our 18 year friendship was really filled with much withheld information...just kidding Kev...man, are we old!) house and they have 2 boys. Levi's eyes lit up like a Christmas tree when he saw all the boy toys they have and he hasn't stopped talking about their swords since we left! Apparently he would much rather fight with swords than learn ballet from his sister...I don't know why.

This has prompted me to look around and see that Levi really is the lone prince in a land of princesses. Perhaps we'll just need to get him a few swords so at least he can slay the dragons for us!

Calling All Moms!

So you know how it is when you find that one book? The book that you've been looking for that can organize all your thoughts for you. Many of the thoughts that you already have but that you have a hard time remembering and therefore acting on. Thoughts that you'd love to share with your husband when you talk about the kids but you can't seem to phrase anything right so that he understands. Well, I found the book on Monday and it has quickly become one of my all time favorite parenting books.

I went to the bookstore to use a coupon and buy 2 specific books. Well, of course they didn't have the books I was looking for so I rather annoyed looked at the shelf for something that jumped out at me. This title jumped off the shelf and knocked me off my feet so to speak. Check it out: Raising Respectful Children in a Disrespectful World. Respect is like my #1 issue because in my opinion everything else stems off of whether your kids respect God, you, others and themselves.

I especially loved the chapter on discipline. Jill Rigby speaks of disciplining our children not punishing them. She states: "We cannot demand respect from our kids; we must command it. Respect is earned. If your attempts at discipline aren't working, chances are you're using punishment, not discipline. You are seeking to satisfy yourself, not train your child."

She goes on to say "Punishment for the sole purpose of forcing compliance will be ineffective. When rules are about maintaining control rather than helping the child learn important life lessons, the child feels little respect for the rule or the rule maker."

Wow, this is something that Jim and I have discussed time and time again, but I could never explain it to him quite this well. He was of the belief that respect is something that your kids do just because "I'm the parent". And he was all about forcing compliance and maintaining control rather than the teaching life lessons.

Now, I am happy to say that over the years he has come over to the other side, the earning respect and not just "winning" with the kids which is more where my stance has always been. Now mind you, I am in no way saying that I am the perfect parent or by any means have all the answers or even that I am the better parent between Jim and I as we each have unique things to bring to our kids, but it is nice to find a book that sums up your thoughts. I find that when this happens I have an organized place to go when dealing with the kids that I already know I believe in.

So, what do you fellow mothers think of the few things I have told you about the author's take on discipline and respect? This is where the "Calling All Mothers " comes in. I'm looking for comments on your thought...yes, even those of you that usually read but don't leave acomment...please leave them. We all have lots of wisdom and it would be cool to share it....even you Mom, leave a comment!

If you're looking for a great book, check this one out!

Ode to Snow

I like snow, yes yes I do
No need today for feeling blue
Why this sudden change of heart
No school today for a start

No reading, writing, Spanish-no way
Snow has cancelled school today
Play is what we have today
Daddy's even here, hip hip hooray

Snow is our friend, yes it's true
Laughing, tickling that's what we'll do
Goofing, spoofing, crazy fun
No housework even will get done

Free to be Me!

Or at least a cheesehead! Yes, it's a very sad day because I was raised to be a Packers fan. Yes we would go to Detroit to watch the Lions and Packers play and cheer for the "wrong team" so to speak. I didn't ever think of it as the wrong team until I met Jim and he told me so.

So, with Jim at work last night, we could ALL be Packer fans. Levi gets so confused between Dad's Lions and Grandpa's Packers about which team really is the favorite. It's really only a problem when the two teams play and then Levi has explicit instructions that he is to be cheering for the Lions, as I mutter about the Packers under my breath while nodding and smiling.

Levi was so excited about the game yesterday because we had discussed that this was a very big game and it could be his last chance to watch his Brett Favre play. He was so excited that I called Grandpa and invited him to come over and watch. Not only did Grandpa come, but so did Grandma! The crazy thing was once they got here Levi was more interested in doing anything wild and animal-like except watch the game. He gets excited when Grandpa comes over. Too bad Grandpa couldn't get much game watching done.

Despite Emily's support of her team by wearing her Packer PJ's, it was a sad night late last night. But, Levi went to bed covered by his Packer quilt with his autographed Brett Favre picture on his wall (a gift from Grandpa) convinced that Brett Favre will be playing next year because "he just has to help his other Green Bayers win!"

I hope so.

Green Eggs and Snow?

I do not like snow, no I don't

Not even on Christmas, no I won't

I do not like snow no, no way

I do not like it any day

I do not like it in the air

I do not like it in my hair

I do not like it on my house

I do not like it on my spouse

I do not like it here or there

I do not like it it anywhere

Except maybe in another state

That I could visit, that'd be great

But only for an hour or two

That's suit me fine, yes that would do

Time to look just one quick look

Take a picture for my book

I do not like it under my car

Especially when I have to travel far

I do not like it on the grass

I do not like it, but alas

My kids like it, yes they do

So, I'll try to like it too

Rolling, shoveling, sledding fun

It's not so bad when at least we see the sun

I don't like snow but I'll try to smile

Since it only lasts a little while

I can't wait to feel the nice warm sun

Now that my friends is what I call fun!

Blank Slate

As I look at Emily lately I can't help but feel a bit overwhelmed at the enormity of raising a child. She looks at me with these beautiful eyes that light up when I come near her. She kicks her legs and squirms all over as if to say "Yippee, here she comes and she's gonna love on me!"

But I can't help but wonder, "How does she just trust that I only want to love her and want what is best for her?" Even more fearfully I wonder, "Will she always be this excited to see me...when I'm not just the milk lady. Will she always trust that I love her and want only what's best for her?"

I read and hear about the heartbreaking stories of parents whose kids seemingly think they are the enemy and I'm so afraid to have this happen to me. We all hear about the prodigals, the kids who leave their faith ,their families and even their morals and values because they don't like their parents being parents. Emily is a blank slate...waiting to be filled. Maybe if I just love my kids enough and in the right way they'll never hate me, they'll never run away and they'll never lose their faith or their morals and values. But then again, I know that my love isn't enough. I know that in reality, my kids will do things and say things to me that will cause me a great amount of pain. But I will always love them and this is what I want them to know no matter what. I know that in addition to love, I need to show them faith so that they can have faith in me and in Him.

I wonder, did Abraham's voice waver as his son questioned where the animal was for the sacrifice they were going up the mountain to offer? Was his voice strong in his faith or did he have an element of humanness in his voice. Did his heart break at the thought of having to give up his only son because that is what was being asked of him and even ultimately what was best for his son? Did he question even just for a second, what he was about to do? I'd like to think that he did because if he did, those times when I waver I have hope.

I wonder, did Isaac question his father's love when Abraham was being obedient to God and ready to offer him as a sacrifice? Did he see this as love or did he think his dad had lost his mind as he was laying tied down to the wood altar? Was he ready to become a prodigal of sorts and outmucsle his much older father and run away from the man who was trying to kill him? Or, did Isaac see his father being obedient to his Father, no matter what the cost? I'd like to think that he did because if he did, my kids would feel love when they see me acting in faith and obedience.

I think ultimately Isaac didn't question his dad's love or his behavior because Abraham had shown him a lifetime of love but also of being faithful and obedient to his Father, even when it was painful. By being obedient Abraham was able to teach Isaac about his love and his faith in the most real way. The best part is that once Abraham demonstrated this love and faith, God rewarded him and rescued his son.

So how does this apply to Emily? I remind myself that love and faith can't be taught, it has to be lived, every moment of every day. If I show them the faith and love of Abraham then maybe, just maybe the eyes of my children that look back at me will always reflect back the love they feel from me and the faith they see in me in those prodigal moments when love and faith matter most. Maybe my being obedient in faith, even when it's painful will cause God to rescue my children from the brink of being prodigals like He rescued Isaac, simply because of my faith and ultimately teach my children about faith and love in the most real way.

As I strive to "teach" my kids what it means to love others and love God and what it means to have faith in all things, I'm reminded that these things are more caught than taught. My behavior is what really matters. Telling them I love them isn't nearly as important as showing them. Telling them what faith means isn't nearly as important as living it, even when it's painful. I pray that I can be a living example of these things to my kids to fill their blank slates.

Goodbye McDreamy

I must confess...I love Grey's Anatomy. I know, I know, not a very moral choice but I'm hooked. I wish I could say that I'm saying goodbye to it due to the writer's strike but I'm afraid that I cannot.

A neighbor called me today to let me know that there was a comcast repair guy coming this afternoon to solve some sort of cable problem our little corner of the world has been having. I informed her that we no longer had cable. I went on to explain that when we stretched our budget this summer, that was one thing that we just had to let go.

I have rather enjoyed having only PBS for my kids and of course the DVD's and videos that we have. I find there is much less fighting with what to watch because there simply are no choices anymore. As a consequence, my kids watch much less TV than they used to (they used to only get an hour at most). We spend a lot more time doing other things that are of greater value.

So, I was hurrying to get my kids in bed as I realized that I still had the tape of Grey's to watch from last week and I was SOOOO excited to see it. I was even putting them to bed slightly early so that I would be sure to be able to stay awake to get through the whole show. Levi in his cute little way said "Mom, can you read me this story?" as I was basically smothering him with the covers in my quest to just get him in bed.

"No buddy, it's bed time now," as I was thinking hurry up, HURRY UP. "No time for devotions let's just pray."

As he started to rattle off the rote prayer he always starts with I barked at him to leave that part out and just get to the praying part, hurry up HURRY UP.

As I ran downstairs and put the tape in and sat down on the couch, it hit me. What just happened? Did I really just cut off my son's devotions for a visit with McDreamy? Then I realized I was so impatient because I had been looking forward to watching this all day. "This was the highlight of my day?" I questioned myself and then was afraid to answer. Busted! I got up off the couch, opened Levi's door and read him his Disney favorite. I just had to snap a picture of his priceless smile that stretched from ear to ear.

"Thanks Mom, "he said as I walked out the door.

"No, thank YOU buddy," is what I WOULD have said had I been able to get past the lump in my throat.

How many of these moments have I missed for a date with McDreamy? I can only wonder. But at least they'll be a few less from now on.

So, goodbye McDreamy...I'm leaving you for kissing toes and butterfly kisses; for answering one more "why" or "what if". I'm leaving you for cuddles and hugs and sometimes even reading one more story in the Disney Storybook. I'm saying goodbye to learn the lesson about quality time that my kids have already grasped and I'm ashamed to say that I've not...until now.

Coffee Grounds and Wafer Crumbs

So, I was drinking the last of some leftover coffee that I had poured from the pot this morning and when I went to wash the pot, I was surprised at what I saw. As I dumped the remaining drops out of the pot I saw easily a quarter cup of loose grounds in the bottom of the pot. "Gross, " I thought to myself as I realized that the crunchy bits in my coffee were probably not the result of the vanilla wafer I had dunked in it, but coffee grounds instead.

I wished I hadn't noticed the coffee grounds and just kept with my wafer crumb thinking instead. This led me to think about how life can be sometimes.

One of my resolutions this year is to look at things with a different perspective. I've traditionally been a glass- half- empty kind of girl but I want to be a glass -half -full girl instead. My resolution this year when faced with challenges and negative experiences is to find the half- full perspective. In fact, to not even have to find that perspective, but to have that perspective as an automatic response. In order to do this, I've begun to look closer at others' challenges and see that although different, we all have them. What makes one person's challenge truly different from another's is how they respond to them.

I think we can find "coffee grounds" in every situation if we look hard enough. But wouldn't it be better if we just accepted the situation as wafer crumbs instead? We can take anything and find an element of negativity if we look hard enough, but maybe we just shouldn't look that hard.

Maybe instead of looking down in the sink for the gross coffee grounds, we should just look up instead; enjoying the sweetness of the wafer crumbs. We can't ever go wrong by looking up to the heavens and remembering that one day there won't be one bad thing that happens here that even matters anyway. All that really matters is what we do when we realize we have coffee grounds instead of wafer crumbs and what we do when our glass really seems half empty. James 1:2 of the NIV states: "Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance."

I myself will strive to joyfully choose the half-full perspective while enjoying only wafer crumbs. After all, one day, all the half empty glasses really will all be full and all the coffee grounds will be wafer crumbs...golden ones!

Mr. Problem Solver

While he was vacuuming the floor, Levi found out the reason for our ant problem that we have in the summer. He said "Mom, this is where the ants are coming in!"

There is a space between the dishwasher and the trim.

"We can put a toy right there and then put ant poison all around it to kill the ants before they can get in." I didn't even know he knew there was such a thing as ant poison.

He's such a boy to have even remembered this ant problem, let alone how to fix it! I won't bother to tell him that we have ants just because we live on sandy soil.

Music To My Ears

"What can we do"

"There's nothing to do"

"What can I do?"

These are questions that usually drive any mother crazy...especially me because Levi says these words probably 8 times a day normally. Lately, I have only been hearing them about 3 times. Why, you ask?

Well, each time I hear these words the speaker gets a job to do...usually a pretty big one. All my kids already have jobs, so it has to be something in addition to these.

Here is a picture of Levi vacuuming the wood floor before I can wash it (Emily is supervising). This is a 10 minute job if I do it and so it was so nice to have it done for me. I accept only thorough and excellent work on these jobs so they really are things that save me time.

The funniest thing is the look on Levi's face when he realizes what he started saying (still an offense even if he doesn't get all the words out). He's totally bummed, but doesn't argue with his fate and sucks it up and does whatever I tell him.

Lucky for me, there is always work to be done, so the jobs don't ever take any time for me to think of. Lucky for me Levi is a slow learner when it comes to controlling his tongue!

Exhausted

I think we must be the two most exhausted parents on the planet. We just had night #2 with Rebecca refusing to sleep. She cries and screams all the time because she is absolutely miserable. She has gone 3 days without food and her fever doesn't go away so I can only imagine what she must feel like. She is done with the throwing up but now she has the cold left and when she gets colds she doesn't just get them like most kids. She suffers because she coughs and coughs and coughs and can't stop. She catches her gag reflex and then throws up which she hates doing so she just swallows it down all the while crying and screaming. I think we'll be taking her to the Dr. to be checked for pneumonia today.

She refuses to leave the bathroom since that's where she doesn't have to throw up in a bucket and for whatever reason she feel most comfortable here. Since she is completely irrational due to lack of sleep, we just leave her there.

What do I mean about irrational...let me give you an example of what life is like with her right now.

"Rebecca I want you to try to eat some crackers, what kind would you like?"

"sick crackers" these are oyster crackers

I give her the sick crackers to which she screams "I don't want sick crackers!!!!!!!!!!!!"

"Well what kids of crackers would you like?"

"Cheese Nips"

So I give her the Cheese Nips "NO NOT THOSE KIND OF CHEESE NIPS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" Followed by screaming and sobbing.

"What kind of crackers do you want?"

"I DON'T WANT ANY CRACKERS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

"Well, will you please eat something?"

"I DON'T WAAAAAAAAAAAAANT TO EAT ANYTHING" more yelling and screaming.

Repeat this scenario every 15 minutes, day and night about any topic under the sun and welcome to our life over the past 3 days. Oh, and I have 3 other children to take care of too.

My eyes are so swollen they are half heir normal size and I have this sharp pain behind my left eye. Since we've had a sick kid for the past 3 weeks, there has been a minimum of 2 nights of sleep lost per kid and it has finally caught up with me.

Please, oh please send me your silent thoughts and prayers as Jim starts back with work and school this afternoon.

And Another One Down, and Another One Down, Another One Bites the Dust

Yes, by the time we're done with people being sick I'll be able to publish the whole darn song. Rebecca is now sick. For anyone that would like to see our family, you'll just have to wait until March and maybe we'll be healthy by then. And yes, I'm a little frustrated and sleep-deprived.

Only in Michigan

Only in Michigan can the kids ride the new scooters they got for Christmas in January! Not that I'm complaining since I am a snow hater. It was really fun for the kids that had been lusting after these scooters to get to them out. They were actually sweating though by the time they came in.

Annalise cracked me up yesterday during school. She had to write a sentence about snakes being nice. The sentence she wrote is:

Be kind to snakes for they are so kind. Notice how she used the word "for" when it would have been so much more common to say because. These are the things she does in school that amaze me and make me so thankful that I'm able to be her teacher...otherwise I would miss all these amazing moments!

Finally!

Well, it's official...Jim finally has gotten a new position at work that he's been going after for months. We're really excited for him and for what this means for our family. He'll be working longer, overnight shifts which means that he'll only be working 3 days one week and 4 the next. Of course he'll still be picking up overtime when he can, but we'll be seeing him much more.

Of course he'll need to sleep when he gets home after working, but he will be around for more hours in the day before he heads off to either work or school. I just have to get used to being here alone during the overnights sometimes. I guess I've had quite a bit of practice when he's been riding already, but now it will be much more regular.

This new position also will coordinate with his unpaid internship in a month or so allowing him to work his full schedule instead of having to take vacation time to get paid. What this means for us is some extra cash should we choose to just take the money from all the vacation time he's been saving up....or maybe sometime we could actually take a VACATION!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! What in the world is that? But, as you can see, this new job opens up some more possibilities for us in great ways.

This is also very exciting for him because his job itself will be very different and have much variety each shift.

Way to go honey!

Sleeping Beauty

Emily has finally started sleeping in her crib and cradle sometimes as opposed to just swings. I must say, it was much easier for me to sleep last night without having to listen to the swing swinging all night. It will also be nice to stop going through so many batteries if this sleeping in bed thing sticks.

Emily started out in her crib in the room that she shares with Levi. He was so excited to have her in his room and he wanted to make sure that she had everything she needed. He wound her mobile for her countless times and even got out other toys that sing since she loves music so much. I finally had to ask him to stop playing so much music for her so that she could sleep. His response was "I just want her to be happy in here." Pretty cute.

He then asked if she could sleep in there all night to which I reminded him that she gets up to eat during the night. He responded by saying, "That's OK, I can come and tell you when she needs to eat." Someday I just might have to take him up on that. for now all I have to say is that my kids sharing rooms has turned out to be a pretty special experience for all of them...kind of like a slumber party all the time. Becca is all for staying up all night and talking, talking , talking with Annalise.

Fun times!

A Most Excellent Boy

So, this is what Levi's been doing for the past four days while I've been dealing with Annalise and of course the baby that needs to be fed and changed often. Thank goodness for this video game thing that Jim got a few years ago. It really is quite cool for old folk like us because it is has a joystick player and has 5 of the old video games from our arcade era. Notice that Levi is playing good old fashioned Pac Man! Anyway, this has entertained him and Rebecca for hours on end but in addition to that, he has taken on the role of big brother and helper extraordinaire.

He is always helping with entertaining Rebecca, helping her with books, puzzles and games. Yesterday when I sat down to rest my weary eyes for a few minutes Emily started crying in her crib. He jumped up and said "Don't worry mom, I'll play her music for her, you can just sit and rest!" What?

Actually, this isn't out of character for him at all as he is the sensitive one in the family (just like his Daddy!) and is always looking out for others. It just has been really appreciated right now during my time of need.

Well, thanks to Levi I did get my fifteen minute rest. Now if only he could figure out how to do more laundry than just folding the socks, underwear, towels and washcloths like he does already and I'd really get that rest I need. In fact, I'd even have time to eat bon bons too!

Then, we were heading in the house from running an errand and Levi pushed past me and said "Watch out Mom!" I was just about to reprimand him for being rude when he continued by saying "I want to hold the door for you," which he proceeded to do. Guess I should not be so quick to judge his intentions. What was that I said before about learning lessons from my kids? Enough said.

Precious Moments

Amidst all the sickness chaos there have been a few precious moments to snap pictures of. I love baby parts and thought you'd enjoy seeing pictures of Emily holding my hand. This was so precious that I had to take a picture in between cleaning up throw up. Annalise got some much needed medication that helped her turn the corner during the night and although weak, she is on her road to recovery! Might I also say that my new washer was the single most best thing that we have ever bought? With all this sickness I can wash comforters, blankets and sleeping bags all without leaving the comfort of my own house. Not only that, I can wash them on the sanitizing cycle and for those of you that know how much I looooooooooove to sanitize and clean I'm sure you know how much I truly love this feature. It just makes me feel really good knowing that everything is as clean as I can make it in trying to fight off more sickness!

Another One Bites the Dust

No, I don't have a picture again because I have nothing pleasant to take a picture of. Just wanted to give the update that Annalise now has the stomach bug and has been sick with it for more than 48 hours. She hasn't been able to keep anything down in almost 18 hours, so she'll be going back to the ER for fluids and medication like she has almost every other time she's been sick. Apparently, her system is really weak when it comes to getting over these stomach problems. As I watch her crying on the bathroom floor out of misery and can't do anything to help her I am vowing that she will not be starting the new year off this way next year! Sorry to all who call and I can't answer, but life is really busy with all this.

Goosebumps and Tears

So, we all have our problems and we all have struggles. Believe me, I don't think I'm the only one, but as you read in an earlier post life is really rough around here. For those of you that have called I apologize that I haven't been answering my phone or returning phone calls, but I'm really just focusing on staying above water right now and I just don't feel like talking. No, I'm not exercising blog therapy again, I just had to tell you this part to get to the really cool part.

Through this rough spot even though I'm not really talking to people, I have been spending more time in devotions and prayer. This has been getting me through.

So, I'm at the gym this morning listening to my new MP3 player and the second song is my beloved Barlow Girl and a song that really spoke to me...check it out, the song is called Never Alone:

I waited for you today, but you didn't show, no
I needed you today, so where did you go
You told me to call, said you'd be there
And though I haven't seen you, are you still there

I cried out with no reply and
I can't feel you by side so
I hold tight to what I know
You're here, and I'm never alone

And though I cannot see you
And I can't explain why
Such a deep, deep reassurance
You've placed in my life

We cannot separate, you're part of me
And though you're invisible, I''ll trust the unseen

I cried out with no reply and
I can't feel you by my side so
I hold tight to what I know
You're here, and I'm never alone

We cannot separate, you're part of me
And though you're invisible, I'll trust the unseen

I cried out with no reply and
I can't feel you by my side so
I hold tight to what I know
You're here and I'm never alone

Pretty cool huh? So, I'm sweating away on the elliptical trainer, singing to myself and singing these words in my plea to God this morning and really gaining some much needed strength from this song and I played it two additional times feeling really good by the time I was done. Ready to move on to the next song having had goosebumps the whole time I was singing, I heard the piano intro to this song again.

"Great," I thought, "Now I've turned on some repeat feature on this dumb thing that now I have to figure out how to turn off". Annoyed, I slowed down and ripped the thing off my waist to check out what the problem was. I looked at the list of the past songs and the current song and the next songs and guess what I saw...

I have nine full CD's loaded on this MP3 player and 2 of these CD's are Barlow Girl and Never Alone appears on both CD's in both a standard version on one and an acoustic version on the other.

You see, out of all the songs that could have shuffled after my choice to listen to Never Alone a few times, the second version of Never Alone came up next. Apparently, He thought I needed to hear it again.

Good thing the gym was fairly empty and no one saw the tears rolling down my face as I sang the words again...this time not by my choice but by His.

Thanks honey for the MP3 player that seemingly was His voice in my storm this morning.

Making Lemonade

I'm going to do my best to post my Christmas pictures soon but life is a bit rough around here right now and I'm not sure when I'll get to it. You know the saying " When life gives you lemons, make lemonade"? Well, this is me right now, just making lemonade. I've gotten lemons from sick kids, annoying paperwork and even good ol' Uncle Sam. So, right now I'm having a lot to deal with and when I'm not dealing with these issues, I'm focusing on the one thing that can make the lemonade a bit sweeter... the smiles and laughter of my kids. No matter how rough life gets, the innocent smiles of kids can just wipe it all away. So blogging just isn't on my list right now.

I'm thankful for the verse I've been given in the midst of all this...the one that goes something like...In this world you will have trouble but I have overcome the world! Not to be morbid, but won't it be great to one day to do that too? No more lemons! I can't wait!

Check back for pictures in a week or so and hopefully they'll be here!