In Honor of War Vets Across The Country

As the saying goes, "If you can read this, thank a teacher. If you can read this in English, thank a U.S. Military Veteran."

FREEDOM ISN'T FREE

Thank a Veteran you know today.

Sunday Funnies: INCOGNITO

Feelin' A Bit Under The Weather

Yeah, so we're feeling a mite peaked 'round these parts. Thankfully it's just the aches & pains, and not the other kind of flu.

Still, not fun.

Yesterday, while doing the simple task of folding laundry, I found myself perspiring profusely, as though I'd just been practicing for a football game by doing wind sprints and push ups (not that I've ever done this, mind you, but so my husband tells me...) and suddenly felt great sympathy for all those I know of suffering from hot flashes, because I'm pretty sure that episode was a taste of what they feel like.

In that fuzzy pre-sickness state before actually realizing I was sick, I started to get a little worried. I know I'm not in the best physical shape, but come on...getting winded and sticky just from folding laundry? What is wrong with me?

Which caused me to think wild thoughts like maybe my heart was acting up. And then I began to feel really sad and sorrowful thinking about what would become of my family if I were to die of a heart attack. Then guilty for having fallen woefully behind on my scrapbooking, so there would be no physical memories of Judah and his mommy, just the virtual ones on my blog, which would eventually get cut off because I wouldn't be around to update it, which made me a weepy, miserable wreck.

And that was when I noticed my back and joints ached.

Like sunshine on a dreary day, I realized, it was the flu. Just a harmless little old case of the flu!

Okay, so flu's aren't exactly harmless, or little, but hey, in light of all my half-delirious concerns in the preceding hour, the flu sounded pretty good in comparison.

I put Judah down and took myself off to bed for a much needed nap.

Naturally, it didn't last long. Maybe 40 minutes tops.

That's because when one of my kids is sick, my mother's ear becomes bionic. Jericho was calling for me from his bedroom, with the door closed and a fan on inside, to my bedroom down the hall also with the door closed...and still I could hear him. Which also accounts for my severe lack of sleep the past couple of nights.

In the process of getting up to get him some food, Judah woke up calling for me, and the possibility of a longer nap was all over. I trudged to the kitchen to get the boys some lunch.

After feeding the kids, I got a call from the church secretary, telling us that our friend Michael is in the hospital with gallstones, and about to go in for emergency surgery. Which necessitated a flurry of phone calls, e-mails and text messages to all the appropriate parties to get back-up help into the church tomorrow to get things ready for our AWANA "workshop" day, which is where kids bring their Grand Prix cars in to work on them and get them ready for next Saturday's race. By the time I was done, I was exhausted.

Judah, as fresh from his short nap as though he'd slept all night long, took the opportunity to run along the sofa and knock over the piles of folded clothes from yesterday. And Jericho, who is remarkably chipper for such a 'sick' child, requested more toast. While that was in the toaster oven, I looked around in dismay at my sorry mess of a kitchen, and I knew that there was no way I would be using this weekend to get the house in shape for Holiday decorations. *sigh*

A quick glance at the clock told me it was still hours before Jeff got home from work. *heavy sigh*

Just when I was at my wits end, feeling icky and irritable, Judah came in looking up at me like this and asked in an endearing little voice, "I hold you?" all sweet and cuddly.

Scrap the plans for a clean house. We're going to go kick back on the couch for a couple of hours and watch Pride & Prejudice.

The Gradual Disappearance of Halloween Candy

Day 1: The day after halloween. Jericho had a pretty nice stash of candy.
General attitude towards candy: At least three times I was asked--er, begged, "Can I have some mom, please?" (complete with the big pleading eyes of Puss-in-Boots from the movie Shrek 2).



Day 2: Candy stash conspicuously devoid of anything chocolate (thanks to the man of the house).
General attitude towards candy: "Can I take some in my lunch today, too, mom? Please?"



Day 3: The pile shrinks. Jericho weeds out all the Pixie Stix and Twizzlers and tosses out the Tootsie Rolls. I allow him the Twizzlers, but keep back the Pixie Stix in a secret stash I am saving for him for much, much later on the top shelf of the pantry.
General attitude towards candy: "I love Twizzlers, but Tootsie Rolls are only good in Tootsie Pops."



Day 4: While daddy was supervising--er, distracted by a movie--Jericho asks for some candy and is granted permission, except that he hoards away all the boxed candies in his backpack, apparently to eat during class the next day (which is not allowed, either by the school or by mom). I find them while putting his library book in his backpack and remove them, banishing them to a top shelf in the pantry, but enjoying the box of Hot Tamales while reading blogs.
General attitude towards candy: Jericho doesn't even ask for any today, no doubt feeling a little guilty for hoarding the boxes of candy in his backpack then finding them missing.



Day 5: Laffy Taffy is thrown out due to the fact that little brother found a stray piece beside the freezer, and choked on a hunk of it after he gnawed into like a rodent. DumDum suckers are put in the stash on top shelf of the pantry, because they are found to be a great way to keep little brother happily occupied for up to half an hour, so long as he's confined to his car seat or high chair so he can't get everything within reach sticky and his teeth are thoroughly brushed afterward.
General attitude about candy: Jericho is rapidly losing interest in candy, but takes a couple of pieces of bubble gum to try for a record breaking bubble. He throws all the Smarties out, because "Nobody even likes those". Upon spotting the overlooked package of Whoppers, however, mom says, "Oooh! Oooh! Those Whoppers are SO mine!"



Day 6: Sweet Tarts, bubble gum, Now & Laters and Runts are added to the keepers stash on the top shelf of the pantry. To be used as bribes for extra chores during the Holidays.
General attitude about candy: No interest whatsoever. Jericho didn't even take a piece of bubble gum when asked if he wanted anything that was left.



Day 7: The sad remnants of unwanted candy. Cute as they are, I guess nobody wants gummi pumpkins with what looked like orange coconut sprinkles on top or the lemon tootsie rolls.
General attitude about candy: Nobody wants to even look at candy, so I tossed the rest in the garbage. Including the secret stash.
Everyone is sick to death of candy.
Sick, sick, sick of it.

No, really. Sick.

As in the flu sick.

Is it any wonder that a virus could thrive so well, what with a weeks worth of sugar overload pulsing through Jericho's veins?

You'd think after 10 years or so of this, I'd finally learn my lesson and dole it out with a little more restriction.



At least he's been cooperative about drinking plenty of water, and staying in his room so he doesn't spread the germs to the rest of us.

He did have a fever, or I would have been a little bit suspicious that he was just playing sick so he could stay home from school, watch movies and have mom wait on him hand and foot all day long.

I'm not feeling so hot myself. Think I'll hit the sack early tonight.

Update on Baby Claire, Hilarious Cartoon

Thank You all so much for your prayers. Our extended family greatly appreciates it.

There have been a couple of complications for our little Claire due to the heparin (a blood thinner) which is necessary for her to be on the ECMO machine, but results in the wound from her surgery not clotting and healing properly. They actually had to pack the surgical site with cellulose to promote clotting there.

They did some tests yesterday, and the brain scans found out that there is no bleeding on the brain, so there are no complications there which is a really good thing. They found her little lungs are developing and doing quite well, which also is very good.

However, the main area of concern is that her little heart develop properly. They are going to give her 5-7 more days on the ECMO machine to allow her heart to grow and develop some more, and one of the Neonatal doctors has said that if her heart didn't improve by then, it probably wouldn't (she didn't say what ramifications that might have). My cousin's response was that this has always been in God's hands, that our (the families) job is to show up and love her as best we can, for whatever time we have.

I know that the Lord is using this situation to strengthen the faith of those closest to the baby, particularly my cousin and her husband. Please continue to pray for peace and comfort for them in the heart of this 'storm', and for baby Claire, that her heart would develop fully. As our family knows from previous family experiences with the NICU, and some of the experiences you all shared on the last post, even when it's looked pretty bleak and grave, the Lord has and can do amazing things.

Thanks again for all your prayers!
Becky

:: ::

Even though sloths are my least favorite animal...this cartoon was stinkin' hilarious.

To All My Praying Friends...

This is my cousin Renee and her precious infant daughter Claire, and the other picture is of all the machinery that baby Claire is hooked to in the hospital. Little Claire also has two nurses that are currently assigned just to her around the clock in the NICU, as well as a bevy of specialists and doctors that are working to ensure the best possible care for her.

At around 6 months in the womb, it was discovered that Claire had a hernia that caused part of her liver, intestines and stomach to move up into the thoratic cavity where the heart and lungs were supposed to be, causing the heart and lungs not to develop as they should have. Optimally, they would have liked for her to remain in the womb to term, so that her heart and lungs would have developed as much as possible before birth, but she entered the world rather unexpectedly a month early.

She's only a little over a week old, and has already had a major abdominal surgery to correct the hernia (using a goretex mesh patch) to help keep the organs where they should be to allow her heart and lungs a chance to develop further. There have been a couple of complications due to some abdominal bleeding, and a risk of clotting and tissue swelling due to the ECMO machine. There are a number of other factors putting her in a higher risk category, and every day has been a fight for her life. Our extended family has been spending a lot of time in concentrated prayer on her behalf, as you might imagine.

Our little Claire was 5 lbs 6 oz at birth, and is a little fighter, which is good. She has been on paralytic drugs since just before the surgery, and even after the procedure was done, she grabbed her mama's finger and squeezed it.

The Lord has walked our extended family down this road before when twin cousins were born prematurely over 24 years ago. Today both young women are college graduates leading very full lives with no effects whatsoever from their early births.

My neice Lici also spent some time in the NICU, due to a bad case of Toxoplasmosis that my sister's doctor was sure would cause grave deformities and defects...but due to much prayer and the healing hand of our Great Physician, she suffered no ill-effects whatsoever! Today, she is a sharp little girly-girl that gets good grades in school, and is a really good big-sister to my sister's other daughter Ella.

Another sister Jami's second son was born with a heart defect that made it necessary for them to do a very serious heart surgery when he was just a tiny tot, which included stopping his heart. He was up running and playing within hours of the surgery (as though he'd just been down for a nap) and hasn't stopped since. He, too, suffered no lasting effects of the original problem.

My own second son Judah was born after an emergency c-section, due to some fetal distress. He was fine for several hours, and then after a routine feeding, turned blue, having stopped breathing. He spent five days in the NICU, and though they were never sure, it's possible that a slight genetic jaw formation may have caused his jaw to look into place. It's never happened since, and as many of you read in my blog, he's never suffered any ill-effects from that incident.

All of these stories were miracles from the Lord, and we've never stopped being thankful to Him for healing them. Because of all these things, we're hopeful the same will be true for our little Claire.

We're praying that her lungs and heart would develop quickly and perfectly, and would be strong and healthy so that she can be taken off the ECMO machine and put on a ventilator (or maybe it was a respirator?) instead, as this machine carries with it the risk of clotting and of tissue swelling, which are both dangerous and very taxing on a tiny babies body. Also that the source of the bleeding in her abdomen would heal.

Our hope is that she'll remain stable for a time, so that her exhausted parents feel they can let down enough to take turns getting a few hours of decent sleep. You can imagine what an ordeal like this would be like for the parents, especially considering there are two older children at home. They are stretched pretty thin right now. We're praying for God's continued peace and sustaining strength for them.

We are also praying that the Lord would give the doctors and nurses great wisdom in how to handle our little Claire's care, and that the NICU would remain germ-free (there are a few other patients in there with family and staff coming and going), and for a swift, miraculous healing for her.

With sincere gratitude for your prayers,
Becky

PRAISE YOU IN THIS STORM
by Casting Crowns (from their album Lifesong)

I was sure by now
God, You would have reached down
And wiped our tears away
Stepped in and saved the day
But once again,
I say "Amen",
and it's still raining

As the thunder rolls
I barely hear You whisper through the rain
"I'm with You"
And as Your mercy falls
I raise my hands
and praise the God who gives
And takes away

CHORUS
I'll praise You in this storm
And I will lift my hands
For You are who You are
No matter where I am
Every tear I've cried
You hold in Your hand
You never left my side
And though my heart is torn
I will praise You in this storm

I remember when
I stumbled in the wind
You heard my cry
You raised me up again
My strength is almost gone
How can I carry on
If I can't find You

As the thunder rolls
I barely hear You whisper through the rain
"I'm with You"
And as Your mercy falls
I raise my hands
and praise the God who gives
And takes away

CHORUS
I lift my eyes unto the hills
Where does my help come from?
My help comes from the Lord
The Maker of Heaven and Earth (repeat)

CHORUS
Though my heart is torn
I will praise You in this storm

Written by Mark Hall / Music by Mark Hall and Bernie Herms
who said, "If there ever were a test of our faith - if there ever were a test of the motives of our worship - it is when a storm rolls into our lives. We watched and prayed for a precious little girl named Erin Edwards struggle with a deadly disease for several years. The courage, the witness, and the worship of Erin's mother Laurie inspired this song. Sometimes God calms our storms. Sometimes He chooses to ride them with us."

Romans 8:28 / 2 Corinthians. 4:16-18 Psalm 42:5 / Psalm 121:1-2 Job 1:20-21 / Daniel 3:16-18

2005 Club Zoo Music (BMI) / SWECS Music (BMI) (adm. by EMI CMG Publishing) / Word Music, LLC (ASCAP) / Banahama Tunes (ASCAP) (adm. by Word Music, LLC)

Halloween (Part 5) : Pumpkin Patch, Hobo Night

Our family loves yearly traditions, particularly as the Holidays approach. As a SAHM and the crafty one around here, this usually means that 'making it happen' falls to me.

It used to be that I could 'do it up big' without any trouble at all and enjoy every minute of it. But with a toddler at home, things have changed. For some odd reason I can't seem to pull it all together like I used to. Judah just can't keep his hands off all the fascinating new stuff that comes out this time of year by way of decorations.

I bought an interesting gourd a couple of weeks ago at the grocery store, and have found it in no less than four unusual spots around the house...all at toddler level. Same with the spools of curling ribbon and then the pie tins I'd set out to bring to Hobo Night for the dinner (in fact, I never did locate those before we had to leave).

In spite of all my advance planning and lists and errand-running ahead of time, I was still up way-too-late the night before baking Jericho's teacher's treats (Pumpkin-Pecan mini-muffins) in some cute little pumpkin boxes I found at Michaels. Jericho loves giving some sort of treat to his teachers for every special occasion, and this year he did up the 'extra special' box for his favorite teacher.

Baking pumpkin treats made the house smell like it usually does as it gets closer to Thanksgiving, stirring a little excitement about the coming Holiday season. My guys enjoyed taking those treats in their lunches, too.

:: ::

THE PUMPKIN PATCH

We managed to squeak into the Pumpkin Patch at the last minute the night before Halloween to make good on the promise to our boys that we would go to one this year. Both boys enjoyed the slide and the bounce house.

Jericho very bravely tried the Bungee ride.

This particular place had a beautiful display of different types of gourds, squash and pumpkins, corn stalks and Indian corn for decorating, which made for a really great background for our pictures.

The pumpkins were ridiculously overpriced, however, except for the scarred one I got for fifty cents (which I used for my 'gourd and squash' sculpture at the Hobo Dinner pictured below), so we went to the grocery store afterward for our carving pumpkin.

:: ::

HOBO NIGHT

Being that Halloween fell on a Wednesday night (and thus also our AWANA Club night at church) we held a big party and had a "Hobo" theme. Many of the kids came complete with bandana sacks on sticks (just like in the old cartoons) and most had gone to great lengths to look pretty convincing with ratty hair and dirty skin.

Some of the ladies from our church fixed up the fellowship hall, covering the tables with newspaper so that it resembled a soup kitchen, and everyone had "Hobo Stew" out of tin dishes. After dinner, there was costume contest, with winners in three categories receiving gift certificates to Baskin Robbins and a couple of other places as prizes. It was a whole lot of fun for everyone there. Judah won "cutest" hobo, and ran forward to give daddy high-fives when it was announced. Funny kid.

Here was the decoration I was going to have in our trunk for Trunk-or-Treat, but the parts mistakenly got brought into the fellowship hall (where it was assembled in haste just before the dinner was to begin) by accident. My sister's family enters things like this in their local Fair every year, and I've always wanted to try it, but was never inspired until I saw the gourd that comprised this little critter's head. Any guesses as to what it's supposed to be?

Afterward, just before it was time to send everyone home, the kids all got to go Trunk-Or-Treating out in the church parking lot. I've never seen so much candy in one place before. The empty sacks from all the candy filled a big garbage can...and it was stuffed full! It was then divided into bags and boxes which leaders put in their trunks to distribute as the kids came by. To say there was lots of candy was an understatement! Our church folks were very generous in their donations of candy, and we had a lot of very appreciative kids there..

My friend Chrissy took Judah around Trunk-or-Treating while I manned a candy station. Once he got the hang of it, he was about ready to say anything he could to get more candy in his bag...and even pulled out "Appy Bir-day!" a couple of times. He made a pretty cute little hobo if I do say so myself (and yeah, that would be the one on the left) though the one on the right isn't too bad if your tastes run towards bikers, lol.

My husband's hobo costume did look more like a biker, or so he was told by most of the kids in attendance. That bushy black beard that is made of the same acrylic stuff that quilt batting is made of...except that it kept shedding these hairballs of black hair around the grounds at church. A couple of times during the night, Judah spotted these clumps, and had to bend over to inspect them and alert whoever he was with at the time, "Daddy's hay-er". I laughed myself silly over that one. Big brother had the 'dred' look going on.

Because we were gone at the time Trick-or-Treaters came by, we'd left our pumpkin out with a battery operated flickering votive inside (which is what looks like teeth on the sun) and a bucket of treats with a 'Help Yourself' sign.

I think Jericho was hopeful that there might be some treats left in it to add to his stash, but naturally (thankfully!) it was empty. As if he needed any more!

The kids didn't even protest when they went to bed earlier than usual, we were all so tired and worn out by the time we got home.

Even this little fella, who we found stretched in the trunk when we arrived home.