Answered Prayers

I can't believe that yesterday I flippantly said, "Well, could we pack anything more into this weekend!?" I wasn't complaining but I wasn't exactly being thankful for the blessings of this full life with which God has blessed me. "But now that we have lost our appetite; we never see anything but this manna!" Numbers 11:6

Once again I am reminded of how good God is even though I don't deserve his daily blessings. How patient and loving He is while in return I grumble and complain about his blessings - even if only kidding. Thank you God for daily manna!

How deserving He is of our utmost praise. How blessed I am for His mercy and forgiveness. How reassured I am of His presence.

How ironic that as I have read about the Children of Israel in the past, I was judgmental of their grumbling and complaining in the presence of God. Here I sit overcome with shame over the same sin. God be merciful to me a sinner!

O God, forsake me not!
Take not thy Spirit from me
And suffer not the might
Of sin to overcome me.
Increase my feeble faith,
Which Thou Thyself hast wrought.
Be Thou my Strength and Power--
O God, forsake me not! Amen

Could we pack anything more into this weekend? YES WE CAN. And by the grace of God we press on. An emergency to trip to Madison; wonderful care from doctors and nurses; many prayers from family and friends and God's mercies are new each morning. God is good!

Building those memories

Today was an ordinary day.

I woke up to 5 screaming boys. What a treasure. My two sons, my grandson and two of their friends.

I was tired. So much so I felt ill. But I got up and I pushed myself.

I made chocolate chip pancakes for "my" boys.

Gage left with his dad and the rest of us got ready to go to the pool.

David and Jack laughed and screamed and ran and played. I was a little tense as you could expect with 4 year olds around water.

And then I looked -------- really watched ------- and David, with a big smile on his face, was running into the water and then onto the dry cement in awe of his footprints. I had no camera with me but my heart took a picture.

So special to see these moments of pure joy and happiness experienced through innocence and youth. From a mind not yet burdened with life. From a boy whose energy level was unaffected by the 4 times he was up last night.

The house is quiet now and I am going to bed. Just another ordinary day . . .

I am so blessed. Thank you God.

Memory Work

I have been wanting to share this for awhile and today is the day! Many women have asked me about this since I have shared it in a Bible class and with a few others. It works for me so it may work for someone else too.

I love to study the Bible. I also really love to memorize scripture but I find the older I get the more difficult this becomes. I piece of advice I would give younger folks is making reading scripture part of your daily routine when you are young and don't forget to add memorizing a passage here and there to that!

To help me in my goal to add scripture to my life I use my scrapbooking - of course. I'll wait now while you put on your surpised look. I use a little photo book that can be purchased at Walgreens between $1 & $2. It holds about 36 photos or I should say 36 memory cards. (See photo above - this is one of the unaltered photo books) As I am reading the Bible I have my blank index cards close by. When I see a passage I really like I flag it and when I am done with my reading I put it on a card. I usually use my colorful markers. Sometimes I just use the computer and use color. The color seems to help me memorize. Once in a while I even doodle on the cards to help me memorize. I also get a lot of my passages from books I read like the ones by Elizabeth George - whatever speaks to me at the time.

When I go for a walk the little book goes with me. I keep two books. One for passages I want to memorize and one for passages I have already memorized and keep reviewing. I usually take the one of passages I have already memorized with me and just stick a passage I haven't memorized in there too for the 20 min walk. That way I can review and look at the new passage. The book goes with me while I fold laundry or when I am making dinner. I can usually get a passage down in a few days (with verse) if I stick with it. The review really helps. I just can't seem to keep this all in my head for long but this really works for me. Now I fall off the wagon for days sometimes but then I see my little book (sometimes it is in my purse) and I am reminded to get back on that horse.

What do you do to memorize scripture?

Blessings!

Why do I scrapbook?

It's been a while! But with a free weekend ahead I had to update my blog. Scrapbooking is definitely taking off. I love to surf the net and look at everyone's scrapbook pages. Everyone seems to have their own reasons to scrapbook!

Why do I scrapbook?

It started as a little hobby. But after 10 years of collecting stuff for this hobby and never producing anything I had to think about why it was I wanted to do this. After the addition of our little surprise package (see page below) my reasons started to change. I basically decided to scrapbook after David was born to be able to leave him some of the things I have given to my older children and may not get a chance to with or for him.

Most of my scrapbooks deal with David and then Richard. Why? Because Katie and Mike have already had me for 25 years and David and Richard haven't. I have set my priorities for scrapbooking accordingly. I obviously don't keep track, lol but most of my stories etc., are geared to help teach the younger two things I hope Katie and Mike have already learned from me. You never know.

How do I scrapbook?

In 15 minute chunks of time. I have tried setting aside an hour or a day or a weekend and have always just set myself up for disappointment. I was just never productive during those times. When inspiration strikes for a story I want to write I take a few minutes and write out the story. Next time I have a few minutes I go pick out some pictures to go with the story. Next time, the papers, then figure out how I want to throw it together etc. Sometimes I will leave the gluing until I have several pages and then if I do get that golden hour or more to myself I let my creativity (ahem, scraplift) go wild and add embellishments and glue everything down. It feels so good to finish a page - even if it does take me a few weeks. ;)

Here is one that took me a week to complete. Happy David will have this to look at some day!

Taking a writing class

It is the best class. It helped me journal on this layout that is very important to me.



If you press on the picture you should be able to blow it up big enough to read the journaling. People have asked me how the family does with all these hospitalizations and I think it answers what it is like. It is what it is. It pulls at our heart strings and we move on. But the biggest thing I think this layout will do is help David and maybe even Richard to someday understand how tough these decisions and situations can be. It is not easy to leave Mike alone in the hospital for days and it is not easy to leave small children at home without their mom. I hope this just lets them see into each others world a little better. Teenagers can spend a fair amount of time feeling sorry for themselves. Siblings of chronically ill children are no different. When those times come I hope this and other layouts will help them remember the feelings of love that we all share.

Peace out!
Gina

This was fun

I worked on this a lot today! It sure was fun and very difficult. The last in my class. I haven't done anything for weeks and it felt great. Completely digital. Learned some really cool stuff. I needed the distraction!






I did this one a few weeks ago. I sure love learning new stuff on the computer! And I really love looking back at the layouts. My Library of Memories is growing!

New Class - New Post

This class is so intense which means - I'm having SOOOO much fun. I love to be in a class. It's something to look forward to for me. I like the self-paced ones the best because I can usually firgure things out from videos and handouts. This layout probably took me about 3 or 4 hours with watching the videos and moving along with them. I would now do a few things differently but I am really pleased with the result and the ability to document something that just happened a couple of weeks ago. Love the Helen Keller quote too - may change it to a scripture passage before I print this!

Hope you like it too! Blessings on your day!

Another page - for my LOM class

Had a really great time going to my category drawers and pulling these photos that span 4 years. Happy for the opportunity to document something important for my boys to read someday.

Blessings!

I played today

I just so wanted to do a scrapbook page. That's it - just throw some pictures and a little paper together and have a page. It was almost that easy. The great thing was having my LOM system in place. It helped me just grab these pictures which span 7 years in just a matter of seconds. Awesome. I will forever struggle with colors and what to put where but I'm gaining confidence with each layout. I haven't grabbed glue and paper for a long time so tonight was the night!! I'm thinking more and more I'll probably use my computer for the majority of what I do but there is just something about that glue and layering. Just wish I could be a little more accurate and QUICK! Journaling reads: RESPECT I love that Richard loves getting dressed up for church. He seems to have a keen respect for Worship and likes to put on his best. Without help he will pick a suit or a really nice sweater to wear when he is headed out to a church service. Even at a more relaxed Monday night service you will usually find him in a shirt and tie. Many pastors have stopped to comment. Paul sets a good example!

LOM started today! & Valentine moment

Just a quick hello to everyone from LOM. We did a blog roll so I hope some of them stop by. LOM - Library of Memories is the most awesome class to help you organize and use your photos to their utmost. I took the class last year and get to audit it this year for free - whoo hoo!! If you have a minute check out the Big Picture website and sign up for one of Stacy Julians free classes. If you need help email me back and I can walk you through registration. It is so worth your time.

Today I handed out valentines to my two kids and the other 4 day care children that were here. While everyone else was busy opening the candy my David spelled his name on the card and then said, "Thanks mom for this wonderful book!" He was just so impressed this little card had his name on it. It was the sweetest moment looking at him with that big smile on his face as he studied the simplest card I had ever made him (was actually feeling a little guilty for not having put forth more effort). Kids are awesome!!

God's blessings on your day!!
:)

Where did Pollyanna come from?

It was about 1984 and I had a one and a two year old at home. After seeing the statistics that families break up and are scarred for life that deal with Cystic Fibrosis I decided to seek counseling to be sure that didn't happen to us. Dr. Franklin was great. He asked if he could do a full blown psycho analysis on me. I said sure why not. It was intense and multifaceted. When everything came back I made an appointment and he began. "This turned out exactly as I had expected," he said. "See these numbers 1-10 here Gina. Well, a 1 or a 10 wouldn't be good news. Everything should be pretty much down the middle. 4-6 are ideal." He then showed me the sheet with all the data. I looked and scanned down the numbers and there was a 1 and a 10 everything else was right down the middle. I looked up and said but I have a 1 and a 10??? He said, "Yes, I know. The one is how you react to stressful situations. I would be concerned about that but I understand after meeting with you for some time now that you have a very strong faith. . . but your son has a fatal disease Gina. Yes, I know but God has it all in his hands and everything is going to be just fine," he teased(speaking as if he were me). "Maybe I should be concerned but I'm not, you're just a Pollyanna with a strong faith and that is just fine."

So that is how the Pollyanna thing started. Many doctors and nurses have said the same thing to me over the past 25 years and I'm sure there are some who would tell you I'm nothing but a pessimist. lol I do understand that many times people will ask me how Mike is doing and I tell them. I may be a Pollyanna but I AM REAL. I would have to lie to sugar coat things and make it all Rosy all the time and I just can't do that. I tell it like it is and hope people know me well enough that I don't have to go on and on about how it is going to be okay! It IS okay and God works all things out for our good. Sometimes that good is right there and visible and sometimes we just have to hold that promise close to our heart and trust. But anyway that is how Pollyanna came to be. I just know things always work out when you let God take the wheel. I am very optimistic about the future no matter what that holds because I know who holds the future. He's right there with us every step of this journey and the one thing CF has done for me is keep me very close to God in my daily walk. I am so thankful.

Oh, and the 10??? That was for intelligence level. Really kind of funny because I'm not really "book" smart but the test was more analytical and I got a 10 out of 10. He said he had had some doctorate types take the test multiple times trying to score a 10 and couldn't. I'm sure I couldn't do that again ;). But it gave my self esteem a little boost :).

Have a blessed day - make it a good one!

Pain/Blessing

Isn't it amazing how God can bless us when we least expect it?! I got sick this weekend. Still not sure what was wrong but I do know what was right! I got to sleep!! After two years of sleeping pills I slept unaided. Now you may be thinking what is the big deal but let me tell you there have been times I have felt nothing short of tortured with this whole sleeping disorder thing. I have tried to get off the sleeping pills but when I don't take at least 1/2 a pill I get ZERO sleep that night. And let me tell you - running after 4 kids 3 years old and under on ZERO sleep is not easy. (But thankfully with God all things are possible :)) I got sick - ran a fever - even missed church but I slept!! It has now been 4 nights without sleeping pills and I am VERY thankful. Praise God. Amazing how he chooses to bless us :)

Feeling so blessed - just had to share! Blessings to you this week!

Last night of class

This was an awesome class. This is the last lesson in the series. I have learned a ton.

512 - Oh my!!

That is the number of pictures I took in January - or I should say the number of photos on my computer for the month of January 2009 - yes I have actually already deleted some. YIKES! I really need to be better about taking pictures. Limiting it that is. I mean really, who can manage over 40,000 pictures. That is the number I have total - in the digital format that is. Many more in the hard copy photo album form. DOUBLE YIKES. I'll take ANY suggestions! I am determined to pare this down! I will once again take Stacy Julian's Library of Memories class and I'm hoping it will help in HOW I take my pictures as well as how to organize and get the stories on paper. Many times I think I should just give up the idea of scapbooking but I really do enjoy it most of the time.

So what is the point of taking pictures? That answer I'm sure will be personal to each person answering but I think I will need to revisit my answer before I decide how to best handle the situation of the overflowing photo albums. Over indulgence in anything is just NOT a good thing. I do NOT want to become a slave to these pictures! But really how much time does it take to

take

upload

file

organize

decide which to print

upload to print shop

pick up

put in albums

scrapbook

And I missed a few steps in there. Could be sinful! lol And I wonder why I can't keep up on the dusting and laundry! lol

But think about this - when you pass your photos down to your children and they add them to the thousands they have . . . seriously overwhelming. They'll probably just pitch most of them or they will rot in a huge box b/c no one will have enough time to sort through them. Library of memories here I come!

And with that I will end this with a picture from Jan of 2007 - oldest one on my hard drive right now. David enjoying his first chocolate chip cookie and Rich being a goof behind him. Have a great day!

From my class - cousins

Cute little cousins aren't they?!

Home safe and sound

My nephew Gary is home and safe. Prayers have been answered. He got off the plane from Afghanistan this week and was able to make it home to see his family. I didn't get to see him b/c I wasn't feeling well and didn't want to spread my germs but what a blessing to know he is safe. A huge thank you for his service to our country as a Green Beret. THANK YOU GARY and all the active service men and women!!


This is a picture of Gary while in Afghanistan. Still such a cutie :).

How have your prayers been answered this week?

I finished Matthew

On schedule too :) Now it is on to Mark. Love the People's Bible. I tell everyone it is like having a Pastor in your pocket to answer all your questions as you read along. Get yours here! I am so thankful to have the whole set :)



And look at this cute bookmark in the picture. I'm not real crafty but I needed bookmarks and thought I should use up some of the thousands of pictures I have! Novel idea. On the back are two pics - one of two younger boys and one of Katie and Mike dancing together. I love it.

Blessings!

From my Digital Class tonight

Everything is Beautiful

I'm changing up my blog a little. I'm going to create a new blog for my Project 365 photos and start to use this blog for the reason I created it. If you look you see I created this blog in 2007 and only posted once until a couple of weeks ago. My intent was to keep family and friends posted about our daily lives but also blog our experience of living with Cystic Fibrosis.

I had searched the net and found so little. Well that has changed :). The other night I was in a chat room with some wonderful women. We laughed and laughed and it did my heart good! I found a few new blogs and am so appreciative of the people out there willing to share their experience.

Because I so appreciate the sharing of information I will do my best to occasionally update the situation here in hopes it will help someone else like others have me.






This is my cute son Mike :) He is 25 years old and living with CF. This is our everyday. Here he is hooked up to the "Vest" that helps him be independent and do therapy on his own. He does this at least twice a day along with the neubs you see hanging from his mouth. This $16,000 piece of equipment has been a tremendous blessing in our lives! The tubes from the compressor attach to the black "vest" and shake the mucus from his lungs to help keep them clear :)



This is also Mike.



And when he's not doing that (because it's too cold) then he's probably doing this:





He's a pretty good dancer and instructor. He works hard at it!


Now I didn't get the name Pollyanna for nothing but I also believe you should keep it REAL! If I didn't I would feel like that would be denying Mike's experience. So here's to keeping it real! More to come.

Remember - you don't die with CF . . . you live with CF :)


And one other thing - for you newly diagnosed families, CF is much different today than it was 25 years ago and your journey will be quite different. There have been so many advances in medical technology - Praise God.

Blessings! Email us if you have questions :)

Chicken Chili

First let me just say I don't "normally" use boxed mixes etc., etc., BUT. . . my sister-in-law made this and even though it is SUPER easy give it a try b/c it is really awesome and has become a family favorite :)

Chicken Taco Soup
2 - 12oz cans white chicken - OR - chicken breasts cooked and chopped up (I do my own)
1 small onion chopped and sauteed
1 - 16 oz chili beans (I use medium sauce)
1 - 16 oz can white beans (mine say northern)
1 - 16 oz can pinto beans
1 - 16 oz can of corn
1 can Ro-tel tomatoes (i use small one with chilies)
1 larger can diced tomatoes (i use whatever is on sale)
1 pkg taco seasoning (I've used all different kinds - no difference)
1 pkg ranch dressing (the dry kind in the little package)

Throw it all in a crock pot or dutch oven - DO NOT DRAIN ANYTHING. Yep, just open cans and packages and throw it all together. sinful isn't it. Add tomato juice/or sauce if you want more liquid.

Then you really just need to cook long enough to let the flavor cook through. You can put this in the crock for several hours or just simmer on your stove for a few hours.

Top with shredded cheese, tortilla chips (my son prefers corn chips) and some sour cream. It is SOOOOOOO good and really fills you up. You can make this as hot or mild as you like! Just use mild chili beans and no chilies in the tomatoes if you have small kids :)

Let me know if you guys like it. Even my 8 year old loves it.

Jan. 25 - Let's Celebrate

at WLA.

Toys, candy and face painting. What could be more fun?!

Jan. 24 - Grandson

Katie (my oldest - she is 26) took the boys to the Children's Museum in town with my grandson Gage. Gage loves to fish. Mom/Grandma got a little break :) The boys love to play with their nephew Gage. Our house gets very LOUD when they get going!

Jan. 23 Basketball Debut

Richie got to play for 4 minutes during half time of the Varsity game. He had a blast. Love this photo with the big boys :)

Jan 22 - 4K here we come

Aren't they just TOO cute! My little men :)

Jan 21 - Chicken Taco Chili

YUM

Jan 20 - Wow

Romans 13:1 Everyone must submit himself to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God.

So comforted that God doesn't make any mistakes :)

You are my God and I will exalt you . . .

This is the day the Lord has made;
let us rejoice and be glad in it.
O Lord, save us;
O Lord grant us success. . . .

You are my God, and I will give you thanks;
you are my God, and I will exalt you.
Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good;
his love endures forever.

Such passages of comfort. Not from my Bible reading today but lead to them as I am reading Matthew with the People's Bible commentary and just at the beginning of Jesus' suffering and death. The commentator asks to have you read Psalm 15-118 to see how they relate to the Passover dinner Jesus shared with his disciples and instituted the Lord's supper. Just before these wonderful passages above is a passage that Jesus uses to show his disciples some of the prophesies about him:

The stone the builders rejected has become the capstone;
the Lord has done this,
and it is marvelous in our eyes. Psalm 118:22-23

Reading through the passion of our Christ and looking again at what he "DID" - "for us" is comforting. Knowing that an all loving God is working all things out for our good.

*******************

Contemplating and pondering my time in Tishbe . . . thankful for this time to grow. Sorrowful at the loneliness it brings. God is faithful and good.

*******************

Not many pictures this week. But thankful that I can and have opportunity to take them. At this time last year I could not get a camera within 3 feet of my face (and let's not even think back to how hard it was to get dressed, lol - thanks hubby). I was teased about not having my sidekick - the camera and it was a long road back. Thankful to be able to move again after my fall and rehab. I think I'll go take some pictures today to celebrate :).

I really like this one

I have wanted to do this for a long time. I saw this a couple of years ago on a scrapbook show. Fun to turn the photo to sepia and the erase back in the natural bird color from the original photo. Let me know if you like it :) You can click on the photo to see it larger.

Jan. 18 - My Boys

Paul found this suit for David that looks just like his so today they got to wear them together to church. They all look so handsome! So thankful it wasn't so cold today! I'm glad we only live a few blocks away :).

Tried my hand at a little homemade version of a photo overlay. This little frame was done with the rectangular marquee tool and the stroke outline selection from the edit menu. The font is getting to be a favorite - it is called Amelie. I actually paid for this font. First time I ever did that :).

Jan. 17 - conquering those fears

The cold spell finally broke and the kids were able to go outside - hallelujah! lol David romped through the snow and was so happy. My niece Makayla was over and she stayed outside with him. He needs the practice picking those feet up and not falling down! They didn't last long outside - Richard's asthma has been acting up and David said he was cold. But they had fun for a little while!

Jan. 16 - see what I mean

He's as big as the bath tub! I've been wanting to take this pic for a while. When I see him "swimming" in the tub I always think - wow, he is as long as the tub! Gotta love the cookie cutter tool in photoshop elements ;) so I don't get arrested for porn, lol.

Jan 15 - one of my least favorite jobs

. . . and thanks to hubby who usually does 99.9% of it. Changing over either season of clothing or sizes. Yuck. This time it was due to much needed size increase. Paul brought up 4 tubs of size 4T. Our little guy is getting big! In my book this job rates right up there with taking down the Christmas tree! lol Thanks honey!

Jan. 14 - bumper shot

Daddy went to Kohls after school tonight (practice called off b/c of the cold) with a 30% off coupon. David needed new undies - size 6!! He's getting so big. He had to try them on when Dad got home! He just kept saying, "Thanks Dad!" He loves CARS! After supper I realized he still had them on, lol. I had to snap a pic :).

Conversation at breakfast this morning:
David: "I want to do feelings Mom."
Mom: "We can do the feelings chart after Jack and Gavin get here."
David, looks at Richard: "Richard are you happy?"
Rich: "Yes."
David: "I'm happy too!" "Mom, we're happy Mom!"

I needed to hear that today. God sends just what we need when we need it. Love these boys!

Jan. 13

My hubby, Paul, coaching the girls JV team. He gets so intense. They won 71 to 34 or something like that but he still gets fired up if the girls don't follow through on the plays the way he taught them! :) I'm always surprised when I go and watch b/c he so isn't like that any other time. I get a kick out of it. Wonder what it will be like if our boys play sports . . . we shall see! Rich and David had fun and just love going to the games to see Dad!

December Daily

Just a quick note that on my sidebar is a picture link that leads to all pictures of my December Daily album. It was something I did this year that I would highly recommend to everyone :). You can start whenever you want but the thought is to take a pic and journal every day through the holidays as a remembrance of how you celebrate. Most people do Dec. 1 - 25 but I chose to start the day before Thanksgiving and end on New Years Day. I am thrilled with the result. All base pages are to be put together before you begin to make this a simple album to keep up with at a busy time of the year.

Click on the link and it will take you to a gallery of all the pictures. Click in the upper right corner to see a slide show or click on an individual pic to see it larger.

To read more about this project go here: http://aliedwards.typepad.com/_a_/december-daily-album-2008.html Ali Edwards had step by step instructions on her blog and then kept a Flickr group of every one's stuff that participated. Awesome stuff out there.

Another digital layout

I finished another layout tonight so I thought I'd throw it out here :). I'm taking a self paced Photoshop Elements course and I can't believe how quick and easy digital is. Still won't give up my scissors and paper but this is fun to try and keep up my skills on the computer!

Jan 12

I do childcare in my home. I have three little ones (including mine) 4 days a week and two one day. We try and do "circle time" at least two times per week and sometimes three times. Usually Mondays are tough - kids tired from the weekend etc., but today everyone stayed on task and was ready for more. We practiced our cutting skills. They just cut and cut until they don't want to anymore. They cut for over 10 min. today! Pretty good for 2-3 year olds! David loves to cut very tiny pieces. I'm just so thankful when it is all done and we all have all our fingers (and Hair! ;)

Digital Scrapbook Page

I did this page in just a couple minutes and thought I would throw it out here to share. I love my Photoshop Elements 7. A gift from hubby for Christmas! What a sweetie!! Remember, click on the image above to see it in a new window bigger!

Jan 11

One of the perks of being a teacher and a coach I guess would be to be able to use the gym in the winter. hmmmm I can honestly say that in 10 years I don't think I've ever followed hubby over to school with the kids and played - until today. It was fun. We'll definitely have to do this again. David loved it too!

Life is good!

Jan 10

All the gang here today! Katie, taking her turn with Richard's Guitar Hero DS! Yes, the kids are a little on the techie side too! It's not a bad thing :)

From left, grandson Gage, Katie (the oldest), Richard (8) and David (3). Mike wasn't in the pic - he is second oldest.

Jan 9 - "Mom, don't broke the Christmas tree!"

Said by a very enthusiastic for Christmas three year old! But it can't stay up all year and today was the day for the tree to retire to the basement for another 11 months. What a mess it makes when it all comes down. Of course I forgot stuff now that all the bins are under the stairwell in the basement! Urgh! :)

Jan 8

I love the footprints in the snow - they say, "Children live here!" My Richie having fun playing outside. I ALWAYS have to call him in. He would stay out until completely frozen if I would let him!

Poor David, we haven't been out much at all this year. One of the downsides of having an old mommy who is afraid to fall and get hurt again. I'm going to try harder to get him out. The new boots I got over Christmas will help! :)

But truthfully he is hard to take out. He falls all the time and is a little frightened also. When I ask if he wants to go out he usually says no. He still has problems with depth perception - something he may always have to live with. With his eyes being so crossed he can't always figure it out. I think all the white stuff throws him off and it is hard to see the little hills - you know? Better safe than sorry. He fell again today - more like he gets scared and then sits or slides down! Poor little guy - doc said he may learn depth perception to some degree. We'll keep praying and in the mean time be very thankful he can see as well as he does! Praise God!

Jan 7

I couldn't pick just one!

Okay, for what I lack in creativeness - I try to make up in just a tinsy bit of techno geekiness! hah!

My sister Terri gave me the book, "Simplify Your Holidays" by Marcia Ramsland, for Christmas. It's a great book and I will try to implement some of her wonderful suggestions for next Christmas. For now she said to take a picture of all your decorations to help things go more quickly next year. So today I ran around and took several pictures of our Christmas decorating - which, sad to say gets less and less every year it seems. But humble as it may be here it is in one photo! lol I couldn't pick just one photo out of the group so I used six. I made a blank photoshop document and pasted in six 3x3 tiny pics then downsized for the web and uploaded. I have documented how to do this on several sites as people ask me (I also use this on my monthly 12 on the 12th pages) so I would be more than happy to help. Let me know. I am going to open up my blog today so ask away :)!

Now a little explanation of the pics:
1. This Nativity is made out of fabric! It is awesome and sits just inside my front door. The kids can pick it up and study the pieces and alas - many a day the baby Jesus goes missing. He seems to be a favorite with the kiddos. We always find him and he goes back to his cradle! This was made by a dear friend. Priceless

2. Aren't those ornaments beautiful. They are one of the few things DH Paul has from his fraternal grandmother. She made them herself. We have several different ones on the tree. I see a scrapbook happening here to just document all the ornaments and how special they are so that if something were to ever happen to Paul or me . . . you know :). Priceless and irreplaceable!

3. The snowman is a scream. He didn't get batteries this year. He is cute and activated by motion when he splits down the middle and his top goes up and music plays and a winter scene goes round and round. Well folks what goes up must come down and last year he tried to take Jack's finger with him. He is NOT kid friendly and it was hard to get his finger out of there. I don't know who was more scared - me or Jack! So NO batteries this year - maybe next year :).

4. This is my built in buffet with fake (allergies you know) poinsettia and runner. Our house was built in 1910 and the buffet is built in and beautiful - love to show it off with seasonal stuff!
5. This little Nativity sits up in our window (love the lead windows) all year. I think we should always think of the nativity ;). Good reminder of what Christ did for us!

6. This little Nativity sits on a coffee table and yes that is just a towel under it. lol I couldn't keep the boys away from it so I just protected my table and let their curiosity be fulfilled. They picked up the pieces and rearranged them everyday. We've had this for a long time but there really is no special value or meaning so I say - let them play and observe - surprisingly nothing was hurt in the least!

So that is my "one" photo for today! snicker, snicker
P.S. You can click on any of my pictures and they will blow up much larger for viewing in a new tab.

Jan 6

My cute little crosseyed boy. I just had to take this photo - hair a mess and gobbling up his scrambled eggs and toast. He ate like a little piggy today. After 2 years of almost never eating I am so pleased to see him dig in. Today I said to David, "Do you know how much I love you?" And he replied, "Yes, I do!" I don't know which is better - the first time a child says I love you or the first time they acknowledge they know how loved they are! Love this boy!

Jan 5

My hubby, Paul, chopping away at the ice after the ice storms we've had. This picture really shows how thick it got. Hard on his back but he doesn't want anyone to get hurt. With my daycare kids coming and going on a daily basis we have to be careful :).

Jan 4

Katie and Gage came over after church. They went to church in West Bend. I was very happy that Mike joined us for church at Faith, even if he didn't sit with us. :) Wii is still a big deal and Richard and Gage played for a couple of hours. Of course Katie got to play too! Richard is getting to be the expert. I am still so thrilled we got this for the kids as a family gift. It is everything I had hoped it would be and is bridging the generation gap of this family :).

Jan 3

Today was a special day. I got to have breakfast with three of my Aunts, my Mom and Dad, my sister, and a cousin. Now of course, this just doesn't happen by chance. Someone has to make it all happen. That someone was me, lol. Aunt Rosemary's birthday is January 4th so I decided we should all take her out for breakfast. I called her two sisters that are healthy and my Dad (her brother). I got my sister to join in and my cousin Karrie, her daughter-in-law. We met at 8 a.m. on a Saturday morning at the Delta Restaurant in Oshkosh. Not exactly convenient for me from Fond du Lac but worth the effort to get to see all these special people. My father is so blessed to be 75 years old and still have five sibling living. He doesn't see his brother Paul much but his sisters certainly enjoy his company. So it turned out to be my Dad and all the girls. FUN

Again, I can never stress enough how worth the extra effort these things are. My Aunt is 74 today and my Dad is 75. Aunt Jean was 86 in November and Joyce was 76 in November also. How often will this really happen? Well God willing it will happen again in February for my Mom's birthday! Pictured top row: Me, my Dad, David, Aunt Jean, and my sister Terri. Bottow from left: Mom, Shirley, Aunt Joyce, Aunt Rosemary and cousin, Karrie!

Later in the day Paul and I drove to Oshkosh to have dinner with my brother Darick and his wife Anne. We went out early so we could beat the predicted ice storm coming. I had left my sweater in Appleton at the museum and Darick had left his shoes at our house when I hosted our Christmas get together on Dec. 26. Of course I forgot to take them with me when I saw him again at the museum, urgh! Paul and I usually only get out to dinner about twice a year. After a quick dinner that was just over $20 thanks to the coupon Darick had, paying the sitter $20 and gas and all, I remembered why! lol I'm not complaining, I'm glad we're able to do this once in a while but it will be a few years before we're able to do this more than once or twice a year :) What a fun family filled day to end our Chrismas festivities!

Peace

Jan 2

I took over 100 pictures today - hard to choose just one. But I chose this one because I have so few pictures of me with my siblings. Darick (far right), Dennis (middle) and I took our kids to the children's museum in Appleton. The place was PACKED but the cousins (all 8 of them) had a great time. I love getting together with family. I hope my children will also put a lot of value on special times with family members when they are older :)

Jan 1

Here is the first picture for Project 365. I took this of Richard as we were celebrating New Year's Day with our favorite treat - shrimp cocktail. He loves it and so does Mom but we're the only ones so this was a special little treat for a special day.

Project 365

Jumping on the bandwagon here and signing up for Project 365. What a wonderful way to remember all the blessings of a 365 day period. I scrapbook but really it's more faithbooking than anything. I look at Psalm 103:2 Praise the Lord, O my soul and forget not all his benefits . . . and I think - yet another great reason to scrap/faith-book. To remember all the wonderful things God has done. How he has answered prayer and how he continues to bless on daily basis. How fun this will be to look back at 365 days of His blessings. Happy 2009!