Random

I know I know! I've been MIA for over a week! How in the world did that happen? Well, I've got lots of reasons...children, traveling, holidays, visiting, sleeping, eating, eating, eating... See? I've been busy! And because it's been a while since I've updated this, I thought I'd give you a little something random. Just to catch you up.

We left last Sunday for Denver, spent 3 days with my parents and 3 days with Mark's. We had the "big meal" at the Palmer's crib and had a great time with family. Yeah for family! Pictures to come later.

Just because your house is child proofed does not make it Jack proof. If there's a cupboard, Jack will open it. If there's a drawer, Jack will empty it. If there's a book, Jack will hunt you down and have you read it to him. If there's an open bathroom door, Jack will enter and eventually play in the toilet. If there's food, Jack will beg for it. If there are stairs, Jack will attempt to walk down them - very scary. If there's a potted plant, Jack will play in the dirt. If there is something that makes noise I guarantee that Jack will find it and make noise with it. If it's drum-able, Jack will drum it. Jack is just that good. Jack makes for a very interesting vacation.

I'm excited to put up Christmas decorations and very unsure about putting up a tree. Because of my very curious and active one year old, I am terrified - for the first time ever!- to put up my tree for fear of it falling down...numerous times. Mark says he needs to learn not to touch and we'll just have to watch him. Easy for him to say, he's gone for 6 of the 8 hours Jack is awake each day. My mind, I know, will not be on the tree 24/7. So we may have a half decorated tree {I certainly do not want to find ornaments all over the house for the next year} that is tied onto the wall {not sure how that will happen-I'm still thinking that over :)}. Life is interesting.

Kale likes school...except when he has to do it. Actually he really likes to read and do science. He loves history and science and even learning to read his own little books. He just dislikes the math and spelling parts. We're working on that. A lot.

Kate loves to learn on the computer. We've found some websites that keep her thoroughly entertained while Kale and I do schoolwork. She sits happily next to us with her head phones on and learns letters and numbers. It's wonderful. I have no idea how school will work when Jack drops his morning nap. I'll have to worry about that once it happens.

She's doing better since she started taking Singulair. We've noticed a slight improvement in her attitude. We're wondering if she's sleeping better. We'll see. We have another appointment with the allergist next week to check in. We'll have to see what he says.

Mark doesn't read my blog so I threatened to share embarrassing stories about him on here but sadly I can't think of one at the moment.

I haven't bought one Christmas present and I'm totally bummed. I have them all picked out, bought and wrapped in my head. Sadly that doesn't do me much good.

We tried to see Blind Side while we were up in Denver but they were sold out. Poo!

I'm reading a great book - and it's not even for book club! - called Amish Grace. It's a true story about the forgiveness and grace the Amish extended after the school shooting in Pennsylvania. Very challenging and very encouraging. Challenging to me to be better at extending grace and forgiveness to everyone and encouraging to see God's love poured out by His people. Good read!

I have 7 loads of laundry to catch up on, a bathroom to clean and empty {since we will be gutting it next weekend}, suitcases to put away, a van to vacuum out {food+7 hour drive=huge nasty crumb nightmare}, a nap to take {for my sanity}, 10# to lose {that's what happens...}, books to pick up {thank you Jack}, and dinner to prepare. Sounds like a fun afternoon huh?

Have you ever...

...been trying to make an important decision {either for your house, your children, your job, your ministry etc} and felt overwhelmed with information? TMI! {too much information!}

I have. This past couple months with Kate have been a challenge in this area for me. I want to make the best choices for her and her health. If I look up one point of view I can find a hundred articles agreeing. If I look up the opposing view point I can find a hundred more. It is so difficult at times to feel like you are making the best and safest decision. I think it's more overwhelming when you have children because you are responsible for them. Ultimately God is responsible for them and I absolutely have been challenged more and more to put them in His hands and trust Him.

I just don't like that when I'm trying to make an informed, wise decision I feel overwhelmed with opinions. What exactly is the truth and who is telling it?!

TMI!

Thankful Thursday - the poem

This is one of my favorite books to read to my kids.

I'm thankful each day for the blessings I see,
and for all of the gifts that God's given to me.

And counting the stars at the edge of the sea,
I can't help but feel they were put there for me.I'm thankful for summers and warm golden days.I'm thankful for autumns of orange pumpkin haze.I'm thankful for meadow and bright colored flowers.I'm thankful for raindrops and soft summer showers.Each sunset is special...Each sunrise is new.Each breeze in the trees is a promise come true.

Each evening's a wonder where beauty abounds.
Each morning's a harvest of new sights and sounds.

And it's nice to know that beneath winter's snow
The blossoms of springtime are beginning to grow.I'm thankful for friends, for laughing and sharing...I'm thankful for family, for loving and caring.I'm thankful for all the kindness I see.
I'm thankful for peace and pure harmony.

My body's a present of perfect design.
My mind is a power as endless as time.And if ever I worry that trouble is near.
I always remember I've nothing to fear.

For each hour is laden with God's perfect love.
Each second brings comfort and joy from above.And I guess in the end the best thing to say
Is I'm thankful for living, I'm thankful each day.

And so it has begun

During Kale's quiet time on Monday he was busy. Busy drawing and practicing his letters. I thought how wonderful that he's so into learning! Haha! This is what he was writing:

"Shre No Kate"
Translation: Sorry No Kate
I was actually very impressed that he did his best to sound out the word sorry and that he took the time to apologize to Kate that she couldn't be in his room anymore...Like her curly hair?

"Not Kale Mark Jack Toyb"
Translation: Kale Mark Jack and Toby can come in.
Just boys apparently. Not sure what category I fit into.

Kate was obviously saddened at this news so she asked her brother if he could draw her a picture for her door. He did.
"No Kale"
Needs no translation.
I'm not sure if Kale has a full beard though.

Who me?

This past Saturday Mark and I, and the rest of our church staff, were blessed beyond belief by another small group at our church. Before I get into what they did I want to share that October is Pastor Appreciation month. A month designated for people in church congregations to appreciate their pastors {and that why it's appropriately named pastor appreciation...not sure why I felt the need to explain it...}. Anyway! Every October {and for lots of November too. we are Durango you know and people here run on a different time schedule :)} we are blessed, blessed, blessed by wonderful people in our church.

They shower us with their gifts and talents and every year we are speechless. Last year you may remember that a home group came and built us a new deck. Our home group that we attend came and painted our living room. We've received pies, bread and cookies {and 10 extra pounds...}, gift certificates to stores, restaurants etc. Seriously. People bless our socks off!

This year was no different. Our incredible home group gave each pastor's family a basket filled with yummy goodies and gift certificates. De-lish! And again 10 extra pounds.... ;)

And now back to my story. Another fabulous home group invited the church staff to their home for a fancy dinner - childcare provided! Um heck yeah! Food and childcare. Great combo!

After dropping our kids off with their babysitters we made our way to dinner. As we're walking up the black and white balloon lined walk to their house, several ladies came outside and took pictures like paparazzi. It was hysterical! All of the wonderful members of this group were dressed in black and white like professional waiters and took our coats, seated us, served us and all around blessed us.

The tables were set fancy like a very elegant restaurant. They served us salad and bread, steak {or salmon but everyone picked steak...go figure!}, asparagus, baked potato with all the fixin's, and for dessert, brownie with peppermint ice cream. Oh my golly we were in heaven! It was so nice to be able to sit and stuff our faces talk with our friends.

And then one of the ladies, Sarah, got up to thank us all for our service. She teared up as she shared about her life changing because of Christ and how she so appreciates our work, our ministries, our families and our examples. She made me tear up. I was so touched.

As we drove home that night Mark and I talked about the experience {pastor appreciation} as a whole. I am blessed by it but can't help but think - who me? I don't feel like what we do is so special {please do NOT comment and say it is -- Tiffany! I love you :)} . I really am not typing this to fish for awesome comments or to pretend that I'm humble it's because I really am baffled and think - who me?

I look around at our church and know - 100% - that it would not run for one minute if we didn't have a hundred and fifty some odd volunteers. Not one moment of ministry would exist if people weren't willing to serve. Not one worship song would be played {Mark sings. That's it. He's learning how to play guitar and piano but he's a long way from leading with them.}, not one children's class would be taught, not one bulletin handed out, not one coffee served, not one video shown, not one women's ministry event put on if not for volunteers. Staff are awesome and I love each of them. But we all know that it's the people of the church who make it a wonderful place to attend and to serve. There are many people in our church who work full-time jobs throughout the week, have families, hobbies etc...then they come and serve at church. Some for a couple hours, some for 10 hours, some even more. On top of what they already do! They cook, clean, take pictures, teach, give... They give of themselves over and over again. They are my heroes!

Who me?

I know I would minister even if I didn't have the privilege of serving with Mark {he's the paid staff but I consider myself staff - we're a team}. I would serve my friends, my church no matter what. The huge blessing that I have is that we get to do it and get paid! We/I love it. So much. So when people say thank you I think

Who me?

I am blessed by the people I call family here. I am thankful for their appreciation. It humbles me. Really. I am so thankful for God's love for me shown through these individuals. What a gift. It's not me, it's the Holy Spirit - and as Pastor Kevin would say "of course it's the Holy Spirit. We knew it wasn't you!" :) hahahaha! love it.

Whoosh went the weekend

Busy weekend. Gone.

Shopping, shopping, sleeping, book club, baby shower, appreciation dinner, church, staff pictures, and eating about a bazillion calories too much. Done. And now it's Monday. And Kate is sick. Again. With Strep. *sigh*

But! I think she's getting better and I'm trying to get her better without having to go to the Dr. We'll see if this works. If there's no improvement tomorrow then I'm calling. She is not getting worse though so I'm still very hopeful.

I have several blogs rolling around in my head {making tons of noise - kind of like marbles} now I just need to sit and type them out. That will come.

I also had a few pictures to share of the kids' new dress up clothes. They each modeled one outfit for Mark. We have our princess bride and Optimus Prime.

And since Jack didn't make the pics I have to share a sweet story about him. Last Thursday night while Mark was at worship practice I was home with the kids. I had put Jack down around 7:45 then got the other 2 down a bit later. About 8:45 he starts crying. Hard. So I go check on him, pick him up, give him something to drink, give him some Tylenol and teething medicine {he's having a miserable time with his teeth} and laid him back down. By the time I got to the door he was crying again. So I let him cry a couple minutes to see if he could put himself back to sleep. He didn't so I went to get him up. He did not quiet down till we got to the couch and started snuggling. We snuggled {and I was in heaven} for about 10 minutes or so. Then he sits up, looks at me and does the sign for all done. {we've taught all our kids sign language and I love it! They know please, thank you, hungry, more, thirsty and all done. Helps so much with pre-speaking communication!} I looked at him and said all done what? He didn't have any food or drink. So I got him to snuggle up again and we sat. Only for a moment before he pushed back and signed all done. By this time I'm thinking he must be meaning all done snuggling. But really? So I picked him up and carried him back to his room and laid him down with his blanket, just to see if that's what he meant. Sure enough, he curled up and didn't make a peep for the rest of the night. He was indeed "all done" snuggling!

Thankful Thursday

Ok, one last post on Stellan {yeah right!}.

Today I am soooooo thankful he is going HOME! You have to read the amazing story of how God has changed this little boy's life forever! They were able to get the SVT taken care of. No more heart monitors, no more medication, no more scary bouts of SVT. There are still things to overcome but they are small in comparison. I am definitely thankful for this answer to prayer.

What a blessing!

PS. If you didn't know, click on the bolded type. It is a link to the story.

Veteran's Day

I will sadly admit that in my past I have not been a supportive, thankful, grateful American. I just didn't understand all that our military has done for us. I've definitely had glimpses but I think having children has made me more aware and more thankful for the sacrifices the men and women of our armed forces have made for us. No matter your beliefs we are all here, all sharing our beliefs and freedoms because of the sacrifices made for us.

I am able to live where I want, marry who I want, worship where {and frankly Who} I want, have as many children as I want, support and not support what I want, send my children to school or not if I want, teach what I want, and vote for what I want because of people who have fought and died for that freedom, that privilege, that right. And I am now a supportive, thankful, grateful American.

Today I took the kids to our town's Veteran's Day parade. We've not been able in the past to attend but today I said no matter what {baring any sickness of course!} we are there! And we made it. Just fine. And it was awesome.

There's something about seeing all of those people who have sacrificed and who are sacrificing now {families of those serving}.

Ready for the parade to start.Main Avenue and some friends we watched the parade with.
Yea for loud motorcycles and trucks and bagpipes and marching bands!
He actually is happy even with all the noise.
Kale and Anna

Kate holding her hand over her heart as the flag passes by.

One of Kale's buddys from church, Isaiah. His folks are our wonderful pastors. He's proudly marching in the parade for his bro.
The cute lady in the red shirt is our pastor's wife, Linn. She is part of the Blue Star Mom's and is carrying a sign with her son, Tyler's, picture on it. He serves in the army as a Ranger.

The Gang + Anna and Bennen

Kale was super excited for the Mini-Cooper. His dad has been brainwashing him...

The gentleman on the little car on the left is our insurance agent and friend Tommy Tucker.

Kale cheered pretty loud for this old Mustang.

How fun to have your cement poured by this!

Jack was tuckered out. He did great till lunch. Then he had a couple bites and lost it. He eventually fell asleep on daddy's perfect size shoulder. So sweet.

And now it's Tuesday!

I apologize for not posting this update on Stellan earlier. I haven't been able to sit at my computer {last post was scheduled}. I knew that yesterday I was going to cry for Stellan. I was just hoping and praying that it would be joyful tears. And it was.

The sweet, little boy got out of surgery last night and, according to his mom, is SVT free! You got it. The surgery was difficult, long, and very tedious but by God's grace {and a wonderful doctor's hands} this little boy has been given another chance at life. With a whole heart! You just have to read the story to believe it but let me tell you, tears of joy were shed at my house. How wonderful it was to see that prayers from all over the world were answered for baby Stellen. I do not understand why other prayers have not been answered for babies just as deserving as Stellen - prayer is definitely something I do not totally understand - but God says to pray so I do. All I know is that this prayer was answered, this boy is alive and getting better all the time, and I will rejoice and be glad! Amen!

I also wanted to share a quick update on Kate. I took her to see an allergist this morning. The pediatrician we saw while she was so sick a couple weeks ago recommended that we go get her checked out to be able to rule out any allergies. She wasn't positive that she had allergies but since we hadn't had her tested before she though it was wise. So we met Dr C today.

He's a very nice older Dr. Very sweet to Kate {who wasn't really in any sort of mood to see any Dr, again}. But we made it through. At first he didn't sound convinced that we needed to be there. When I told him about all her illness this past year alone {strep, walking pneumonia, influenza, ear infections, and colds - one which required hospitalization} he figured we needed to have tests done to see if her immune system was developing and if she was having trouble with that. But he thought we should do some tests too, again, rule things out.

They put 10 different possible allergens on her back - dust, mold, juniper, cat, dog, hay and a few others I don't remember. When he came back to check on them I think he sounded quite surprised at what he found. He said something like "Boy we have a very allergic little girl here". I hadn't looked at her back. I had spent the time trying to distract her from scratching it. So after he saw it was the first time I had a glance. And yes, she had reactions to several things on her back. Definitely allergic to juniper trees {of course our house has lots of those surrounding it}, hay {we live across the road from a hay field - gets Mark and I every spring and fall}, mold {um yeah I'm pretty sure we've got some of the that}, some dust and slightly allergic to cats {but not enough to justify getting rid of our cat}. Apparently it's not common for young kids to have these types of allergies. They haven't been around for enough seasons for their bodies to become sensitive to anything. He said it was definitely not common when he started practicing but it has gotten more and more frequent.

So. It's somewhat of a relief. I'm glad to have possible reasons for her asthma issues. We are starting her on Singulair (?) tomorrow and trying that for a month to see if it helps. Hopefully we are on our way to managing her allergy asthma. We also will need to step up our bathroom remodel. Unfortunately we have a leak in our bathtub and know that it is leaking into the floor. We had planned to redo it after the holidays but it may not wait that long. If it's leaking worse than we thought there very well could be mold in our floor or under our house right by Kate's bedroom. And it would be nice of us, as parents, to try and eliminate at least some of the things that are giving her a hard time :) So we'll see how things go after Mark and I have a chance to do some talking over the next couple days. I may have a remodel to blog about! Won't that be just insanely crazy....

A.K.A.

MOM
aka.
nurse, doctor, pharmacist, teacher, cook, waitress, housekeeper, chauffeur, coach, dictionary, thesaurus, encyclopedia, therapist, advice columnist, safety inspector, bath giver, sewing machine, carpenter, dentist, costume designer, dishwasher, censor, singer, random song writer, artist, dancer, pastor, prayer warrior, mentor, friend, disciplinarian, librarian, Ms. Manners, accountant, grocery shopper, germ cleaner, personal assistant, household manager, cheerleader, hostess, baker, gymnasium, jungle gym, punching bag, telephone service, baby birth-er/nurser, laundromat, pet sitter, early bird riser, toilet trainer, diaper changer, booty wiper, kiss/hug/snuggle dispenser.

And I wonder why I'm tired at night...
{By the way, the above picture is me around 5pm most nights.}

It's still Monday!

I am back, as promised, continuing our update. Also, Stellan is in surgery right now. Keep those prayers coming. It's a very complicated surgery and he's so small... Thanks for praying!

Ok so our weekend started on Friday. We decided to take the kids to Farmington so we could shop at Target and the dollar stores for some fun gifts for Operation Christmas Child. We wound up finding everything we needed at Target. Whoohoo! I'll have to show you our finished projects once they're finished of course. After shopping we had a little bit of time to kill before lunch so we drove around looking for a thrift store to see if we could find some kids clothes. In the middle of driving Jack started losing it. We figured he was sick of the car and a bit hungry so we quickly got him out and thought he'd be great walking around the store.

We were wrong.

Our thrift store shopping lasted about 5 minutes. I was searching through racks of clothes {seriously! do they not know how to separate boys and girls clothes and then put them in sizes! maybe I'm expecting too much for clothes that are $2.00 a piece...} looking for Kale and Kate's sizes and Mark was trying to keep Jack happy. Not working. He cried all around the store and it echoed!

So we decided that it was the perfect time to go to lunch and beat the crowd. We headed to Chili's {had some gift certificates there}. Jack was not having it. I took him to the bathroom to see if he needed changing. Nope. And boy can his scream echo in a bathroom too! So he and I spent some time screaming in the parking lot of Chili's while Mark ordered us all lunch and sat with the other 2. Two more attempts were made and failed to get Jack in the restaurant. Finally Kate got some oranges with her lunch and we tried those and it settled him down. Literally he had been crying for an hour and a half total. So not fun.

The rest of lunch was quick but quiet{er}. Then we headed home. Sadly Jack was still pretty ticked so he cried for most of the 45 minute trip home. So much for a fun-filled Friday. I'm guessing he's teething and has been for weeks. Much different than the other two. He's very good at expressing his feeling about teething, being hungry and being tired. None are fun for him in his world. I don't blame him though. He definitely gets his schedule messed up as the youngest one. I just wish I had better tricks to keep him going.

Anyway, that night Mark was at church doing a funeral and the kids and I went to our awesome small group. We had a blast. Jack is able to sleep in a playpen over there so he goes down at the right time. The other kids are able to stay up a bit later and play. They love playing with their friends there.

Saturday our small group met and went to one of our member's house to help them with some work around the house. We've done it twice now - different people - and it's been awesome. What a gift to have a group of people help each other out with different projects that are overwhelming with one or two but a piece of cake for 10! We helped the Dendys tear out a bathroom they are going to remodel and move wood chips to help with the mud in their back yard. I was a wood chip shoveler, mover, spreader, wheel barrel-er maniac! And for the rest of the weekend my legs, arms and back were very mad at me....Not as young and in shape as I used to be. Oh well.

Sunday was church. Got up early, got ready, got the kids ready, got in the car, drove 2 miles and Kate throws up all over herself. Ok. So she and I are not going to church. Poor thing was miserable. Although she usually is on Sunday mornings. It's not a Sunday without one child throwing a fit and resisting getting woken up early. Usually it's Kate. She's not an early morning person. So we didn't think much of it. We asked if she was feeling ok and she said yes she was "fine" {although we're not sure what that means really, if fine is angry about her clothes that she picked out the night before, angry about her shoes, angry about how cold her clothes are, angry about wearing glasses, then yes, she was fine}. But apparently she wasn't fine {fine as in my stomach feels marvelous, wonderful, suberb, fabulous!}

So Mark dropped the two of us off at home and took the boys to church. They were very late.

Kate and I got changed, got her clothes and car seat cover in the wash, and snuggled up on the couch to watch...what else?....princess movies! We watched Cinderella and Beauty and the Beast. I've gotta say, prince charming is lazy. The guy does nothing to get Cinderella! His servants do. If he really loved her he would have chased after her and not stopped till he found her. I'm just saying...Belle on the other hand is awesome. She's smart, kind, compassionate, loyal and confident. And she falls in love with someone and isn't worried at all about his appearance. I think I'd rather have Kate model herself after Belle and not Ariel {Little Mermaid, not a movie we watched but it's her favorite one} who rebels against her father, makes a pact with a sea witch and puts herself in danger. All for a man!

So I'm not sure where all that came from but back to my life.

Sunday evening was pretty uneventful. Oh except for it was Kale's turn to not be happy with us. He fell asleep about 10 minutes before he was supposed to get up from his quiet time. We let him sleep another hour but when we woke him up...bad news bears. I've never seen him so cranky. We let him go back to bed for the night {which is what he was begging us to let him do} but he decided after a half an hour of laying down again that he was hungry after all and wanted to join us. He was happy as a clam the rest of the night. Go figure!

We have a busy week ahead. Kate has a Dr appt tomorrow. We are going to see an allergist to see if there is something in our home that is causing her to have problems staying healthy. Seriously, in the past two weeks we have had someone sick every day. And it's just the beginning of cold and flu season! We've got to try and keep them as healthy as we can and if something is wrong in our house, well we need to fix it. I'm just praying it's something fixable!

There's the haps at the Palmers. So many more things I could talk about but am running out of nap time. Kids'll be up soon and I've got things to do!

It's Monday!

This is the day the Lord has made. I will rejoice and be glad in it.

I wanted to update on the happenings in our lives but I can't do that until I share what's been on my heart for the last few weeks. I blogged a couple weeks ago about a little boy named Stellan. I have prayed and cried for this little guy. Again, I don't know why I've been drawn to him or the other people in the blogs I follow. I guess I can't help but think "It could be me." Struggles, hardship, tragedy. It happens to anyone. It doesn't pick or choose. Life is hard. At any moment I could be walking these walks. I know God will give me grace when I need it. For now I pray for His grace in these people's lives.

Stellan did not make it home for his birthday. He was too sick still. He did return home a couple days later but was told that he had to go to Boston for another heart surgery. His heart condition was getting worse. As of right now he and his mom are in Boston waiting for surgery. They had to wean him off of his medication that was making his heart beat correctly before they can do surgery. As they began weaning him his heart starting beating too fast again. Like over 200 beats a minute. This morning his heart stopped. They were able to get it going again but they have to get him stable before they can do a very risky surgery. The surgery was scheduled for Tuesday but he will not make it till then. They have to go in asap.

This little guy is intubated and sedated. They are working hard at saving him and I have been in constant prayer all morning. He's a month younger than Jack. I sat with Jack last night and just prayed and prayed. So thankful to hold my little one. So thankful he's healthy and he's home with me. So sad for Stellan's mom. I can only imagine the emotions that she is dealing with, alone, in Boston. Please pray for them today as you think of them. This is a day that will forever change them, no matter the outcome.

Jesus, I pray for Jennifer and Stellan. For peace in their hearts - literally and figuratively. You have saved this little boy over and over again. I pray you do it yet again. Please be with the Drs as they work on his precious little heart that you gave him, you designed, you created but that the yuck of this world has tried to destroy. Stellan is a crawling, breathing miracle. He has defied all odds. Because of You. We trust You. Put Your mighty hands on that little boy's heart and make it whole. Make it new. Thank You for hearing our prayers. Thank You for Your grace. May You pour it out on this family. In Jesus' name. Amen.

I have run out of time. Children are getting restless :) I will get back on later and update you on our family. Thank you for listening. Thank you for praying.

Have you ever...

...really, really, really, really, really not wanted to cook dinner? I cook almost every night. I realized that the reason I love to eat out is because I don't have to cook it, clean it or hear complaints about it. If only it didn't cost so stinkin' much! I honestly don't mind cooking but there are days when I wish I had the luxury of feeling like this:


However in light of my post yesterday, I am thankful for my kitchen, the food in it, and my wonderful family to feed. See?! I can still find good in the middle of my whining :)