Mom's Wedding

Big sister

Little brother--with a black eye and scab from falling down the stairs about 4 days earlier
Me with ALL my sibblings -This doesn't happen very often!

Mom and Bob and all the offspring

The happy couple

Our sweet flower girls -- nervous, excited and proud!!!

They did a great job and even Mic didn't back out...

We didn't get good pictures of the ceremony, little D had just woke up grouchy from his nap and it took all we could do to keep him quiet and happy so that we didn't miss it completely. Here's a little peek, but it doesn't do justice!

The cake!

Thinking on the Wedding.

The message on Sunday spoke about seeking God in the desert. About living out those times when nothing makes sense, when life is hard. Drawing on what we KNOW and have experienced with God in the past when the soul is feeling nothing and His presence seems so distant. We looked at the life of David and some of his experiences, including his time spent in the literal desert. ...so what does this have to do with my Mom's wedding?
At the end of the church service on Sunday we took time to worship. And as we worshiped God for who He IS despite all that whirls around us, I began to reflect on Mom and Bob, their wedding last night and all that lead up to that event. They are living examples in the here and now of hope and renewal despite tremendous trial and pain. Things like "loss of spouse" and "terminal illness" are things we all hope will never touch our own life. I saw Mom lean HEAVILY on God's grace as she muddled through all the emotions and pain that losing Dad entailed for her, among other things, being alone, a sense of loss of purpose, depresion, sadness and so much more. All the healing that has come little by little as time marches on culminated on Saturday night at her wedding. Six years after we lost Dad, I see my mom, not crippled in bitterness, nor wallowing in self pity, but rather, whole in the Lord, and now, in love, face glowing, laughter spilling. And my soul swells with praise to God who truly does give "beauty for ashes, joy for pain". ...In His own time and way He makes all things well.

Photos

The day before we flew, my friend, Lore, and her little boy came over.

Here's the kiddos hanging out with their buddy Josue.

Upon arrival (about midnight) pulling out the camera didn't even enter our minds.

Thus the following sequence of pictures skip right ahead to our week (of baby sitting my sisters kids while she lead crafts for the campers) at the beautiful,

Drift Creek Camp!

Hiking the trails

Look at the giant shrooms on this tree!

Of course it wouldn't be Drift Creek with out slugs!

Throwing rocks in the creek

We had such great weather, this one afternoon the green grass, daisies, sunlight and happy kids were just irresistable--I couldnt stop snapping picutures!

Cousins!

Good ol' camp food--D loved the sloppy joes

A family shot--and everyone is looking at the camera! (Thank you, Courtney!)

Check List

• Survive the flight with two small children. Check!
• Clear customs with no problems. Check!
• Hug mom. Check!
• Meet Bob. Check!
• Make a LOT of blenderized diet. (Thank you, J, for loaning us your Vitamix--what a life saver!) Check!
• Have a great week at camp. Check!
• Find a cute, affordable dress to wear at the wedding. Check! (PTL!!!)

Oh, yes there have been some gliches along the way. The most frusterating being that Mic's vomiting has been flairing up ever since we got here. I think she has thrown up more in the last week and a half than the whole last six months before that. (sad face) BUT in general, so far, most everything else about this trip has been overwhelmingly great, and the best is yet to come!

I will try to do a picture post relativly soon. And if I am to busy having fun with the fam to post the pictures, I promise that I will for sure get some up afer the wedding!

Stay tuned! LOL

Imitating

Parenting has a way of giving us unique glimpses of how the Lord must view us at times.
Yesterday morning I got quite a kick out of watching Mic help me give her a tuby meal. There are a lot of "details" about the process which I have not even tried to explain to her becasue she would not comprehend, yet what she does is imitate my movements, sometimes with such uncanny perfection that most details are covered.
The Lord calls us to be imitators of Christ.
I couldn't help but think of how much I lecture my daughter sometimes...and how ineffective it is. We are wired to imitate and learn well by watching and copying.
We cannot imitate that which we are not watching.
The Bible tells us to "fix our eyes on the author and finisher of our faith.
Mic just gave me another clear, hands on example of how important it is that I pay attention to what I am focusing on as I go about my day to day. So I ask myself and you, dear friend, where are our eyes fixed today?

(Referneces: Eph. 5:1-2, Heb. 12:2-3)

Chocolate vs. Margerine and Green Juice

Oh, my...a week ago yesterday since I last posted. Sorry! I try to keep it to at least once a week or more! What can I say? Busy sounds lame, but its the truth! : )
So, Little Miss "I hardly eat anything orally" has decided that chocolate is the over ruling exception and she is now officially an addict. A few days ago she was begging for chocolate for breakfast and I gave my good little mommy speech about how "chocolate is desert, not breakfast". That morning about the only thing she ate orally was a dab of straight margarine that she picked off of the top of her bread. ...Hee, hee, I'm a little undecided here...did I win or did I lose!? :o)
Potty training. This topic is so depressing that I'm not even sure I should bring it up. But I am in a real dilemma. We travel in a week. We will be guests in other peoples homes for 5 weeks. And none of them have cement floors like I do, nor a couch that is already so peed on that it just doesn't matter. I have tried everything, I've tried getting really mad (not hard to do when frustrated), I've tried the "calm mommy" approach, correction, rewards, consequences, pressure, no pressure, reminders, no reminders, praise, indifference, lectures...seriously, I don't think theres anything that I haven't given a fair trial. We are tallying about four wet accidents a day and roughly 4 messy accidents a month. And going on about 10 months since we kissed diapers goodbye because SHE SHOWED ME SHE WAS READY! BIG SIGH....That, is not potty trained. So, what to do? If I use disposable pull ups for just one day she visibly drastically digresses. I can't imagine using them (or paying for them) for five weeks. I also can't imagine cleaning urine or worse of off someone else's beautiful carpet. WHAT am I going to do!?

I'm trying to think of something happy and inspiring I can write about to end this little blog entry and all that comes to mind are Little D's temper tantrums which are anything but happy and inspiring! LOL

Oh wait, I got one! The other night for supper I was feeling inspired to make juice. This was my concoction:
6 oranges--hand squeezed
3 guayabas--with the seeds removed
a handfull of beautiful fresh parsley leaves
a serving sized spoon of sugar (if you are avoiding sugar you could use honey)
about a cup or cup and a half of water.

Whirl everything except the orange juice in the blender until completely liquefied. pour in pitcher, add orange juice and icecubes and serve. my oranges added a LOT of pulp. You kind of had to chew, which doesn't bother me, but some people might not like since its supposed to be a "drink". It turns out a beautiful, or "gunky" green color--it all depends on your perspective! : ) And I am curious. I am trying to remember if this is something I could have had and enjoyed before I lived in Mexico for several years......I'm not sure......so I'm curious if this actually appeals to anyone else or if it just sounds gross. Anyhow even the little boy "who will touch no vegetables" enjoyed half a glass! : )

Rant and Irony

So... I decided it was time to look for pair of presentable maternity pants as I'm pretty lacking in that area. And what a surprise was to be had! Apparently, maternity clothing is a dying market. Every department store I have visited in the area unapologetically informed me that they no longer carry maternity clothing as the blouses in style now are loose anyway and will work just fine. Have you ever heard the like!? I had to bite my tongue to keep from asking if they just expect us pregnant gals to go naked from the waist down or what. We did find that the little overpriced boutique style maternity shops are still in business--thank God for clearance racks!

Often times I feel like my children are a psychological study and my job is to discover what makes them tick. The latest irony. Toy structures at restaurants and fast food joints. Twice recently we have gone out as a family with the main motivator being play, and "eat" coming in very secondary. The scenario goes something like this. As the car pulls into the parking lot my children spy the play structure and loud cheering and happy sounds erupt from the back seat of the car. As we enter the building the excited words "play" and "toys" are heard repeatedly. As we enter the play area and pick a table the children begin to quiet and press in towards my legs and at the suggestion that they go check it out clinging and protest begins. I, quite frankly, was not a clingy child, not even remotely. In fact, I was probably a little too extreme the other way. I've given this several laps through my brain, but the truth is that I truly do not "get" this!

And in closing, a few more fun pics! My MIL crocheted a dress for Mic. The Sunday her aunt left it was complete and ready to wear. Mic LOVED it. I think that because it fits her a bit long, she feels like a princess in it.

Dancing
Proud with Auntie and Grandma

A Potpourri

First things first, thanks for taking time to pray for us. We got a good doctor yesterday, and while, of course, it wasn't all that pleasant (what blood draw is?) overall it went pretty good, despite the loud wailing on Mic's part. She spent more than five minutes searching for a vein topically and trying different tricks to get it full, but when she did finally go for it she got it on the first try. That made me very happy! Thank you, Lord!

And below I give you a random mix of pictures from the last memory card unload. ...Enjoy!

For about two days of 90 degree weather this is the way Mic INSISTED on dressing herself. ...silly girl!

Peace. I love watching my children sleep. I know this almost looks posed but it wasn't, thats how he went to sleep...doggy and all!
Brushing teeth.

We made Tia Angie a goodbye BBQ--Yum!

The 16 week bump : )

Prayer Please

Tomorrow morning will be Mic's blood work for the Endocrinologist. Remember? The labs I said would probably get done in Aug. or Sept. Well, apparently the doc felt these were important and despite being officially "booked" through August, he worked her in for June. I didn't expect or even ask for that...wonders never cease!
I have a few specific prayer requests concerning this event. Would you be willing to help lift us up?

• No rain!!! We'll be out the door about 4:45am and due to the case of the disappearing electrician, we still don't have wipers...the weather is looking pretty iffy as of now. We did one trip in the dark/rain combo last month--it was really not good...
• That they find her (tiny, well hidden) vein on the first prick.
• That Mic can stay calm during the whole thing. Because of the nature of what was ordered I'm pretty sure they are going to need several vials, my worst fear is that she will fight it and it will turn into an awful ordeal.
• That the Lord put us in with just the right Doc, one who has a "soft touch" and knows what he is doing...please, please, no kid doctors.
• That *I* can stay calm too. Oh, on the outside I'll be fine, but needles near me or my children have a way of turning my insides into jello and making me all shaky.

Thanks so much...I knew I could count on ya!

Thats MY cousin!

So last week my cousin had her track state finals. And I am so proud of her accomplishments! Please, just take a couple minutes to watch her races at the links below. Seriously, you won't be sorry--if nothing else take 30 seconds and watch the hurdles, she really is amazing. She is only a sophomore in highschool. So... with no further ado, I give you the privilege of watching what my friend aptly described as "graceful lightning".

Relay:
http://www.runnerspace.com/video.php?do=view&video_id=12898

100 Meter:
http://www.runnerspace.com/video.php?do=view&video_id=12905

Hurdles:
http://www.runnerspace.com/video.php?do=view&video_id=12918

You can't miss her because she is in a green jersey every time and surprisingly is about the only dark skinned lass out there. And well, to keep it simple, she is the one that is winning! :o)