Coincedence?

I have a quick thought! I came on to read the motivations for moms and it said to do something special for your kids to show them you care for them, like making their favorite meal or taking them out for ice cream. Well were taking the kids to baskin robbins today! Been planning it for a week, but how funny that that's what today's motivation was!

I also had my 3 hour glucose test today....so glad that's over with. It really wasn't too bad, but after the 4th blood draw is when I started feeling not too good. I was driving home and by the time I got there, I was on the verge of passing out. A combination of the fasting, the 100 grams of sugar in the glucose drink, and the 4 blood draws. Yeah it was great! But when I got home Chris made me some lunch and I laid around for a bit and I was fine. But man isn't there a less barbaric way to test for high blood sugar!

Anyways, it's over now. Nathan is doing pretty good, he's got a few more pox today and some are very uncomfortable for him, but Chris and I have been keeping calamine on him all the time and giving him his meds. You really wouldn't know he's sick unless you saw the pox. Anyway I put a pic on here for you to see him with his calamine on.

Well love you all and talk to you all soon!

I asked for excitement!!!

Well it's almost humorous after looking at yesterday's blog, that I had such a quiet day and even said that maybe today I would have something exciting to blog about. Well I got my wish! Nathan came up to me this morning and showed me stomach which had some red spot on it and a couple on his face. I thought, "oh no". Only because I knew the neighbor had chicken pox a couple weeks ago. So I had Chris look at it and he said he thought they probably were and that I should take Nathan to the doctor, and then the excitement started. I called and got him squeezed in as a first time patient which included us waiting in the car for 2 hours to be called in, because they dont want kids with possible chicken pox infecting the waiting room. We finally get in to see the doc and he said it looked like the beginning stages of chicken pox but being that he's been immunized it would most likely be a mild case. So we leave with perscriptions in hand and a note for the school. He'll be out most likely for a week, but with the dr's note it wont count against him and they're putting him on independant studies also so he'll get credit for his work. The dr perscribed calamine lotion and a type of benedryl (which was nice because ins. covered all of it). Yay! He gave a pint of the the benedryl with 3 refills, so we'll have that stuff for the others if they get it. Now, I"m pregnant.....so that turns into another slew of phone calls to my midwife to find out if this is serious to me or the baby. Luckily I had chicken pox as a child, so the chances of me getting it are slim to none, and even if I did, the chances of the the baby having any effect from it are less than 2%, so I"m not too worried about it. I'm just going to continue taking my vitamins and putting my faith in "the great Physician" who knows what I need right now! Anyways, any prayers for comfort and speedy recovery for Nathan is greatly appreciated. You can also throw in that God would boost the rest of my kids immunity and spare the carnage of 5 kids with chicken pox on a pregnant lady! :-) I've got to have a sense of humor about this or I'll just lose it! So excitment is what I got! I hope your all have a "less exciting" day and I'll definately be updating you all! Thanks for the prayers!

Quiet Monday

I'm not really even sure what I'm blogging today, I guess to keep my promise to myself that I would get on here everyday this week at some point. Today was like I said, very quiet. Caught up on a little house work, but mostly laid around and was lazy. I dont know if it's the weather or the fact that I cant sleep well lately or a combination of both, but were all inclined to a day like that right?...or at least that's what I"m telling myself. Anyway, I just wanted to check in and say "hey" to everyone! Hopefully tomorrow I"ll be inspired to write something exciting! But until then I bid you all good Monday! God Bless! Love ya!

"Joseph-like"

Hi everyone! I hope your weekend is starting out well. We've been studying the life of Joseph at church and what a blessing it's been. Probably one of my faves in the bible. I'm reading in my commentary at home also and my goodness the amount of info in it is soooo awesome! The first thing I loved that he pointed out was that Joseph aside from Daniel is the only person the Old Testament with no mention of sin and that a full one-quarter of the book of Genesis is devoted to his story (chapters 37-50) and God only uses a mere 5 words about His creation of the universe. It speaks highly of what's really important to God, and I believe that it's the character of man. Anyway, the thing about Joseph's story, and all of us who've studied it, or been taught about it at church, knows the likeness between Joseph and Jesus is remarkable. Let me point a few from the commentary:

~Joseph was hated by his brothers(Gen. 37:4)/Jesus was also (John 1:11)

~Joseph was looking for his brothers (Gen.37:15, 16)/Jesus was also seeking those who were lost (Luke 19:10)

~Joseph's coat was stripped from him (Gen.37:23)/ Jesus' robe was also stripped from Him by the Roman guards.

~Joseph was sold for 20 pieces of silver (Gen. 37:28/Jesus was also sold for silver.

~Joseph was taught to have been devoured by an evil beast (Gen. 37:33)/ Jesus was also thought to have been devoured on the cross for our evil sin but both come out the victor!

~Joseph imprisoned with 2 criminals, one who hears words of salvation and the other doesn't (Gen. 40:1-4)/Jesus hung on a cross between 2 thieves, one receives salvation and the other doesn't (Isa. 53:12)

~one of the 2 criminals imprisoned with Joseph was a butler who dreamt of a cup and the baker dreamt of bread/the 2 elements of communion? bread and wine.

~Joseph was made ruler over all the land of Egypt (no one could do anything without Joseph's permission) Gen. 41:43/"Without me you can do nothing" Jesus said. (John 15:5)

~Pharaoh gave Joseph the name Zaphnath-paaneah, which means "revealer of secrets". The perfect name for one who is a preview of Jesus./for many mysteries are revealed in Him (Rom 11:25)

~Joseph was 30 years old when he stood before Pharaoh/Jesus was 30 years old when he began His public ministry.

~Seven years of famine would affect the land of Egypt/so the seven year tribulation will affect the entire planet.

~Joseph saved the land from famine/Jesus will save the world from tribulation!

What an awesome picture of what God can do with a person's life who is completely surrendered to Him. I love the story of Joseph because he wanted nothing more than to please God and bring Him glory and the Lord blessed an uncountable amount of people because of Joseph. It's inspiring to me to know that if I put a fraction of faith in the Lord as Joseph did, what He could do with me and through me! I hope you all are inspired by Joseph's story as much as I am and even more so by our Lord!

Blessings and Love,

Such is life...

Hey all! Just to update everyone, today was very busy and hectic. But I got through it, whew! Anyway, I had a rough night last night, kiddos up late for some reason, and I couldn't sleep. I tossed and turned all night, don't know why, but I do have a nagging suspicion it was anxiety about the dental appt., the house buying, the endless paperwork, the doctor's appts, the 3 hour glucose test that I still have to squeeze in to my already hectic schedule. So needless to say I missed SMILES, which is becoming really sucky. I probably wont be able to come back aside from the last session, but at least I'll get to spend some time with my ladies before it ends. I'm kinda depressed about the whole thing, because I dont think I'll get to go next year either because David being in kinder will conflict with the time. It's part day kinder so he'll either start or get out during SMILES. Such is life I guess, especially this stage of it. I know God has something in store for me though. And it could quite possibly be with my children. He might really want me focusing mroe on them and learning from and being with my new baby. It's probably what I need to do anyway, but it's hard to know I'll miss a year!

But the dental appt. went fine, so that's one less thing to worry about. I did have several errands to run after the appt. and with no kids. It was a much needed break! I got some stuff at Joann's for Annies (my sister) baby shower gift, and browed around Target and went to babies-r-us. I signed up for their rewards card and got some awesome coupons. I also bought a pack of white onesies in newborn. They're my first purchase for the baby and soooo cute and tiny. It was nice to look around, I just wish I knew if it was a boy or girl so I know which direction to look in!

Chris picked the kiddos up from school and took them all fishing in Wrightwood. They had a great time exploring and David and Jeremiah each caught a fish. They had a great time. I'm so glad he's able to spend time with them, they really love it and him. Chris is at bible study right now and I'm getting ready to put the kids to bed. We have about 75 pages worth of escrow docs to look over and sign tonight too. Whoo-hoo! I'm not complaining. God is good! And I DO NOT give Him the time He deserves. I've got to get a hold my stress and anxiety and put Him as the priority not the convenience. He knows my heart and my love for Him, but Im in such a better place when I give Him that special time daily. Prayers for that would be coveted. Thank you for reading regularly too, I means a lot to know you care about my familys goings-ons. Blessings on all of you!

Same old song and dance

Hey all! I wish I had some exciting news but there's really not much excitement right now. I just wanted to check in and see how you all are! Were good around here, just like the title said, same old song and dance! Really enjoying this weather though! It's beautiful and warm and sunny! The mornings are my favorite. Having all the windows open and feeling the fresh air, it wakes me up in a different way, I love it!

Anyway, kids are great. Been outside all the time and needing baths and showers every night....uhhhh....but it's nice to have them getting more time in the sunshine.

Otherwise, nothing much else going on. I'll update with some pics later!

Oh yeah, been feeling the baby move now, that's always exciting! And Chris and I have been trying to think of some names, we've got a list going, mostly boy names, I don't know those always come easier for some reason. And mark your calendars for May 7th, were having our ultrasound to find out if it's a boy or girl! Yay!!!!

Love you all!

Sweet Sunday

Hi everybody! What a beautful sunday today was. Not only did the Lord bless us with the most beautiful weather than we've had in a long time, but it was a day filled with church, family and friends and hanging outdoors!

Service was awesome today, really, really awesome! Tom did a great job teaching on Joseph. And it's one of my time favorite stories in the bible. One of redemption and grace. A true picture of what the Lord is willing and able to do with us if we surrender to Him as Joseph did. In a way that in during all the "testing", "training" and "set back" times, we know that "all things work together for good for those who love Him" (Rom 8:28). I'm so excited for next week to continue on with this awesome story. Although I've read it so many times, it never gets old. The end result is miraculous and such a tesimony of the our God! There were also baptisms today which are always really special.

When we got home I got a call (you know who you are girl :-) ), about a tag on my blog. It happened to have been made by one of her friends all the way in North Carolina, who while surfing blogs came across mine and saw the tag she created on my page. I keep thinking how sweet our Father is to make those connections for His kids. How we can connect with people we might have never met or even got to speak too. I've been so blessed to have this outlet and opportunity to meet new sisters and make new friends and I'm so excited to see what new realationships come from it. And I'm so inspired by all of you and your beautiful families and stories that I've come to feel like I know. Some of you I do know, but many I've never met, but feel like I have because of your stories. I think were all such a blessing to eachother and can build eachother up even when we dont know it! Anyway.....

Chris' mom and grandma came for a visit after church to spend time with the kids and stuff since we didn't make it there last weekend. The kids had a great time and got another round of Easter baskets and another egg hunt. They made out, again! It was a good visit. It's been a good day....I hope all you had wonderful weekend and I pray for your week as well. Blessing to you all!

Waiting and run-arounds....

Well judging by the title I'm going to try to not be as negative as I want to be. Anyways, the stuff with the house is moving along, it's just so slow! Were extending the closing date because the bank is slow in processing anything! Our agent said it's very normal and almost no house closes on the date. It's just frustrating because the waiting is getting old. Then I went to the dentist yesterday and they put a temporary filling in because they need a medical release from my dr. since I'm pregnant. And being that my appt. was so late in the day the dr. office was already closed. So now I have to call today and make sure they fax that to the dentist so I can get this fixed permenantly. The really frustrating part is that I have to wait until thursday to go in because that's when Chris is off. So hopefully the temp. filling will hold until then. AHHHHHH! I swear these are times that I have a hard time dealing with. As silly as it all sounds. I just feel like were taking 1 step forward and 5 steps back. Anyways, thanks for listening and if your praying, lift me up as well that I will depend on the Lord in these times of frustration and really devote the time I need too to Him. Also to help me deal with my worry over the dumb dentist. I really have a type of phobia I guess, and I dont know why, with all the dental work I"ve had done in my life you'd think this would be nothing. Anyway, I appreciate your prayers! Love and Blessings! Hopefully I'll get back on here later and be a little more positive! :-)

Dentist.....Da, Da., Dun....

Hey everyone! Well yesterday while flossing I lost a filling. It just popped right out. So this afternoon I have the joy of going to the dentist to have the filling replaced. Yay. My all time worst is the dentist. I'd pretty much like to do anything else, but that's my plans for this afternoon. I'm sure it'll be fine and I'll feel dumb for worrying but that's what I'm doing. I'm also in the middle of packing. Haven't gone too crazy yet, but it's still very much a limbo feeling! Otherwise, all is well and so are the kids! Hooray! We've had someone sick in this house for the past month, so it's so nice to have everyone well again. Not much else going today. Chris is home today and he's going to take the kiddos to spend their easter egg money. Yay, I got out of that one! :-) Anyway I sure hope all is well with everyone, I love you all!

In His love,

Good Friday, Saturday, Happy Ressurection, Back to School Monday and I'm finally back!

Hey all, yes I'm still here. It's been a non-stop several days and of course I've meant to come on here everyday and somehow it's one of the things I've managed to put off, until now. Anyway, were all doing good and had a wonderful holiday. Good Friday service was awesome, very moving and deep, yet simple and focused on the meaning of Good Friday. Jonathan, Nathan and Hannah got to go into service with us and it was really awesome to turn and see my kids worshipping with their hands raised. I wish I could've taken a picture but I guess that would've been inappropriate in church, but the picture in my memory is beautiful. Saturday was just a day of baking and cleaning and getting ready for Easter sunday, I also worked at the nursery that night and the boys had FTS. Then came Sunday, beautiful Sunday. It was beautiul in every way, the weather, the time with family and of course the knowledge that our beautiful saviour is ALIVE! Yesterday the kids had to go back to school, which was silly to me and really hard to get them up in the morning. Jonathan ended up coming home early not feeling well. He seemed okay this morning so I think it was just the long day on Sunday and not getting enough sleep the night before. But anyway, everyone is good and life is good and I'm thankful for you all and my Jesus! I'm also going to put all my Easter pics on Picasa, the link is on the left side of my page, check them out if you have a chance!

Blessings!

One Proud Mama!

yes, everyone, I dont know if you can see it clearly or not, if you click on the picture you can see it closer. It's Jonathan's progress report....straight A's! Yay! I have to brag about this one! I pray he continues his effort in school. It makes me prouder beyond belief! I just had to brag so thanks for hearing me out! :-)

Anyway, today was supposed to be my 3-hour glucose test. So I fast from midnight on and get to the doctor and they reschedule me. They didn't have the accu-check machine in their office, it was in another office across the desert in Apple Valley. So I have to reschedule for next week. Ahhhh! Pain in the butt but oh well!

Tonight is church, I'm working, but Chris is meeting me there to take the kids. Jeremiah and David will go to their normal classes and Hannah, Nathan and Jonathan will go in with Chris tonight and recieve communion, so that will be awesome.

Anyway, I hope everyone has a wonderful night! Blessings to you all!

My Jesus!

I've been thinking about this week, this Holy week. About tomorrow, maundy thursday and what it is and what is means. That it was Jesus' last night with His disciples, His last supper with them. Knowing what was coming and how scared He must have been. Yet how brave and strong and loving He was and is. Friday, good friday. The day that makes me sad, yet proud of my Jesus and that He died to so that I might say that. "MY JESUS", "MY KING", "MY LORD", "MY SAVIOR"! Do I claim that enough? Do I exclaim that enough. That He's MY king and YOURS! And we are His, He bought us and saved us, to be with us. Do I get that? Do I appreciate that and do something about it daily. Does my oikos get that? What He did for them? That He loves them as much as me as much as anyone? And that they put Him in a tomb and He stayed there until Sunday, beautiful Sunday. Like the video in Melissa's blog (please go to her page and watch the video) but like it said, Sunday's comin'! Easter is coming and I want to remember that the grave couldn't hold Him! He is alive! And He's beautiful and awesome and powerful and loving and forgiving and everlasting and faithful and humble and perfect and sinless and strong and compassionate and kind and ours! And He died so that we could have that promise! So please spend time with Him this week, just be with Him and love Him and thank Him, because He died so that we could! Love to you all!
Check out the video on my page on the left!

Gracie's party and Jonathan's concert

Hey everyone! I hope all is well with everyone. Were all doing fine. On saturday we had Gracie's 2nd birthday party. Chris had to work so it was me and the kids. It was fun and the kids had a great time. They had a bouncer in the backyard so basically that took care of the kids for the most part. But it was fun for them to get out of the house on the weekend and play and goof around so it was a good day. On Sunday, we had church, which was awesome. It was on Romans 7 and so interesting and informative. I love the book of Romans, it seems no matter how often you read it or are taught it, it continues to teach you something new and has so much depth. I loved how pastor Tom gave the illustration: DOA---Justification---Sanctification---Glorification Basically saying the when were born were dead on arrival. Were born in sin and spiritually dead, then comes a time for most of us, hopefully, that we accept Christ and we are then justified. Were cleansed and made pure before the Lord so when the Father sees us, He sees Jesus. Then obviously the glorification is heaven, when were in the presence of God, but there's that middle part. And it's sanctification. Being set apart for a holy purpose. And it SOOOOOO hard. So pastor Tom was saying, why not just accept Christ (be justified) and then God just wipes us out and we can be glorified immediately. I mean if it's all about eternity anyway, why bother with the the sanctification part. If were forgiven already of sin, and past sin is erased, then why have this difficult middle part, that for most of us could be decades? Well as we learned it's to bear fruit. That's huge. Our whole reason for existence once we accept Christ, is to bear fruit to the Lord. To be a living example of Christ's love, to tell people about Him not only with our words but with our lives and our actions. That why we have an "oikos". For those of you who don't go to HDC, that might be a foreign word to you, but it's the greek word for household and it's referred to in the bible. Its our 8-15 people (on average) that God has intentionally placed in our lives so we can tell them about Him. It was so interesting and just a study! Anyway, after church Chris took Nathan to spend his birthday money and get the fish for his aquarium. He also had to get some "pozole" for Jonathan's class to sample after he gave his speech. It was part of his missions project. His speech went well by the way, thank you for the prayers. Today, was Jonathan's "concierto" at school. When Chris got home I took Jon, because Jeremiah was sleeping. It was so good. I have pics of that too to put on here. He really loves playing and I hope he continues with it, he does have a lot of talent musically. Well I hope you all have wonderful week. Holy week is so special and I pray we all give the Lord His due time this week. It's a wonderful time to reflect on what He's done for us and continues to do for us daily! Blessings to you all!

Nathan is 9!

Well my second born is now a year older. My the time goes so fast. He had a really great day yesterday. Not only was it is birthday but he was student of the month and they had their "high soaring hawk" assembly at school too. It's an assembly for the kids who turned in all their work, maintained good grades and behavior and was on time every day for that 6 weeks. So they had a lot of fun and Hannah even got to slime Mr. Fedders, their principle. I'm kicking myself now that I didn't go to get a picture of that. I usually go but yesterday was hectic trying to grocery shop and make Nathan's cake and stuff. Oh well! Anyways, Nathan opened his presents in the morning, he got all kinds of craft stuff from Aunt Melissa, a target gift card from Grammie and Papa, $10 from Grandma E., and from us he got an aquarium and all the fixens, a kite and a playstation game he's been wanting. We also put some cash in his card so he can go and pick out the fish he wants. So last night we had cake and ice cream and set up the aquarium. Were just waiting for the water to filter and we put the treatment in the water so it should be ready to go tomorrow. I think he had a good birthday! Today, we have Gracie's birthday party so that should be a lot of fun. Chris has to work so it'll be me and the kids, but they'll be jumping in the bounce house most of the time I'm sure so it should be fine. Well I hope everyone has a great weekend! Love and Blessings to you all!

Home Sweet Home

Hi all, I'm writing this sitting at my computer at home finally. All be it with a headache, but home none the less. It's been a busy couple days. Yesterday the boys and I went to Melissa's house to play and help her plant her garden. I hope sheputs pics of it her blog, it looks good. The kids were really good and had a lot fun. Poor Gracie wasn't feeling too great and threw up while in the swing to boot. But otherwise she didn't seem to feel too bad. But by the time we got home yesterday afternoon from picking up the kids from school, David kept saying he was cold. Well yes you know where this is going, he had a fever. He had it all day and pretty much most of the night, but by this morning it was gone. Thank goodness! So today, this morning actually, I registered David for kindergarten, and all went just fine, nice to have that done. Then I picked up the boys and we went back to Melissa's so I could go to my doctor's appt. The appointment went fine, I heard the heartbeat for the first time, which never ceases to be a miracle. It was awesome. I also scheduled my 3-hour glucose test. Yuck. My glucose was apparantly pretty high, I believe it's because I ate before the test no knowing they were going to give me one. But either way I have to take a 3 hour one. It's going to be such fun (sarcasm) did you catch that? So back to Melissa's I went and we hung out for a while and headed home to pick up the kids from school. So I grab the mail and low and behold a wonderful letter from our Medi-cal worker is in there and they want this paper filled out and returned by the 5th. It's the 2nd people! C-mon! So I fill it out, pick up the kids and off we go again in the car to drop off this paperwork. By the time we get home it's 3:00 and I have a killer headache. But it's home sweet home for me and I plan on laying on the couch and being lazy this afternoon. I dont even know what were having for dinner. Isn't that awful! I'll figure out something, I guess. Blessings to you all! Thanks for continuing to read my ramblings. Love you!