Halloween costumes

{this year we had}

one big baby

a soccer beauty nerd

a spider web

a pumpkin princess

a kitty cat

a bumblebee transformer

and

a monkey

Halloween is as evil as you make it

My philosophy on Halloween is:
we are just celebrating another holiday
{always a fun thing to do}
Halloween is celebrated right before
All Souls and
then All Saints Days
It is a time to remember all those who have passed
we allow our kids to dress up in appropriate costume
and enjoy the time we get to spend as a family
we look away from the world's views
and shelter them just a bit
and go about our way
enjoying the spirit of disguising ourselves in costume

Trunk-or-Treat

smell our feet

give us something good to eat...

we {get to} celebrate Halloween

3 days in a row...

YEAH!

Today

I attended my 4 year old's pre-school
parent/teacher conference
I struggle with a lot of guilt
having her on the seizure meds
she was out of it for 3 1/2 years
the most formitive years
for a child
I wonder if she will be able to catch up
She is so far behind
it is completely overwhelming
for me as her mom
I cannot fathom how overwhelmed
she must feel with all of the info
she is being introduced to
I know everything will work out
just the way it is suppose to...
but I have a lot of work in front of me
I feel like I have to make up for the 3 1/2 years lost
over the course of this one year...

she is a very bright child,
I know she can do it.

Happy Birthday!

Today my oldest son celebrates his 9th birthday.
Where has the time gone?
It doesn't seem like that long ago,
we were awaiting the news of our ultra-sound
to learn we were having a BOY!

I had a gut feeling.
Dad didn't want to get his hopes up.

He has grown up into a very fine young man.
He has a big heart and very often will take care of others.
He is very smart and is good at anything he sets his mind to.
He sure is handsome, too.

Not that long ago,
we didn't know if we would see his 9th birthday,
his health challenges early on, definitely challenged us!

Through it all, we have witnessed health miracles,
and we have no doubt that
God has BIG plans for him and his life!

He will always succeed at anything he gives his heart to.
He is an awesome young man.
I love him all the way to the moon and back - infinity!

Happy Birthday,
I look forward to enjoying another year of life with you as my son!

I cannot believe

we are already having

{parent-teacher conferences}

we are already done with the first quarter

where has the time gone?!?

I sometimes wonder

if

my

entire

life

is

going

to

feel

like

a

test

{OR}

if

at

some

point

I

will

feel

like

I

have

finally

passed.

I am so thankful

for


this


beautiful


family!

A new way to look at PMS.

I was told the other day

when you are feeling some

PMS

{not the menstrual kind

the poor me syndrome kind}

PMS

is a sign

that you need to step back

and examine yourself

What am I doing

for me

How am I meeting my

PHYSICAL
MENTAL
SPIRITUAL

needs

{P*M*S}

Dear Kristian

It was a beautiful day

We honored your life

And said {goodbye} to part of our family

We believe that God planned you

God knew exactly what He was doing

Sometimes we wonder why

But we understand only God knows how

We released your life with words of love

And felt some sadness, too

But when we see the colors of the rainbow

We will always be reminded of you.

Plexiglass

1.Noun. plexiglass - a light transparent, weather resistant thermoplastic

When I don't like what is going on around me,
I am going to
dis-engage
and put up a
plexiglass box.
I can still see what's going on
around me,
but I don't have to take the pile of weight and
place it on me anymore...
I can shield myself from the storm
called life!

I don't like

being at the other end of a joystick

I am not going to allow someone else to
think
reason
assume
decide
dictate
pressure
manipulate
or force
my actions or decisions any more

I don't enjoy playing the game!

Piece of...

CAKE?

PIE?

@#$%?

I am changing the way I see others,

one in particular,

instead of seeing

a piece of @#$%!

I will see

a piece of pie!

...Pumpkin

or

Pecan

or

Chocolate Mousse

or

Lime

or...

This is exactly why

{I}

~miss~

{home}

One month ago today

I
had
a
feeling.
That
feeling
was
accurate.
We
were
expecting...

I feel like I am dealing with

the hardest decisions,

the toughest questions,

the longest answers,

I have ever had to face...

With

{Sending Hugs and Kisses from down below}

Yesterday

at
my
husbands
appointment.
We
turned
everything
over
to
God
and
his
plan.

Happy Birthday!

Today I want to wish my niece a very happy birthday.
She is {5}!
She is my first niece.
She is my sister's 3rd child.

She is quite a little lady.
She knows what she likes
and how to get what she wants.
She says the darndest things.

I wish we could see you more!
Today I wish you all the best for a happy day
and another year of life!

Happy Birthday! I Love Ya!

Tough Guy

Today we

got

his stitches

out,

10

days

in his

forehead

made

us

pout,

He sat just as still as he did when they put them in,
Mommy was so proud of him!

The doctor put sterie strips on to hold it together another day,

that didn't last more than 5 minutes once in the car and he had his way.

Kinda like the band-aids we were suppose to leave on the stitches the first 2 days...Yeah Right!?!

How do you force a 22 month old to leave a band-aid on his forehead, especially when out of sight?

It's amazing how fast he healed up, but will have a nice scar to show,

Hopefully, no more excitement at the E.R as we busy ourselves, to and 'fro.

What about me?

I used to think was
selfish ,
inconsiderate,
and
unacceptable.
I am slowly learning that
{what about me}
serves me well.

When I take care of me,
I am much
more
equipped
to
take care
of them!

Baptism

Today

I

get

to

be

the

Godmother

of my newest

niece.

What an

honor

and

privilege!

I have felt the power

of {Letting Go}...
it
is
truly
the
most
freeing
experience
I
have
ever
had!

The benefit of doubt

We do a good job of giving others the benefit of doubt...

I wonder if sometimes this is our problem,

we do {too good} of a job giving others the benefit of doubt

and allow them to take advantage of us...

"I want a puppy!"

our

little

4 year

old

exclaimed.

"I want a pink, chikka-chikka-wow-wa!"

{that would be her word for chihuahua}

{Part II} How do you do it?

Is a question we get a lot.

Emotionally?!? How {do} we do it?



We pray a lot.

We pray as a family.

We pray as a couple.

We pray individually.

We attend mass regularly.

We frequent the sacraments.

We try to pray the rosary daily or at least a decade.

We put others first.

We make the time.

We take the time.

We have a mom and dad date night weekly.

{sometimes in the living room or backyard}

We communicate...A LOT.

We have a schedule.

Everything goes on the calendar.

We take a lot of deep breathes.
We accecpt imperfection.

We turn everything over to God.



We trust in God.

Selfless

I ran into the most selfless person I have ever met.

I can't even tell you what he looked like.

His actions were magnificent.

When we arrived to the ER with our 22 month old.

My husband carried him in, while I parked.

We had a t-shirt wrapped around his head and it was full of blood.

When I walked in, a couple was sitting in the waiting room

and I noticed the man's hand was wrapped up to his elbow and full of blood.

They asked me if I was looking for a baby. I was.

I checked us in and went to use the restroom.

As I was walking out of the bathroom I heard the nurse call a name.

As I came around the corner I heard the man saying,

"I am not going to get seen before that baby.

That baby is going in before me."

The nurse assured him that they were both triage

and would both be seen.

He once again said,

"I mean it, I want you to take that baby back,

I want him seen before me."

The nurse re-stated that it was triage and had an open room for each.

{I thought wow, that was very considerate of that man.}

My husband stayed with Keegan

and I waited in the car with the other kids.

When they were finished we picked them up.

My husband was telling me all the details

and everything that happened, then he said,

"I asked the doctor what we could expect with scarring?"

The doctor said,

"There would be a scar but it would be minimal

compared to the man next door,

he's gonna have a lot of scarring.

He blew all of the tissue, muscle

and ligaments off his hand and forearm,

he was loading a 50 gauge muzzle loader,

and it exploded... Nothing about his healing process

is going to heal up nice."

I couldn't believe it?!?

This was the man that wanted my baby to be seen before him...

7 stitches

it was suppose to be an uneventful, relaxing weekend

but...

we ended up in the E.R

with 7 stitches in our 22 month old's forehead.

We had a rough week {what's new?}

Went to get a new fuel pump put in my car

and my husbands car died completely on us.

Needed a new starter and battery.

Fixed fuel pump, now the fuel gauge doesn't work...

we were looking forward to a hassle free weekend.

A couple of games,

spend some time as a family and enjoy the weather.

We decided to play tennis sat afternoon.

Our little guy climbed into the stroller to get a drink

out of the cup holder,

as my husband and I were BOTH

walking over to him to get him out,

he tips over the edge and landed on a tennis racket,

YES, a tennis racket split his forehead open about an inch and a half

{ALL THE WAY TO THE SKULL!}

can you say, BLOOD?

He was an angel at the E.R. He had to be papoosed and

didn't budge or whimper for any of the entire procedure.

Anyway, our uneventful weekend turned out to be very eventful.

Today

we had a prayer service

and balloon ceremony

as a

closure

farewell

goodbye

to

the

{baby}

we

miscarried.

It was respect life Sunday.

Couldn't have been a more fitting day.

How do you do it?

Is a question we get a lot.
Financially?!? How {do} we do it?

We have to make {a lot} of sacrifices.

Some things that we can {go without}.

I cut all of our families hair.
I only get my hair cut about every 6 months.
I don't get mani's or pedi's.
We don't buy new clothes.
We wear hand-me-downs.
If we get new clothes, they are 60% or more clearance.
We only shop for the necessities and buy in bulk.
We don't eat out very often.
We live in a 1200 sq ft home.
We rent our house.
We drive used cars.
We try to buy real food, not in boxes.
{quality nourishes better than quantity}
Our school age kids only play one sport each.
They find rides to the majority of their practices.
We give freely of ourselves.
We don't expect anything in return.

And most importantly,
because we {trust in God}
and He continues to provide for our needs.

Good days

Good days seem so far and few in between anymore.

When we have a high {a good day}

I don't want it to end,

My mind gets all consumed with ,

What can I do to make this continue?

I want this to last forever?

Why can't it always be like this?

It's almost as if I want to go to sleep and not ever wake up...

or real soon I am going to wake up from this dream...

I realize though,

that I am not allowing

myself to be present

and enjoy the moment,

I am getting all caught up

in the what's to come

instead of just

{being}

here

and

now.