Home...

We are home! It was a far less eventful ride home, just the way I like it!

I am thankful to be home and thankful to have spent time with my mom, brother & sister - in- law, and Mike's brother, sister in law, and nieces. It's always good to get home for a bit!

I am also thankful for central air. Those were some warm nights in Ohio!

My sister in law let me do a photo shoot with my new little niece. I also did one with my almost two year old niece, Allie, and Finn. I don't get to do little girls often so it was quite fun! I went out and found a little pink tutu and some flowers and went to town! I have been playing with post production. Sooner or later maybe I'll figure out how it all works!

Tonight I'm going to share some of my favorite of little Miss Isobel Eva (3 weeks tomorrow). Tomorrow I'll get to Allie & Finn!

While shooting these photos little Isobel rolled over for the first time! She is right up there with Finn and Lily in the top speed roller overs! Living so far away it was pretty cool to see one first!

Some of these are straight out of the camera and some I've been having fun playing with! I saved my two favorites for last.

The Anatomy of a Road Trip with Three Kids...

7:32 am
say your last goodbye to your husband before he leaves for work, noting from your bed the silence in the house around you.

8:10 am
wake up, after drifting back off, to the sounds of elephant footprints (or two little boys) running up the stairs to their sister's room. Cringe, waiting for the screaming to occur.

8:14 am
loud screams

8:19 am
lecture three children from your bed, because really you don't want to get up yet. "Leave this, don't touch that, stop screaming, use nice words, put that back, be kind to one another, don't you know you're a role model, don't you know you're not allowed up there, keep the door shut, everyone out of my room, Mommy needs 10 minutes of prayer time before starting this day."

"I'm counting to three and if you're not all out of my room speaking nicely to each other, it won't be pretty..1...2...2 1/2...."

8:32 am
make bed.

8:34-10:30 am
oatmeal, bathroom, more made beds, get dressed, get dressed, get someone else dressed, argue about taking showers, argue about getting dressed, send birthday card, send a couple of emails, gather all needed bedding, toiletries, pack back packs, give medicine, give more medicine, fill sippy cups, change diaper, find binkies, brush teeth, pack teeth brushes, wash faces, comb hair, make phone call, check off list, make list for Mike (he loves those!), toss in some laundry, pick up some toys, pack up some toys....

10:30 am scheduled departure time
finally get into the bathroom alone. Lock door.

10:31 am
banging loudly on door "Mom! Mom! Where are you? Mom! Mom! open this door!" Bang Bang
Small voice "ma. oped dower!" Fingers wiggle in under door. Bang Bang

10:33 am
wash hands. pray.

10:44 am
Start packing the van

10:48 am
notice golden retriever shoot past you as 4 year old(who was told to stay inside) stands looking very guilty in the driveway.

10:48:21 am
curse under breath.

10:49 am
continue packing van. pretend your don't know the dog is running around the neighborhood.

10:52 am
yell at your children in frustration loud enough that the neighbors probably think you are not just a negligent pet owner but an abusive parent.

11:01 am
close the trunk. start looking for dog.

11:03 am
gather children, begin driving around the block with van side door open and small child yelling "dower oped!" DCFS was probably called.

11:07am
spot dog, watch as she runs other direction.

11:10 am
tail her home, drop 11 year old of to entice her at the back door with a leftover cheeseburger. explain to neighbor what the heck you are doing.

11:11 am
11 year old prays dog will come in back door soon. she thinks because it is 11:11 there is some sort of magic in this.

11:12 am
dog takes cheeseburger bait and walks in backdoor. maybe she is right.

11:17 am
after pottying again, grabbing forgotten items and making sure all were covered with appropriate blankies and had needed mouth accessories. hit the road.

11:21 am
stop at a local coffee shop drive through because Mama needs some tea for the road.

11:30 am one hour after ETD
pull onto highway. construction

11:34 am
4 year old asks, "are we almost to Nana's?"

11:35 am
11 year old requests CD. Seeds...can do.

11:39 am
boys ask for goldfish

11:43 am
boys ask for fruit snacks

11:46 am
boys ask for more fruit snacks. 11 year old tells them they must wait 20 minutes before consuming more food.

11:55 am
11 year old gives in when 2 year old smiles sweetly and says "peeeesseee more fishes" while signing "fish" and "please".

12:01 pm
4 year old asleep

12:04 pm
2 year old asks for more fruit snacks. request denied.

12:07 pm
11 year old reads books to 2 year old. Mom notes, he sounds so cute reading books that needs to be captured on video.

12:16 pm
2 year old asleep.

12:17 pm
Mom silently cheers. sighs. hunkers down for the drive.

1:18 pm
potty break for Mom. Mom notes, large tea may not have been best choice.
2 year old awake

2:10 pm
4 year old awake.
"Are we almost to Nana's?"
satisfied that we are almost to lunch.

2:15 pm
Gas stop. Mom notes, wonders why the gas company hikes the price whenever we travel

2:20 pm
lunch
2 year old tells everyone he meets "goin to Nana's house"
He tries to pick up two nurses, offers them chocolate milk and french fries.
place has no changing table...grrr
change on counter.
eat.
well, play and nibble for some.

3:09 pm
on the road again

3:10, 3:18, 3:29, 3:37, 3:52, 4:08 pm
4 year old asks if we are almost to Nana's
then asks if we are in Ohio
11 year old snaps back with a smart comment
2 year old mumbles something about goldfish

4:21 pm
2 year old starts talking about cars crashing into us
11 year old asks him if he's psychic, he says "yes!"
4 year old yells. "I'm a side kick too"
the fun travels on.

4:30 pm
4 year old asks if we are in Ohio yet
11 year old talks about radio selections
2 year old is still clamouring on about big trucks and things crashing into us.

4:39 pm
Ohio!

4:41 pm
call mom, tell her we are not there yet.

4:43 pm
2 year old says "car crash us on our heads, hurt us very bad"
I begin to wonder about prophetic 2 year olds..

4:45 pm
call mom, tell her to pray for our safe arrival at her house, just in case

4:48 - 5:17 pm
2 year old eyes cars around us calling several of them stupid and telling many of them "go back to house!!" while making shooing motions.
4 year old repeatedly asks how many more hours to Nana's
11 year old recounts entire book she read last night.

5:19 pm
11 year old asks "is that a British flag?"
No, it's a confederate flag
"wasn't Ohio part of the Union?"
Yes
"Why would anyone paint their barn with a confederate flag?"
Mom notes, try not to use the word idiot in response to this question...

5:22 pm
enter Nana's county
countdown begins
children sing "Twist and Shout" and dance in their seats.
2 year old finally relents on crash chatter.

5:32 pm
excitement builds

5:40 pm
3 little people run to the door yelling "Nana!"

1:31 am
Mom sends up praises for ~

safe travel
coming home
husband who she misses, and enjoys when he drives
the love of Nana
a home cooked meal
finally 3 sleeping children
sitting in her old room
Another day the Lord has made

Best moment of the day...

Dax and I alone in the Pediatrician's office right after the nurse has given him a vaccine and left the room. "Mom, this has been the best day ever! Cause I got this band aide!" Not one tear, not so much as a flinch, grimace, or moan.

I need to stock up on band aides.

Second best moment, sitting in the McDonald's playland (Dax's after shot lunch choice) he says, "Mom, what do you think today a perfect day for? I think it's a perfect day for visiting the doctor, getting this shot, and playing at McDonald's, maybe it's perfect day for shopping at some garage sales!" Lily muttered something about him being the grateful one. I wondered if he'd been reading my blog.

Yes Dax, it was a perfect day for going to the doctor, for driving a new way and seeing some new scenery. It was a perfect day for a brave little guy to wow the doctor with his brilliance and to take a shot in a way that would make his little Navy special services uncle proud. It was a perfect day for lunching with my three little people, even in a not so clean McDonald's.

It was also a perfect day for wearing shoes in the McDonald's playland as not to get your feet slimy. A perfect day for visiting yard sales, picking up an extra scooter for the trip to Nana's, visiting with yard sale hostesses around town, 4 year olds melting down cause a Mama won't buy him lemonade and junk. It was a perfect day for Spaghetti and meatballs, popsicles in the bath, SkippyJohnJones at bedtime, and falling asleep before the book ended.

It was a perfect day for packing up lots of clothes for our journey to Ohio tomorrow. Hopefully tomorrow will be the perfect day for a road trip with three well behaved, delightful little monkeys.

Thank you, Lord, for this perfect day.

Pivot Point

Today was a day.

Do you ever feel like you are just in a period of waiting in your life? Like God has something he needs you to do, but it's not time yet? I have felt like I've been in a period of waiting for a while. Today was a day of agitation. Not that I was particularly agitated with anyone, just that I felt on edge all day. Like today is a day I'll go back to and see the pivot point. Like the heel is dug in, but the foot is swinging. Which direction will it face? The heel is dug in, in faith, in my God, because I know in all he is there.

I got my CT scan results. I have a "midline umbilical incisional hernia". The doctor is out of town till Wed. The receptionist read me the results. I called my friend Lisa, who happens to be a nurse for a little translation. It looks like surgery again. I know in the big picture a hernia is not the end of the world. It's just that surgery with three little people means missing out on stuff with them, it means worry for them, it means imposing on people to help take care of us. All things I don't want to do. But I don't know who God will put in my path through all this. There is always a reason. There is always good that comes from everything. I don't know enough yet to get too worked up, but maybe that is why I'm worked up. I like answers. Seems I have many more questions than answers...but I have faith that they will come.

Mike the Mold Man, as my dear friend, Amy, calls him came for a visit tonight. He was not exactly what I expected. Amy has him so magnified in my mind I thought he might have a white gown and wings! He did not. We do have mold. No surprise. We'll know in a few days what the cost of taking care of that will be...this could be a major pivot in our lives. I was hoping that Mike would come in with great wisdom, some sort of great revelation, instructions directly from God. I found this voice saying, "Marci, he's just a human, you've put too much on a human." True enough. He didn't have any straight forward answers for us although he did ask us a question. Although Mike(my mike, not the mold guy) didn't get it, I did. He asked, not once, but twice, "Is this the best the King has for you?' Hhmmm...

Maybe I'll delve deeper into that later, but now, I'm headed to bed.

We are all here, in our house, safe from the storms, together. This too is the day God has made.

Super Quick Praises!

Everyone made it to church!

Hugs from favorite girls.

Everyone went to the mall!

No one threw a tantrum!

Three well behaved children, almost all day.

I was only $0.18 over my needed Gymbucks total. I was excited. Mike just shook his head.

Sales girl and my mom understood my excitement.

Beautiful day outside.

Sunday afternoon nap. (if you're in our grown up Sunday School class, I mean a Sunday afternoon sleep!)

Bible Study. Tonight was a good one. Scepters and all! =)

Beautiful evening for playing outside.

Art projects done, shopping complete.

Lat night facebook chatting with grounded teenagers.

Everyone sleeping in their own beddy byes.

Tomorrow I should get CT results and meet Mike the Mold Man...the world might never be the same!

Goodnight!

Quick Praises and a Shopping Tip...

Yesterday went well. I do wish they had warned me about the IV thing. It took 4 tries to get it going, but other than that all went well and I will hopefully know if there is anything strange in my pelvic and abdominal area soon...isn't that what you all tuned in to find out?? =)

Lily had her last day of fifth grade! She went with me for my CT and then she and I had a nice lunch at artsy cafe in the city, followed by a little mall time.

My sitter Megan who kept my boys so we could have a girl's afternoon! I'm going to miss Megan when she heads off to college soon!

A peaceful evening with my little people at home while Mike went and installed some cabinets for friends.

So far, a beautiful, quiet Saturday morning. Lily and Finn are out playing. Mike and Dax are visiting some woodworkers paradise. The beds are made, the dishes are done. It's beautiful outside!

This morning Dax was upset after his sister pushed him. He ran and laid in bed, Finn came running in, tipped his head sideways, waved and said "hello Dax". He then climbed up beside him, gave him all of his special stuffed animals and said "I lub Dax". Ahh these are the moment I love! I only wish I'd had my camera close by!

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Yes, I did say shopping tip...

It's my favorite store, Gymboree. Yes, I know, I just warned you about what happens to girls overly matched as preschoolers who grow to resent this as preteens. I do not have any information on how brothers whose mother likes to occasionally coordinate their ensembles will turn out. I'll let you know in 6 or 7 years. But for now, I can't help but love Gymboree. Why? Because their clothes are pretty cute, and they make getting a bargain a challenge, a game. Oh how I love these silly games. All the head math and hunting. I really need to be doing something more useful with these skills...if you have suggestions, let me know!

So, Marci, quit rambling and tell us the tip! Ok, while in the store yesterday I had a little heart to heart with one of my sales girls (yeah, they kind of recognize me, sad, I know...it could just be that my kids are loud and obnoxious, not that I'm in there too often!) . Ok, back to the sales girl, she shared that on Sunday they would be having a "stuff the bag" sale. You get one of their reusable bags and whatever you get in the bag you get 30% off, this includes all the $6.99 and $8.99(and less) stuff they have on clearance. This would be a good sale, but what makes it better is that you can use a coupon on top of this. In three Magazines May issues, Fit Pregnancy, Parents, and Cookie, there are 20% off your entire purchase coupons. So I say 20% off of 30% off of clearance prices is a good deal! Let's just say, I'll be getting those monkey shirts I've been eyeing!

Thursday praises!

Finn waking up every time we prodded him throughout the night. Getting up this morning happy and acting totally normal with only a minor scrape and a light bump/bruise.

An uneventful start to the day with two boys and a mom dressed and out the door on time!

A brunch with the Bible Study ladies. End of the year! We made it through Beth Moore's Daniel and we lived to tell! Great girls! Hope they do more homework next year! =)

We retrieved our stroller that had been left in the rental car! yeah!

Chit chatted with my favorite nurses at the the doctor's office. They told me what I should be watching for with Finn, but did not seem to be too concerned. One of the nurses grandsons who is only 7 weeks old also fell last night. He has a skull fracture and a small brain bleed. He had to be care flighted out but it doing ok now. Please pray for this little guy!

Finn going happily along with all my silly quizzes for him today; "touch your nose! touch your nose with the other hand! Squeeze my finger. What's your name? Touch your toes. Run!" etc...

Him telling me for the first time that something "smelds, smelds guuud" He said this while holding down his nose. He went to the window and pointed out the neighbor "mowin" "mowin smeld guuud". Love it! His nose is working!

He was trying to write letters today too. Could a fall cause a weird section of the brain to start functioning more? hhhmmm

Talking to my sister in law and getting some good updates on my nieces. Dax will be so happy to get to finally go to Aunt Stacey's next week! We all would like to meet Isobel, but he is especially anxious!

Getting my CT contrast dye down without it coming back up! That stuff tastes a tad like someone mixed up some acid, Elmer's, and chalk then tried to pour a little vanilla extract into it to camouflage the taste! One more bottle tomorrow. CT is at 12:40, prayers for everything to show up as it needs to and me to be calm, and use the time wisely would be greatly appreciated. Prayers that major surgery is not needed would be even more appreciated!

Thursday night with some girls! Not all girls but some. I needed the night out. Thanks, Mike for tackling the little people so I could regroup with some big ones!

A rather uneventful day. Amen!

One of those days...

You know those days, you know the ones where you come to the end and you are just glad it's done. The ones where in the middle of the day the praises are not flowing freely. By the end though, by the end there are most definitely praises. So I guess tonight I want to walk back through it so I can find the praises I missed along the way.

Still laying in bed this morning, two boys bouncing on my bed. One eating a granola bar, the other carrying a box of cheerios and a plastic cup, asking me to pour some of the cheerios into his cup. I kept asking them to hop out of the bed so I could say a quiet prayer and get up. From a distance I hear my daughter yell...."Hey, Mom, See ya later".

Let's stop here. I'm not a fan of little boys with food jumping on my head first thing in the morning, but I am a fan of two little boys who can find what they need and having food in the cabinets to feed them. There are sweet little 2 and 4 year olds out there in this world with no food in their cabinets, no cabinets at all, and they've probably never known what it's like to snuggle with their mom in a cozy bed early in the morning. I'm thankful that they were happy, silly even. There will be a day that those guys will have much better things to do than hang out with mom.

Ahhhh...when I hear these words come out of Lily's mouth and she has not come to my room before hand I know whatever she is wearing is not something I'm going to approve of. I called her back. She told me she couldn't, she'd be late. Hhmmm...I must have forgotten what time school starts or I really slept in! Finally she obliged and there is was a lovely non matching ensemble with shorts that were too short. It really looked as if she just picked up the first two things she found and tossed them on, but apparently she had put some thought into this. I made her change. She did a lot of griping, a bit of muffled chatter, and a bit of random yelling at anything that came in her path. We still did not agree on what she left wearing, but it was better than the first outfit, and she still made it to school on time. *warning, years of sweet "matchy. matchy Gymboree wearing may cause your preteen to rebel against all things that coordinate in any way. Just wanted you moms of sweet little Gymboree clad preschoolers to be aware of this possible side effect now...

I am eternally grateful to have a daughter. Growing up, there was nothing I wanted more. I am glad 5th grade is almost over and the summer break almost upon us. I am glad she is strong and artistic. Although these qualities sometimes infuriate me now, I know one day they will benefit her greatly. I know sooner or later it will dawn on her that if I didn't care I wouldn't argue with her. I have seen some amazing bouts of compassion and empathy in her lately. As I watch her struggles to find her way, it takes me back to those years of my own life. It makes me grateful for my own mom and for where I am now. Makes me also very thankful that I found a husband that would take on my issues. Mike and I just laugh when we think of what Lily's husband will be like!

I spent a little time with the boys, took a shower, headed to the basement to get everyone clothes and returned upstairs to a strange smell. I went immediately to my bedroom where I could see a little head sitting on the floor on the other side of my bed. This was definitely where the smell was coming from. The "hair basket," a basket full of hair accessories and other oddball things that occasionally get tossed in, that usually resides on my dresser was empty on the floor beside him. He was chomping on a Hall's cough drop that must have been at the bottom. He had also apparently decided to paint his toe nails a nice shade of hot pink. I must say, for a two year old boy he had done a remarkably good job. I picked up the basket, and sent him back to watch Sesame Street. I started to dry my hair and not 30 seconds went by before Dax walked in with a bottle of Benedryl with a child proof lid, open. He says, "Mom, Finny had this medicine at the little table". Finn now has the cotton from the pill bottle stuck to his Halls covered sticky fingers. As I was cleaning up the hair basket, he had apparently high jacked my purse. I sent he and Dax to the bathroom to wash their hands and I counted pills. None missing, I think...

Warm water in my shower, oh how I wish I could spend twenty minutes in this havenly place. But can you imagine if my shower was more than 4 mintues?? There was no nail polish on my carpet, my bedding, or any place besides his toes. Maybe tomorrow I'll get a picture of his nails...today was just not really a picture taking kind of day. Dax was incredibly responsible in noticing the medicine and confiscating it, immediately, reporting directly to me and not trying one for himself. He took the big brother roll and helped Finny clean up his hands. Finn did not eat any pills. It could have been much worse, in many ways.

My doctor's appointment was not what I wanted to hear. I have a CT scan scheduled for Friday. I will take all the prayers anyone wants to send. Seems my January surgery and the infections that followed may have caused more issues which may lead to more surgery. I was really hoping she'd just find some quick, easy to fix, explanation for some of the issues I've been having.

I didn't have to wait long in the office today. I had my wonderful friend, Sarah to take care of my boys. I had some quiet time to deal with some of the not so positive thoughts going through my head. There were so many people that I passed by today that looked like things where much harder for them than for me, those moments gave me a chance to pray for them, and their caretakers, and get over myself for a few minutes. And that is just it, there is always something worse. I may not be thrilled about this news, but I still need to be praying for others and not throwing a pity party for Marci. This doesn't make me happy about it, but I know God always has a plan, always. Whatever is coming can be used for His glory, every bit of it.

When I picked up my darling boys, Dax threw one whopper of a fit about how he did not want to leave. He yelled off and on until we got home. He was so worked up he ended up having an accident in his pants. This has only happened once before since he's been potty trained.

I stayed completely calm. Well, I did have a face to face, hand on the jaw conversation about appropriate behavior. But overall, I turned up the God music and let it soak in. I sang. I stayed calm all the way to the potty, he calmed down, and almost immediately fell asleep. He apologized later. I had some quiet time with both boys sleeping. I'm glad there are places he feels that safe and that happy that he doesn't want to leave. But, I'm open for suggestions on how to curb this kid of response, because I am honestly tired of being told that he wants me to "go away" when I come to get him from friends house. I'm tired of being embarrassed by that behavior. He is sweet as can be later, loving and gentle. I just wish I knew how to level this kid out.

The evening seemed to calm down a little. Finn was full of it, bouncing all over, fighting with his brother. They all went outside. They were finally enjoying themselves and each other. I went out and cleaned up some ride ons to take to church (clearing out a few more things from the garage for Mike), Mike helped the kids get the new climber arranged the way they wanted it. Things were good. The pizza guy came (yeah, you know those days). We were headed in for dinner. Dax and Mike were in, I had just stepped foot in the back door, Lily and Finn were getting off the climber. Then there was a crash and screaming. I turned back around, to see Lily scoop Finn ep after a face first tumble off the climber, about two and a half feet off the ground (I tell you this because my mother was envisioning a 6 foot drop, just wanted to clarify) onto the driveway. (we were planning to move the climber to the grass as soon as it was a tad less muddy, let' just say we moved it tonight) As she was bringing him to me he was screaming. She started yelling "Breathe, Finn!" I grabbed him, as I did, he stopped moving, passed out, his eyes glazed, his face had a blue tint. I yelled his name, yelled to Mike that something was really wrong and started running for the door. Mike grabbed the phone, started dialing 911, just as I hit the side door, he came to and started screaming again. This probably all lasted 45 seconds from the moment Lily handed him to me, until he started crying again. Those seconds seemed to be hours. I don't think I have ever in my life been so scared. Mike hung up the phone, he was so scared he had forgotten to push the "talk " button so the call had not yet gone through. We sat down with Finn, checked pupils, hand grip, made sure everything moved, and asked him lots of questions. After snuggling for 10 minutes or so he took some Motrin, jumped down and ran to the back for pizza. All evening since, he has talked, played, and done everything else like normal. He has a small lump and a scrape on his forehead and a little scrape on his nose. I imagine in the morning he may have a black eye or two.

The gratitude is almost beyond words. I am so thankful Mike skipped his meeting tonight because he knew I had a hard day and he didn't want to leave me alone all evening. I'm so glad he was here. I'm glad to have come across this article online tonight which calmed me and my mother, 3 states away, down. The description sounded almost exactly the same. He has held his breath before when he's been hurt, but he's never passed out. I'm glad the Internet gives you resources as to what to be watching for over the next days. I'm grateful to have a nurse in my morning Bible study that might know a little something about head trauma who I will be consulting with in the morning, hope she is ok with that! I'm thankful that he keeps waking up every time we go in and rattle him. Mostly I am beyond grateful for this child. For this little person who makes us laugh and cry. This little "bonus" that God gave us. Seeing him run through the kitchen with a smile on his face tonight was worth more than any amount of gold. It can all change, in the blink of an eye. In that moment it was so real, in that second life could change. Why do we waste days whining? Why do we choose to see all the things we don't have rather than the things we do? When I finally stopped shaking, all I could think was how blessed I am.

Thank you, Lord, for this day. For knowing my mom is right there even 3 states away, for knowing my husband and I are in this together, for giving me every precious moment of this life with these amazing little people, and for knowing when this one is done the one You have waiting for us is beyond words. Thank you, Lord, for this day ending with us all here together just like yesterday. Do you think maybe you could make tomorrow uneventful? =)

Holiday Praises and a few more...

Memorial Day has come and gone and we are so blessed to have a day to play and spend with family given to us by those who have gone before us.

Our Memorial Day was pretty chilly and rainy. I loved watching the boys hang out in the garage and playhouse playing with their tools & tool bench helping Daddy build and fix things.

We spent the late afternoon at the movie theater. All three little people did really well! Mom was planning to go see Earth but I was over ruled and we saw Night at the Museum. It was ok, except I'm just waiting for my boys to start emulating the battle scenes.

Dinner. Hmmm....our children were complete heathens. So what I'm grateful for is that we made it out of the restaurant in one piece, Finn fell asleep on the way home, and we finally got to use one of the gift cards our sweet confirmation class gave us for Christmas. Thank you guys!

We still have one more gift card to use. We will be using this one alone with no kiddies!

Emails from new blog friends! Giving away some of HIS seeds.

Today we had a cleaning day. Not that this is really a blessing, because my house is still not really "clean" and it would be lovely to hire this job out....however I am very thankful to be able to do it myself and that all the laundry that was covering my laundry room floor is now done!

The kids and I had a little adventure this afternoon. We went to a neighboring town to check out a really cool little tikes climber. Can I say I love craigslist? I love when we just run into great people. We enjoyed spending an hour playing with our new friends and came home with a new big climber. We are parting with our old one. If anyone is close by and wants to by a climber, drop me a line! =)

One hour on Craigslist and all the rest of this magically vanished, which made my husband happy!

My husband for dealing with my weird scavenger hunt mentality when it comes to large and/or expensive children's items. I love the hunt to find them for great/amazing deals. It, like my baby name thing, is a sickness. So I'm very grateful that when I called Mike and asked him to meet me on his way home from work to haul this baby home he did with a smile on his face.

My mom for listening to me share my quests and my finds with interest. I'm so thankful for unlimited long distance and the ability to sit down and chat almost every night with my mama.

We Have a Winner or Two.... and more praises...

We decided since today was the first church day without Sunday School that we would not wake anyone up and we'd go to church if today was like yesterday and everyone was up at 6:30am. Today no one woke up until 8:15 and Finn slept until 9:30! Needless to say we didn't make it to church but we did have a wonderful day together rejoicing in the beautiful day He made!


We finally had enough empty time on a beautiful day to scrub down all of the big outside toys and get them up and running. Dax has been waiting for his sand and water table for weeks!

Everyone enjoyed the "scrubfest" and ended up soaking wet. Perfect thing on a hot spring afternoon! I didn't have my camera out for that one...I guess I was a little afraid!

This morning we had a baby bird come to visit. I think it may have been it's graduation from the nest day. It manged to get stuck in our garage and Mike had to carry it out to the front yard. I convinced my boys, whose first reaction was to chase it, to sit quietly in the grass and watch. Soon we saw a male a female cardinal come to prod the baby on. They never went too far, chasing other birds out of the yard and chirping at the baby. It didn't really look like a cardinal baby, not that I'd know what one looked like, but this little guy was pretty ugly. Maybe he was just in his adolescent period of gangliness with no pretty red yet. These cardinals were definitely it's parents, prodding and protecting. It's amazing to watch God's creations and how their parenting instincts are just like ours. Push him, and protect him. Just like God wants to do for us, push us and protect us. I last saw these guys sometime this afternoon as they chased a blue jay out of the yard. I take it that is a good sign and the little gangly bird might have found his wings!


Tacos and happy boys eating tacos made our Sunday that feels like a Saturday evening complete!

Everyone is snuggled up watching Tinkerbell on the Disney channel and thee cool breeze is blowing in the windows. God is good.

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And we have a winner! Or two...

Tonight the boys in all their usual exuberance helped me choose our winner. We had to make two changes to the original plan. First, due to my husband leaving both my favorite stroller and our Seeds of Courage CD in the rental car we had last week while our car had a little dent banged out of it we will need to change the CDs up for grabs. I am hoping to get both of these things back, but the car was rented out the next morning with our things still in them and we are just saying a little prayer! I figure maybe the person renting the car for the long weekend needed a little Seeds. So we are now taking the Courage CD out of the choice list in case ours doesn't make it back to us in one piece! This leaves Seeds of Faith and Seeds of Praise, both are great CDs! The second thing that changed was the fact that I thought the random number generator seemed cold and detached, and being that I didn't have hundreds of entries, I thought it would be more fun to do things the old fashioned way. You know, write the names on scraps of paper and put them all in a Barbie cup and let someone draw a name.

Problem, I have two someones who really wanted to draw a name. So we decided, two CDs, two winners. First name drawn gets to have their choice of Faith or Praise. So here it is, the crazy, noisy, chaotic video of two little boys drawing names of the winners...

**After watching this video, my mom would like me to clarify that Lily was the one helping hold the names up in front of the camera. So it is Lily's hand you see, as well as Lily who Dax was yelling rudely at. Mom just thought I should make sure you all did not think it was me he was yelling it. (Because of course, he would ever say any thing that was not sweet and sincere to his darling mother) Welcome to the world of three kids trying to "help" although I know many of you are familiar with this scenario!**

Welcome to my world! Congratulations, Amy! I know many many Amys but this one is new to me! I've been learning a little about her over at her blog, In Search of Normal. Homeschooling 6 kids! You need some musical interludes in your day! I love that you use Star Wars names for all your little people and I must say that little Yoda is quite a cutey!

Our second CD is going to be cheap on the shipping! Congratulations Melissa S.! We know that Ella will love this as much as Finn. Maybe they can do a duet for next year's WATCH talent show!

Thank you all for commenting. Thank you to all those who I know stop in all the time and to those of you who stopped by for the first time to try for some great music! Remember, if you didn't win (like I never do!!) go here to get your free download off the new Seeds CD and to get a code for 25% off any other music you might want to buy from them!

And just so you know, I don't work for Seeds. I don't even know anyone who does! I just feel blessed to have found them and love waking up with His word dancing in my head almost every morning!