Weekend

HomeAudio is still fighting off the flu.


He's had a pretty high fever for 3 days and is finally today starting to sit up a little and interact with us. He just asked for hot chocolate so I think his appetite is returning and hopefully he is on the mend.

In other news, when Management and I got married, he already had a home and pretty much everything that we really needed. We did register for some new and fresh towels, sheets, etc. but not too many household things. One thing that we did not register for was Fine China. We decided that camping equipment was much more our style than Fine China.

Fast forward 12 years and the camping equipment is well used and pretty much worn out or has disappeared. We have had several occasions where we wish we had some nice dishes but alas our China Cabinet has been emtpy.

Until now!

Thank you to my mom, last week we inherited some china from my great aunt! It is a complete set with more than enough pieces and includes serving bowls, a gravy boat, platters, and more.


And this is how I found WeeklyAd this morning~


I think we need a lock on the now full China Cabinet!?

Nauseating

I am now feeling

incredibly

dreadfully

horrendously

nauseous!

Could it be the FLU?

Could it be that some of my best blogging friends have conspired against me and posted these...

For my friend Targetshopper, who hates sand


for targetshopper: socks&sand


I gasped

I covered my mouth in disbelief

I gagged

and I cringed as I stole these pictures

but payback is coming!

SOON!

Swine Flu Part 2

UPDATE: Just spoke with the school and 15 out of the 18 kids in HomeAudio's class are home sick today. Yikes!

The FLU has hit again!?

This is the 3rd time this school year that the flu has come to visit our home!

Seriously, who gets the flu this time of year? Could it be the Swine Flu?

The Dr. said it could be but that since the Swine Flu is now much milder than they originally thought, they don't do anything for it but let it run it's course. Hmmm...

I haven't been following the news so I'm not sure about this and since I still have issues, I'm watching HomeAudio closely! I'm trying to trust the dr. and keep up with breathing treatments/fluids/rest/etc. as HomeAudio has asthma and any respiratory illness just hits him so much harder.

Sigh.

Oh and the dr. also said that the inhalers that we have are now illegal and can not be refilled. According to him there is a new inhaler that is ridiculously expensive and doesn't work!?

Double Sigh.

Date Night

It was a speaking engagement for Management but still a wonderful night out. We are hoping to get a short getaway as soon as school is out and really enjoy some down time. That is another perk to Management's travels; earned points for lodging and travel.

I can't wait!

Adoption Update

Waiting, waiting, waiting....and more waiting...

There ya go! That's the update!

Seriously, I was kind of taken back to 2 years ago in my marriage when I read a quote from Kate Gosselin that went something like: we weren't on the same page, now I'm not sure we are even in the same book, or really even in the same libraries.

That's exactly how I would have described Management and I two summers ago as we tried to wrestle with where the Lord was leading our family. Now, I can't at all relate to Jon and Kate Plus 8 further than that quote. We suffered through that time in our marriage quietly and privately without cameras and America and 8 kids watching and without other women and bodyguards and every other distraction from their marriage that they have. My heart really does break for them and I'm praying the Spirit brings truth and peace and love and healing to their marriage!

Back to adoption...we were in different libraries. But as Christians what can you do when there is nothing, absolutely nothing, that you can do? Praise and Worship and Trust the ONE who can do something. And that's all that we could do and that's what we should be doing all of the time anyway!! All else flows from our intimacy with Christ.

And in the last 2 years, God has graciously and patiently led us back into the same book and onto the same page together where we should be. And what page is that you might ask...it's the page of trusting Him and seeking Him and being willing to follow Him no matter what page He leads us to next.

Here we are...waiting. But we are waiting for the same thing - His leading and we are both willing to go wherever that might be. That is so scary! But exciting!

We both have ideas but God has not given the go ahead to any of them. We both experience anger, frustration, sadness, hope, and every other array of emotions that comes along with waiting on the Lord. But at least we are finally on that page together and we are seeking together.

It would be "easy" to move forward with adoption but we don't know what kind of adoption God has planned for us (infant/older, domestic/international, now/later) if He has adoption planned at all for us? Perhaps we went through these last few years just to get to where we are now...where we should have been all along? We don't know other than I get a very strong sense that NOW is not our time.

As before, I hear His voice whispering to "be still and wait" and that's all we can do. All we can do is follow Him and His timing.

To continue on with this "adoption journey"...He has called me to Be Still, To Wait, To Know He is Working, To Seek Him, To Come Out of Captivity...

And out of captivity He has pulled me...and Management. There is so much going on with regard to that and we Praise HIM in the midst of it all. This "adoption journey" is really our "Spiritual Transformation Journey" and we are so thankful for all of it.

So all of this "update" and there is nothing really new other than there has been healing in our marriage, hope for our future, and closeness with our Creator. There is much to rejoice in and we love our Lord more and more every day!

American Idol

Favorite Foto Friday

What better way to start a long weekend than with a nice, hot, grande, sugar-free cinnamon dolce, breve latte??

I feel like I have a new lease on life today. It's a beautiful day and we have absolutely NO PLANS for this long, wonderful weekend! Hooray!

And because things have finally slowed down, I'm able to post something for Favorite Foto Friday! I don't know about you but I've missed Favorite Foto Friday!

So with no further ado, here is my favorite little fella out on the field~

It's May

Well, I'm still really behind on writing blogs and reading blogs! I actually sat down the other day to count exactly how many nights I have been a "single mother" and the total was 11...out of the last 14. yikes. No wonder I'm so tired.

Baseball is in full swing 3 nights a week, dance is still going on until the recital on June 19th, we've had Teacher Appreciation, MOPS banquets, Character Chapels, My birthday, My Parent's Moving, Speaking Engagements, and so on...and poor LittleMiss is just along for the fun and fabulous ride.

I'll start with my birthday. It was absolutely perfect! Management let me sleep in and then didn't even complain once as I drug him to the wet, and cold, and very muddy Relay For Life. While at the relay, HomeAudio won a prize and selflessly picked out an adorable photo album for me. It was very very sweet.
After the relay we went to Chili's for lunch and then part of my gift arrived - 3 whole hours of NO RESPONSIBILITIES. I caught up on some DVR'd shows and then actually fell asleep. I woke up to some fresh clipped lilacs and a delicious chocolate cake. We invited some neighbors over for cake and ice cream and then ended a terrific day.

My speaking engagement: LittleMiss fell asleep on the way and I was hoping she would sleep through but of course, a barking dog woke her up as we parked. That's okay, there were 22 grandma's there to love on her and entertain her. We had a wonderful lunch and then I spoke for about 25 minutes and answered questions for another 30 or so minutes. Despite the fact that 4 women fell asleep during my talk, it was actually really fun! I spoke about InterVarsity Christian Fellowship and different Social Justice Issues. I don't know how I compare to other missionaries they have had in but they seemed very engaged and called it "enlightening."

Character Chapel: Every child, kindergarten through 6th grade gets a character award from school. It is by far one of my favorite things that the school does and I'm always anxious to hear what character trait the kid's teachers see in them. This year WeeklyAd was given Respect and HomeAudio was given Fairness. I have to agree with both of those for this past year.

LittleMiss and I planted our flowers this morning. I really really wanted my nieces, Kate and Anna, to come over and plant them with us but Management showed up with them unexpectedly this morning and I had to get them in the ground as tomorrow and Friday are busy days again. I still have hopes of planting some flowers with them though and have a few pots that can be filled. S, we have to set a date for this!

I have GREAT news!! The pool opens on Monday!! I will have 2 weeks of pool time (weather permitting) before the kids are out of school and then 3 months of pool time with the kids!

FYI - this is my new favorite song...(don't forget to pause the blog music)



Time for American Idol...GO KRIS!

conversations

Conversation with LittleMiss:

Me: we need to go and clean up the mess that we made in the kitchen.

LM: you made a mess?

Me: yep, I made a mess.

LM: are you bad??

Me: no, it's not bad to make a mess but we have to clean it up when we are finished.

LM: oh. I'm seven.

Me: you're two, silly.

LM: no, I not (my favorite phrase of hers). I'm seven.

Me: you can pretend to be seven.

LM: thank you.

LittleMiss and I cleaned out and rearranged 3 kitchen drawers and 4 kitchen cabinets. I think the Spring Cleaning bug is finally biting!

Crazy

Sure wish I minute to blog...or breathe for that matter! This has been one of the fullest, most stressful, very emotional, longest weeks of my life! And of all weeks, Management is out of town. It's been morning, noon, evening, and night activities and I'm just so ready for the week to be over with! (is that a preposition S? - I don't think I'm supposed to end with a preposition)

Hopefully tomorrow afternoon I can fill you in on some of the happenings here and check in on your blogs to see what's happening in your neck of the woods! Until then....

In light of this post, I thought is was interesting when I read 1 Kings 4:33 where the evidence of Solomon's wisdom includes "he described plant life".

He's Here

My nephew Mark David arrived safely this afternoon at a whopping 9 lbs. 3 oz! Isn't he just scrumptious!?


Adorable shirts that my mom made for the Two Proud Big Sisters. They also have a dog and cat on them that are not pictured but definitely part of the family!


Three generations together~

All That Jazz

It's Spring and that means pictures and ceremonies and awards and banquets and programs and recitals and all that jazz.

JAZZ~


BALLET~
Coming Soon...
Unfortunately we were running late and didn't get a picture of the ballet costume yet but it is beautiful!

Patience

We've had a rough night here tonight. Management has had meetings for the last 5 out of 7 nights and the kids and I are tired and grumpy and on edge.

It's hard to finish the school year well when you are tired and grumpy and edge. Not to mention the warm weather and sunshine and friends playing outside.

It's a fight to the end.

And all I want to do is successfully get them into bed without losing it altogether. Finally, homework is done, teeth are brushed, prayers are said, they are tucked in bed and I can finally sit down alone for a minute...or twenty.

And then when that twenty minutes comes and goes, HomeAudio comes down and says that he can't sleep because he misses daddy too much. Again, I try not to lose it. I try to be patient...night after night the patience is slipping away.

He asks to be tucked in again and while I think that truly could put me over the edge, I think about how one day I will long for the nights that he wants to be tucked in. I'm thankful that I have a son to tuck in to a warm bed. I am.

I'm thankful for him! One day, I'll miss nights like this one.

THIS

This drives me crazy!


This makes me nervous but also makes me smile!


This makes me very happy!

Day Off

Our Surprise Day Off:

~ had a nice, lazy morning
~ Braided the girls' hair
~ Jimmy John's for lunch. mmmm...
~ movies and games in the afternoon
~ a nice visit with the neighbor
~ nap for LittleMiss; lawnmower in the background
~ neighbor is having a lemonade water stand
(water is $.25; buy a water/get snack for free) hmmmm....
~ ordered mulch for tomorrow
~ was welcomed to the Regent Board for our school
~ a lot more outdoor play this afternoon and evening

H1N1....The Swine Flu

"hmmmm......

entire school district closed for two days due to suspected case of swine flu."

Quoted from my friend's blog.

I'm actually excited about having two days at home.

and then Wednesday is our Walk-A-Thon.

Feels like a little mini-vacation!

Hope everyone feels better though and remains healthy.