A few weekends ago, I went to Girl Scout Camp with Hannah! What a wonderful and relaxing weekend it was! I rarely, actually never, really get to spend an entire weekend just hanging out with one child. I had nothing to do with planning this event, I didn't even have a copy of the schedule, so I was able to just sit around and wait for someone to tell me, "Time for crafts, time to eat, time for archery."
One of the funniest parts of the experience for me was at lights out. The 8 moms were sleeping on the bottom bunks and the 8 girls were on the top bunks. Our troop leader was on an air mattress in the center of our cabin. Lights were out at about 10, but that was only the overhead light. Once that light went out, all of those 8 girls on the top bunks remembered that they each had flashlights and our cabin was turned into a disco. It was really cute.
The only problem with this weekend was that Omar was working on Saturday, so I wasn't sure what to to with the other 4 kids! Of course Luke was also throwing up and Sophia seemed to be getting a cold, and there were 2 soccer games that needed to be gotten to and cheered at. Grame drove 3 hours and rescued us! What a relief! Instead of me worrying about who would care for the other kids, I was able just to focus on having fun with Hannah! It was a very rainy weekend so, instead of soccer, Grame even treated the kids to a 3-D movie at the real movie theater and Chick-fil-a for lunch! The kids were on cloud 9! Thank you so much Grame! We really appreciate your help!
Sadly, I am not able to upload pics right now, but as soon as I am able to again, I will show pics of cute Hannah at camp and Grame with the kids!
Wednesday, April 29, 2009
Apples and Oranges
Yesterday in the car, Hannah was bemoaning the fact that she will have to take many more standardized tests in the years to come. This was her first year of TAKS testing and while she has performed perfectly on the test so far, she loathes the idea of a whole day of testing. She was going on and on about how she never wants to go to middle school because in 8th grade you have to take 4 TAKS tests. Finally, I told her to stop. I said, "There really isn't any fruit to be gained by you going on and on about that."
All of a sudden my 7 year old nephew piped up from the back of the van and dejectedly said, "There is no fruit in middle school?!? AHH, I really like fruit."
All of a sudden my 7 year old nephew piped up from the back of the van and dejectedly said, "There is no fruit in middle school?!? AHH, I really like fruit."
Tuesday, April 14, 2009
Pre School Fun!
Sophia cracking a confetti egg on herself!
"Hunting" for eggs...which will she choose?
Friday, April 10, 2009
Seeing Lots of Red
A mail worker at the White House has confirmed that he has seen 2 million red envelopes!!
Check out the article here:
http://www.worldnetdaily.com/?pageId=94142
Check out the article here:
http://www.worldnetdaily.com/?pageId=94142
Tuesday, April 7, 2009
She's OK
Still can't touch the bandage, but you can see she is doing fine! IF you can get through my ridiculously long post below, you might wonder if my little child has been able to recover from having her blood drawn. As you can see here, she is well on her way to recovery!Delayed Blessings
Josh is almost as tall as me. Sometimes in middle school, you want to be the kid who bulks up first. Of course, I think he is as adorable as ever. He tells me I have to say that because I am his mom. But I am telling you, even if I wasn't his mom, I would think he was a super great, sweet, really handsome kid. I was having one of those annoying mom moments, telling him how I remember when he was so little I could carry him.
He responded, very dryly, "Well I maybe taller, but I probably weigh the same as I did back then."
I keep reminding him, it is a blessing to be able to eat 15 cookies and not gain a pound!
He responded, very dryly, "Well I maybe taller, but I probably weigh the same as I did back then."
I keep reminding him, it is a blessing to be able to eat 15 cookies and not gain a pound!
Compassion
I guess this is a little, I mean a long, reflection during Holy Week.
This morning Sophia had a follow up appointment with her endocrinologist. She had to have 4 vials of blood drawn from her tiny little arm. I opted for the nurse to put some numbing gel on her arm first, thinking that I didn't want her to have a traumatic experience at the doctor at 3 1/2 years old. Those types of experiences tend to stick with a person. Well, I am wondering if just getting it over with would have been better than pulling off the huge band aids that had covered the numbing cream. Her skin is so sensitive, she can barely handle the tags in her clothes. Pulling off band aids was not a good way to start her lab experience. I did the first one slow and the second one fast, neither way was OK. Then came the poke. The lab tech was so great, couldn't have been better. But, Sophia would calm down, and then look down and see the needle and it would all start again.
So...traumatic it was. She seemed so hurt by the whole experience. I asked her if it was painful, or if she was just scared. She said that she was scared and that it hurt her arm a lot. All day she just held her sore arm. She will be OK. The lab work was necessary. Sometimes in life, we have to go through painful stuff. That's why God gave us family and friends, so that we don't have to suffer alone. Even though it really breaks my heart when I have to participate in holding my child down for a medical procedure, I will do it. It is my job to be there with my kids when they hurt. Even when my heart breaks because they are suffering, it is my job to be strong. They need to know that it will be OK. Sometimes I fail at hiding my worry, buy I pray to God I never fail at being there for them.
If you want it, here is a lot of background history...My little Sophia is just that, really little. She was born weighing in at 8 lbs. 11 ounces, but that was the last time she was considered big. There were times when she was even border line "failure to thrive" because she just could not gain weight. She was incredibly hard to console as an infant. About 5 months into her little life, I finally convinced her doctor to test her for reflux, which she had, and which she continued to be medicated for almost until her 3rd b-day. She has always just been a hard nut to crack. As a newborn she was checked for a heart murmur, turned out to be "innocent," (which is just the sound, not actually a hole), her soft spot didn't fully close until almost 3, and before her 1st birthday, I sometimes worried that the light was on but that she wasn't home. She didn't seem to always be connecting with me. She even went through a weird, super scary time from 12-16 months, when about 15 times a day, she would do this startle type shudder with her eyes rolling back. (That, by the way, miraculously healed after we went to Disney World, and visited Our Lady of the Universe Shrine in Orlando,FL! It just went away! The neurologist said that it could have been some weird virus. Virus or not, I truly believe that Mary, my Mother, the Mother of God, interceded on my baby's behalf.) She has had terrible allergic reactions to Omnicef and Amoxicillin, so her antibiotic choices are really limited. She has seen a cardiologist, endocrinologist, neurologist, geneticist, and a gastroenterologist. But thank God, it has all worked itself out. She just doesn't fall in the "normal" range. She is bright and able and strong, even if she is very petite. I have to keep having her checked because the doctors want to make sure that she keeps growing, even if just a little at a time. I keep thanking God that she is OK.
I think about the parents whose children aren't OK. How they must suffer watching their children suffer. That seems like too big of a cross to carry. I pray that those parents can know that Jesus is there to help them carry their cross. Our priest recently talked about compassion. He said that Jesus was full of compassion. "Passion" means to suffer and "com" means with. So He suffers with us. On the road to Calvary and dying on the cross He suffered with us, so that we would never have to suffer alone. Our loving God, not only took upon the sins of the world, but also the suffering of mankind. There is nothing that we have to go through, that He doesn't uniquely understand. He came down to suffer and die so that we might live. So, I will accept the small sufferings that I am offered, and I will try to help my kids realize and understand that their is no way to avoid suffering. Somehow though, we can offer our sufferings up to God and ask Him to bring us, and others around us, grace through it. Just as the greatest of all grace, salvation, was brought to us by our Savior's most compassionate offering, Himself.
This morning Sophia had a follow up appointment with her endocrinologist. She had to have 4 vials of blood drawn from her tiny little arm. I opted for the nurse to put some numbing gel on her arm first, thinking that I didn't want her to have a traumatic experience at the doctor at 3 1/2 years old. Those types of experiences tend to stick with a person. Well, I am wondering if just getting it over with would have been better than pulling off the huge band aids that had covered the numbing cream. Her skin is so sensitive, she can barely handle the tags in her clothes. Pulling off band aids was not a good way to start her lab experience. I did the first one slow and the second one fast, neither way was OK. Then came the poke. The lab tech was so great, couldn't have been better. But, Sophia would calm down, and then look down and see the needle and it would all start again.
So...traumatic it was. She seemed so hurt by the whole experience. I asked her if it was painful, or if she was just scared. She said that she was scared and that it hurt her arm a lot. All day she just held her sore arm. She will be OK. The lab work was necessary. Sometimes in life, we have to go through painful stuff. That's why God gave us family and friends, so that we don't have to suffer alone. Even though it really breaks my heart when I have to participate in holding my child down for a medical procedure, I will do it. It is my job to be there with my kids when they hurt. Even when my heart breaks because they are suffering, it is my job to be strong. They need to know that it will be OK. Sometimes I fail at hiding my worry, buy I pray to God I never fail at being there for them.
If you want it, here is a lot of background history...My little Sophia is just that, really little. She was born weighing in at 8 lbs. 11 ounces, but that was the last time she was considered big. There were times when she was even border line "failure to thrive" because she just could not gain weight. She was incredibly hard to console as an infant. About 5 months into her little life, I finally convinced her doctor to test her for reflux, which she had, and which she continued to be medicated for almost until her 3rd b-day. She has always just been a hard nut to crack. As a newborn she was checked for a heart murmur, turned out to be "innocent," (which is just the sound, not actually a hole), her soft spot didn't fully close until almost 3, and before her 1st birthday, I sometimes worried that the light was on but that she wasn't home. She didn't seem to always be connecting with me. She even went through a weird, super scary time from 12-16 months, when about 15 times a day, she would do this startle type shudder with her eyes rolling back. (That, by the way, miraculously healed after we went to Disney World, and visited Our Lady of the Universe Shrine in Orlando,FL! It just went away! The neurologist said that it could have been some weird virus. Virus or not, I truly believe that Mary, my Mother, the Mother of God, interceded on my baby's behalf.) She has had terrible allergic reactions to Omnicef and Amoxicillin, so her antibiotic choices are really limited. She has seen a cardiologist, endocrinologist, neurologist, geneticist, and a gastroenterologist. But thank God, it has all worked itself out. She just doesn't fall in the "normal" range. She is bright and able and strong, even if she is very petite. I have to keep having her checked because the doctors want to make sure that she keeps growing, even if just a little at a time. I keep thanking God that she is OK.
I think about the parents whose children aren't OK. How they must suffer watching their children suffer. That seems like too big of a cross to carry. I pray that those parents can know that Jesus is there to help them carry their cross. Our priest recently talked about compassion. He said that Jesus was full of compassion. "Passion" means to suffer and "com" means with. So He suffers with us. On the road to Calvary and dying on the cross He suffered with us, so that we would never have to suffer alone. Our loving God, not only took upon the sins of the world, but also the suffering of mankind. There is nothing that we have to go through, that He doesn't uniquely understand. He came down to suffer and die so that we might live. So, I will accept the small sufferings that I am offered, and I will try to help my kids realize and understand that their is no way to avoid suffering. Somehow though, we can offer our sufferings up to God and ask Him to bring us, and others around us, grace through it. Just as the greatest of all grace, salvation, was brought to us by our Savior's most compassionate offering, Himself.
Wednesday, April 1, 2009
Never Good to Hear
Sophia from the top of the stairs...
Mommy, I made bad choices.
(Thank goodness that it was just washable markers. Sharpies really scare me!)
Mommy, I made bad choices.
(Thank goodness that it was just washable markers. Sharpies really scare me!)
7 Year Old Boy
Luke's teacher always comments about how creative his imagination is. I am glad she says that and not, "What in the world are you teaching this kid at home?" All of his writing projects usual center on aliens, crazy cows, attack robots, or evil geniuses. His spelling words come from his writing, so his lists have been so different from my 1st grade spelling lists.
It makes me laugh. I never know what is going to come out of his mouth.
The other day was no exception. He was trying to find a place to do his 20 minutes of reading when I heard him say, "I am looking for some place that is quiet, peaceful...and deadly."
It makes me laugh. I never know what is going to come out of his mouth.
The other day was no exception. He was trying to find a place to do his 20 minutes of reading when I heard him say, "I am looking for some place that is quiet, peaceful...and deadly."
Be Afraid, Be Very Afraid
Hannah is a little prankster...
Last night she changed the music in Joshua's alarm so that he would wake up to Katie singing "Tennessee Christmas" instead of his normal wake up call. Then she told me, "Don't worry Mom, the joke I pulled on you isn't that bad." But that is all she would say.
I have yet to find it. I did cautiously turn on the kitchen sink because a few years ago, Josh had taped the trigger on the vegetable sprayer down, so when I turned on the faucet water sprayed me in the face and the wall behind me.
I just love April Fool's Day.
Last night she changed the music in Joshua's alarm so that he would wake up to Katie singing "Tennessee Christmas" instead of his normal wake up call. Then she told me, "Don't worry Mom, the joke I pulled on you isn't that bad." But that is all she would say.
I have yet to find it. I did cautiously turn on the kitchen sink because a few years ago, Josh had taped the trigger on the vegetable sprayer down, so when I turned on the faucet water sprayed me in the face and the wall behind me.
I just love April Fool's Day.
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