Prayer Request

This is Matt. Carmen left for home today with the girls. I stayed here with G. Carmen's grandmother has congestive heart failure and fluid in her lungs. She has a defective heart valve and a bad prognosis. They've called the hospice folks and Carmen's numerous aunts and uncles are assembling. Please pray for Carmen's grandmother. Please also pray for Carmen and her dad, as this is a tough time for them all.

Thanks,
Matt

Matt's New Buddy Holly Look

Granny Update

My sister called a little while ago to let me know that the doctors are saying that Granny has congestive heart failure and also either has penuomia or bronchitis. At this point she is also telling me not to come because there is nothing I can do. My Aunt is with her now and is not calling the rest of the famliy yet so I will just hang here until I get more news. I'm not sure that I could get there right now anyway with the weather being what it is.

I Love Generational Keepsake Items

When we had Gabriel we were handed down several keepsake items from both side of the family. My mother had saved several of my baby blankets, some of my brothers and the girl's clothes that my sister and I wore and a beautiful christening gown. That all three girl's have worn from my side of the family. My mother-in-law, Gloria, handed down a blanket used to bring home all three of her kids, some of Cathy's, and then ours. She also handed down a wonderful bassinet that was used by two of Cathy's kids, all three of mine, one of my sister's, and soon it will be also used for Danny and Lucy's little girl Rexi. I just love the continuity of something like this. And just so that we all remember for generations to come I wrote the names and birth dates of each child who has used the bassinet on the bottom. I hope that all the kids appreciate these keepsake items as they grow-up and don't find them useless and too sentimental.

Snow Cream

Since we are getting snow right now and we have no ice cream in the house we are going to make Snow Cream. I remember making snow cream with my mother and sometimes my grandmother while I was growing up. Here's the link to the recipe.

If you have snow I hope you enjoy. If not keep this in mind for the next time you do get snow. I also know that Mayfield has an ice cream that is called snow cream it's pretty good.

Thanks Tank Thursday

Today I have several concerns and prayers to share and then I will give my list of Thankful thoughts.

1. My Grandmother- My grandmother, Vergie, was taken to the hospital today with the flu. She has been on a IV for fluids but today she took a turn for the worse. She was admitted because she began having trouble breathing. So please pray for comfort and healing for her, her family and the doctors and nurses caring for her.

2. Jody who is one of our MOPS mentors had her mother pass away this weekend. Please pray for comfort and peace in their time of grief. And help them find comfort in the knowing that their loved one is now with Our Lord and Savior.

Now I can express my Thankful thoughts for the week. Hopefully, these thoughts will help you to think of some reasons that you are thankful. There is always at least one thing in life to be thankful for but I'm sure once you start thinking of them you will come up with more.

1. Matt home: I am thankful that Matt is home and will be home this weekend. Though he wasn't gone long he was missed a great deal. Elizabeth even woke up one morning looking for him pointing to the steps and saying, "Dada."

2. Snow: Right now as I am typing this we are getting snow. I love watching it fall. I love watching the kids play in the snow as they throw snowballs, make snow angels and try catching snow flakes. I need to remember to put a bowl outside to catch some clean snow for snow cream for after dinner.

3. Laughter: I enjoy being able to laugh at Matt's antics with the Poll. It's fun to be able to joke together on simple things and sometimes even the big ones.

4. Playing games: We've been playing a lot of games with the kids lately. It has been fun to have that together time with the whole family. Right now the favorite is UNO. Pretty soon though we will have to get out Lucky Ducks so that Elizabeth can participate more.

5. Helping Hands: I am thankful for the help that I get from friends and family.

6. Prayer: I am thankful for the comfort that prayer gives me both when I joyous and down.

7. Extended Family: I enjoy my extended and am thankful for them. I don't get to see many of my extended families members as much as I would like but I enjoy them none the less. I miss all the family get togethers we use to have when my grandparents owned their lake house. Those were some goo times.

8. Music: Music is comforting, uplifting and can transport you back to the past. I have been exploring music from my past this week and have really enjoyed it. I have even shared my music search with my mom, my sister, and Matt. We have begun music discussions that have been wonderful. Gabriel and Abby got into listening to it as well. Matt told me my list was inpressive for me because I can't remember music titles or witers but came up with a pretty decent list.

Notice the Poll

I just want to know what moron in his right mind would want to stay at home for a family vacation. That would be my husband. He has voted 4 times to stay at home for our family vacation. I guess with the pool and everything it wouldn't be too bad but instead we are heading to the beach in July.

I love you, Honey!

And Honey, from now on just vote once.

Shoulda, Coulda, Woulda, But Didn't

I should have put Gabriel in Afternoon Kindergarten instead of morning Kindergarten. We have had 4 -2 hour delays in the past week and a half. This means that Gabriel has missed 4 days of school because his morning kindergarten class is cancelled since he gets out at 10:30 and class for him wouldn't start until 10:00 because of the delay. It really stinks. I could have put him in full day in October when I received a call telling me there was an open spot but didn't because he was settled in his class with friends and a good teacher. Now I know I would put him in half day or would act sooner on the full day kindergarten than I did. But I didn't.

Abby Says

Tonight we called Mimi to thank her for her Valentine's Day gifts. One of their cousins was staying with them tonight and wanted to talk. The phone was handed to Gabriel and then to Abby. Abby finally brings me the phone asking me, "Can you turn it up?" I take the phone and say, "Hello?" and there is silence then I hear Mimi on the phone who says, "Hi, Abby it's Mimi now." I respond and then tell her what Abby was saying. She says that Kaleb was not talking at all. No wonder she wanted it turned up.

Thankful Thursday

My thankful Thursday post is a little later than I intended but the day and evening got away from me. So I will post it now instead.



1. Playing games: I have enjoyed getting out games this week to play with the kids. We have played UNO, Trouble, Hide and Seek and a number game.
2. Making Valentines: I love holidays and I am thankful for this holiday to show love in such a simple visible way. We enjoyed making and decorating heart shaped cookies, putting together and making our Valentine'd Day cards and coming up with special things to eat.
3. Scrapbooking: I have started scrapbooking again recently. I have really been enjoying looking through all of those pictures, I am really way behind, and being thankful for all those special moments with family and friends.
4. Pizza Night: I am thankful for the excitement the kids have for our weekly pizza nights. They really look forward to it all week and are disappointed if we don't have it for some reason.
5. Birthdays: We have been invited to several birthday parties this week. The kids are really looking forward to these birthdays. I am thankful that we can share in celebrating another year of life with these special freinds.
6. Matt: I am thankful for my husband of 10 years. He knows how to make me smile with is warped sense of humor and his predictibilty. He warms my heart with who he is.
7. Babies: I am especially thankful for all the babies born in the past several months and for those that will be born in the near future. "Behold , children are a gift of the LORD , The fruit of the womb is a reward ." Psalms 127:3

He's Leaving on a Jet Plane

This afternoon Matt will be taking off for Washington D.C. to visit with his brother, sister-in-law, and hisnew neice, Rexi. His parents are also going to be visiting so it should be a lot of fun for them all. I hope that Lucy and Danny put them all to work helping out in any way they need. I am just a little jealous that he is seeing the new baby and I don't get to yet. But I will see her soon enough when they come down to Tennessee the week of Easter and our Spring Break. Pray for safe traveling for Matt and his parents this weekend.

Game Night

Tonight we played card game that was one of my childhood favorites as well as nemisis. I enjoyed playing but could never quite win even though I hit Uno often enough first. We always knew how to team up on the loser. Yeah, we played UNO. Matt even played along. Abby caught on real quickly to the fact that when she had one card left in her hand she was to say UNO. She had more difficulty with matching the colors and numbers. Gabriel could breeze his way through this game if he would only pay more attention to what is on the table and not what he would like to play, he kept trying to play his favorite card or just pulled one at random. And yet again I didn't win. Gabe won twice and Matt won once, though Matt and I tried to fix it so Abby would win but that didn't happen either. But I think we all had fun. I know the kids did.

Summer Vacation

Today I booked our summer vacation to Cape San Blas, Florida. This is a beach area that is undeveloped tourist trap wise. It has houses and condos a couple of small resturants and a couple of gas stations. At the end of the Cape sits the St. Joseph Peninsula State Park. This area is truly an uncrowded family paradise with sparkling white sand beaches, clear water, beautiful dunes and sun sets. On the opposite side of the Peninsula sits the bay where you can fish, scallop, and take boat rides. In the past we have seen dolphin, sting rays, and sharks while riding in the boat and an abundance of other sea life while snorkeling in the bay including scallops, horse shoe crabs, blue crabs, sanddollars, sea urchins, and starfish. My family has been going to Cape San Blas on and off since I was in elementary school. We went back to this wonderful beach with the kids, my brother, sister and their kids and my parents two years ago. Now we will be going back again with the same group. Last time we even rented a ocean kayak which everyone had a wonderful time using. We have always rented a house and every house we have rented has been just beautiful and this years house I'm sure will be just as beautiful. So if you are in the mood and enjoy seclusion, then this is the beach for you.

Polls

Don't forget to check out the polls on the right side of my blog. It's all just for fun. I hope everyone is having a great day.

Good Day

So far I have had a wonderful day. I am trying to play with my kids more instead of doing that invisible list of things to do, I never write anything down and if I do it gets lost half the time. Anywho, today I worked on my list but I took several time outs to enjoy my kids. I played a number game with Abby as well as a letter one. This actually had the benefit of a teaching lesson as well as one on one time. I took the time to rock Elizabeth, well as long as she would let me, before putting her down for her morning nap. And then Gabriel and I played Hyper Dash. This is really a fun game and it gets you moving. And with it being wet, cloudy and rainy we needed to get moving. It has made me feel more relaxed. During naptime I will need to head to the basement and clean it up in anticipation of company.

Not His Father's Son....Well Maybe He Is

Last Wednesday night Gabriel couldn't seem to get me out of the house fast enough. Here was our conversation;

Gabriel: "Aren't you going to play BUNCO?"
Me: "Yes, but it's not time to leave yet."
Gabriel: "Well, when are you leaving?"
Me: "Are you trying to get rid of me."
Gabriel: "NO, I just want you to go and have a good time at BUNCO."
Me: "Oh." (Standing there thinking where does he learn this stuff.)

Today, Gabriel went to the grocery store with me. On the car ride there here is the conversation we had.

Gabriel: "Mom, you've got a lot of wrinkles under your eyes."
Me: "What?"
Gabriel: "He repeats."
Me: "You don't tell women they have wrinkles." (Then I check for said wrinkles.)
Gabriel: "I'm going to be in trouble for that one aren't I?"

No School

Well, we didn't get the snow I was hoping for but school was cancelled. It was raining when I got up this morning so I was surprised to see that school was cancelled. Matt left the house at 8:30 and then called to let me know that they cancelled school for good reason. The roads are icy and dangerous. I guess that's why we've been hearing sirens all morning long. So I will get my somewhat peaceful day at home with nowhere to go and good reason to go nowhere. For this I am thankful. Now I just have to figure out what the kids and I will be doing all day.