Anna Daddy Road Trip Part 2

Here is a movie from the trip:

The Anna Daddy Road Trip

Mike and Anna took a whirlwind road trip to Minnesota and back in order to pick up an electric car. It was sort of a "spur of the moment" decision to let Anna go. So we let her have charge of the camera for pictures and she did a great job of capturing different places on the way. She brought along her stuffed kitties to keep herself entertained and Mike said she was great the entire time. It was a wonderful bonding time for them too. Anna has been abit house bound with the rest of us due to the other girls medical issues so it was great for her to be able to go, get out and let her hair down a bit. :)

Here are a few pictures their trip:

There is nothing like a visit with Grampa!

I love this picture: Taking pictures of taking pictures. :)

Enjoying the Trip

Anna and Daddy at Country Kitchen

Post Election Thoughts

Well, we have a new president in the white house! On a positive note, we have our first black president in the white house. I think that is significant. Even Condoleeza Rice was happy about that.
I remember the Watts Riots, I remember my grandmother openly using the N word when I asked "what is that funny smell" in a grocery store in Arkansas, and I was embarrassed beyond belief. I also remember living in Arkansas when our first son was about 2 and going to the grocery store. We were in a poorer part of town and I had more things in my basket than the black woman behind me. I asked her if she wanted to go ahead and it was like one of those E.F. Hutton moments. The entire store got quiet. She paused and then said, "Thankyou". I was a California girl and didn't realize that might be an unusual thing to happen in the Deep South. How sad. I remember seeing the abject poverty in the south and I have seen the ugliness of racism both White towards black AND black towards white.

I was SHOCKED and ASHAMED that Baylor University in Texas is STILL having terrible problems regarding race. They found a NOOSE hanging from a tree and Obama signs being burned.

In my opinion, the campus should be on threat of closing its doors if they don't get a handle on it. And not only that. It is a FELONY to threaten a president. If that was their intention, I'd go for maximum penalty by law. 5 years in Federal Prison.

THAT IS OUTRAGEOUS behavior, especially coming from a "Christian University".

I think my mom put it into perspecitve when she sent an informational Email to the girlies. She listed every president she has lived under including one who was elected on the day of her birth who has gone down as the worst president in history!

Here is her email:

Dear Anna Sarah and Erika
I am probably your oldest relative...so
I want to share this presidential stuff.
Nov 2, l920 the day I was born is the
day Warren Harding was elected
president...it was the first year women
could vote....I have been here for
the following presidents: Hardin,
Coolidge, Hoover, FDRoosevelt,
Truman, Eisenhauer, nixon, Kennedy,
LBJ, Ford, Carter, Clinton Bush sr.
Bush W....and soon to be Pres. Obama.
I left out Regan......some of these men
served two terms (eight years)...
My love to you all Dabba


Isn't that totally cool?

And here we are today, still America, still a country. She has been through the Depression, World War 2, the Korean War, The Vietnam War, lived in Israel during the Gulf War, and now these wars.

I am curious to see what the next decade will bring to America.
As a citizen of this great Country, I am proud that we had an election where the people spoke freely and nobody died in the process. There were no bombings, there was nobody taken out and shot for how they voted, and there was integrity at the polling places.

As a Christian, I know that my citizenship is in heaven and everything happens for a purpose. My EXAMPLE here, and how I behave when I do not get my exact wish is being watched by those who know me.

We are living in a Post Christian Era of our society. I would be very cautious for those wanting separation of Church and State to be eliminated again. Right now, for those who's children attend public schools, the schools are secular. If you are to insist on prayer in school, or religion be taught..... think.... Who's religion? Prayer to whom?
We no longer live in Plymouth.
And frankly, much of Plymouth brings me sadness. Morality without Christ is an innoculation AGAINST the gospel itself. One of the problems I saw in Plymouth and with the Separatists was that they went on to impose and persecute those around them that didn't think the same way. The VERY REASON they left England and Holland! Persecution.

We have great opportunity in this country to live out our faith on a daily basis in every walk of life. We can start by being a good example and praying for those who now lead us. I am guilty of not being respectful of my leaders and not praying for them in sincerity. I would like to apologize for that bad example. Times are serious and it is time to pray seriously.

I feel sorry for any president taking over the mess we have gotten ourselves into now.
We have wars, economic woes, medical woes, job woes, and a host of other issues.
I wouldn't want to be the new president and I even know that Africa is a continent! :)

For those who are worried. Put your trust and faith in the only one who can make a true difference in your life.

For those who are happy. Congratulations, the people of our country have spoken loud and clear and been heard.

And for those like me who love our country but also love other places in the world and the people there too, I pray that ALL will be safe and secure and able to freely Worship our Lord.
One thing that has happened to me since we have gone overseas a couple of times is the set in realization that we as Americans do not have a corner on Christianity. It is alive and healthy in other parts of the world. Jesus was not born in Plymouth, He is not an American. He is the same Lord to the person sitting in a tent in Darfur fearing for their life as he is to the person sitting in their home, like me now, typing on a computer. He was there with Erika while she rocked in a bed and he was with our friend who was laying in a bed in Baghdad suffering from gangrene of the appendix. He was with Sarah when she was afraid and he was with Anna when she was plucked from a suspected meth lab. And he is with you now.

He works in ways that I do not understand and do not claim to, but I am comforted that HE IS TRULY at work in this world.

So let's work together and bring about positive change in our world and continue to live our lives for HIM.

Here Are Some More Funnies

We went to a friend's daughter's wedding. The groom had several piercings in his nose and eyebrows. Sarah's eyes were rather drawn to him when she leaned over and whispered.... "Mama, when I get married do I have to marry a guy that looks like that?" No, I replied..... "Oh good!" I was afraid I 'd have to marry a man with all those things on his face! Will it hurt when they kiss?"

Sarah was irritated that Anna took the Arm of the Usher when we went to be seated at a wedding. She leaned over and said, "I'm going to WAIT before I take a man's arm! I'll wait until I'm at LEAST 10!

Anna was 5 and her brother was tickling her. She couldn't pronounce her r's very well so she said, "Be Cafull, I bwuise like a gwape!"

Sarah woke up in the middle of the night after having surgery. She was having pain. I told her to call her nurse... She pushed the button and when the nurse answered she said, "I think you better come in here, my leg is trying to get a headache!"

Another time when she had surgery she called the nurse button. A man answered and she said, "Who is this? I'm trying to call a girl nurse!
She didn't want to tell the man she had to go to the bathroom.

We studied the reformation recently and watched a video on Martin Luther. I quizzed the girls a couple of days later... "who was Martin Luther?"
Sarah said, "I know, I know!" He was a German, A German...... A GERMAN SHEPHERD! :)

When Anna was 5 she was taking a bath and she pointed to her chest. "I think these are going to be my breasteese.

When Erika had her body cast taken off they placed her in a whirlpool bath. She overheard the nurse say her therapist wanted to come in and see.
She PROTESTED! "NO WAY, He can't come in here and see my womanhood! I'm almost a WOMAN! LOL

Sarah saw her old prosthetist that she had when she was 5. He was walking down the hall and stopped her and said, "Hey Sarah, do you remember me?
She studied his face and said, yes, I think I do, but you look different. He said, "it is probably my beard!" She said, "No, you are old now."

We attended another wedding and the girls were all sitting quietly having cake. Daddy leaned over and said, "hey girls, maybe we can find some boys that are brothers for you to marry and then we'll just have 1 big wedding!" He was kidding of course.....
Anna said, "But Daddy, I had my heart set on marrying a black man!" :)

Still on FRUA Withdrawl and Other Thoughts

I can't believe I'm posting this, but I was missing FRUA today. :) I am going to stay the course and wait until I can get my projects finished. I talked to Mike and he agrees that is a good idea. There are many people on FRUA I have never met, yet I feel close to. I could call them my friend. Aren't computer's wierd? You can talk to somebody and share the most personal details of your life and never have met them.
2 of my Frua Friends live close by and I am thankful for them every day. One doesn't know I'm gone as she is out of town, the other doesn't post much but lives 5 doors down. :)
For those that don't know what FRUA is. It is a WEB site dedicated to Families for Russian and Ukrainian adoption.
There are a LOT of wonderful people who adopt children and are dedicated to making their lives better. They come from all walks of life and all parts of the world.
What a great group.

Many times I work out what is going on in my own mind when I write. Sometimes I have to run to the computer and throw it in with a blast of fingers flying and words appearing, and then there are my first draft thoughts all written out; which is what everything is, a first draft.

I think I have always worked this way. I was never really good about making "planned" entries into a diary, which is one reason I do not have my project done. I have also never been very good about "organizing" my thoughts into neat categories. I am an ADHD poster child.
BUT.... I am really trying.

Life is a first draft. In fact,it is an only draft. :) We only get one shot at it, and we don't get to go back and erase. Our corrections look like eraser marks and red marks all over our papers and those around us remind us of our mistakes and sins.
There is One however, who corrects things for us and it is forever. His red marks wash our lives white as snow,and with HIS eyes, even though we live with the temporal consequences of our sins, He does not see it. He has removed them as far as the East is From the West. He sees something different. He sees our lives through Christ. I am so thankful for that.

(on a side note: I am keeping up with LAUNDRY!) YEA!

Legs Are on the Way!

Erika was fitted this a.m. for her new legs. I have to say I breathed a big sigh of relief that she was able to get into them and wear them with NO PAIN! YEA!
She has a bruise on her bone from walking around without legs, and now cannot walk anymore. So I was quite worried that she would not be able to participate well with the new fitting. All the way to the hospital I was trying to keep from crying because I felt so bad for her. I thought for sure that it would be a problem, and bruising on a bone like that takes forever to go away. I was picturing her set back 2 years needing to call out for me to take her to the bathroom, needing to be back in a wheel chair and I felt so guilty that I could barely bear it. Even though Erika is 10 and Sarah is 9, I have not been a "Prosthetic Mother" for that long. Just 3 years, so I still have much to learn about complications. Some of it you do not learn until it happens.
So now, it will be just a couple of more weeks and she will be running around like she used to. Then, it will be Sarah's turn to get a new leg.

I am so thankful for the guys at Scottish Rite who work on the girls legs. They are really, really talented folks with big huge hearts. And they are so supportive. They give comfort and strength and let you know great tips. My favorite one: When you want to go shoe shopping without the kids, just take their foot after they go to bed with you to the store! What a great idea!!!!! LOL

Our New President

I didn't vote for either of the main candidates. I voted my conscience.
Yet, I know that whoever makes it into the highest office of our country will be there for a purpose because GOD has allowed him to be there. I wonder what the future will hold for America. I wonder what our country will look like in 4 years. Will we be better off? Worse off? Will we be a strong world power or lose our status and fade away?

In the grande scheme of things, eternally, it is but a blip on the radar screen. But that blip, is a blip where I exist and have knowledge! I am curious as to what will happen.

My biggest concern honestly: The Unborn; the protection of those whose lives are potentially terminated, and then, if they survive; murdered.

I pray that the Lord's will in our lives will be done. And I pray that those who oppose abortion will put their actions where their mouths are and ADOPT or support somebody to help themselves should they choose to keep their baby.

Election Day Comic Relief

Courtesy of the girls at various times this year: I wish I had written everything down. Some of the newest ones (the last 2 months I didn't post here)

Enjoy:

Erika was asking about having babies today. I told her when her brothers were born, the doctor held them up and said, "It's a boy!" She said, "how do you know if a baby is a boy or a girl?"
Anna piped up from the other room and said, "girls have hair and boys are bald!"


Sarah was looking on the Calendar and noticed it is "Ash Wednesday". She asked what it was. After the explanation about what Lent is, and people "give up" certain things during this season and focus on Easter.... she said,
"I know, I'll give up school!

Today we were starting Language Arts. We were having our oral lesson and I asked "How do you look up a word in the Dictionary"?
Sarah piped up, "That's easy! You just open it up! It is full of words! :-)

The other day, Gramma sent them each a Valentine's Day Card and it was signed....
"God Loves You",
Love, Gramma and Grampa

(Erika has overheard gramma now and then say, we are all god or I am god)
Erika looked at that and said, "If Gramma thinks she is god, then why didn't she just sign it "I Love You".


My dd just walked in and said, "mama, you know what my life motto is"?
No, what?
She said, "Never take anything for granite because that is what tomb stones
are made of." :-)


Yesterday we went to the hospital for checkups.
Sarah has grown and we had to take her leg down stairs to add some height to her prosthetic leg. She has grown over an inch!
After she put it back on, the dr. asked, "How do you feel?" She said, "I feel like a grown up woman!"


The girlies were watching "The 10 Commandments".
The intermission section showed up and our dd Anna said, "Oh, that is so all the actors and actresses can go to the bathroom!" LOL

Our newest neighbor was born 2 days ago.(a cow)
I took this photo of him yesterday.
The girls PROUDLY said, they could tell he was a boy!
"Because of that THING!


We have been studying ancient Egypt. Today we had a creative writing assignment where the girls had to pretend they at one time lived in ancient Egypt.
Anna's started with:

I helped to bury King Tut... I put him in a Jackyl jar. I put him in a Falcon jar. I put him in a Baboon Jar. etc...........I was laughing so hard I couldn't finish grading her paper.


I threw my back out once again, so I asked the girls if they wanted to play Cinderella. They said yes! So I had them clean the floor with wash cloths and Murphy's OIL soap. It didn't take but 10 minutes.
After they were done, I said, "Thank you so much my sweet princesses!" Sarah piped up and said, "I don't want to be the kind of princess who scrubs floors, I want to be the kind that wears pretty dresses and doesn't do any work!"


Our son and daughter in law stopped by with our one year old grandson. It was time of a diaper change so I asked Ivy if the girls could watch. DS says, "Is this some sort of science lesson?" (he knows me)
Of course it is. So Ivy says, "come on girls, let's change Will's diaper."
She took his diaper off and Sarah said, "Oh MY! I think I'm simply going to faint!


Anna was cleaning out her fish tank today. I overheard her tell her fish rather matter of factly, "If you don't swim into my hand right now, I'm going to have to ground you and take some of your pretty rocks away!"

I asked her, "Are you talking to your fish?"
Yes, mom, the net has a hole in it.

When Does Life Begin?

My friend had this article posted on her blog, and I felt it was well written enough to spread it. :)

http://article.nationalreview.com/?q=MDRhMjcwNjkxOTQ4ZGQ4YjM0YTE4OGU5N2M1MDcwMDQ=

Organized Anna and Sarah the Comic Relief

Like I said, Anna thrives on organization. She announced this a.m. that Therron's Birthday is coming up.

Therron is Mike's helper at the business. He is going to be 55.

She said, "It is time to get Therron's birthday present!" I have all his sizes right here!LOL
Apparently she got his shoe size,(12) sock size,(12) pant size and shirt size. Of course we will have trouble finding pants since they are a 34x302! And, we are to be sure to get a shirt with a pocket. :)


At School the other day, we were talking about the Reformation and its impact upon Christendom. We have been learning about Martin Luther and they watched a video about him. So a few days have passed and I asked the girls..."Who was Martin Luther?" I got stares, like the Mayflower Compact Stares.... Then Sarah raised her hand, excitedly she said, "He was a German! A German! A German Shepherd?"
LOL

But That Way Is Too Hard!

I was correcting a math paper today. When I came to hundreds column addition, I figured it wouldn't be any big deal. After all this is review. They are working on fractions, multiplication and division.
So when I was grading Anna's paper, ALL the problems were WRONG! I called her over and asked her, "How can you come up with 41 to an addition problem of 824,236 and 79? She said, simple, I added it.

HUH???? Show me how you added it. 8+2+4+2+3+6+7+9...... :)

Uhh, why did you add it that way?

"Because the other way is too hard and takes too long!" LOL

I guess she was doing "creative math".

So, she is doing it the old fashioned hard way now.

Back to Church ..... Comments About Family Life

Sarah was able to attend church again yesterday for the first time since surgery, which means I was able to attend church again for the first time since Sarah had surgery.
It was nice to be back!

Bob Deffinbaugh spoke yesterday on Hebrews 7, but it was his last part of his sermon that stuck in my mind so very well, and I am thankful that he spoke it, as they are words of wisdom.

Here is the female regurgitated version of what he said:

Be cautious that you do not look to a shepherd, an accountability group, a mentor a trusted friend or counselor and replace them with being accountable to Christ, to looking to Christ and having them be your intermediary instead of trusting your Christ and your relationship with him, depending upon personal prayer and the word.

Excellent advice. He was not saying that mentors are bad or seeking wisdom from a trusted counselor is bad. What he was saying was be careful not to replace them with seeking God directly.


Now, about Family life Comments.

I have had several people ask me how Anna is taking being a sister to special needs sisters. They have made comments like, "The other girls have all these needs and get special attention and then she is just there", or "she doesn't get the attention they do."

I wish these types of comments didn't bother me, but honestly, they do. Not because I am blinded and cannot see the girls individually, or because I think Anna has no needs, but because it is implied that Anna is being ignored. She isn't.

I am so thankful that we have already done this before with our boys. Our lives were different than many families because we had a child with special needs. But you know what? Different is just that... DIFFERENT. It isn't less than, it is different. Anna's life just as her brother's lives were not "less than" or defined by things we did not do. In my opinion, all of our lives have been made richer and broader and fuller and raw and real. We have had opportunities we would have never known. We would have never met the wonderful people we have met over the years. We would never have had opportunity to minister to other's needs and hurts like we have been able to BECAUSE of "special needs".
"Special Needs" are also not limited to physical needs. Anna has special needs too, which are not visible to the human eye. She has every bit as many "needs" as her sisters do, and we are very aware of the specialness of our daughter. Unfortunately, her needs many times are looked over by others outside of our family. They can be misinterperated and misunderstood.
I am so thankful for a Heavenly Father that I can look to for wisdom and understanding in dealing with each of our children's individual needs. Anna does not feel the least bit "slided" by her family life. She is every bit a center part of it and loves being a helper. She is REALLY enjoying taking care of the animals herself right now and not having to share the "chore" of taking care of them with Sarah. :)

Sarah and Erika are both accountable themselves to be helpers in the home, with casts and without feet. They are both capable girls and we do not let them get away with being dependent when they don't need to be.

Each of our girls gets special time with mom and dad. We take them out alone at different times during the month and treat each of them individually and take that time to listen to them and have fun and enjoy them.

I have watched a few shows about people who have had special needs siblings and how much they resented it. I think the shows were slanted and slighted towards abortion.
I think they were grossly missing the point that ALL Humans have value and selfishness is not to be condoned but put aside and risen above. Selfishness is sin. To put yourself more important than another is wrong. There are just as many selfish people who resent even having a healthy sibling. :)

The way parents raise their children to view siblings is oh so important. We try to help our children to view their siblings as very special people whom they will have relationship longer than they will with us. Thus, those relationships are special relationships given to them from God.

Each one of our children is a blessing to us from the Lord. Each of them teaches us to be dependent upon the Lord for our very breath. Each of them bring us utmost joy.

We do not take those relationships lightly, nor do we ignore one for another. Sometimes we have to take more time with one, but that does not diminish our love for the others. Each person is of utmost value to us. I also do not feel guilt about needing to spend extra time with one than another. It all works itself out in due time. And... As I have told each of our children. God placed you here for a reason, in the order he placed you and in the body He gave you. IF you are the oldest, he must have thought you could handle it. If you are footless, he knew you didn't need feet to survive. If you are the youngest, he must have known you needed to be and could put up with a whole lot of bosses. :)

We put our trust and rest in the Lord, and we place our family in His Hands.

When Past Crosses Present

Past vs. Present, Present vs. Past
Sin nature or Trauma
Attachment Issues or Sin Nature
Nature vs. Nurture
Inherited traits vs. Learned Behaviors

These have all been on my mind as of late and especially this a.m.
This is that time of year for Past to Cross Present. It is that time of year
that reminds A of where she came from, and how far she has come.

Today started out as a bit of disaster, but has turned out quite well.
I need to remember that GOD is ultimately in control and when things are out of whack
He is still working on our hearts.

A needs to have consistency in her life. She THRIVES with a secure schedule. She THRIVES with everything planned ahead and with no changes being made, but that is not necessarily the real world. It is something we try to make sure happens as it helps life go smoother, but it doesn't always work. So when it doesn't we try to help her through things smoothly. Sometimes it is great and she does fine, other times there are mornings like this morning.

Maybe we should call it our own personal "Black Sunday".

Things have been a bit chaotic around here due to extenuating circumstances. Not really anybody's fault. So A has had alot to deal with all month. She did great until.... today.
Combining the events of the last 6 weeks, with her anniversary for coming to live with us, AND of all things her growing out of her pre planned Sunday School dress and not being able to find her favorite shoes, it was a recipe for "all chaos and no order makes A a grouchy girl!"

And GROUCHY she was.

Daddy and I swiftly decided that we were not going to give way to a "Pity Party", so we headed her off at the pass. She was warned and then the boom was lowered.
Her reaction?
"What about time out, you didn't try a time out!" LOL

We do not negotiate with terrorists~! (I didn't say that to her, but I sure did think it!)

I am so thankful for God's mercy and grace in my own life, and am thankful seeing it unfold in her little life.
A consider's her 5th year anniversary to be on her Birthday, which will be Thanksgiving Day. Funny, her 5th birthday was also on Thanksgiving Day.
We have seen so many changes in her since that day 5 years ago when she came to stay with us. And we are so thankful to have her in our lives.

Sometimes it is hard to define when something is bothering her what the root cause is.
But ultimately it doesn't matter. God Knows and as she yields her life over to Him, no matter what the source, He is the complete answer. :)

A gave me permission to post this, as long as I used A and not her full name. :)

DON'T FORGET TO TUNE IN ON.... AND

AMERICA'S FUNNIEST HOME VIDEOS tomorrow night November 2nd at 6:00 central time. Marcus and Ivy are finalists with their Missed Kiss wedding video clip. :)

It is also DABBA's BIRTHDAY! YEA! She has made it to 88! And she is BEAUTIFUL! I can't wait to get a new picture! Hint. Hint...... :)

My Dabba


This is Dabba and Joe last year.

I just wanted to share a few things about my Dabba. I have not physically seen Dabba since the boys were much younger. She came to Dallas one last time to visit, and we had a WONDERFUL time. She met Mike for the first time and accepted him with open arms.
After that, she went on to Israel and lived in Jerusalem taking care of handicapped children in an orphanage and working at Bridges for Peace. She survived the first Gulf War when Saddam Hussein was sending Scud Missiles into Israel. She said, "we would have to carry all the children down to the shelter, by the time we got down there the all clear siren would go off, we would get them all back to bed and then before we knew it, the siren would go off again and we would repeat the entire process." This is a woman who had suffered a broken hip a few years before. But she LOVED every minute of it. Ok, not the bomb shelters, but she loved what she was doing.
During a time of relative peace, right before the Infantada, our son Chuck went to visit Dabba in Israel. He was 15 and what a trip he had. I don't think he will ever forget that experience.

Dabba and I share funny stories of life from long ago and we share the ones of today.
Some of our funniest stories seem to stem from Aunt Lee Lee and Joseph. I do remember when Dabba broke her hip, we didn't know it was broken yet. I had to go to work and she was caring for the boys. It was a Saturday and she was resting a very sore hip. Apparently she was dozing in the recliner and Joseph had moved in to stare at her rather closely. His breathing startled her and she startled him when she opened her eyes with his eyes meeting hers. I believe there were screams from both parties. I'm not describing it too well, but let's just say, 5 year old Joseph for some reason thought she was laying awfully still so she must have passed away. :) LOL
To his shock, she was alive! I think he was abit relieved too.

I have so very much missed having Dabba close by. I love her deeply and miss her.
I am ever so thankful that she has email and a computer. We are so blessed to be able to communicate this way. I don't know many 88 year olds who get on computers. She is a "Happenin' Woman!"

Joe and Becca were able to visit her in Idaho with Sam not too long ago and I truly hope the other boys are able to see her soon. I know she is not able to travel anymore.

I am so thankful for her being a wonderful Gramma in the life of our boys through a very difficult situation, and now she is truly a gramma to our girlies. She has never met them in person but she keeps up with everything they are doing and I know she loves them.

Dabba was widowed at a young age with 6 children. She has LIVED Christ ever since she met him at the age of 44. She started Family Mission with her Secretary's salary and has done more for the hungry, the homeless, the orphan, the widow, the down trodden, the mentally ill, the wounded, than any one person I have ever personally known.
She paid to have an orphanage started for the handicapped in Timothy's name when he was little. She supported World Vision and they knew her well. I still have vivid memories of the pictures of orphans and children who needed food she supported, and I remember her famous map with all the little pins in it. Those pins represented children, orphans, orphanages, etc. of places she was helping with. This didn't include the immense giving and help she was for her own children. She even took a second job at McDonalds on Saturdays and a 3rd one working in a church Nursery on Sundays.
If I'm making her sound amazing. I'm not touching the surface of what she means to me personally.
I have never had anybody make more of an impact on my life than her. We have laughed together, cried together, resided together, prayed together, taken care of kids together and lived life to the fullest together in the midst of awful circumstances.
I am forever greatful to her and not worthy of her love and devotion.

BUT to her I am forever thankful, forever greatful, forever in love with a person I am proud to call my mom.

I love you Mom!
Happy 88th Birthday! :)

Celebrations

Last night, October 31, most people celebrate as Halloween. There are the costumes, the candy, the parties, the excitement.... and then there is the "scare factor", the celebration of things that are evil and dead.

Why is this something to celebrate? We do not participate in Halloween and many people just don't get why. They do not see the harm in dressing up and going to get candy.
And you know, for little kids who don't know any better, there probably isn't any big deal to it. BUT.....

In my mind, it teaches that Halloween is good. It teaches that Halloween is about Candy and not about what it really celebrates. As a Christian I cannot celebrate ghouls and demons, murderers, death and violence and in between a cute little fairy.

Yesterday when Mike was volunteering, one of the staff workers mentioned that "Conservative Families never let their kids have any fun"..... ARGHHHH....And the typical uneducated mentality of "that is why when they grow up they will rebell and go crazy"..AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!
I can't tell you how many times we have heard this. It doesn't matter that our grown kids are responsible, married, tax paying citizens who are parents themselves and didn't go crazy. It doesn't matter that our little girls are sweet kids and are well behaved and kind. Nope, they will all go crazy. :)LOL

He is much more patient than I am on this stuff. I honestly don't know what his reaction was well enough to blog it, but I know what I would have said.... :)

Anyhoo...
This really, REALLY bothers me. We are not at home with our drapes shut hiding in fear waiting for the evil trick or treaters to pass by. Nor are we hiding from life, protecting our kids from the "real world". The Scripture clearly states to Being in the World but not be OF the World. Our girlies and our boy's were educated about the world. How can they not be? They live here!:) Some of our kids have experienced more of the REAL world than many adults in America. We see our job as parents is to EQUIP our children to LIVE successfully in a difficult world. Just like you wouldn't send a soldier out into battle without teaching him how to prepare himself and use his head, we see this as an opportunity to prepare our children for what is to come, both POSITIVE AND NEGATIVE.
They are not at all kept away from worldly ideas. In fact last night at our party which I am about to talk about, Anna came home and told us about a little girl who was telling her all about going on the computer to places her parents don't know she goes and writing inappropriate things. All about "gays", all about "sex", all about boyfriends etc and the very worst thing, something she was very upset about, "she talked about periods". LOL I asked her about the other things and it was abit over her head. We asked her, "do you think we should let her parents know what is going on and her reaction was, "I don't want to get her into trouble". But I wanted you to know. We thanked her for telling us, and then we talked about honesty and integrity on computers. We also talked to her about not needing to listen to conversations that are inappropriate and thankfully she shared with us that she and her friend Mary Grace left the conversation when they realized it was inappropriate. They obviously had an ear full before hand though. We also let her know that as time goes on and she gets older, unfortunately she will run into situations like this more and more often and will need to learn to control her own actions and reactions. THIS IS ALL PART OF BEING PREPARED FOR THE REAL WORLD. IT is NOT hiding our heads in the sand. Ok, I'm off that soapbox.

Anyhoo again: What We DO Celebrate:

We celebrate what REALLY TRULY happened on the VERY DAY of October 31.
Martin Luther nailed the 95 Thesis to the Wall in Whittenburg, thus beginning the Reformation, where many of our present day churches come from. We CELEBRATED with some very excited girlies at a friend's house with MANY MANY other families of like mind. There were games and food and a Pinata with CANDY and more kids playing.
We have done this same celebration with our same friends since our first set of children were young. They have grown, our friends kids have grown and we all have more. There are over 100 people who attend and converge on this house and there is a tribute each year to one of the Reformers.
Our girls were so excited that they had the Timer on the oven set for the countdown before it was time to leave. Teenagers carried Sarah and Erika around the house and played with them, and Anna held hands and ran around with her best friend Mary Grace. They were both very excited to see each other. They didn't know they had been invited to the same party!

I didn't take pictures of last night. Forgot the camera. But just wanted to say for those who think we don't enjoy ourselves at this time of year; think again. We had a wonderful evening and the kids didn't miss out on anything. AND... we don't have all that excess candy to worry about. :)

The Thrill of Victory and the Agony of Defeat

This morning I lost a killer backgammon game to Sarah. So, she challenged me to a game of Chess afterwards. She always beats me at chess too, but I was willing to play. It was my motherly duty to bring her satisfaction and joy, especially since I taught her to play both games and had my fill of wins.
Her little kitty was SHOCKED by the outcome of this game!


Can you tell who won based upon these pictures?





Ahhh, the thrill of Victory and the Agony of Defeat!

REMATCH!!!!! :) No way, not until a picture. :)

In all fairness, I owe her a rematch. She was having a discussion with daddy about Evolution while playing the game.

Custom Calendars

I have been looking at Custom Calendar making. I found the best price on Shutterfly!
They have several types to choose from. This should be fun!

http://www.shutterfly.com

The Miracle of Coffee

Many years ago, when Joe was little, the Doctor suggested I give him some coffee before bedtime to help him sleep. You may be thinking WHAT? Coffee to SLEEP?
Yes.
Joseph was hyperactive and had a difficult time going to sleep. He also only slept about 5 or 6 hours at night and then it was full tilt all day long! Sometimes I could get a nap out of him, but usually only if he spent a huge amount of energy in a tantrum and then fell asleep.
The coffee worked like a dream. It calmed him down.

Many people do not know that ADHD drugs like Ritalin, are actually forms of stimulants like speed. They have an opposite effect in those that TRULY need them. They calm them down and help them to concentrate.

Fast forward to Sarah. She too is hyperactive, and there are times I give her a little coffee to settle her, which works great.

Well, today, it dawned on me that Anna might benefit from a small amount of coffee too.
It is worth a try. After yesterday's inability to concentrate and get her work done, I needed to try something! She definitely fits into the ADD category, if there ever was one.
I gave her 1/3 c of coffee this a.m. and guess what.... I don't know if it is placebo or not, but she was able to concentrate much better. I am going to try it for a few days next week and if it works, we will try it for 2 weeks. If it works, we will use it during school days and not on weekends. This is soooo much better and easier than using medications that have terrible side effects.

Hopefully she will outgrow her ADD; we will see. I don't think I have ever outgrown mine. :/

Todays coffee was Organic Free Trade Bolivian. Wow... excellent and only 4.99 lb at Sprouts!

Simplifying

I have come to a crossroads in computer meets Christie. I have decided to simplify things, as I have too many projects going on and I am not finishing them. I need to use my time more wisely, and some things are just distractions. Sort of like, "mind candy". Sometimes you can read what is going on and it will dwell on your mind and then you can't concentrate on the project you are trying to work on.
So I am no longer participating in FRUA a website I have frequented for a few years, and Facebook, a website I have a difficult time navigating anyway. :)

I will miss the FRUA website, but I think it is for the best.

Now, to get to my projects!
After laundry of course! :)

Can Things Get Any Crazier?? :/

This is the last picture of Sarah in her cast. She had it removed at the Dr. yesterday
and now she has a brace that looks like this:


This morning was rather eventful.....
It started out normal. Girlies playing backgammon with daddy while I made breakfast. Anna was still asleep, which is unusual, as she is usually the first one up! I went ahead and served breakfast thinking, she must need some extra sleep. After breakfast, Erika asked if she could take a shower in our shower. I always let her because she can walk in and back out pretty well by herself. So while she was getting ready to shower, I ran out to let the goats and turkeys out since Anna was still asleep. Sarah was soaking her arm and getting ready for therapy which consists of 2 exercises 3 x's a day.
As I was headed back in from letting the goats out, I could hear a whimper coming from the bathroom. So I RAN.... when I got to the bathroom, daddy had Erika wrapped in a towel and she was crying. She spilled shampoo on the floor of the shower and then slipped in it. She banged the bone of her leg on the shower wall and banged her cheek too. So she has a pretty good bruise on her face and a sore foot.. DANG! Like she needs any more pain in her life. :( I'm so glad daddy was there. I put Arnica ointment on her bruise; we'll see if it works, and comforted her. She hadn't finished washing her hair so a very kind daddy, all ready for work set up a bean bag up to the shower, got IN the shower all dressed, shoes and all and unhooked the sprayer and gave her a shampoo! We teased daddy that he needed a new spa job giving hair washes. :)
Here is Erika all prettied up:



I ran back to Sarah who was still soaking and did her exercises with her and then Anna finally woke up. She said, Erika woke her up when she heard her cry out.

It is 9:30 and I feel like I have lived a week! I'm so thankful for my coffee pot. :)

I am also so thankful for my sweet husband who calmly finished taking care of Erika so I could finish up with Sarah. Erika was able to get herself dressed.

First thing on my list of things to do today:

FIND A SAFE SHOWER CHAIR! The ones I have seen don't look stable and I felt because she doesn't bend well, she might fall over backwards on one, but I really need to look now so this doesn't EVER happen again.

However, as with arthrogryposis, so comes falling. She is very stable and it doesn't happen that often. In fact, the last time she fell and actually got a bruise was at Christmas time last year at Toys R US.

So, as of this writing: Sarah is clean, Anna is cleaning out her fish tank so the fish can be clean, Erika is clean, I'm cleaning laundry, daddy is out to work, the goats are happy, the turkey's are happy and I'm dreaming of "Calgon Take Me Away Commercials." :)
But that can't happen until after the breakfast dishes, the laundry, school, cleaning and....... who knows what else.

So for now, it is coffee.
I'm empowered. yea.