Sarah... Just Because

There is just something wonderful, about 10 year old girls. :)

Lord's Day

It has been a wonderful Lord's Day today.
We attended our old church to visit. The girlies were happy to see their friends, and we were too.
While we were sitting in the service, I noticed a visitor that looked quite familiar. He was sitting by our Baghdad Missionary friend. I was thinking, how strange.... they are sitting there together, but I couldn't put my finger on who that guy was.
That was, until our Missionary friend got up an introduced him.
He said, "this is my Taxi driver "Dwayne Clark".
I was thinking "Dwayne Clark! that is who that is! LOL
It is really a small world.
I have not seen him in years, (maybe 15 or 16). We were not personal friends, but he visited our old church, Calvary Chapel, on a few occasions, and led our worship team, of which I was a part, in study and learning new music. We got to sing with him a couple of times.

Apparently, he is the music minister in the Church in California now, where our missionary friend attends.

Our girlies enjoyed going to Sunday School with a new teacher. She is a dedicated teacher and has taught the 5th grade for years. When they came down from their class, I asked them, "how was Sunday School?" They said Great! I asked, "who taught you today?"
They said, "I don't know but she sure was pretty and she sure was nice!
How's that for a nice compliment to a Sunday School teacher? :)

It was nice to have communion this a.m. and to partake in the word and prayer.
Have a Blessed Lord's Day.

Anna's Funny for the Day

Customer : I'll have Çhicken Salad please!
Waiter: Right away!
Customer: "Hey Waiter, there is no Chicken in this Salad!"
Waiter: "Of course not, do you expect cats in cat food?"

Things I've Learned From My Kids

Baby's EAT A LOT....they do not care if you are tired. They want to eat.
They do not care if you are tired. They need to be changed, and then they barf.


Toddlers listen to commercials and can repeat them in the most embarrassing of places.
Chuck, at 2 picked up a huge package of feminine napkins at the grocery store and said, "GET THESE, There super absorbant!"
TV OFF!
Boys need to be told their wardrobes do not consist of super man underwear and cowboy boots.
Boys also need to told they must wear clothes to go outside!
If boys could choose their own wardrobes, they would be superman underwear and band aids all over their bodies.

Boys are HONEST. Wonderfully HONEST! I seem to remember one of them looking at my legs and saying, "mom, your legs are just like Rifles!" Did he mean they were long?

We learned this at family dinner time:
During our prayer Joseph thanked God that he and Marcus made it up onto the school roof and back down safely. To which, everybody's eyes opened, but nobody said a word, until after prayer was over. :)

Boys are physical. They need wonderful, LOUD activity. We were so fortunate to have a big backyard.

Boys love their mom. They are always good for a great snuggle.

Boys aren't snippy gossips. They say things like it is, forgive and move on, never
to think about it again. I love this about boys.
One of our son's best friends to this day, and our son, had an argument. Our son's friend called him a sun flower, because he was wearing his favorite orange sweat pants and shirt.... our son got mad and threw something at him. His friend called me and said, "Mrs. M. It is time for Joseph to go home. :)
LOL I went to pick him up. They had already made up and it is now a big funny story.

Boys don't cry if they don't understand their math. They don't cry if there is a new challenge. If they have to do it again, you might get a groan, but not a full fledged dramatic alligator tear cry.

Boys will do anything to create nun chucks, including getting into mom's hygiene products, tying them together and taking them outside. :/

When boys turn 10, they need deodorant.
Boys love to make movies. If you have a video camera, it will provide HOURS of unending creative fun for them.
(think Spielman)

Boys will cooperate with most anything you ask, including killing 10 turkeys, and getting them freezer ready all in one night before leaving for vacation.

Boys are quieter with their compliments, but you know they love you forever.

Boys are not run by emotion, so when they determine to do something, they do it.
Boys become men far quicker than we are ready for them to.
It is important to let them be men, even while they are still boys to their mom.

Boys will eat Top Ramen every single day without complaint if that is what it takes to get through college.

If you let your boys know you are coming to eat at their restaurant, they will put a table cloth, candle, and the best cloth napkins on it. They will serve you in a manner fit for Kings and Queens, just because they love you. (of course great tips help)

Boys will bring their future mate to meet you, just to get your input.When boys marry, they go and cleave to their wives, which is what they should do.
And there is a little pain in a mom's heart, because the time was so very short, and
they are now men.

Girls are a different sort of creature.
They wake up wondering what they will wear for the day.
Then they change their minds several times and you have much laundry to do.

Girls play is quite different. They are not out wrestling on the ground. Instead they walk in pretty dresses with umbrellas, pretending to be Anne of Greene Gables. They love to pretend to be a mommy, so every animal is their child. They love to play "house", so they will rearrange things for you, and then, when you go to cook, you can't find anything.
They do this to the groceries too, and their organizational skills are usually different than your own.

Girls can play very well together, but they are much more interested in who is in charge and who gets to make the decision.

Girls spend 3/4 of lunch time deciding 1. who is in charge 2. what they are going to play 3. what each person's character is, and then it is time for lunch to end and they complain they didn't have time to play!

Girls tend to hold things against each other that boys don't even think about.
"She looked at me!" " "Well golly, I'm really gonna have to do something about that!" LOL

Girls have to be taught to use kind words, speaking sweetly, not thinking the worst of somebody, where boys just seem to be natural at that.Girls LOVE their daddy! They love to go places with him, of course this is all decided ahead of time between them. Its the turn thing again.

Girls are more "Crafty" oriented than boys. They can sit for hours cutting paper, gluing things, painting pretty pictures, making crafts for the tree at Christmas, knitting, sewing, embroidery; it seems to be a natural thing for them.

Girls love to do "school".... When school is over, they "Pretend school" and even do real math problems! go figure.... LOL

Girls make a big change in maturity when they start to change physically. Some things they won't do anymore, they are much too lady like; sometimes they forget and climb that tree. :)
Girls will sit and talk and talk and talk AND TALK, and tell you all sorts of things about their day, what they are thinking, how they are feeling, and ask you "what do you think mom?"
They need reassurance that they are beautiful, lovely creatures. But they also need to be taught that true beauty comes from within the heart, and the real time we spend needs to be on our hearts, not on our hair.

If you take a nap around girls, you will wind up with a manicure and a pedicure.
Your hair may be styled in a most interesting fashion, and they DON'T want you to change it.

Girls like to go "shopping", just to look. I'm a girl and I don't particularly like this, but all of mine do.

Girls are so very interesting. They have taught me a lot about being a girl. For a long time I was uncomfortable with my own girlhood.

Having been in a family of all men since I was 18, made me the odd girl out. :)
Having the girls though, has helped me to see and learn much I didn't understand about myself from my own childhood.

I am so thankful for my boys and my girls. I am so thankful for the blessings the Lord has given to us. I am so thankful for the lessons the children have taught me over the years. I have been humbled and blessed by having been a part in their lives. I do not deserve to have had such a wonderful life.

One of the most important things I can do for my kids is be vulnerable. To let them see my flaws and to show them that we all have them and that God knows it. We cannot hide them from him, and they shouldn't hide their flaws from us.
For them to see me study the Word of God looking for answers when I don't have them, is so important; to apologize to them if I haven't answered them with a soft heart. It is important for them to see me pray. It is important for them to know that I pray for them daily. It is important for them to know that I think EACH AND EVERY ONE OF THEM are wonderful, unique, talented in their own ways, precious, lovely individuals and that we, both mom and dad support them in all they do. It is important for them to know that I love dad and dad loves me.

I am convinced that God gives us our children as gifts, to mold, teach and shape US, while we are in the process of trying to teach our own children. They are part of the water he pours on the clay so we can blend, not be so rigid, so we can be crushed down, and built back up through dependence upon Him. As we learn to depend upon Him, for guidance, for wisdom and instruction, He brings that clay pot through the fire, and the shape that the pot takes eventually, in the end is refined and pleasing to the Lord. I'm still in the water pouring and fire stage. :)

I used to think that God did it backwards. He gave kids energy and adults fatigue.
Now I know that he did that so we would not depend upon our own selves, but be ever dependent upon him to get through our days.

Our 9-11 Display Outside

Never Forget

Today is Nine, Nine Zero Nine!

The Next one will be 10-10-10
Then, 11-11-11
Then 12-12-12

Some article I read said it would be 92 more years before another number event....
??

I think we should celebrate. :)

Writing Poetry With A Little Help From My Friend

Nine Eleven

Towers so tall
No one thought they would fall!
Planes flying in the Air
Leaders soon got a call.

The towers had fallen
Twas the planes.
Superman, no time to come to their aid.

Loved ones grieving
From the men so deceiving
Lots of men dead
Some, sick in their bed

Ben Laden HAD NOT WON!
The battle just begun.

Purse Contents

Today, Anna dropped out the contents of her purse onto the table. I was very pleased that she is saving her money, even though she has quite an interesting way of doing it.We have had a shortage of ponytail holders lately.... I wondered where they had gone?

At least I am seeing great eye hand coordination, and was very pleased that there was no trash in her purse.

Now, if I were to dump mine out???? I wouldn't be taking a picture. :)

BIG HUGE HISTORY/Social Studies WEEK

I just love home schooling. It gives us the opportunity to dig deep into things when we are on a roll. :)

Sometimes we spend longer times in math or language arts.

This week we are going in depth with our Social Studies and History.


We have started studying what happened on September 11, 2001. Our girls were all babies at that time. So, while it is vivid in my mind, exactly where I was and what I was doing, it isn't vivid to them. We are learning about the events, and how they have since shaped our country.


Also, today, President Obama gave a speech to all school children. We tuned into it on CSpan, and the girls are writing a summary of what President Obama had to say. They are also writing their own speeches to give to the class.

What a fun week!

Checking In On Our Budget

I am very concerned that I am not keeping good track of expenditures. It isn't that we are being lavish, or wasteful, though I must say, we are using more toilet paper and paper towels than I'd like to see.

But I do not have a solid figure on how much we spend for groceries, toiletries and cleaning products on an average each month. I say on an average, because sometimes I purchase things that last more than a month... so I think it would be fair to test for 3 months to get an accurate picture.
I'm dedicated to finding this out.... Since it is already September 7th, I am going to start with today till October 7th. Then October 7th till November 7th, and then November 7th till December 7th.
This should be the most expensive time of year considering Thanksgiving and Christmas. :)
The only thing I will not include is medication and gas.

So here is to finding out what our TRUE budget is. :)
Anybody want to join me in this adventure???
Pretty Please???
It will keep me accountable. :)

Happy Labor Day Weekend

Today is the traditional day for house cleaning. People stay home from their regular jobs, so they can clean closets, and get rid of extra "stuff", in preparation for winter. :)
Today is the day for clean sheets and at the end, we get to have a BBQ!
We are having BBQ Brisket and Pulled Pork for dinner tonight. YUM....

I love Labor Day Weekend. It is that feeling of Fall, even though it is still warm.
It reminds me of newly sharpened pencils.... the smell of new text books, fresh paper.
Ahhh. Fall is coming!

Our weekend has been peaceful and restful, but we got a late start. We had some other responsibilities that lasted until Saturday afternoon. So starting on Saturday evening we started to celebrate. We had a special movie, and the girls started playing with Lincoln Logs.
I just love the Lincoln Logs they have. We purchased them from Lehman's Non Electric Catalogue about 3 years ago, and they still bring endless hours of creativity. One great thing about them, is they are flat instead of round, so they don't fall so easily.
Here are a few creations:

A man chopping wood, and his wood pile neatly stacked.


A man coming out of the door of his home.

Children (pawns) lined up to go upstairs to their bedroom

A man training a horse (lego horse)

Very cool dining room furniture and a firplace with a cookstove


The girlies asked to keep their creations up so they could keep playing with them. It is ok, as they were in the area they were supposed to be.
But on Sunday A.M. before church, Sarah added to her area, and it went into the traffic area of the living room, where everybody walks through. She was so into creating and she wasn't noticing that we were having to step over her creations which would be impossible for Erika.

I let her know that it was not ok, (have let her know this before) to place blocks in that area. We are getting ready for church, and it isn't safe.
I was a little surprised when she got upset saying, "But then I'll have to move everything and take it down!"
I said, "Yes, you will, but you know you aren't supposed to have it here!"

Then came the famous, "But I forgot!" LOL

So I asked her, "Sarah, do you want us all to walk out the front door to the back door to get to the kitchen so you can keep your special creation?"
The look on her face said, "Well, that is a possibility!" LOL
She didn't word it, but I could tell she was thinking it.

At that point daddy said, "You need to put your creation away." When your creation becomes more important to you than the safety of your family, and you are willing to be selfish for your own desires, it is wrong."

She tearily put them away. And then we talked with her about her attitude, and what is most important in life.

She was back to her cheery self within a few minutes and said she was very sorry.

On the way to church, I asked, double checking, "did everybody brush their teeth?
Yes, yes and Yes! Sarah said, "I have it on my checklist!"
So I said, "Can you remember to put "happy attitude" on your check list for tomorrow?"
and we all got a good laugh. :)

Greek Warships

Our very pretty Warships are done!

The girlies are thrilled with their ships.

Ancient Greece

This school semester, we are studying Ancient Greece. We are learning a lot!
Today, we worked on making Grecian War Ships known as "Trireme".

I think the girlies loved making the ships. We will be adding the oars in a couple of days.
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Sarah didn't like the smell of the paint, so she solved the problem in her own way. :)

A Storm Named After Her

INTRODUCING TROPICAL STORM ERIKA~!

Its even her favorite color AND they spelled her name right!

Three Plus Two Equals Noise!

Our kids and grandkids moved into a new apartment yesterday! We are so happy for them.
We all had a really great time while they were here, and made the best of living together.

I dropped off a few odds and ends at their new, very cute, apartment last night and I asked my Daughter in Law, "What do you think?" She replied, "Its QUIET!" LOL

I said, "Its quiet at our house too!"

It is funny how things seems rambunctious and noisy and then you add more to it, and when the more leaves, it seems Quiet!

I guess quiet is relative. :)

The girlies miss their nieces already. But the good news is, they are just down the street! :)

Church Stuff Again

We went to our home church last week, and then visited again, the little Baptist Church down the street. I am glad we are taking our time with decisions and praying.
The service yesterday was quite different that the ones we had attended previously.
Instead of a "Bible Study", it was more of a "preaching". The man who spoke was a dear man, but theologically we were not there. :)

AHHHHH!!! This is so HARD! One thing we cannot, WILL NOT compromise on is the Gospel.
I'm not saying this man taught other than the gospel, just saying he added a bit to it. :) That is so common.
This church is in the midst of seeking out a permanent pastor, so we will not make a commitment until after that takes place an we see what direction the church takes.

Our son has requested we visit a local Lutheran Church, Missouri Synod. I have never been to a Lutheran Church before, but I do like Martin Luther, and our good friends are in ministry in the Lutheran Church,Missouri Synod, in Minnesota. The new Lutheran church is down the street from us too. It is a church plant from a larger church in the Plano area. We listened to 2 sermons from them online, and we have also sent an email to them asking some pertinent questions.

Right now, I just feel naked, out in the cold, and want comfort. I want the comfort of our Teaching Elder, our friends, our church family that we have known for so long.
I love them. I miss them. I miss our format. I miss the Lord's table every week and the open service. I wish our home church would plant a new fellowship out here in Wylie! :) Then, we'd really be home . :)

Mike said next week, we can go home.

When A Child Is Different

Today, we all went to the Lake in the late afternoon, to enjoy one of the last times of swimming before summer is over.

Mike jumped in the lake with the girlies, and I sat on a blanket on the shore, soaking up the sun, not wanting to swim.

I was watching all of them swimming and laughing and screaming as Daddy splashed them and threw them and played with them.

However, I noticed also, our Anna. She was away from the group and she was focused on trying to walk on the beam in the water.

The lake has a special barrier in place to square off the swimming area from the boating area. Lots of people hang on, or jump off, but not many try to walk on it.
Today, Anna tried walking on it. It was kind of funny, because it looked from a distance like she was walking on water.

As the others were splashing and screaming, she was off walking on that beam. She was walking and falling, getting back up, walking and falling, getting back up....
I was mesmerized at her determination to make it farther and farther.

Then, I noticed some other kids watching, and before my eyes I saw at least 3 other kids trying to walk that beam.

She made it 15 steps at her best attempt, which was really great. The next best was maybe 3.

What I really noticed was that sometimes kids like to do things that are different. She doesn't enjoy splashing that much. She would much rather walk that beam, and that is OK! It is ok for her to be a little different; to do things a little different.
She was so happy just being herself, and I'm so glad that she was allowed to do that.

She also made a couple of quick friends in the process. All kids trying to walk that beam. :)

A VERY IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT

I am totally perplexed about Cat Anatomy..... as Miss Kitty Winkle, has turned into Mr. Kitty Winkler.....

HOW IN THE WORLD COULD I BE SO WRONG! I started to notice something new showing up on Miss Kitty Winkle a couple of weeks ago.... then, Mike came in and said, "Who said that cat was a girl?" Ummm. I did......

Well, its a BOY!
LOL

So, from now on, I know how to check out goats and dogs,or even fish! But for some reason, not cats.

And some more NEWS! A new kitten has shown up. I believe I watched somebody dump it in our driveway last week. Notice that I said, "It". It is only about 7 weeks old.... and I don't dare say what "it" is, yet. Of course the girlies insist it is a girl like every other animal they see.....

Right now its name is "let's find it a new home".
Any takers? It is adorable, and loveable... but we don't need another cat.

Happy Day

We had our Dr. Visits at Scottish Rite Hospital today.

Erika went in first thing for an x ray of her hand and fingers. After going over her x ray, the Doctor came in and asked, "So how is your thumb?"
She looked rather puzzled and said, "My thumb is fine!". He said, "Really? Show me where your hand is hurting..." So she showed him her small finger and just above it.

He started laughing and said, "Well, we need to go back out and look at the x ray again." Apparently, because of Erika's Arthrogryposis,on an x ray, her thumb looks dislocated, but it isn't. LOL So the first thing everybody saw was her thumb and didn't even look at the finger, hand part. :) They all came back in and said, "NOTHING BROKEN!" YEA! She just jammed her fingers when she fell and the swelling will go away in about a week!

That got me to thinking about what would have happened had we taken her into an emergency room. Would they have tried to set her thumb that didn't need setting? Yikes!
Her doctor knows her well, and deals with others who have her type of condition; but it is so rare, most doctors never see it.
If HE made that kind of mistake, what would a typical doctor do? I dunno.... :/

GREAT NEWS was we were able to communicate well with PT and OT today. They were clued in that she working on getting legs on and off by herself. We call it: "Operation Save Mama's Back!"

Today she was given some tools I didn't know existed. Really interesting simple things that we probably could have made at home. One was a stick with a cup hook on the end of it. She grips her sock with the hook and can pull the sock down and off. (because she cannot bend at the waist it is hard for her to reach to remove or put on socks)
She was given a shorter grip and lock tool that is meant to grab her legs from the ground or the window part that locks in, if she were to drop them.
Then, there was this neat contraption. It looks sort of like 1/2 an empty plastic bottle with a hole in the bottom. It is conneected by 2 ropes. She puts the sock on the plastic, lowers it to the bottom of her foot and then pulls the plastic. As it comes up, the sock is put in place perfectly!
She was so excited and so am I!

She tried all of her new tools out with the girls in OT and PT and they worked great. Of course, she is a fast learner! Did I say she was amazingly smart? She is. :)

Sarah, was loaded up today with new socks. She is one rough and tumble kid and must have acid in her leg as fast as she goes through socks! She had a great appointment too, and Dr. Herring showed her off to the Southwestern Med Students he is training.
She got to walk and run for them, and show of her latest surgery scar. :)

Anna, came along today, as Daddy was volunteering in Radiology. We all went together and came home together. We had breakfast AND lunch in the New Cafeteria! It is amazing.... The hospital built a new state of the art cafeteria, and conference center. They have the best salad bar! They even have a Chinese food station and Pizza Station! The prices are also very reasonable.

After such a stressful day yesterday, today was great. :)