The declutter fairy

As some may know I have been on a declutter streak for a while and it still seems like there is no end in sight. I have plans to really minimize Jellybean's & Bug's wardrobes (less to wash, re-wash & wash again when they haven't worn it & are just throwing it on the floor to be put in the laundry hamper). We have been getting rid of a lot of "junk" that we have acquired over the past 13 years of being together and it feels very, very nice.

Now, I am, by no means, becoming a minimalist but I do have a question. How many mismatched socks and half pairs of mini mitts does one family need? Really? Do you keep mismatched socks for any length of time in hopes that its mate will show up? If so, how long? I think I am just ditching the whole BAG (I know! Shocking! I gasped too.)

This whole organizing thing bites sometimes. Lots of work!

Tales from the Crypt...I mean E.R.

For any that follow me on Facebook or Twitter (and actually saw either yesterday) I left work yesterday ready for some serious sleep; I was exhausted, chilled, achy and, to be honest, cranky (said with 3 syllables in this instance). BigB attempted to take me to a local establishment for some Hot & Sour Soup (the only restaurant in town to carry it) and they were closed. We forgot they are closed Mondays. So we went for second best - closed! By this time I was frustrated and just wanted a freakin' cheeseburger so I could eat and head to bed but we found another Vietnamese place and ate some vermicelli, vietnamese spring rolls and some thom yum soup (not bad but NOT hot & sour).

We got home at 6:30 to Rush all ready in bed (she came home sick - not just sick, puking everything sick) and to Bug telling us he got hurt at his sitter's when his thumb got slammed in the car door. One look at it and we were gathering him some books, his blanket and his pink panther (for comfort) and heading to Emerg. We prayed with him that it wasn't broken (It looked VERY broken!)and by 6:30 we were nicely snuggled in the Emergency waiting room instead of under warm covers in a soft bed. (Here are the events of last night, in point form, as written out by me on a grocery list)

-6:30 Arrive & registered at emerg. (Doesn't look good for speedy doctoral visit)

-Hearing rumbles of a bad quad accident; sounds like guy not doing well. Emerg chaotic with his needs.

-7:30 See a friend in E.R there on Mobile Crisis business. He scores us an ice pack otherwise his trip was in vain; his guy has gone awol & even doctors never saw him.

-8:30 3 drunk teenagers are sitting across from us swearing & making out. (Looks like they left - about 9:30)

-9:45 After tears of wanting to go home, songs, forehead rubbing & an "imaginiation vacation" Bug finally falls asleep on waiting room bench/couch/chair thingy. (So glad we brought his blanket and pink panther).

-10:15 3 more ambulances and now a psych patient (I know hospital priorities & protocol) THIS WILL BE A LONG NIGHT!

-10:20 The drunks are back. UGh!

-Watching a bored teenager with a bum foot do wheelchair tricks up & down hallway; he's not watching or caring what he's doing - almost took out a birthing lady as she paced the floor.

-Tempted to fib & tell them something about chest pains but I know that won't fly (& lying is wrong sheesh).

_So glad I brought his blanket & pink panther. Bug is finally sleeping peacefully - hand wrapped in the ice pack. Tempted to come leave & just come back tomorrow BUT then we're starting all over from the bottom of the list again.

-So far, we have witnessed the changing of the ER doctors AND the changing of the Corrections Workers (Feel like I just witnessed the changing of the guards at Buckingham Palace or something).

-The psych patient was brought in by an officer in pigtails. Even with wearing a gun she didn't look especially threatening, in particular when she used her gun to hang her coat off of.

-Things aren't sounding good for "quad guy"; puts this all in perspective.

-10:30 3 people come in, the guy holding his side in agony but at least they took the time to stop at Tim Horton's for coffees for the wait. That sets the tone for their "emergency".

-Drunk kid just spilled his coke all over the floor and to celebrate he sticking his tongue down his girl friend's throat. How happy am I that Bug had finally fallen asleep?

-May get in quickly if BigB loses it (his mind that is). He hates waiting with nothing to do (should have packed HIM a bag :D)

-10:55 Bill going to see if we should just take Bug home & come back tomorrow. "Please God, let him be nice".

-11:00 So far no security rushing past me; BigB MUST have kept his cool. :D

-According to the ad I just saw on one of the many t.v.s here Timmie's makes EVERYTHING better. Perhaps we should have just gone there or, at the very least, picked some up for our wait. The ad wouldn't lie, right? Right?

-Haven't heard the f-bomb dropped so much (Do people not realize how low class they sound when that is every second word out of their mouths?)

-BigB has been gone for 10 minutes now; I wonder if they are restraining or sedating him... :D

-11:05 Here's another ambulance. I doubt Bug will be seeing anyone tonight.

-Wait a minute! Whatever BigB did/said, we got a bed!

-We got a resident doctor & he was phenomenal. Great with Bug! Fantastic bedside manner! Dr G you will be a GREAT doctor!

-Sounds like it's jsut a bad crush and that nothing is broken; just waiting on x-ray now to be sure. (He said a couple minutes. What does that mean? "A couple minutes" scares me. Is that like a "5-minute meeting"?)

-Quad boy is enroute to a bigger, better facility. Situation not good. God, go with him.

-Sitting backwards in a chair with my feet over the back & my head leaning against the bed...sleep won't come & this is very uncomfortable. Asked Bug if he would share his bed with me. His response? "You've got your own bed." (note to self: Must keep this in mind next time siad child wants to " 'nuggle" me in MY bed.)

-More drunks beside us. People! It's Monday night not Friday/Saturday!

-Finally was allowed to share the bed and caught a couple of winks before radiology came to get us 1 1/2 later.

-Home at 1:00 with one tired, sore boy and one cranky husband and one long past bed-time, sickish, achy self.

Today, Jellybean & I were the only ones to leave the house for the day; bigB & Rush are sick with the flu (don't worry; it's not the swine flu) and Bug was in no physical shape to go to school.

NOTE: Know that I am not complaining about last night or Bug's care but that those were just observations made by a bored blogger who may have been slightly jaded because she wanted to head to bed at 6:30 not to Emerg.

How?

How do you say "Thank you" to someone who was instrumental (and willing to be used by God & obedient)in fixing something that has been broken? Something that has been an incredible burden and heart break?

How do you thank the One who is really responsible? (Live the best life for Him as possible and give Him the glory)

How do you wrap your brain around "debt free" for the first time in your adult life? As of Saturday, we don't owe a penny and, due to my double cell phone payment, don't even really owe a monthly payment on one of our bills!

How did that happen? God. Plain and simple! God has big things in store for this family and how can we put our focus where it is due if we are heavy-ladden with surmounting debt that is collapsing in on us and worries of one finding the way back?

Who has helped us rise above the financial situations and the past couple months of worry?
Jehovah Jireh, the Lord our Provider, that's who.
Jehovah Rophe, the Lord who Heals, that's who.
Jehovah Shalom, the Lord our Peace, Him too.

Jehovah Nissi

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=06AgY5Xoavw (Embed disabled on this song but you must go to Youtube to see this song called "Watever You're Doing" by Sanctus Real! You must!)

Whatever, You're doing IS bigger than me and it does feel like chaos but through it I KNOW that better things WILL come. I know that Your will shall be done and that my focus can not be on fixing something...someone who doesn't think they are broken; my focus needs to be on You. Get closer to You; get "fixed" myself. I need to surrender THAT burden in me; I know I can't do it without YOU! You are Jehovah Nissi, The Lord My Banner, The Lord My Miracle. You will reveal Yourself in ways I can not fathom. You will soften hearts, destroy and mend past hurts and reignite a fire that once burned and it WILL burn hotter, longer, stronger. I can only cry out to You knowing that You know my heart's cry and my heart's desires. The testimony from this will blow us away and You will get ALL the glory! Your name shall be exalted. Let the healing begin; let the broken be fixed and give us the wisdom to be used by You in whatever way is needed. I find it hard, in the position I am in reagarding this, to let go but God, I let go and let God. You are NOT surprised and You are not worried and I find comfort in that, knowing that you are in control. Breathe life into those dry bones, Father; let them live! LIVE AGAIN!

Odds N Ends

-Bug, the day before yesterday, kneeling on the couch watching out the window while BigB was getting into the truck of Blair, a guy he works with:

"Oh that Wawyer is a good guy. He's very patient. Wawyer didn't leave anyone behind."

("Anyone", in particularily being Bug's dad but where this praise of character came from, I don't know other than we do our best to praise good character on a daily basis.)


-Talking with Rush the other day about changing eating and exercise habits (as a family) and she began sharing with me information she had learned at school. That being how so many kids are obese by the time they are in Grade 4 (I think it was) and that, and the percentage eludes me but it was high, so many kids are "overbese" by Grade 8.

Sometimes I am really amused by the way the human brain turns our thought process as we are speaking, like the word "overbese" that Rush couldn't get out of her head or like yesterday at the doctor's office where the poster for osteoporosis kept Rush reading "How can we prevent osmosis?"

-Since the beginning of the year Rush has gone through so many math paces that she has gone through TWO GRADES of math this year! I am so proud of the hard work that she is putting in and today she is challenging yet another pace and get it out of the way as well. How great is that? How great is she? We celebrated last night with taco beef nachos while folding clothes and watching a movie (what a party, right?) Unfortunately, we made enough nachos for our happy we were and not for how little we would actually eat. Fortunately, BigB needed a nice, big snack when he got home from school.

-Sometimes, in the name of humor, my husband will tease me in an all-to-serious-way and I don't realize, at first that he isn't being serious. Take last night for example, we were all sitting around the supper table enjoying an incredibly involved dinner of Hamburger Helper when BigB says to me, "I think you made a mistake when paying our cell phone bill last time. We got the bill yesterday."

I had to look deep into his eyes and work quickly past my initial OH CRAP I FORGOT TO PAY THAT BILL when I saw a sparkle and instantly remembered that I HAD paid that bill. Apparently though I DID make a mistake (I KNOW! Good thing my husband is patient with me.). The mistake I had made was not a terrible one but an oversight that worked out in our best interest for April; I had paid our cell phone bill TWICE last month so this month's bill is $16 (For 3 cell phones!). I would like to make mistakes like that more often instead of the one where I completely overlook paying the water bill because it is the only one of our bills I haven't added to our on-line banking yet and I keep forgetting that those 100's of loads of laundry consume water...

-This "each girl having their own room" thing is working out better than I ever imagined. Why? Thanks for asking. Wait, you didn't? Well thanks for reading while I tell you all about it. Jellybean's clothes are...wait for it...in her dresser! IMAGINE! Jellybean's papers are...wait for this one too...in the appropriate drawers in her new (to her) desk! Her teddybears are even nicely snuggled together at the end of her bed (I did notice though that there is a garbage bag of animals that has yet to be tucked into their new home. We will be hanging a teddy hammock for them shortly - perhaps after a Jellybeanless purge of said bears...)

-We are continuing to get rid of the junk that has accumulated in our lives in the almost 9 years of living in our house. It is disheartening at times especially after getting rid of pounds of things and coming back into the house to see that there is still way too many pounds to go! I find it strange to see some of the things we felt worthy to keep for years. We are a bizzare family!

The more I purge, the more I am saddened by what people (like us) feel they need to acquire to feel worthy, falsely satisfied, successful...it is shameful really.

NEWSFLASH:
(All I need is Kermit the Frog from Sesame Street News rushing in with his trench coat and micrtophone...)

Just got a call from Rush at the school; it seems Bug has caught the bug that Rush & I had at the beginning of the week. He threw up all over the bathroom at school and is currently laying on his desk with a cold cloth on his neck. (Miss Pam rocks! It is nice having someone there to "mom" him when I am unable to leave here.)Rush said he is starting to get a fever too.

BigB is on his way to get them from school "Them" being Bug and Rush; you know, she is a fantastic kid! She offered to be at home with Bug since BigB & I are making money and she has gym all afternoon; her only concern was that she would be able to get her two tests written. (There are struggles - like "Teenageritis" but I have an incredible girl in Rush!)(In all of them really, but this story is about Rush so I choose to gush about her and that's ok.)

Of Good Memories & Good Dogs

I grew up on a farm. Do you know what theat means? It means I have loads of good memories of growing up and of good dogs. Farm dogs are good dogs (not always but for the most part, they are good dogs) and the experiences a child has growing up on the farm can only lead to good memories (not all but most).

Spring is my favorite time for remembering growing up on the farm. Why? The smells of life emerging from the frozen earth, the chirping of birds in the still quiet, the lowing of cattle as a new generation springs forth in the darkest hours of the night, crocuses, the horses losing their winter coats and frolicking their winter dulldroms out, the vast acres of mud puddles to lose one's boot (or boots) in and countless other reasons I just can't begin to name (but they are there; right in the forefront of my memory. I remember it so vividly that I can close my eyes and "see" and smell my memories).

We used to "swim" in the ditches as they filled up with melted snow and spring showers, spend hours catching those tiny frogs and letting them go just to catch them one more time (it took me years to actually commit to catching one; I was all for the chase but the thought of a frog moving in my hand freaked me out a bit - as tomboyish as I was, I still had a streak of "girl" in me!), explore through the pasture/woods to find proof that Spring was really there, go for walks with Grandpa or watch as he sought "usefulness" in his age by digging trenches in the driveway to drain water...

My heart feels so warm & full remembering this time of my life; I can not begin to verbalize it - not even a little, not even close.

We had a couple good farm dogs that I remember and one great dog (great as far as what he did for us not the farm). Tor. Oh how I loved that dog. He was an Australian Shephard/Border Collie cross (mainly brown, with splashes of black and white including a white chest). He was intended to be Thor (a good strong Norwegian viking name -suitable for the best of dogs only, which he was) but, unfortunately, my younger brother was quite young when we got Tor and I couldn't bear to watch my dog run to the name "Sore". It was a painful thing to imagine; not too mention what the other farm dogs would say and how they would tease him...(you laugh?)

I watched "Marley & Me" the other day (I will openly & without shame admit to bawling my head off) and while two of Marley's "Kids" are on the bus coming home they are talking about whether Marley will be there to meet them or not.

"How does he know we're coming?

"I dunno. He just knows. Dogs just know."

"All dogs?"

"All good dogs."

Yep, all good dogs know and all great dogs will sit at the end of the driveway long after the bus has come and gone, staring down the long dirt road wondering where his third kid is because the long yellow creature swallowed him/her that morning and never spit him/her back out with the other two that night. That was Tor.

All good dogs will make you laugh as you watch him chase a frog through the tall grass and all great dogs will make you almost pee your pants by hopping with the frog and flinging him in the air once he catches him just so he can chase him again. That was Tor.

All good dogs will sing with you but GREAT dogs will continue singing happy birthday long after the party is over & there's nothing left but the crying. THAT was Tor.


Some other things about Tor that made him a great dog:

-He loved to take the new-born kittens ever-so-gently- in his mouth and place them in his doghouse to keep them warm with, not only the fresh straw & blankets but, his long, fluffy fur. The first time we saw that I remember my parents being a bit nervous for the kittens.

-He never met a squirrel he didn't love...to chase and chase until said squirrel finally dropped due to heart failure, the squirrel hid its face thinking Tor couldn't see it (which then bored him) or he just couldn't find it due to the severity of his cataracts.

- He loved to sit on the step and eat my brother's vanilla, beet relish & black pepper ice cream cones. (You have no idea! We tried to tell him that wouldn't be a very good combination)

-He was not above discipline. Like the time he bit my brother so my brother bit him back and the two sat crying, "holding" each other on the stairs...suffering together. (THAT is a great dog!) Or the time he killed my cat, Harley (sorry for not believing you Bro) & I refused to speak to him for days until he humbly and sadly came to me while I sat on the stairs & put his big ol' head in my lap & looked at me with those big brown eyes that just begged to be forgiven and I threw my face into his thick fluffy coat and cried and sobbed that I loved him and forgave him & was so very sorry I hadn't talked to him in so long. (Apparently, he was also not above begging)

-He was a great and fierce protector. Who could feel safer with a dog like him around, one who would bolt into our house and try to hide under the couch during thunder storms, or jump up and lick strangers with the enthusiasm of a long lost loved one's return? He was a dog who risked death itself by "attacking" my dad by biting him on the ankle while Dad was chasing me weilding a deadly...

...water balloon but Tor heard my cries, my pleas of "NO DAD!" (unfortunately he missed the laughter in there too) and bit my dad to protect me. THAT. IS. A. GREAT. DOG!

-Tor would follow us to the ends of the earth. Okay, okay; he would follow us to the beaver dam and stand guard while we explored, studied (nature not school work. Sheesh!), picnicked, day dreamed, snoozed, rolled, picked flowers, made forts...

-Tor would come with us every Christmas to help us pick out our tree (not only did he come to help but he brought with him the cats and the horses)

-During the dog days of summer while sunning ourselves on Grandma's front lawn, Tor would stand guard over our backs completely blocking out the sun and thus, preventing us from falling vicitim to ANY harmful UV rays. (What a GREAT dog!)

OR

He would come and lay himself on our backs until the very last ounce of air had escaped our bodies. I mean WHAT IF WE HAD GOTTEN TOO MUCH CARBON DIOXIDE THAT TIME!?

-He always saved us from the deadliest of dangers that lurk on any farm...our soccer ball, baseball, well, any ball. He wasn't afraid of any kind of ball...; he was that brave. There was no ball so fierce that Tor wouldn't puncture and shred it to bits in every attempt to save us from its deadly poisons...no ball was safe on our farm!

-Tor could also take on any size tire tread and live to tell about it including hanging by the tractor tire tread for the entire. tire. rotation. He was even a gymnast!

There are so many more things I wanted to say about our dog, Tor to display the difference between a good dog and a great dog but I am so overwhelmed with memories right now that they are there and then gone before my fingers can capture them. Perhaps I can capture more at a later date...perhaps.

The last thing I can say in this post to sum up how Tor was not a good dog but a great dog is also found in "Marley & Me" in a monologue by Owen Wilson's character about his beloved Marley at the very bitter, heart wrenching, cruel end...

"How many people can make you feel rare and pure and special? How many people can make you feel extraordinary?"

I can't be certain but I am certain enough to put it on the internet for countless number of people with internet access to be able to see, Tor made me and my sister and brother feel that way. He WAS a GREAT dog! Truly an example for dogs in generations to come to model themselves by.

**Disclaimer This is a completely unbiased opinion on my dog. Someone's dog has to have been the best ever and as close as Old Yeller, Benji, The Littlest Hobo, Lassie or Pluto got they just didn't quite cut it. Sorry guys.

I'm Siiiiiick....

Easter break was a bit longer than I expected, by one day. In hindsight, it probably should have been extended by two days but I am plodding away and doing what I can. I am really grateful for all those sandwiches being in the freezer and ready to go or the kids would be lunchless. This is the longest I have been up since Sunday evening and in all my experiences of being sick, I have never felt what I did that night. I was so cold it felt like I was getting frostbite on a few body parts yet I was, simultaneously, so hot I couldn't stand having blankets on. Talk about doubleminded. I didn't know if I was coming or going and poor BigB, he didn't know if he was to snuggle or not snuggle. Thankfully I have a very patient husband who listened (and "obeyed") very compassionately to my "Come here, please, I'm freezing", "Do you seriously have to be SO close!?" My body was convulsing and I felt like I may lose my mind; thankfully it didn't come to that but I did spend the entire night trying to praise God through the entire ordeal. My attempts were weak and slurred at best but I am grateful that I did.

Yesterday I was bed-ridden the entire day, getting up only to refresh my cold cloth that lay molded to my forehead (my new best friend). I don't quite understand though how so many people knew that I would be home when they called as there were countless calls just to wake me from my fevered snoozing. It was about 10:00 last night before that fever broke and due to my sleeping all day sleep was hard to come by.

Which leads me to today: tired, weak and unable to eat much at all. Surprisingly and thankfully, I managed to avoid dehydration yesterday even with my failed attempts to keep water or apple juice down. Perhaps I can keep my appetite at bay for a bit and shed a couple of pounds. Oh that that would be the silver lining to this cloud.

So,I go for now to eat a couple more mouthfuls of my woodland creature food in an attempt to keep up my strength for the day and to ask God for a bit of His help in that area (after all I've got nothing on Him).

Time to Prepare

There is no denying that we have a busy life; it's great but it is busy. What does that mean? It means that I need to be as organized as possible with time management and household management. That's why I have been attempting to get as much of the "junk" and unused stuff from our house as possible...less clutter to clean and maintain.

I have also been realizing that it takes an extra 5 or 10 minutes to make a week's worth of sandwiches for the 2 kids who eat sandwiches and stick them in the freezer all prepared and ready for the week. I took 15 minutes and made 14 sandwiches for the school week plus extra if we have to run out somewhere to a meeting, etc where the kids will have their schedule interrupted. When I was making their sandwiches nightly it would take almost 10 minutes to get 2 done: by the time you get things out and organized you may as well start an assembly line and get them all done. So, that's what I did today. Sandwiches are done and it is one less thing to take up time in my day, one less thing to need to make sure gets done, one less thing to "concern" myself with every day. It feels good.

I also mixed up a big batch of trail mix and have it all sorted into snack bags for lunches and to throw in a bag for those "I'm hungry" moments when we are out running errands or going to or from different events.

Next on my list is to get some more Breakfast Burritos made up, especially for Rush as she runs short of time in the mornings to eat and they are GREAT to eat on the go. Jellybean likes them too so I'll be making enough for her as well. Bug will most likely be sticking to his Cheerios every morning but that's ok too. Another thing the kids like and saves on time is when I boil up a bunch of eggs. Great as a quick snack or a grab and go breakfast (even an addition to lunch); it takes just as much time to boil a dozen as it does to boil one or two.

Rush, Bill & I eat a lot of salads for lunch so I will mix up a big spinach salad in between tomorrow's 2 church services (we are having a special evening service) and it will be nice to have that handy for us to take at least for Monday and Tuesday.

So, from now on I will be taking some time on Saturdays to prepare lunches, get fruits and vegetables into snack bags to go along with lunches, sort out other snacks, and prepare breakfasts, if needed, for the coming week. It will be an incredible time saver for us and the kids can help out too. Not only will it relieve some of the time crunch after just wanting to rest a bit after work but it will allow for more family time, prayer and devotional time or music practice time.

I think all in all this is a great start to my getting this household and our routines running smoothly. As it is revamped & tweaked I will update as to what works for us and our busy family of 5 (at times 7).

Overheard while the kids were playing

Jellybean: Look out! I have to go to the bathroom!

Bug: Nooooooo! You can't!!! It's far too dangerous!!!!!!


My only question is what happened in there to make it dangerous let alone "far too dangerous"?

Our Easter Break so far...

Jellybean doing a strange walk that she rooked her brother into doing and he then bounced about 6 inches off the floor (using his face) during the first 2 seconds of trying! (I know my parenting skills will probably be questioned for thinking it was VERY funny; I did lovingly cuddle him and comfort him so I must have redeemed myself somewhat. Grin!)


Again I am pretty sure my parental skills could be questioned with my taking pictures of the kids watching Journey to the Center of the Earth just to capture the fear on their faces. Jellybean was pretty nervous about the dinosaur here.


Jellybean & Bug watching the movie.


We played games like Tonka Search and Rescue...


...and Wii against Uncle Rob and Jonah).


We showed off the mad baseball skills we have been achieving through Wii sports.


We moved into our new sanctuary!

The only thing I am wondering in any of these pictures is why does Rush seem to hide when the camera is around OR why is she not in any of these pictures!

Just to make you giggle

While watching Journey to the Center of the Earth...

Bug: Is that a potano I just saw?

Me: Yup buddy, that's a potano but I think you might mean volcano...

Then at the end of the movie...

Bug: You mean they were in a bolcano the WHOLE time!?

Perhaps we should work on that one...

Before and After

For an all too long period of time Jellybean and Bug looked like they were ferrel cats...a little scruffy,a little dishevelled, a little wild...ok, I confess, a LOT scruffy. I booked them appointments for the first available time on my days off to descruffify them (yes, that IS a word or at the very least it should be).

I present to you before and after pictures of my youngest 2 (and now I feel like I can take them out in public without feeling like a deliquent mom).


Really, what more COULD he do?! Please don't judge me... :{


Bug's before, sitting in the van going to see Chantel to fix this mess.



Look at those handsome guys! And doesn't Bug look like a completely different kid? I actually "lost" him in Walmart a couple times after his haircut even though he was right beside me because I was looking for a shaggy boy!


Jellybean before...



...and after. Doesn't she look like she feels much better? I know I sure do. So, there you have it. My youngest two kids are no longer wild looking...for now.

Plans changed & that's ok

Just before I started this week off I had plans, big plans that involved me doing a lot of organizing and purging. I still got this accomplished but I went about it on a totally different path than I ever imagined.

For the last 8 years Rush & Jellybean have been sharing a room. Rush is twice Jellybean's age and that isn't so bad when you are 6 and she is 3 but when you are 16 and she is 8...

Rush has never asked us for her own room; she has simply accepted that that was how it was to be. LilB moved in and got the room; when he left it automatically went to J and Rush thought when J left 2 years ago she would have her own room. So did I. Circumstances decided that, at the time, that was not to be.

Monday night BigB & I decided no matter what the girls needed their own rooms. Tuesday morning I woke up early & began, what was lovingly dubbed, "The Surprise".
I thought the kids would think I was being really rude by ignoring them all day and not accepting their offers of help but I knew if I accepted the surprise would be exposed.

Tuesday night the rooms were done enough that we could tell the girls what was happening and they were SO surprised! I guess I, somehow, managed to clear out my office of ALL it's stuff and not raise suspision. COOL!!! I really didn't think I could pull it off.

And by the way, the look on both girls' faces was TOTALLY worth the effort (and the fact that my stuff is now in boxes spread between the upstairs closet, the downstairs bathroom and our room but that is ok because I like an adventure and I TOTALLY labeled ALL the boxes for easier hunting!)

I wondered if Jellybean would have a hard time adjusting to solitary sleeping arrangements but she thinks her new room is "FABULOUS" and is enjoying every square foot of her room. I know Rush is loving her space that was just recently painted and 'artsied' up. Soon (but still in the unknown) I will be painting Jellybean's room (however it won't be Barbie pink like she is hoping for...UGH!) and framing some ballerina pictures for her...a room for an 8 year old to love and a room for a 16 year old to love and it is so worth every sore muscle I have.

I guess, though, that plans only somewhat changed as yesterday I still managed to take 7 black garbage bags of stuff to Value Village and have 2 bags of garbage taken out! Plans may have changed a bit but, the result way better than I EVER imagined.

Why?

Why do boys laugh to the point of peeing their pants just because they pass gas? Seriously, is it really THAT funny?


To which Bug replied, "yes, mommy, it is."

Ok then, funny it is; I just don't think I get it...

A Bug in Your Ear by Bug

The Lord is my shephard we should believe Him; we shall listen. We shall honor Him. We shouldn't obey the devil but we should obey God. Okay. We shouldn't just sit down in church 'cuz we should worship God. When He died on the cross, he forgived our sins. We should not die; we should live to worship and praise God and pray to Him. Okay. His goodness shall follow me. We should obey God. We can obey Him by worshipping Him and praying to Him.

We should learn about God and we should not treat Him badly or mean. When we pray to Him, we shouldn't keep asking God for stuff but sometimes we can ask God what we can do for Him so He doesn't feel sad and that we don't think we are more important than He is.

We should obey our parents even if they tell us to clean our room. When our parents say "come", we shouldn't say "later". We should just say, "we are coming".

That's all I wanted to tell all mommy's friends on here. Good night.

(The first segment of A Bug in Your Ear)

What God is Doing in My Life by Jellybean

Ok, first, one thing that God has done in my life is saved me and helped me to forgive others. Second, everyday I am not the same; I am getting stronger and stronger at praying and praising Him. Thirdly, He is the most powerful God and no one else can stop Him or take me from Him and Him from me together. The only one that can stop that is me and my love but I am not going to stop loving Him and I am not going to turn back and I keep singing that I am not going to back down. I sing that because I pledge to Him (and I learned that pledge means to promise) that I won't sin against Him anymore, that I will keep getting stronger and stronger in Him and keep growing in Him and that I will never stop.

I learned in school devotionals that if you don't forgive someone and you are a christian that you might get sick and you pray but you just don't get better because when you don't forgive someone it will make you sick so you should always forgive someone who has done wrong to us.

Another thing that God is doing in my life is He is healing me and I am understanding more about Him and more and more in children's church and sometimes I don't want to (be in Children's church but want to be in the service with mom and dad) but I know that it is good for me so I wouldn't learn if I was in the bigger level so I should stay in the younger level that is for me even though sometimes I want to stay in the bigger level so that I can understand more and more and then I can go into the bigger people service whenever I want to. Pastor Kevin is really good to us and he shows us the right thing and if we disobey him we are disobeying God because he is sent by God to teach us; it's the same thing if we don't listen to our teachers or Mr. Kham at gym. If we disobey them we are then disobeying God because there are always people that back up people and these people back up God.

Jellybean wanted a chance to post her thoughts so here is the first segment of Jellybean's voice.

What Jellybean thinks of her mommy on April 9, 2009

1. What is something mommy always says to you? "I love you."

2. What makes mommy happy? "When we listen to you."

3. What makes mommy sad? "When we don't get along."

4. How does your mommy make you laugh? "you tickle us"

5. What was your mommy like as a child? "You liked doing your chores." (Boy wouldn't my dad laugh if he read this -unless she is referring to my outside chores...)

6. How old is your mommy? "32?" (Now Bug answers that he thinks I am 20!)

7. How tall is your mommy? "8 feet."

8. What is her favorite thing to do? "spend time with us."

9. What does your mommy do when you're not around? "work at ECIP"

10. If your mommy becomes famous, what will it be for? "because you're a movie star."

11. What is your mommy really good at? "singing"

12. What is your mommy not very good at? "shyness"

13. What does your mommy do for a job? "You work on computers and answer phones"

14.What is your mommy's favorite food? " the cake with mouse poop on it" known to normal people as McCain's Deep & Delicious Chocolate Cake

15.What makes your mommy proud of you? "when we do our chores."

16. If your mommy were a cartoon character, who would she be? "Ginormica 'cuz she's pretty and your pretty and Bug will be Bob, I mean GinormaToot and I am GinormaGiggle" (Can you tell we just watched Monsters vs Aliens?

17. What do you and your mommy do together? "We go shopping and we have fun"

18. How are you and your mommy the same? "We both have blue eyes and we are both pretty"

19. How are you and your mommy different? "You like radishes and I don't; they're disgusting."

20. How do you know your mommy loves you? "We spend time with each other and she disciplines us b/c if she didn't love us, she wouldn't discipline us. Some people think that if you discipline us you don't love us but you discipline us b/c you do love us and you want us to grow up and do right."

21. What does your mommy like most about your daddy? "He's loveable and squeezable."

22. Where is your mommy's favorite place to go? "Church and camping with us at that place where Hammie our pet squirrel lives."



On top of answering these questions Jellybean said, "Now I have two questions for you..."

1. What do you think Jellybean loves about you? "When I sing to her and read to her and do everything I can to make sure she is taken care of."

2. What do you think my favorite place to go is? "School and Church" (Actually, according to Jellybean it is Kansas City where LilB and Nat live)

What Bug thinks of his mommy April 9, 2009

1. What is something mommy always says to you? "I love you."

2. What makes mommy happy? "Listening."

3. What makes mommy sad? "Mmmm...not listening."

4. How does your mommy make you laugh? "being funny to me"

5. What was your mommy like as a child? "funny."

6. How old is your mommy? "I dunno."

7. How tall is your mommy? "this much" said with his arms spread high

8. What is her favorite thing to do? "have fun with us."

9. What does your mommy do when you're not around? "your at work."

10. If your mommy becomes famous, what will it be for? "God"

11. What is your mommy really good at? "playing wii and being in charge of us"

12. What is your mommy not very good at? "Idon't know."

13. What does your mommy do for a job? "you work on a computer."

14.What is your mommy's favorite food? "radishes"

15.What makes your mommy proud of you? "listening."

16. If your mommy were a cartoon character, who would she be? "I don't care"

17. What do you and your mommy do together? "Spend time with each other."

18. How are you and your mommy the same? "'Cause we're family."

19. How are you and your mommy different? ""Cause you're a girl and I'm a boy."

20. How do you know your mommy loves you? ""Cause you're a genius worshipper"

21. What does your mommy like most about your daddy? "Kissing him." Bug barely managed to get this answer out through his giggles and red face...

22. Where is your mommy's favorite place to go? "Church."

Rush '93

Just so that I have them somewhere "fire resistant" I am going to begin putting some of the letters I have written to the kids on here...it will ease my worry of losing them.

Aug 4, 1993

Wow, I can't believe you are finally here; it seems like just yesterday that I sat, trembling, in the doctor's office as she told me I was expecting you. Looking at you, I am filled with so many different emotions; I am so madly in love with you and yet I am absolutely terrified as I hold you in my arms. I am responsible for you; what I do will affect you for the rest of your life! THAT is overwhelming...incredibly overwhelming.

You are so beautiful! Through my drug induced haze I find myself staring at your tiny little fingers and toes and tracing your face with my fingers. I find myself in awe of the fact that you are really here! I feel complete as I feel your sleeping body snuggled into mine but then I get these sudden waves of panic that drown me. CAN I ACTUALLY DO THIS!? AM I GOING TO WRECK THIS BEAUTIFUL GIRL FOR THE REST OF HER LIFE? AM I GOING TO RUIN HER? I AM A MOM? ME? and then a warm fuzzy feeling takes over...YEAH...! I. AM. A. MOM! I'M A MOM! AND SHE'S BEAUTIFUL AND...BALD...

Yeah, my little princess, you are bald, just like I was and you are gorgeous! I can't believe how gorgeous you are! I've seen a couple other babies in the room with their moms and you are much cuter (perhaps because I had a c-section with you and so, you have a normal looking head instead of a weird mishapen head like those babies). (I know I am probably not making sense but I am still a little doped up from the general anasthetic and all the pain killers I have been given...I kind of wish I were a little more aware of what's going on.

So kiddo, it's you and me (well, and your dad too)and we have a lifetime to be together; I am so looking forward to all the moments we will have together, all the things I can teach you (and all the things you will teach me) and to tell you the truth as much as I am looking forward to it...it scares the shit out of me.

It's amazing how much you can love someone who has been on this earth for less than 2 hours; I never realized how much I could love someone. You are such a precious angel and I think I am driving the nurses nuts with the crying every time I look at you.

Love you to pieces all ready.

Mom
(Wow, Mom? I can't wait to here you call me that, to hear what your voice sounds like, to hear you say you love me. I hope I give you a happy life; I hope I can give you the riches of the world. I am so scared that I am going to screw it all up and if I do, please know that I will always do the absolute best I can for you!)

Silver Lining

Through the dark thunder clouds come streams of radiant light that push their way through the blackness of the sky and we have our own glimmers of light that are peaking out...more and more every day. We know that there is something going on in Rush, that she is waging war against something that we can't help her with (other than through our prayers and support) but everyday are signs that say she is winning, that she is pushing through, that God is prevailing.

Now don't get me wrong, she isn't some hooligan or anything like that; we aren't on the verge of sending her to military school or anything but she is not herself and there are several variables that are bringing her to that point - different things that she needs to deal with and she is dealing with, and that we need to remember to be patient with her as she does. I think that is where we have been failing; we react to the outward behavior and sometimes forget to look at the root of the matter.

God's hand is all over this and all over her and she will rise up and out of this "darkness" just like sunbeams through those black thunder clouds

I won't Rush you!

Next Wednesday I am taking Rush to see the eye doctor as she has been having daily intense headaches in behind her eyes; I think that this is causing a great deal of her "teenageritis" as she is in pain without relief from medication. To get to the bottom of these headaches would at least benefit her health-wise even if we do still have her "condition" to contend with.

I know what it's like to have those daily headaches having been diagnosed with a condition myself that has the 80 million letter name eluding my memory. I fortunately was healed of my condition (which could have lead to blindness) through no medical intervention and only through the intervention of the Great Healer Himself.

I love Rush so very much; we have been through a lot over our 16 years together. There has been a lot that we have overcome and I don't know if Rush reads this place or not but maybe one day she will (if she doesn't) and she will know that I don't plan on quitting now just because it's a different set of problems...

I set my eyes on You.

We've been having a rough, tiring go of things the last little while - not with everything just a couple things in our lives but they have been significant. Rush has been going through an intense bout of what I lovingly have dubbed Teenageritis and, with BigB's new job, there has come lots of heavy learning and what seems likely to turn into lots of travelling and with that has come new routines, stresses and demands and lots to get used to.

Both of these things have lead to some not-so-wonderful moments (not incredibly bad either) but they are adjustments that are needing to be made...some are adjustments in schedules, some in mindsets and some in attitudes. There is a bit of mending to be done and it has all ready started. Thank God for great friends and pastors and for a great God Himself.

At this time I don't feel I am at a place to share details but for now I felt the desire to be transparent. I know that what we are going through is not catching God off guard and He knows just how to handle it and we are looking to Him for guidance. We also know that we have a GREAT, BIG GOD and this is but an itty, bitty blip in the grand scheme of things. We are not worried and we are not stressing. We are not focusing our attention on these distractions (as that is exactly what they are intended to be) but we are, instead, focusing ourselves on God, seeking and pursuing Him (everything else will fall into place). Like the words of a song that Meagan S from Family Church wrote goes "I take my eyes off the storm and set my eyes on You." and that is what we are doing. We can't change the storm just by talking about it and we certainly aren't telling God anything new if we were to dwell on it in our pray life but...if you happen to think of us please pray for strength, wisdom, peace and the abiltiy to daily cast our cares upon Jesus because there are times when, in the natural, things seem a bit overwhelming to us.

P.S. But please, don't worry about our situation; we know it will work out for the glory of God and we are not worried about it. Simply pray that we remain focused on Him and to not get wrapped up in a bubble of woe... :D

Productivity

The past couple of nights have been pretty productive. Wednesday night I made a Burrito Pie and 6 Breakfast Burritos to freeze. The Burrito Pie was for last night's supper to see if we would like it as I have never made the recipe before. For the most part it was a hit (Jellybean didn't like it at all and Rush wasn't fond of the refried beans). I made another one for the freezer last night and made a Spaghetti Pie with a bit of sauce left over to freeze as well.

A couple of loads of laundry have been thrown in the washer & the dryer and are waiting to be folded and a load of wash was done first thing this morning and is waiting for me to come home to be tossed into the dryer.

Watched the new Will Smith movie last night too (and stayed up TOO late) but I did enjoy watching 7 Pounds. It ended with me in tears which, is nothing unusual given that it ended with one of the characters crying and that ALWAYS leaves me in tears as well (not just movie characters crying but any given person). Sheesh!

Tomorrow at nine the worship team is meeting to do some work on the building project (pick up garbage, paint, fix up, spruce up...those kinds of things). The first service in the new building is Friday, April 10, 2009 and we have conference coming up on May 21-24! You should try to make it for some of that! It will be life changing!

I also have a date with my husband tomorrow night and I am looking forward to that! He works at a trade show until 7:30 so whatever we do will have to be after that. I think I need to get used to him being gone on and off with this job. He has training or another trade show in Winnipeg the beginning of May for 4 days and then there is something that is coming up in Calgary shortly too.

I went to Liquidation World today at lunch and got some great containers for organizing the pantry and I may go back and get a few more tomorrow.

There is service tonight and Sunday morning and I am looking so forward to seeing how God moves this weekend and how lives (including my own) are changed, transformed and shaken!

Still praying for baby Stellan but things are looking up for him. God is SO good and there is no denying that His hand is on this beautiful baby boy's life!

Tonight's bed time story selection was...

"The Three Little Wolves and the Big, Bad Pig".

As we got to the part where the 3 little wolves are venturing out on their own and "they met a kangaroo who was pushing a wheelbarrow full of red and yellow bricks. 'Please, will you give us some of your bricks?' asked the three little wolves. 'Certainly,'said the kangaroo and she gave them lots of red and yellow bricks.", Bug leaned into me a little closer and softly said, "Ah, mama, dat is a very kind kangaroo."

I love how he is moved by that kind of thing but can still be a rough-n-tumble boy.

Thursday, Mar 27/09 to Thursday April 2, 2009

This past week: in pictures.


Dog days of Spring. P.B. & J's dog Daisy shared her love with us through snuggles and kisses.


P.B. & J (everytime I think of P.B - Pickle Boy- I get a craving for a McDonalds cheeseburger with extra pickles...that boy gave a LOT of extra pickles! Hence the name.)


It wouldn't be a complete week in pictures without this photo even though it is on here once all ready.


LilB, Rush & Jellybean helping set up for Friday evening's church service.


CherylB in the ice cream truck ride at L.H. Mall in "The City".


Rush in same ice cream truck.


Rush had a run-in with her closet door but I think she won and, we hear, it is not as bad as her brother (LilB) and his toe - the one he dropped a 50 lb printer on...Sheesh!


Bug discovered his love of "doing" his own hair, making his own lunch AND, gasp!, tucking himself in! Oh the agony of a mama!


It was backwards day at school today and so, I willingly sent my children to school looking like they don't have a mama who cares for them. Jellybean started off in this pink sweater with pockets onthe front but decided it wasn't evident enough that said shirt was backwards so she changed into this shirt...




Rush was backwards too but she changed back to "normal" at first break as it was " really uncomfortable".

There you have it. A week in the life of us. I didn't put any work stuff on here as that would overwhelm anyone and I don't want to be responsible for that! (Grin) We are in the middle of getting new flooring, started doing inventory and are going to be painting next week. It has been a chaotic and completely lonely venture as none of the girls have been around much as they can't do work and there has been no place for them to sit even...We have had unplanned trips from the plumber and little to no planning on Boss lady's part but she is the boss and she must be respected and I must make the best of the situation and do what I can to the best of my ability - no matter what. Don't grumble, murmur or complain...sometimes it is easy to fall into that trap but I have done my very best ta not ta (to steal a 'Mater from Cars line). I know that all of this hard work and inconvenience will look really nice in the end and give us a much nicer work environment (esteticly -sp).

Lost photos

Found these just now and forgot I had even taken them (but I just found the memory card from my camera that had wrecked; my new camera wouldn't read the card and so, I forgot them - since last summer.)

Let's stroll down memory lane together shall we and take a sneak peak into a week or so time frame from the summer of 2008.



BigB & I took this young lady, neighbor, friend of ours out for ice cream and a nice walk along the river.



Jellybean & Bug made me breakfast in bed; I think this was for my birthday! Sometimes I am a very spoiled mama! They love me to pieces! I got an apple, a cheese string, a rice cake and some Dole sparkling juice mango and tangerine, I think.



Bug learned how to be a "Dude"; ok, he had all ready discovered that but he always looks SO CUTE when he does it!



Rush & Riss made strawberry jam! MMMMM...it was yummy!



Jellybean was a Vet for Career Day; she also made sure to clarify that she meant the kind that looks after animals and NOT the kind that fought in the war because she thinks that those people are really brave but she wants to fix "aminals" instead.


Bug wanted to be the newest member of The Village People....NO!!! Just kidding! He decided to be a construction worker and wanted to take a thermos just like Pa does in the truck.


Jellybean checking out "Uggie" the penguin she bought her daddy who was named after her (well, the nickname BigB gave her).


Rush having some fun for the camera - one of her not-so-camera-shy days.