Just a quote to sum up my day

A lack of planning on your part does not constitute an emergency on my part.

(However, the truth is, a lack of planning on other people's part has made me jump through hoops all day. I WISH I could have told them the above....but I am too nice. LOL)

Okay, off to jump through more hoops. Hopefully I will have time to relax and catch up on email and blogging soon. (y'know, priorities!)

WFMW - Eating Well Edition

This is one of my favorite Weight Watcher Recipes Ever. I have no idea how many points it has or anything like that...it has probably been 15 years since I got it, but I still remember it and love it! (Just don't eat too many of them! They are SOOOO good!!)

Sweet Potato Chips

Ingredients:

2 tsp vegetable oil

6 oz thinly sliced sweet potato (1/8" thick)

1 tbsp firmly packed brown sugar

1/2 tsp salt

dash cinnamon

Instructions: In small mixing bowl drizzle oil over potato slices and using 2 forks, toss to coat.on baking sheet arrange slices in single layerIn cup or small bowl combine remaining ingredients and sprinkle evenly over potatoes; back for 10 minutesReduce over to 350 degrees, turn potato slices over and continue baking until crisp, 15-20 minutes (check frequently)

Transfer potato chips to small serving bowl, serve immediately or let cool to room temp.

Be sure to check out everyone else's healthy tips this week at: Rocks in my dryer

Noah Steven

I can't say this any better than Melanie, so please read Melanie's blog for today:

Blog: such a silly name for such a powerful tool

and then pray for Noah and his family.

Melanie sent me their link around October of last year and she and I have been praying for them. And, like Melanie, my relationship with God has changed because of Noah.

Their story is heartbreaking, but it is inspiring too.
Please keep them in your prayers, especially this Friday afternoon.

And, for the record, I am still expecting and praying for a miracle.

HEE HEE HEE

My darling Hubby wants me to download him a copy of "Funkytown" and make it into a ringtone for him.

As a joke, I am downloading the Veggie Tales version.....

hee hee hee. I can't wait for it to ring tomorrow. :-)

(Update: well, scratch that. I downloaded the song from Walmart.com music downloads but our ringtone maker says it is a "protected file" and it won't turn it into a ringtone!! DRAT...off to search for it on cingular.com...I'll pay for this one!)

(update to the update: well, they only have the "real" version on cingular. drat. all my fun just whisked away like that....)

Our amazing, super-abundant baby Shower

My friend Becky had a shower for me at our church with friends from my old homeschool group, my church, family and most of my closest friends. We ended up with over 30 adults! (she didn't receive very many RSVPs so she started praying that it would be large. WOW, Becky....the prayers of the faithful!) It was amazing and we were super-abundantly blessed. Ethan is not going to lack for clothes.

Thank you Becky!!

Ain't that the truth?

From The Free Lance Star at Fredericksburg.com

"But while the American Christian church is more alive than the church in Europe, [Pollster George] Barna believes, "Americans are not as devoted to their faith as they would like to believe. They have positive feelings about their faith but faith is rarely the focal point of their lives or a critical factor in their decision making." "

But the problem is.....does anyone want to change? I think the Americans that they are talking about, who have the "positive feelings" think everything is a-ok in their life. Why should they change?

Here is more of the article:
"I wonder what would happen if the 80 percent of Americans who identify ourselves as Christians would begin deeply practicing our faith--if we studied until we understood sound doctrine, and prayed until we began to see God all around us; practiced service and, yes, solitude, meditation, and fasting.

Would our conflicts diminish? Would there be less road rage, fewer bitter political campaigns, a greater commitment to marriage, more quality time spent with kids? Would we be less depressed and more full of life?

Would the American Christian church of 2050 then be found vital and vibrant, a powerful force for good in this world? Would atheists bite their tongues because they simply could not argue with the reality of all those changed lives?

I'm thinking that would be the case. I'm thinking it begins with me. And maybe you."

What would it take to become sold out?

My opinion is, if you believe in God, than why not all the way? What will you lose by believing him 100%....and on the opposite side, what are you losing by not believing His Word 100%?

I don't want to miss out on ANYTHING He has for me.

"What will people think
When they hear that Im a jesus freak
What will people do
when they find that its true
I dont really care
if they label me a jesus freak
There aint no disguising the truth
Kamikaze, my death is gain
Ive been marked by my maker
A peculiar display"
Jesus Freak by DC Talk

Good Friends

Okay, I horned in on this picture. It was supposed to be the facilitator and pronouncer at the Wagoner County Spelling Bee. But it is two of my favorite people...Alison and Kim, so I couldn't help myself.

And, if you look all the way to the small person on the left, apparently horning in on pictures is a family trait! LOL

SMART Habit Saturday

Well the first habit I am working on is bible reading and praying. I have done really good with my praying this week.

Okay, I will be honest now... Our nurse is out of town for 8 days, so I am sleeping with Kaedra every night. I don't sleep well on the futon on the floor, so I spend many hours a night awake. The good news is: I have spent that time praying instead of playing games on my palm pilot or getting up and getting on the computer.

So I am doing really great in the prayer department, I just need to make sure it is a habit I will keep after I get to sleep in my own bed (and through the night) again.

and, just to explain myself, because I am embarrassed I would have to "work" on praying, I pray all day long, little prayers and thanks to God, but I hadn't spent any dedicated "prayer-only" time in the last month or so. I got very interested in making a prayer journal and got so interested in the journal that I stunted my actual prayer time. I was trying to make a "perfect system" and perfected myself into not having a dedicated praying time! I am still working on the system, but I am not going to let it stop me from just doing it!

As for the bible reading... Hubby and I were doing great reading the bible together every night and a book by a lady at our church about praying for our children. Since our sleeping habits have been interrupted by me sleeping downstairs with Kaedra, we have not had our bible time. I have also been napping in the morning to catch up with lost sleep overnight, so I have not had my morning bible time. I need to work on that one this week.

To join SMART Habit Saturday or to see other posts, check out Lazy Organizer's blog.

Thirteen Resolutions for the New Year

Although I haven't looked at everyone else's Thursday 13s, I am assuming quite a few are resolutions. I hadn't had a chance to write mine down yet (yes I "do" resolutions, no matter how trite it seems...I love new beginnings) so I thought this was a good excuse. :-)

1. Bible Reading and Prayer Time everyday. (by myself and then with Michael in the evenings)
2. Consistently speaking The Word over situations in our life and claiming our victory rather than resorting to wallowing.
3. Making our home notebook and keeping up with it - including chores, laundry, meal planning and meal making.
4. Planning ahead for school after Ethan's birth. Making notebooks for the kids with their assignments and worksheets already ready for them.
5. Keeping the pregnancy weight loss and adding to it. (yes, I LOSE weight while pregnant. So far in this pregnancy approx 40 lbs) Check out this blog, I don't know her, but she is one of my heroes. :-)
6. Seeking(and following)God's will first in every situation and opportunity.
7. Teaching and encouraging my girls to do the same.
8. Submitting myself and family to a budget.
9. Staying on top of thank you notes, birthdays, anniversaries and such. At least acknowledging with a card.
10. Making sure I am submitting my will to God's in what I watch, listen to and read. (Phil 4:8-9)
11. Encouraging and guiding my family in being more proactive, rather than reactive.
12. Looking at my to do list and calendar every day. (doing it would be nice, too, but it would be nice if I'd remember to look at it!)
13. Be less of a consumer (One that consumes, especially one that acquires goods or services for direct use or ownership rather than for resale or use in production and manufacturing), more of a declutterer and simplifier.

I realize some of these are going to be hard to quantify and measure, but I will work on that tomorrow or this weekend. With only an hour left in Thursday, I better get my 13 posted. :-) For other Thursday Thirteen blogs click here.

For help keeping your goals, check out one of this wonderful blog and her idea for SMART Saturdays: The Lazy Organizer

My Christmas Letter (if I had one)

I didn't have time to get a Christmas letter out this year. Who am I kidding? I have NEVER had time to put out a Christmas letter! Have I? I vaguely remember, possibly having one, but Brandi would be the only one who would know....Brandi? (Isn't it nice to have friends who can be your memory for you??? LOL Brandi has been my friend basically my whole adult life, so I can just rely on HER memory! But wait, she's had more kids so she has less brain cells...hmmmm this might not work!)

ANYWHO.... I was going to try my hand at a Christmas blog/letter this year! However, I am re-dubbing it our New Year's Letter. :-)

(And, although I started this days ago, I got the idea for the format this morning from another blog I love to read.)

This has been a very exciting year for us...let's see how much I can remember...

January 2006:
We got a new puppy...a boston terrier that Michael named Shooky Doo. I had forgotten how much I don't like puppies, but, trust me, I have since remembered. ;-)

February 2006:
February wasn't very exciting for us except we had good friends over on Superbowl Sunday and Kaedra took her first steps that day.

March 2006:
-March was very exciting because we got a pool! We were so excited to get one and so blessed to get one. We enjoyed it so much during the summer and had GREAT family time in it!
-One of our nurses quit and that eased some of the stress we had been having with her around.
-We went to the zoo with the Donathans and Sherria. We used to go to the zoo a lot, but hadn't been for a long time. (Emily didn't even remember it) We had a great time.

April 2006:
-We got in our pool for the first time! YAH for Oklahoma weather where you can swim in April! :-)
-Mercy, my beloved cat died after 17 years of being my companion.
-My dearest friend's baby went to be with Jesus - Zoe we rejoice in being reunited with you someday.

May 2006:
-Emily turned 5! It was an exciting day for her...she had a Dora party complete with a map and a treasure at the end. (Brittany even played Swiper) Michael and I missed the party when he had chest pains and ended up in the hospital overnight.
-The biggest thing that happened in May is Kaedra had her second surgery. Kaedy was very unhappy being confined to a crib for so long and we had a really bad experience in San Antonio where they didn't have the room ready and Kaedra de-satted the lowest she had ever been. Most of the experience in San Antonio was awful, but it did go quicker this time.

June 2006:
-Our church opened it's new site. It is beautiful and large and very close to our house. We loved our church in the strip mall setting and we love it even more now! :-)
-Kaedy was off of her vent for a few hours at a time and off of oxygen completely.
-Kaedra started coming to church. I stayed in the nursery with her, but it was so nice to go as a whole family.
-Kaedy is also putting food in her mouth and getting closer to eating.
-We found out I am pregnant! We had decided about 2 months ago it was time to have another one. The timing seemed right with Kaedra almost off of the vent. I took the pregnancy test on Father's day...so it was an especially nice Father's Day for Michael. :-)


July 2006:
-We got rid of our daytime nurse. Although it was difficult adjusting, it has been wonderful to have Kaedy "all to ourselves" everyday. We spent the first few months of no-nursing in her room almost all day long.
-We had a big setback. Kaedra got 5th's disease (which is usually no big deal for kids) but she pretty much laid in her crib for 6 weeks. She had to go back on oxygen, back on her vent all day, didn't talk much in sign or verbally and refused food (orally) altogether.

August 2006:
-I did some home improvement projects including putting a much-needed fan in the den. (which also provided overhead light, which we hadn't had)
-Kaedy came out of her 5th disease funk. She ended up regressing on everything but gross motor skills. She got right up out of the crib and started running around. We had to start at the beginning with weaning her off of the vent, getting her off of oxygen, eating orally and speaking again.
-Brittany turned 11 and we had a great party! It was at Incredible Pizza and had 13 girls. It was a lot of fun for everyone. Britty is SUCH a big help at home and such a young lady. She is a delight to be around.
-Emily started Kindergarten. (of course at home with us.) She was so excited!
-We noticed Kaedra had a large curve in her spine (that hadn't been there at the end of May)


September 2006:
-Our nursing was cut down to 12 hours. We decided to use them from 8pm-8am.
-We started working harder on getting Kaedra out of her room a few hours a day.
-We decided to change Kaedy's surgery location to Kansas City. We got approved to go there for an evaluation.
-Britty had a colored pencil drawing in the Wagoner County fair and won 2nd place!
-We got a new cat - a Maine Coon we named Zoegirl.

October 2006:
-Emily, Brittany and I went to Livesay orchard and had a very nice afternoon picking apples and playing in the corn mazes. Later in the month we went to a large corn maze at night with Brittany's friend Alison. It wasn't as much fun, but part of it was because Emmy was a little scared.
-Brittany, Michael, Kaedra and I headed up to Kansas City for her evaluation. She got approved to be in their program and they scheduled surgery for November 17th.
-We found out our insurance was changing as of January 1st which threw us into a tizzy. Our new insurance does not cover nursing at all and hardly covers supplies. We started our trek into looking into every other available option.
-I went on bedrest for a week for bleeding and cramping. I got an ultrasound to make sure all was well with the baby - which it was - and we found out that we are having a boy.
-Kaedra started coming off of her vent for a little while at a time (at first 20 minutes, by the end of the month almost all day)
-With her newfound freedom, we have some challenges. Silly mommy had the curling iron on in the bathroom and Kaedra walked up behind me and grabbed it. She finished out October with her hand wrapped in dressing.
-My friend, Tarry, who came to be one of our nurses, went back to the hospital (where they would pay her nearly 2X as much!!) So I ended up having Kaedra overnights by myself on Wednesday and Sunday nights.

November 2006:
-Kaedy had her second birthday. It was a GREAT time. And since her birthday and Christmas are so close, she hadn't gotten any presents for awhile. She loved all of her new things!
-Kaedra had her surgery. Brittany, Sherria, Kaedra and I went to KC on Wednesday. We all stayed in the Ronald McDonald House. Britty and Sherria came back Thursday night and Michael came up that night. Kaedy had her surgery on Friday morning (ribs and tubes in her ears) and Michael and I stayed until Saturday when Kaedra was released from the hospital. She was able to stay off of the vent after surgery and is still off of it all day long.
-My parents came up from Albuquerque for Thanksgiving.
-Kaedra had her first trip to a park.
-Michael started working crazy hours in his usual retail holiday season rush.
-Kaedy started putting food in her mouth again.

December 2006:
-We decorated for Christmas which was a lot of fun.
-We started Kaedra off of the vent for 1 hour at a time during sleep. She is also taking her naps without her vent.
-I went Christmas shopping a few times with Sherria which was also fun...hard work! but fun! LOL
-We got the girls dressed up (at the same time) and sitting (occassionally in the same place) for an attempt at Christmas pictures.
-Brittany and I went to a sweet cookie exchange. (not the same one I have done the past few years)
-We went to church on Christmas Eve morning, but couldn't go Christmas eve night when Kaedy got a high fever. (it was just from some shots she had gotten the day before)
-We had a very nice Christmas morning.
-Michael and I switched room upstairs with Brittany. (we are still dealing with the aftermath of that. Hopefully we will be all done today)
-We had a very nice New Year's Eve. We went to church, came home and made up finger foods, played games and then watched the ball drop. Ria came over and hung out with us that night, too.

Well, that's pretty much our year. Unfortunately, I will probably remember that this was the year I was mostly sick with Ethan's pregnancy. It hasn't been much fun, but I am trying to concentrate on the positive aspects! (Soon I'll have baby Ethan in my arms and it will be much easier to remember the positive side! :-))

2007 will be the year that Ethan is born, Kaedra gets off her vent (and hopefully gets rid of her trach - depending on Dr. Carey's philosophy on that), Kaedra eats orally, Brittany's first mission trip, Emily learns to read, Michael gets a new car, Sherria meets her future husband and lots of other wonderful memories I can't wait to experience!