Jacob

It's now Jan 31 here in Germany and my sweet Jacob is 8 years old now. Oh how the years have flown. God has blessed me with this little boy. God knew how he'd bless my heart with him. I did not know how I'd be able to love him. I was still in deep grief from Jordyn's death and so fearful of not being able to love him. God was graceful for allowing us to have Jacob.

Jacob is kind and gentle. He loves the Lord with all his heart. He is nice to others, even when they're not always nice back. He is gentle with Emma, yet can get as rough and tumble as can be. He is not afraid to say "I love you, Mom" in front of anyone, including his friends! He still kisses me goodnight without inhibition. He has a gift for prayer. He does it straight from the heart, straight to the Lord. He begins and ends his prayers with "Heavenly Father" and it's the most beautiful words to my ears.

I pray this little boy always has the compassion and love that he has in his heart. I pray that his relationship with the Lord continues to grow and grow and that he will never doubt what the Lord has laid before him, no matter how hard or challenging it may be. I pray that before he seeks anyone else's advice, he seeks the Lords first and last. I pray he'll remain a little boy after God's heart and continues to be a man after God's heart in the future.

My prayer for Jacob this year though is that he will continue to love the Lord and enjoy being 8. That he will laugh more than he cries. That he will smile more than he frowns. That he will love deeper than he ever dislikes. That he continues to be who HE is and not what others try to make him. That he never gives into peer pressure, and continues to be exactly who GOD has made him.

I am truly blessed to be his Mom. He's leaving the Mommy stage and although it makes me sad to a degree, I find joy in the fact that as much as I'd love for him to remain little for years and years to come, he's getting older and through natural process I've become simply "Mom" and I'm ok with that! :) Every once in a while Mommy is slipped in and I praise our Lord for those continued, though rare moments of being younger.

Jacob has a special relationship with his dad. There's an unmistakable bond between them and I am so happy they have that. Little boys NEED their dad's. Little boys need a strong man to teach them how to be men. They need to be shown how to do little boy things, how to be a father, husband, and friend. I'm so blessed all my children have that in their lives. It hurts them deeply to have their dad off in Iraq, but there's never a moment where they wonder if their dad loves them, they know he does. Jacob will be a fine man, if he grows up to be like his dad and I see it already in many ways. How blessed am I?

So to my "Little Man"...Jacob, Happy 8th birthday buddy. I love you and I'm so proud of you.

Jacob 9 lbs 3 oz



Jacob and Dad on his 1st birthday....Jan 31, 2002

Jacob his last night being 7 yrs old.

Hi/Lo Thursday

Hi guys it's Thursday and on Thursday's I join in with the Riggs' family (Abby...soo over my sidebar...scroll down to "Praying for Abby" See her!). So join in!

This post is part of "Hi/Lo Thursday" on the Riggs Family Blog. Check our their blog to read everyone else's "Hi/Lo" posts.


My High....today!I have two! My first one is about my Emily and her sweet Abigail! Abigail is healthy and already a little sassy in the womb. I mean when your 28 week old is sticking her tongue out at her Daddy because he makes a suggestion of her having a "turtle" between her legs, well sas away baby girl! (This one is my over all week HIGH!)

My 2nd one is for today!
I was able to get together with my sweet and wonderful and precious friend Heather. You remember praying for Heather last year? If you don't, let me tell you about this amazing woman! She almost died last year. The day after her husband had left for deployment, she got extremely sick, went into a coma and was literally knocking on Heaven's door for the first few days. They were able to bring her husband back immediately. If you know ANYTHING about the Army you will understand that, that was Miracle #1! It was very frightening. Heather remained in a drug induced coma for quite some time. She had a horrible infection in her lungs and her diabetes was out of control. It was truly a very frightening time for our whole community, and yet God was amazing and showed us that he does indeed still perform miracles! In April, Heather was brought out of her coma and remained awake from then on out. It was truly quite a journey. I believe it was June (I'd have to go back and look) when she came home, although it could have been May. I'm trying to remember if Chad was home still or if he'd deployed and I just can not remember! Either way, she lived!
Well today her and I and 2 other ladies got together to begin praying for our new PWOC (Protestant Women of the Chapel aka Women's bible study and ministry through the military) Executive Board. We spent over 2 hours praying, sharing, learning, and laughing our tails off! If you don't have wonderful Christian friends, let me tell you...you're missing out! We ended up spending about half our day together! So my HIGH was spending a great day with a wonderful friend who I feel so blessed to have in my life!

My Low: That Emma's still not feeling 100%. She seems to go back and forth. I hate her being sick, and the feeling of being so helpless. I know it's not as drastic as cancer...been there, done that and have NO desire to ever know what that feels like again. But when your baby is not feeling good, it stinks plain and simple. I'm praying she feels better tomorrow and no more ickiness for her. She has to get better, her Daddy is coming in just a few days! :) Wahoo!!

Ok so go on over to the Riggs blog, pray for sweet Abby and join in on the Hi/Lo and don't forget to leave your link once you've played on Mr. Linky on their blog!

Hi/Lo Thursday

Hi/Lo Thursday

School and other thoughts rambling through my head

So I have a confession! Jackson can't read. Nope, he's 5, we've been schooling since what September and he can't read. He's still struggling with his letters and guess what, I'm not overly concerned. Why? Because it's not worth stressing over. He will learn and I have a wonderful friend who's a certified teacher and reading was what she taught, so she's going to help me. You see Jacob already knew his letters he knew all of his letters by recognition from us working at home and then he went to preschool and started basic reading skills. Jacob's a very easy learner. The way I teach, is how he learns. Now Jackson is well opposite. He's had NO desire to learn, none until the last couple of months. So seeing that his interest is finally getting where it needs to be to truly learn is so exciting, the bad part is...he wants to know NOW and gets very frustrated with himself. I try as hard as I can to be gentle with him, although I will admit there are days I get so absolutely aggravated with him I just want to shake the stinker. He's not one to sit still for long periods of time, you know...he's a BOY! He moves, a lot. I don't mind for the most part. I let him get up and down as he needs to while doing his hand writing and math. He's pretty good about cuddling up with me on the couch as we go over letters and sight words, but still he gets frustrated if he doesn't know or remember them immediately. Thankfully my friend Jen is going to help us out. She just recently started homeschooling her children. She's nervous, but I know she's going to do great. God has led her to this journey so he will not allow her to fail! She has 6 kids all together, 2 are school age. She's AMAZING, oh and her husband is deployed too! So all you Mom's out there (myself included!!!) who complain about a hubby being gone for a night, a week, a month, etc....think of my sweet friend Jen. This woman is all about being a mother and wife. To me she's about as close to the Proverbs 31 woman as I've met! Seriously her home is immaculate, her children are truly joyful, when her hubby is home, you see the deep love he has for her, and she does it with a smile. Now don't get me wrong she has her down days, but she's AMAZING! We've been here for 3 1/2 yrs and she's been here for 6 and we're just now really, really getting to know each other and she's quickly becoming one of my dearest friends! God has just blessed me with friends. I'm truly so undeserving, but oh so grateful!

Anyways, I'm excited! I'm excited for Jackson most of all, because he desires to read. He wants this so much and I've felt like a failure in this endeavor. I do have a new book on its way and hope that it'll help as well with him learning and well honestly I have a great many books here already to help him. Jen has already given me some great idea's so while Chad's home I'm going to get busy on doing it. One of the things which of course is a common sense sort of thing, but it's labeling items in your house. "TV" "Cabinet" "Refrigerator""Stove"...sight words for him! I am going to buy some plain index cards (with no lines) and buy some more tape (used it all at Christmas! LOL) and start labeling everything to help him. I know as he starts to recognize the words, memorize them, and know them...it'll be a great boost for him.

Will you pray for us with this. I know I do not write a lot about our homeschooling adventures here, don't ask me why. Well I guess because by the end of the day I'm "done" with school in a sense and although I love it, just don't write about it as much as I really should. Maybe after we start school back up after Chad leaves I'll start blogging about it more.
While I'm confessing I should say I've sucked this year with crafts. I wish we had more stores like Hobby Lobby, The Dollar Store, Michaels, JoAnn's, WalMart, etc so I could get them more craft items. There are stores here, just more expensive since I have to pay in euro. I need to just suck it up though and go buy them things and look online for deals. Jacob and Jack both LOVE crafts. You know what, that's it...after R&R we're going to do one craft a week. Hey if I'm really motivated I'll take a pictures while we're doing our crafts and blog about it! I'm hoping while Chad is home he'll do the volcano experiment with the boys that they've been dying to do. Science is NOT my favorite subject, it is one of Chad's...so I've been trying to hold the boys off until Daddy was home to do this activity, as I am sure he'll really enjoy doing it with them! I'm hoping they can do a few other science projects together. One thing the kids and I are going to do this year is plant an herb garden in cups and grow up here (yes...fresh herbs to cook with!) and also a very small veggie garden. I'm thinking one or two tomato plants and a cucumber plant. We'll do our normal flower planting too, but the boys will get more out of watching the cucumber plant grow. Oh and I should plant a pumpkin plant. We have a small little garden on one side of the steps that the pumpkin would probably do better in, so it doesn't choke out the other plants that is!! :) It'd be great if we can actually get some decent size pumpkins and hey look at the money we'll save come Halloween time not having to buy them! AND Dad will be home to carve!!

So there's a plan for us, once we get back to school after their 18 days off while Dad is home (It'll be more if you add in the weekends!) but that will be their "spring break" you could say, plus we'll go to school into the summer, since we didn't start until September. I'm planning on spending the majority of our days this summer outside...walking, biking, going swimming, doing other activities, etc. I have not decided yet, but I'm seriously considering taking the kids to Italy to the beach this summer. We were supposed to do it last summer, but couldn't get a room to stay in, so I'm going to call earlier and book us a room! I would love to have someone go with us to hang out with another adult, so I need to see who'd be interested.

Well enough school talk and all this future stuff! :) It's good for me to do this from time to time, because I find myself taking for granted sometimes the gift our family has, in which God led us to homeschooling. Oh and don't leave a comment saying how you don't have the patience...trust me home schooling has NOTHING to do with patience! It's all about Jesus and being obedient to his calling for our family.

It's A Give Away!

So while I was over at Emily's blog tonight, (which by the way...go..awesome pictures and great stories!!) I clicked on another commenter, Ashley! Ashley is celebrating 1 yr in the blogging world and with that she's having a give away! She is talented people! She is giving away a beautiful, personalized sign...you can have it for a kids room or she can make it more adult and she'll put what you like on it! Awesome huh? Ok so go on over by clicking HERE then follow her rules and enter away! Now I know you all know how cute one of these would look all pink and brown or pink and lavender with Emma's name on it, right?!!! So if you win you're surely going to get Emma a gift, right?????? Right that's what I thought! ROFL

Ok so go visit Ashley and celebrate her 1 yr of blogging with her!

A little more info

Ok so for more info on Emily's baby girl who's going to be here in 12 weeks (wow I can't believe it!!! You'd think I was the one pregnant as excited as I am! She's my best friend, I get to be this excited!!), anyways go on over and Emily's done a little update! This is all that good little info that was simply HERS to share! :)

Oh I can't wait to meet her! BTW I'm feeling a little envious that she's getting another child that is going to have a headfull of hair! I mean what is up with that? Out of my 4, I've had ONE...ONE. It's just not right! LOL Abigail Joy will be a beauty and loved so much more than she'll probably even WANT to be loved! LOL I see another "Emma Grace" coming into their family and I laugh a little rotten laugh, knowing she's going to be sweet, loved, and as she gets older...rotten, rotten, rotten! She will soooo put Miss Matilyn to Shame (you just wait Emily, I KNOW she will! Bawahaaaaa!)

Abigail's one more miracle of our Lord's, as every child is. She's another answer to prayers. God is so merciful and I'm praising him. I would have praised him no matter....but there are only HAPPY tears coming down my face tonight as we now take a deep breath and let it OUT!

Emily

She should be home here in a little while I'd guess...but let me just say GOD is GOOD all the time, and we know that, we remember that in good and bad...but today he is just sooooooooooo GOOD! Be sure to check on her update, as I'm sure she'll write more about it later and this is all her news. Abigail is still Abigail and she's healthy and that's the important thing!!!! Praise GOD!

Get down on those knee's and send up those prayers

Ok so today is a big day for my Emily (yes I'm possessive like that, she's MINE!LOL). Today she's having a big ultrasound to check out this beautiful baby that is growing in her. It's probably emotionally more important than any other appointment she's had.
They have had horrible weather there in Kentucky and they're driving to Nashville, it's pretty well all major roads out of town and then the interstate, and I'm not sure what the road will be like going to the hospital she's going to. Pray for clear roads, safe driving (not just for Matt but for the others who will be out on the roads this morning). Prayers for peace. This is NOT a time that Satan is going to get. He has been trying his hardest to give Emily anxiety and worry, but this is absolutely NOT HIS.

Pray with me please. She is most likely on her way now. As soon as she calls and gives me permission I'll update here on how this baby is. Oh and they will hopefully confirm if it truly is Miss Abilgail or if this baby is a he, like um...many of us actually suspect! LOL No matter girl or boy, pray for them. They trust the Lord in what ever his decision is when it comes to this baby.

I will admit I want this baby to be healthy. I want Emily to bring this baby home 2 or 3 days after birth and just drink this baby in. She's only been able to bring one of her babies home just days after birth as so many momma's take for granted. Her Hope, her oldest is the only one that came home like that. Matilyn had Gastrocysis (I think I spelled that right!) so she was in the hospital for nearly a month, and Miller Grace never did grace their home outside of Emily's womb. Will you join in me in prayer?

Let us petition our Lord that he answers all of our prayers for a healthy baby for Emily and Matt to bring home. I know if Emily reads this she'll probably say " Just a baby to bring home"...no matter if that baby is perfect, she/he will be perfectly loved...already is!
Will you join me and drop to your knees along with me? The u/s is at 10 AM CST. So lets go Prayer Warriors...pray for my sweet Emily and her sweet husband Matt. (Yes Emily I called him sweet..figured it's a day I won't be ornery to him).

Tuesday

One I want to start this off by asking for prayers for Emily tomorrow. I don't know if she has or will be blogging about it, but just keep her in your prayers. She's in the middle of the ice storm and has reasons to have to be out tomorrow, so pray for her safety, her husband's driving, others who may be driving tomorrow as well, their driving, and for safety and well being all around. Pray for peace of heart and mind and for joy, unabounding JOY!

As for us, well Emma layed in my arms all day. She took about an hours nap in her crib and woke up and then dozed all day long in and out in my arms, and NURSED, NURSED, NURSED. It's the best thing for her and since she's not eating I'm so thankful to know she's getting something gentle on her belly and giving her such comfort as well. She did drink water really well too, with lots and lots of wet diapers.

Tonight during dinner Jack started complaining about his belly hurting and the next thing I know he's rushing to the bathroom and the vomitfest for Jack began. Poor guy got sick 3 times in about 30 minutes. He went to bed, in my bed and so far so good.

Emma went to bed seemingly doing ok, no vomiting all day, but then woke up after a couple hours and had gotten sick in her bed. She just got sick on me and the floor just about 10 minutes ago. The fun just never seems to stop.

I'm so done with us being sick this year. NEVER have we struggled against sickness like this before. It's just rediculous. I guess when Chad comes home we're going to just scrub every nook and cranny and see if we can get all these germs out of here. "Welcome Home Honey" LOL

Ok I'm off to bed! Janis, I hope your family is feeling better too, I know you're battling this junk as well.

Welcome to Not Me! Monday! This blog carnival was created by MckMama. You can head over to her blog to read what she and everyone else have not been doing this week.





Ok now that I followed MckMama's rules...lets play!

This will not be a shorter than normal blog because I'm holding my little girl right now.

I am definitely not holding Miss Emma because she woke up screaming her head off and then proceeded to puke down my back, all over the floor and in my computer chair.

After cleaning off Emma after not puking all over herself, and cleaning off the floor, I did not put Emma down and she did not stand there and point at the chair and go, "Oh Momma, CHAIR-CHAIR!" and I surely did not say "oh I know baby doll, you threw up in the chair" and she did NOT look right at me and say with all the seriousness that is Emma "NO! NO!...Oh Momma, Momma Chair" Nope she did not do that!

Jackson did not wake up tonight to go to the bathroom and did not wander around in a circle in the dining room before he went the right way towards the bathroom. He absolutely did not sit down on the toilet and proceed to have an um issue going potty, stand up, in his tiredness and being 5, grab his and Jacob's towels and swing them all around in some pitiful tantrum. He most definitely did not slam the door shut. I most definitely was NOT laughing at him through all of this, because that wouldn't be nice now would it?

We were definitely not all, except Jacob, sick from colds (and Emma a fever) last week. I did not wake up on Friday finally feeling human! Jackson did not throw up on Friday, so we could not go to the Hospitality House. :( (He was fine, it was from a coughing fit, but I didn't want to chance it)

I am not far too excited that next week my husband should be in my arms at some point during the week!

It has definitely not been a long, long, long 8 months.

I will not think about hanging a sign on my door that says "DO NOT DISTURB, Bow-chicka-wow-wow!" ROFL! I did not just write that! :X

I am not still struggling deeply with insomnia. I have not been awake numerous times at 6 AM still, and have definitely not thought about just staying up so that I could maybe crash that night, out of pure exhaustion. Pure exhaustion has not taken over and waking up 2-3 hours later has not made me feel horrible.

I do not hate getting insomnia advice and medical advice from people. I just like to vent!

Jacob did not take Christmas money that he got, and buy 2 books with it! I did not feel pride at the love of reading he has! I was not proud that he spent that money on books vs some stupid toy!

I am not totally thrilled that this time next week, my husband should be out of Iraq and in Kuwait!

As you can see I am really not that excited that Chad's coming home. I could careless really. It's not a big deal. I mean what's so big about your husband being at war and not seeing him for 8 months and knowing you only get 18 days with him, and then he goes back for 5-6 more months...what do I have to be excited about??? (hehe)

I did NOT spend 4 hours on the phone with Emily tonight. My ear is not bright red and numb.

I am not thinking I may get to sleep earlier tonight than I have in about 3 weeks. I am surely not feeling tired.

Come on and join us! Tell us everything you surely did not do this past week!

Bit of this and a bit of that!

Ok so to go along with my completely insane obession I just went and counted Emma's bows, knowing that there are few that are currently MIA (as in Miss Emma ripped it off her head and stowed it and said head band in a secret place...when I find that secret place I bet I find at least 10 more! LOL I know I have a couple in her diaper bag and I think one in my purse...but am too lazy to go and look!) So from what's on her ribbon holder and what's attached to a little basket I have (because said ribbon holder is FULL..Momma needs to buy a new one! LOL) and the new ones we just got in the mail on Wednesday....Emma has 45 bows (again that's not counting the ones missing and in diaper bags/purse!) So my guess is she actually has closer to 50-55 bows. I know, it's really obscene and seeing the numbers it's almost embarrassing. The thing is...ordering them, totally addicting! LOL I just love them, and that in lays the problem. I love all their bows and want one of every single one they offer (if I keep it up, I may end up with all of them too! ROFL!!) Seriously if Chad read my blog (he could, he just doesn't!) he'd probably be about to have a heart attack right now! I will say this, for the fact that every single bow is hand made, and they're each unique...the prices are AWESOME! The most expensive bow I believe I have is Emma's Kansas State Wildcats and Kansas City Chiefs bows, and they were less than $10.00 and we're talking those are 100% custom and guess what I looooooooove them!

So here's Emma tonight, showing off one of her new Valentine Day bows (I ordered her a few...they're all different and I also got her ONE St. Patrick's Day one, but I may get her a couple more, we'll see! LOL).

She would barely stand still this evening as I was trying to take pictures of her with her bow on! I was totally cracking up as she tried to get right up in the camera, so there were a few WHITE Flash pictures that had to get deleted! The bow says Hugs and Kisses and also has "X's and O's" on it and it's a double bow of dark pink under light pink! Her pink head band would look really cute with this bow too!

Ok so enough about bows! :) Earlier this week, we finally got the kids Christmas gifts my brother ordered. We knew they were going to be late, it just felt like it took forever for them to get here (he ordered them from WalMart.com and it was right on with the delivery date, I just had high hopes they'd be early! Nope!! LOL)

Well Emma (and the boys too) loved playing in the box! At one point they were all 3 in the box, but this was on a day that I could barely move, because I felt so bad. (Can we say MIGRAINE?). I was able to get a picture of Emma while she played in the box the other day though, she was cracking me up. She played in it for over an hour, at least!

I know terrible shot, but I was going for a full body, full box shot for my brother actually, because I was talking to my SIL while she was doing this!

This was right before she folded in all the sides and "closed" herself in! She just giggled inside the box! She's so much fun!

So yesterday out of the blue we got some freak, unexpected snow storm blow in. It came down hard and fast and didn't last long. It did last long enough and was just the right texture that Jacob was able to make a snow man!!!

Jacob is on the right, the boy on the left is our neighbor boy, and the tiny little snow man! Jacob used charcoil brick's that someone just left laying in the picnic area (grrr)...

That's all the snow we got, it's not a lot and you can see the tracks of where the boys drug the sleds. Jacob met an 11 yr old boy who JUST moved here and this was the first time he'd EVER played in the snow, so Jacob took him sledding! Jacob kept going "Mom can you believe he's NEVER seen snow!" So we did a Geography lesson on the South! (The boy was born and they'd always been stationed in South Carolina aka Ft. Bragg). Jacob was just seriously shocked! LOL

Well I'm really, really tired. We have church in the morning and I am teaching children's church (completely unprepared since I wasn't feeling good and had switched with someone, and didn't get a reminder...which obviously I NEEDED to go pick up the curc. and look it over! Thankfully I've taught it quite a bit and it's easy for the most part! We'll be going up there early though so I can make sure I don't need to make copies of anything and get things set up if necessary!).

Good Night!

Tired of all the negatives in politics...then let me recommend you watching this video. It's an "open letter" from Jenna and Barbara Bush to the Obama girls. It's beautiful and just a warning you might want to have a tissue handy, or maybe I'm just over emotional. Nahhh...it's just a beautiful letter. I think it's a GREAT reminder that no matter what any of our politics are, these men (President Bush and President Obama) are both DADDY's to girls who did/will have to hear terrible and awful things about their dad (truths and lies).





I got this link from April .

I hope she doesn't mind that I totally swiped it.

Yes Another!

I know, I know all these entries in one day! Hey the last couple have been short and this one will be too, so read and obey, and you'll be good!

My sweet friend Lisa has finally started blogging, after being a silent stalker for quite some time of blogs! Please go visit her, she's brand new to the blogger world and I think as she blogs more, you'll love her like I do! One big thing...I have met her IRL and have actually stayed at her home! She's fabulous! Oh and Lori dear...she's a Steeler's fan too! See you two already have a bond! LOL Seriously though...go visit her!

I know I'm just blogging crazy tonight! So far nothing's been too long though huh?!! :)

So I was reading one of my favorite all time blogs via my friend Amanda and she had this AWESOME entry that really has me just praying, thinking, contemplating all over the place. So go here: Disappointment

It's a Give Away!!

Who doesn't like to win things? Come on, you know you do! So my friend Suzanne is having a Give Away so why don't you go and follow the link and read about it and join in on possibly winning this prize A $10.00 I-Tunes Card and a little something else. BTW Suzanne's one of those creative people so it'll be great the something else, I have no doubt!!! Hurry it ends on Sunday!

I have an addiction...Bows

After waiting 7 yrs to have another little girl, God blessed me with Emma. I love all things girly! I love pinks and purples. Baby dolls, pretty clothes, dresses, and BOWS, BOWS, BOWS! I know you don't see a lot of pictures of Emma with them on her head, but that's because although I LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOVE them, her love affair has not quite taken off, but I know it will! She's getting better about wearing them for longer periods of times. I also have taken to showing her what she looks like with them on in the mirror! Lets just say it's one way I'm getting through this deployment...oh who am I kidding...deployed or not, bows I will buy (and did before he left!). I honestly am not sure how many we have, I'll count tomorrow...I'm going to guess about 40 give or take! :X I Told you it's an addiction, obsession....what ever you want to call it. I love them.

I have SHARED this love with many friends here on post, so there's all kinds of little girls walking around with cute bows! And a few of my online friends like Lori !

So where do I get these fabulous items????

http://www.fiveblessedbows.com/

The ladies there are AWESOME!!!!!!!!!! Tracy and Allison are two friends who have 7 children between them (although when they started their venture they had 5..hence FIVEblessedbows!!). They're Christian Momma's who hand make each bow. They're also insanely fast! I mean it FAST. Last Wed. I went to my friend Heather's and helped her order a bunch of bows. They mailed the bows on Friday and she got them yesterday!!!! Just think if you live in the states how fast you'd get them!!!!

I HIGHLY recommend them and IF you do let them know I sent you, email me privately if I know you and I'll give you my last name ( I know a few of you know it already). The bows are wonderful and if you have a bald baby like me (or just insanely little amounts of hair, they sell head bands for the bows!!! Oh and Emma's a model on there, on the baby bows you'll see her!!! :)

Ok I've done my blogging and obession duty! ROFL Enjoy!!!!!!!!

Here's a few of Emma:

So if you join in with the obessesion let me know! Amanda and Janis...you both really need to get some bows!!!!!!!!!!!!! :)

Thursday Night

I'm happy to hear that so many of you followed the link in last nights post! Wasn't it an awesome read? One of my sweet newer readers thought I might think bad of her because she teases her hubby on her blog....no way! (We already emailed!) I am Sassy as the day is long. I'm sarcastic, and my husband is often on the otherside of my sarcasm and sassiness! :X If we can't tease and play with our men, we're falling down ladies!! :) I love to read good natured bantering between husband and wife. I even like reading a wife blowing off steam because she's frustrated...it helps me to know I'm not alone. What I dislike is the out and out trashing of our husband's, men in general, and little boys. When it goes from playful to simply mean...there's a line and it's a wide one let me tell you imo! When you cross it, you better start backing up fast is my thoughts! God has a way of humbling our butts all over the place if we don't back up, it's often a little softer if we get it before God has to show us our wrong doings! IME!!

So it's been a long day. I didn't sleep well (as you read in the previous comment), I was exhausted all day and really have never felt a 2nd wind, goodness never got a first. Please will you simply pray for me? No suggestions on meds, natural supplements...just PRAY. I BELIEVE GOD is bigger than Insomnia. I believe he's bigger than insomnia that has lasted for 8 1/2 yrs. I believe he will heal me of this burden. Please will you pray with me? That's all I'm asking.

Pray for Emily tonight too, right now she's preparing to head to church because here in a bit she's going to be leading a new bible study....Beth Moore's Ester (hmm that doesn't like right, is it Esther, that looks right yet something's telling me it's not, well you get the point! LOL). So be in prayer that she's able to share from this study just what the Lord wants her to share, that the ladies that are taking this class are able to grow closer and have a deeper relationship with the Lord, and of course that Emily is too! She's stepping out on faith and God will see her through this study and every woman taking it! I pray that those who do not know the Lord who are walking into this class for the first time, come to know him, love him, and devote their life to him! Those who do know the Lord they'll grow closer to him in ways they never even imagined. That they'll be better women, mothers, wives, friends, daughters, sisters, etc because of this.


I also want to address something else that's just been eating at me. The night of the inaguration I wrote my thoughts and feelings. One commenter mentioned Fear. I want to state it here publically my feelings towards Obama are not about FEAR. I know that GOD is in control. I write what I feel and believe and honestly one of my biggest pet peaves is when someone twists my words for their own agenda. Please, if I had fear I would have written the word, it's not about fear. It's absolutely not about the fact that he's bi-racial...it's about the man's politics.The fact that he's fine with the murdering of innocent unborn babies, and babies born alive but left to die. The fact that he's into bigger government, stealing from the rich to give to the poor. Oh my the list could just go on and on and no. It's about the fact that he was a MEMBER of a church for TWENTY YEARS that preached: HATE, RACISM, ANTI-AMERICAN rederic. It's about the fact that he sat in that church for all those years and listened to all of that, and not until it was made public just what ugliness was spewing from there, that he up and decided to dump the church and the man he'd claimed to be friends with. It's about the fact that I do not believe he's trustworthy in any way. That makes me SAD. Sad for him as a man, for our country, for our military. Because if he is truly the man I feel he is, the path ahead will be darker than we've ever known as a country. That each and every one of us will suffer in great ways. I also believe that GOD allows us to get what we deserve and honestly our nation does not deserve mercy. We're turning into a country that worships the dollar vs our Lord. A country that cares about celebrities and what's politically correct vs what is biblical truth. We do not deserve his mercy and we may not get it. IF we do, it's because the Lord is giving us GRACE. We don't deserve Grace, but he gives it to us time and time again. I have no idea if he'll give it to us now or in the near future. I think our nation needs a serious rehaul of it's morals and values. Because from a worldy view....our nation has NONE (no morals and no values). So we will see what is ahead for us. We will all have to wait and see. So far Obama has done nothing. Nothing to be praised for that's for sure. He may very likely prove me wrong and let me tell you something, I'd LOVE to be proven wrong. I would love for him to put our Lord first and our nation's well being 2nd and his own personal agenda last. None of us know though what he's going to do, so we just have to wait and see. The media is having a love affair with him so I think we all need to make sure we're seeking other sources than ABC,CBS, NBC, or CNN for our news, and beware of a great MANY newspapers, and news magazines.
I am praying. I am praying for our Nation. I am praying for President Obama. I am praying for his family. I am praying for his Cabinet, and I'm praying for all those in Government who are representing us as Americans. I URGE and PLEAD with each of you, that you will be praying for these same things...whether you're a supporter or not of President Obama's, he needs our prayers.

Ok, well it's 12:44...I'm 44 minutes past when I wanted to at least be IN my bed. I'm going to be praying for sleep, and hope to feel myself just surrounded by the Holy Spirit and he'll send me off to peaceful sleep!

God Bless each of you

Hi/Lo

Once again playing Hi/Lo that Abby's family started.

So my High for the week would have to be the fact that my husband was able to tell me aprox. when he'll be coming home and we're talking very soon here! (Please don't ask me for dates, this is for his SAFETY that I can not give that out. When he's home I promise I'll tell you!!!)

My Low for the week: It's a tie between two things...the fact that Emma and well all of us have been sick (cold and Emma's also had a low grade fever that just keeps hanging on very annoying I tell you). AND the fact that I'm barely sleeping. PLEASE I know you all want to help me and I'm seriously trying HARD not to even blog about it, but I am breastfeedding there fore that alone limits me, yes even to natural things, and my husband is deployed and I just can NOT risk going into a deep medicated sleep and possibly not hear one of my children if they get sick, wake up because of a nightmare, etc. It sucks and I'm lost at what to do and know I need to go talk to a dr, of course getting into a dr here is like us becoming millionaires tomorrow...it's just not likely!

I do think one thing would help is me excercising more, I have not done much, if any lately and I can FEEL it (and obviously if you've ever seen me you know that's true)...anyways I am going to have to start something, even though it's insanely cold, we do have an indoor track that I am going to try going to and the boys will just have to walk with me and live with it even if they don't like it, because I can't keep doing this to myself!

Ok....I'll write another post after this one!

Tchuess

AWESOME post

Ok so I follow lots of blogs and because I can not be on the computer all day long or all night long (although that's happened MORE times than I like to admit) I simply can't read every blog that I follow daily or even everytime they update. Hey if you have the time and feel you can actually prioritize that, well more power to you. I can't. So I normally find myself playing catch up quite often with various blogs. Tonight it was from Always Laughting Outloud. If you've not read this blog, I definitely recommend it (obviously since I follow her!). She's real, completely enjoyable, and just a great read! So I'm catching up on her and read the HUSBAND entry (click on husband). May I just say what a beautiful entry this was?! It was.

So often we read or hear women trashing men. It breaks my heart. I love my husband and sure he gets on my nerves at times, but I'm not perfect and I have no doubt I get on Chad's nerves just as often if not more! Yet he would NEVER trash me to anyone. Everytime I meet one of Chad's soldiers or superiors they almost always tell me how much he talks about me, how much he loves me, etc. It's VERY humbling. VERY. To know I have a man who loves me so much and is NOT afraid or ashamed to share that love with other guys?! Now ladies let me tell you, he's the kind of man you want! I AM Blessed!

I also get hearbroken when I hear women down grading men, because I'm raising two boys who will one day be a man. I'd be devestated to think anyone would talk so horribly about either of them. How a mother could EVER spat the phrase "oh men" or "such a typical male". Honestly what is wrong with us? WHO told us WE were any better? We're not, most of us are 100000 times worse. We are so quick to condemn, talk down to and about. It's horrible.


We need to raise up and buid up the men (and boys) in our lives. We need to honor them, love them, and cherish them.

Ok, I'll end this post on that! Go on and read the link!!!

Today

I debated all this evening whether I'd blog about today or not. My heart is so heavy. As a new man takes over the job as the leader of our country, I am deeply concerned with his values, goals, and policies. I pray he surprises me. I know without a doubt that GOD is GOD. That GOD is in absolute control and that I'm required to respect President Obama's new position as our President. I don't know what tomorrow holds, but GOD does and I have faith in HIM and him ALONE.

I do want to say that I'm praying for Obama and his family. I'm praying for our Senate and Congress. I'm praying for the American people that they'll stop having such faith in MAN, and start having it in our Lord, Jesus. Can you imagine what type of ACTUAL change our nation could have if we had as many people so Passionate about CHRIST as they seem to be about Obama? Now that gives me chills, in a good way.

With this though, I want to say Thank you. Thank you to President Bush. Thank you for being a prayerful man. For being a man who seeks our Lord daily. Who took on such great burdens when he took over the Presidency (which many seem to have forgotten), who stood up against terror, who never backed down even when his opponents tried to bully him into it. Who always stood up to the critism. I pray that the Lord will forgive so many who were so absolutely unforgiving to a man who was simply doing the best he knew how, in tremendously difficult times. I say Thank you to Mrs. Bush. Who had to stand in the background as people brow-beat her husband and degraded him. Can any of you imagine how awful that would be to hear such nasty comments being made about YOUR spouse and yet have to stand above it all and keep your mouth shut?

As an Army wife who's husband has been deployed 3 times to Iraq under President Bush, I say THANK YOU. Thank you for being the Commander and Chiefs our troops have needed. Thank you for standing up to the terrorists of this world and saying "ABSOLUTELY NOT". Thank you for defending our nation. I am proud to say that You were our President.

I'm off to bed, believing though that God is ultimately the only one in control and he will be the one I praise. I'm praising him most definitely in this storm.

Well here we are again, It's "Not Me! Monday" so go on over to MckMama's (click on the graphic above) read the rules (they're simple don't worry!!) and join in! It's fun, it's easy, and hey don't worry because we know that everything you posted, you absolutely surely never did! I mean who'd confess all their weekly sins on a blog for the world to read?

This morning when my boys got up and discovered it was raining in our part of Germany and that their beloved snow was washed away and whining about it, it was NOT ME who told them to just "get over it". I have more compassion than THAT!

It was definitely not me who "hung up" on my husband while talking on Skype because a helicopter was flying over and was scrambling things up so I could not understand him. I was NOT completely mean and did NOT yell into the microphone that I'd HAD IT and he'd just have to type". I mean come on, I have been apart from my husband for almost 8 months, he's in a WAR, I would NEVER, EVER yell at that sweet precious man who had no control over that.

It was also not me that after that felt like utter and complete dog doo and asked his forgiveness, and it was not him who said "forgive what" which did not make me feel even worse, because he's ultimately just a nicer person than I am!

It was NOT me who skipped taking her children to the library on Thursday and then told them we'd go on Sunday and it was definitely not me who did not take them on Sunday either (never mind that their sister is sick). So it's surely not me that has to take them tomorrow or be pegged the biggest loswer of a homeschooling mom! :X

It was not me who sat down a few days ago and ate a whole POUND of twizzlers in about 3 hours. Nope that wasn't me.

It's surely not me that's already so sick of hearing all the inaguration junk and thinks I may actually get sick if I have to listen to anymore of it. (But I am praying for him, even though I don't want to...I'm doing it)

It was NOT me who did not do any laundry for 2 weeks. It was not me who finally decided that I HAD to do it today, because my kids and myself are completely out of socks. It was also not me that discovered I had left clothes in the laundry room since I last did laundry and was horrified at myself!

I did not jump up and down Saturday when Chad through our special code of dates (those of us in the military can't just give out dates, you never know who's watching, reading, or listening aka OPSEC/Operation Security) told me when he should be home for R&R. I did not try to call Emily and Tami and was not absolutely saddened that I couldn't get ahold of them because they both pretend to have a life outside of my needs. (Humph!) So it wasn't me who just came on here blogged all about it!

It's not me who might actually jump my husband when I see him! (oops did I actually write that??????)

It is not me who has a box sitting right beside me all ready for Chad for the last oh two weeks, and has not taken it to the post office. I mean what kind of Army wife would I be if I wasn't sending my husband multiple care packages a month. That'd be horrible wouldn't it?!

I was not ticked off and really annoyed that the exchange student who lived with our family my senior year, was able to visit my parents last week. I did not want to spit nails. I did not have those feelings because I was surely not jealous and there's no way I thought that my parents didn't deserve a visit less than me! (I'm not all about me that way)

Jackson did not lock himself in a bathroom on Friday night while we were at the Hospitality House. It was not me who had to squat and talk him through putting the key BACK into the lock and turning it so he could get himself out. It was not me who was thinking that who ever built the house was a complete idiot for the way they put the door on (the hinges are on the INSIDE of the bathroom) and it was not me trying to figure out HOW I was going to break into that bathroom if he couldn't get it opened. It was not me who had to walk into another room after he got the door unlocked and breath very deeply so I wouldn't cry.

Emma did not close her bedroom door on Saturday and bang on it over and over again saying "helloooooooooooooo" because she wanted out. I did not ignore her for a second because I thought it was funny.

It is not me who's counting down the days until my husband is home. I am positively not excited, and ready to jump out of my skin to see him. It will not be 8 1/2 months since he left by the time he got home. I really have no right to be excited.

Ok so...come on and join in on the fun! :) Share all those things you didn't do this past week!

16 Things You Don't Know About Me

Ok so Lori tagged me today and I told her I'd do it TODAY and well it's actually officially "tomorrow" here in Germany! :X I will admit I'm tired, so depending on how long this takes me, I may have to finish it tomorrow and if that's the case you won't see it until Monday sometime!

So what am is this one it's :

Sixteen Things you May Not Know About Me:

Ultimately I was asked/told (it's Lori, she can be bossy! LOL) to list 16 things that you may not know about me. I unlike Lori do not have the LUXURY of just asking my husband to help me out either! (Feeling just a tad guilty Lori??? huh-huh? LOL) No, well fine then! Ok so here I go!


1. In high school I dated a guy who wanted to join the Marine's (he never did, ended up as I believe a Reservist in the Army) anyways, he was 2 grades behind me (hey it was the "in" thing to do my Senior year...date a younger guy...don't ask me why! But tons of us seemed to be! LOL) Anyways, we sat in the parking lot of the Grocery store we worked in, and I was just months away from graduation and moving off to Manhattan to attend Kansas State, and I told him "You need to be prepared for us to break up this summer, because I have no intention of being with someone who's going to be in the military and having them move me all over this world. Plus I will probably want to date other guys". ROFL...well God showed me didn't he! LOL I LOVE the Army wife life, most of the time, and am so thankful that God knew better than my 18 yr old conceited self!

2. As I just wrote above, I used to be VERY, VERY,VERY Conceited. I was in shape, thin, and was told fairly often by guys and my friends (girls) that I was pretty...and I believed it without question. Forget about if my heart was right with Jesus....I was VAIN.

3. When I met Chad, I told him he didn't have a chance in you know where! That I was dating another guy and was VERY happy with him. Chad's response...."I don't mind if he doesn't" ROFL!! I was FLABBERGASTED at the time, but I'll give him credit, he knew what he wanted! LOL

4. Chad and I became friends after I broke up with mentioned boyfriend and he actually became my best friend and I told him EVERYTHING. He told me EVERYTHING. The whole time he liked me, and I dated the guy that lived across the hall from him during this friendship. (Chad's the one who told me the other guy who's name was ALSO Chad...was cheating on me), a week or so later, I asked him if he still had feelings for me, he said yes and asked if I wanted to go to dinner and I said YES! :) The rest is history baby!

5. Chad and I started dating in November, he asked me to marry him in December, we were married in March and I was pg with Jordyn in July! It was fast, and it was the BEST decision I have ever made, next to accepting Christ as my Savior!

6. I was 24 when I asked Christ to be my Savior. Now that my friends was the absolute BEST thing I've ever done!

7. When I was 9 yrs old I stood at the kitchen sink, furious that I was being forced to do dishes while my brother got to play outside, and I stood there and proclaimed that when I was 16 I'd still remember that day...well I'm almost 32 and still remember it, but can laugh about it now! ROFL

8. During Christmas break one year I can't remember if I was in 8th grade or a Freshman, we took our old Datson pick up that my dad used for picking up hay and other farm things (it'd been my Grandma's truck)...my brother and I got the GENIUS idea to take it out. We drove it down the road, turned into one of our neighbor's drive to their field, well it's at a 90 degree turn and as I was backing it up, got the truck STUCK. That said neighbor drove by, pulled us out, and we went along and parked the truck back, moved the snow so you couldn't tell we'd pulled the truck out (we thought of all the details) and when our Dad got home asked us how our joy ride was...he saw the neighbor at WalMart, which Dad had stopped at to talk to my Mom (who worked there) on his way home...we were soo busted!

9. Bon Jovi-Skid Row was the first concert I ever attended. Jon Bon Jovi's sweat dripped all over me and my friend that I went to (we were 12 or 13) and we NEVER wanted to shower again, because we disgustingly wanted his sweat to forever stay on us. (My mom made me take a shower that evening and I bawled! ) ahh the drama of preteen/early teen!

10. I had my first kiss the summer between 1st and 2nd grade. I know! We'd went to Wyoming to see my Dad's oldest sister and her family and then up farther into Wyoming to see family friends. The family's friends grandson, Rowdy kissed me at the park (french too and I remember gagging). My brother and I had a sleep over at his house and he kept trying to kiss me all night long and I finally went and slept with his Mom! LOL I didn't kiss again until I was in the 8th grade, should have waited longer than that even!

11. My first true puppy love that developed to love I met during the summer when I was in 5th grade I think. He spent every summer with his grandparents and we'd "go together" and spend Monday-Friday together at the pool all through jr high, in high school we dated 2 summers and part of a school year. We broke up for the last time my Freshman year of college. My first love and first true heart break was JW.

12. Unlike the freak that is Lori (rofl) I shave as seldom as possible! My hair leg grows VERY, very slowly. Seriously I don't even NEED to shave by every few weeks, it's normally a good 2 weeks before you can even feel any stubble! It's a gift and I appreciate it!

13. When I was little, I used to be a clean fanactic about my bedroom! ROFL To anyone who knows me now, this would be shocking (most of all to my poor husband!)

14. When I was 16 I dated a guy who was 22. My parents knew, but did not approve so I snuck around and dated him. He was actually one of the nicests guys I ever dated and a gentleman! BUT I will NEVER allow Emma to date anyone that much older!

15. I can sing. I was in select choirs in high school. I have sang solo's at church, at bible study, and various other places. I'm very thankful for the gift the Lord gave me (he Did NOT bless my husband in this way). I can NOT draw though (my husband IS blessed in that department!)

16. I am struggling to pray for our President Elect, even though God has convicted me, and even though I know I must, especially since I believe that as a Christian it's my duty, but I get aggrevated that most probably never even considered praying for President Bush, but had no problem bashing him. I am going to pray and respect the position of President Elect Obama, even while disagreeing with him and believe he's not the man that should be in that seat, I will NOT complain about him over and over for the next 4 yrs.

It's a long one tonight

Well we ended up staying home from church. I can count on one hand how often we've missed church since moving to Germany 3 1/2 yrs ago, if we're home. Five times or less! I enjoying going to church, I like hearing God's word preached to me, like getting new insites on his word. I know that at times God's going to convict my sinning butt all over the place, ok that's not "at times" that's quite often, but I need it...and so do you! Yes I said it, we all need to be shown our sins and I do believe we all should be attending church. I do know some who with other believers have home church, but most people just sit at home on Sunday mornings and don't crack open their bibles, or even really think about the Lord and his word to us, except when it fits their need or desire. I used to be one of those people, my parents are still those people. I felt no conviction on my sins, I had no one else holding me accountable, etc. We need other believers in our business to show us if we're sinning and vice versa. Does that mean when we do show another believer the errors of their way we're all in their face, of course not. We do it PRAYERFULLY first, and realize they may throw it right back at you...if they do...thank them! Seriously, thank them. Let them know that they're right, you too struggle with that and then...ready for this...ASK THEM to pray for you in that sin and any other sins they see you committing. We're ALL sinners. We're all hypocrits, but if we profess that Jesus Christ is our Lord and Savior, then we must be constantly striving to be more like him, to walk, talk, and be like him! I'm here to say it, I AM A sinner. I sin every single day and I am BLESSED, you heard me right, I am BLESSED to have friends who will call me out in my sins. I am BLESSED to have a husband who will call me out in my sins, I am BLESSED that I have a 5 and 7 yr old who will CALL their momma out in her sins. (Emily has HEARD Jacob do this, and guess what it HURT, but he was RIGHT!). We do not have to be holier than thou when sharing with our friends, fellow Christian a sin that's on your heart to show them they're walking in. It's not easy and you may have a friend or two upset with you, you may even lose that friendship, but isn't it worth it, to know that they'll be with our Lord and he'll have one more sin to mark off their long list??? No amount of works is going to get us to Heaven, yet when we've confessed our Sins to the Lord and accepted him as Our Lord Jesus, living a life of Faith in Jesus, the works will come more naturally! They go hand in hand, but speaking our faith needs to come first! We can NOT get to heaven on works. We can NOT get to heaven for being a "Good person" for being "nice, kind, gentle, loving, a great friend, funny, deep, prayerful"...there's only ONE WAY To get to Heaven....that's through Jesus!

Wow, I did NOT know that was going to happen! Whoa! Look what happens when we go and obey the Lord and just go with it! LOL So as I had started to say, we didn't go to church today.
Unfortunately Emma's got a fever. Not a high one, but a fever none the less and if you know me, you know I don't take my sick kids to church to spread it around to all the other kids and often adults and get everyone else sick. It's a pet peave of mine when others do it, so I'm not going to do it! I ended up not even getting to laundry today which was the goal, I stayed on the couch with Emma and cuddled her pretty well all day long. I even napped with her which was REALLY nice. Her "normal" nap wasn't very long, but she had quite a few smaller naps before and after so hopefully she was able to get as much rest as her body needed. Even when she wasn't sleeping most of the time she was just cuddled into me. She also has a cough and is congested. Don't worry I know what to do! I don't know everything, but I do know how to treat this junk. It's not our first or 2nd or even 3rd time around the block! ;)

So if you'd keep sweet Emma in your prayers that she'll feel better. In the big picture it's not that big of a deal. Goodness how I know that. I've had a child who had cancer and is now with our Lord. I also know that she still doesn't feel good and is miserable. So I do appreciate the prayers for Emma.

Also please take a look over on the side bar, I've placed a couple new graphics...one for Abby, many of you know her. She's a little girl fighting leukemia. Oh be still my grieving heart. I know that walk all to well and even 9 yrs later, I go back in a flash. There's also another one for the Moxy (I may have mispelled their name right here) their beautiful 14 month old died from cancer, they have a 2 yr old son, and now their 3 month old baby is fighting cancer. They are Christians and know the hope of our Lord. Please be in prayer for these two families. Life's not fair, especially for those of us who confress that the Lord Jesus is our Savior, he told us it wouldn't be fair. (So if you think it should be, baby open your bibles and start reading and learn the truth).

I also got to chat with Chad again this evening. He's good and misses us and is READY for R&R! I am too! :)

Ok well I'm off! Oh and if you like my new signature, stop on over to Kelly's (her links on the side...Green Olives and Pickles!) Sorry I'm honestly being lazy to link her! LOL

God Bless

We have a date!!! A bunch of other stuff!

The countdown has begun! I was able to chat with Chad and via special code he was able to tell me aprox. when he'll be home for R&R!!! I'm so excited I could burst! I can tell you it's not this month! I can also tell you he "should" be home for my birthday (maybe before!!). Oh my goodness I'm about to jump out of my skin! He's just as excited! He definitely needs and DESERVES this break! We're going to Salzburg, Austria for a couple of days, possibly up by Berlin for a day or two, but other wise we're going to be home just enjoying Chad, relaxing, and getting things done here that we want to get done! We'll be cleaning and organizing ALL rooms! I want to declutter! I'm also hoping we can get our storage room organized! Lofty goals here, but my biggest goal is the apartment to be done and if the storage room gets done too, that much better! Goodness if we could just get some progress on the storage room that would be good! I'm hopeful though. No matter what though...my husband should be home soon for us to just enjoy him!

While he's home Emma will be dedicated at church. She was to be dedicated before he ever left, but well it didn't happen. It's still a sore spot and I'm trying to just let it go. But one of our dear chaplains here, who's wife so many of you prayed for last year, Heather who went into the coma and was truly knocking on Heaven's door, but God had other plans...her husband Scott will be dedicating her! I'm thrilled as he loves Emma and our family and we love them.

Speaking of Miss Emma. she's got a good old fashioned yucky cold. All nice and congested and coughing, her nose goes between runny and stopped up. She's in for the most part a decent mood, it didn't help that she did not get a nap today. She's in my arms nursing right now and stopping to talk to me, well she's done nursing and laying on my shoulder. I think we'll be staying home from church tomorrow since she's not feeling good, and she's been running a low grade fever this tonight. Just better to not expose other kids to her cold and if it's a little something more (fever makes me think possibly) then those kids will not be exposed, although today we were out and about all day long!

Let me tell you about our day! The morning was spent here at home. But at 2 I went to a Candle Party, have any of you heard of Gold Canyon candles? Oh if not, do a search for them (I recommend using Goodsearch.com and you can put in your favorite charity and for every search so much money is donated to them!) anyways...went there and spent more money than I really thought I would! They're cheaper and burn longer than Yankee, Colonial, or any other out on the market! Oh my and the smells! WOW, WOW,WOW!!!! Seriously loving them! I can not WAIT for my order to get here!! I'm going to have a party probably in March, after Chad's went back to Iraq and we've adjusted. Plus that'll be plenty of time inbetween my friend who hosted today's party and my party! :) Then after that, I ran to the commissary to grab a few things, and off to another friends house for a Tupperware party! I just got two things there, spent about $40.00 not too bad, I should say I actually ordered 6 items, it's just that it's 2 seperate things! They're both bowl sets! I threw out all my other rubber made containers, although I still need to go through the lids and get rid of them now! I probably could go through the bowls again, I think once my TW is in I'll do that to make room for them!

I have to tell you something about myself that some may know (Emily does! LOL) and some may not (haven't you been reading me???) I am NOT a Type A personality. I want to be to a degree, but I'm not! I'm not organized, I'm very scattered. I do not have a lot of order to things. I know, I know! I think we need all sorts of people to make this world interesting, I'm just not a Type A, but....I have a desire to be a little MORE type A than I am. I want to be able to leave my bedroom door open, so that who ever stops by I am not rushing to close it. I want to be able to tell people to drop by anytime and truly mean it!!! (Seriously if they did, I'd totally freak out and they would too!!) I just need less mess and disfunction of my home and more organization and control. I need to have things simplified! BUT and this is HUGE...I can NOT do it by myself. I get soooo overwhelmed. The thought of it, puts me on edge and I feel, seriously, a panic attack coming on if it's left to me to do it all. I'm truly just overwhelmed at it and panic. I do NOT say that lightly either. I have suffered greatly to the point that I had to have medication to get them under control, panic attacks. So when I say I feel them coming on when I start on these sort of projects, I'm serious. Chad has the AMAZING ability to just jump and start tackling and then once he's made progress, I join in. He's a gift from GOD and I do NOT say that lightly either. God knew the type of husband I needed and he blessed me so beyond measure with that precious man! Now I know what you're thinking "he's coming home for R&R FROM Iraq and you're going to put him to work"...yes, but I'll make it worth his time! LOL I am also going to book him a massage, and we're having a couple of date nights just the two of us while he's home!

Speaking of date nights while he's home!! (I know I'm all over the place tonight! LOL) A friend told me she's taking my children and Chad and I will be heading to a resturant that's about an hour away I believe! It's called Steak and Stone in Pottenstein (for anyone here in Germany!) I'm excited, so far everyone who's been there has RAVED about it to me! So there's one date! Then another night Chad and I are going to go to a movie! I think we're going to go see Australia! Has anyone seen it? Is it a good one to see? I'm also ordering/buying Fireproof, so we can watch that together too while he's home!

Well I guess that's it. I'm so excited he's going to be home in just a few short weeks! That I can start crossing the days off of the calender! I have a little chalk board type thing that says "Daddy Comes Home in ________ Days" well I'll be writing on that!!!! It's a little hard because he can get delayed when he gets to Kuwait, but I'm still going to use it and just explain to the boys that it's only an estimate! I think I'll over estimate anyways, because I don't plan on telling them the exact day he's coming in! I think I may tell them we're going to Tucherland's, since it's right by Nuremburg Airport and make that vital turn!!! So I don't lie, I'm going to talk to Chad about going to Tucherland's after picking him up, although if he comes in, in the morning that won't work so well since they don't open until 2 in the afternoon during the week, although he may be coming home on the weekend...so we'll just play it by ear! Either way, I'm so excited!

I have Emma back to sleep and am going to TRY to go to sleep myself, just honestly not sure if that's going to be possible. I'm jumping out of my skin here!

God Bless

Mother of the Year

Mother of the Year Award

Ahh thank you!

So our sweet Mrs. B gave me this award! Wasn't that nice?!! I don't know about "ME" being the Mother of the Year, actually I think my children would crack up and then RUN hiding! LOL But you know what, I'm taking it and loving it anyways! I think we mom's beat up on ourselves and each other far too often and too easily! So it's nice to be lifted up and to lift another Momma up!

My problem is I know too many really AWESOME Momma's, so please, please, please forgive me if I leave you off. It's not because I don't think you don't deserve it, it's more than likely my brain just stopped working for the time being!

First off is Emily, come on you all knew that was coming! She's my dearest friend who I love and adore. I've seen her in action and she's great with her girls. She's went to the depths of the earth for them, is teaching them up in Christ, and she's following GOD's calling for her by homeschooling (which I SOOO knew she'd do, even when she didn't! ROFL!! It's FUN to be right!) and she's going against what so many in our society see as "normal" and gasp she's not "letting" her daughter GO to public school! Oh the tragedy! LOL (seriously I know it's not for every family, but for those of us that have been called to do this, we don't NEED to be questioned on it we do that enough ourselves!).

Ok next is Lori. Oh my sweet country music lovin', wishes she was from the South, is tired of the cold and snow, lovin' her girls and man (even when he gets on her nerves), Lori. If you don't read her my question is WHY? Seriously she's a great Momma who loves her girls fiercely!

Next...is Amanda! She has 2 of the cutest little boys and God just blessed he with a beautiful daughter! She's a God-fearing, bible believing, freezing in Mn momma who I just love and adore! She's also developing a keen photographers eye and shares it with beautiful photo's of her babies!

Rebekah is a Real life friend. She and I met when we moved to Ft. Belvoir, actually we were still living in the Ronald McDonald House (RMH). Jordyn was being treated at Walter Reed. Her husband and Chad were in the same unit and her and I hit it off immediately! I loved her and I'm pretty sure she felt the same and she LOVED Jordyn. She was one of the people who was called when she died, that day is pretty much a blur in many ways, but I'm pretty sure she was at our home at some point during that day (correct me if I'm wrong Rebekah). Anyways...she's a WONDERFUL momma. She's seperated from her husband right now and it's hard for her as she loves him, but she's doing her best to provide in the best way for her 2 son's, as she looks at rebuilding her life, while trying to figure everything out with her marriage. So one please visit her and pray for her!

Kelly, ok so she's a Mom of teenagers..seriously what else do I need to say? No she's wonderful, I love her, she makes me laugh so much, and she's just this great, honest, keeping it real woman.

Janis...she's up freezing with Amanda (they've met actually!) and she has 2 absolutely cute and adorable little girls. She's such a beautiful light to the blogging community! She loves the Lord and loves her husband and girls, and it just shines right off the screen!

Emily the Creative is a momma who's got 3 cute, cute, cute kids. She's all about her kids and that hubby of hers! She's also venturing back to college and is juggling it all with such grace, and a possible pending move away from family and dealing with family guilt, etc...yet does it with grace and understanding.

Amy is a military momma who's husband is also deployed, she's juggling a housefull with one being a new baby! Go show her some love and support!

Linda is a real life friend too! We met here in Germany. She was only here for a little over a year and they had to PCS (move) back to the states. Her hubby's a band commander. They just moved from my homestate of Kansas down to the South. They're venturing into the world of first time homeowners, new schools, etc...Linda's a great Mom and a wonderful photographer, and just wonderful friend! I also got to see her this summer, she drove to my parents!

Ok so I'll stop there. If I missed you, I'm sorry! There are sooo many of you and this is already really long! If I didn't get you it's not because I don't think you're not deserving, I have no doubt you are...just lift the award or wait a couple days and see if someoone gives it to you! ;)

Alrighty then, I'm off! Oh my goodness it's AFTER 1 AM, how in the world did that happen? Seriously at 10 pm I was yawning and seriously thinking of heading to bed. Grrrrrrrrrr

A Meme

I know I'm just a blogging fool tonight! Who knows there could be more!!! :)

So I got this from Traci



Just boldface the items that you HAVE done, and leave the rest normal…. If you end up doing it leave me a link so I can come see!

1. Started your own blog
2. Slept under the stars
3. Played in a band
4. Visited Hawaii
5. Watched a meteor shower
6. Given more than you can afford to charity
7. Been to Disneyland/world
8. Climbed a mountain.
9. Held a praying mantis
10. Sang a solo
11. Bungee jumped
12. Visited Paris
13. Watched a lightning storm at sea
14. Taught yourself an art from scratch
15. Adopted a child
16. Had food poisoning
17. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty
18. Grown your own vegetables
19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France
20. Slept on an overnight train
21. Had a pillow fight
22. Hitch hiked
23. Taken a sick day when you’re not ill
24. Built a snow fort
25. Held a lamb
26. Gone skinny dipping
27. Run a Marathon
28. Ridden in a gondola in Venice (didn't ride the gandola, but I've BEEN to Venice!)
29 Seen a total eclipse
30. Watched a sunrise or sunset
31. Hit a home run
32. Been on a cruise
33 Seen Niagara Falls in person
34. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors
35. Seen an Amish community
36. Taught yourself a new language
37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied
38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person
39. Gone rock climbing
40. Seen Michelangelo’s David
41 Sung karaoke
42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt
43. Bought a stranger a meal in a restaurant
44. Visited Africa
45 Walked on a beach by moonlight
46. Been transported in an ambulance
47. Had your portrait painted
48. Gone deep sea fishing
49. Seen the Sistine Chapel in person
50. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris (what's with all of the Paris questions?!)
51. Gone scuba diving or snorkeling
52. Kissed in the rain
53. Played in the mud
54. Gone to a drive-in theater
55. Been in a movie
56. Visited the Great Wall of China
57. Started a business
58. Taken a martial arts class
59. Visited Russia
60 Served at a soup kitchen
61. Sold Girl Scout Cookies
62. Gone whale watching
63. Gotten flowers for no reason
64 Donated blood, platelets, or plasma (of course my daughter had leukemia I did all 3 during that time and plasma in college for reasons I'm ashamed about!)
65. Gone sky diving
66 Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp (I think everyone should do this, it'll change you)
67 Bounced a check (sadly)
68. Flown in a helicopter
69. Saved a favorite childhood toy7
70. Visited the Lincoln Memorial
71. Eaten Caviar
72. Pieced a quilt
73. Stood in Times Square
74. Toured the Everglades
75. Been fired from a job
76. Seen the Changing of the Guards in London
77. Broken a bone
78. Been on a speeding motorcycle
79 Seen the Grand Canyon in person
80. Published a book
81. Visited the Vatican
82. Bought a brand new car
83. Walked in Jerusalem
84. Had your picture in the newspaper
85. Read the entire Bible
86. Visited the White House
87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating (ew!)
88. Had chickenpox
89. Saved someone’s life (not to my knowledge)
90. Sat on a jury
91. Met someone famous
92. Joined a book club
93. Lost a loved one
94. Had a baby
95. Seen the Alamo in person
96. Swam in the Great Salt Lake
97. Been involved in a lawsuit
98. Owned a cell phone
99. Been stung by a bee

Hi/Lo Thursday

I got this from Riggs (Abby) blog
What you do is write your high for the week and low for the week!

My high would be today. Jack had finished his school work, Emma was up from her nap, Jacob was still working on school. Jack came over and was being silly and said "put your dukes up" and it started an all out tickle war! I think for 45 minutes or MORE we tickled each other. Jacob finished up and joined it. There was just so much laughter, I had tears running down my face!

My low for the week would be that we've not talked to Chad in a few days. He's on a mission and not sure when he'll be back.

So join in and leave a comment on the Riggs blog if you do play along and please pray for Abby, whose fighting for her life against leukemia.

What I Desire

As a mother I have so many desires for all of my children, but tonight I write about Emma. She's my 2nd born daughter, 4 child over all. She's the child I'd prayed for and just absolutely desired in my heart of hearts. Please don't think I did not pray for my boys, and I hope it goes without saying how I prayed for Jordyn (before and after her birth)....but to be completely honest here, Emma was a true answer to prayers. I desired with ALL my heart to have a girl when I was pregnant with her. Ok a little history very quickly. Eight days after my sweet Jordyn went home to sing with Jesus, I found out I was pg with Jacob. I prayed for a boy. I KNEW I could not emotionally handle a little girl. I knew I'd compare, and possibly, ok no most likely it would have pushed me over the edge that I teetered on for that first year after her death and longer. I felt such joy when I found out we were expecting a boy! With Jackson we had hoped for a girl, but I truly was thrilled beyond all measure to find out we were having another boy. We knew he wasn't our last baby and I felt just such joy to know he was healthy and growing wonderfully in my womb.
I admit it though...Emma I had such a desire for a girl, I'm sure I'd have cried some tears had my ob said she was a he. I cried when she said she was a she! They were absolutely tears of joy and I never did see those 3 little lines on the ultrasound because of the tears, but it didn't matter! LOL Chad saw them though! :)

Ok so now you're caught up a little. I wanted a daughter, desired her, longed for her. My hearts cry was truly to be able to mother a little girl. I wanted all the fun stuff, and everything else that goes along with mothering a daughter.

I did not have a great relationship with my mother, honestly I still don't have a great one. It's better with me living in Germany and her in Kansas. An ocean and half a country away makes our relationship better. Sadly. I long to have a deep relationship with my mother that's beyond mother -daughter, but friends, and even more so...sisters in Christ. At this point we're only the first...mother-daughter.

I have prayers for Emma. One of my greatest prayers and desires is for us to have a close relationship. To have one of honor and respect (both ways) and as she becomes a woman, one that delves to friendship and admiration (again both ways). I want her to feel she can tell me anything, that she calls me just to chat, and that she will seek to have that relationship with me, because she can trust me. I want her to see Christ through me as her mother, as a woman. It's such a deep desire that I'm almost scared to type it. I have friends who have this sort of relationship with their own mothers. It's beautiful. So beautiful. I don't know how many of you have that sort of relationship. I know I'm not alone in the type I have with my own mother, and that's heart breaking to me. I know the pain and sadness I have inside of my heart over that. I do accept it and pray that one day it'll change.

There's a blog that I love, it's Beth Moore's LPM blog. Her and her two daughter's blog on it. I have it over on my blog roll. Beth's a Christian author and speaker and Emily loves her and has met her, on one of the most sacred days of her life. Let me tell you that since I couldn't be with Emily on that day, what joy (in sorrow) it brings me to know that she was able to share such a day as that meeting Beth, sharing Miller Grace with her, and having precious friends with her that love her (not as much as me, but pretty close!). Anyways...Beth wrote my absolute favorite post of hers EVER on my birthday last year. It brings me to tears every time I read it. Here it is:
Beth's Melissa post. Beth wrote this to her youngest daughter one week before her daughter's wedding.

Let me tell you, THIS is the type of relationship I WANT, I DESIRE, I LONG to have with Emma. This to me feels like what GOD desires for all mothers and daughters. The last sentence Beth actually quotes my favorite all time children's book, "Love You Forever" . BTW if you don't have this book, buy it! Truly it's beautiful. I cry every single time I read it to my children and it's one of our most read books! Doesn't matter, I just can't stop the tears. That start at the same place every time (sorry not telling you when, that's mine and my children's little secret!).

Anyways...what Beth has with her daughters, is the type of relationship I long to have with Emma (and any future daughter's GOD may bless me with). I think it's one of the most delicate relationships a woman can have. No matter how old we are, we long to be loved and comforted and supported by our mothers. We long for their approval. We long to have that feeling of being completely safe with her. I want Emma to have that feeling and to know that nothing she can do will ever make me love her less. I want her to grow up with a heart after Jesus' heart. I want her to see that example in me. I have a lot to do still with our Lord and well he has a lot of building in me, but I AM the one that must do the work and accept his gifts as he hands them to me.

If you're a mother, go read Beth's post. If you're a daughter go read it. If you happen to be a man reading here (well hello!) and you have a woman who's important in your life, read this post. I'm telling you it's a heart changing post.

I think we all want to do as good if not better than our own parents. Well I'm standing here to say that I want to have a better relationship with Emma. I want to build her up. I want to teach her that although she's beautiful on the outside, it's what's on inside that really needs to be beautiful and that the only way that is going to happen is through her relationship with Christ, otherwise it's all just a facade. I want her to have the most intimate relationship of her life with our Lord. I want her to feel secure in him. To feel safe, loved, and desired in our Lord. I want her to measure every man she meets up to her Father, our Lord Jesus. I want her to know that she deserves the best, because our Father said he wants that for her. I want her to have confidence that's a silent confidence. I want her to be cautious in her choices and know that the most precious gifts will be given inside a marriage. I want her to feel secure in herself, because she's secure with herself in the Lord.

There's so many desires I have for Emma. The greatest desire though is her relationship with Jesus.

"Lord, I come to you tonight in prayer. I pray for Emma Grace. Lord she is YOURS and yours alone. You have allowed me to be her mother on this Earth, but she's truly all yours. Lord, I desire to do the best by her through you. Let her learn your ways. Let me teach her your ways. Lord, let me be the example you have proclaimed I'm to be for her. Let me teach her what it takes to be a woman, through your words. Lord let her feel the confidence in herself that she will not mistakes that I made as a lost teenage girl, only wanting to feel the Love only YOU can truly give. Let her not seek love from boys who will never love her the way she needs and deserves to be loved. Let her be surrounded by those who only seek YOUR will. Lord, remind me to treat her the way you have instructed me to treat her. Guide me as I guide her. Lord, give her a forgiving heart as I mess up and require forgiveness. Lord let me be humble enough to ask for forgiveness when necessary and let that be an example to her to be humble in her own mistakes. Lord, my desire is to serve you, to raise up a daughter who seeks you. Thank you for blessing me Lord. For allowing me to once again raise up a little girl in YOUR Word. Emma is your child, she's an image of you. I'm but a humble woman allowed to bring her into this world through your blessing. Amen"