Family Daze

"ME"

2011-12-05T17:13:00.001-05:00

Warning: This is one of those notes for those with stronger stomachs. If you are about to eat, in the process of eating, or if it is easy for you to "lose your lunch", go ahead and skip this one. You have been warned!

It's Monday. As it is with most Mondays, it's hard to get going first thing in the morning. It's made even harder when a certain smell is detected emanating from a certain child's room. The 16-year-old "youngest" one who likes to save up so that she can blow out her diaper. She is not regular in taking care of business. It's usually saved up over a period of three or four days, sometimes a week. So when she goes, it's a big stinky mess. It's even worse if the deed has been done early in the evening and gone undetected throughout the night. Then, we have caked on mess, mess that has seeped through onto clothes and bedding and carpet. The worst messes are the ones involving the need to pull out the steam cleaner. Sigh.

Fortunately, this mess this morning was not as bad as it could have been, but it would have been better if I'd had the time to get her in the bath before sending her off to school. There was no time for that, so she had to be cleaned up via about a thousand baby wipes and hand gloves. Thank God for baby wipes and hand gloves! Still, it was pretty bad.

I find that it is best to just forget about everything else, put aside "ME" and take care of my sweet but stinky girl. I almost always pray as I dive into the task. Lest any of you think that I am being so very godly and amazing about it, think again. I don't like cleaning up a mega stinky diaper. I wish I could hire someone else to do it. However, the Lord has a way of molding us and making us better people, because as I put aside "ME", I start looking at Keva as if she were "ME". That is the secret of how I deal with The Diaper. I look at her and I picture me in her place. I am the one laying in the bed in my own filth, helpless to do anything about it. I am the one facing any kind of complaint or bad attitude. I am uncomfortable and sore and have been so for several hours.

Then, as I start to the task looking at Keva as if she were "ME", my attitude shifts and I just want to get her cleaned up and comfortable again. My movements are gentle and loving. I start to sing a song to relax her and give us both something to do while I use one wipe after another to remove the mess. I no longer smell the yuckiness. And, as finally the job is completed, I start to feel a bit of accomplishment. The job is done and I don't have to worry about it anymore. In fact, I begin to be thankful that she did not have diarrhea, that she is able to move around with good muscle tone and not stuck in a bed or wheelchair, thankful that her health is robust not fragile, that her lifespan is nearly normal, that she adds to our family an opportunity to serve and love.

Through this, I have followed the Lord's command to love others as I love myself. And then, through loving others, I learn more to love Jesus.

Lord, help me remember!

A rough month

2011-12-05T17:04:00.001-05:00

It's been a rough month for us. Lots of changes, lots of decisions, lots of pulling up by our bootstraps to get what we need done.

After several years of struggling to stay afloat financially with our house, we finally had to step away. It's been very painful in a lot of ways. We had big plans for our wonderful house. We loved the neighborhood. We wanted to finish the basement. The kids were established in their schools. I was finished with my Master's program through LaGrange College and anticipating getting a real job! But we just couldn't hang on anymore.

As is God's way, His timing is beautiful. Our church offered Dave Ramsey's Financial Peace University right as we were trying to figure out what to do about the house. We decided to downsize and cut expenses to the best of our ability. We were already at pretty much bare bones with other expenses, but the class really helped us to get ourselves together and have FOUR garage sales over the course of the next month. This, in turn, helped us with the expense of moving. We are, in fact, still selling stuff through Craigslist. I finally was able to start subbing just a few weeks ago. And we found a much smaller townhouse to rent and are expecting to cut our utilities in half. Even though our rent is the same as our mortgage was, we will no longer be responsible to pay for anything if it breaks down. We do not have to keep up our yard; that is done for us. We are very close to the freeway for Keith's work and central to the entire county for wherever I'm subbing. The kids are adjusting to new schools, and Kathleen continues to homeschool.

We are thankful for God's provision yet again in a fast paced crazy world!

Now, if we can just get finished with the moving, I will be very happy. I can tell you all that when I packed up in a certain area of the house and take things away, I would come back and there would be MORE stuff to pack up than there was before. I tell you this is completely true. I cannot believe how long this process is taking. Part of the problem was that the house was a disaster when we moved. I had just finished 14 months straight of school and before that six months of a new baby and before that nine months of a pregnancy in which nothing of any productivity (aside from gestation) was accomplished! Now, I'm paying the piper. I have been throwing out bags and bags of trash and boxing up boxes and boxes of things to go to Goodwill (hoping that Goodwill will even want it). The garage at our old house is stuffed with things that need to go to Goodwill. And even as I unpack and put things away here at our townhouse, I am piling up trash and stuff to go to Goodwill. It's crazy!

In all of this, I'm supposed to be finishing up that online class to get my certification to teach at long last. But I'm not wanting to talk about that right now.

Instead, I will write about Thanksgiving. I am so looking forward especially to this Thanksgiving, as we will have our two college kids home for the first time since August! We all miss them so much! Maybe it's because of all the change, but I'm greatly looking forward to having all my chicks under the same roof once again, even though the roof is a different one. Can't wait to hear about their adventures!

OCD

2011-08-31T11:54:00.000-04:00

I got so much done in just one hour this morning: cleaned out the ENTIRE laundry room and got two loads of laundry done, kept Little Man entertained by letting him "help" sort clothes and open and close the laundry room door, cleaned out stuff in the refrigerator, and started dinner in the crock pot. One hour. If I could get that much done every hour, I would have OCD for sure!

Keith has this week off, but since I still don't have a job, we are once again doing the staycation. Kids are all doing school anyway. So strange to hear other parts of the country gearing up for their start of school when we've been at it for nearly a month already. There is plenty to do at home with various neglected projects, such as organizing the laundry room and things like that. It is also cooling down just a tiny bit, which makes working on stuff a lot easier. Only 79 degrees this morning. Still, sweat was dripping off my nose while I worked in the laundry room.

Little Man is growing like a weed. He uses no words, only jabbers in his own language. He is very investigative. He adores going upstairs to see what is going on there. He loves the dog food bowls. He likes to put his toys in containers and then dump them all out again. He especially likes to be chased down the hall. And he likes to tell the dog "Doh, doh!" That would be "No, no!" in Keegan-speak. Lately, he's been getting up much earlier than usual -- 7:45 -- as opposed to 10:00 am, which was really nice! And he's also down to one 2 1/2 to 3 hour nap after lunch. One other very nice thing about him is that he doesn't mind being in the highchair or pack-n-play for about an hour. All the rest of the time he's in fast forward, streaming from one mess to another, trying desperately to kill himself. So glad he hasn't succeeded!

This and that

2011-08-25T16:57:00.002-04:00

Productivity has been hit or miss for me this week. I have been so distracted. Because I am both a procrastinator and a bit of a perfectionist, when I don't have a plan laid out that absolutely has to get done, I usually do not do anything. I am in a state of limbo that is starting to kind of get me down. No job, financial strain, and lots of extra hours in the day to really get some things done around the house and with my on-line class. Because there are so many options of things to do, I end up not doing anything because I want to get them ALL done. Does this make sense? At all? Or does this only make sense to the perfectionistic procrastinators out there?

I'm trying to change some of this, though, and take advantage of some opportunities that have come our way. Keith and I will be going to our first Financial Peace University meeting tonight being held at our church. It's a 13 week course. It fills us both with equal amounts of hope and dread, if that makes any sense either.

In other news, I joined choir last night. I've always wanted to join choir, but didn't feel right about leaving the kids in the pew for too long at a time on Sunday mornings, particularly Keva. However, I think Keva is behaving pretty well these days. We still don't have a car to take us all to church in one trip, but I've got to get over the inconvenience of that and just be ready earlier so that we can take the double trips back and forth. Lately, I've found myself just staying home with Keva and Keegan and letting Keith take the rest of the kids to church, but I've been missing out. Time to get back on the wagon! So when I went to choir practice last night, I discovered that I am way out of my league with the whole singing thing. I barely know how to read notes, let alone sing them. I'm going to sit next to the ones that can, though, and pretend!

One of the many benefits of being home these days is that I am here to help Kathleen with her first year back in homeschool. She has been able to breeze through everything but math, and I've been able to help her (miraculously) with some issues that she's come across. I am so impressed with her tenacity. She's going to need it when I do eventually go back to work because Little Man is a handful and a half. He is into everything. Fortunately, he takes good naps, and I think that's when Kathleen is going to need to do her math work!

I have been quite successfully avoiding doing my on-line course work. It's just more than I want to do. Unfortunately, I am really sabotaging myself for future job prospects. I'm going to need to line up a plan of attack and get myself going again. This course needs to get done soon! And the way I'm dealing with it is like it's some kind of disease that I'm avoiding. Sigh.

I've also been working on a Bible study blog. I haven't opened it up yet for friends and family, but I'm excited about the possibilities. As I've been preparing it, I am once again blown away by how rich and deep Scripture is. I am humbled to be loved by the Creator of the Universe.

I talked to Kristofer yesterday on facebook video chat. We were chatting the regular way, typing and waiting for each other's replies, when he told me that he was going to try to hook us up to video chat. Before I knew it, I was talking with my boy face to video screen face! He had such a sweet broad smile on his face that it was all could do to not burst into tears. I am such a sap! There is something very sweet about seeing the countenance of those we love! Can't wait to try it with other family and friends!

I've got dinner simmering in the crock pot. I am continually looking for good, easy, quick, cheap recipes. There really aren't too many that fit all of those criteria, but I come close a lot of the time! Tonight, I threw in dry macaroni, two big cans of spaghetti sauce, a couple pounds of browned beef, caramelized onion, and two cups of mozzarella. It smells good! I did kind of forget to add in the rest of the macaroni half way through the couple of hours of planned cooking time, so I put it in just now with a little more water to assure moisture and some more cheese (because there is no such thing as too much cheese!) It smells heavenly!

Last day before another baby goes off to college! Sniff.

2011-08-18T10:54:00.002-04:00

I've been busy catching up with a lot of things around the house. Mostly, I've been cleaning and organizing in preparation for a cyber garage sale! No getting up at ungodly hours of the morning. No pricing and putting out things that people have no interest in buying. Just taking pictures and posting it on Facebook, Craig's List and maybe a local web site. I love technology!

Today is Kristofer's last full day at home. Keith and I will take him early tomorrow morning to school. He's been packing all week. And Kylie continues to drool over his room. She's planning to move in after she comes home from school on Friday. I think we'll all be relieved because she's been talking about it nonstop for MONTHS!

We paid the housing deposit late for Kristofer's room at school because things are so tight right now. But we eventually got it in and were gathering up the next bit of money to put towards his room deposit when we got a call from Georgia Southern saying that they had too many students and there was no space for Kristofer any longer on campus. He was free to find a place off campus until temporary housing became available. He was number 11 on a list of 100 displaced students. I talked to the head of housing who assured me that he would do everything he could to get Kristofer into a room on campus. A week went by and we were wondering what was going to happen. If we could barely scrape together enough money for the deposit, how were we going to be able to scrape up money for an apartment (with first and last and all of that!) before the beginning of school in just a couple of weeks?

Then, we got the fabulous news that the school had made room for a number of students in an activity center on campus. They were very vague about the set-up, but frankly none of us, especially Kristofer, cared because now he was on campus and going to school for sure! We looked on the school map and saw that the building where he would be staying was right there in the center of campus, even near one of the cafeterias! What more could a young collegiate ask for!

Another notification came by email a week later. Kristofer had been assigned a real dorm room with a real roommate! Not only did he no longer have to sleep in some activity center with who knows how many other students, he was set up in one of the nicest residence halls at the school. Keith called it "The Cadillac of dorm spaces" when the two of them went to orientation last month. In fact, his exact quote was, "Kristofer will not get The Cadillac, he's going to wind up in A Pinto," which was actually fine with us, as long as he got to go to school! However, this was not to be. On top of that, when Kristofer looked up his roommate's name, he recognized it as a young man from our church! What were the odds of that? As Andrew, his new roommate said, a 1 out of 5000 chance! (Did I mention that Georgia Southern is a big school?) After Keri Lynn's adventures with some very "interesting" roommates, we are very thankful for this most recent development.

So my oldest son will soon be off on his own. I look forward to seeing him on facebook, though, as I do Keri Lynn. He has been ordered to take LOTS OF PICTURES! He's mentioned that he'd like to volunteer for the newspaper at school to take pictures! That would be really cool! So many opportunities out there for a very talented young man!

I'm afraid that my youngest one will be off to college too soon, too. But for now, Little Man is spending his days smearing oatmeal on his face, throwing items down the hall to see which ones make the most noise, and jabbering who knows what. I'm content with that!

The birthday boy! (er, man)

2011-08-15T10:04:00.003-04:00

Kristofer turns 18 today! Time to shoot another arrow from our quiverful out into the world.

Keith and I will be taking Kristofer to Georgia Southern on Friday. Such a bittersweet time. The excitement of independence. A brand new year of school done in a completely different way than he's ever studied before. Cafeteria at his beck and call practically every hour of the day! Pools. Fitness center. Health care. And we'll have to say good-bye for several months, resting in the knowledge that we have encouraged him to walk closely with the Lord in all that he does.

But first I'm going to cut his hair. : )

Summer is winding down

2011-08-05T18:47:00.001-04:00

Cannot even believe it's August.

Really, I can't.

Today was our last summer weekday. School starts on Monday. I've actually enjoyed a full two and half weeks of summer myself. I've blown off my online course during this time, which really has to get done SOON, but it sure has been nice to not have to do anything related to school.

Well, sort of. I've just been doing everything related to school for EVERYONE ELSE. There's Keri Lynn's issue with her financial aid in which she accidentally added a zero to our income for 2009 and she's been having to do extra paperwork for school ever since. This time, due to my procrastinating ways, she has had to do a lot of extra work -- sorry, baby! Then, Kristofer, because money is tight, was not signed up right away for housing. We were told last week that he would need to find off campus housing -- too many incoming freshmen and not enough room for everyone. Seven days of angst later, and we've just found out that they are making room for him and some 100 of his closest freshmen friends in all sorts of odd places. He now has temporary housing in what is usually an activity room. Um, should be interesting, but at this point, I am not complaining AT ALL and neither is he!

This year is also the return to homeschool for Kathleen. She has been wanting to homeschool again for a long time and we finally decided that the time was right. We've now got books ready and a semi-homeschooling plan in place. It's odd for her, though, with many of her friends getting ready to go to school and she's not. I think she's missing the excitement, but I think she will enjoy the peace that is homeschool soon enough. It doesn't hurt that several of her close friends also homeschool.

Since I am, as yet, unemployed, I'll be able to give her my full homeschool attention. This is a real treat, in that she will be just one student! I can cater to her learning needs like crazy. We might start off with spelling. Ahem.

Keva can't wait to start back to school. She has been driving me crazy these last few weeks. All she wants to do is throw food and dirty laundry all around the house. I clean and in comes Keva, swooping in like a hawk, to take care of any attempt at tidiness. It's very discouraging for this messy who has been trying to get the house back in order after 14 months of school and newborn and maternity months before that! Then I remember that she can feed herself, walk around herself, dance and hug and laugh herself, and is generally a sweet girl who brings our family such joy.

Kylie and Kade are also excited about school starting. Kylie is excited about having a "man teacher" on her team, but very disappointed that her best friend is not even on the same team. Maybe they'll see each other when they try out for sports -- this is the big year when Kylie can start competing at the school level. The kids have been organizing their school supplies and pushing me out the door to get more school supplies. Kylie right this minute is stressing out about needing brad fastener file folders. Konner is mildly anticipating school, but would just as soon roam free and go to sleepovers practically every night, like he has this whole summer.

Keegan is going to wonder what happened to everyone when Monday morning hits our house. At least Kristofer will be here for a few weeks more before he deserts on the 19th. Sigh.

Why men die first . . .

2011-07-25T13:16:00.009-04:00

And my personal favorite . . . AHHHHHHHHH!!!!!

Just go ahead and bulldoze it!

2011-06-13T17:25:00.001-04:00

The house is a complete and utter disaster. And by disaster, I do not mean that dishes are piled everywhere and laundry has overrun the house, even though both statements are true. I mean that every nook and cranny could use a little love and attention. It would be so much better for my state of mind to simply start cleaning and to get kids to help me clean, but that would take EFFORT. And I don't want to put out any effort! I am so done with dong anything productive!

So I'll write this email instead.

I am already done with one week of school. This is the easy part of summer sessions. Mornings only, three days a week. In July, I'll be in class every weekday until July 20th and then I'll be DONE! Minus one more on-line course that needs to be done for certification but not for getting my Master's degree. I am very excited about getting it done, especially after the months' long scare about whether or not I'd be able to afford those last summer classes! God has been so very gracious in His provision.

Keri Lynn is well entrenched in her life in Japan. She stays busy with street evangelism, English classes and homeless ministries. I love keeping up with her life on facebook. She recently posted pictures and a video of a street she crosses every day, an intersection that is called the busiest intersection in the entire world! I'm so glad that she's able to experience this time in Japan, but more importantly, I love to hear her learning and growing in the Lord. Keith told me, last time he "chatted" with her on facebook that our girl is grown up. I think he may be right.

Next week, we'll be heading into VBS week at our church and I've got to figure out how we're going to work that out with my school schedule and the fact that we truly are down to one car. I carpool with my friend to get back and forth from school and Keith drives the truck to work. The van sits in our driveway trying vainly to look pretty. Instead, it just comes off as its usual creepy self. The Creepy Kidnapper Van. Kind of sad, really.

I am actually contemplating the notion of having Keith get a motorcycle so that we can have two vehicles again. The economy does not look like it's going to get better any time soon and a motorcycle may be our only alternative, as much as I hate the idea of it. Even Kristofer and Kathleen like the idea of motorcycles. We have hung tough on our plan to let the kids figure out how they'll be getting their own transportation. If they want a car to drive, they have to figure out how to pay for it and pay for insurance. So far, it hasn't happened. Makes it a little inconvenient as the family chauffeur, but people need to go where people need to go.

Speaking of needing to go, I had talked briefly about doing a Bible study at my house. That was before the opportunity of school came back into the picture. Time is very limited once again. However, I'm thinking of starting an Internet Bible study! Anyone interested? I'm going to post some scripture to read and questions to answer and (if I can figure out how to do it for free) get either a website or a blog with thread commenting. If you don't know what threads are, those are the comments where someone can comment on a specific comment, not necessarily on the post itself, thus making it easier to follow any dialog on one particular subject or thread. I think I want to start with one of my favorite people. Elijah. I don't know when I'll get it off the ground, but it should be fairly soon. I've got to get ready for a midterm on Wednesday and a presentation on Friday, and then I'll have a little more wiggle room!

2011-06-01T00:02:00.000-04:00

Back to Plan A!

2011-05-31T23:56:00.003-04:00

My, how things change in 24 hours. I learned this afternoon that I will be able to complete my Master's program this summer after all. The financial aid office informed me that there were enough MAT students short of funds to offer extended student loans. As much as I hate getting into more debt, I very much appreciate being able to get a teaching job sooner rather than later! At any rate, I am so excited about this development!

So on Monday, it will be off to school again! With Keri Lynn in Japan for a month and Kristofer and Kathleen on choir tour for a week, it will be up to Kylie to hold down the fort on the days I'm gone. Fortunately, it will be only two to three days each week in June. She is a remarkably good babysitter. Keegan absolutely adores her. It also helps that both he and Keegan sleep in until at least 9:00 most mornings. As long as I keep the pantry full, things should be fine! It's a little scary just how much the kids eat in the summer time.

Kylie and I went on our third walk tonight. We saw lightening bugs and an armadillo ambling along a neighbor's yard. By then, Kade had joined us and both Kylie and Kade wanted to see it up close. I've seen plenty of armadillos before but they've always been road kill. However, I was not in any big hurry to see one up close live and personal like that, and I wasn't too keen on the kids doing so either! In fact, when we got back from our walk, I told the kids to please be sure they closed the garage as I knew for sure that thing would wind up in our garage if we didn't because that's what seems to happen to me. And I would be the one to find it in there!

It's still cool in the evening, but it won't stay this comfortable for long. The days are most definitely HOT. The kids welcome any pool time they get in the neighborhood. They just have to be sure they apply liberal amounts of sunscreen.

In other news, I want to start a Bible study for ladies and teen ladies, hopefully this summer. At first, I wanted to start one for the ladies and one for the teens, but time prevents that. Then, the more I thought about it, the more I liked the idea of putting us all in one group. I think it's important for women to have women mentors at any age. In general, I think that we divide ourselves up by age too much. There is much to be learned from those older than us and much to give whatever age a woman is to a group of women. I'm hoping I'll be able to get enough people interested to do the Bible study.

I also do not have a particular plan for topic of the Bible study. I'm going to leave it up to the group to pick a part of the Bible to study then we're going to use scripture to study scripture. I LOVE studying scripture this way. I also want to memorize scripture as a group. Once this is all underway, I plan to put it on a blog, so that anyone who is interested in joining in on the Bible study can do so.

Memorial Day 2011

2011-05-30T23:00:00.000-04:00

I had a bit of a pity party for myself for a while yesterday and today. I want to finish up school so badly. The goal is so close, but hope is slipping away for getting it done this summer. In the meantime, I need to figure out what I'm going to do this summer and going into the fall and QUICK.

On a positive note, I am enjoying being home again especially with the kids home from school. I enjoy having time. What a luxury! Time to plan and cook meals. Time to write these notes. Time to work on much neglected projects.

I've started short walks. I'm trying to make it as non-exercise like as possible. I just want to enjoy a little walk. So far, Kylie has joined me both times that I've gone walkabout. I don't even change clothes to go. Since I'm just wearing my grubbies, it's not a big deal. I just wear my flip flops and out I go. I timed it tonight and it's a grand total of 15 minutes, which is even more than I thought it was going to be. So I'm pretty proud of myself for that!

Mrs. Collins, our neighbor in Los Angeles, always went out on a daily walk. She was in her 80s and in great health. I was always so impressed with her. So I'm going to attempt to emulate Mrs. Collins!

We had a peaceful Memorial Day today. I am so thankful for the freedom afforded to us because of the ultimate sacrifice of so many.

Keith grilled hot dogs and warmed up some chili and we sat down to watch a Braves game. with delicious chili dogs. Very relaxing. I also worked on a crochet project. I finished up a cute scarf. It was a new pattern, so it was interesting to see how it would come out. Kathleen liked it so much that she wanted me to make her one, but in a different color. The one I did was too "old person" colored for her! I liked the color, which of course clinched it for Kathleen -- "old person" colored. It's always kind of weird to work on crochet projects because they are usually cold weather items like scarves, gloves and slippers. Not anything I am even remotely interested in wearing now, but if I can do a little every day, I'll have a good supply of Christmas gifts ready to go. This is my mantra every year, but I don't usually get it going until well into October!

We also played cards, the second time in two days. Kylie has become quite the card shark with the confidence to carry it through. She whupped us all yesterday. We had to talk a little about good sportsmanship when you're winning for those of us who weren't doing quite as well! Playing games are such a good way to teach character to our kids. I still work on it myself since I'm so competitive. I hate to lose and i hate to play with people who don't care if they win or lose. To the death, people! To the death! Well, maybe not that extreme.

The Coupon Thing

2011-05-28T23:12:00.002-04:00

I am seriously looking into the whole Coupon Thing. I want to be the crazy coupon lady that holds up the lines with her two or three stuffed carts and pays $2.73 for it all. This is a big turn around for me. I have always bought generic and bulk, lots of bulk. I usually spend very little and keep meals relatively simple. However, as I've looked further into the whole Coupon Thing (as I call it), I've been more intrigued. It's almost like a game. Get groceries only when they are already on sale and use the manufacturer's coupon (doubled) along with the store coupon to make these items significantly lower. I like it.

I really like Southern Savers and will use that system to start out. I have a feeling it will be a lot like homeschooling where I'll just over time develop my own system of getting it done. For now, I'm enjoying going to YouTube and blogs and internet sites and watching successful coupon clippers get great deals on various items. I don't think I'll be quite as tenacious or crazed as some of them appear to be because that is not in my nature, but I can be methodical. And I do love to plan!

The kids are enjoying summer vacation already. Their last day was Friday. Already kids have been to various end-of-school parties, a little camp-out in someone's backyard, swimming at a neighbor's pool and playing in our own sprinklers. It is HOT. This is yet another reason why I'm feeling the need to coupon. The kids' appetites are something to behold!

As I write this, Keri Lynn is in the air on her way to Narita International Airport in Japan. After two false starts, she finally got a winner, and is seated business class to boot. She started off at 6:00 am this morning headed off to the airport here in Atlanta and she won't be getting into Japan until 5:00 this morning, our time. That's nearly 24 hours of travel. She's going to be bushed. We are so very thankful for our flight benefits, even so. Sure is nice to hop a plane anywhere whenever we need to go. It's a bit hairy sometimes getting on a flight, especially when it's all of us, but if we didn't have flight benefits, we'd never get to go anywhere!

Little Man loves to look out the window!

2011-05-23T20:49:00.000-04:00

Baccalaureate

2011-05-23T20:45:00.002-04:00

Change of plans

2011-05-23T20:44:00.000-04:00

It looks like I won't be able to complete my Master's this summer as I had hoped. We've simply run out of funds. Things were starting to look tight financially as we headed into the spring semester and they just got tighter. So we head into Plan B with a lot of mixed feelings.

Since I'm not done with the Master's program, I won't get my certification and I won't be able to get a job as a teacher in a public school yet. This is the most disappointing part of the whole deal since the whole idea was to have a decent paying job to be able to begin paying back school loans! Oh, the pain!

As always, though, God has it all in His hands. So we're starting to look at other options, such as teaching at possibly teaching at a Christian school (which I would LOVE) or even branching out and teaching children whose parents want them to be homeschooled. I would be a tutor of sorts. I've thought of this option before but did not have the confidence to pull it off. I do now! If I can handle a group of eighth graders, I think I could handle just about any group of kids.

This will also make the transition for Kathleen easier if I'm staying at home. She'll be homeschooling next year. She's been wanting to homeschool for years. Now I think she has the determination and independent attitude to make it work, particularly if I'm not there during the day. It also helps that she's got several very close friends that homeschool. She enjoys the comradery and I enjoy that she has such great friends!

All of this leads to another great ramification. Keegan doesn't have to go into daycare. He can stay home with just his sister, or with his sister and me. We'll see how everything pans out, but whether I somehow get a job as a teacher or end up teaching right in my own home, Keegan won't have to go to daycare. This is such a load off of my mind!

Then, hopefully, we'll have enough money, or be in a position to at least finance the rest of my classes next summer. Then, there also might be more jobs by then as well. Teaching positions are slim pickings these days.

No fear

2011-05-20T15:40:00.001-04:00

With all that has been burdening my heart lately, I have been praying more. That is the way of things, isn't it? Life gets difficult, and there is only one true Provider. Nothing has really changed except that the fear is now gone. The Lord has always been faithful in His provision. Year end and year out, He is faithful. So why do I get anxious? There is no good reason, so I have chosen once more to give all the worries back to Him.

Now that I'm not worrying so much, I'm getting busy with getting more things done around the house. However, in a house where 10 people reside, housekeeping is usually a two steps forward, one step back affair. For instance, last night I put in a load of laundry and somehow mistakenly put in one of Keva's pull-ups. It's really amazing just how much water a pull-up can retain. It is equally amazing just how messy a pull-up can be once it has retained a lot of water. It is not pretty. Also, now that Keegan is home all the time now, he spends a great deal of his free time trying to break out of his prison called the family room. Since he's stuck in there, he makes the best of things by dumping out all his toys all over the floor and then standing on his overturned toy box. I've had to start spanking his little hinie for getting up on dangerous spaces. He doesn't like that one bit, but then again, he wouldn't like getting his head cracked open either so I'm okay with a few crocodile tears.

The kids have one more week of school left. Kristofer will graduate on Thursday and is looking forward to his college days at Georgia Southern. The little kids are starting to really get on his nerves! I saw the same thing happen with Keri Lynn when she was about to break free from the nest. In fact, it's not unlike Keegan breaking free from the evil family room. He goes running like his head is on fire! O, the joy of independence! Before college starts, though, Kristofer will have to get through summer. He's going to be busy with the senior trip and then the usual choir tour, VBS and Camp Sonshine. I have an eerie feeling that summer will go by in a flash! I'm really going to miss that boy!

Feeling the burdens

2011-05-20T15:05:00.002-04:00

It's been a bit of an emotional roller coaster lately with Keri Lynn and her trip to Japan. For a while there, it looked like she wasn't going to be able to go because she wasn't able to gather together enough funds. We cried together and we prayed together. I went to bed feeling so sad for her. Meanwhile, she went to bed after typing a message to the missionaries she will be working with. Could she go for a partial time? That hadn't even occurred to me as an option and here, lo and behold, they were able to make changes in her itinerary to accommodate her for a full 40 days. Not quite the full summer she had planned, but 40 days is nothing to sniff at! We are all very thankful for this development and for the opportunity this affords her. Her plane leaves May 25, just a scant week away!

And here I sit typing away and working on all the odds and ends that have been gathering while I've been busy with school. My heart is heavy for my own opportunities this summer. I'm not sure if we'll be able to swing this last semester of classes. I feel like I'm at that last mile of the marathon and the road has been blocked off with big "No Trespassing!" signs.

Having by God's grace come this far with one income is really a miracle, but it's still hard not to start wringing my hands again about the mortgage and utility bills and groceries. I begin to wonder if there will ever be a time when we will be able to actually take in more than we spend! Then, I become very ashamed. So many people suffer, really suffer, and not just monetarily, but with poor health, death in the family, emotional rifts, addiction, etc. I have so much to be thankful for.

Then, in the middle of all the drama, there is Kristofer. My 17 year old son. Graduating from high school on Thursday, May 26! I am having a really hard time with this. It's bad enough to have Keri Lynn finished with her second year of college, but to have ANOTHER one heading off to college?!? We had some drama, too, with where he was gong to go. We all wanted him to go to GCSU where Keri Lynn attends, including Kristofer, but he didn't get accepted there. He did get accepted to Georgia Southern, which we then found out is pretty much a big party school. However, I've been thinking about Elijah lately. He cried out to God that he was the only prophet that served God, but God told him otherwise, that there were still 7000 in Israel who did not worship Baal. He was not alone. And that is my prayer for Kristofer, that he will remember that he is not alone, that others keep up the fight with him. I am excited for the opportunities before him.

Glorious Day (Living He loved me) ~Casting Crowns

2011-04-22T18:17:00.000-04:00

2011-04-04T12:44:00.000-04:00

Days of Solomon

2011-04-04T12:42:00.001-04:00

It's been so nice to go into this week of spring break. I have been looking forward to it! Music is playing right now while I go about normal household routines that have been greatly neglected. Right now, just Keva and Keegan are in the house with me. Keri Lynn is in school. Kristofer is at a friend's house. Kathleen is on a trip to North Carolina with a group of girlfriends. Kylie and Kade are outside playing with a friend. Konner is at a friend's house where he spent the night. Four kid were out of the nest just last night, everyone enjoying their free time.

I have a ton of things to get done, though. Not the least of which is applying for teaching jobs. Supposedly, there are a few openings right in the county where I am student teaching. My cooperating teacher is hoping to move up to high school, so I am gunning for HIS job! I also need to complete a big school project called the teacher work sample which I will also be able to use going into job interviews. It's basically a notebook of what I did during my two week solo.

Up until last Thursday, I was feeling pretty confident about my teaching time, that is until Thursday afternoon, last period of the day. The hardest class to handle. I was by myself because my cooperating teacher had re-injured a bad knee and was out for the day. The kids were really ready to get out of school. We were starting our spring break on Friday rather than Monday for a longer spring break. Mistake #1: I thought that I could grade their re-test that they had just completed in class while class was going, just as I had in the three classes before. Mistake #2: I continued to grade papers while kids started throwing little balls of paper at each other. Mistake #3: Trying to find out who was throwing the little balls of paper by myself, not getting help from the office, because paper turned to orange Tic Tacs. Mistake #5: Feeling a little like King Solomon, I said that, since I couldn't spot who was throwing the balls of paper, I would give The Dreaded Silent Lunch to whoever got HIT by the paper, with the idea being that whoever got hit was probably part of the group throwing the paper and Tic Tacs.

So one kid stands up in the back of the class with a Tic Tac ready to aim at someone and says, "Mrs. Johnson, you mean if I throw this, that person I hit is going to get Silent Lunch?"

I nod sagely.

He pauses, looks at his hand and then sits down. I'm thinking I am SO SMART! Then "Owwwww!"

"Mrs. Johnson, he threw that at me!"

I'm still trying to salvage the moment, "No, he missed you."

I quickly get up to the front of the class, putting the grading aside for good, to announce to the class that my "King Solomon" declaration has just been revoked! Too late! They are all throwing whatever they can get their hands on. Total pandemonium. I start giving Silent Lunch left and right. I get them settled down again.

"Okay, Class, who is throwing the Tic Tacs? I am telling Mr. D (the cooperating teacher) all about this."

They all throw Allen under the bus. He's the class clown and has already admitted to throwing the paper wads but not the Tic Tacs. Allen gets REALLY ANGRY and uses some choice words.

Gloriously, the bell for car riders rings and I am saved. But not before Allen uses more choice words and storms out into the hallway. He really should be written up for this. And only seconds of class time left!

I am about to tell Allen to go with me to the teacher across the hall who is known for being pretty mean.

"Oh, no," says Allen, "You are not taking me to Mrs. Robinson."

That's when I see the hurt in his eyes. He is trying desperately to not cry. My heart breaks.

"Allen, wait. Look at me," and he does and my heart breaks again, " We are not going to see Mrs. Robinson."

"But I'm the only one getting in trouble!"

"Oh, no! I've got a whole list. You did tell me you were throwing paper. Maybe you weren't throwing the Tic Tacs, but you were part of it. Rest assured, you are NOT the only one getting into trouble when Mr. D. comes back."

And then everyone was lining up for bus and out the door and gone. Just like that. I just felt terrible about the whole class period. Thus why I am a student teacher, I guess, but I still felt badly for Allen and for so many other kids like him who get chewed up and spit out by their own classmates who they are trying so very hard to impress. Especially Allen who is so smart and capable but gets trapped in worldly concerns.

It took me several days to shake off that class period. I know that some days will be better than others, but I really need to stay humble and ready to learn some more. There is no "having arrived" as a good teacher. There is always something to learn, and it is such a huge responsibility to be in charge of those kids, because even though they are big-time eighth graders, they are still children. Children doing a lot of adult things, granted, but children nonetheless.

Lord, give me wisdom like Solomon. Really like Solomon.

Solo teaching

2011-03-26T23:54:00.000-04:00

I have finished my two week solo teaching. It was a very valuable and interesting and exhausting experience, made all the more challenging with Keegan's ear infection and some kind of intestinal bug that traveled through everyone in the house. Teaching four eighth grade classes a day seemed fairly easy compared to what was going on at home! I still need to hone my classroom management skills, but I think I'll be able to produce good lesson plans wherever I end up teaching. That's the fun part -- lesson plans. I've always enjoyed putting together a calendar. With this particular program that I'm in, the more "out of the box" the better.

The best news lately, though, has been Kristofer's acceptance to two of the three colleges he applied to. We're waiting to find out about the third one, GCSU, where Keri Lynn attends school. That's his first choice, so we'll see. It's nice to know that the other two are a possibility, though. A lot of the pressure is now off, and we can begin the process of getting him ready to go to college in the fall. I can't believe he is so close to graduating.

Keri Lynn is also in waiting mode, waiting to find out what will happen this summer. She was planning to go to Japan as an intern this summer, but with all that is going on there, she's afraid that the church will cancel her internship. All the missionaries in the area have already been evacuated further south in Japan because of the radiation scare.

Keegan is now 14 months. He is growing like a weed. We all get the biggest kick out of watching him walk around investigating his world. He does not like to be in the family room. He considers it a prison because we've always got it barricaded to keep him from getting too much trouble. The moment it is not barricaded, he practically runs to the opening and makes a break for it to freedom of the house. He particularly loves to run up and down the hall being chased by whoever is supposed to be keeping an eye on him.

Ephiphany

2011-02-13T10:50:00.000-05:00

Several things have been swirling in my poor little brain lately. One of them is how to get housework done while student teaching and going to school. Last semester, I only student taught two days a week. This semester, it is full time. While it is giving me a wonderful feel for the reality of teaching, I am having to schedule things differently.

First of all, Keegan is now in daycare. This was my one hardest development for pursuing a teaching career. I feel very blessed to have been able to stay home with him for his first year, but it simply breaks my heart to drop him off in daycare every day now. The original plan was for Keith to stay home with him during the day and then he'd work swing shift. This proved to be too hard for the entire family. Keegan got to see his Daddy and stay home in comfortable surroundings for the two days a week I was gone, but the entire rest of the family did not get to see Daddy, nor did Daddy get much rest! So when Keith was offered a job working on a project, we decided it was best for him to go back to working days. I think we're all happier for it, except for me when I drop off the Little Man early each weekday in a stranger's arms. Sigh.

Second, is the ongoing saga of the laundry. I have come to an epiphany about the laundry. It started out with just getting organized to go to school five days a week. I needed all of my clothes ready. No time to do a quick emergency wash or iron or fiddle with finding a matching dress sock or shoe. Everything had to be ready to go! Then it occurred to me that I needed to do the same thing with Keegan's clothes (and everything else he needed for daycare for the week) and Keva's clothes. That meant that all laundry had to be done on the weekend.

Now I can see everyone rolling their eyes right now. "Really, Jackie? Laundry on the weekend? This is your epiphany?" Yes, it is. Up until now, laundry has been something to be done on the weekdays when time permitted. I didn't want to cut into weekend activities. Little did I know that it is actually quite nice to have not only laundry done, but major household chores done over the weekend as well. Which leads into my third thought, that I can declare clean-up time on a Saturday morning (gasp!) and tell beloved children that they cannot go play or do anything else until the house is in order. So far, it's taken just a couple of hours to clean up and then everyone disappears outside or to friends' houses or to do homework. Again, you all might be saying, "Duh! Jackie! Haven't we suggested this to you a dozen times before?!?" But again, I say that this idea of not doing chores during the weekend is a result of having been a stay-at-home mom for so many years. There is always time to clean on the weekdays!

All of this is a work in progress. I have done Keegan's, Keva's and my laundry for a whole two weekends in a row with resounding success. Now I am working on getting the rest of the kids to do their laundry over the weekend. Konner decided to stay home with me right now on this fine Sunday morning, while the rest of the family went to church, since Keegan is still sick, and I told him to get a week's worth of dirty clothes to get washed and dried and folded and ready for the week. The exact words out of my mouth were, "And you won't have to do a load of laundry all week long!" A little light bulb went off over his head (similar to my epiphany) and he went running upstairs like a soldier on a mission. I called upstairs to see if he wanted any sausage for breakfast and he told me, "No, I've got things to do." A few minutes later, he was back down with not one but TWO weeks of laundry to wash!

We shall see how the it goes as the months wear on. I will be student teaching all the way to the beginning of May. It is going to be a long haul, but organization is the key.

Happy birthday, Keegan!

2011-01-22T17:51:00.001-05:00

A year ago today, Keegan Lee Johnson was born. Wow, has my life changed since then! Keegan has been a big part of it, of course, but when he was born, I did not have a clear direction of where I was going. I wanted to stay home with him really bad! At the same time, we were struggling mightily with our finances. So as I began to recover from my first c-section, about four months, I started looking at master's programs. I registered at LaGrange College where my friend Lisa had also registered. We decided if we got in, we'd carpool together, which took a big load off of my mind because the family van just wasn't the carpooling type of car!

Today, Keegan has a full year under his belt, by the grace of God! He is the cutest sweetest little man. And I'm half way through my master's program. I've gained more confidence and a more professional wardrobe. Our family has been adjusting to life with mom gone part of the time. However, if I have to work, the teaching profession is the way to go. We'll all be off together.

Today, on this fine Saturday, I wanted to take a moment to give a snippet of a "normal" Saturday.

I am sitting in our dining room turned office pounding away on my laptop when I should be working on a diversity paper for my January class. The smells wafting through the house are really irritating me in that our "beloved" dog has decided to sneak around and use said dining room for his bathroom area ever since we had the snow and ice for a full week outside where he has been going properly for YEARS. I am about ready to KILL HIM> But then he looks at me with those sweet brown eyes pleading forgiveness, and I let him live a little longer.

Kathleen is at the high school preparing for her final performance of her first drama production. She got some juicy roles for her first time and has done really well, especially for being a freshman. She was born a drama queen. After dinner, I'll be taking Kristofer and Kylie with me to see the performance. It will be the third time I've seen it, and I don't mind at all. It's fun to go to the theater!

Keith is sitting in the family room watching football, enjoying some free time before he heads back to his project at work on Monday. He's been working long days to meet his goals. In a few weeks, he'll be doing some traveling, which will be playing some havoc on our family life because it will be just about then that I'll be fully entrenched in my second student teaching gig.

Kristofer has been working on college applications. I'm having a hard time with the idea of another bird leaving the nest. Once again I am in denial.

Keegan is laying in his crib fussing a bit while I ignore him. I need to go find some more clean clothes for him, but I know I'm not going to find anything that will keep him warm enough! Kathleen made his birthday cake for him earlier today, but we decided that we will have it tomorrow when we're all home and can take pictures of all of us gathered around him. That way, it will look like we had a nice big birthday party for him, just like we had for Keri Lynn so many years ago when she turned one year! Hahahahaha! By the way, our family is a terrific "Rent a Party" if you ever want to invite a crowd over that can come eat your food, play your games and then go home at the same time!

Keva is also in her room. I am also ignoring her. I know she needs her pull-up changed. I could get Keith to do it, I suppose, but I'm not doing anything productive either besides typing this little missive. So I will wrap things up, take care of poor Keva and Keegan and start making dinner before heading off to see Kathleen's play. The paper can wait one more day.

Casting Crowns #6 Glorious Day (Living He Loved Me)

2011-01-21T17:19:00.000-05:00

Snow Day #2

2011-01-11T20:47:00.001-05:00

Tomorrow will be another snow day. We've gotten into a nice pattern of winter fun. Kylie, Kade and Konner eat something for breakfast and then I don't see them for the rest of the day, except if they can't find someone to mooch lunch off of. They go off to play with neighborhood friends. The sub-freezing temperatures don't seem to bother them a bit. The dog, however, is having a hard time dealing with all of the ice, especially when he goes out to do his business. He waited all day yesterday before he finally gave up and took care of things on the ice. Poor dog.

Kristofer spends his time numbing his brain with video games. Kathleen bemoans the fact that she can't get to school and practice for her upcoming stage production. She also misses seeing her friends. Even church events were canceled for this Wednesday night because of icy road conditions, so now she's really bummed!

Keri Lynn has been back at school since Saturday, leaving a day early to beat the weather. However, she still hasn't started classes yet, as Georgia College has also had to postpone classes because of the weather.

I may be coming down with a cold. My throat has been hurting all day. I'm hoping it's just irritated by the smoke from our nonstop fire in fireplace, but I have a feeling I'm going to be miserable with a cough and cold very soon. I've already started popping a bunch of Vitamin C and drinking a ton of water. The air is very dry because of the cold. Everywhere I go, I keep shocking myself because of all the static electricity.

Keegan is enjoying everyone's attention during these snow days. Kylie has been walking him all over the house. He walks with minimal support but isn't quite ready to break out on his own yet. I've also started cutting out his formula by slowly adding whole milk to his bottle. He may not be totally ready for it, but he's going to have to be because I can't get to the store on these roads to get him more formula.

After his adventures getting to work yesterday, Keith decided to stay home today. He was only one of 25 that came to work out of 400 employees. So he's been hanging out slightly bored like the rest of us. (Except for Kylie, Kade and Konner.) I think we all need our routines back soon!

Snow Day!

2011-01-10T11:44:00.001-05:00

We are snowed in today. At least the kids and I are. We ended up maybe getting about an inch of snow and then a little ice to top it all off, just enough to make the roads very slippery. The news footage of Atlanta freeways show just a few brave travelers actually on the road. Keith went into work today. He left at 8:30 when I was still in bed snoozing. I couldn't get back to sleep after he left, though, for fear of getting that phone call about some terrible accident. But he made it to work in less than an hour! Now I'm just glad I wasn't in the car with him. In fact, I'm sure he may have actually enjoyed slipping and sliding down the roads. Yikes!

I am going to attempt to actually be productive today. Yesterday, I needed to be a little closer to the bathroom than normal. I may have eaten a little too much of my own refried beans. Or maybe I got Keva's bug. Or maybe Keva had a little too much of my refried beans! At any rate, we stayed home from church and pretty much sat around being couch potatotes watching Doctor Who. It was borderline pathetic. Except that at least I made another pair of some really fun fingerless mittens. I'm trying to get a bunch done as late Christmas presents for Keva's bus driver and her assistant. They're going to need them this month particularly!

Before you know it, though, the cold weather will be done, but not soon enough for me. I think I've decided that I'd rather have hot weather. I may change my mind come August, but for now, I really dislike the cold. The snow makes it all very pretty, and I know a lot of people really enjoy it, but I'd just as soon have a nice medium weather day. Goldilocks. Not too hot and not too cold. This time last year, was slipping and sliding all over the place going to my OB appointment. We had some crazy cold weather last January! But I was not too cold, at least when I was pregant, since I was carrying around my own thermal unit. After Keegan was born, I spent a great deal of time in his little room, the warmest room in the house, snuggling him and keeping warm under a couple of blankets! Hormones are might powerful!

On the docket today: A few phone calls, get ahead on some laundry, make another pair of fingerless mittens, do some research for my diversity paper. Maybe some dishes. All while trying to stay warm!

Should be cleaning

2011-01-08T15:17:00.000-05:00

I am sitting at my computer knowing that I should be at the kitchen sink instead but enjoying a little downtime to write. My friend Ginny and her youngest daughter Ginger are coming in just about an hour for the second time in as many weeks. Most of the family came last week to come celebrate the new year, but two are back again for Ginny's uncle's funeral. His family lives just about an hour from us.

I'm also supposed to be getting ready for a research project for my January class. The teacher just went over expectations with us last night. I had thought that it would be fairly easy to put together until she went over what she wants in the paper! Ack! It's going to take the entire two weeks she's given to us to write it.

The job situation looks like a very unjob situation. Any jobs that are available are going to the teachers already credentialed, which only makes sense, but I was really hoping more jobs would open up by now. I am going to make a few calls to some of the private schools this coming week and see what might be available that way. I would so much rather teach in a private school anyway, but economics won't allow that. However, if there's a choice between no job and a lower paying job, I'll take the lower paying job!

Keri Lynn is heading back to college today! This is so sad. I have such a hard time with it every time she leaves, particularly because she's so rarely at home for the whole vacation time. She's been ironing out details for her second summer internship in Japan. I am so excited for these opportunities for her.

Keegan has been cruising along the couches in the family room and is starting to branch out and take a step or two out. It won't be long before he's walking! I can't believe that Little Man is getting so big! He likes to babble quite a bit. In the morning, he calls for me, "Mammamamamamamamamam . . ." which means he wants a bottle. When he sees Keith, it's "DA!" which means fun. Keith throws him way up in the air just like he did for the other kids. It's funny to see the older kids get nervous about it. I just don't look, and I'm fine and listen to Keegan giggle like crazy. As long as he stays busy picking up and putting every last piece of trash and stuff off our carpet into his mouth, he's perfectly happy. I can't tell you how many things I've fished out of that boy's mouth.

White Christmas

2010-12-28T09:53:00.002-05:00

We had a lovely Christmas this year. Some of us were still a little coughy and sneezy, but for a full week all ten of us were home with no practices or classes or meetings to go to at all. Georgia even saw fit to give us some snow on Christmas day. It was so nice to watch the snow come down in the warmth of the family room with a roaring fire.

I'm hoping to get up enough gumption to resume painting. Our living room is still only half painted. We started painting at the end of summer when we had a bit of a break and haven't touched a paint can since. The ladders and boxes and general clutter of it all is starting to really bug me now that I have a few moments to notice it. The Kings are coming for a few days at the end of the week to help us ring in the new year. Maybe I can get Ginny on the painting job with me. Part of me wants to get it done so that I don't feel like a hopeless lazy bum. I have visions of a beautifully decorated home that shocks and amazes all who come through our doors. Part of me then wipes the sleep out of my eyes after the beautiful dream. We've got a long way to go!

With the kids home for the whole day during Christmas break, I've had the feeling of homeschool again. It's nice to have all my chicks under my wing for a bit. But, I've also realized that the house sure does stay a lot cleaner when everyone is scattered to the wind for school or work. Plus now that the kids are older, more of them cook. I have washed so many pots and pans and run the dishwasher to death and STILL the kitchen is trashed! And it's not that the kids don't do their part as well. We run the dishwasher at least twice a day and still we run out of clean dishes! Keri Lynn, in her college wisdom, suggested to me earlier this week that I should get everyone simply to clean up after themselves. Really? I have not thought of this before?

Kristofer is really hoping to get into Georgia College and State University where Keri Lynn goes. We'll see how it goes. The SAT didn't go great, but his grades are okay. I really don't know how it's all going to pan out for him. I do know that he is very ready to be out on his own. He gets a lot more impatient with his siblings than he used to. I noticed the same thing with Keri Lynn when she was at this stage. There is a natural need to move forward and away, to gain independence, to grow up. Sigh. I've got to get Kristofer's senior potrait done soon. He has taken some really great pictures of himself with his nifty camera, but we need to get the cap and gown one done for the yearbook. I'd like to get the whole family photographed over at Portrait Inovations, too. We have very few pictures of all of us in one picture. We make up for it in hundreds of snap pictures throughout each month. Keegan takes up about 95% of the pictures with his cute little self!

Kathleen is preparing to act in her first high school drama. It's a set of three short plays. She has a big part in two of them. She's been practicing her little heart out. It's been a lot of fun to watch her get her opportunity to do something that she has dreamed of doing practically her whole life. I can't wait to see her! She's been trying to keep her parts quiet so that I'll be surprised when I see it!

I'm going back to school next week for a January class. January is going to be a crucial month as I go on the job hunt. Things are still very tight on the job market in education, as with so many other areas. So we're looking at the very real possibility of me remaining unemployed for another semester. The good news is that by the end of Summer 2011, I'll be credentialed. And we'll just have to lean on the Lord some more for providing for all of our needs. He is the giver of all things anyway, employed or not. The fall semester was a great opportunity to do student teaching and to take a couple more classes. It was a busy time, but it was doable. I worked with a really good teacher and some terrific sixth graders. I can't wait for my own classroom!

Natalie Grant-Held-lyrics video

2010-09-27T12:53:00.002-04:00

Kathleen will be singing this song in church next Sunday!

One last hurrah!

2010-09-03T08:14:00.000-04:00

Last night, I went to my first night class. I've got two for the fall semester along with the student teaching. We got to meet our student teacher supervisors as well, got the syllabi for the class and for the student teaching, and already I'm up to my eyeballs in work. It is definitely time to buckle down and get to work . . . after the Labor Day weekend, that is! One last hurrah!

Keith has this week as vacation, so it's been nice to know that I can leave Keegan with him for some father/son bonding time while I run to take a kid to the dentist or get some groceries. And Keith will still get some bonding time when he starts swing shift in two weeks. That's the week I also start student teaching two days a week. While I'm gone, he'll be home with Little Man. I'm grateful for how our schedule has worked out and grateful to be going to school again, even though the workload is going to be a challenge!

All I can say is that it will be nice to eventually get a paycheck instead of just paying out money for everything all the time! I'm really hoping and praying that I'll find a job during the spring semester.

While Keith is home this week, we've started painting the rooms downstairs that aren't yet painted. We've only been in our house for five years, after all! For several years now, the only rooms that are painted have been my red dining room (that is now an office/game room, and my ELECTRIC LIME kitchen. The lime just doesn't make sense to the casual person who comes visiting. It's such a bright color, but since we hadn't yet completed the color palate throughout the rest of the rooms, people have questioned my sanity. (The fact that my sanity is questioned on a regular basis is beside the point!)

Anyway, we're going with a gorgeous blue in the living room and a kind of orangish/terracotta-ish color in the family room. Since it's an open floor plan, all of the colors really have to work together. I haven't seen the family room color up yet, since we just got started on the living room, but I think it will work. And when I say "we", I of course mean the royal "we", meaning "Keith"! He is doing a great job! It did take some doing, though, finally agreeing on the colors. I had a different scheme of colors in mind when we first got started. And Keith was more than a little taken aback by the ELECTRIC LIME, but I think it has finally truly grown on him.

The painting will need to be put aside today though. Keith will be mowing a friend's lawn this morning and then going to get Keri Lynn from school so that she can "relax" with us and enjoy the Labor Day weekend. Someday she'll have her own car! But for now she's in classes doing what she needs to do to eventually get a job and get her own car!

I'm going to work on a little homework, get me and Keegan ready to go, and then go get Kathleen out of school early for a dental appointment. She's actually not getting her teeth worked on, but her lip looked at. A few weeks ago, they removed a cyst thingie on her lip with a laser. It has since grown back, but not as bad as before. We'll have to decide whether or not to just leave it be for now and see if it will go away on its own. It's just in a very aggravating spot, and aggravation is always compounded when you're talking about a teenager!

Still 2010

2010-08-30T12:40:00.002-04:00

It is a sign of the times that I had to fix the date in the Subject Box from 2011 back to 2010. It's not that I'm ahead of myself, but that I've been doing a lot of things in preparation for 2011. That's going to be a big year. Kristofer is set to graduate from high school. God willing, I'll have a real job. Keith may be working a different type of job at Delta that will keep him busier than ever. There are just a lot of things up in the air. As usual.

It's Monday this morning. I've already done three loads of laundry and a load of dishes. I've had time to read God's word -- which always puts things in their proper persective. Kids are off to school. Baby is sitting in his bouncer seat beating up on his toys and talking to himself. (He has just caught my eye and may decide that he doesn't want to be in the bouncer seat anymore, but in my arms!) He is such a good natured little guy until he is thwarted in what he wants, whether it be food or attention or a nap.

This afternoon, I'll be going to the high school to meet with Kristofer's guidance counselor. We really need to start putting some plans into action for life after high school. He's not going to be able to take the path that Keri Lynn has taken, in that his grades aren't fabulous. What I'm hoping is that he'll be able to find some kind of work-study program, an internship of some kind, that will help him get his degree and learn some important work skills to get him settled as a working man. It's hard to believe that my sweet little baby boy who told our life story to strangers in the supermarket is getting to be so grown up. He has so many talents with his creative bent. He's also very good with technology. That's why he is so in love with his new camera that he got for his birthday. If you're not on facebook already, then you'll need to be just to see his beautiful pictures. He wants to take a photography class, and I'm hoping he'll be able to take one in college. I don't think he has enough time left to take one in high school.

Look who's seven months!

2010-08-30T12:37:00.000-04:00

Isaiah 25:6-9

2010-08-17T09:07:00.003-04:00

The Lord of hosts will prepare a lavish banquet for all peoples on this mountain;
A banquet of aged wine, choice pieces with marrow,
And refined, aged wine.
And on this mountain He will swallow up the covering which is over all the peoples,
Even the veil which is stretched over all nations.
He will swallow up death for all time,
And the Lord GOD will wipe tears away from all faces,
And He will remove the reproach of His people from all the earth.
For the LORD has spoken.
And it will be said in that day,
"Behold, this is our God for whom we have waited that He might save us.
This is the LORD for whom we have waited;
Let us rejoice and be glad in His salvation."

Job 19:20

2010-08-11T08:33:00.004-04:00

Did you know that the phrase "skin of your teeth" originated in the book of Job? Check it out! I never noticed it before!

My bone clings to my skin and my flesh,
And I have escaped only by the skin of my teeth.

Titus 2:3-5

2010-08-11T08:31:00.003-04:00

Older women likewise are to be reverent in their behavior, not malicious gossips nor enslaved to much wine, teaching what is good, so that they may encourage the young women to love their husbands, to love their children, to be sensible, pure, workers at home, kind, being subject to their own husbands, so that the word of God will not be dishonored.

Happy 4th!

2010-07-04T16:10:00.001-04:00

Look who's five months!

2010-06-22T17:23:00.000-04:00

Super Mario Beatbox

2010-06-19T10:30:00.000-04:00

WATCH: Marine Stuns Crowd at Tea Party | The FOX Nation

2010-06-19T00:05:00.000-04:00

WATCH: Marine Stuns Crowd at Tea Party | The FOX Nation

Prager University: The American Trinity

2010-05-26T10:58:00.000-04:00

Back to school

2010-05-26T09:29:00.003-04:00

It's official. I start my Master's program on June 7 -- less than two weeks away! So excited about this opportunity. God willing, by the end of next summer, I'll have a Master of Arts in Teaching (MAT).

It was kind of surreal finding my way around campus yesterday, at the age of 44, amidst a group of summer school kids, with my baby stroller! Hahahahahaha!

Look who's four months!

2010-05-26T09:24:00.001-04:00

Changing it up

2010-05-26T09:13:00.004-04:00

I'm changing the format for my blog just a little. Less words and more pictures.

There are two reasons why I'm making this change.

The first reason is kind of silly. I usually send out a group email and then copy and paste it onto the blog, but for some reason the copy and paste feature has not been working lately. It's very frustrating. So rather than write it all out over again, I'm going to either summarize or write about something completely different or just post a picture related to what I wrote about in the email! How is that for flexibility!

The second reason is Facebook. With Facebook, I've become less faithful to the blog I write daily on Facebook, sometimes two or three times a day. Ad nauseaum! However, the blog still serves a purpose, just as email does. So I'll continue to maintain these for the time being. And since my blog is imported to Facebook, I'm writing and posting pictures with Facebook in mind. Please please join if you haven't already! I'd love to keep track of you this way!

So that's what is going on with me. My next post will begin the change. See if you can see the difference!

Kathleen with three of her BFF's!

2010-05-20T22:05:00.001-04:00

Suffering for Jesus

2010-05-20T21:55:00.002-04:00

As I write this, Keri Lynn is up in the air on the way to Japan! Woooo-hoo! She's "suffering for Jesus" in business class. Poor thing.

It's a 14 hour flight. When she arrives, she'll be 13 hours ahead of us (EST). So strange to think that she'll be on the other side of the world! Wow! The privilege of traveling!

The kids are finishing up their second to last week of school, then we'll be heading into summer. The days are warm and humid. It definitely feels like summer already. It's hard not to turn the air conditioning up and up and up!

I'm finishing up the paperwork for my school starting in June. A lot of the financial aid that I was counting on isn't coming through, but there is one special grant for graduate students that are committed to teaching in low-income/special needs schools. There are also loan forgiveness programs for teachers, so I'm hoping that it will end up costing fairly little. It's tough getting more education so that one can actually get a job! Ack!

Baby Dedication Day

2010-05-18T08:48:00.001-04:00

The sands of time

2010-05-18T08:47:00.000-04:00

Keegan is just a few days short of his fourth month! He has grown a lot lately. It won't be long before he's sitting on his own and eating solids. He enjoys playing with his links, batting hanging toys, eating his shirt, and stuffing his fists in his mouth. When I'm late with his bottle, he declares a national emergency. He enjoys "talking" to people. He's just all around CUTE. Love that boy!

My oldest baby is preparing for her trip to Japan. She leaves on Thursday and will be gone for nearly 2 1/2 months. We are running around doing last minute things. I have been overwhelmed with the way so many things have fallen into place for her for this amazing trip. Funds are pretty much all in. She even got a dog-sitting and babysitting job this weekend that earned her a little extra spending money. Whew! I can't wait to see how the Lord will work in her this summer. And I can't wait to see Hongodai Church in action! It is a wonderful community of believers -- a great example to us here in the States.

The rest of the kids are finishing up the last two weeks of school. We get out earlier than most because we start at the beginning of August. I like the schedule. The summer is a little shorter, but we also get more time off during the school year. The kids are more than ready to get out of school!

I was recently made aware of a program available at a college south of where we live. It's a Master's Program that starts full time for the summer, continues at night through the school year and then finishes up full time through the next summer. I'm hoping to get into it this summer, starting June 7! God willing, by the end of next summer, I'll have my Master's in Special Education and be employable. Not that there are any job offerings right now. Our county, as are so many counties, is cutting the education budget like crazy. But eventually, they'll need to start hiring again. And I'll be ready!

We've been struggling mightily with me out of work completely all this last year and that pesky mortgage still due every month! But our bank is at last working with us with a loan reconstruction. Please pray with us, that all will work out in a beneficial manner for us and for the mortgage company. We love our house, but we are prepared, if we need to, to downsize. God is so very gracious to us! There has never been a time that our family's needs have not been met!

The College Girl is Home!

2010-05-12T14:05:00.001-04:00

Keegan's normal sleeping position with hands up at his head

2010-03-11T22:03:00.001-05:00

I've got sunshine!

2010-03-11T21:59:00.000-05:00

Yesterday, along with the dreariness of a rainy day, Kody was sick and threw up three humongously gross piles of vomit on the carpet and breakfast room floor. Since I was overdue for a trip to the grocery store, did I have any paper towels? No. Napkins? No. Did I want to use some old towels? No. Did I want to even deal with the vomit? No!!! So I got Kristofer to at least get up the main disgusting part of it by scraping it onto some cardboard box pieces. (At least I think that's how he did it. I didn't stick around to find out!) Instead, I put Kody in the bathroom and went back to bed after the kids left for school. Then, when Keith got home, I told him about the mess that was now increased by yet more vomit or, as it turned out, diarrhea in the guest bathroom where Kody stayed all day.

This mess prompted a trip to the store to buy a STEAM CLEANER! Our third since our move to Georgia! We wear them out, you see! Anyway, it had been a couple of years since we'd had a working steam cleaner, so we were very excited to put this one right to use! Keith got a ton of hubby brownie points taking care of the dog mess.

Now we've got to deal with the turtles. It appears that both of them have FINALLY kicked the bucket. I actually feel kind of bad for them, even after all of my fussing about their stinkiness. With all of the excitement of having the baby, we've been neglecting them. I think they died of lack of water. Poor things. Turtles don't bark or make themselves a nuisance when they need water like Kody does. I think from now on, we will avoid all things amphibian and reptilian.

Today, the sun came out again. My heart lightened along with the weather. This winter seems to have been exceptionally cold and long -- others agree with me, so I know it's not just my hormones talking. It was warm enough today to even go for a walk! I am SO looking forward to spring. We've been in the 60s all week, and it has been heavenly!

I got a ton of stuff done today because of the sunshine -- a lot of phone calls, laundry, dishes, and desperately-needed organizing. But I didn't get to the grocery store like I had wanted to. So, Keith picked up some McDonald's chicken sandwiches and McDoubles for the hungry mob. (We only serve the very best of nutrition here at the Johnson household.) Only, I really wanted some chips and salsa. Badly wanted. At the urge-of-crying wanted. In fact, what I really wanted to do was take the whole gang off to El Charro's, our favorite Mexican restaurant, but it wasn't going to work with Keith's schedule. So, he surprised me and brought home some chips and salsa along with McDonald's. Chips and salsa have never tasted so good!

Keith has been scoring some very excellent husband points lately.

Daylight Savings Time is coming once again. I get so depressed when I have to wake up an hour earlier. It takes a good couple of weeks to get used to the time shift. It's just not natural! I guess I am not a morning person AT ALL! It seems like we just got back to Standard Time!

Keegan turns seven weeks tomorrow. He is growing like a weed. Maybe it's all the rain and cold. Nothing to do for him but eat and grow and fill his pants and eat and grow some more. He is already wearing 3-6 month clothes and becoming more and more animated. He makes us all into ridiculous sounding fools when we're around him because we'll do anything to make him smile and coo at us.

Sometime next week, Keegan should be wearing 12 month clothes, or maybe 2T. Good grief, kid!

Baby shower time!

2010-03-01T14:50:00.003-05:00

Out of the sick bed

2010-03-01T14:47:00.001-05:00

I am thankfully feeling better this week after a whopper of a cold. Since Keith was working on Sunday, I opted to stay home with the kids and relax before going to the baby shower instead of going to church. This worked out well. Keri Lynn was home from college to attend the shower and needed the sleep-in time, too, I think!

At the shower, we were blessed with an abundance of diapers and wipes, baby clothes and gift cards. The food was delicious. The fellowship precious. Thank you, ladies, for such a lovely time! I am posting pictures on facebook!

Today, I'm trying to pick myself up out of the sick bed to get life back in order again. I still have a bit of a sinus headache from all of the congestion I had, but I'm definitely feeling much better. I'm not sure if I had a touch of a flu or just a cold since the symptoms came on fairly quickly and left fairly quickly, too. Usually, when I do get a cold, it sticks around for a couple of weeks. With this one, I started sneezing for a few days, felt better and then was walloped by the coughing and congestion that followed. But that lasted for two days and suddenly I was feeling better again. I'm not complaining, mind you, but it was odd that it moved in and out like that.

So far, Keegan doesn't seem to have gotten it, for which I am very grateful. He gets some congestion and and a little bit of sneezing, but it's nothing worse than what he's gotten since he was born.

Speaking of since Keegan was born, I realized, as we watched the closing ceremonies of the Winter Olympics, that the games have taken up more than a third of Keegan's life to date! I had great interest in the games for the first week, but because the most interesting events were shown later, I got really tired! So my interest level died down into the second week. The Olympics began to drag on and on. And how must it be for Keegan when it seems that it's all that has ever been on television!

Exciting things on tap for today:

1) Laundry

2) Laundry

3) Dishes

4) Laundry

5) Attempt the excavation of my bedroom

Keith bought three sets of laundry sorters from Costco -- one for the boys, one for the girls and one for Keith and me. The kids are enjoying the novelty of these wheeled organizers. Kathleen looked a little like a hotel maid as she brought her clothes over to the laundry room yesterday.

Time to get back to work!

Life of leisure

2010-02-27T11:55:00.000-05:00

It is such a privilege to be able to write down what has been going on the last few weeks. Email, blog and facebook have replaced my scrapbooks. I can look back at them and remember the precious moments of life. Thank you all for letting me share with you!

Keegan is a month old now. I can't believe how fast time has flown by. It was just moments ago when I sat on the couch watching TLC Baby Story episodes, my stomach swelled and ready to have a baby, wondering if that time would ever come and even if I would survive! And now, here I am with Little Man experiencing the outside world and thriving. At his one month check, he weighed in at 10 lbs, 14 oz, (78%), 23 inches (92%), and with a head circumference of 38 1/2 cm (57%). Since birth, he grew two pounds and two inches! All is well.

He likes to swing his arms and legs around like he's going somewhere. He occasionally smiles -- and that lights up his whole sweet face. He smiles and coos when I bring his burp cloth to his lips. And when he drinks his bottle, he makes a big production out of it. He drinks very leisurely, as if he has all the time in the world, and -- in reality -- he does. It doesn't matter if it's 5:00 in the morning or 3:00 in the afternoon, he's going to drink four ounces in about 45-60 minutes. He also enjoys being out and about in the house with all of his brothers and sisters. He's already spoiled because he knows that if he cries, someone is always around to pick him up and take him around.

I have to lock my room when Keegan is in his crib sleeping or Keva will come right in and touch and squeeze him. She loves to sneak in on him. Kody does, too, but he usually stays at the door's threshold hoping for permission to come in, too. Keva and Kody are quite the duo.

As I type this, I am trying to get over a pretty nasty head cold that I've been fighting since Monday. It started innocently enough with a lot of sneezing. But yesterday (Friday) was the worst, with a lot of miserable coughing and sniffling. Today, I think, I feel better. I just really need the weather to warm up! We are in the 20s at night and in the 40s during the day. I spend a lot of time holed up in my room where it is the warmest! This weekend, though it's supposed to get into the 50s with some sunshine. I am really ready for spring to come!

Tomorrow, after church, is my baby shower! I've gotten so many lovely gifts already, that I feel kind of weird having a shower, but it's coming anyway! Keith will be picking Keri Lynn up from school tonight so she can be here for tomorrow's festivities. Kathleen and Kylie are looking forward to coming, too! I'm just hoping that I'll keep up a better trend. I do feel a little better today, but I'm nursing a sinus headache. Blick!

Now what to do about breakfast? I guess I should grab something to eat while Keegan is sleeping. And I suppose I should also get dressed. The life of leisure!

First smiles!

2010-02-26T20:35:00.000-05:00

2010-02-16T11:49:00.001-05:00

Keegan's impersonation of "Bill the Cat"

2010-02-12T17:40:00.001-05:00

Keegan is three-weeks old!

2010-02-12T17:39:00.001-05:00

A very unusual day today. We have a Snow Day. No school. A perfect way to ring in the Winter Break week! This is great for me because I don't have to wake up with the kids to get them off to school until Feb. 22. Less sleep deprivation! Yay!

It's been snowing since about 2:00 this afternoon. So beautiful and COLD! All the kids, except for Keva and Keegan, are off at friends' houses either playing in the snow or hopefully sensibly holed up with their friends staying warm!

Keva is in her room right now so she will stop going around opening up all of our doors to the outside. Also she's there so she will stop sneaking into my room to pinch Keegan! I've been spending most of my time in my room where the temperature is about 10 degrees warmer than the rest of the house. I try to keep the thermostat at about 65, but that makes the family room and living room at about 55 and the bedrooms at about 75. Needless to say, I've been spending a lot of time in my bedroom! And in the closet, where Keegan's room is. Keegan's "room" is the warmest room in the entire house!

Keegan is currently napping. He is already three weeks old! I can't believe it. On the other hand, it feels like he's been around a lot longer than that, mainly because I'm sleep deprived and everything is a little fuzzy!

Every day, I continue to feel a little better. I've now dropped 30 pounds since Keegan's birth. I'm hoping to start in on a good exercise program as soon as I am physically able in order to keep the pounds OFF. I've been wearing all of my regular clothes again. This is so nice, since I had a very limited maternity wardrobe! Also, because I still have to watch my blood sugar, I'm working on a food schedule where I eat smaller more frequent meals. This is tricky because I've always eaten basically two big meals -- lunch and dinner. However, I feel much better and my blood sugar levels are much happier if I actually eat a small breakfast and a bunch of smaller meals. This has been my Grandmother's call to action for YEARS, so here I am at last following her advice!

We've gotten a lot of meals from neighbors and church family. I haven't had to cook since I've been home from the hosptial! When we haven't gotten a meal, I've either ordered pizza or we've eaten leftovers. There's one more meal that Ginny froze while she was here that I'm planning to use for dinner tonight, then I'll have to dust off the pots and pans and see if I can remember how to cook!

Keith called from work this morning to say that he'll be spending the night at a local motel paid by Delta to make sure he gets back to work tomorrow morning because of the weather. This means he won't be home to build a fire, but he may be getting some good overtime! He's been having to work more and more weekends these days, but we feel blessed that he has a job at all.

Keegan calls. He thinks he's hungry again.

Routine?

2010-02-04T15:40:00.000-05:00

I'm having a time trying to find a routine in a non-routine season of life! I'm tired and sore and sometimes headachy/nauseous. But Keegan is cute, and even when he wakes me up at 4:00 in the morning, I get such a big kick out of his bright eyes and sweet concerned expressions that I can't be upset about sleep deprivation. Plus, since I'm not working, I get to rest during the day whenever Keegan is resting. It's a nice treat for as long as it lasts.

I can't believe that Little Man will be two weeks tomorrow. This time two weeks ago, I was strapped to a hospital bed trying my hardest to give birth to a kid floating up near my ribs. The hardest part of that particular labor was when nurses kept trying to get blood samples for various tests. I still have bruises up and down my arms from that!

Kylie, Kade and Konner will be coming home from school soon. The first thing they want to do when they get home is to hold the baby. "Where is Keegan?" "Can I hold him?" Sometimes I hold back because he's sleeping, but most of the time he's up by then and ready for some play time. By 6:00 pm, he's conked out from all of the attention he gets in the afternoons!

Keith has tomorrow off and will go see Keri Lynn to help her with some laptop issues. Any excuse will do, though. He loves to drive over to see her at school, even though it's a rather monotonous two hour drive to get there. I remember when my own Dad would come and see me at Biola. He didn't have a car at the time, but took the bus to see me on his day off. We'd usually eat lunch at the cafeteria and get caught up on things that were going on. I love that Keri Lynn has that Daddy time. So important to a growing young woman's maturity.

Someone from church is bringing a meal tonight! Yay! Love those meals. I even have a few more meals that Ginny prepared and froze while she was here for a few more nights. We also got a bunch of food from a family that moved out of the neighborhood -- they were cleaning out their freezers and wanted to know if we'd be interested in their extra food. Ha! Would we? Let me think a half second. Let me give you a mental picture of my wee baby birds with their mouths open. "Yes, extra food would be just fine, thank you very much!"

Three ladies from church are also planning a baby shower for me and Keegan! It's going to be Sunday, February 28, 2010 at the Warehouse, the youth building at our church, from 12:30 - 2:30. If you already attend our church, then you'll probably be getting an E-vite, but if you don't and you'll be in the area, and you want to come, let me know and I'll give your name to one of the ladies in charge of the shower.

It has been the time of many blessings. A friend has come around for several hours every day this week to help clean house. Can I tell you how lovely the smell of bleach is? The carpet and wood floors have never looked so clean either. And the laundry is nearly all caught up -- which is frankly rather a miracle in and of itself. It has been a big boost to my spirits and one of the reasons I felt so great on Tuesday. I then did a bunch of my own laundry that day and promptly felt TERRIBLE the next day. Too much stress on my stomach muscles, I guess. I keep forgetting that I still need to take it easy.

One of the biggest tricks these days is getting to bed at a decent time. I am quickly getting used to being able to fall asleep by about 10:00 or 11:00 pm in my very own bed (not on the recliner), but Keegan has other ideas. He likes to leisurely drink his bottle from about midnight to 1:00 and then he's up once more usually before morning. This actually is not a horrible schedule for a newborn, but I know I can do better if I schedule him more carefully during the day. BUT, I'm so groggy from the night, that I catch my Z's while he is sleeping right through the next bottle feeding schedule! Argh!

Last night, I woke up to feed Keegan and was just starved! Keith had gotten us some pizza at Papa John's last night while the kids had Wednesday night supper at church. He got one pizza for him (pepperoni, sausage and bacon) and one for me and Keva (mushroom, olive and pineapple)! It was perfect! All it needed was some anchovies! Well, last night, I had another piece of my pizza at about 5:00 am. STARVED, I was! In fact, while I'm typing this, my mouth is starting to water again. It may make the perfect quick lunch. Bye!

Getting back into a routine

2010-02-02T18:38:00.000-05:00

Keegan is already 11 days old! We are getting into somewhat of a routine, as I try to find my own routine after so many months of not being able to sleep until the early morning hours and then sleeping until noon.

Last night, I actually had some chili and then was able to go to bed without the use of Tums! It was amazing and so wonderful and so comfortable to snuggle into my nice warm comforter and just fall asleep! This is discounting a certain short person who needs to eat a few times a night, but this is still infinitely preferable to the other option!

I was feeling really good coming home from the hospital last week, but my body still has had some adjusting to do. I needed to once again get used to my regular blood pressure meds. This has caused headaches and some nausea.

Then, there's the meds I've been taking for gestational diabetes. It is not known yet whether I will still need to deal with diabetes post pregnancy, but I still need the medication to control it, so I'm not hopeful that it will go away. On the more positive side, it does help me eat healthier. Too much sugar makes me feel yucky.

I also have a little bit of an opening at the incision site where the stitches tore at a stretch mark -- the skin was just too thin. So, I'm also on antibiotics to prevent infection.

I still have some of that lovely Percocet left. Man, that's good stuff. But it's starting to give me a bit of a buzz when I used it whereas before it just helped mask the pain. So maybe I might not need it so much anymore.

I feel like a drugstore.

Keegan, however, is doing great. He has upped his bottle intake from barely 2 oz. to a "whole" 3 oz. He's still a pretty sedate eater compared to other siblings, taking time to burp and watch the many faces all peering at him at any given hour of the day. He gets a little bit of a break from his popularity during school hours, but then explodes into activity as soon as kids start dribbling home. He loves the attention, though. He's very alert, staring right back at all of his loving subjects.

Kody watches over him carefully and wants to sniff and lick him, but we are giving Keegan some space for now from dog love.

Keva knows there is someone to reckon with as well. She came up to him one day last week and stroked his shoulder with two fingers, all sweet and loving. She walked away and then came back and stroked his shoulder again, then, in typical Keva style, gave the little brother a pinch! So now we know where she stands in regard to that pesky little brother!

Keith decided that I was getting too much attention, so he got his truck stuck in the mud in the backyard, after bringing home some firewood for our cold nights. The boys were all down there trying to help get the truck out, and so was a neighbor. I was worried that one of the little kids might get hurt, but it was Keith that I really needed to worry about! He had a car jack that he'd put in place to help get the truck out, and somehow, the handle came loose or something, and hit him right across his eye. He went to urgent care and got six stitches on his eyelid and treatment above and below his eye. The next day, he went in for a CT scan to make sure there was not any further damage. We are VERY grateful that he didn't damage his eye or cause himself brain damage!

Aside from the drama, we've been enjoying the many blessings of friends and family as we welcome Keegan to our family. Gifts have been pouring in, along with meals! Yum! I've even had some help with housework, which has been a HUGE blessing. So I'd like to take this time to give a BIG THANK YOU to all of you! I'm trying really hard to get some real thank you cards out, but I wanted to express my thanks this way, too. I am so touched by the joy that is shared for and with us. We are truly blessed!

2010-01-24T15:50:00.000-05:00

Update -- Keegan is 1 day old!

2010-01-24T15:49:00.000-05:00

If you tend to be a little squeamish about medical stuff, you might want to skip this email. If you're a mom yourself, you might be rather interested. : )

We arrived at the hospital on Thursday at 6:00 AM as scheduled. Since we'd been at the hospital last week, there was hardly any paperwork to do, just signatures for all the procedures and possible procedures.

We started off very hopeful that I'd be able to deliver vaginally. Keegan's little stubborn head was DOWN, so there was not even a need for the version! So, right away, I was given an IV to keep fluids moving, my water was broken and cervix stripped (so fun!), a catheter put in (so special!) and the epidural started. This was the first time I'd received an epidural without already being in labor. The anesthesiologist had to do it twice because the first one hit a blood vessel. While he was doing it, I felt very fuzzy headed; I could have just laid down right then and there for a little nap. Fortunately, that cleared away and the epidural started its important job. I laid back down in that Oh, so comfy hospital bed knowing I was in it for the long haul.

Pitocin was started soon after that.

The nurse discovered that there was meconium (baby poop) in my amniotic fluid. The OB told me not to worry, that it's actually quite common. So I tried not to worry.

I started slowly dilating. Not unusual for me. By late afternoon, I was at about four. I was getting a little discouraged, and was expecting the OB to call off the induction and go for the c-section, but she surprised me and said that baby looked good, things were progressing, and we could go on.

A monitor was put on baby's scalp and inside my uterus to more accurately keep track of heartbeat and contractions. Except the nurse ended up accidentally stabbing herself with the scalp monitor instead. So I had to agree to give a blood sample to prove that I didn't have AIDS. Otherwise, she'd have to take a month's worth of very serious medication to counteract the possibility -- hospital policy. The only thing was that I had no blood to give! It's always hard to get blood from me even under the best of circumstances, but after already being poked and prodded for blood to set up for labor, the nurse had to literally get blood from my FOOT! This actually ended up working out very nicely because my feet were partially anesthetized from the epidural! So she was able to get her blood sample, all the while apologizing for causing me more pain! I'm happy to report that I do not have AIDS. : )

Anyway, I buckled down for more labor. The contractions didn't hurt, even as I headed toward five centimeters, but the sitting and laying only on my back for what amounted to 18 hours sure did! I don't know if my rear end is ever going to be the same again!

Finally toward the end of those 18 hours, Keegan's heart was starting to show signs of possible problems. He was not technically in distress, but his heart was dipping with each contractions and not coming back up like it should, AND he was no where near the birth canal. Even though he was head down, he was still floating up near my ribs. I think my uterus was just too tired to contract the Little Man back down to where he needed to be.

So the doctor finally called it. It was time for my first C-section. It was a little surreal getting wheeled off to the operating room. The lights were so bright and everything was bright white and blue. It looked a lot like a scene out of Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory. I kept expecting Umpa Lumpas to come on in and sing me a song.

Keith was brought in right as they began surgery. He stood and watched most of the procedure. I was glad to be behind the curtain myself. They had to do a lot of pulling and tugging to get Keegan down to the incision. "Lots of pressure" was quite an accurate phrase. At one point, the nurse watching over me said, "It's going to feel like an army is stomping on your chest." And it did.

The OB said I have the most elastic uterus she's ever seen. I'm special, I guess!

Just minutes into the C-section, I got the privilege of hearing Keegan's first cries. Apparently he had a TON of meconium all over him. So did the placenta. He had kept quite busy in there waiting to be born! Poor guy. I didn't get to see him for at least 10 minutes while they endeavored to clean him up and do a quick check on his overall health. But then I did get to see him and was so surprised that he didn't look like my other kids much at all. He did look like Keith, but just a little.

Keith agreed and told me what I hadn't been able to figure out immediately, "He looks like your Dad!"

Ha! How about that! That means he looks like me! Kylie looks quite a bit like my Dad, too, but being a girl makes it not as obvious. It will be interesting to see how he develops.

We were all also very interested in finding out how much he weighed, given that more than a week ago he was measuring 8 lbs, 8 oz on the ultrasound measurements. Turns out the ultrasound wasn't too far off. He topped the scales at 8 lbs, 13 oz and 21 inches long -- the biggest Johnson yet! By about three ounces, but still a pretty big boy. He looks pretty mature for his age. I think he was just as ready to be born as I was ready to have him born!

Nurses then whisked him off to the nursery for further care. Keith went with them and watched as they sucked out more meconium out of his stomach. Poor guy! They checked his blood sugar levels and all looked pretty good there. They even gave him an ounce of formula which he promptly threw up, probably given that he'd just had his tummy rinsed out. Then, he was brought back to the room where I was recovering. It was so nice to see him so soon after the c-section, knowing that he'd not had trouble with breathing in the meconium or any other serious thing that might require the NICU.

By 4:00 AM, one of the nurses came in, "I've got good news and bad news. The good news is that there's a room ready for you finally in post-partum! The bad news is that I have to draw one more sample of blood! I PROMISE it will be the last one!"

After much poking and prodding and puncturing and bruising, she finally had to take it out of my foot (third try!) I literally had no blood left, I guess. I said, "Don't worry. At least if a vampire ever comes after me, I'll be safe."

Keith went on his way back home to rest, and I went to post-partum to do the same. It was HEAVENLY to be able to sleep on my back without anything sticking in or out of me (except for catheter and leg thingies keeping my blood circulating well)and just sleep. HEAVENLY. I also didn't need any Tums to sleep either. The nursery took the baby through the night and into the morning, since I couldn't get out of bed until I was walking.

When Keith came in the afternoon, he brought the baby out from the nursery and fed him and burped him and changed his diaper. Meanwhile, I took that long trip over to the bathroom for my first big walk. It was made a lot more painful than usual because my uterus was contracting in a mighty way AND I had diarrhea. (Every new mother has a contracting uterus. It doesn't usually hurt for the first baby, but for every subsequent baby, it hurts more and more . . . labor pains in reverse!) The c-section incision pain was secondary to the cramping. I was quick to get my pain medication! Oh, yes I was. But I survived and ended up sleeping very well on the second night at Hotel Piedmont.

Today, I continued to make sure I was walking and drinking and resting (according to OB instructions). I've learned how to order meals from the cafeteria. Breakfast consisted first of all of a bowl of prunes! I may have had to deal with some very uncomfortable diarrhea the night before, but it would be nothing compared to the OTHER issue that could arise if I didn't take precautions!

And I got very happy news about visitor restrictions. Just this Thursday, the day I got there, they restrictions have been lifted. H1N1 has been waining! This means that the kids got to all come over to see the baby and hold him. Keva stayed with Ginny to make it a little easier for all involved, and then Ginny came later to sit and visit and hold and feed the baby. It was a very nice relaxing day.

Keith also brought me the laptop, knowing that I'd be quite happy to be hooked up to email and facebook again! Yay! I hadn't known that he'd been keeping updates on facebook for me, except for that last one. It was a kick to read them all and see everyone's comments and concerns and prayers and elation. What a joy it has been to share this experience with friends and family all across the country!

I'll be here at the hospital through Monday. That should give me enough time to do the harder recovery. Keith goes back to work on Monday but should be done in time to bring Keegan and me home. Ginny leaves on Tuesday. It wasn't one of her regular visits, but it sure was nice to know someone was there for the kids, especially Keva! Thanks so much Ginny!

And thank you so much everyone for so many well wishes, meals, gifts. We are so blessed by our dear family and friends!

Lisa made us a cake!

2010-01-17T21:38:00.000-05:00

Baby Update -- I'm 39 weeks at last!

2010-01-17T21:16:00.001-05:00

I was supposed to go to the hospital today to have the baby, one way or another, but through a series of events find that I'm having to wait until Thursday, the 21st. I just about broke into tears when the doctor told me that, but held it together, got a hug from Keith and headed home to regroup. While I sat on the couch later that afternoon, I watched footage of a Haitian woman in labor in the makeshift tents in Port-au-Prince, and decided that maybe I was feeling just a bit too sorry for myself. I am now very thankful that I have easy access to doctors, the hospital, my own refrigerator, water and shelter. I am blessed!

So now I look toward Thursday morning. I'm actually kind of enjoying these last few days of quiet freedom. The kids are home on a three day weekend, even Keri Lynn. Everyone has been a big help with the basic maintenance. They don't exactly jump around doing dishes and laundry at the drop of a hat, but they do help when asked without too much complaining!

We've had some baby things trickling in from friends and family. Such fun! We got a used stroller and car seat from my friend Lisa. Kylie, Kade and Konner were all fighting over the chance to run the stroller all around the house -- they've never been on the driving end of a stroller before! Lisa also made us a delicious dinner that we very much enjoyed today after church. It came with a birthday cake for Keegan. So cute!

Keri Lynn goes back to school tomorrow evening. With the exception of the time she'll be here for Keegan's arrival, she'll be gone quite a bit after that. I miss her already and she isn't even gone!

Kristofer, Kathleen and Kylie all participated in a mass choir festival on Friday and Saturday. Then this morning, they sang five of their six songs in church. I wish I could have been there, but once again I had a late night, finally getting to sleep at about 4:00 AM and sleeping until noon. Not exactly a hard life, but I do miss a lot of productivity during the day. It will be weird to get back to a normal bedtime routine, or at least as normal a bedtime routine as one can have with a newborn!

Keith starts his second week of vacation this week. Then on Tuesday or Wednesday, depending on Keegan's whims, Ginny will come to help for a whole week. She shifted her time by a few days to accommodate our revised schedule. She'll help get kids on the bus, organize meals that are coming in and even cook some meals to freeze. I am very thankful!

38 weeks, two days

2010-01-12T17:29:00.000-05:00

I finally pegged someone down at the OB office that my date to go to the hospital is indeed Sunday, the 17th. FIVE DAYS! WHOOOO-HOOOO! I'm not anxious or anything. At all. Nope.

The plan is to go in, get an IV and epidural in place, have the doctor turn the baby's head in the proper direction for birth and have the baby! If there are any complications, the staff is on stand-by for a c-section.

I've been experiencing some swelling in my legs and feet in the last 24 hours, so I'm trying to take it easy. This is hard because I'm trying to tidy things up for when I'm gone to the hospital. Still, the kids are available to order around, and that's exactly what I've been doing. Keith just told Kristofer and Kathleen that they need to do dishes every night for a while, including the never-ending pots and pans that need to be hand washed.

Last night, I wrote up a list of people to call before and after birth. I still haven't packed my bag yet. Need to do that, considering Keegan might foil all the plans and come on his own earlier. I've been experiencing mild contractions for a couple of days now. Saturday night was the longest stint, with contractions every 10 minutes for about six hours. I knew from experience, though, that it was nothing to call the doctor about. I have particularly poky labor until I finally reach active labor, then things tend to move along quickly.

Keri Lynn went back to school on Sunday. She is enjoying seeing all of her friends and is excited to be back in a routine, especially since she doesn't have any early morning classes. (She is her mother's daughter, after all.)

Kristofer skated through his first semester of his junior year with fairly easy classes. This semester is a whole different ballgame with physics and geometry as the two big classes on his plate. He's going to have to really study on a regular basis!

My friend Ginny from Florida is coming up on the 16th to help with the home front for a whole week. And since this weekend is also a holiday weekend, Keri Lynn will probably come home to see the baby then, too, since she doesn't have to go back until Monday night. She'll be only sibling old enough to come and see the baby and actually hold him. The rest will have to be happy with looking at the baby through the nursery windows. Kathleen is unhappy about this, but the rest of the kids really don't care!

I was really pleased with the change in hospitals after Keith and I talked it over with the perinatologist. The second hospital is a lot closer and able to deal with my various issues with ease. If for some reason I do end up having complications because of my blood pressure, then I'll go to the first hospital further away. However, I feel good and all of my levels (sugar, blood pressure, weight are all under control).

37 1/2 weeks, but who's counting

2010-01-07T20:53:00.000-05:00

Wow, I've messed up on writing the year several times already. I could chalk it up to PBS (Pregnant Brain Syndrome), but I do have the same issue every year.

I went for my regular OB appointment yesterday. I actually saw the SAME doctor that I'd seen for the previous two appointments. That's so nice when you go to a big practice. Anyway, I tried to convince her that I really needed to be induced by the 38th week, which was a scant four days away. But she informed me that hospital policy does not allow elective procedures like that to be done until the 39th week. I was slightly deflated, but not so much as to be crushed. There is still plenty to do to get stuff ready for Keegan's imminent arrival.

So the plan is to go to the hospital on January 17, at the beginning of my 39th week, get an IV and epidural, turn baby's head the right direction, and start inducing labor! However, if there are any complications with this, I would be prepared for an immediate c-section. There are a lot of variables involved with doing this. In fact, a lot of doctors don't care to do it at all, but I'm a good candidate in that my uterus is all stretched out from having seven other children. Plenty of room for moving baby.

What I'm worried about is that I'll start labor before the scheduled version/induction. Once I start contractions, then the version (where baby is turned in the right direction) is not an option, causing too much stress on the uterus. I'm not hopeful that Sumo Keegan will go head down on his own as he has been head up the ENTIRE last trimester. I can see him on ultrasound sitting in there like a little Buddha, legs and hands crossed, sitting straight up, little head at the top of my belly. But if I do have a c-section, that will be okay, too. I'd just rather avoid the recovery time of a surgery like that.

Over all, though, I'm feeling good. I've gotten used to my life of bon-bons (without the bon-bons), wherein I don't get to sleep until at least 3:00 because of stomach acid and tingly feet. Something kicks in around 3:00, and I drift off into a mostly comfortable sleep on the couch's recliner. Then, I get up at 6:37 to get the kids off to school and climb into my actual bed until about 11:00 or noon. Not too bad, all in all. My blood pressure has been steady and pretty much normal. My blood sugars have been pretty much steady, too. When I get up from sitting for any length of time, it takes a good couple of minutes before I can actually move from that spot as muscles, joints and bones settle into place. Oh, the fun of the last month!

I've kept busy ignoring the dishes and laundry. I've been knitting instead. The kids do pretty well picking up the slack, but only when Keith or I get onto them. I have a vision of actually getting caught up with the laundry before D-Day, but I think it is only a vision. Sigh.

Keith and I were planning on having the baby sleep with us in our room for the first few months at least, but now we are seriously considering converting the master closet into baby space. It's big enough to be its own room. It has ventilation/heating and a door to close on fussy baby when he needs to sleep but isn't quite ready to do so immediately. And he's close by for late night feedings and cuddling. Now that I have one more week to wait, it is actually giving us more time to put the plan into action, because there's this tiny little problem of finding homes for all the STUFF that is in the master closet right now! We do need to organize it anyway, so this is a great incentive to get it done! I'm kind of happy about this little idea that sprung out from nowhere!

My Mom and Rich won't be able to come after all to help when baby comes, and I will miss them, but my friend Ginny from Florida will be coming that week instead. Since she and her kids come often for visits, she knows the routine and how to get around the kitchen and which kids can do which jobs. So her focus is going to be on helping with the running of the household.

Keith has a two week vacation starting Monday! This is so nice coming from his two week Christmas vacation! And this will be especially helpful should Keegan decide he's coming earlier than the 17th.

I guess I'm in a little bit of shock that the arrival date is so quickly approaching. I keep having this silly fantasy that I'll be able to sleep through the night again, but I keep reminding myself that this is not so! But, it is temporary! If he's like the other kids, he should be sleeping through the night by six weeks to two months. But then there's that thing about little ones that they like to get up EARLY whether it's a work day or a weekend or holiday. It doesn't seem to matter to them! Now that will take some getting used to! But that's okay, too, as I've learned (after many years of early mornings) that it is not a permanent situation! Trying to get my college girl up, for instance, before noon while she's home on vacation is another thing entirely!

Merry Christmas!

2009-12-26T18:34:00.001-05:00

From Our Home to Yours . . .

2009-12-26T18:23:00.004-05:00

Merry Christmas and a happy New Year!

We are pretty much unable to stamp Christmas letters anymore, I guess, because here I am writing out our letter on the computer and about to send it off into cyberspace! Email, my blog and facebook help our family keep up, especially with family and friends on the other side of the country!

Our year has been one of great change. I worked the first half of the year as a substitute TA in an amazing special education classroom. I learned a little bit more of what it means to be a working mom. It also gave me a yearning that if I was going to have to go to work anyway, that I really wanted to pursue a teacher certification in special education. I passed three required tests and started applying to get my masters in special ed. The plan was to get a provisional teacher's job while working toward certification. I'd have five years in which to accomplish this. It all sounded a bit daunting, but it seemed the best option at that time.

School let out for the year, and summer began. I had great plans to clean up around the house and get some more painting done and get some kind of summer job to help tide us over through the lean summer months. There was a lot of catch-up work to do, since most of my free time during the school year had been spent relaxing rather than cleaning! I was running errands that first week of summer when I felt a familiar nausea flair up in my innards . . . Sure enough, one pregnancy test later, I stood in my bathroom not just a little shocked and not just a little flustered. This wasn't part of The Plan. Keith and I looked at each other over the table that night at dinner and started working on Plan B. It has been nine years since our last baby! And here we were, with first baby heading off to college in August and last baby being at that moment weaved by God's hand in my womb! Exciting, scary times!

Because my morning sickness continued pretty relentlessly for the next six months, my plan of continuing to try to get a teaching job pretty much fell by the wayside. As it happens, the fact that God did not provide a job for me when we thought we most needed it was just, in fact, what we needed. I think it would have been detrimental to my health to work.As of this writing, I am nearly 36 weeks and coming to the end of an exciting pregnancy journey. It is WAY DIFFERENT gestating at the age of 44 then it was when I was 35 and taking care of six other busy children under ten! I had it easy then!

Still, I've made due in my old age! If I can't sleep at night, I can catch up on sleep during the day while the kids are at school. By about 4:00 AM, my feet are no longer tingly and my stomach is temporarily settled, no longer rebelling against its existence. I call it my bon-bon life. Sleeping in until 11:00 or even noon, and then going about my very busy afternoon of watching back-to-back episodes of Baby Story on TLC while eating Maltomeal. It's been a rough life!

Now, I've got about two to four weeks to go before Keegan makes his appearance. I think I'll be induced at about 38 weeks (two weeks from now), as baby is doing what the last two babies did before him. He is floating around with his head up, doing water aerobics. The plan, for now, is to go to the hospital before I start labor, so that the baby can be manually turned head down and the doctor can start inducing me. This was the way Konner was delivered. However, there are complications doing it that way that may lead to a Cesarean, which will be an entirely new experience for me. Still, I'm glad for the options and for the excellent obstetrical care I've received throughout the entire pregnancy.

Now, I suppose I'll need to tell you about what is going on with the rest of the family since, because even though it feels like it right now, it's not ALL about ME!

KEITH continues working at Delta. A year or so ago, he began working in management and is in charge of a group of work-at-home employees. He's learned a lot. At this management position, there's a lot of labor for not as much money, but it is a learning experience and a step up the ladder. We are so thankful for his job in a time of economic upheaval, especially as work-at-home employees are becoming more and more needed in the big corporate world. When Keith is not working, he likes to go to Freys Electronics and other such stores, as well as outlets and Big Lots. He loves to go look at things, and doesn't have to buy anything when he does. He also is the one who takes the birthday kids out for dinner and something fun. We've kind of gotten away from parties and just try to give the birthday kid special attention for his or her special day. Daddy is good at that! And the kids love it. As for time with his wife, we usually try to get in a Saturday morning out for breakfast/brunch at our favorite Mexican place!

KERI LYNN went and grew up on us. Keith and are are equal parts stunned and proud. How did this happen? She turned 18 and then went off to Georgia College and State University, where she is majoring in Early Childhood Education. She has made some great friends already and finds that 11:00 pm is an early bedtime these days. Inspite of sleep deprivation, she made the Dean's List on her first semester which will help her toward scholarship opportunities next year. She now has her own cell phone and manages her own bank account and school bills. Because of her high school GPA, she earned the Hope Scholarship, Georgia's scholarship program that pays for all tuition and some of the books. We are so glad she has so many wonderful opportunities. To top it all off, she has the opportunity this summer to work as an intern in Japan at a wonderful church where she and Kristofer went on their choir tour last year. We are so excited for her!

KRISTOFER (16) is a junior at Newnan High School. He may not have Keri Lynn's study skills, but he can grasp concepts easily. He helps a lot with tech stuff at church. And his favorite class this year has been video broadcasting. He also excelled in English class, where he got a little obsessed with writing poems. If you want your own poem, he'll be glad to write one for you. Just post something on his facebook page! He also just got his learner's permit. We've been so busy lately that the poor guy has yet to get behind the wheel, but I'm sure he'll do fine and not run into any parked cars or anything crazy like someone else might have done in our household when she got her learner's permit.KEVA (14) continues to surprise us with the new things she does. This year, she has become a stripper. She thinks it is great fun to take off ALL of her clothes no matter the state of her pull-up. Fortunately, she usually does this only in her room, as we have made it clear that this behavior is not acceptable elsewhere. I was starting to get really perturbed at her until I realized that this is a normal development stage. I can't tell you how many of my toddlers would try to escape the confines of the house to go run in the breeze in their birthday suits. When you think about it, children must learn how to UNDRESS before they can learn how to DRESS. I don't know how long this developmental stage will last, but I am happy with her progress. This Christmas, I made all the kids slippers, and Keva loves hers more than anyone else. She likes to keep them on for awhile and then she likes to fling them to the winds, laughing all the while. We do all love that girl, despite the messes she might create. She's always up for her specialty -- the group hug -- and she never complains about my cooking. If she doesn't like it (namely vegies), she just feeds it to the dog. That's why Kody is her best friend.

KATHLEEN (13) has blossomed into a lovely teenager. She is now top dog at Madras Middle School as a big eighth grader. She thoroughly enjoys being goofy with her friends. She loves to help cook in the kitchen and has often made dinner for the family when I just couldn't get the gumption up to get off the couch. Believe me, she has been a godsend. Last year, she got a sewing machine for Christmas and has had fun with it ever since, making fun outfits and pillows and whatever else she can think up that doesn't require formal sewing skills. She is quite the designer. I want to see her take some sewing classes to learn how to follow patterns, just to learn how to sew correctly and then I want to watch her fly with that knowledge to make her own designs. She already knows exactly what she wants her wedding dress to look like. She likes to crochet and knit, an activity that we do a lot together while jelling in front of the TV watching chick flicks like Pride and Prejudice. This year, she made a bunch of her own gifts for family and friends. I love watching her develop into a fine young woman.

KYLIE (11) is still a tiny thing. I think she's growing, only because she's grown out of a lot of clothes lately. She's a dichotomy. She loves dolls, stuffed animals and playing house. And she loves football with the neighborhood boys, going to the skate park with her brothers and playing in the creek. She is a fifth grader this year at Northside Elementary. Next year, she'll be in middle school. Yikes! Again, how does this happen!?! She can really talk up a storm if you catch her at the right time. She is always getting invited to people's houses for dinner or sleepovers. She and Konner both seem to be the social butterflies this year. She's always the first to meet any new neighbors and is responsible for quite a few of our neighbors going to our church. We are very proud of her and enjoy watching her grow!

KADE (10) is the male version of Kathleen. The Drama King. When he tells on someone, he REALLY tells on someone. And when he's happy, hungry, mad, hungry, or hungry, he'll let you know that, too. For Kade, it's all about his stomach. He had a special outing with his Dad to celebrate his birthday. He had saved a bunch of coupons, and this is what he planned for his birthday celebration: IHOP for breakfast, a free game at the bowling alley, lunch at Taco bell, dessert at Chick-fil-A, a trip to the Dollar Tree with his birthday money, dinner at Stevie B's Pizza, dessert at Dairy Queen -- all with coupons! He was so excited, he could hardly see straight! When he got home, he said in his exuberant way, "That was the best day EVER!" I made him a cake on his birthday and saved him the last piece and gave it to him a few days later. He took it with glee, gave me a big hug and said, again in his exuberant way, "Thank you, Mom! That was the best cake ever and you saved it for me!" He's also not hard to please when I cook. He likes whatever I make, proclaiming it to be "the best ever!" Someday, he will make his wife very happy, providing she waits for when he's really really hungry and will like anything. That's what I do!

KONNER (almost 9) is coming into his own. He enjoys a good joke and is learning how to tell it. Then, like his Mom, he laughs through the entire telling of it, spoiling it for everyone! But he sure is cute in the telling. I told him the other day that Keegan was going to be born close to his birthday, and he thought that was really cool! This was quite unlike me, who was quite indignant that my youngest brother would have the audacity to be born a day after my birthday! Konner is into all things Star Wars. He also loves his Nerf guns and going to the Skate Park on Monday evenings. He's blossoming in his school work with the help of a mentor.

KODY (3) -- our dog -- thinks he's the center of the family and feels that he deserves central attention whenever attention is being given. He barks at whoever comes to the door, whether it be a neighbor who comes daily or, heaven forbid, the mail carrier with a package. He is also quite often a very smelly dog. I, unfortunately, get the brunt of it when we are sleeping in the family room together where I prop myself up for the night on the recliner. Sometimes, I have to banish him to the bathroom just to be able to breath again! Most of all, he is not very smart. We get endless delight basking in his low IQ.

I will be posting a bunch of Christmas pictures on facebook. If you're not already on it, please join SOON and friend request me. I've been neglecting my blog lately because of my low energy level, but I should be back on track again in a few months! Of course, I think I'm forgetting how challenging those first few months of taking care of a newborn can be! Yikes! Keith, Keri Lynn, Kristofer and Kathleen are also on facebook. It's a family thing! Kylie is biding her time until she's old enough.

If you find yourself in the Atlanta area, please feel free to stop by and say hi! We'll make you tacos!

Blessings,

Jackie for our Family

Silent Monks Singing Halleluia

2009-11-11T16:15:00.001-05:00

27 weeks!

2009-10-29T17:56:00.001-04:00

I'm nearly done with my third trimester as I finish my 27th week. I've got a little under three months to go until my January 24th due date. Keegan will be here, God willing, before any of us know it.

Last visit to the perinatologist, showed that the cyst that Keegan has next to his kidney is the same size it was several months ago. It has not grown at all, and the perinatologist was surprised. "They always grow, this is unusual!" In fact, she says that the kidney is almost certainly functioning! We won't know for sure until the baby is born and an ultrasound is performed. What an answer to prayer!

Lately, I've been feeling better. I sleep most nights now in my own bed instead of the recliner. Last night was an exception due to two wonderfully tasty bowls of chili at Wednesday night supper. I knew I would pay for it, and did only minutes after digestion began. But I did manage to sleep well on the recliner, all the way until 5:30 AM when I dragged myself off the recliner and off to bed until 6:37 when my alarm kicked me back out again to get the kids off to school. It's important that the alarm goes off at 6:37, not 6:30 or 6:35. I feel like I'm cheating a little!

Anyway, pregnancy does continue to go well. I am aided by my life of leisure. No work means that I can take a nice long nap in the morning after the kids go off to school. As soon as I hear the bus pull away from our corner, I am off to bed until about 10:00 or 11:00 AM. It's a tough life, I know. Then I get up, make myself some Maltomeal and settle in to watch some TLC. I think I've watched every single Baby Story TLC has ever made, and cried at every last one of them. I also like to watch the Duggars -- Makes me feel that we've got a very small family in comparison!

I'm a little nervous waiting on the results of Tuesday's three-hour glucose test. Haven't had to do that before. The OB had me take a one-hour test earlier in the pregnancy that came out fine, and then (due to my age/weight/blood pressure/family history) I took a second one-hour test that came back elevated. Boo! So off I went for the three-hour. Such fun. Hopefully it will come back okay.

I've finally kicked my caffeine habit. I was motivated much more by trouble with tingly feet at night than possible gestational diabetes. I've LOVED my one can a day cola throughout pregnancy, but when one of my friends told me that she had to give up caffeine to get rid of her Restless Leg Syndrome, I had to think about my own caffeine intake. And I knew that the one can of cola was not helping. Plus, I was starting to not enjoy the cola. It was causing my stomach to sour, so I continued to cut back to about a half can, and then finally none at all. Surprisingly, I didn't deal with any headache issues, so I must have cut back slowly enough. What a thrill.

I'm not completely off soda, mind you. I've been greatly enjoying my mixed drink in the morning of ginger ale and orange juice. If I have to cut back on my sugar, I'm going to be really bummed. There's always hot tea, though. I love a nice decaffeinated tea as the cold weather sets in.

We've had a few colds go through the house, and I'm sure it's going to get worse, but it's part of the whole big family thing. We all LOVE to share our coughs, colds and flus. I took Kylie to the doctor last week and kept her out of school for one day. The antibiotics have kicked her cold out the door. Kade is next on the list. He's got a nasty cough. Since his ears weren't infected like Kylie's, I was hoping he'd kick it himself, but it seems to be getting worse, so I'm planning to take him to the doctor tomorrow. We most definitely will meet our family insurance detuctible -- as if that was ever an issue before!

Last post, I waxed eloquently about joining the YMCA to get back into shape. Boy, was I excited about it, until later on that very day after writing the post. I started thinking about all the people going to the YMCA with all of their germs. Now I'm thinking, maybe I'll just stay home. Since I have been feeling better, I've been getting quite a bit of exercise just doing household chores. I'm a wimp.

In Christ Alone Worship Video with Lyrics

2009-10-12T22:55:00.001-04:00

Libera - Be Still My Soul

2009-10-12T13:01:00.001-04:00

The adult child

2009-10-08T21:50:00.000-04:00

I hope that Keri Lynn will take this the right way, but I've already grown accustomed to her being gone. It's not that I don't miss her, because I do miss her. I especially miss our talks. We chat on Facebook, but she as yet does not have a cell phone for easy access. (Hopefully that will change this weekend!) Whenever I drive the kids anywhere, I count heads and realize that the reason kids seem so sparse is because one of them is indeed missing. But, I've slowly grown accustomed to the idea of an adult child. She had been moving in that direction for a couple of years under our roof and then slowly slipped off into her own world. And it's okay. In fact, it's more than okay. It's God's intention for those precious arrows to be aimed out into the world to be witnesses for Him.

We still talk. We still have that special mother/daughter relationship that creaks and groans as mother lets go and daughter strikes out on her own. But I know her heart. Her Daddy knows her heart. And more importantly, God knows her heart. And it is with tremendous joy that we all watch her live out her life as God's precious daughter.

I'm a little sentimental today. Mostly because I'm starting to feel better again in pregnancy. I'm sleeping better, so I have more energy. Every household task is not so incredibly daunting. I'm starting to look outside of my own issues a little bit more. I see the kids coming up the pike after Keri Lynn. The girls especially are hugely influenced by her example -- for which I am very thankful. I find that Kathleen comes to talk to me now about teen things that weigh heavy on the hearts of young women. It is my privilege to hear her. I am reminded of a long-ago Focus on the Family program where Dr. Dobson encouraged parents to take the time to listen to their teen kids. In fact, he advised that a Mom's presence in the home is even more important for the teen years than even for the baby and toddler years. I have taken those words of wisdom and stored them in my heart for these amazing teen years. It is astounding to watch them grow.

In fact, I start to wonder, as we struggle with our finances. Here I am, STILL without a job. And not only do I have no job, I barely have the where-with-all to get up in the morning to get the kids to school. I wonder at the timing of the little one growing inside me, a full NINE years since the last baby was born! And as the months go by, and Keith and I creak and groan in our own personal growth, my heart grows more and more at peace. It is all in the LORD's very capable hands.

Also, I am quite hormonal. I cry at everything. It's not sad depressing crying at all. It's just hormonal crying. I cry at weddings on TV -- The latest being the Duggars' vow renewal. (Here I thought it was going to be so cheesy, but I cried anyway!) I cry Every. Single. Time. a baby is born on TLC's Baby Story. I cry when I see someone else cry. I cry in Bible study and at church, when I sing a worshipful song, when I read Scripture. I cry when I type about things I cry about.

Tomorrow, I'm going to my OB check-up. I don't get excited about the OB visits. I look forward to the Perinatalogist visits much more because there's the ultrasound machine and I get a glimpse of Keegan's progress. The OB just tells me all the things that the Perinatologist told them. It's just going through the motions. Half the time, I'm seeing a midwife or nurse practitioner -- neither of which will be delivering the baby. I've only met two of the doctors since starting prenatal care. I'll probably meet more in that last trimester, which is just around the corner! Time has gone FAST!

By the time I get back, Keri Lynn should be getting home for the weekend and the elementary school kids will be home, too. She has big plans that include El Charro's, Dr. Who DVDs and getting that cell phone. Keith finally switched to a pay-as-you-go phone that is working well. We're hoping that it will work for Keri Lynn, too.

I'm having some computer issues, so hopefully this will get to you all. If you're on Facebook (hint, hint), you'll get this in my notes anyway. And there's always the blog, of which I've been neglecting in a major way for lack of energy.

Good-bye, Evil Stomach Bug!

2009-10-05T17:57:00.001-04:00

I am SO thankful to be feeling better after a 24-hour stomach bug. I wasn't feeling so well by Saturday late afternoon, and by Saturday night my stomach was roiling and didn't stop until 7:30 the next morning when I finally thought to myself, "I've got to throw up NOW!" I did just that and was finally able to lie down and go to sleep. What a relief!

Keith took everyone but Kylie (who had a cough) and Keva (who needed adult supervision) to church that morning. Both Kathleen and Kristofer sang in a mass choir that morning. They sang "Days of Elijah", one of my favorites. Kylie was supposed to sing, too, but she was battling that cough. While Kylie kept an eye on Keva, I slept off my rough night in my very own beloved bed until about 3:00 pm. Keith and the kids did dishes and foraged for food (we were at the end of our groceries, so when I say "forage" I mean "forage"!)

By Sunday evening, I was feeling better, but Keith was still having to do my usual Taxi Service to take Kristofer to his choir and praise band practice. Then, he stopped by Taco Bell for a dinner run. Kathleen was the main motivator behind that plan. I ate a tostada that thankfully stayed down. It may have not been the wisest choice, but after a lunch of Top Ramen, I was happy to just eat something that I didn't have to cook.

This morning, after most of the night sleeping in a fairly comfortable position in the recliner, I was able to get Keva dressed and to the bus, and see the rest of the kids off to school before hightailing it right back to bed until 11:00 am. Ah, the life of leisure! Mortgage payments are highly overrated!

I even managed to get groceries today, after such good rest and the end of that horrid little bug. It makes me nervous about the beginning of the flu season. Keith and I have been debating back and forth about whether or not I should get the regular flu shot, let alone the H1N1 shot.

Meanwhile, after that little stomach bug episode, it was made very clear to me that I really need to get into better shape. So tomorrow, I'm heading off to the YMCA to start an exercise program for my weak pregnant self. It's not something that we can afford to do, but on the other hand, it's not something we can't afford not to do either. I think I should be able to get a discounted membership after I fill out some paperwork. And then once I eventually get a job, we should all be able to get the family membership. I have big plans for the YMCA -- with the elliptical machine being the main focus -- not too hard on my crackly knees. Then, I plan to do weights two or three times a week as well. After watching a hundred episodes of A Baby Story on TLC, I'm ready to get into baby delivery health!

I'm 24 weeks now. It's hard to believe that time has passed so quickly for the little one and me, but then again four more months seems like an ETERNITY away! I'm planning on having my Mom and Rich come for the baby's arrival. This is kind of funny, because I never asked anyone to come help before for any of the other babies, since family has always been close by in case of emergency anyway. But this time, I'm not so sure I'll be springing back as easily, if just the pregnancy is any indication. I have never felt so tired as I have these 24 weeks. Everything just zaps my energy in a major way. The perinatologist puts it so "nicely", "Well," she ways, "You're old!" Yes, I am, and feeling older every week! So even though I don't have the major fatigue and nausea of the first trimester, now I've got the extending tummy to deal with. Don't get me wrong, I'm thrilled to see that tummy. In fact, I still kind of get a jolt of surprise to see that tummy in the mirror! "Hey, I'm pregant!" It is very truly a blessing!

I'm off to go make dinner now that there is something to cook. I'm making a chicken & rice soup. I made it last week and it was a surprisingly big hit. Soup is always a big hit for me personally, and it's so nice in this cooler climate. It was 70 degrees this morning. We haven't touched the air-conditioning in nearly two weeks. Soon, it will be time to start up the heat, but for now we're enjoying the few weeks of lovely fall weather before sinuses start flaring up! The leaves are turning, too. The willow tree that I pass on the road to town is already bare!

A little bit of energy

2009-09-22T18:13:00.001-04:00

I'm feeling a little better today than I have been these last few months. I don't know if it will last, but I'm enjoying it while it does! I ran a bunch of errands today and just got dinner going. Usually, by now, after doing nothing but being exhausted and nauseated on the couch, I'd be trying to figure out how to pawn off dinner duties to the kids.

So you want to know how long we lasted without a TV? I did mention that it is football season, didn't I? Three days into our forced TV-fast, Keith was so disgusted that our service provider removed the split cable so that the whole system went straight to the Internet, that he went out and got a second split cable. The single cable was doing absolutely nothing to improve our Internet anyway, and now we can hook up our other computer in the family room that Keith and Kristofer have been working on to the Internet as well. We got all of our channels back that we had before and all is well with the world.

So much for saving time! The TV is back! (I'm not complaining, mind you!)

Keri Lynn and I were chatting on Facebook today right before one of her classes. She's upset because she got a 78 on a test where she thought she'd maybe gotten a low A. That's college for you. Good grades are harder to come by then in high school. She's not used to getting a C in anything, so I think she's a little worried that she's not going to be able to keep her GPA up high enough to keep getting the Hope Scholarship. It is a big deal and something to be worried about, but I am quite confident that she'll pull through just fine.

Otherwise, Keri Lynn is doing really well at school. She's met a lot of really great friends and is happy. She's enjoying some independence, a little of it forced because she doesn't have a cell phone and the phone in her room isn't working either, so we depend a lot on Facebook. She even opened up her own checking account. Keith and are are so proud of her. Please continue to pray for her as she builds relationships that will last a life time, and as she lives her faith among a lot of godless people.

I'm supposed to take Kathleen to get her physical some time this week so that she can try out for a couple of sports. She really wants to get on the soccer team. And Kristofer is hoping to get his driver's permit soon. He also put in an application at a grocery store which he may get thanks to a connection I have with a lady that I've subbed with who works there, too. Yay for connections!

Some of you may have seen on the news that Atlanta has been suffering from some severe flooding. We didnt' suffer any trouble and the kids are disgusted because they have to keep going to school when many of the counties north of us have had to call off school because so many roads are inaccessible. It has definitely been WET! Yesterday, it rained all day long. By afternoon, low lands and properties next to creeks and rivers where experiencing some real trouble. Eight deaths are blamed on the flooding so far. Today, thankfully, has been dry and we hope it will hold long enough for these problem areas to dry up a little so that families can go back to their homes. A lot of clean-up to go!

I have been craving chocolate like crazy lately. Last nigh, it got so bad that I got out a Pyrex 2-cup glass measuring bowl, added (without measuring) a bunch of sugar, a bunch of coco and a bunch of butter and stuck it in the microwave. Two minutes later, I took it out, stirred in some vanilla -- and got CHOCOLATE! So it was a little grainy, but it was still chocolate. Maybe that's why I'm feeling better today! I think I'll make some more tonight!

Despite the frequent chocolate cravings, I'm still 15 pounds down as I go into my 23rd week of pregnancy. This is not unusual for me. I tend to gain about 15-20 pounds by the end of pregnancy, but only lose about 10 after birth and then gain MORE after giving birth because I'm so HUNGRY! It has nothing to do with nursing either because I haven't nursed since Kathleen was a baby. I can't because of blood pressure meds.

I got to get back to finish up dinner! Pot pies tonight.

El Shaddai

2009-09-19T15:11:00.000-04:00

Amy Grant - El Shaddai (Live)

[via FoxyTunes / Amy Grant]

Good news/bad news

2009-09-19T13:33:00.001-04:00

Our computer and therefore our phone (through the computer system) has been cutting out on a regular basis. It was going out for hours at a time, so I called our Internet provider who sent someone on Friday to come take a look at it. He fixed it, kind of, I think . . . and now our TV is completely cut off.

While many of us are experiencing the shakes, lethargy and general anxiety over NO TV, it actually will end up being a very good thing for us. In order to cut our budget and save time, we cut out our basic TV at the end of last year and suddenly, we had all this TIME on our hands. It was truly a wonder! A few months later, we discovered that since the cable Internet services still needed a cable line, that we got intermittent TV channels on our TV. We could search and find several channels. At first, we had ABC and a couple of country music channels. Then, we lost ABC and got NBC, CBS and PBS along with the country music channels and a Catholic channel. THEN, only a month or two ago, we started getting Discovery Channel, and about three weeks ago, we started getting TLC and a whole bunch of other great cable channels. We were ecstatic and fully fixated on the box in the family room.

Then, the repair guys came. Yesterday. 3:00 PM. Trying to expand the bandwidth of the Internet services, and because we don't technically get TV through them, they changed a split cord to a single cord and now we have just the Internet services, like we're supposed to.

Sigh.

It's especially a sad thing for Keith who is whole-heartedly throwing himself into the football season. He'll have to content himself with going to friends' houses and going to the high school football games, because ESPN is no more. Even I'll miss ESPN because I enjoy watching tennis and golf.

I may find myself having a lot more time to do things like laundry and dishes, though. I've already entered into a deal with myself in which I clean for a half hour and play for a half hour on this fine rainy Saturday.

God must have known this was going to happen, though, because in the mail yesterday, what did we get but a package from Aunt Marcia with a bunch of books, videos and DVDs that she had sorted through while they are doing a massive overhaul of painting and re-carpeting their house. She and Dick have been working so hard on organizing everything, that it makes me tired just thinking about it.

I need to organize.

When the Internet repair guys came yesterday (Yesterday seems so FAR away!), I felt like one of those hoarders on a show we were watching last Saturday on A&E. They can't throw anything away. There are stacks and stacks of things everywhere and they can't seem to deal with it. In some cases, there was serious health risks involved. I felt a little bit like Martha Stewart while watching those shows. It made me proud that we could walk through our house with relative ease. Sure there was the smell of those turtles and the smell of the incident of Keva's diaper from Wednesday night, but surely THOSE smells didn't count. At least I didn't have 119 skeletons of cats found in my garage . . . But even so, as the repair guys went into my room, I cringed because that's where Keith and I dump anything that we just don't know what to do with yet like bills, computer stuff, and hobby things. It's embarrassing, and I never let anyone in my room if I can help it.

However, today, I'm taking a stab at actually working on a few piles -- 10 minutes at a time, anyway. That's as much as I can handle. Then I'm off to another project. Martha Stewart, I may have a ways to go, but I'm coming for you! Now that I can't watch Baby Story all day long, or Jon and Kate plus 8 (which depresses me anyway), or Fox News (which depresses me even more!).

Anyway, back to the box we got from Aunt Marcia. There were a ton of movies that the kids just loved! They watched about four of them last night alone while I read one of my favorite books that came in the box, too. Daddy Long Legs. It was fun revisiting it. I had it finished by dinner time. I think I'll send it with some stuff I need to mail to Keri Lynn.

So thanks, Aunt Marcia, again for a box of goodies. It was perfect timing and is helping us get through the post-TV detox!

9-11 while gestating

2009-09-11T18:07:00.000-04:00

May we all remember this important day in our nation's history. I've been watching a lot of 9-11 specials on TV off and on all day today. The kids, too, when they got home from school. We didn't let them watch too much of it in previous years because they were so young, but now that Konner (the youngest) is eight, I think everyone can handle the traumatic events of this day eight years ago. The little boys especially ask a lot of questions, since they have no memory of that day. Kathleen remembers it only because her trip to Disneyland with Grandma was canceled that day!

This afternoon, I went for a "normal" OB visit. How about that! No special tests, no hoops to jump through . . . just a regular visit! Keegan kicked the baby doppler. And my blood pressure was good. I have another regular visit scheduled in four weeks, just like any other pregnant woman. Of course, I have a visit to the perinatologist in between, but I'm practically giddy with the whole "normal" visit thing!

After my "normal" visit, in which I asked a bunch of questions about flu shots, pain medication for restless leg syndrome (the strongest stuff I can take is Tylenol PM, and I'm definitely going to try it!), and, um, constipation, I dropped by the perinatologist office next door to see if the final results of my amnio had come in yet. And it had!

First of all, last Friday, they called and said that the baby is NOT affected by the Kell Antibody. I was very relieved about that. No more extra tests for Kell for me for this pregancy! Yay! Then, today, I found out that the baby does NOT have any genetic abnormalities. No Down Syndrome. And Keegan is definitely a boy, genetically speaking, which of course we already knew from the way he flashed us in ultrasound.

The perinatologist told me, "You don't know HOW happy you are that the baby is not affected by Kell!"

Maybe I do. I don't know. But I had a feeling that it would be okay anyway, given that the last three pregnancies had absolutely no signs of Kell activity either. Surprisingly, the Down Syndrome thing was causing me more anxiety, given my age, even though I only had something like a 4% chance of having a baby with Down Syndrome anyway.

The doctor and I had a whole mini-appointment right there at the check-in window. I asked her about the flu shot (Get the regular flu shot, wait on H1N1 until CDC gives it's final recommendation for pregnant women), and I asked her about special permission to use Advil for Restless Legs (she gave me the same answer as the OB -- RATS!) All in all, it was a rather merry little meeting. There were a half dozen patients there in the waiting room, and there I was as happy as could be about the amnio results. I felt kind of bad later, because most go the the perinatologist for fairly significant problems. I wanted to announce to them, "Don't worry, I still have my blood pressure issues! I'm not out of the woods either!" -- just to make them feel better. : )

And so here I am . . . gestating . . . with no job on the horizon. Please pray for us as we make some big decisions. We need to get some more serious financial counseling as to how to proceed from where we are. However, lately, I've been starting to think about my trust in the Lord and His provision, or rather the lack thereof. I've been so anxious about the job that I've neglecting many things. Financial pressure has a way of making a person fold into herself. It's a paralyzing feeling. At least that's how it has affected me. Yet, the Lord has provided miraculously in so many ways over the years. All my life. All Keith's life. Why can't He do so now? Why do I fret? It's foolishness.

In the midst of it all, is a little one growing inside me. A miracle after a nine year hiatus. He's moving around staying very busy in his place. That movement is my favorite part of pregnancy, especially now when there is room to do the acrobatics. I feel blessed. Thank You, Lord!

Hosea 2:14-20

2009-09-10T23:16:00.000-04:00

14"Therefore, behold, I will allure her,
Bring her into the wilderness
And speak kindly to her.
15"Then I will give her her vineyards from there,
And the valley of Achor as a door of hope
And she will sing there as in the days of her youth,
As in the day when she came up from the land of Egypt.
16"It will come about in that day," declares the LORD,
"That you will call Me Ishi
And will no longer call Me Baali.
17"For I will remove the names of the Baals from her mouth,
So that they will be mentioned by their names no more.
18"In that day I will also make a covenant for them
With the beasts of the field,
The birds of the sky
And the creeping things of the ground
And I will abolish the bow, the sword and war from the land,
And will make them lie down in safety.
19"I will betroth you to Me forever;
Yes, I will betroth you to Me in righteousness and in justice,
In lovingkindness and in compassion,
20And I will betroth you to Me in faithfulness.
Then you will know the LORD.

* Note that in verse 16, "Ishi" means husband and "Baali" means
master.

The 80th!

2009-08-22T10:13:00.007-04:00

Happy birthday, Stan! What a milestone!

Surely you know that I'm not exactly the most promt person by now nor the most organized! So, yes, your birthday was last week, but it doesn't mean that my heart isn't thankful for who you are and what you mean to our family.

Thank you for getting down on your knees early every morning to pray for your family. Throughout his growing up years, Keith remembers running down the stairs to see you doing just that.

Thank you for praying for Keith, for reading God's word to him, for speaking to him of spiritual matters, for showing him how spiritual things relate to everything in the world. He passes on those insights to his own children.

Thank you for praying for Keith's family now. I am the beneficiary of such wealth and so are our children. They know about Papa and his faithfulness to his God, to his family and to his church.

Keith was on the phone with Keri Lynn last weekend. She'd had a rough start to college life, and was about to go to bed, when Keith asked her, "So where are you going to church tomorrow?"

This is the very question that you asked Keith in his young adult years as he began to make his way in the world, "Where are you going to church tomorrow?"

For we do not forget our heritage. We do not forget our love for God, the Creator of the Universe, the Savior of the world.

Thank you and happy 80th birthday!

"Keegan!"

2009-08-14T18:14:00.001-04:00

Lots of news.

We took Keri Lynn to college yesterday. Bittersweet to leave our daughter on her own. Life is going to be pretty drastically different for her for a while, but I'm confident that she will settle in well and enjoy some brand new independence.

I didn't even cry, at least not until Keith and I had driven away and Keith said, "We didn't pray for her. We need to pray for her now." And he did and the tears flowed down my cheeks. May God bless you, sweet girl.

This morning, I dragged myself out of bed to get kids on their way to school. I was tired from the emotions and traveling in August weather all day yesterday, so I signed agendas, gave out lunch money, helped Kade with some last minute homework, and as soon as everyone was out the door, headed off to bed to squeeze in about an hour and a half more of sleep before going to the perinatologist for the long-awaited amniocentesis.

Turns out that the doctor postponed the amnio because the lab required more amniotic fluid than the doctor was comfortable removing at 16 weeks. She will do it in another two weeks, but wanted to make sure that I wasn't going to terminate a pregnancy if results came back positive for Down Syndrome or anything like that. I guess 18 weeks is too long for a conventional abortion. Ick!

Anyway, I said that absolutely I would not terminate a pregnancy and to wait two more weeks was fine. Two weeks makes a huge difference in development. Two weeks ago when I went in for a blood pressure check, the baby was lower in my abdomen and a lot smaller. Now the top of my uterus is at my belly button already. This is exciting news! This means that my belly is not ALL fat anymore, it's baby, too!

Instead of the amnio, the doctor did do an extensive ultrasound. That's when I found out that the baby is a BOY! So now I know I'm carrying Keegan around. And Keegan is very busy. He was moving all over the place. The technician was having to step it up to get measurements. Also, at this point the doctor sees no markers for Down Syndrome. We won't find out for sure until the amnio is done.

As for the Kell antibody, the reason for the amnio in the first place, there are as yet no signs of Kell problems. But that doesn't usually occur until the end of the second trimester and into the third. However, if the baby proves desensitized to Kell, then that will be a mute point.

The biggest news, though, with this office visit is that it appears that one of the baby's kidneys does not function. There is fluid collected in his little body that is probably urine that somehow got clogged up. As the doctor puts it, "And that is why God made two kidneys." Apparently his other kidney works just fine because the amniotic fluid is at normal levels.

I looked at her questioningly, and asked, "Does that mean that amniotic fluid is pee?"

"Yes," she said, "After seven kids, you didn't know that?"

"Um, no," I said, "No wonder it's yellow!" (This I know from previous amniocenteses.)

So we will continue to monitor the cyst and see what happens with it. I have no idea what this means for the long haul, but everything else looks good. His heart looks healthy as well as blood flow to his brain. And he looks SO CUTE! I'm in love!

And other news . . . Kristofer turns 16 tomorrow! I can't believe it. I guess I should since he's been taller than me for several months, but I'm in denial. Keith is getting together a paint ball war for Kristofer and two of his buddies to celebrate his birthday.

And they're off!

2009-08-08T10:18:00.002-04:00

We sent the kids off to their first day of school yesterday. It's always odd starting so early in the school year here in Georgia, but starting on a Friday was even weirder. Now I like getting out early in the school year, though. We also have a lot of week-long breaks throughout the year. All in all, I like the schedule. But even more odd this year, was that Keri Lynn stayed home while the rest of the kids got on their buses.

Once everyone was away, I yawned and stretched and went back to bed! This getting up early in the morning is for the birds! I wasn't sure if I could just plop right back to sleep, but before I knew it, it was 10:30 AM. So I got to be a lazy bum for one more weekday!

I'd rather be a lazy bum for many more school days, but that would be bad. It's kind of important that we pay our mortgage, so my job search continues. If I end up working as a substitute, which is looking more and more likely, then Keith is going to need to get a second job to make ends at least be able to wave at each other.

I've not totally given up on a teacher's position, but it is just not looking real good right now. I was talking to a teacher over at Kristofer's high school, and she was saying that you never know what will happen. Teachers leave all the time -- their spouses have to relocate, there's a death in the family, illness, etc. While I would never wish ill on anyone, I'm just praying that I'll be in the right position at the right time. At least substituting is still available to me. The county has cut back so much that substitute teachers are not even being newly hired, let alone provisional teachers!

I have a few other possibilities that I want to explore. First is finding a position in a Christian private school. The pay wouldn't be nearly as good, but working in a Christian environment would be wonderful. The other is tutoring in the evenings or weekends to supplement substitute teaching. We'll see. As always, God has it all in His very capable hands.

This coming week will be a big one for us. Keith and I will take Keri Lynn off to college on Thursday. I am not looking forward to that one bit, and Keith is in worse shape than me. Thank God we have so many ways to communicate, and of course she'll be home for breaks. We'll use Facebook primarily until we can afford to get Keri Lynn a cell phone. Currently, with our job situation, we're down to Keith's phone that he uses a lot at work.

On Friday, I'm going in for the amnio to see if I have to have further testing on the Kell antibody. I suspect that the baby will be unaffected by it, and then it will be pretty much a matter of keeping track of my blood pressure. At the end of 15 weeks, my jeans are starting to feel uncomfortable. My belly fat is starting to round nicely into that lovely muffin affect further up on my stomach. Sigh. I really need to start walking again. Now that I'm feeling better, there is really no excuse. The heat is tough, but I don't have to walk for every long in it to get some results! And in a few months, the weather will start turning cold again. It's always hard for me to imagine that it will EVER be cold again in the summer and then in the winter I wonder if the sun will EVER shine warm again.

The house is quiet this morning. Five of seven kids are out at sleep-overs. I think it's the last hurrah before school really gets into gear! Monday begins the big crackdown on TV and video games so that time can be used for studying and getting to bed at a decent hour. We've all really enjoyed a lazy summer. It was good timing for me because it would have been difficult to work during the last two months.

I still need to conquer some major laundry. A few of the kids do their own laundry, and a few of them TRY to do their own laundry when I nag them. The result: Still a lot of laundry left. And worse, now there's all that laundry that I stuffed in the guest bathroom back at the beginning of summer when the dryer broke down. It's STILL there. Maybe we really don't need it that much since we managed the entire summer without any of the clothes, but I guess I'm still going to have to deal with it anyway.

I came up with a laundry plan! I'm set up a little TV in the laundry room doorway, where I can watch DVDs while I work. Right now I'm watching Mrs. Paulfry at the Clairmont. It's a cute movie and I've gotten quite a bit done there in my Inner Sanctum. I figure I have some quality laundry time coming all the way until October when my washer/dryer warranties are done. Then, I may need to start taking laundry over to a nearby lake or river to pound them on the rocks because you know my machines are going to break down early November.

Good-bye, July!

2009-07-31T09:36:00.000-04:00

Can't even believe that today is the last day of July! How did that happen? That means that school starts for the kids next Friday and move-in day for Keri Lynn is the Thursday after that.

We finally told Keri Lynn that we changed our minds about her going to college. We have the perfect solution for her! She can still learn all there is to know about early childhood education by staying home and helping take care of the baby! It's PERFECT! We don't have to say good-bye or miss her or anything! She only laughs and shakes her head and thinks all matter of silly things about her parents. It's getting to be that I can hardly stand the thought of her going away, but this is what we've been working for all these years -- to send her off into the world as equipped as possible to meet all of life's challenges. We are so proud of her!

Everything is all squared away for Keri Lynn for school. She has her school card that gets her everywhere she needs to go on campus, her parking permit for a car she doesn't have yet (we're planning on using it when we come for visits for now), her textbooks are pre-ordered, she's made contact with her roommate. It's all kind of exciting!

I've started getting to bed a little earlier and getting up a little earlier so that my body won't be in complete shock when school starts. It's still going to be painful for the first month!

I've been working like a dog to get all of my paperwork and stuff done for acceptance into University of West Georgia. I had been dragging my feet on this, thinking that I could just tell the schools that were interested in hiring me that I was in the process of applying, so I wouldn't necessarily have to start classes in the fall. Well, as it turns out, schools can't hire me in a provisional teaching position if I'm not officially enrolled in a school to get certification. So now I'm scrambling to get the rest of the last items checked off the check list. Official transcripts -- check! Immunization report -- still working on that. Where DID I put that pesky immunization record? And I KNOW I haven't had a Tetanus shot in the last 10 years, and CAN I get a Tetanus shot while pregnant? Still making calls to figure that out. All these little details take time to iron out and now I'm feeling foolish that I didn't get more of it done over the summer. But then again I was not feeling at all well through June or July. Thank goodness I'm starting to come out of the first trimester when the nausea starts to go away!

Still, I'm applying at all the counties near our county in hopes of snagging an interview. The plan is to get through the interview process without saying anything about the pregnancy until the end when it's time (hopefully!) to sign papers. Then, I plan to say, "So in the interest of full disclosure and because I want you to know that I am trustworthy, I have a little glitch . . . " And then proceed to tell them about the baby. Then it will be up to them to determine how desperate they are to place me as a special education teacher! Such fun!

I will be having the amniocenteses done in two weeks. This is the big test that I've been waiting on pins and needles for. It will tell us a ton of information, from the sex of the baby, to any genetic problems (like Down Syndrome -- I have a 3% chance of having another baby with Down Syndrome) to whether or not the baby is sensitive to the Kell antibody. If the baby is not affected by it, then that will eliminate all of the usual fun tests that I went through for the last three pregnancies. That is an amazing and absolutely new test that wasn't available before! Whoo-hoo!

My blood pressure remains relatively stable. My feet swell sometimes as the day progresses, but we are in the hottest part of summer. I keep cranking up the air conditioning when no one is looking. And I adore going to the OB because they keep the offices like meat lockers for all of the hormonally challenged ladies coming through.

Immanuel

2009-07-23T00:12:00.001-04:00

The Fire Part 01

2009-07-20T15:29:00.001-04:00

We Christians let too many things slide because we don't want to repent. This is convicting. It's a message to Christians whose lives aren't much different than those who don't go to church.

The Fire Part 02

2009-07-20T15:26:00.001-04:00

"Star Spangled Banner" By The Gaither Vocal Band

2009-07-04T11:49:00.001-04:00

Happy Independence Day!

Pray for Kate McRae

2009-07-03T11:43:00.001-04:00

Would you please pray for this sweet family.

2009-07-03T10:40:00.000-04:00

What are we going to do with her?!

2009-07-03T10:27:00.001-04:00

Keri Lynn went on a Rebellion Rampage yesterday. I'm pretty sure her Grandma helped her. I was completely innocent in the activities. Really.

The three of us went out to El Charro for a Mexican lunch. (Keri Lynn's idea) So yummy! When I go eat Mexican, I get the salad, but I know I'm still pushing it with my salt intake! So maybe I was a little rebellious, too! My swelling remains down, though, and my blood pressure has been steadily making its way back to normal. Not there, yet, but it's getting better!

Anyway, back to Keri Lynn and her rebellious ways.

She had been talking about donating her hair to Locks of Love again. This time last year, she got a cute cut. Alice happened to be in town for that, too, so the three of us got to enjoy the experience. When you give to Locks of Love, they need at least 10 inches of hair, and since Keri Lynn's been keeping her hair a little shorter this year, it was going to end up being a drastic cut for her. She finally decided, in the end, to just go ahead and pay for a cut because it would have been shorter than she wanted. She still ended up getting it shorter than she's worn it since she was 10. In fact, it reminds me of the way I used to cut the girls' hair the way I liked it. Now they have their own ideas! I love her new look! And since this time I didn't cut it, she loves it, too! Very cute.

So after the haircut, we made our way to Big Lots. We were all sitting around testing the couches there, when Keri Lynn says, "I think I'd like to go get my ears pierced! You said I could when I turned 18," she said with a gleam in her eye.

Let the record stand that Keith is the one not terribly excited about the girls getting their ears pierced. I think it looks nice, but I've backed him up since it's not a crucial issue for the girls to have unpierced ears. Keith also doesn't like short hair, so it was going to be the double whammy for his oldest daughter -- short hair AND pierced ears?!? So I had Keri Lynn call her Daddy to get permission. Later he said to me, "Well, I knew YOU had not said NO or she wouldn't be calling me? What was I supposed to say?"

Off we went to Claire's, the place for all fashionable accessories. Alice paid for her ear piercing kit as a birthday present. So sweet! The whole "free ear-piercing" thing, I discovered, is a thing of the past! There may be signs saying that the ear piercing is free, but only if you buy the ear piercing kit, which costs a lot more than it did when I got my ears pierced at 18. Good grief!

And now Keri Lynn is looking just as cute as can be! She was already beautiful, but now she's all stylish and ready to go off to college. Sigh! It's nice to be able to go out with her during these long summer days, and it's especially fun to go off with her on a Rebellious Rampage!

Plans and trips

2009-07-01T09:55:00.001-04:00

We've got definite dates for our trip to California. If all goes according to plan and we can get on our plane, we'll be there from Wednesday, July 8 through Wednesday, July 15. On July 16, I've got not one, but two doctor's appointments, one to the perinatologist and the other to the OB.

While we're there, we're going to try to fit in a trip to the Observatory and to the Getty. One of the things I like most about Georgia is that it has all these amazing beautiful trees, yet one of the things I like least about Georgia is that you can't see anything from anywhere. There are no wide open spaces, except for maybe Stone Mountain! Maybe that's why I like to go to the top of Stone Mountain so much! But in L.A., there are lots of places to go up and look out! I like that! So while the Getty might have all these amazing art exhibits, I'm more interested in taking the cool tram ride up and looking out over the city!

We also plan to hit the beach, too, of course, and my Mom's pool! I'm wondering what California summer is going to feel like after these muggy Atlanta days.

One thing I absolutely have to do, with the help of a few of my children, is to WASH CLOTHES! We literally go from one emergency load of laundry to the next to survive and we really just need to put nose to the grindstone and get that laundry done. I think I'm going to have to go through clothes again and cut back on unnecessary clothes. There's no sense in washing extra clothes!

Meanwhile, Alice has made it safely to our home for a visit. She will be here for the next week. We may end up going on a plane trip back to California together! All depends on flight availability. We plan on hitting thrift stores and also going to Keri Lynn's college for a tour. It's been cooling down just a little, so hopefully that trend will stay!

Keri Lynn has updated her blog!

2009-06-29T20:35:00.001-04:00

Check out her newest posts -- Link to Twilight Sky at my blog list!

Apples are delicious

2009-06-29T15:29:00.000-04:00

We had a fun weekend with our friends, Paul and Holly, and their son John. The Z's are missionary with JARS, the stateside part of Wycliffe. Kristofer instantly scooped up John into Video Game World. We all had a nice lazy weekend, or at least Holly and I did. Keith had to work on Saturday, as is his usual schedule these days, and Paul was busy tinkering around the house finding things to fix. The most important thing he found to fix was my recliner. I'd broken it several weeks ago so that it would not recline, but he cobbled a bunch of pieces together and I now have my recliner back. This means that Keith can get his recliner back! Everyone is very happy.

We stayed up so late watching a movie on Saturday night that we decided to play hooky from church. (We are a bad influence on the Z's.) After getting up late, we got lunch ready for the kids and then we married adults went running off to eat at El Charro's. Keri Lynn cried that she was an adult now, too, so I had to qualify "Married" into the lucky ones who got to go out!

Later, the guys went off to go do whatever guys like to do. They were going to drive up north to pay homage to Frey's and Harbor Freight Tools, but it was too long of a ride for the time remaining. Holly and I came home and we watched the video Persuasion, a version that Holly had not seen before. It was nice to relax and enjoy good company in air conditioning. It has been VERY hot.

Best of all, we were able to send the Z's off with The Little Apple. This little item has been making the rounds back and forth between our families for years as a practical joke. It's a little plastic apple that morphs into an apple person with arms and legs. I think we got it in a pile of hand-me-down toys from somewhere. If I remember right, Paul made some disparaging remark about the poor little apple, and we tried to pawn it off on them. The Z's discovered it in their luggage somewhere over the Netherlands (is that what you said, Holly?)on their way to Cameroon. And they managed to mail it to us in a nice little anonymous package from Holly's sister's address in the United States. This time it made its way back to their home in Paul's suitcase. We are very pleased with ourselves. : )

As far as my health goes, my blood pressure is still elevated but more controlled. It's going down little by little. And the swelling in my feet is gone. Yay! No more Elephant Foot Mom! Now I'm noticing more of the usual symptoms of pregnancy -- nausea (if I eat too much or too late in the evening or if I haven't eaten enough), fatigue, and a lack of coordination.

Keith's Mom is scheduled to fly in from California sometime tomorrow evening. She'll stay for a week, then we'll probably all come back to California with her for our summer visit. We'll stay with Mom and Rich. We are looking forward to seeing family and friends! Keith will work for the first part of the week, but he should be able to come for the last few days we're there when he has vacation.

Perinatologist

2009-06-26T19:13:00.001-04:00

I had a great visit with the perinatologist yesterday. The doctor was calm and knowledgeable. She deals with people like me all the time, so didn't have any trouble upping my blood pressure meds, adding a water pill, and talking about my rare Kell antibody issue. My perinatologist in California had only seen two cases of Kell, and I was the second one. This doctor has seen many and has even done a couple of inter-uterine blood transfusions that turned out well.

I asked her if I was still okay to pursue my teaching job. Could I work as a pregnant 43-year-old? She said, "Sure!" without any compunction at all. Did she expect my pregnancy to go as my other pregnancies had gone? Would I be more likely to have a c-section? What if problems came up at delivery with my hypertension? She expected everything to go just fine, that we would get my blood pressure under control. I told her what had happened with Konner who decided typical Konner independent style, to turn head up in the last week of pregnancy. The little darling. The doctors went ahead and did a version, where they manually move the baby's body back down head first, and then induce labor to avoid c-section. She said that my OB doctors will do that. Apparently the others around don't, so I'm lucky. I was really happy to hear that and she thought it made perfect sense to avoid a c-section. A c-section wouldn't be a terrible thing, but it would make life so much easier to avoid one.

It was just so refreshing to hear upbeat answers to all of my worries and anxieties. I feel very comfortable with her and with my OB doctors in general.

Today was the last day of VBS. Kathleen had us stop by the grocery store after VBS yesterday to go get some candy for her "Peeps" with her own money that she's earned from babysitting and dog sitting. She spent $20 bucks on candy! Yikes! But I thought that was so sweet of her!

When we got back from VBS today, we set to work on cleaning up a very messy house in preparation for the Zwierzynskis to come for a weekend visit. I haven't cleaned since we've been home from school. I was so impressed with Kade and Konner when they finally discovered what was stopping up the vacuum cleaner! It's working once again. So, unlike the beginning of summer vacation, all three breakdowns -- the dryer, the dishwasher AND the vacuum sweeper -- are all working once more! Whoo-hoo!

Things aren't even remotely close to being company clean, but the Z's are sweet understanding people and know that I've been a bit incapacitated. In fact, Holly facebooked me and said to just point her toward the laundry room, my natural nemesis, and she'd work on the laundry for me! How sweet is that? I told her that I couldn't have my guest doing my laundry for me, but maybe we could sit around with our feet up and talk!

Then next week, I will begin in earnest to call around about possible teaching jobs. I now feel confident to pursue it again. Should all go well with the baby, we'll work out a schedule where one of us can be home with the little one. It's a whole different world for us these days!

The kids are very supportive. Kylie has started saving her money to get a really nice gift for the baby. So far she has a dollar! She's got big plans and can't wait for the baby to make its appearance!

I think what is cracking me up the most about this pregnancy is the huge interest in the baby's name. So go ahead and throw in some ideas if you want. Most everyone knows that all of the kids' names start with a "K", but they also have "L" middle names. Keri Lynn, Kristofer Loren, Keva Laureen, Kathleen Lace, Kylie Louise, Kade Logan and Konner Liam. A lot of names get nixed because they sound too much like one of the other names. I have a boy's name in mind, so I'm pretty sure the baby is a girl.

I'll know by the 16th week when we'll have an amnio done. It won't be for genetic testing but rather for the Kell issue. A new test is now available that wasn't available back when Konner was born where they can test amniotic fluid for the baby's sensitivity to the Kell antibody. If it's desynthesized, then there will be no worries regarding Kell and no further testing will be needed. The doctor believes that my other kids were all born Kell desynthesized, and that's why they didn't have any problems. If the baby is synthesized to Kell, then I'll have to undergo extensive ultrasound and amnio tests to make sure the baby is okay throughout pregnancy.

Since I'm having an amnio done anyway, I'll also be able to get the genetic information. I'll be able to find out for sure whether or not the baby has Down Syndrome. I have a whole 3% chance of that. And then, of course, I'll be able to find out the baby's sex, which has always been exciting to discover before birth!

Now to go feed hungry children. I'm surprised that Kade is not pounding on my door.

It's true!

2009-06-23T22:36:00.000-04:00

So, I had an ultrasound today to confirm a due date . . . of a baby . . . that, if everything goes well, is supposed to arrive sometime in January.

Yep.

#8.

I'm 43. By January, I'll be 44. I was officially of "Advanced Maternal Age" when I gave birth to Konner, but now I don't really buck that label. Things are a little different now days than when I was under OB care last. Now, I can get my prenatal vitamins over the counter. My OB has really cool examination robes that leave a little space for dignity. Ultrasound pictures are sent via email. I did all my paperwork on-line. If I have odd questions in the middle of the night, I can go on-line and ask! It's like I've been transported into the role of George Jetson's wife.

For all of you interested in the baby stats, I'm just nine weeks along. I only found out half way through the first week of summer vacation earlier this month when I started feeling kind of nauseous. It occurred to me then that it had been awhile since my last period. In fact, it had been QUITE a while. But with everything going on with Keri Lynn's graduation and end-of-year general excitement, I forgot about it. So I swung by a pharmacy, picked up a couple of pregnancy tests, came home and -- WHAM! -- got a positive result.

Oh, yeah.

Since then, I've spent a great deal of time finding a good high-risk pregnancy doctor, adjusting to changes in my blood pressure meds, and dealing with the heat of summer. It is HOT in Newnan! I've also had two kids out of the country, and now VBS. In short, my house is a complete and total disaster because I don't have energy to do anything, plus I need to keep my feet up a lot.

We told the kids tonight. All the girls are thrilled to pieces. Konner is excited about not being the baby anymore. We know from prior experience that once you tell the kids, the rest of the world knows, too. So we called our parents who, I think, all took it pretty well, considering. : )

As for Keith and me, we take God at His word that children are blessings. We have not done anything to prevent pregnancy throughout our marriage and look what He has given us! We thought that we might indeed be done, though, with the lag time, especially after Kylie, Kade and Konner came in such quick succession, but that was not God's plan. Strollers, Pack N Plays, changing tables have been ancient history, but should God decide to continue this little life that is only about an inch long, then we'll be breaking out that kind of equipment again.

Wow!

Happy Father's Day!

2009-06-22T17:27:00.002-04:00

Back from Japan!

2009-06-22T17:27:00.001-04:00

Keri Lynn and Kristofer made it safely home from Japan late Saturday night. It was a hugely impactful trip for them in that they got to see the Church of God in action. Hongodai Church welcomed them with open arms. If you haven't gotten a chance to go see the pictures from the trip, there are literally hundreds of them off of our church link http://fbcnewnan.org/ The whole time they were there, our church prayed fervently that they would have no rain. It's the rainy season in Japan yet they had several outside venues where they would be performing their concert. One morning there was some rain, but people still came, and by later in the day, it had cleared, and remained clear for all the rest of the concerts. Lee Chitwood, the music pastor that took them on the choir tour, was telling me today that it's been raining like crazy since the day the kids left to come home. We are very thankful for this answer to prayer!

No sooner were the kids home, then we started VBS. Keri Lynn is helping with the third graders. Kristofer is doing his tech stuff for music time. Kathleen is helping with the kindergartners. And I just kind of hang out with Keva and "direct" things. Okay, I'm just the taxi service, but it's still fun to be there with all of the energy flowing all over the place! Keva didn't even come with me today because Keith had the day off. I left her to hang out with Dad so that I could be free to help if there was a need. I did so some directing preschool kids to classes, but that's about it. The rest of the morning was mine. Tomorrow, though, I'll have Keva with me, so we'll be sure to hit all of the singing times (which she loves) and hang out a little at the playground, if it's not too hot. Maybe I'll get some crochet projects underway.

It is HOT, HOT, HOT today and all this week. I guess summer has come full force. I'm cringing at what our electric bill is going to be and wondering why we had to buy a house with big ceilings! Oh, the pain!

We got Keri Lynn's financial information in from GCSU and she's good to go! She has the Hope Scholarship, Georgia's scholarship program that pays for tuition and most of the books as long as she maintains at least a B average. She'll need to work through the Work Study program, but I think she'll be able to handle that perfectly well since it is tailored for students. She's especially excited about starting school now that she's decided on her major in Early Childhood Education. She wants to go back to Japan and teach English!

Keith's Mom will be coming to visit us sometime next week and through the July 4th weekend. We're looking forward to seeing her. We'll take one day, She and I and Keri Lynn, to go tour GCSU. We think she'll be just as impressed with the school as we were! That is, if we survive the heat! Whew!

I have not yet heard from the Jehovah's Witnesses ladies that came to my door. I'm disappointed. BUT, I did get a response from Gray under the post where I wrote about it. Thank you, Gray, for responding! I hope to have a very meaningful dialog on the subject of who Jesus is.

I've got a few June pictures up on Facebook if you haven't seen them lately. June, thank God, has been a little bit quieter than May.

Pizza goodness

2009-06-14T14:04:00.003-04:00

Are you salivating yet? You should be. I made this delicious cheesy goodness with two Pillsbury pizza crusts, one spread on the bottom and the other over the top, and in between all the cheese, spaghetti sauce and pepperoni we could handle. I thought we ought to have enough for everyone especially with three kids gone and Keith at work, but the kids were so excited about it that they invited three neighbors to join in! There was still enough!

Keri Lynn and Kristofer are still in Japan. They will be coming back late Saturday night. I go to the church website where there's a link to a Flikr photo gallery to check on the latest pictures. If you want to see what they're up to, go to http://fbcnewnan.org/ and right there on the home page on the left side there's a box that says Georgia Student Choir USA. The choir could not travel under a religious name, but the Lord has opened up opportunities for them to sing in public venues like parks and ticketed events. They are also going to be singing at a public school -- please pray that the opportunity continues to be opened as the Japanese are very concerned about swine flu and the kids have only been in the country for a week. Both Keri Lynn and Kristofer are also part of the smaller singing ensemble, so they've been exercising their voices a lot. They've also been exercising their legs. They've been doing a lot of walking to and from the train to all their various destinations. All of the kids are doing great, though. I think they are all taking in the experience!

Yesterday, I got a chance to chat with Keri Lynn on Facebook. Sometimes we chat when she's up in her room at her laptop and I'm in my room on my laptop -- I know, I know . . . sad! But this time she was all the way on the other side of the world and we were chatting on Facebook! No change in wait time or anything. It was great to hear from her and ask questions about their trip. She sounded really good.

After I got off of the computer, I was getting ready to get dressed for the day, when Jehovah's Witnesses came to the door. I decided years ago that if Mormons or Jehovah's Witnesses came to the door, that I would do what I could to speak to them about Jesus. After all, I was home and people were willing to come to MY door to talk to me about faith issues. What could get better than that? So I invited the two ladies in, still in my pajamas and my hair a mess, but they said they had people waiting in the car and would I take some of their fine literature.

And this is how most of the conversation went at my door:

"You know, I don't agree with what you believe about Jesus."

"You don't? What don't you agree with?"

"Well, the main thing," and here I took a deep breath and dove into the heart of the issue, "is that you don't believe that Jesus is God."

"We believe he is the Son of God, that he saved us from our sins . . ."

"But you don't believe he's God."

"The Bible says that he's the Son of God, that God gave him the power to save us from sin, and that he now sits at the right hand of God the Father."

"The Bible also says that Jesus is God. In fact, Jesus Himself claims that He is God."

They had their Bibles handy with all of the verses talking about Jesus being the Son of God, the first creation, that he asked God permission, etc, etc. Most of the verses were in their own translation, though, where a few key words could be changed for their benefit. And I countered with the time that Jesus claimed to be I AM (John 7). (There are plenty of other times that he claims to be God, but that's the one that stuck in my head as the most prominent.)

"I really don't see how you can get around that. Jesus said I AM. He was crucified for that. The Jews were so angry at him because He claimed to be GOD!"

They threw some more scripture at me that they thought supported their point, but for that one argument, there was no answer. Jesus said it. There is no denying it. He died for it. He conquered sin for it. He rose from the dead for it. Is it not an AMAZING thing, that the Christian faith is the only faith in the entire world wherein GOD Himself sacrificed Himself for us? All other religions have US doing the sacrificing for god. Even Jehovah's Witnesses. Especially Jehovah's Witnesses. They are constantly working toward perfection, constantly trying to be good enough to eventually get to heaven.

It is my belief that talking with people involved in these false religions like Mormonism and Watch Tower is very easy. It always comes down to Jesus and who He claims to be. You either believe it or you don't. It still doesn't change who HE is, though. And it is a privilege to be able to speak of Him to those who are seeking.

The ladies at my door finally had to leave but not without asking if we could have a Bible study together later. Perfect! I thought. I gave them my name and phone number and said I could meet with them any time. I'm sure they have their own Bible studies ready to go, but so do I! After all, if we're studying the Bible, Ive got the HUGHEST advantage EVER. That's why it's important for us as Christians to be studying and learning what the Bible says so that we can be ready to have an answer. It's all there in that Book.

2009-06-09T12:36:00.000-04:00

Nail care

2009-06-09T12:33:00.001-04:00

Keri Lynn and Kristofer left early yesterday morning with their choir to Japan. They are hopefully sleeping like babies right now after a VERY long flight to the other side of the world.

Kylie is on vacation for the week with a neighborhood family. They are in South Carolina -- a little closer than Japan.

That leaves us with FOUR kids. That's it. FOUR.

Yesterday was Keith's day off, so he whisked the little boys away for the morning and then came back and Kathleen and I went off for some girl time. We ate some lunch out then used a nail salon gift certificate I'd gotten from school for my substitute work there. Toes and nails now are gorgeous. Kathleen got each nail done in a different neon color and all of them covered with white polka dots. She's THRILLED! And it looks really cute on her. I got mine done in a much more sedate monotone color. I love it. We decided that we could seriously get used to getting our nails done on a regular basis.

I'm very excited about this afternoon. The repair guy is supposed to come. Machine parts are waiting for him. And HOPEFULLY he'll get the dryer going in this one visit. It didn't take me long to get seriously annoyed with line drying. One of the projects today is to unearth the dryer from underneath mountains of dirty clothes so that he can actually get to it! I better get started on that soon. Times a wastin'.