36 cents

I am thankful for my husband's pay this week of 36 cents. I am thankful that the company spent more money in time for their payroll people to put this into our account. I am thinkful that it is not 0.00. I am thankful that it won't be this low again. I'm thankful that we can only go higher from here. I am thankful because You are in control, God, and You know how this can be used for Your glory. Somehow.
Miracle Money is needed now.
Recompence of reward.
Money come now!!!
Discouragement, GO!
I will always serve the Lord no matter what.

Let me see if this works..........

Check this out, it makes meals easier for me!

Where do I begin?

OK so A LOT has happened since the last entry......you probably thought I was forgetting about this great way to communicate....well I didn't, here I am! We have moved, we live in a very nice place albeit temporarily. We have a month to month lease so if they want us out (the house is for sale) we will have 30 day notice, but on the other hand if we find something better the we can do the same. It was a big blessing to move when we did, we had help and any other weekend would not have worked due to school starting and all. So that is a load off the shoulders now we just have to pray for rent each month and maybe for a more permanent situation.

Daniel- We decided to put him into a private school due to his new diagnosis in the AS (Autism Spectrum) and he is doing so much better! Grades are not great BUT when the kid comes home happy and talkative, WOW that is so much better than last year when he was sullen and had a "bite-your-head-off" attitude. The teachers are wonderful and I already told them that I was their biggest fan, because they are a blessing for our family to help Daniel how they have. And they really haven't done anything different than what they would normally do, they teach for the Lord and it shows. I have learned more about ASD (Autism Spectrum Disorders) than I ever wanted to know, I have met some fabulous people that I never would have met and I have a new respect for people who have been in this (having a child on the AS) for a longer time than me. I found out some things about Aspergers and how to help them, it's a long list but I will be brief....one thing that Daniel cannot do is read facial/non verbal expression. People, that's 80% of all communication! He can't read when someone is giving him a happy or suprised look, you have to tell him what you are thinking and feeling for him to then relate that to the look on your face. He is very concrete, you cannot use sarcasm or idioms like "it's raining cats and dogs" he doesn't get it. Now, he has learned through repetition that some things are just "sayings" and not true facts, but that's what's so neat, is that his brain has ALREADY figured out some things even without all the intervention techniques. God has done the work. He still needs help though. Creative Writing and Language (let's try teaching the English rule "i before e except after c" because it is not always true!) are very hard for him, his brain works over time on those concepts so he gets frustrated easier. The teachers have been great to him and limited the homework in that area so he DOES do some work in that it's just not 7 pages (it would take him 3 hours). He has the meltdowns where he reacts to change in an immature for his age way. He will cry if he doesn't get his way, he will yell. We are learning how to deal with this. He likes things to be the way you say or else he doesn't seem to cope well (when we go to the store and I say I will only get 3 things...yeah, you get the picture). He is also very inappropriate with his physical touches. He will get too close, he will touch people in an inappropriate way, not because he wants to make people feel uncomfortable but sometimes he does, he is very akward in social situations. But let me tell you what this great state of West Virginia has to offer those with an ASD.........oh you will not believe it, there is a place called the Autism Training Center and it is based in Marshall University (in Huntington, WV). They will actually come to your house and evaluate the person and then offer interventions and PBS (Positive Behavior Support) and then have meetings with teachers and parents and grandparents and the PTO president if they want to come! They have books, DVD's, CD's all at a lending library and they will send it to you and you send it back in the envelope they send you (no postage for you to deal with!), they have ID cards that they will make and laminate so a child can keep it in his pocket in case they need help, they have support groups, parenting groups, classes, make and takes (I made Daniel a daily schedule to follow and laminated it!), articles, someone who would come with you to meet with teachers, and EVERYTHING IS FREE! Yes, you heard right, it is AWESOME! If any other state has this in place, I guarantee it would still be at the top in the country. I am totally amazed. I have already registered, got my membership card and will have to wait a while for a specialist to come available in my area (a year?) but they said they want to eliminate the wait period for personal PBS and are hiring more people but everything else I mentioned is all available to me now. I am so thrilled to have this available. I want to thank the person responsible but how do you? How do you tell someone that they turned a very shaken wandering person into someone with knowledge and tools to charge on ahead? I am in awe. Can you tell?
So that's what we are doing learning all we can and little by little coming up with ways to teach Daniel how to behave in a mature manner and overcome what he hasn't already.
Another thing to be thankful for is that Josiah, Zoe and Ezra are all at the same school. It was nice because Ezra could have gone to preschool in several other schools but there was an opening at the school I wanted him to go to! They are still in public school but we are praying that we can make enough money to send them all to the private school Daniel goes to. If you have 3 kids there, you get the 4th one free! Works for me! It's still a pretty penny but from what I've seen in Daniel, so worth it. For now, they are doing fine where they are, all good reports from the teachers. Josiah's teacher said that he is talking more where before if he said 4 words to her it was a banner day. Zoe's teacher keeps telling me how she goes over and above the call of duty either with the project she has or when she is done goes to help others. Ezra is having a good time, has made some friends, likes writing and doing "homework" with his brothers and sister.
Gabriel is home with me most days, and what a joy and sweetie he is! I am no longer babysitting, I am doing work with All Squared Away an organizing company. I work when the kids are in school or when Ramon can be home evenings and weekends. Gabriel gets to go to Aunt Mesa's! We love her! She had a baby 2 months ago! Victoria McKay O'Connor 9/7/08! I am a proud Aunt! She is so beautiful and growing like crazy! (It's all that mommy milk!) I am so thankful I got to be there when she took her first breath and share the moment with Mesa and Ben, she is my best friend and pretty much my sister and my brother is the coolest bro in the world.
Ramon is doing well, we are so blessed to have a faithful man as daddy and husband to this family. Someone hit him in his Jeep last month and totalled it and he was able to get a replacement car with the insurance AND he was not seriously injured! WOW! He is losing weight and running and getting into great shape. He ran his first
5K race too only weeks after the accident (see? he was in shape!) and he didn't come in last! Woo hoo! I am so proud of him! We are praying for God's continued provision for all our needs.
Well, this seem so long, so I will close for now but more to come!

my baby girl is so tough..........

How tough is she??
Well, she plays flag football on a team with her older brother, she is the only girl on the team AND only one of 2 girls in the 6-team league, not only that, but at the last game she smashed into one of the boys on the other team and got a bloody nose!
yes! She cried a little and was sent out of the game only to get wiped up and then want to go in the game again and not miss any playing time! Then it started bleeding again, I wiped it but she was in a hurry and I didn't get it all and they said she couldn't play with blood on her face! Is that not a statement some tough-guy would get? But it was for my little Zoe! She plays so hard and she is in it to win it every game and practice. The team is currently 2-0 too with only one other undefeated team, go us! I'm so glad she is like this now, it will serve her well all her life so that she doesn't give up even when life gives her a bloody nose.
I can learn a thing or two from her, life has given us a few bloody noses as of late but I am not giving up. I know that somehow, someway, we will be able to look back and see that even though we had a million things come against us at once, we got through it and the Lord was the One behind the scenes working things out for our good.
A few things have happened that I am not sure about, one thing is that Daniel has been seeing a counselor for issues and problems that I won't go into here, but she (the counselor) suggested that Daniel be tested for things and it turns out that he has Asperger's with ADHD. This is a big blow and an AH HA! moment all at the same time. I never dreamed he would have anything like this and now as I look back I can see the signs. We are in the process now deciding what school is best or if homeschool is best or what. [and another bloody nose we have gotten is that the rental house that we had wanted fell through so now we don't know where we will be going or where the kids will start school and school starts in 1 week!]

So right now, this moment, I am pretty stressed. And in my stress, I am thinking of Zoe's bloody nose and how she didn't give up, still wanted to play and still played hard even though I know her nose was throbbing like crazy. I am gonna keep going. I am praying and asking God where we should go, scouring the paper, asking around, asking for help, praying for the money so that we can rent with a deposit and everything needed to move. I am also keeping my chin up. What else can I do? The Lord has to do the rest. He is still in control. He still loves me. I still love Him. He has always directed me and I know I felt a peace about where we were to live after this house so why am I so stressed? it's just me. I need to rely on God, work through the pain and be ready when we do find that perfect house and have the money in hand.
Back to packing and planning........bloody nose and all.

its raining..........

when it rains......
well, let's just see what ELSE can happen. I'm only having to deal with some major issues at the moment and each one are a pretty big deal, manageable by themselves but what about when they are all piling up together??

First of all, Ramon's grandfather, a great man who raised Ramon as a child. Ramon's mom died when he was 6 but before that and then permanently after that, Grandpa was there for him. He was 55-60 years old and had a small child to deal with and Ramon remembers him never complaining about going out to play catch or to play golf or anything. A great man. He also took Ramon to church and established a Godly foundation for Ramon, that is priceless. So Grandpa has gone to be with the Lord just yesterday. Ramon was on his way there and about an hour from the destination, he got the call that Grandpa was alive no more. Pretty crushing after driving for 10 hours. But we know where he is. He is there now and can be with his family there. I am planning to fly up there for the funeral on Monday and then drive back with them Tuesday. That seems simple enough, right? Well, I can't afford to fly my other 4 kids (Daniel the oldest is already with Ramon) so what do I do with them? I find 4 different homes for them to go to! It takes a few (try many) phone calls but right now I have homes for all but 1 for the the 2 nights I will be gone. Now it will be packing time for all of them, laundry and everything else to get ready for the kids to go spend the night for 2 nights. Not to mention, packing for myself and my husband is out of town!!

Now that isn't too bad, right? But wait, there's more....... we will be moving this month. It's pretty sudden, but there is a buyer for the house and we can sell it fast and not get as much out of it or keep trying for a long shot. I think we have decided to go for the quick sale. So now, I'll be packing up the house to be out by Aug 22-23, anybody want to watch 5 kids for 2 weeks so I can get done??? Pretty please. Along with this is finding a house to rent. I think we have found a really good one, but we need to pray in the money right now for first month's rent and deposit, it's a pretty penny.

But wait there's more.......The kids will be starting school on August 26, at a whole new school. I have to figure out which one and call each of them to get transcripts transferred and make sure there is room in each grade so we don't do 2 different elementary schools. Check the bus schedules for the new house, just in case we want to use the bus system. The kids did not like the bus too well last year.

But wait there's more.....the Jeep stalled on me today stranding me in the middle of an intersection then thankfully on the side of the road for 30 minutes. I was thinking cha-ching tons of money to fix that so I may not be able to fly out now, and then horay! it started up! My dad was out of town, my husband too of course so I called my brother who was so helpful! They will look at it in the morning to see what's up.

But wait....then I get stung by a bee! Who gets stung by a bee anymore? me, in the middle of craziness!

Let's see how much more stuff we can pile on top of Andi??

so now for my eternal optimism............... things to be truly thankful for..........

1. Great pastors who help with decisions that need to be made during less than ideal circumstances.

2. The Lyons family, who was there to lend Shannon to watch the kids so that I can rest, and follow me in the Jeep to make sure I was safe, and then taking one of the kiddos while I am away and oh yeah for being such a great example to us in every way.

3. For Mandy who is sleeping over at my house so I can work my overnight job while Ramon is away. Who else would do that kind of thing? I am going to owe her big time! She's the best.

4. For Mesa and Laura who are taking care of 1 kid each while I am away, what godly women! It makes me feel so wonderful to leave my kids with quality people.

5. For my new neice, I knew you were a girl all along! I'm sorry for missing your shower but I promise to shower you with Aunt Andi's love for your whole life!

6. For Ben for being the voice of reason in the absence of the top men in my life, you are the best little brother!

7. for having baking soda on hand to make a paste for those pesky bees!

So you see, I have so much more to be thankful for than I have to be sad about. And when these things are resolved or settled, then I will have even MORE to be thankful for! God is still on the throne and nothing that is happening is a big shock to Him. I guess He knows I can handle it. That's another thing to be thankful for that He is trusting me with these crisis situations all at once and since it is happening, He knows I'll get trough it, He knows I'll succeed in spite of it.

If you've read all the way to here, wow! you are good because this is long! Now you HAVE to comment! I'll keep you updated as to what is going on and at least by next month, things should be fairly EASY.

My Husband!

Now the time has come to tell you about my husband! His name is Ramon and as of July 30, 2008 we will be married for 14 years. I consider that an amazing gift in and of itself. How anyone could put up with me for that long......he deserves sainthood. Not that I'm all that bad, but I take everything out on him that I can't take out on anyone else. He gets me at the end of my rope most of the time. For that, I repent, he should get the best of me all the time. He deserves that. I am thankful that he's stuck with me through that.
What attracted me to him was his genuine-ness. (Besides the fact that he is TALL, DARK and HANDSOME!) He was not putting on aires for me, trying to impress me, etc.. in fact we were pretty much just friends for a long time. He was the same when he was around his guy friends as he was with me by ourselves, as he was with a group of people out in public. He had nothing to hide and nothing to lose by just being himself. He didn't let everyone in, though, and guarded his heart, but when we did declare our "love" for one another, that was it for both of us. He was all mine and I was all his. There was no one else for me. He was always open and honest and we shared everything.
Since he was/is so genuine, I trust him completely. I trust him so much that if someone were to come to me and say, "your husband made a pass at me" I would let them know that THEY need to repent for lying. I trust him, and he has proved himself over and over to be trustworthy. He has never violated that trust and often protects that trust vehemently by putting in place guards of protection. Like for instance, when we were youth pastors, he would never ride in a car alone with a teen girl, or be in a room alone with a teen girl and even today, if he takes a babysitter home, we always ask the girl's parent's permission before and then he has maybe only done that 2 or 3 times, ever.
This is something I do not take for granted. His life is an open book to me, I could look at his email if I wanted, I could read anything he gets in the mail and know that he is not doing something that he shouldn't do. Not that I have the need to do that, either. He even closed down his myspace because of the scantily clad cartoon ladies (and airbrushed real people)in the advertisements on the sides. Facebook doesn't have a lot of that so he now has a facebook account instead. Wow, I mean, wow. I don't even notice those things (the ads), but then I did notice that the ads on MY myspace were mostly for university degrees and "mom" things but he, as a man, would get the ads targeted to him. I mean, a man in today's world totally avoiding all hints of porn, he is amazing. I didn't ask this of him either. He decided to do this. I'm sure he gets tempted by things and he is still a man of course, but to purposefully avoid things like this is wonderful to me. He really honors me with this.
He is an excellent daddy, too. Having overcome a dreadful childhood situation to become the man and father he is today is a testament in itself, but he goes above and beyond. He loves, cares for, fights for, and spends time with his children. We agreed to have more than 2 children early on, because I was one of only 2 and I thought it was pretty boring (even though it WASN'T) but he was the one to be absolutely thrilled when #4 was accidentally discovered and then came to me later about having #5. I thought he was crazy but then talking with friends who have broken hearts because their husbands don't want anymore kids, I realized what a treasure of a husband I have. Now another thing, is that I had to have 2 C-sections with the last 2 kids and that was a huge ordeal for me, so when we decided to go ahead with #5, I said then that's it, because I don't want to go through another surgery and he was totally supportive. He may have wanted or wants more kids, but he put my health/needs first. And he was wise to ask about #5 when he did, because right now, I will have 4 kids in school this year and only 1 at home, and it will only be a few months before the last one is out of diapers and he is portable and functional and if I had waited and have a BABY now I might have gone crazy. Watching the baby i watch is enough baby for me right now!
Ramon means "wise protector" and he is just that. I am so thankful for him and how he makes his decisions, not on a whim but he really puts thought into them and how it will effect the family. The Lord gave him his wisdom, too. He grew up being abused and tossed here and there and he had to rely on the Lord to protect him and give him wisdom and he has continued to do that. I know I do not fully appreciate all that he is today because I take for granted sometimes the fact that I was raised fairly normally and project that on to him, but whenever I stop to think of all that made him who he is, I am totally impressed.
We've gone through many things in our 14 years. Namely, we have moved 14 times. We bought our first house at 10 years of marriage and when we moved in here it was our 14th move in 10 years. Don't ask, because there is a story behind each one. One I will tell you about is (I think)the 8th place we lived in. We moved there because of the cheaper rent but the place was pretty run down. We knew the owners well and they let us paint and fix it up for lower rent. We moved in in April and by August they wanted us to move out. They just needed to use the house for other things. (Don't ask.) So we found a temporary place to live in September. Then in December the house we moved out of actually burned down. I know, totally God, inconvenient for us but totally God's hand. You know, I'm thinking about this and I probably complained about moving the whole time, but Ramon never once complained about that situation. I think he was disappointed because he wanted a dog but that was it. During all the things we have gone through, he has been my rock and along with THE ROCK (God) we have been able to succeed. And I say again, WE. Together.
One thing that is true about our marriage is that we are so much better together than apart on our own. That should be true of all marriages but in our case it is definitely true. We make better decisions, we deal with the kids better, we don't just "get by" when we are together in these matters.
I love Ramon more today than I did when we said "I do" 14 years ago, and in a way, that is such a corny line but if it were not true then we would not still be together. I mean what can a 21 year old really know about love and commitment when they are so "in love"? But now to be 35, to go through the things we've already gone through together, to experience the things we've experienced and STILL be in love and committed to each other? Now THAT is a God thing. THAT is real love. That is the kind of love that is pure. I am so thankful for that and for my husband Ramon.

Gabriel Burton

The Last of my kids is Gabriel Burton. And I mean last for sure of the kids coming from my body! My body has been pregnant for a total of 45 months and nursed a baby for 41 months that is 86 months, so for over 7 solid years my body has been given for my children. I think that that is enough. Especially since I had the last 2 (including Gabriel) by C-Section. 2 surgeries where I was a totally healthy individual and yet cut open. It made the recovery that much faster since I was healthy to begin with -- I NEVER want to have surgery if I'm sick-- but it was quite a lot to go through. I had a C-Section with Gabriel because I had one with Ezra and my midwife's practice do not do VBAC (if you don't know what that is, it's no big deal but the people who DO know what it is no explanation necessary!) I wanted the same doc's and midwives that I was used to and trusted to help bring in my last child into the world. So from the beginning I knew what would happen, this was after RAMON convinced me to have just one more. I'm so glad he did, because Gabriel is such a blessing! It is usually the wife wanting more kids, but it was the husband in our case who brought it up before we were totally out of the "baby stage" why not just one more? I think I asked if he was on something at the time, but I prayed about it and indeed just one more was what God wanted. It happened pretty quickly from there as well. I am so thankful that it was "easy" for me to get pregnant and sustain the pregnancy. I do not take that for granted at all. I see heartbreak after heartbreak in this area and I just have to say that each and every child is a total miracle and that no one is here except for the hand and grace of GOD Himself. Two more things I will add about when Gabriel first got to us, I had to schedule the C-Section for a Wednesday around 39 weeks or so (THAT was really nice, too because I never went through labor with Gabe, boy, am I thankful for that!!) anyway, 39 weeks was around my nephew's birthday and the last year's birthday party we missed because of Ramon needing to go to the ER for something, so I decided to schedule it for 40 weeks which the date was April 5, 2006 or 04/05/06 isn't that the coolest birthday in the year 2006?? I was so thankful for that and I was not worried in the least that I would make it to that day and that I would not have any labor and since everything was prepared I would have a quick recovery. All that happened as if I scripted it. But it wasn't me, it was the Lord answering my prayers. Thank you LORD! Another thing about that is after Gabriel was out and they were "putting me back together", they told me why the last 2 babies were breech (I would have never had them the regular way, it would have been probably very bad for me had we tried). The doctor and midwife said that my womb was heart shaped and the baby's head got "stuck" in one of the sides of the heart and then couldn't rotate anymore! Isn't that the coolest thing ever????? My womb shaped like a heart -- wow! Let me tell you again how great God is!!!!
Anyway, so now we have Gabriel "hero of God" and Burton "famous". Gabriel was suggested by my mom and meant something cool so that's where that name came from, and Burton was after Ramon's Grandfather, Duane Burton Bassett. I thought it was a very cool name for a middle name so I wanted to find a first name to go with it.
He is 2 years old at the time I write this and right now looking at me with his HUGE brown eyes! He is so cute with the huge dark brown eyes and then everything else, skin and hair are so LIGHT! He has such bright blond hair it is almost out of place with the other kids who are pretty similar. I used to look at him and say "where did you come from" since he is totally different (except you can see it in the eyes). He weighed 8 pounds 15 ounces, which isn't that bad (almost 9 pounds!), but my next biggest baby was 7 pounds 9 ounces, that is a whole pound and a half bigger! He also has spots. Yes, you read that right, he is spotted with this thing called "Erdicaria Pigmentosa" and it's supposed to make him more prone to allergies and be itchy, but none of that has happened -- thank the LORD! He takes a low dose of Singulair everyday, but that is nothing. The spots are supposed to go away when he is 5 or so, and not hurt him. So no big deal! They look a little strange to others who are not used to it, but soon they will be gone anyway. He is my little spirited one, too. He loves to explore and get into everything. He has the sweetest habit, though. He sucks his thumb but then with the other hand, rubs his ear -- OR the ear of the person closest to him! It's hilarious! If you are the lucky one to be near him, it feels so good. My mom says it's like a little massage! He is all boy but so very friendly and has a winning smile to boot. He is potty training now and it's been the easiest of all the rest. I am going to have a big party with the theme "I Don't Have To Buy Diapers Anymore!" after he is potty trained. Yes, I have been buying diapers now for 11 years, 2 months, and 10 days. I am so done with diapers. But on the other hand, I love the snuggles and ear rubs that come with the diapers so I am not wishing away this and missing out on the good, I am really just looking forward to my "diaper raise"! (Which is what all families get when you no longer have to buy $30 in diapers every month -- or more!)
Gabriel is a welcome addition to our family and even though we have 5, with him it seems even. We have 2 boys, then a girl, then 2 more boys. There is no perfect number of children to have (pudding comes in packs of 4 but juice in packs of 6 so who's the expert here?) you have to listen to your heart and to God for your perfect number. I would never tell anyone to have more kids just because they "only" have 2, that may be THEIR number. Who am I to say anything to them?? They can ask me what it is like with 5, I will be happy to tell them over dinner (their treat) with someone babysitting the kids. But 5 is not for everyone. 2 is not for everyone. 10 is not for everyone. I do chuckle a little when I hear someone complain about having problems with 2. One thing that is essential for every family is to have a mom and a dad who love each other and love the kids. You can go anywhere from there! If you don't have that, then until you get that you cannot move on to the next cool thing for your family! (For all you single parents out there, who are not single by choice but by the bad choices of others -- I salute you and you can do and overcome anything with this next step-->) The next step would be for everyone to love God together. If you have that the SKY IS THE LIMIT!
I will focus on my husband next, I am VERY thankful for him and it will be an honor to honor him especially this month, for on the 30th, we will be married for 14 years.

I was tagged.........

Here goes.......
I'm supposed to answer these questions and then tag others to answer them, so here they are:
1. What were you doing ten years ago?
Um lets see... 1998. Early in the year, Ramon went back to school to finish his degree and then mid-year we moved to Charleston WV from Zephyrhills, FL. Our longest move. Daniel just turned 1 (our oldest)

2.Name five things on today's "to do" list:
a. sleep at some point
b. go to a yard sale
c. give kids a bath
d. work
e. take a shower

3.Things I'd do if I was a Billionaire: I would give my house away to someone, buy a big house and pay the taxes on it for the next 10 years, pay off all my debt, all my parents'debt and all my brother's debt and buy a piece of land or something for all of them, put money away for my kids, set up training on how to handle money and how to Biblically pass down money, set up mutual funds, IRAs and whatever else kind of money preserving things are out there

4.Three Bad Habits: not following through, TV, not updating my blog!

5.Five places I've lived: Morgantown, WV; Lakeland, Fl, SanAntonio, TX, Jordan, NY, Charleston, WV

6.Five jobs I've had: dispatcher, child care provider, organizer, ice cream scooper, cashier

7..Five People I'm Tagging:
Alise
Christine
Angie
Mesa
Laurel

Ezra Joseph

I went back and looked and I wanted to write something about each of my children and only got through the first 3! I don't want to miss out on telling you about my last 2 kiddos and the 4th one to come along was Ezra Joseph. First of all, I love the name Ezra. I have always loved it from the time I met a great kid with that name. I'm so thankful we had at least 3 boys so we could use it! It is unusual but not too bad to spell! At least I thought so. Ezra went into the hospital when he was about a week old - 10 days old maybe. I looked at his chart by the bed and it is a notebook and his name is on there spelled ERAZ.... what?? How can you mess up a 4 letter name!

Ezra means "help" or "helper" and I just love the book in the Bible (read it sometime it is not long!) where the KING wants to know more about God's word/law. So he asked for the most wise, most knowledgeable person to come and teach the whole nation and him and who did they get? EZRA! That's right, buddy! Ezra! And my little guy (who is 4 right now) has 2 cow licks on his head (in the hair) and that means he will be super smart! (Ok so maybe its an old wives tale but still, what's the harm in believing it for my son??) His middle name is "Joseph" and that means, "and God shall add". We thought that was appropriate because God surprised us with him and GOD added to our family! Not that we weren't thrilled just surprised. It also is the name of our beloved pastor who has mentored us and given us hope when we were burned out and left for dead. His name will live on in our son Ezra Joseph. I will always be indebted to Apostle/Pastor Joe for the wonderful family life he taught us that we can have.

Ezra is the most calm, easy going child. I just love the fact that he wants to sit in my lap and for as long as I will let him. He is very observant and in some ways a little sneaky. We called him our "stealth bomber" because he is silent and strikes in different places and you are left to even wonder who it was that did it! We were trying to get ready to paint the house (inside) and had primed over some marks on the walls. Well, the next day, in permanent Sharpie marker, is Ezra's name with the "e" and the "r" backwards, on the wall that I just primed! At first I thought it was just marks and the baby did it, then I looked closer and it was his name, and here he was acting all innocent even pointing the finger at little brother and the whole time it was him. Now, that's not to say he isn't spirited. He is very close minded to any form of discipline, he will scream at the top of his lungs if I put him in the corner or time out. I guess, since he got away with things (stealth bomber, remember?) he doesn't exactly like the consequences when he gets caught. But he apologizes and moves on with his life.

He is so cute, too! He does these faces that are hilarious! One we call the "eyebrow face" where he lowers his chin and practically looks at you with his eyes rolled back and through his eyebrows! He has the smoothest, brownest, most beautiful skin. I rub his belly and his sweet cheeks and man, I would love to have the kind of skin he was blessed with.

He is going to school (pre-school) for the first time in the fall of 2008 and he is going to do very well. He gets along with everyone and even though he may be a little shy at first, he is so fun and huggy and cute that you will never remember that. He also has a little stutter where he says a word over and over while he is thinking of the rest of what he wants to say, he will get over that really quick. The Lord healed him early in his life (see above hospital visit) he had a mass of fluid in his lungs and was in the PICU for 5 days and stepdown for 2 and regular room for 1 day, he has spent the longest time (at once) in the hospital (of all my kids). They said he would be back with all kinds of lung problems (he went in in October so it was just the beginning of winter and all the possible sicknesses during that time of year) but he was totally fine and has not had any problems since then. It was just a thing that the Lord wanted me to know that He is in control of my kids, and not me. The other way He did that was during the birth of Ezra. I went in at 10pm or so in labor and stayed all night going through contractions when they gave me the shot of antibiotics needed for safe travel through the birth canal, it went in my IV so I turned over on my side because it burned my whole arm and I felt a big movement in my belly when I did that. Well, Ezra flipped into a breech presentation! He was back first so totally breech. They talked to me about risks and craziness and in the end we decided to have a C-Section instead of try to turn him. It was pretty traumatic for me, I expected to be up and about right away like before but now I was in constant pain just sitting and had to stay in the hospital for 3 extra days and try to figure out what I was supposed to do with my kids when I was only planning to be "gone" for 2 days! He made himself known that very day, the little stinker!

One thing I will always remember about Ezra is how he holds up his arms to me and says, "Hold you?" I never correct his grammar because he will grow out of even wanting to be "held" and he will definitely learn to say "hold me" instead of "hold you", but for now, right now, I love it with every fiber of my being. It says to me that he loves and trusts me as his mommy, plus he's so snuggly and soft that it makes me feel just as good as it makes him feel.

I love my little Ezra (who will probably not end up so little!!).

This is what happened at the school today

I showed up at the school without an appointment and as soon as I gave my name, the secretary asked "is this about what happened last night?" So the principal was summoned and apparently had other obligations which were put on hold for this important matter. She had not been informed until I came about what happened. The secretary told her what happened (from her POV) and then the teacher in question was summoned. He came very quickly. We talked it out and the principal was very surprised that a teacher transported Daniel when that is never done. It came down to several things, the most important issue to me was the fact that my son was transported without permission. Now, the only saving grace that I can say is that the teacher actually knew my father personally and for many years, so he, as a friend of my dad, decided to take a chance and take Daniel to "Pa's" office and that he would not do that with any other student. It was a big chance and thank the LORD nothing happened. I accepted this as a explanation because I, in fact, have known this teacher since he was a child, and know his parents and family, too. The only thing that I would want to be changed was if they could have called and left a last message saying what they decided to do under the circumstances. The principal was really surprised that he decided to do this. And if she had been there or the vice principal would have been there it never would have happened. Another issue that preceeded this was the fact that there was not updated phone numbers in which to call and no "extra" numbers, this was of course my fault. I should have called in and said that since our cell phones are not on for an undetermined period of time, here are some new numbers to call just in case. My brother's number had changed and the only other numbers on there were cell phones that were off at the time. The other main issue that I had was the checks and balances making sure kids get to detention ("D-Hall"). No one ever questioned why he was not there, no one had a list of kids who were supposed to be there. Well, apparently this issue may never be resolved because it was not an unusual situation to have a kid skip d-hall. They USUALLY hop the bus home and then the school's hands are tied and they just give them an extra day of d-hall. MY son had to not only skip but stick around! They had never had this happen before. Usually this would have been resolved quickly because if I would have been available by phone, I would have said "get that kid to detention"! The last issue is Daniel, he just perpetuated this cherade for the secretary and teacher, did not tell them he had d-hall, did not tell them that he KNEW I would be at the library, and it went so far that he got a free ride to "Pa's" work which was a great payoff for him! He got exactly what he wanted. He didn't think it through to the end, though, because this affected a lot of people. The principal was truly concerned for his safety and had not had an incident like this for quite some time. I mean the way an 11 year old can manipulate the system like this? Shouldn't the system be changed if this happens? At least tweaked! She (principal) had Daniel come to the office while I was there and we both talked to him and explained how his actions affected so many people. That he is to never do things like this again. We hugged and sent him on to class. We had talked last night and he was crying as he said he was sorry for scaring me. He will not be going on a camping trip this weekend, he has to do his brother's and sister's chores through the weekend because this effected the whole family in a negative way and he gets Saturday detention for this stunt.
The issues with the school are still there in a way. I feel like they heard me out, they did what they could while I was there, and I got everything out in the open. I voiced my concerns about the detention checking thing and since this was a first for them, and is not a significant problem and is usually resolved with a phone call, I don't think they will change anything. The teacher will be spoken to by the principal, and again since nothing happened, I don't know what I can do more besides address the issue at hand which I did. This is a new and unusual situation, and the last 10 days of school so I understand why they are not jumping to change policies and proceedures, however I would have liked her to say that they would look into their current policies since these are kids who are looking for ways to get away with things!
I think I accomplished what I wanted to and got what I wanted initially. Next school year, the middle school is moving to a new building and it will only be for 6th, 7th and 8th grades. I think that with the 5th grade thrown with the middle school that they forget that they are only 10 and 11 years old. They still need to be checked up on. 12-14 year olds need that too but in a different way. I'm sure this will be an incident that will be remembered and prevented in the future. If my son goes there next year I will look into things and make sure there is some checks in place to keep the kids safer, even the kids who try to get away with things.
So now, you my dear reader, what should I do from here? What more could I have done? I would like to hear different points of view. Not ones that say I should have gone to the school half-cocked and demanded resignations of all involved, that's a little extreme and not respectful and remember my son was the one who knew better and totally did the wrong thing. It would be interesting for me to hear what you have to say, so post and let me know! I'm a little tired right now, only got 3-4 hours sleep within the last 2 days. Maybe I'll be able to get some sleep after work (I'm here now -- midnight job) and think a little more clearly. good bye!

Something to PRAISE GOD about!

I wanted to interrupt this crazy day to post something VERY COOL! You will not believe it -- but it's true and because it's so unbelieveable you will have to believe that it was a GOD thing!
We were blessed with a vehicle! That's right someone GAVE us a car! Halleluia!!! How can I keep from praising Him? I can't, He does so much! Unexpected! Awesome!
Blessings and more blessings on the family who it came from! I love you!

He is there even in the midst of the storm!

Trauma: life in this family!

Today was an extremely traumatic day. It started off fine, regular and then got great even. But then it happened.....a mother's worst nightmare! My oldest (Daniel age 11) had detention after school. 2 days this week, yesterday and today, at the end of school until 3:15, which then I would have to pick him up. Ok fine, he deserved it so fine. It was actually his first time getting detention and here we are 2 weeks from the end of the school year, I think he's done pretty well to this point. Yesterday went fine, he came right out at 3:15, apparently they had been counting down the last minute. Here's the routine, I pick up the younger 2 kids from the Elem. School at 2:20 so instead of going all the way home, we go to the library which literally is right next door to the schools. The schools (Daniel's Middle school and the Elementary), are together (they even share the cafeteria) at the end of a dead end road, and it loops around so you pass the library going to and from the schools. So I take the kids there for about 40 minutes, then load them up, pick up Daniel and then home we go. Not a bad situation, not what I would want for Daniel but still. So I go today to pick him up after being at the library. I park right in front of the school (on time), no Daniel. I wait about 5-7 minutes, no Daniel. I go into the school, after waiting a few minutes at the door trying to get someone's attention. I ask where the detention room is (it changes each day) they get a kid to take me there and he gets a little lost. I finally get to the room, the teacher's back is to me and he's talking with a kid, but no Daniel in the room and after a few minutes there, he turns and says that Daniel never made it to detention. Slight panic. So, I figured that buzzard took the bus home and now he's been home for over an hour with no supervision. He's in big trouble. I race home, it takes a few minutes. No Daniel. Real Panic. I have a kid go to the neighbor's, no one home. I call the church (cell phones do not work because we don't have money yet to pay the bill) Ramon is still there, YES! I tell him what happened, he races home. I notice there are calls on the phone, 2 from the school at 2:50 and 3:00. There is a message. While I am trying to get through the first one (haven't figured out how to skip and the person leaves a 3 minute message!!!) the phone beeps in and its my dad. "Did you lose a son?" he asks. YES! WHERE IS HE???? "He's here with me, a teacher dropped him off." WHAT????? "They couldn't get a hold of you so they brought him here." DID THEY TALK TO YOU??? "No, my cell phone was off because I'm at work." THEN HOW DID THEY KNOW THAT YOU WOULD BE THERE??? "I don't know."
This is when I lost it. Relief flooded over me, knowing that Daniel was safe and with my dad. And then total ANGER took over at the situation. Why did a teacher, whoever it was, take my child in their car? It was not his direct teacher, it was an auxillary teacher (who I will not name). Why did they take them in their car WITHOUT permission? Why didn't they keep calling or keep trying other emergency numbers? Why couldn't they leave him with another person at the school or stay a little longer? Why didn't the detention teacher call the office to report a missing student? Why didn't the office have a list of people in detention and so that he would be called to the curb? Why didn't the homeroom teacher make sure he got to detention? Why didn't Daniel just go to detention? All these things I am so upset about. Daniel was at total fault, totally his fault. He KNEW he had detention. But why are there not checks and balances in place to make sure an 11 year old child gets to where he needs to go? I'm going to be talking about all of this to the principal tomorrow morning. I will get answers or I will not leave.
I am thankful, of course, that Daniel is safe and home in is own bed. Whatever happened in that hour and a half will come to the light and hopefully some policy changes at the school. I am thankful for my husband for being so calm in the storm. He really did step up to the plate. I'm thankful for my church, who got on the prayer lines immediately, and rejoiced in the quick answer. I'm so thankful for my dad, who was there for Daniel. He sometimes works in a different town but he was there today and was willing to keep Daniel till Ramon picked him up without a second thought. I'm thankful that today was Wednesday and I was able to relax at church after everything settled down. I got some great parenting advice from my pastor as an extra added bonus. This could have been so much worse than it was. I'm really thankful for that. Pray that I talk to the school respectively that I would be able to bring things up that may be painful to hear in the right way. That change would be forthcoming because of this. That I would know who is really at fault (Daniel) and not to attack the school when it was not originally their fault. But that changes would be made so that something like this would never happen to another child. Especially not mine!

I Appreciate my MOM!

Happy Mother's Day out there to all you mothers! What an honor and privilege to be someones mom! I am so thankful for this Mother's Day, my husband went all out for breakfast and dinner/lunch for me!! 3 cheese omelet, steak with melted cheese, Brussels sprouts, YUMMY!!!!
I wrote a "poem" or whatever you want to call it for my mom, here it is:

I don't remember the exact moment it happened
But I really appreciate having YOU as my mother.
As a teen when you would listen with both ears,
As a child helping me with all the projects I had
And making it fun,
As a young adult, treating me as such and as a friend
Instead of a big child, even though I always will be,
And now as a mother myself, knowing what I know and
Realizing everything and more of what you went through
Since the day I was born
I truly appreciate, thank and honor you!

I am so thankful for my mother. She is a really fun person, full of life. She has done so much for me, not the least of which is protect me from horrible things and make it fun to be part of the family so that I didn't have to look elsewhere to find acceptance and love. I hope I can instill that in my children. What a massively huge job that is! Can seem overwhelming sometimes but after today's sermon (thanks Pastor Rena!) there's GRACE to cover me. Grace is God's ability to do through me what I can't do by myself. I can't mother my 5 children by myself. I can do it with and through God which is GRACE! Thank you Lord for Grace. I never want to forget that otherwise the weight of the world is on me, this way it is on the Lord where it should be anyway!
I'm so thankful that I am a mother, God has used it to show me so many things about Him. WOW so much to say about the subject of motherhood. For now, I will leave it at that and let it soak in for a while.

I am TIRED!

I don't think I've ever been as tired as I was this last weekend. I started a job working nights 12am to 8am to be exact so it's really working early mornings. I am a dispatcher who calls on alarms that go off in people's homes and businesses. You know, 24 hour monitoring? Well, that's me! There is always someone else in there with me so it's not JUST me. So if an alarm comes in we look at it and 50/50 chance it is just a test or something else that is a no-brainer just run it through and you're done. If it isn't then we have to call and see if everything is OK and if not then call the police. You get the idea, so it's an important job, but it is fairly easy with 5 alarms that come in the average hour and 2 of those requiring some sort of action. So I am really thankful for the job because not many jobs you get paid to read books or surf the web in between doing your job. It's not a lot of money but it's comparable to what I would get at Wallyworld doing back breaking stocking and on my feet the whole night. Thankful? You bet I am!
But last weekend I started this and it hit me pretty hard, plus the monthly "visitor", and BAM was I wiped out! I only got a couple hours sleep right before going to work, I would lay down when the kids went to bed (8pm) and then get up at 11:15, get ready and go. Not too bad but with everything going on that weekend and the monthly, well, you get the idea. I was so tired my head was spinning. I felt like I was made of concrete and it took everything it had in me to move. I've never been so drunk that I passed out, actually, I've never been drunk at all, but I would imagine that the way I felt was how people feel drunk or hung over. It was pretty bad! But this is the only kind of job that I can have and really I am thankful for it!! It's God's way of providing for us as we get "over the hump" with Ramon's business! Oh OK, one more thing to add to this discussion: it is FREEZING COLD in the room where I am. It's one big room about the size of a living room with a couple smaller rooms off them (bathroom with files and kitchenette with files). We could go outside for a minute, but, come on, it is 2 or 3 in the morning and I don't WANT to go outside! So we are in this little room with a million dollars worth of computer equipment and the temp has to stay at 68 degrees all the time. Now, you may think that 68 is nice and everything but when you are pretty much just sitting and can't go anywhere, in a below-ground room, it's 4 in the morning and 40 degrees outside and with 68 degree air blowing down on your head then that is not "nice". I literally wear 4 layers of shirts to go to work. Plus there is a blanket there if it just gets a little too cold. I think there needs to be a treadmill there to warm up! I need some of those Isotoner gloves so I can still type without blowing on my fingers! BUT I am THANKFUL for that cold, you know why? Because it keeps me awake!! HA! Despite the fact that I got very little sleep last weekend, I really didn't have too many problems staying awake. Funny how God works, huh?

So much has happened!!

I'll write out the list:
1. Ramon's Birthday
2. My Birthday
3. Zoe had surgery to remove tonsills and adnoids
4. Me and Ramon were sent out of town
5. Zoe (with the childcare provider WHILE we away)threw up blood, was taken to the ED, and had to have another surgery to stop the bleeding from her wounds
6. She had to be out of school a total of 2.5 weeks
7. The Lord impressed a whole new way of thinking and acting on us.
8. My best friend announced terrible news.
9. I went out of town with our Pastor to a Women's Retreat for 3 days.
10. Daniel has started with counciling.
11. Gabriel had his second birthday.
12. I now have 4 jobs: full time babysitter with a 5 month old, I also work at my church, I am a consultant with All Squared Away organizing company, and now I also work midnights at Secure US as a nighttime monitor of systems. Along with house, husband and children.

I may get to touch on each of these things later, but for now, just know that I am thankful for each of them. They are getting me closer to my destiny than ever before! I have a purpose for my life and someday each of the battles that I have faced in my life will be necessary for me to grow into who I become. Then I will be a stronger and more capable person for what I've gone through. And then to GOD be the glory! Who else could have seen me through some of the toughest times? Who could have kept me steady while staring failure and defeat in the face? ONLY GOD! WOW, am I thankful! So, for now this is a list of all the victories just within the last month, boy, am I excited about what the next month brings!!
Go God!

My Birthday

I just had another birthday and it has caused me to reflect since I am "mid-thirties" now. To some, I am still a baby. To others I have some experience under my belt and being married for almost 14 years and having 5 kids makes me, in some people's minds, an experienced person. I am thankful for the people who think I am still a spring chicken, because I am. I think I've gotten a little smarter because I've learned about more stuff out there that I don't know anything about. But all in all, the more I think I'm on top of things, the more I realize there is so much more to know. I am thankful for the older women in my life who keep me straight and don't let me get a big head even though I may have more children than them for instance. I want to keep my perspective. I need that grounding. I am also thankful that I can offer something up to the younger women. The Lord has brought me so far and if I don't give back then I am not being a good steward of the Father's gifts.
Thank you, Father, for Birthdays. It makes me really thankful that I made it another year and I may have another year to grow.

I am thankful for the Lord guiding me.

So I have been watching the show called "Snapped" and it features women who have snapped and killed someone or attempted to kill someone. I know, I know, not the best thing to be watching and I digress it is not, but I have been thinking that I am not very much different than these women. They are regular women, some college educated, some not, some married some not, some have children some do not. Some are just like me, middle aged, homemakers married with children. But for whatever reason, their minds snapped and they, in a fit of rage, jealousy, anger, or craziness, killed someone. So what is the difference between them and me? I have been pondering that. I have felt things like that to make my blood boil so to speak. I have thought about things that are illegal to do. But the thing that separates me from them is the Lord. Plain and simple. I have the Lord to lean on. I have the Holy Spirit to guide me and take away the thoughts that creep in that should not be there. I have the Lord to hand over my problems to. I have the Lord who says "Vengence is mine I will repay". I do not have to worry about things that happen to me that I have no control over because the Lord is my defender. These other women allow themselves to think about dealing with a situation that is not theirs to handle, it should be the Lord's and they do not allow Him to defend them or comfort them or lead and guide them. I do. I WANT the Lord to guide me in all the ways He wants me to go. I am so thankful for that. It would be easy for me, without the Lord, to fall into this kind of trap. Of course I want revenge sometimes, but sometimes it is not for me to take myself, it is best left to when the LORD wants to defend me and take vengence for me on my behalf. And He will! I only have to relax in knowing that it is the best kind. I only need to trust in Him. Which I do!

I am thankful for my children!

Just a quick note, there is lots going on this week! I have been reading about a family who have 6 children and they ALL have Autism. Can you imagine 6 children and all of them with some form of Autism. Some are high functioning, but others like a 6 year old is still in diapers. It is an incredible story as they all were diagnosed in 2006 even the oldest was 11 or 12 when the diagnoses came. I can get frustrated with my kids, especially when I tell them things and they ignore it and mess things up. It really bothers me. But after reading about their story (there is a video to watch at abcnews.com, too) on this blog http://www.autismbitestheblog.blogspot.com/
I have to think twice about my kids. Tonight, my oldest has tons of homework, he missed yesterday and he has an oral report and a spelling test tomorrow. Well, he has taken it upon himself to fix everything in the house, from game systems to arguements between siblings, and doing everything BUT homework. This has been the better part of an hour. Now, he's telling me he can barely move his hand because he's been writing so much. I got really frustrated with him earlier and had to go to this blog and read about all the things they have to deal with and then go back to my Daniel and be ever more patient. Oh, because he has basketball tonight too, arrrrrggg. But, nothing is impossible with the living God. And on Him I have my trust, in all things. This day shall pass and be only a memory in a few days. God is here and God is there! What a marvelous thing.
Thank you Lord for the problems my kids have, for they could be much worse!!

Forgot to mention another bombshell...

I started this blog to tell about all the things I am thankful for right? I would list even not so great things and then say that I am thankful for SOMEthing about that. Then a couple days later, I learn that we have to sell our house and move. That was big enough but another bomb went off after I said I would be thankful for everything.........a puppy. Yes, I said puppy. The husband and children have been begging for a dog for as long as I can remember and I have just flat out said no. There are so many reasons, not the least of which is the fact that I, the SAHM, would have the majority of the responsibility and I do not desire more mouths to feed or things to do. I do enough already! So a couple days after Christmas we go to a home to "look" at dogs, OH excuse me, these are not trained animals or full grown, they are 7 week old PUPPIES. Living outside with all their brothers and sisters and mother. I am content to sit in the car while the kids and hubby are outside picking one out and falling in love. We are not bringing one home, I say, we will go and think about it and maybe come back. We stay there too long and it is inevitable. We take one cute little girl home. I get to name her so that maybe the bonding process will begin, she is named "Bailey". (When I had Daniel there was a little girl born the next day named Bailey and I have always liked that name, we couldn't use it because our last name begins with a "B" and it just doesn't sound nice with a "B" first name.) So now my life is turned upside down with more things to do, feed, train, train the kids to train the dog, all things I am not thankful for. Especially picking up poo, doggy poo. Poo in the diaper is tolerable, used to that. Even when the occasional poo ends up not in the diaper or potty, mommys are well equipped to clean up the mess. I am not happy about doggy poo. I am not happy about doggy pee. AND, did I mention, it is the middle of WINTER??? Yeah, like I am going to send out my 7 year old in 20 degree weather to take the dog out. I did that once and he came to the door, red cheeks and nose and all, and said "I can't take the cold". Awwww. So I go and the dog wants to play, remember she lived outside prior to coming to our house. I say, just go already, and be done, but her with her layer of fur, says "this is fun, I want to play with the sticks and mud". The hubby says that I don't have to take her out but once while the kids are at school and then they will do it after they get home and he will do it when he gets home. Yeah, right. THEN the hubby abandons me 2 weeks into this to go out of town on a business trip for 3 days. THANKS. Then this dog, we realize, is going to be BIG. She had a medium sized mother so it never occurred to me that she may be bigger than that. But she has grown about 2x in size since coming to us and that is the total OPPOSITE of the type of dog I wanted (one that would fit into a purse!). AND just to top it off my husband gets a HUGE bag of dog food claiming that she is "skin and bones" and we need to feed her more. WHAT?? Another thing is that I am now watching 2 babies and when the 2nd one came to my house to "interview" me, Bailey proceeds to not only pee right in the middle of the living room where we were right in front of us, but she does this horrible hacking throw-up sound and throws up! So much for good first impressions. So I have spent the better part of the month not in thankfulness because of this dog. I now have SOME things to be thankful for. One thing is that I don't have to vacuum as much food from under the table (some joker builder put CARPET in the dining area!). Another thing is that she is kind of cute with a floppy, gimpy ear. The ears either stick straight up or the both hang to the right. Yes, the left ear hangs over her head pointing to the right, it looks really funny, I'll have to get a pic and post it. More things to be thankful for because of the dog include: she did not prevent me from getting the babysitting job for the 2nd baby, apparently the family has a crazy puppy and has had more probs with theirs than we have had with ours and they totally understood the puppy stage. The first baby I had been watching, has dogs at their house only their dogs are HUGE and beautiful and totally trained, but they were happy to see a puppy when they came to drop off their child. Nobody has shown any allergies to the dog. Gabriel is supposed to be more prone to allergies and so far he has not been allergic to anything. That is God not fate, by the way! I am actually thankful that she was raised like she was before we got her. We have had dogs from the pound but those dogs are trained to "go" in their enclosures. Bailey was just outside and went outside to "go", so when we brought her to our house and use the crate, she has not "gone" in the crate! I am very thankful for the crate. Also, the kids have really stepped up to the plate concerning care of the dog, sometimes they have to be reminded that they asked for it and it is not a job for only when you "feel" like it. But for the most part, they are doing very well, mommy needs only to remind and keep track of who's "turn" it is to do things and if that is fair then they don't complain. I am thankful for the fact that she is a FEMALE dog. We needed more "girl power" in the house. My husband loves coming home to a happy dog. She is the first one to greet him, since she can run faster than the kids and knocks them down on her way, but STILL its cute and a happy time for the hubby. And for me, I realized that all I did at first was complain and whine. I also realized that something that is good for everyone in the family is good for me, too, even if it not MY desire. Bailey does not really come to me, probably because I am very stern with her since everyone else is so playful, that is not my job, my job is to keep her from chewing up our shoes and smelling up the house. But eventually she will learn that I am able to tolerate her and am thankful that the kids love her and for what she adds to our family.

The only girl: Zoe Claire

I am thankful that I had at least ONE girl! My life would be surrounded by testosterone if not for Zoe. She is a bright light.She is bouncy and bubbly and dancy and still very tough! My husband says she can hold her doll in one hand and slug her brothers with the other! I am thankful for that because she doesn't let anyone walk all over her. Now, she still uses her position and screams like crazy to get attention and often teases because she knows that the brothers are NOT allowed to put their hands on her, but she is testing her boundries and seeing what it's like to be in a male dominated world. I'm glad she's doing it here first and not out in the corporate world where women constantly "down size" themselves with a little tear and "sniff sniff" and a batting of the eyes. Zoe will learn that it takes hard work and not "feminine wiles" to get ahead the right way.
I am thankful she is a motivated student, she loves to read and do homework! She is the one with 5 books in her hand every night wanting to read all of them. She is the one that says, I dont' want any help, I want to do it by myself and learn it! I am thankful that she is good with her little brothers, she is a little mommy and helps them so nicely! I know she will be a great babysitter one day and eventually a mommy although right now she says she doesn't ever want to get married. I don't think that will be an issue later on being surrounded by boys, boys at home, best friend at school is a boy, a boy next door, 4 boys across the street, 5 boys just down the street, a lot of times she is the only girl riding around on her bike outside with all these boys in the neighborhood.
Now, let me say this, I am thankful that she is so "girly". She loves to play mommy as previously mentioned, she loves to play dress up (she can change clothes faster than anyone!),she loves her dolls, she loves make up. I'm so glad she has a nice balance in her life where she is exposed to boys but still loves being a girl. She is also in these wedding shows, she is the flower girl model! She gets to have her hair and make up done like she is in a wedding and then put on fabulous flower girl dresses and then walk the runway. WOW is she good and smiley and beautiful! She is 6 but wears a couple sizes smaller so she can do it all. She loves that time to dress up for real. I am thankful for that because it is FREE for me! And I can take all the pics I want!
I'm so glad I got to name her after my grandmothers. Claire is her middle name because of my Grandma Child, Clara and my Grandma O'Connor, Clarita. They are both with the Lord right now. I was their very first grandchild and I had the most time to spend with them. They were both at my wedding. I treasure the picture I have with them. I enjoyed learning to bake and learning to knit at their side. I was able to give one a couple great grandchildren before she passed on. I was able to spend weeks at ones house. They were fabulous women. I know that their prayers for me still carry on to this day and that one day I will see them both in heaven. I'm so thankful for the opportunity to carry on their names to my daughter. Not only is she Zoe meaning "LIFE" but she is Claire meaning "bright and clear". Now that's what I think is the making for a wonderful legacy to have and to carry on.
I am thankful most of all that Zoe's little life was spared. We decided on the name a few months before she was born and when you say a person's name you are speaking the meaning of that name to them everytime you say it so we called her "life" even months before she was born. Then the day came when she arrived all 7lbs, 4 ozs of her. I labored at home, they didn't want me to come in although I knew I was in labor, when I got there I was 9.5 cent. dilated so she came within a half hour. Full term, beautiful. Everyone around me told me to stay in the hospital another night (the customary 2 day stay) even though I was feeling pretty good. I had 2 boys at home age 4 and 15 months so ok, I'll stay. That night while I was sleeping and Zoe was in the nursery she, for no reason, stopped breathing. The nurse caught it and called the doc in and she did it again and was taken to the NICU. Thus began the most terrifying days of my life. But all the while we were calling her LIFE even before she got here. She was sent home on 2 monitors, for breathing and pulse-ox. The Lord spared her life, healed her and she is a very healthy 6 year old now. I can only thank the Lord every day and thank him for her name which spoke LIFE into her and still speaks life into her every day.

My Josiah!

I am also thankful for my second born son (I used to say #2 son but that never sat right with me) Josiah David. He is a breath of fresh air. He is a great observer and tells what's on his mind but only when he wants to. I am thankful that he is not like his older brother, I don't need 2 of one kind of kid and he is so different that I think how did these 2 boys come from the same parents?! (no doubt, they do!) He rarely throws a temper tantrum and when he does he is quite serious and something is seriously wrong in his life. I pay attention to his tantrums, because usually there has been a great injustice in his eyes and if he is THAT passionate about it then I need to take a few minutes and hear him out. Now, they are sometimes for little things, like little brother broke my soldiers (you know those little plastic green ones that come in a pack for $1). He had them all lined up ready for battle and while he was at school little brother came and stomped on them and most got broken. Yes, it is a tragedy for this boy, but when mommy explains that little brothers do that kind of thing and it is possible to get more, he dries his tears and moves on with his life. I LOVE THAT! He really does make the best of things and when he understands (or at least if things are explained in an appropriate way) he will accept that and not be upset for hours or act like it is the end of the world all the time. I am thankful that he does well in school. He writes letters backwards, but hey, in time that will correct itself. He is great with homework except for the initial No I don't want to do homework now thing, he is done in record time. His reading is improving weekly, the other day he read a story and by golly I was impressed. He doesn't really LIKE to read yet, he won't read a book for fun, except for the picture books and animal books. But again, that will come as he figures out that reading is actually fun. And I am SOOOOOOO thankful he is not a trouble maker at school. I really don't have to worry about if the teacher will call me to come get him, I don't have to worry about parent/teacher conferences. He likes to talk and tell me about OTHER kids and how they use the "f" word (in our family the f word is fart we don't use that word) and how other kids lie to the teacher and disobey. See? Very observant. I think he uses OPM to guide him. OPM would be Other People's Mistakes, he observes what other people do, mistakes they make and calculates the cost to himself and says that's not worth the trouble so he is rarely in "trouble"! God has given him a great gift in that! I also am thankful we were able to use one of my favorite names "Josiah", it means "the FIRE of the Lord" so cool, huh??? How can you go wrong when every time I call him his name I am calling him the fire of the Lord?! Awesome! I love names and the meaning of names.
Side note: Daniel's name means "God is my Authority"!!
Josiah in the Bible was 8 years old when he became king and he was a good king in spite of having bad kings ahead of him and behind him. Probably because of his mother! My speculation only I am not a Bible commentator!
I am thankful that he is so kind hearted towards animals, he lacks the skills to take care of them properly, but he is 7 and I can't count on him to remember everything. But he loves animals and is awed by the croc hunter and was so sad when he died. He said he was going to go work for that Zoo in Australia. I said great as long as I can visit you whenever I want! He wants to be a Vet, and a Monster Truck Driver. I said as long as it's in that order because I don't see any money in the 2nd one!! He is a good basketball player, stays focused on the game. In T-ball he was little, age 4-5, and he didn't pay very close attention, but basketball seems to be good for him, keep him focused and really on a "team". He is friends with everyone he meets. He says he likes a girl in his class and last week kissed her. This from a kid who doesn't like the kissing scene in any movie (even cartoons who kiss!). So I don't know what really happened and he was at least able to talk to me about it, so the communication is open and he is still a great boy that I am proud to call mine for a season. He is God's really and I can't take any credit to his easy going nature and more quiet personality. God made him that way and knew we needed him to be just like he is. I am so thankful to God for letting me have this time with him. He is such a neat person and can't wait to see all that God has stored up for him.

I am thankful for Daniel!

Now it is time to be thankful for my children. I WAS going to do this sooner but ok better late than never!
Daniel is my first born. He is 10 years old as I write this. First of all, I am TRULY thankful to even have children. And I do not say that or take it lightly. There are so many people that I know PERSONALLY who struggle with infertility and I cannot know what you are going through. But I can say that I have learned by watching you to be so thankful to have been pregnant without medical intervention. And pregnant with little complication and 5 healthy wonderful babies. I do not take that for granted. I appreciate that fact so much, because without even thinking about what goes on, pregnancy and birth is such a miracle!!
On to Daniel, my beloved first born. He is a unique breed of boy. When he was born I was smitten, he was the most beautiful thing in the entire world, I could spend all day looking at him and didn't mind hearing him cry. He had to be hospitalized at 2 weeks old with an unknown fever. He had to have a spinal tap and they made me leave the room, I'm glad they did but at that moment, I was his mother. I was forever a mother. I FELT like a mother. I was going to protect that baby and do everything I could to make his life the best possible life. I am thankful that he was a boy. My dear husband had not been around babies too much so for him being so big to hold a little girl may have been too much. So having a boy not only secured the Bassett name to be passed on but gave my husband an excuse to watch more football. I love Daniel so dearly, I am thankful for the ways that having this child has taught me about my relationship with the Lord. When I find myself saying, "Why don't you get it yet, I have been clear and yet you still do the same mistakes over and over." I find myself thinking that that is what the Lord is trying to say to me about things I do! I am thankful for that because it lets me be more merciful to him when he does do some things wrong. I am thankful for him because otherwise I'd be incredibly selfish. I already am to a point but I know that I would be lazy and selfish without children. I had to grow up. Someone else mattered more than me. We homeschooled for a while and I really like homeschooling in general. I did not do it well FOR HIM. It would have gone better had he been a little more motivated student. Even in school there is a part of him that doesn't care. At a time that I should be able to just check over his homework and say "good job" I have to sit with him and make him do extra if he gives me lip. I have to stay on top of him or he will walk all over my carefree personality. I have had to adapt my personality (have fun all the time) to what he needs (schedules and rules) . And it is not a bad thing, out of my comfort zone, but a great way for me to learn and stretch myself. My idea of homeschooling would be to explore a subject and go lay a blanket out in the park and devour book after book and then go for a visit to someone/somewhere that will be exciting. Daniel would do that and then not remember anything! He doesn't do well on tests. I am thankful for that because when he puts in the extra effort for the test, maybe he does good on the test and maybe not, but when he puts in that extra effort it will help him later on when there is a problem that he can't solve. I am thankful for him mostly because he pushes my buttons. I know that sounds weird but if he didn't push them someone would who was less forgiving and although it is frustrating many times a day, I have to learn to get rid of those buttons! Then I wouldn't get so worked up in the first place! But enough about me, let me list some things that are really great about Daniel;
he has beautiful blue eyes, he is strong and getting taller by the second, he is an incredible athlete (he picks up sports so easily, masters everything he tries), he is a wonderful big brother, he is a great help in the family, he is sweet, gives hugs, loves to show us when he does great on his video game (all the time), he is sensitive to God and what God wants, he asks great questions about life, he is your all around typical boy who struggles at times how to be a man but with the Lord, he will go so far. Not sure at this point where he may end up, but with his spirit I will love to watch it happen. I hope I didn't miss my point here to say that I am so thankful for my son, Daniel, and the joy he has brought to my life and for what having him has taught me. I think my son is so neat and can't wait to see what is in store for him!
bye for now!

the BOMB that went off after I said I would be thankful for everything!

OK so this blog was supposed to be about "think about what you think about" and I am only going to touch on that briefly. What do you think about? What is your mind on all day? Is that good for you? Keep your mind stayed on Him! He knows what you are thinking about. Thinking is just the first step to talking about something you shouldn't say, so rip those thoughts from your mind! Think about good perfect and wonderful things the Lord has done for you! Be thankful, sometimes you have to think a little harder, but then when you THINK to be thankful you will be thinking of better things!!
Now, I started this blog at the beginning of December, thinking that I would write something everyday and the next week would be each of my children and husband and then the church and my pastors and then my parents and then my brother and his wife and my neice and nephew......... then the bomb went off. After almost 4 years in our beautiful house, the first one we bought, in a great neighborhood, after 14 moves (in 10 years)........ we have to sell. Yes. I said sell it and move once again, with 5 children now (we added him less than 2 years ago). And after starting this blog and saying I was thankful for everything! I ended up laughing hysterically because it's just like the Lord to prepare our hearts for something like this. I expected it but I didn't want it to happen. Now, it is going to happen. What is there to be thankful for? I was going over this in my mind because I was ready to shut this blog down and say forget it, I'm not thankful for THIS! But then I know my God, I know He has a plan for me, He knows what's around the corner, He knows what I don't know. I am so thankful for that. I can trust in that. Maybe there's a bigger house in my future! We are in a 1600 square foot house with 7 people, we could use a little more room. I knew we would have to move eventually, because we will have 3 teenagers in 8 years and continue to have 3-4 teens in our house for a long time. We will be busting out at the seams! So I knew it was going to happen, I just didn't want it to happen this year! So much for what I want! But its ok, and I say that with a great deal of non-sarcasm, because life is not all about me and what I want. I live my life for the glory of God and I just have to be obedient and do it!
So what am I thankful for in regards to this turn of events: 1. it's my chance to get rid of tons of junk we have laying around 2. my chance to get organized 3. we can stop making an enormous house payment 4. we will be renting after we move so no more mowing the lawn or fixing broken furnaces ourselves 5. by making a lower housing payment, it will be a way to get out of debt completely 6. we will be able to get a bigger house to buy next time we buy 7. we will make it an adventure 8. we will get money out of it to pay off tons of debt. Now most of this is not guaranteed to happen, but I want the best out of this situation! I expect for God to do great things because we did what He wanted us to do, that is not wishful thinking it is expecting God to move on my behalf! There was a story about a golfer who was invited by the king of Saudia Arabia to come golf with him. The king sent over a private luxurious jet to fly him over for a week of total pampering, royal treatment and golfing, any golfers dream, right? yes! Well, at the end of the week the golfer was leaving and thanking the king for everything, but the king was not finished. The king was thankful to the golfer for coming and for teaching him new swings and such, so he wanted to give the golfer something to remember the trip by. He said whatever you want just ask so that I may give it to you, anything. The golfer said no you don't have to do that you have given me so much already. But the king was insistent and so the golfer who collected golf clubs said OK how about a golf club. The king was satisfied and said great, it will be yours! So the golfer went home and waited for his club, would it be solid gold? would it be an old antique one worth thousands of dollars? After waiting several weeks and nothing, he was ok but still wondered. Then a certified letter came to him from the king. It wasn't what he expected, he expected a box. Inside the envelope was a deed to his very own golf course (golf "club")!! I am a child of the KING OF KINGS, I should expect wonderous things from the Lord! He has everything at His disposal! You and I are not a pawns on the chess board of life, we are sons and daughters of a KING! Even if something looks like a bad situation, God knows and He is right there with you and leading you all the way.