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!