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Whatever course you decide upon, there is always someone to tell you that you are wrong. There are always difficulties arising which tempt you to believe your critics are right. To map out a course of action and follow it to an end requires...courage.
-
Ralph Waldo Emerson

Tuesday, June 29, 2010

Encouragement from others

Some encouraging verses and words I've read this week....I'm claiming these for myself to build me up, even when others may tear me down.

"You are a victorious overcomer, completely capable by God's Spirit within you to stand against the attacks of the enemy. Don't allow his vicious barking to cause you to run for cover. Arm yourself for battle, meet him on the field of play, and trust the Lord for your deliverance from your already-beaten foe."
Priscilla Shirer

Psalm 25:15
My eyes are ever on the LORD,
for only he will release my feet from the snare.

Exodus 23:22
If you listen carefully to what he says and do all that I say, I will be an enemy to your enemies and will oppose those who oppose you.

Romans 8:38-39

For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come,
Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Monday, June 28, 2010

Emma's 15-month visit

Emma's 15-month visit was today, even though she will be 16 months old on July 1st. She weighs 24 lbs. 8 oz. and is 30 inches tall. She's got all her teeth, and though she cried when the doctor examined her, all is well. She's a very normal, happy, and healthy toddler. Yay! I asked the doctor about Emma's eczema and she recommended moisturizing Emma's skin a lot because it will help prevent the dryness that comes along with the eczema. She also said when there is a flare up to just put some cortisone on it and the rash should go away. So, I'll be working on that with Emma to see if it helps. Now we're home. Emma is in bed, the boys are working on school stuff, and Hailey is reading...she's already completed her assignments for the day. I figured since I need to sit right next to Corbin to help him with his math this would be a good time to blog a bit. We still have some things to clean out of the car from our vacation...various toys, empty water bottles, etc. so we'll be doing that sometime today. Otherwise, no other big plans. We may go to the pool this afternoon but I'm not sure. We'll just have to see how the day develops.

Sunday, June 27, 2010

Beach days

Yesterday dawned beautiful and HOT, so we decided to head out to the beach after a quick nap for Emma and some lunch. The kids had been wanting to go...and since I recently picked up their body boards they've really been wanting to try them out. Karl had gone out in the morning to get a beach umbrella to help shade Emma, so we were set to go once we got the sunscreen, towels, umbrella, water bottles, and body boards into the back of the SUV. Everyone had a blast! The water felt good...it was actually a little warmer than I would have preferred but it was so clear and pretty. Emma and I spent most of our time sitting on the shore letting the water break over our legs and walking around in the sand finding shells, rocks, sticks, etc. Karl had put the umbrella up but she really didn't sit under it. We coated her with sunscreen, twice, so she was fine. She's got a little better tan but no burn. ;) I wish I had her skin tone....

A funny story about the umbrella...and obviously it would be so much more humorous if you'd all been there. Once he put it up, Emma sat down....about a foot next to it NOT in it's shade....so he proceeded to pick her up and place her under the umbrella. On his way he stumbled over our plastic bucket of sand toys, his foot landed in the bucket, and he tripped....the pole of the umbrella was in the way so he began to fall, with Emma in his grip. He had to make the choice to set her down in the sand so he wouldn't fall on her and hurt her....it looked as though he tossed her...he sprawled on the sand, she landed on the sand belly first with her face just in the water. I ran over to get her face out of the ocean, but all she did was look at us in confusion, pick herself up and waddle on over to her toys to play in the sand. Not a single whimper or cry....I, of course, continued to laugh all afternoon and even into today in short bursts....loud guffaws issuing from my mouth each time I think of it. Belly laughs of the best sort....man laughter is good for the soul. I wish you all could have seen it but I didn't have a video camera trained on him. And just in case you're wondering, no Karl wasn't hurt either.....maybe his pride as I laughed at him for about ten minutes straight. Lucky for him he fell so that his body was blocked from everyone's view by the umbrella...I was the only one privy to his calamity. ;) Is it wrong to snicker joyfully because my cool, calm, and collected husband busted it on the beach? I think not....;)

It was a great day. We all enjoyed the water and the sand, and the kids loved using their body boards...though Hailey did say she did a couple of under water somersaults due to the waves and had to take a break on the sand to get her nerve back up to go out again. She did it though, so no problem. The only issue we had was when we were leaving. We got to the showers to rinse off but there were two couples there first, so we had to wait. While sitting at the picnic table, waiting, I noticed one of the ladies had taken off her suit (under the towel). Her male counterpart was helping her rinse off...she did have her back to us thankfully...no frontal nudity please....with her towel still on in the back. Well, she lifted it high enough to give a great (or not so great!) view of her back side. I told all the kids to look away, not knowing what they had seen. It turns out they were European, so maybe used to others seeing their bodies? I don't know. When we asked the kids in the car if they saw anything the boys laughed and said no...Hailey said she saw and "I looked away!" because she knew "I shouldn't be seeing that."I can't wait until our next trip...such fun, and our car still smells like the ocean. Maybe the 'streaker' won't be there next time!

Karl and I also had our date night last night. We had a late dinner at The Melting Pot and it was so delicious. We enjoyed the food, each others company, and we laughed so much. It was so great and I would say one of the best times we've had together in quite a while. It was the perfect ending to a terrific day.

Friday, June 25, 2010

Birthday Photos

The Cake
The Gifts

Breakfast

Thursday, June 24, 2010

More about our vacation...

Thursday, June 17, was Corbin's 7th birthday. We got up relatively late and Karl and I kind of shared breakfast duties. We made chocolate chip and blueberry pancakes, served with chocolate whipped cream and chocolate syrup for those who desired it...Karl and I stuck with the blueberry pancakes and regular syrup. We ate out on the deck, then it was time to open his presents. I have many pictures to share but I need to have Karl help me add them. For some reason I have not been able to figure out how to do that with my Mac. I'll do a separate post just for birthday photos.

Grandma and Grandpa arrived just after he finished opening his gifts...a BIG surprise for Corbin! He was not expecting to see them until the following evening (we knew but decided not to tell him) so he was thrilled that they were there to share in his special day. After opening his gift from them he and the older siblings were eager to go try out his birthday loot, so they all headed down to the basement (the game room at the cabin) to play. For lunch we had hot dogs cooked on the grill, a favorite of Corbin's, followed by cake and ice cream. His cake was chocolate with chocolate icing (there were chocolate chips in the batter) and he had picked out chocolate ice cream that had marshmallows in it....I made sure to buy some vanilla ice cream because I just could not handle ALL that chocolate, as much as I love it! It was a very chocolate-y day, but it was what my baby boy wanted....

After Emma's nap we all headed down the river for a tubing trip. Once we returned it was time to make dinner...spaghetti and meatballs, another of Corbin's favorites. Karl actually grilled the meatballs and they turned out delicious! Add a salad and some french bread and we were set.

We spent the evening playing with the kids downstairs. We allowed Corbin to stay up until his birth-time....10:07 p.m. I whispered the Happy Birthday tunes in his ear at that exact time (which I think he loved!) then we tucked all of them into bed.

It was a great day, and I'm so glad he got his wish and was able to spend his birthday week at the cabin. He's 7 now, I can't believe it. I was planning to write his birth story here on his birthday, but that didn't happen. Maybe one of these days I can get to it...he's such a miracle baby. God definitely had His hand in every detail of his creation and birth, and he's a very special boy.

I'll try to share more details soon about the last two days of our stay there.

Wednesday, June 23, 2010

C-section....no more talk, please

So this morning was my OB appointment. I was really hoping I would not have to discuss the c-section with my doctor yet again. No such luck...of course that was one of the first things she asked me about. She already knew that I was hesitant and she seems to understand my reasons. We spoke about it some more...I told her I really don't want to do it....but she knows that my answer is not "absolutely not, no matter what!" She told me she will stop asking because she knows "it's irritating to keep having me ask" and that we can do an ultrasound at 35 weeks to check on the baby's size. We will then go from there. Whew! That's really all I want...just to have the decision pushed off until I'm closer to delivery and we actually have some real evidence that it's needed, or not needed. She's been very nice about the whole thing, I was just getting tired of hearing it. Now, a reprieve....

My next appointment is about this time next month, and I will be having my next glucose test at that time...which is when it's normally done. I'm praying that everything will be normal...will you all pray with me? Also, I had begun exercising a couple of weeks before our vacation, and got all kinds of activity while we were away. However, I hurt my knee on Monday and I'm afraid it may keep me from exercising much...which could result in gaining more weight than I should, which could result in a larger baby and therefore a necessary (according to my OB) c-section. So, I need prayer that my knee will heal easily and quickly and that I can resume exercising. While you're at it, prayers for the sale of our home in NY (we have an offer and are supposed to close July 23rd...as long as nothing goes wrong) as well as our search for a new home in the Miami area...we would love to find something roomy enough but not huge, with a pool and a decent yard...within our price range. Not asking too much, are we? ;) But God can find it for us, I'm sure.

Tuesday, June 22, 2010

Events of the day

Just a quick post today.

It's Tuesday, so we made our regular trip to the library. Before that, though, we dropped some things off at Goodwill then went inside to look around. I was hoping to find a playpen and a changing pad for our changing table (ours is cracked and ragged) but no luck with either. I'm planning to have a second playpen so when we're away from home we can use one for sleeping and the other for playpen-time....plus, I guess we'll need the second for the second baby, once she's here, for our vacation times. We did find some other good deals, though. The kids wanted to get a bag of stuffed animals. They were only $4.99 so I got them. There were 5 Webkinz in the bag...with a grand total of 53 animals. Some for everyone, even Emma and the baby. We also came away with some board books for Emma and a sign for my kitchen which reads

Menu Today:
Take it or Leave it

There was also a crib, which we'll need, for about $50 but I didn't get it because I need Karl to go with me to make sure all the parts work...plus there was no room in the truck with all of the kids inside. He'll have to take his truck up there if we decide to get it. There is a mattress included, but we won't use that...we'll get a new one from Target or somewhere.

After the library we got some lunch to take home. Emma has been napping since she ate, so I need to go get her up now. It will be sandwiches for dinner.

I hurt my knee somehow while squatting down to check the price on all those stuffed animals. It felt like I hurt a ligament or tendon. It's better but still hurts if I bend it too much. I'll visit a doctor if it's not better in a few days. I just can't figure out how I hurt it doing something I do numerous times a day every day...I've been resting this afternoon with a pillow under it. Maybe it will help.

Friday, June 11, 2010

Latest post about vacation

I will be posting mostly during our vacation on our homeschool blog, since most of the things we will do will fall into the physical education or nature category. So please check there for updates. Here is a link for today's post.

Tuesday, June 8, 2010

Friday, June 4, 2010

A super-mom ;)

Today we went to Target to pick up a few things. When we went out yesterday, I neglected to get anything to serve for dinner tonight or for the next few nights. As we were checking out Emma starting fussing and crying, and I noticed she had gotten her arm stuck in the back of the seat. After tugging on it and realizing it wasn't going to come out that way, I dug in my purse for my lotion. I greased up her arm, gave it a pull, and it came right out. This all took about 30 seconds. Hailey came up and said, "Mommy to the rescue...you're Supermom!" I find this hilarious because it's not the first time I have had to do this with one of my children...though it is the first time the grocery cart has been involved. I told them, "I had to do it with all of you at one time or other." They were so amazed that I knew just what to do, and it makes me smile. The first time Logan got his knee stuck I panicked, called Karl, he came home from work (which thankfully was only about 5 min. away), and I had thought of the lotion by then (or maybe it was butter?). So now, I do know what to do when that happens, and I'm so glad I had a little lotion in my purse. So what appears to be Supermom to them is really just experience. ;)

Wednesday, June 2, 2010

Bible study online

I just started taking an online bible study this week. We've been studying the book of Habakkuk, and today was the 3rd and final chapter. Here are the verses that really stood out to me today. I hope they can be an encouragement to some of you as well.

Habakkuk 3:17-19

Though the fig tree does not bud and there are no grapes on the vines, though the olive crop fails and the fields produce no food, though there are no sheep in the pen and no cattle in the stalls,
yet I will rejoice in the LORD, I will be joyful in God my Savior.
The Sovereign LORD is my strength; he makes my feet like the feet of a deer,
he enables me to go on the heights.