HAPPY NEW YEAR!!

A Favor To Ask

I know alot of you were and still are praying for Wendy in the loss of her daughter, so I don't want you to miss the comment she posted.   

Scroll down to the post titled, "Untitled Post" and click on comments.  You should be able to read it there. 

Thanks.

Christmas 2010

Another Christmas has come and gone.  It is always slightly relieving to see it go but in another way a little sad. 

I'm trying to switch from "holiday mode" to "working mode" as I'm having to get back to typing.  Yesterday was a light day, one of my doctors apparently was still in "holiday mode" but today they are all back in full swing.  That's the thing about this job, people don't just stop getting sick because it's the holidays. 

So, how was your Christmas?  Ours was good.  Christmas Eve is our busy day, traveling to spend time with family.  We arrived home around 9:00 Christmas Eve night, put out reindeer food, milk and cookies, and went straight to bed. 

Christmas Day is our relaxing day.  A day spent at home playing with all our new goodies.  I cooked Christmas Dinner for Nana and Pop and we had a good time visiting with them. 

Now we're getting ready to begin a new year and for this family, the new year will bring some changes.  I will be filling you in on all that a little later.  (That's my teaser, you have to come back to find out what the big change will be!)

And in case you don't know already, I don't deal all that well with change, so you can bet I'll be *feeling* my way through on this blog. 

Have a great day!

Gee, Santa, You Sound Awfully Familiar......

I took the kids to the park last night to see a very special Santa.  Our good friend Ronnie agreed to help out and sub for the "other" Santa who couldn't make it.   And whaddya know, Ronnie makes an excellent Santa Claus!  That "other" Santa better watch out!  He's got some comp! 

Check out the line.....

Thanks, Ronnie!

Heaven

Not long ago, I was afraid of heaven.  Not really afraid of being there, but afraid of the journey there.  I suppose I was afraid of dying. 

Then I fell in love with Jesus.  And when that happens, you begin to believe as Paul, to live is Christ and to die is gain.  For Christians, it is really a win-win situation. 

Another thing that happens as you get older, other than your relationship with Jesus becoming sweeter, is that people you love die.  And then heaven gets sweeter still. 


Little Allison is in heaven at this very moment.  I imagine her running, talking to everyone she sees (she has 9 years of pent up conversations in her!), and singing beautifully with the angels.  The majority of the people I talked to at the funeral and even conversations I just happen to overhear were talking about how Allison has been perfected now.  She has the perfect heavenly form, what a beautiful, peaceful image. 


As the preacher so beautifully said, we cannot bring Allison back, but we can go to where she is. 


Heaven. 

An Untitled Post

I had decided what I was going to post about next but now I simply cannot. 

Nothing seems more important than this. 

I know very few details, but I want to gather our blogging community around my cousin Wendy. Her daughter Allison passed away today. 

My eyes cannot believe those words, even as my fingers type them.  I want to delete it and somehow make it not true. 

My tears are falling, not for Allison - she is in the arms of our Savior, the One who created her!  She will never again have to endure pain, go to another doctor's visit, or experience another seizure.  Hallelujah!  She's been made whole!

My tears are for the ones left behind.  I cannot imagine their grief, their pain. 

Wendy is a reader of this blog, and I would like to ask my other readers to lift her in prayer today.  

Thank you. 

Love/Hate Relationship

I love this time of year.  I hate this time of year.  Can you relate?

I am not a shopper, so being forced to go out and enter the retail-frenzy is not that much fun for me.  It's not that I mind the crowds so much.  It's more of the realization of how materialistic we all are.  I went into Toys 'R Us Friday and thought I was going to vomit.  Is there any reason for any child to have any of those toys?  No.  Did I buy some of those toys?  Yes.  Arrgghh.   

I know my children know the true meaning of Christmas, but would they react calmly if we told them all our monies and efforts were going into helping others less fortunate this year?  I can tell you with all surety, no.  There would probably be tears, arm and leg flailing fits, anger, and complete and shameless begging for us to change our minds. 

Let me say we do not overindulge our children at Christmas.  By the time they leave the two sets of grandparents, Santa is not left with many options.  So our Christmas mornings are mild in comparison to some.  Every year I think, "This is it.  This is the year the kids will be disappointed and look at us and say something like, is that all?"  That has never happened (and if they did say that, I think I'd cry and then beat them).  They are always overjoyed with their gifts, no matter how few. 

Christmas is for children, yes.  And I surely do not want to take the fun out of Christmas.  But how, oh how, I want my children to get it.  Although, if I think about it, when did I get it?  It definitely wasn't at age 5 or even 10.  Heck, maybe I'm just now getting it. 

Well, with that said, I will be heading back into town a little later looking among other things for teacher's gifts.  And if anyone deserves a gift at Christmas, it's your child's teacher! (I didn't say that just 'cuz I'm one, I said it cause it's true.) 

I told Brad yesterday I was feeling more overwhelmed this holiday season than I ever have, and I completely wasn't expecting this feeling.  With both kids in school, I thought I would be super-organized and do all my shopping on Mondays and Fridays and be done within a week.  Ha! It's not happening. 

By the way, does anyone else hate the little commercial/spot on TV where it counts down how many days you have left to shop?  I sure do. 

The Sleepover

Gogurt's JROTC sleepover went well.  It just so happened that he knew a couple of kids there from his school.  Not his class, but the same grade at least. 

He seemed to enjoy it alot although he said he didn't go to bed until midnight.  Yikes!  And there was nobody playing a bugle at his bedside the next morning.  Oh well. 

They got their face painted camo, did some kind of exercise I cannot quite understand from his description, (something about carrying wheels or tires on some sort of stretcher?), and learned to march. 

I'm glad he had this experience! 

Blow That Bugle, Sir

Instead of a birthday party for Gogurt, we agreed to send him to a JROTC sleepover held at the local high school.  He is, and always has been into all things military.  At the age of 4, he had memorized the names of all the fighter planes pictured in the encyclopedia.  At one time he wanted to be a fighter jet pilot but that has kind of waned as of late.  We are not sure if he actually wants to be in the Army (or any branch of service) or if it's just fun to dress up in camo and play army in the yard. 

Nonetheless, he wanted to go to this sleepover and we agreed.  He had one friend that was going but at the last moment had to back out so Gogurt went all by himself.  He was slightly nervous, but not too much.  I'm proud he is willing to step out and do things no matter if he is the only one doing it. 

This reminds me of a situation in my life.  I was a Junior in high school and for some unknown reason, I was chosen to attend the Lions' Leadership Conference.  Each high school was allowed to send one person so that meant I was the only one going from my school.  However, there was another girl chosen from the city school and although I did not personally know her, I figured since she was the only one going from her school, she would not know anyone else there either and we would buddy up, at least being from the same hometown and all. 

And just like happened tonight to Gogurt, this girl for some reason had to back out at the last minute.  Now I was the only one going from our entire county, and I wasn't that excited about going anymore. 

The conference was a million miles from my house.  Well, probably not, but it might as well have been.  My mother took me, dropped me off, and I was terrified.  Only years later in a random conversation would I realize the only person more nervous than me was my mother.  Now I know how she felt. 

I remember thinking I hated it there and wanted to cry and tell them to call my momma to come get me.  But then I would remember I wasn't in 1st grade anymore (I cried for the first 6 weeks of my school-career, but that's for another post) and that I just had to suck it up and muddle through. 

I don't even remember how many nights I had to stay there, and I certainly do not remember anything we did to become "leaders."  I do remember though that by the time I left I had made some good friends, friends that I swore I would keep up with forever, and I'm sure you can guess that I never spoke to them again.  But of course if there had been internet back then, you know with e-mail and stuff, I'm sure we would all still be BFFs.  Or not. 

I survived what I thought was an intolerable situation, and looking back I see that experience as being one very good for me.  It made me reach out and make new friends, something I had never had to do before. 

Thankfully Gogurt does not seem as unnerved by being in new situations.  When I asked him (for the umpteenth time) if he was okay going by himself, he would just say in a matter-of-fact way, "Yeah, I'll just make a new friend while I'm there." 

I hope he does make a new friend, but more than that, Brad and I are hoping the colonel blows the bugle at 5 a.m. right beside his sleeping bag.  I would pay to see that!

The Worst Thing I Can Do....

is read other blogs.  Now, wait a minute, and let me explain. 

When I sit down at the computer in a "bloggy" mood but unsure of what to share, I spend some time reading other blogs in order to get my creative juices flowing.  I have decided that is the worst thing to do! 

There are very talented writers out there, and after I spend time reading their posts, I usually come away feeling like I should only be following, reading, commenting, and not trying to write anything myself.  You know, a follower instead of a leader. 

When I start feeling like this whole blog-thing is a waste of time, I have to remember why I started this blog in the first place. 

This blog was a second chance, so to speak.  You see, this is not my first blog. 


My first blog was born from a very painful place.  While in a rough patch (and that's putting it lightly) in our marriage, I, ironically, found solace online.  At that time, I felt absolutely no freedom to share my situation with anyone-friends, family, no one.  But, my online family was safe.  They didn't know me. 

So I sought out blogs written by women in similar situations.  And then I decided to start my own.  Unfortunately, my posts on my original blog were very, very different.  Definitely not the *happy* posts I try to post here. 

That blog was therapeutic.  But it was temporary, thank God!  As my situation/marriage improved, I had less and less to complain blog about, and eventually it got to the point where the person/spouse/family on that blog was not the reality anymore. 

So, I began praying about starting a new blog.  A blog that shared the goodness of my family, not just the darkness that had once been prevalent. 

And that's why I'm here, to share the good times, but believe me, that "other blog" makes the good times I share here even sweeter.  

Our lives, marriage, kids are by no means perfect, not even close!  Sometimes I worry that this blog puts out a false image, and if it does, I apologize.  All it would take is one e-mail, one phone call, from you to me to see we definitely do not have it *all together*. 

However, this blog's purpose -at the moment- is to offer a safe place, a blog you can pull up and let your kids read along with you - - it is not the place, in my opinion (which is the only one that counts here!) to air our dirty laundry. 

I am not trying to forget our past, no, no, NO!  I am just choosing where to display it and where not to. 

Who knows where this blog will evolve over the next days, months, years.  It may become something totally different.  But for now, I've said good-bye to the sad blog and will enjoy spreading a little cheer through this one!

It's Your Day!!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY GOGURT!

You finally made it to double-digits...the big 10 years old!

We love you!