A Lifetime of Love

I'm still here. It's been a crazy week with family visiting. My sis and Kaylee were here last weekend, and my parents and brother are here now. We've been busy doing stuff and I also had school Monday and Tuesday. Next week is my final week of school, and finals begin the week after. I have 4 huge projects due next week. I am trying to finish up writing the reports and other necessary paperwork. It's all very time-consuming. In other news, my Thanksgiving was good with the exception of one minor glitch- my microwave caught on fire! It began sparking and I told TJ so he could come and look at it. He was pre-occupied on the computer so he sort of blew me off. He only took me half-serious when I told him it was sparking. He got up, looked at it, turned it on for about 2 seconds, and said it was good to go. I believed him and turned it on again. About 15 seconds in, it sparked and black smoke came bellowing out, filling my entire first floor. My mom and dad were on a walk ...

I received the best news tonight when I got home from school. I received an email and in it, I found out I am going to be doing my full-time student teaching in the classroom I had hoped to be assigned. Although, in human eyes it seems this placement was by chance, I know it was all God. I have been praying about my internship situation for a few weeks now because I will be away from my kids all day. Now that I know for sure where I will be placed, I can better plan my childcare schedule for next semester and my mind is at ease. I will be close to home, the college, and the kids' schools. I feel better knowing that I am only a few minutes away, and I am so thankful the Lord answered my prayer in this way. Well, I'm off to bed!

TJ took the boys to a basketball game last night. I was surprised they stayed the entire game. I thought the boys would get bored and they'd have to leave early; I was wrong. We were up to midnight last night. I was messing around on FaceBook (I joined almost 6 months ago but never had time to mess with my profile or do anything) and TJ was watching TV. Believe it or not, I am almost caught up on homework and am even getting a little bit ahead. As the semester comes near to a close, I am losing motivation to continue to put forth perfection and find myself settling for near-perfection. I can't be perfect all the time! LOL ! :) My sis and Kaylee are coming to visit this Thursday and are staying until next Sunday. I am excited. Kaylee is growing so fast and has changed so much since I last saw her. She is pulling up on the furniture and able to stand on her own. She is so cute and I can't wait to squeeze her cheeks (yes, I am the aunt that squeezes cheeks- I love chubby c...

Well, I ended up with the "bug" and was down for the count yesterday. But, I am better, as are the kids, and so far no one else is showing symptoms. Teagan had her audiologist appointment yesterday. All is well with her. Her hearing appears to be “normal” although it took a few tries to get those results. Because of her age, it is difficult to get a good reading, and I have to bring her back in 6 months to have her rechecked. I was also told to monitor her babbling and other language development as she ages for signs of a delay. On the same note, TJ took Ta to have his hearing checked at a separate appointment. As you may recall, this child has had many ear troubles. He has had 2 sets of tubes, the most recent of which he received in April. Turns out, the left tube is completely out and the right tube is clogged with fluid behind his ear. At this point he has a conductive hearing loss in his right ear, and he has to go back in Jan. to have his hearing re-checked. I am j...

We all just got over colds (with the exception of Th, he still has a cough) and now a stomach bug has hit us! Ugh!!! It started with T.G. on Saturday. She seemed fine all morning and played as usual. We came home from Th’s soccer game and the kids played outside until lunch. In the middle of lunch, she vomited EVERYWHERE! TJ stripped her, and I bathed her while he cleaned up. If I haven’t shared it before, I don’t do well with vomit. I get sick at the smell of it. She vomited a couple more times after that, and had diarrhea to make matters worse. Poor baby- her bottom was raw and despite my efforts to keep her diaper fresh and apply cream after each change, it didn’t really help. It’s better today, and so is she. However, the bug met Ta at 1am this morning. Nothing like being woke up to the sound of vomit. Thankfully it was on TJ’s side of the bed. The smell alone made me gag a few times, but I worked my way through it to help TJ clean up. Ta is home with me today and I keep praying he...

"The first thing I'd do as President is sign the Freedom of Choice Act. That's the first thing that I'd do." -- Senator Barack Obama, speaking to the Planned Parenthood Action Fund, July 17, 2007 I received this in an email from a friend of mine. It is difficult to look at; in fact, it kills me to look at it. I hate Planned Parenthood and all they stand for. They deceive so many women, myself included, into thinking abortion is okay and an acceptable option. IT’S NOT! I am so thankful there are crisis pregnancy centers around the country to help dispel some of the myths surrounding abortion. I just wish I had walked into one of those centers rather than Planned Parenthood. In my scared, confused state of thinking I made the worst decision of my life. Knowing I did this to my own child makes me sick to my stomach and brings tears to my eyes. BUT, more importantly, I have been forgiven in Christ and learned from my mistake. Now that Obama is President and the Senate...

From this. . . to this. . . You have grown into such a big girl! You are sweet and loving, and a great big sister to Teagan. I am so thankful the Lord allowed me to be your mommy. Happy Birthday, baby girl!

Talk about convicting! I lost my patience in these past 30 hours more times than I care to acknowledge. Then I got on-line and read about moms who have recently lost their children to horrible illnesses- 1 to CDH and another to cancer. Of course, now I have tremendous guilt and wish I could have handled situations differently today. I’m sure each of those moms would give anything to have their kids back, and here I am thankful it’s bed time because the house is peaceful and I am able to sit for a minute without having to go break up an argument (or worse) between the kids. As much as I love my children, some days I think I’m going to go insane. Mothering is by far the most difficult task I have ever done. I guess the good thing about TJ going away is that I appreciate him more now. I never realized how much I need those breaks that he offers me by coming home for lunch and helping me with bedtime. Having to do it myself, I learned I could never be a single mom, or at least not a happy ...

Man oh man am I tired! TJ is at the Wilds this weekend for a men's retreat so I have been home with the kiddos. We went to visit the nursing home yesterday afternoon for Halloween, and then came home and ordered a pizza. While we waited for the pizza to arrive, we went through the candy and put all the stuff they aren't allowed to have (hard candy mainly) in a bowl for the trick-or-treaters who come to our neighborhood (we don't do trick-or-treating except at the nursing home- during daylight hours). They had fun periodically checking the bowl to see if it was empty. Surprisingly, most of it was gone within about 2 hours. There were only about 8 pieces or so left by the time I turned off our porch light at 8pm. This was the first time I have done that (I usually send the candy to work with TJ) and the kids had such a good time, I think I'll do it every year. Ta and T.G. aren't feeling well and both had difficulty sleeping last night. T.G. woke up at 10:15pm and I di...