A momma, her girl, a funeral, a few airports and some unexpected family time Part I

We made it home in time for dinner with our boys Thursday night--not CHRISTMAS dinner, but we managed a bite of Mexican Food at a restaurant on the way home. Christmas dinner came Saturday night when we had "Christmas" as a family.

BUT--how wonderful to have been "stranded" with family and not stuck in an airport like some people.

We left Wednesday morning and headed to Portland to fly out. We landed in Seattle, boarded our next flight and we were on our way to Sacramento where we met my dad who was driving through on his way from Reno to Grandpa's house in Tulare (about four hours from Sacramento). My daughter is amazing and such a great traveler! She played at the airport, ate when I offered her food, slept on the plane and in the car.

Then we got to Grandpa's and met up with my Aunt Joanie to start working on the "logistics" side of things. Grandpa had a lot of stuff. Books. Papers. Pictures. Plates...plates from everywhere in the world. He and Grandma collected them anytime they took a trip. I counted 86 plates on the walls and I know there were some stored in the cupboards. I brought four home with me from trips I remember taking with them.

BUT...enough words. Here's the first round of pics:

There was some unpacking and undressing...


There was some wearing of Great-Grandma's Christmas Apron...


...and Great-Grandma's Jewelry.


Then my cousin showed up and we played and ate snacks together.


And then I was tired and crashed out.


Next up: pics of the funeral. But first, because we're home we have some other stuff to work on. Dinner. Baths. PJ's. Stories. Bedtime.

We're home!

FINALLY! More pictures and details of our trip to come later!

Portland or Bust!

Here's my girl doing her best to get home! We head out for Portland tomorrow! Tonight we're going to Christmas Eve service at my auntie's church, eating a ham dinner and then getting packed up! We'll hang out with my brother, sister-in-law, nephew, auntie and cousin in the morning and then head to the airport tomorrow morning. Pray we make it home!

One more flight down...one more to go!

We are in Los Angeles until Thursday when we (hopefully) fly back to Portland. This weather is so strange!

Anyway--we're having fun hanging out with my brother, sister in law, nephew, auntie and cousin. At least I am not stranded at an airport sleeping on a floor trying to figure out how to feed me and Tori. God is good.

Off to play with the fam!

I'll be home for Christmas....

well...sort of. My flight was canceled today thanks to the kickin' storm rolling through the great northwest. I'm at a friends house in Sacramento until tomorrow when I take a flight down to Los Angeles for a few days. I fly out of LAX to Portland Christmas day at 4 PM.

Ugh. Super sad. But there is a reason.

Headed out!

You may remember I posted about my Grandpa being in the hospital several days ago. Saturday night he went home to be with Jesus and see Grandma. He gets to celebrate Christmas where they celebrate it best!

I leave tomorrow on a (too) early flight out of Portland and into Sacramento. Tori and I will meet my dad who is driving through Sacramento from Reno on his way to Fresno. He'll pick us up and we'll drive the last three to four hours with him. He'll also be taking us back to Sacramento Sunday morning to get back home in time for work and normal life on Monday.

Pray for safe travel for all of us. Pray for peace for all of us. Pray for peace and an incredible testimony for those who knew Grandpa and will be at the service but don't yet know Jesus. Pray for Tori to LOVE flying and to be (unusually) mellow and well behaved for me.

As always, thanks for praying...

Walkin' in a winter wonderland...

For those of you who live somewhere that gets a lot of snow, bear with us. We hardly EVER get snow and its quite the novelty when it shows up! SO...my kiddos woke up to a light (very light) dusting of snow on the ground and got all sorts of excited about it. It has continued to snow throughout the day which means school cancelations are likely tomorrow. WAHOO!

Andrew: "Can you say snow?"
Tori: "SNOOOOOOWWWWWW!"


Andrew: "Good job! High Five!"


Andrew: "Now we watch the snow. Isn't it awesome?!"




And now we play in the snow!







Yes, Tori's gloves are too big and make her fingers look broken but it was the best I could do. This child INSISTS on wearing gloves JUST LIKE Andrew's and refused to leave the house without them. *heavy sigh* Oh well! Could be worse: she could refuse to wear gloves all together and then we would have freezing fingers. So I guess gloves that are too big are better than nothing!

They call him "Pastor" or "Mayor" or "Mr. Cooke" or "Bill". I call him GRANDPA.

My grandpa went into the hospital last week with a leak in his brain (no, I don't know the techinical medical term for it--just roll with it). We thought things were getting better, but it seems things are going downhill. He's had a series of several small strokes and his heart is working too hard and not getting enough work done. They've put in a temporary pace maker to see if that helps. If it does, they'll make it permanent. If it doesn't, its back to the drawing board and really only a matter of time.

In the mean time, I've been doing a lot of remembering (death or near death does that to a person) and the thing I remember most about my grandparents is that they were pastors of a church, or teachers, or the mayor or something like that. Everyone around me always had to use a title with them. I always thought it was pretty stinkin' cool that I got to call them Grandpa & Grandma. I mean, really--its, like, a cool INSIDE thing. At least, that's how its always been for me.

I call him Grandpa and my kiddos call him "Great pa-pa". I will miss him terribly when he goes, but I also know he gets to see Grandma and do a lot of celebrating when he gets there.

Then & Now:

This was then:



This is now (3 years later):

So many things, so little time...

Some things weighing heavily on my mind...

1. My grandpa was taken to the hospital the other night and then flown to Stanford because there was "a leak in his brain". They were considering brain surgery but have opted out because the leak is healing itself and is so small, its really tough for the docs to find. But still--its my grandpa. And he's in the hospital. And that makes my heart heavy.

2. My step mom is doing really well--they've taken her arm out of the sling and are talking about her putting weight on her leg December 29th!! That is good thing and not really a "heavy" thing. Just on my mind.

3. My dad's job is slated to end tomorrow. However, tomorrow morning at 9:00 he has a meeting (read: interview) with numero uno in the "new" company (the company Dad was working for was bought out...you know how it works). We are praying he chooses to keep Dad employed.

4. Work is busy and it makes me tired but in a good way. We hired a new receptionist and she's doing awesome, but its a heavy burden to realize I'm responsible for her training. If she's poorly trained, that would be *MY* fault. I don't really care for having that kind of responsibility. But, on the flip side, I'm a total control freak and do not deal well with mistakes and incompetence so I suppose I should be the one to train her so I can blame no one but myself. Ugh. Sucks to come to that realization, but also a good reminder.

5. It's Christmas and we have two kids we are doing our best to raise to know the REAL reason for this time of year. We don't want them to do the "gimme, gimme, gimme". We want them to have fun. We want them to appreciate their savior. We want them to know its about GIVING.

My tummy is growling. Time for food.

My Crazy Husband

Mark always manages to find a way to make me laugh--sometimes very unexpectedly.

The other night we busted out our Christmas decorations and took some pictures of the kiddos helping out (they're really fun this year!). I downloaded the pictures and found the following:









We have several nativities around and, apparently, Tori's Monkey Toy is a part of all that this year...

My Tori Girl

She will always make me laugh...







...and maybe cry a little, too.

Happy Thanksgiving!

TURKEY DAY! I love to eat so this is one of my favorite days!

I am grateful for so many things. Way too many to get into.

SO...I will go take my cough medicine, go to bed and post pictures later in the weekend. I took a bunch but forgot the cord to download the pics. Dumb me. ANYWAY...yeah. going to bed. way too tired to think straight.

Go watch Elf Yourself. Its funny.

The best part about tonight: now that the day is over, we get to focus on CHRISTMAS STUFF!!!! WAHOOOO! Andrew has been talking nonstop about getting a Christmas tree so now we get to go do that!

Bedtime.

Elf Yourself!

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

Our Sensational Sunday

Today has been a good day. A *GREAT* day.

1. Tori has been using the potty all day. WAHOO! GOODBYE DIAPERS! No, she's not COMPLETELY potty trained, but she's stinkin' close and that's exciting! Diapers are expensive!

2. We sold our crib today! No more storing it and a little extra dinero in our pocket.

3. My step-mom is doing awesome! Recovery is going well and her boss has asked if she would be up for working from home. Yay for recovery and yay for working from home!

4. The sun was shining this afternoon so we went to the park. Unfortunately, it was freakishly cold, so the kiddos didn't do much but wander around with their hands in their pockets. *sigh* I guess its that time of year!

(notice the "poopy face". She was NOT happy about the cold...)

Another Not Wordless Wednesday

Whew! We are busy! But its all good stuff!

Today we start Andrew's Speech Therapy appointments and we are way excited to see what happens! Pray we are successful and learn how to help him speak more clearly and better cope with his anxiety. Yes, he has anxiety issues that we can't quite seem to put our finger on, but we're praying our way through it and doing the best we can. In the mean time, we're focusing on speech! WAHOO!

Mark has yet to hear about the coaching job. Frustrating! But we're still okay with it--just pluggin' along, doin' our thing.

Lots of changes going on at the clinic I work. But they're all good changes for all of us. It will be tough training a newbie, but, that means I'm not the newbie anymore! Yay! I start training newbie tomorrow morning. She'll take over the opposite reception hours that I work because the other receptionist is going to be a chiropractice assistant because one of chiropractice assistants is leaving to start her own home business that she's always wanted to do. So, like I said: all good stuff, just LOTS to deal with.

Rindy is doing well--recovering and working hard.

Anything else to report? Who knows. I'm not terribly focused this morning since I have to work since this nasty cold/cough/flu thing is running through the office and everyone is getting sick. We go to speech therapy and then to daycare and then to work and, at some point in the midst of all that, I want a starbucks mocha!!!!

Update on Not Wordless Wednesday

1. Rindy is doing much better. She's recovering and working hard on the physical therapy part of things. Plus, my stepsister, Maggie, should be at their house now so they have a little extra help with recovery, chores around the house and property, and Rindy will have a little more company besides my dad and their dogs. :)

2. Mark hasn't heard on the coaching job yet. He should hear sometime today. We are doing fine with whatever decision comes our way. We know God has something better for us if this job doesn't work out.

3. I've been talking to Andrew about his speech therapy appointments and he seems to be getting almost as excited about them as I am! He's ready to go meet new people and work on learning new words.

We have a lot going on but we're doing our best to pray about all of it and just keep pluggin' along.

Not Wordless Wednesday

We have entirely too much going on to have "Wordless Wednesday" today.

1. PLEASE pray for my dad and my step-mom. While moving some equipment around on their property last weekend, their horse shelter came down ON my stepmom, Rindy. My dad got out but he had to get her out (which, by the way, he managed with the help of a pipe, some KICKIN' adrenaline and lots of angels) and get her to the ER. She has a broken collar bone, ribs, and shoulder blade and a shattered kneecap. She had surgery yesterday afternoon (which went well) to replace the knee cap with a 6 inch L-shaped metal plate and 8 screws (say it with me now: OUCHIE). There are MANY things that God has protected them from. This could have been FAR worse and we are so grateful it was not. However, Rindy has a long road ahead to recovery and my dad has a long road ahead of helping her, working full time and maintaining their property and horses and numerous other pets. Pray for them. AND...pray for their finances. They do not have medical insurance.

2. Mark has an interview today with the head track coach at the high school here in town. Competition for the position he's interviewing for is stiff but he's an awesome coach and I know they will see that in him. Please pray for blessing and success. He would love to coach there and we would love the extra dinero.

3. Andrew was (and continues to be) a very late talker and he is SO TOUGH to understand. Sometimes, Tori speaks more clearly than he does. One week from today (Nov. 19) we start weekly speech therapy appointments. Please pray for them to go well and for him to be successful and for Mark & I to learn OUR job in all of this.

Okay--off to clean and do more laundry!

Thursday 13

13 songs that make me smile:

These are in no particular order--just whatever came to mind throughout my day. You will notice a lot of them have to do with the (many) titles of God. Hmmm...something I've always been a little bit interested in and have often studied. Some of the others are just for fun and some are just because they make me smile and make me want to sing.

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

7.

8.

9.

10.

11.

12.

13.

My Little Fashionista

Perhaps we should work on her sense of style a bit more...

Wordless Wednesday!

I love him!

Halloween!

Okay--we managed to get both kiddos out the door and we went trick or treating. They had a great time! Not only did they get to walk around the neighborhood and get candy, but Andrew's favorite person came along!





And, yes, I totally caved and let Tori wear a different costume. She just wasn't going for the blue tu-tu I made for her but she was pretty stinkin' excited about the pink leotard and skirt we found for her. *heavy sigh* Oh well. Maybe we'll save the blue one for another time.

Hope everyone else had as much fun as we did!

Happy Halloween!

Don't panic--pictures of the kids to come later. In the mean time, here's one of the chiropractors I work for.


Oh--and that's not a patient. That's one of the chiropractic assistants. Hee-hee! Its a fun place to work, that's for sure!

Thursday 13 on Wednesday Night

13 Things I Inherited From My Mother:

1. I chew my gum loudly. Snapping, popping...its annoying. Just ask my dad or my brother or my husband.

2. I like Coffee. Mmmm...Coffee....mmmm....

3. I like Coke better than Pepsi (Sorry, Dad).

4. I'm sarcastic. Shocking, I know.

5. I love music.

6. I love to read.

7. I'm better at algebra than I am at geometry and I'm not very good at math in general.

8. I can't just SIT and talk on the phone. I pace. Both my kids do it when they talk on the phone, too.

9. I like having my nails painted.

10. I love shoes.

11. Mmm...Fried Okra...

12. I eat ice. Bad for my teeth but necessary to survive the day. Get a Coke on ice in the afternoon, suck down the coke and spend the rest of the day eating the ice.

13. I will be up until at least midnight the night before Halloween in an attempt to finish my kids' Halloween costumes at the last minute because I was being creative and thought, "Oh no, this won't take me long..." and then I get into it and it starts taking longer than I thought so I pop in another movie and keep going and get a little more creative and then...*heavy sigh* I have a little more work to do before Friday afternoon...

Wordless Wednesday With Some Music:

Proverbs 22:6

"Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not depart from it." ~Proverbs 22:6


Yesterday our worship pastor and his wife taught about raising kids. They have four wonderful, respectful and highly successful children and they had so many wonderful things to say.

Two points they made really hit home for me:

1. We should constantly be warring for our children against the enemy. He will use everything in his reach to get to our kids. We should be "working The Word more than he is working the world..." We should be in constant prayer for and with our kids. We should be engaging them in the Word as often as possible.

2. We should learn to understand our children the way God made them. Proverbs 22:6 says we should raise them to follow the right path. However, something Pastor Eric pointed out to us is that we should learn to understand our children so we can raise them to follow the right path FOR THEM. "Train up a child in the way HE should go..." Each child is gifted in different ways, therefore, each child should be raised according to The Word but they should be raised to find THEIR path and THEIR gifts God has provided for them.

For some reason, this was like a slap in the face for me. I sat there going, "Well, DUH! That makes PERFECT sense! Why hasn't anyone ever pointed that out to me before???"

SO..."Train a child up in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not depart from it."

I will start to work harder at understanding my kids the way God made them and the way God would have me understand them. I will work harder at helping them be successful in the path God has FOR THEM.

It seems like such a small thing and, yet, it was really exciting for me!

Wordless Wednesday With Words....yeah, so its just Wednesday

I decided we needed some cookies so we "made" cookies. Yes, they are the pre-made ones--I don't like cleaning but I DO like cookies! I sliced them up and the kids decorated them. SO FUN!






Yeah, Tori is too fast for me sometimes. She managed to eat one BEFORE it was cooked. OOPS!

Ready for the oven! Notice the REALLY RED one. That one was made special for Andrew's Daddy.