Monday, July 28, 2008

An answered prayer

Update: Cotton was nibbling on a piece of strawberry when she suddenly fell over and couldn't get back up. My daughter took her to the vet. He seems to think she has suffered a puncture wound from the cat and it's become infected. He is treating her with a steroid and antibiotic and seems to think she will get well and recover. I certainly hope so.

Last night, I had to have a serious talk with Jesus over my baby girl, Cotton. We've had Cotton for a little over a year and she is the sweetest thing.

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I know ... some of you are shuddering right now. Trust me, I used to feel the same way. This is the ONLY member of the rodent family that is allowed in my home.

Anyway, there has been a handful of times that our cat, Baby D, has snuck into the room with Cotton and pulled her cage to the floor. This is Baby D, by the way:

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She looks pretty innocent in that picture but I'm not liking her much at the moment.

Back to my story ... about a week ago, Baby D managed to knock Cotton's cage off again. She seemed to be okay so I didn't think much of it. Well, three nights ago, one of her eyes started to water. It was then that I realized she wasn't moving around as much as she normally does. It's part of her daily routine that she will "monkey bar" across her cage and is pretty active throughout different parts of the day. I started watching her closely and saw that her appetite wasn't the same .. she wouldn't take her favorite pumpkin seeds from my hand and eagerly crack them open. Her condition seemed to worsen each day.

Before going to bed last night, the boys and I huddled together for our nightly prayer. This time, the focus was on Cotton. I couldn't stand the thought of her hurting. I prayed for Jesus to heal her or let her go to sleep and never wake up. I went to bed with tears streaming down my face (those of you that shuddered earlier are probably thinking I'm acting ridiculous at this point). Both boys came to me at different times later crying .. it was real mess. I reminded both of them that I had done all I could do.

I woke up this morning and checked on her .. she was inside her igloo and wouldn't come out to greet me like she had in the past. Things were not looking up :( We left the house (I started a new job ... I'll post on that later) and returned after lunch. I made a few phone calls and found a local vet that was willing to work her in today and not charge me a small fortune. As we were headed out the door with her, she came out of her cage and I saw that her eye was back to normal! It was a miracle! I headed down the road with her since I wanted to make sure her legs were okay too. While I was driving, she started climbing up the side of her cage!! I knew then that God had answered my prayer so we turned around and came home. I feel like Cotton is back on the road to recovery and will continue to improve each day. I'm so thankful for answered prayers .. even when they are for the tiny creatures in our life.
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Saturday, July 26, 2008

Caleb turns FIVE

Yesterday my grandson, Caleb, celebrated his 5th birthday. We joined him at the restaurant of his choice, Texas Roadhouse, for dinner. After completing a wonderful meal, they loaded him up on a saddle.

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As the staff sang to him, Caleb was instructed to swing a napkin around his head which he did without complaining.

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Today, we went to Cold Stone Creamery and had his official party. He received an official cap to wear as we got started.

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The kids were given a guided tour to the back where Caleb was able to help make a batch of vanilla ice cream.

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He then washed up and was ready for his next task.

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After a brief lesson on how to mix in your own ingredients, he had the difficult job of choosing only two toppings.

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He caught on really quick and went to work.

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Of course, the best part was sitting down and enjoying his creation.

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Afterwards, he opened a few gifts. He was really excited about one of them ... a rocket!!

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Happy Birthday, Caleb! Hope you had a wonderful day!!!

Tuesday, July 22, 2008

Gone but not forgotten ...

Yes, it's been a while since I stopped long enough to post. A lot has been going on lately. I truly meant to document last week's adventure with pictures but with temps over 90 degrees everday, I simply didn't have the energy to take snapshots of the sweat dripping off our noses.

Ashlea and I (and Brylea, of course) drove to Kerrville last Wednesday to a) be with Megyn when she had her sonogram and b) move her back home. We left out by 8:30 in the morning after dropping off our 4 kids .. all in different locations :) We made great time despite the fact that Brylea didn't take to the road as much as we had hoped. Poor baby was strapped in that car seat for an awfully long time .. who could blame her for wanting to get out and stretch?

We arrive in Kerrville just in time for me to drop Ashlea and Brylea off at the hotel, fill up the pick up and head over to U-Haul. Yes, that's right .. I was going to be pulling a U-Haul back with us. Joy.

We leave the truck hitched up and go with Megyn (in her vehicle) to the doctor's appointment. We learn that we will be having a baby boy join our family late November. Afterwards, we head back over to pick up the truck, along with it's new accessory.

Thankfully, Megyn was very organized and had all her stuff packed, marked and ready to go. I believe we had the truck and U-Haul loaded and ready to go in under an hour.

We spend the evening having dinner with family and get up early the next morning (in fact, Brylea had all three of us up at 4:30) and we are back on the road.

Megyn has now settled nicely. We have some things left to do to her room before she can completely unpack though (painting, putting in a wood floor, purchasing a wall unit, etc.) but we are getting there.

I'm so glad that she is back home where she belongs. I know God has big plans for her and this unborn baby. Life will certainly never be dull in this house.

Saturday, July 12, 2008

To be a kid again .....

We spent a little time at a local park today to let the kids run and play. They almost immediately ran to the swings and took off. I still have vivid memories of swinging ... those were simpler times.

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After that, the kids took off in different directions.

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Not sure where Tanner was at this point. Being a nature lover, he was probably already in the woodsy part exploring by now.

Meanwhile, Brylea snoozed away in the summer heat.

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Afterwards, when everyone was nice and sweaty, we headed to a shaved ice place to cool down.

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Before heading back home, I had to get my hands back on Brylea and get some pictures of her in all her cuteness. It's funny but when we put a bow on her head, we get this reaction most of the time.

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I gave her some loving (and got rid of an air bubble in the process).

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Decided to take off the pestering bow.

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And she quietly took another snooze.

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Ahh, to be a kid again ...........

Thursday, July 10, 2008

TWENTY-TWO years??

Wow, it's hard to believe that it's been that long since God blessed me with my son, Kyle. He has grown to be such a great man of God. I'm so proud of his dedication to serve. In fact, he is leaving this evening to go to Panama for a month. It's going to be difficult to go that long without talking to him.

I don't have any of his younger pics to post but here are a few from recent past.

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HAPPY BIRTHDAY, KYLE! I love you very much!!

Wednesday, July 9, 2008

A dessert with many flavors

While we were vacationing in Missiouri last month, I met a woman who gave me a wonderful recipe. She made hers using lemon cake mix and frosting. I was told that it could be made with any flavor you desire so I decided to make a chocolate version.

CHOCOLATE BARS

List of ingrediets: Cake mix, can of frosting, 3 eggs, 1 stick of butter, 8 oz. cream cheese (softened), can of cream cheese frosting

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Add this mixture to the bottom mixture that is patted into the pan.

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ENJOY!



Tuesday, July 8, 2008

A slave to my machine

A few months back, I accepted a contract job from a woman who sells little girl's a-line dresses. It doesn't pay that much but since I don't have an income to call my own, I'll take what I can get. Most weeks, I get an order to make 6 dresses at a time. I can handle that. I used to set aside Mondays and get all 6 dresses made and out the door. That way, I still had my week to take care of the house, laundry, playtime, etc.

Since summer has entered my life, things have gotten a little nuts. Vacation, VBS, church camp, new grandbaby, Independence Day, etc. has kept me running so far. Two weeks ago, I received an order to make 28 dresses. WHAT? Ok, she did give me 4 weeks to complete the order .. whew! Still .. why does that overwhelm me? I managed to get the first 5 made and then it came to a screeching halt.

I spent yesterday at my machine all day.

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I literally had to make myself sew. When the day came to an end, I had a stack of 16 dresses made. Only 12 more to go ::sigh:: I've set a goal to have them made and out the door by next Monday .. that's IT ... not one more day.

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I'll never look at gingham the same way again.

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There was a time when I used my machine to make such creations as these:

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Now that I think about it, I was a slave back then too ... never mind.