Our Playgroup Party

Today our playgroup had a Halloween party. I can't believe we were able to get most of the kids to sit for a picture! These are some of the people the boys and I hang out with. We get together for playgroups and give and share advice. They are a wonderful group of moms and kids!

The babies

The big kids

Please say a prayer for one of our playgroup members, Erin, and her family. Today would have been her daughter Kristen's first birthday. Kristen passed away from SIDS last Spring at four months old.

School Halloween Carnival

Coleman's class

Coleman and one of his teachers and friends

Allie in her pumpkin costume

Spence having fun

Spence and his friend Orie

And the Pumpkin Goes To...

Did you know my husband is a champion paper airplane designer? Every year the building he works at holds a paper airplane competition. Last year the airplanes that landed closest to the target won gift certificates to a local Mexican food restaurant. Brian won first place! So this year he decided to offer his airplane crafting services to his coworkers and in exchange they would split their winnings with him. One lady took him up on the offer and the airplane came in 3rd place. (Brian's airplane had altitude problems then crashed into a wall or something.) The building didn't do gift certificates this year, but intricately carved pumpkins. His coworker who won 3rd place was gracious enough to give the pumpkin to Brian since she said our boys would enjoy it more than her teenage daughter.

Pretty crazy!!!

Thought for the Day

Why is the easy way out not always the easy way out? That's about as deep as I go today. Allie has been having some eating marathons at night. (She totally gets that from me!) From about 8:45 or 9 until 11ish. That leaves me little time to do all those leftover things that need to get done before I go to bed. Last night she woke at around 3 and then again at 6. (That wouldn't be so bad except she's spoiled me by sleeping so well usually.) I woke up tired to yesterday's leftover messes. I'm trying to remind myself that unfolded laundry piled on the table, dirty dishes in the sink, and backpacks thrown on the floor don't signal the end of the world. I'm trying to focus on letting God show me priorities. If I'm only given a certain amount of time to clean or tidy up I have to pick and choose what gets done.

Anyway, all this to say that I couldn't imagine coming home from Bible study today and getting out bread, turkey, peanut butter, chips, fruit, and yogurt. Then pouring drinks, cleaning up messes, and putting everything back where I found it. Wouldn't it be easier just to go to ChickFilA for lunch? Apparently not! We ordered our food, found our table, were brought the wrong food, took it back, got our almost correct order, exchanged one fruit for a fry, headed to the bathroom, waited on Coleman, sanitized our hands, returned to the table to eat our food, learned of a poopy pull up and 4 year old who now needed to poo poo, realized the pull ups were in the car, sent the 4 year old to the bathroom, ran out to the car with the other two to retrieve the forgotten pull up, hurried back to the bathroom, changed the poopy pull up, wiped the poopy bottom, resanitized our hands, headed to the play area, unbuckled the baby from the carseat, gave a 10 minute warning, pulled the crazy toddler* off Spence's neck, wondered why I was the only parent in there watching kids, gave the 5 minute warning, decided it was time to leave before I had to end up refereeing all these unsupervised kids, gave the 1 minute warning, buckled the baby back into the car seat, called the boys, put the shoes back on, thanked the boys for coming when I called them, explained that no, we wouldn't be getting ice cream because we had brownies at home, loaded up the car, did a final sanitation of the hands, and headed home.

So no, ChickFilA was not the easy way out that I was hoping it would be today. Gone are the days of order your food, eat it, and leave. That's just not my life right now. And I love every minute of my crazy, adventurous life!

Yesterday I visited with a friend who has 5 children. I loved witnessing her laid back personality and the way she guided her kids to Christ in her interactions with them. If you're reading this Rachel, you are an inspiration to me! You are such a wonderful Mom and I enjoyed our visit yesterday! Can't wait until next time!

*If you have to tell your 3 year old to watch her little brother and come tell you if he isn't nice, maybe you should stay in the play area and watch him yourself!!!

Coleman's Soccer Game

Jumbled Thoughts from the Week

Here's what happens when I don't post for a few days: everything ends up being combined in one big post. From the results of Allie's weigh-in at her 4 month checkup, to funny things that happened to the Piks, to an explanation for this picture:

As for Allie, she weighs 16 lb 5 oz. That's the 95th percentile! She is my little beautiful chunk! Minus the little part. She cried just as much when she got her oral vaccine as she did for the two shots. As for Maestro, I found him lying on Allie's changing pad, which I had put on the floor while her bathtub was occupying the changing pad's usual spot on the countertop.

On to funny conversations:
Coleman has been trying to get Spence to use the potty more because Brian promised them they could play a new video game when Spence starts using the potty regularly. Here's what I heard Coleman telling Spence the other day:

Coleman: Spence, you should go poo poo on the potty.
Spence: No! I don't want to!
Coleman: It's just like sitting on the couch watching football. Except you have a stool.

The other day Spence was making a weird face and I asked him where he learned that. He said, "At yoga." And no, I don't do yoga.

And here are a handful of amusing stories:
We were at the park the other day and Spence's pullup was so wet it was about to fall off. We didn't have any pullups with us, but I had a few of Allie's diapers. Spence, who is about to turn 3, fit in one of Allie's size 2 diapers! That will be one of those embarrassing stories I can whip out when he's trying to be all cool in front of his friends several years down the road.

We visited another church this morning for the first time. Recently, Spence has been getting a little teary-eyed when being dropped off. Maybe it's all the different churches we've been visiting. Anyway, Brian went in his class with him and was trying to let him know it would be alright. He asked the teacher, "What is the Bible story about today?" And she replied, "Oh, today we'll be learning about the Trinity!" Brian thought, "Now that's diving into the meat of the Scripture Spence!" There's nothing like deep abstract spiritual truths to calm a nervous toddler. (By the way, we all enjoyed the new church and Spence, though he probably didn't grasp the concept of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit being one, enjoyed playing on the playground.)

And now for a soccer update:
Coleman is having such a blast playing soccer. We got lots of video, and hopefully Brian will have a chance to post some later so Grandma, Grandpa, Nana, and Poppa can see. For now though, here are a few pictures.

Lining up to practice kicks

Ready for action!

Spence took a picture of Daddy, Mommy, and Allie watching the game

Finally, here's what is happening with Allie:

Tonight she had cereal for the first time! She did pretty well. She seemed to like what actually made it into her mouth. Of course, you can look at her and tell she likes to eat, so I don't know why I would be surprised that she started out well with the cereal.

Guess What!

This little girl is 4 months old today!


And her oldest brother played his heart out on the soccer field! (Unfortunately, his mommy didn't anticipate this change in behavior and left the camera at home.) Coleman said, "I didn't know it would be so much fun!" We tried to tell him, but it was just something he had to figure out on his own. I'm so glad he figured it out. And in case you're wondering, the Houston Dynamo won't be calling any time soon, but he ran and kicked just as well as the other 4 year olds! He even made his first goal (for the other team). So cute!

A Fall Favorite: The Pumpkin Patch

Today. Was. Gorgeous!!! We've been stuck in this funky, muggy, disgustingly hot, awful weather pattern that was about to drive me over the edge. It might be back soon, but it was gone for today, and that's all that matters now! I took the kids to a pumpkin patch to take some pictures and pick out a few pumpkins. It's pretty difficult to get all three of them in a picture together, but I managed to get at least one. Then I got some good individual pictures. I love pumpkin patches. Some of my favorite pictures of my kids are either in pumpkin patches or other fall settings. Here are my favorites from today.

Sit on this bench and smile kids! Don't think for a second that there wasn't a cookie bribe involved here.

Coleman found the biggest pumpkin

Spence loved to sit on the pumpkins, not by the pumpkins because there might be spiders on the ground

I love this!!!

I'm not sure I love this!

Allie got used to the pumpkins

This picture captures how Coleman feels about Allie

And finally... The Pumpkin Princess!

Where Does My Help Come From?

I've been gone for awhile, and I've missed all of you! I don't know why, but I feel like I'm missing out on something when I'm not sharing my life here on this blog. So I'm back and ready to share. Just be glad you can't catch what I'm sharing through your computer screen!

Brian has been fighting an upper respiratory infection for about 3 weeks now. Coleman had a virus, then the swine flu, followed by a sinus infection. About a week after Coleman was diagnosed with the flu, Spence got the swine flu. Between all the doctor trips, pharmacy runs, and drug administering I've finally realized that I need to schedule a doctor appointment for myself before my annual Fall sinus/allergy/whatever-it-is starts keeping me up all night.

Yesterday I was really down about all this sickness. And to top it off, Allie woke up with a low fever. I was going crazy thinking about her getting sick and wondering if she would be able to take Tamiflu or what the doctors would do for her. I prayed every chance I got that God would heal everyone and keep her healthy. I still felt utterly worried about her. We got in the car and I turned on my Christian radio station, willing a song to play that would ease my fears. Nothing. Later that afternoon I finally opened my Bible study book. "Read Psalm 121," it said.

1 I lift up my eyes to the hills -
where does my help come from?
2 My hlep comes from the Lord,
the Maker of heaven and earth.
5 The Lord watches over you...
7 The Lord will keep you from all harm -
He will watch over your life;
8 the Lord will watch over your coming and going
both now and forevermore.

I cannot tell you how amazing it was to open my Bible and find those words of comfort. Of course, some of you know because you've experienced that same phenomenon also. If you haven't, I pray that you will some day. The maker of heaven and earth wants to help me deal with my sick children. He wants to take away my worries and let me know that He is watching over me. HE is watching over ME, now and forevermore! I just sat and cried. Tears of joy that He cares enough to remind me how much He loves and cares for me and my family. And then I felt a sort of thankfulness for all the the things that seemed to be going wrong. Of course I don't want to have sick kids, or a sick husband, or a baby that might end up sick. I don't want to keep sitting in crowded waiting rooms and shelling out money to doctor after doctor or on all the medications. I don't want the boys to miss anymore school and for us to be trapped at home for days on end. But I realized something. If I hadn't been going through such a rough time, the scripture I read might not have meant anything at all to me. But instead it spoke to me - God spoke to me - and blessed me beyond anything I could have asked for. I'm still praying that everyone will stay on the path to recovery and that Allie won't get sick, but I have that word from God to cling to. That He's got it under control and I am not to worry.

He's also blessed me in countless other ways. He has given me a loving husband who has helped out so much with the boys while they were sick. He's given Brian a job that pays well and has good insurance so we can afford to go to the doctor and get the medicine we need. He's placed my parents close by and given my mom a desire to drop everything and come help when we need her. He's given me a mother-in-law that has called to check on us so many times in the past few weeks just to see if anyone else was sick or if we were getting better. I know others have been praying for us as well. God is using each of you to get me through this time, and I'm so thankful.

The boys are both back at school today, and Allie hasn't had anymore fever. What an answer to prayer! I know that we're not the only family plagued by sickness, so I pray that each of you will get over you illnesses or stay healthy! Here are a few pictures from the last week.

Watching football with Daddy

Big smile!

Poor Spence (this was the day before he was diagnosed with the flu)

Precious Picture

Coleman's not the only one who loves his sister!

Sitting with Mommy watching our favorite family show, America's Funniest Videos

Wait, And Something Better Will Come Along

Today was kind of rough. The morning didn't get off to a great start when I told Coleman I didn't have time to make muffins. Soccer didn't go well. Coleman's attitude went from bad to worse. Brian's and my patience went from little to none. Brian had to sit at urgent care for two hours with Coleman because we suspected he had developed a sinus infection. Then Brian ended up going back to another urgent care to get something for himself.

Earlier today I was thinking about all the things that were causing this to be not such a great day. I was planning how I would convey all these things on the blog so you could all be amused while you felt my pain. By the way, I had gone as far as to create a fictional club called MOSPS - similar to MOPS, but short for Mothers of Sick Preschoolers - to see if there were other moms out there to commiserate with over our constantly sick children and our growing doctor and pharmacy bills. I'm so glad I didn't write it all out then. I have something so much better to share after hearing Coleman's prayer tonight. He prayed all the usual stuff, then the last thing he said was, "...and help me have a better attitude." He'd heard us saying that all day long: You need to change your attitude! You need a better attitude! I don't like that attitude, Coleman! But he was genuinely asking God to help him, with no prodding from me. I told him how proud I was of him, and he replied, "Then how come it won't come true?" I explained that our prayers aren't like wishes. If we trust in God, He will help us with what we ask Him. I told Coleman that He does it for me all the time. If I ask God to help me not say mean words, and I say something mean, God reminds me of what I asked and helps me say nice things.

God taught me something tonight through my four year old son, the same son that irritated the mess out of me for much of the day. It doesn't matter if he refuses to play soccer, or even if he never plays sports at all. Maybe he won't be the most popular kid in his class or graduate Valedictorian. The most important thing is that he loves and trusts God. His prayer tonight was so special to me, and I'm so glad I got to hear it. And I'm thankful that God heard it too.

Best Day All Week!

Today I got a break!

The kids and I have been confined to the house since Sunday. Coleman no longer has fever, just cabin fever! If I don't get him out of this house soon, he's going to start knocking down the walls. Or maybe I can let him relieve some stress by helping me pull my hair out. But back to me and my break. I took a good book (thanks Leanne) and headed off to relax. Sure, it was at my annual well woman exam, but it was a break none the less. That sounds horrible doesn't it? That I would rather go to the gynecologist than stay home with my children! I did hit a few stores while I was out. Allie now has a Halloween costume, I bought a few birthday and Christmas presents, and did some shopping for myself. None of this would have been possible without my wonderful Mom. Thank you for coming today so I didn't have to cancel my appointment. You're the best! I love you!