More to be grateful for

I'm thankful for disposable diapers and wipes. {Maybe one day I'll brave the cloth diaper world, but I'm grateful I have a choice.}And I'm thankful I only have to use them on one of my children!
Hope your Thanksgiving was blessed. We had a great one, really busy and all I did was sit!

Reason #892 Why I love my husband

Tonight Joe decided to rearrange our living room, nearly every piece of furniture.

Because he's the world's most awesome dad and wanted to make the world's most awesome fort, his personal best.

Jenna nearly wreaked havoc on it numerous times as he worked tirelessly for the perfect set-up.

It is becoming more and more evident that we have our work cut out for us with this little lady. A little lady who growls and whips around very much like Taz, though much cuter and sweeter. The girl can clear a path, and ransack whatever she chooses.

She wasn't the lone threat to Joe's masterpiece though. Joseph went to his 4 year well visit today. After my Top Ten Worst Moment of Motherhood last year at Bethany's 4 year well visit, I begged, pleaded and gave Joe no choice but to take Joseph. The poor boy was ever-so brave and didn't even cry until they gave him his first shot. It was a heart-breaker after that.
Three shots at 4 is so horrific that we will buy our kids most anything they want after that appointment. Joseph knew exactly what he wanted, a Nerf gun with suction cup bullets. I think he might say it was worth the pain and the three Daffy Duck Band-Aids he proudly showed off.

While natural disaster almost struck. . .
and Bethany twirled in new {small} spaces. . .

Joe kept working and shifting furniture as the bullets whizzed past.

He finished it off with the air mattress and cartoons. Bethany kept exclaiming, "This is awesome! This is the most awesome fort ever!"
I'm a party pooper, he is sleeping in the fort with Bethany and Joseph {all night}. I declined my invitation, no shock I always turn down a good nights rest on a queen size air mattress with three other people for my own bed.

Have a Happy Thanksgiving tomorrow, I hope you can be with the people you are most thankful for.

Thankful today

Toady I'm thankful for our vibrant,

creative,

independent,

knows-what-she-wants,

helpful little girl.
For five years of being her mother!

Oh, the drama

My second round of labs came back just as terrible as the first {why was I not surprised and excited about that?} So the verdict is, I am anemic and my thyroid levels are all extremely low, meaning I have extreme hypothyroidism.
Most of you won't care about these numbers but it may be helpful to some one so, my TSH is 44.68, my T4 is 0.16 and my T3 is 2.3.

Meaning I am entitled to feel like crap!

I am thankful for an obvious problem and hope that my body will just respond like it should to the medicine. My NP is almost doubling the dosage I was taking, thank goodness!!!
On a positive note, my homoysteine level that was high is now in normal range. My B12, B6 and folic acid have all come from low to now being in the normal range. I am able to stop taking my prescription Metanx for that. It' s nice to see my body responding to something in a positive way.
Now, I just take my pills and wait, 8 weeks. {blah} Wouldn't it be nice to feel better before then? Maybe!?!??

It's been a few days

Isaiah 55:3
Give ear and come to me; hear me, that your soul may live.

I've been here before, and before, and before. This place looks and feels familiar. I hate it, I despise it, I long to never be here again.

This place of wavering faith, shifting shadows of doubt, longing for hope, looking for answers, discouraged by unchanged circumstances, listening to whispering lies and sinking in a pit of deception.

I am learning, striving to turn this ship of feelings and emotions back. I'm going back to the Savior who calms the storms, who gives hope and healing. I'm believing that His love is the truest of all, that He can always be trusted, that He offers the only hope for all, and to me. Though I see and feel no answers or options, I will muster up my small faith and it will be enough.

I will call
and He will hear,
and He will listen,
and He will answer.
He will never fail me.

The past few days, I've been overwhelmed by the place this thyroid-mono road has led me. I have so far to go, to get back to where I was, not to mention where I want to be. Monday morning came and I called my NP to be seen. My appointment was discouraging, she didn't think that me still being so weak and tired is directly related to mono. Thankfully, she drew about 10 tubes of blood so we could find out what's going on with my thyroid levels in addition to many other possibilities. I left in the "depths of despair", {Anne Shirley~Anne of Green Gables}
The office called me this afternoon to ask if I'd missed any doses of my thyroid medicine. Apparently, my levels are so out of whack the lab called to alert them. The numbers are so ridiculous, we are all wondering if they can be right. It wasn't just one number but many things came back way off, so I am going back in a little while to have the labs redrawn.
I just want the problem identified, and then treat the problem, how can it be this hard, and take this long?
There are so many lessons in this place I find myself. Many times it's the same lesson over and over. I just have to keep holding to what the Word tells me and shutting up my mind. I'd been crazy long ago it wasn't for the Truth that remains not matter what else comes and goes.

Today I'm thankful for God's faithfulness. Even during this really-not-so-fun place, we are being blessed. God is revealing that He cares and He is here with us. Though the answers I seek aren't here yet, He is assuring me that He sees me, He is here with me.

Drumroll please . . .

And the winner is...

Joye fromThe Joyeful Journey.

Congrats Joye, I am so excited you won The Seeds Family Worship CD. I hope you and your family love listening to it!!

Joye was selected by a random generator online.

Seeds Family Worship Giveaway

Are ya'll ready for this? I can't wait to mail one of you stalkers a CD from Seeds Family Worship. I told you last week, that I was gonna buy a CD and that I would get a second copy free. So, without farther ado, leave me comment, and PLEASE become a follower, if you aren't already. It's fairly simple to become a follower through Google, plus if you come here often you might find that it makes reading easier. I'll ship in the USA and to Canada, give away ends on Tuesday, November 24th. I'm giving away The Power of Encouragement.
I'm excited and I'm not even gonna win anything! Have a fun weekend.

What I'm thankful for today. . .

For a toddler learning how to blow bubbles through a straw.
For breakfast as usual, oatmeal, Emergen-C and a mess.
For funny faces.
For being asked to retrieve a ball from atop the china.For finding pretty little pony's all lined up, perfectly.

For mono.

My bitter enemy has taught me so much. To cherish and appreciate the small things. To love each day I have with my kids. To stay focused on the things that really matter and not have pity parties over laundry and dust bunnies. To accept help, to let my husband do things. To think twice before getting upset at my children over minor things. To simplify my life, do my best and say no to the guilt. To learn from and lean on a loving God, who has gotten me through these past 7 weeks.
One week down with my kids home, it has gone incredibly well. {Sure, we didn't always get out of our pj's, I stunk on more than one occasion when Joe came home. But this is life, I LOVE life!} I am slowly feeling better, each day I spend a few less minutes in bed and make a few more trips up and down the stairs. I even asked my hubby out on a date tonight!

Isaiah 38:17
Surely it was for my benefit that I suffered such anguish.

Bite that tongue

Ephesians 4:29
Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen.

If Bethany wears pajamas that keep her too warm, she says, she'll get the 'hot-ca-doolies'.

Today she dropped her bucket of crayons and they spilled all over the floor, she said, "Ahhhh, rat-ca-doodles!"

Later, she couldn't open a door and said, "Pickle juice!"

I love her slang, and wish more people would come up with their own exclamations. We were in the drive-thru at McDonald's last night and a lady was yelling about flipping some one off and rattling off one profanity after the other. People just don't think twice about what they say.
I often don't think twice about what I say either. I want to be more aware of thinking about what I say, before I say it. I am convicted about what I did say or am about to say about someone else because my children are listening. We all are in constant battle with the flesh, doing what feels good, what comes easy and gives us immediate gratification. {all of which, increase our selfishness and hinder our spiritual growth} Thankful for the reminder, from my 5 year old, to watch what comes out of my mouth.

Cooking pumpkins and roasting seeds

Yesterday, I got the harebrained idea to bake our pumpkins from the porch and roast the seeds. My children had kindly let me sleep in, we'd eaten breakfast, I'd managed to clean up the mess and thought I had it in me.
Yeah, that's a four year old with a knife as long as his arm, maybe in hindsight I wasn't completely with it yesterday. Good news is, he didn't get hurt but had fun trying to cut the pumpkin.
Bethany was telling him all about how he isn't allowed to use knives when Mommy's not around... {yada, yada, yada} Joseph looked at her and calmly said, "Sissy, just stop! Just stop talking to me, you are not the boss of this house. Mommy and Daddy are the bosses, not you!" It was really funny, she just stopped and didn't even argue with him.I labored for a LONG time picking out seeds one by one. Bethany and Joseph lost interest, Jenna was put down for a nap and I was still picking out seeds.I baked the pumpkins for 1 hour at 350 degrees, with a half inch of water in the bottom of the pan.I roasted the seeds at 325 degrees for 30 minutes, in a little canola oil and salt. Stirring them halfway.
I finally finished roasting the seeds and baking the pumpkins. The house smelled like pumpkin, and the kids said the seeds tasted like popcorn. Seriously, I could have just microwaved some Redenbacher's for a few minutes, not slaved over cutting open pumpkins and digging through slime for seeds. I started and stopped a tradition all in one day. By this point I left my messy kitchen and crawled into bed.

I completely overdid things yesterday, and have hardly gotten out of the fetal position since I went to bed last night. I am hurting all over and I get sharp pains in my stomach off and on, don't know what that's about. Today has been declared a "Mommy's in the bed all day." It's basically celebrated by children playing computer games, everyone dressing up in their traditional pajamas and feasting on applesauce and cheese for lunch.
Things are manageable, so I can't complain. I'm able to retain control, mostly while laying in my bed. Don't think I'm not counting down the minutes until Joe gets home, maybe I'll get a path cleared to the door for him by the time he gets home. {Maybe}
I love having the kids home. Bethany and Joseph are being very well behaved and trying to be as helpful as possible. I went to get Jenna out of the bed this morning and it's the best part of my day! All three of them make me laugh.
Bethany had a follow up appointment to have her ear looked at, since her eardrum ruptured several weeks ago. She has complained of not being able to hear things, so when my mom took her on Monday the office did a hearing test, which she passed easily.
Yesterday Bethany tells me, "Mommy, I couldn't hear all the things that machine was telling me in those headphones. So, I just used me mind and I remembered what some of the answers were, and then I knew which ones were left so I used my mind and got 'em right cuz I'm smart. You know I've played that game before, so I remembered the answers." When Joe asked her how many she guessed at, she said, "Oh, like a few." As worried as I could be that she can't hear, I had to laugh at her logic and how proud she was of herself!

Today I'm thankful for the laughter my children bring me.
Habakkuk 3:18
yet I will rejoice in the LORD, I will be joyful in God my Savior.

Keep your eyes peeled, I have my first-ever giveaway coming very soon! I can't wait.

This is my 30 days of Thanks, join me if you like!

Here she is. . .

Isn't she just the most darling little thing ever?! Meet my niece Maddie, I got to hold her today, and take her picture! She is SO small, and I'm not just saying that because I lug around a 22 lb toddler, that I'm trying to claim as a baby still. She really is small, I've never had the honor of giving birth to a baby smaller than 7 lbs. 15 oz. {and that was a long time ago, my most recent one weighed 9 lbs. 6 oz.} Maddie weighed 6 lbs. 1 oz and is 19 inches long. She is perfect and just as cute as she is small.
Babies are awesome, and babies of people you love most are super awesome. I thought about sticking her under my shirt and maybe my sleep deprived brother and sister-in-law would just go to sleep and not miss her. Doubtful, right?
Congrats Brandon and Melissa, we are happy for you. Praying you will get some sleep, even if it is just a little. Welcome to the family Maddie. Today I'm most thankful for you and the gift you are to your parents. You are a blessing!!

This is my 30 days of Thanks, join me if you like!

Cappuccino Muffins with Espresso Spread

Remember these muffins that my friend brought over? She kindly gave me the recipe and so I thought I'd share it with you too. I haven't had the energy to make then yet, but I'll get there.

Cappuccino Muffins with Espresso Spread

Spread:

4 ounces cream cheese, cubed

1 Tbls sugar

1/2 tsp instant coffee granules

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

1/4 cup miniature semisweet chocolate chips

Muffins:

2 cups all-purpose flour (I use our home-ground whole wheat)

3/4 cup sugar

2 1/2 tsp baking powder

1 tsp ground cinnamon

1/2 tsp salt

1 cup milk

2 Tbls instant coffee granules

1/2 cup butter, melted

1 egg, beaten

1 tsp vanilla extract

3/4 cup miniature semisweet chocolate chips

In a food processor or blender, combine the spread ingredients; cover and process until blended. Cover and refrigerate until serving.

In a bowl, combine flour, sugar, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt. In another bowl, stir milk and coffee granules until coffee in dissolved. Add butter, egg, and vanilla; mix well. Stir into dry ingredients just until moistened. Fold in chocolate chips. Fill greased or paper-lined muffin cups two-thirds full. Bake at 375 degrees for 17-20 minutes or until muffins test done. Cool for 5 minutes before removing from pans to wire racks. Serve with espresso spread.

Yield: about 14 muffins (1 cup spread)