We're off.....

to see the wizard, the wonderful wizard of oz, we hear he is a whiz of a wiz if ever a wiz there was......

Okay, so really we are off for our first vacation of the summer (unless a weekend camping trip counts as a vacation). It is also our last vacation of the summer...but who cares, we were not even expecting one at all this summer so this is a bonus blessing!!!!

Dave's sister secured a large house in Sunriver so we are heading there in the morning, along with her family, Dave's brother and his family, and his mom and dad. I am sure that every Tom, Dick and Harry will also be in Sunriver, but like I said, who cares, it is a vacation and aint nothin gonna bother me.

Actually, just one complaint..............I gotta get us all packed!

Pics and posts after the weekend, and I am sure I'll have some good tales to tell of the long weekend with the family.

The funniest blogger ever.......

http://mom2my6pack.blogspot.com/

Hey mom, can you relate?

This is hilarious, click on the link to read this e-bay auction. Don't forget to look at the final winning bid price!

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=130144061675&ru=http%3A%2F%2Fsearch.ebay.com%3A80%2Fsearch%2Fsearch.dll%3Ffrom%3DR40%26_trksid%3Dm37%26satitle%3D130144061675%26category0%3D%26fvi%3D1

Answers to my prayers.......

As I posted a few posts ago; Dave started his last semester of college yesterday. The next three months were going to be very hairy for us as we tried to juggle life with Dave in class everyday, Monday thru Friday, night classes on Tuesdays and Thursdays and three weekend seminars. Last week we had worked out a schedule for his classes, work and sleep, in order to figure out when we would need to have Cooper at Ms. Jeannie's (she is his amazing daycare lady, but she isn't really a "daycare"). And as it was layed out, it looked like Cooper would have to be at Jeannie's four days a week, at least 3 hours two days, and more like 6 hours the other two days. Being at Jeannie's is not a bad thing, as a matter of fact, Cooper has been asking all summer when he gets to go back to Ms. Jeannies. It is just that no parent wants to have someone else raise their kids, and up until this past year, we have been able to juggle our schedules in order to avoid having to have either of the boys in daycare while I worked. Not to mention the cost was going to be a big stretch for us.
I am not usually a worrier, but yesterday I had to talk myself out of having a pity party/panic attack (or whatever it would have turned out to be) at the prospect of how hard the next three months were going to be for us. Selfishly, I was mostly worried about how hard it would be for me, but had some slight concern for Dave! On the brink of my breakdown, my friend Lisa invited me to hang out with her at her house for the evening. That worked perfect, since Ben was at soccer practice where Lisa's husband is the coach, he would bring him back to the house, and Cooper could play with his "Beff Fwend Kaleb" (That is what Coop calls him every time he refers to Kaleb), Lisa and I had a chance to visit and I got to snuggle with baby Helaina! I have been praying that God would give me patience and strength to not just handle the afternoons and evenings with the boys by myself, because Dave would either be in school or sleeping, but to also enjoy the time with the boys. I don't want to look back at this time with regret because I was a stressed out mom.
That was the first answer to my prayers, the second came this morning, when Dave got to his class that was scheduled for M-W-F there was a notice on the door that the class had been changed to a half semester class, and would not be starting until October 22. That is huge for us! Dave went to the registrars office to make sure that the class would still be 3 credits because he has to have those to graduate, and she said that it would be. So, he no longer has classes five days a week for the next three and a half months! Until that last week of October he will only have his two classes on Tuesdays and Thursdays and Coop will not have to be at Jeannies quite as much.
It all may seem small in the grand scope of the world, but to me it is God reminding me that He always take care of us and has surrounded us with great friends that are here to help and suport us.

Not a paid endorsement....

If you have not tried these yet, you should. They were very good and so convenient. You take them straight from the freezer to the microwave (without even opening the package) and cook for five minutes. The brocolli was steamed perfectly, still crunchy and so flavorful. A 12 oz package is $1.50 at Freddies right now. And the amazing thing is that even my kids ate it......... The only thing that could possibly make it better would be some of that delicious 7-11 Nacho Cheese drizzled over the top!

He's hardly a little boy anymore.........

Both of my boys have been in bed since 9pm (I let them stay up to watch Extreme Makeover: Home Edition). And in a strange turn of events, it was Cooper who immediately fell asleep, and Ben who is still awake. Usually Ben is asleep within minutes, and Cooper battles with me until at least 11pm or until I give in and let him get in my bed. Yes, I know, SuperNanny would have a hay day with me. Tonight though, sweet success, Coop is sound asleep in his own bed! Hallelujah!!
After I prayed with Ben tonight, he asked if he could stay up and read. Those are sweet and glorious word to a mother...........and since it is still summer, what's the harm. So a few minutes ago, I went in to check on him, since it was so quiet in there I expected him to be asleep. Instead I find him sitting up in his bed, headphones plugged into his CD player, with comic books spread all over his bed. He looked like such a big boy! I stood a little out of sight and watched for a few seconds before he saw me and said "Whatcha lookin at?". So we chatted a bit and he filled me in on all the details of "SpiderMan and the Human Torch". After a few minutes I said goodnight again and headed out of his room, which by the way, is starting to get that "smelly boy" odor. As I was walking down the hall, it dawned on me that I am almost the parent of a "tweener". That boy on that top bunk, reading those comic books, listening to that Jump 5 cd, with those head phones on is the same newborn whose crib I stood over 7 1/2 years ago, watching him sleep, crying tears of happiness and fear, not knowing how I could ever love him enough. It seems like a blur when I look back at the time that has past. That newborn learned to sleep through the night and turned into a happy, easy going little baby, and that little baby turned into a fun, whirlwind of a toddler, and that toddler turned into a very talkative, inquisitive preschooler, and that preschooler turned into a bright, rambunctious little boy, and now we are on the eve of the next phase of his life. My prayer for him as we embark on this next stage is that he will continue to grow more in love with Jesus, and discover a relationship with Him that is his own. That he will continue to love others and find ways to care for people the way that Jesus wants him to. That he will see in his dad and I, a model of how to live a life of compassion and caring for other people, the way that Jesus calls us to. That he will continue to be a fun big brother, who finds joy in loving and defending his little brother. That his love of learning will deepen. And that his struggles and trials will be faith building.
That postpartum night 7 1/2 years ago that I stood over his crib weeping God spoke to me. He reminded me that this baby was not actually mine, but rather His child entrusted to Dave and I to "bring up in the training and instruction of the Lord" (Eph. 6:4) and that He would provide me with love enough. And He has.

MEME

I got tagged. So I have to do this thing called MEME
1. I have to post these rules before I give you the facts.
2. Each player starts with eight random facts/stories about themselves.
3. People who are tagged need to write their own blog (about their eight things) and post these rules.
4. At the end of your blog, you need to choose eight people to get tagged and list their names.
5. Don’t forget to leave them a comment telling them they’re tagged, and to read your blog

My MeMe.........

1. I have a huge family. Dad, mom, four sisters, one brother, four brothers in law and one sister in law, sixteen (almost seventeen) nieces and nephews and we get together at least five times a year. We do "quarterly birthday parties" for all the kids who had b-days in that quarter, and then we alternate Christmas and Thanksgiving every other year. In case you lost count that is 32 people.....and still growing.

2. The very first time that I met Dave (my husband) I knew that I was going to marry him. We met at Crossroads Church, at the time I was going to school at Multnomah, and the night I met him I went back and told my roommate that I had met the guy I was going to marry. We didn't start dating until six months later, and that was only because Bruce and Vicki Dillon urged him to ask me out. We married 13 months after our first date, and have been married for 13 years!

3. Okay, this one is going to be a stretch for me, but I'll put it out here......I have lots of friends, but do not feel like I have any deep friendships. Not to anyone's fault but my own, I have a wall that I put up that allows people only to a certain point of knowing me. I struggle with a fear of being vulnerable, so I try to give off the impression that my lots of friends is enough.

4. My love language is NOT gifts..........please do not buy me gifts, I think they are a waste. If I want something bad enough, I will buy it for myself. This also means that I am not good about giving gifts, which leads to problems because I am discovering that Benjamin's love language IS gifts. I need to remember to speak it more often.

5. In the fourth grade I wanted a pair of Levi Shrink to Fit 501's soooooooo bad because Lori Lindall had a pair, and she said she would not be my friend if I didn't have a pair. My parents could not afford to buy them (and besides I had perfectly good homemade Designer jeans ;)). Lori and I never spoke again.

6. I LOVE 7-11 nachos. I eat them once or twice a year. Smothered in that warm artificial cheese and chili (which I am sure is real meat....)Yummy!

7. One of my favorite places in the whole wide world is Cooperstown, New York. It is pretty much smack dab in the middle of New York state, but visiting there made me feel like I was in a Norman Rockwell painting. Stately white homes, churches with big steeples and bells that tolled, tree lined streets. No fast food restaurants or grocery stores, only the corner general store, and a beautiful lake on the edge of town. If I had an extra million I would move there and buy a bed and breakfast. And since it is home to the Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum, my husband would go too! No, we did not name our little Cooper after the town, he was nine months old and already named when Dave and I went there.

8. I love to read. If I start a book and I really like it, I have been known to not put it down until I am completely done with it, no matter how long it takes. It has happened once that my children ate cereal for three meals one Saturday while I read all day. That was a good book!


There you are......

Tag goes to Eryn, Lynne P., Amy H......that all I know, sorry.

Crazy Kid

You know the one who fears nothing, thinks they can do anything, especially if their big brother does it? That would be Cooper. Ride it, climb it, hang from it, jump off of it, you name it, he'll try it. So here is his latest conquer........

(click on pic to enlarge)

Yes, that is my 3 year old jumping off the diving board into 11 feet deep water. That is exactly 100 inches deeper than he is tall! He surfaces, swims to the side, gets out and does it over and over and over.......all the while I stand at the side of the pool my heart pounding in my chest.

Crazy kid.

The Home Stretch

Two years ago, on the advice of my mother and the urging of me, Dave went back to college. In his "youth" he had attended community college but left for the workforce after two years. So, in October of 2005 he enrolled in Concordia University's degree completion program. It is one of those 18 month, one night a week, some weekends, type of programs. Going into it we knew that Dave would need to pick up a few extra credits in order to meet the graduation requirements and that it would take him a little longer than the 18 months to finish. So began the journey of the last two years of our life. In January of this year Dave started to work on those extra credits that he needed. Around that time he decided that he would add a Marketing minor to his Business Administration degree, suddenly those "few" extra credits turned into 45!
Well, we are finally in the home stretch........Tuesday Dave begins his last semester of classes. He is taking 15 credits this semester, which by any college students standard is a full load. Add to that the fact that he works full time and has a wife and two kids. Can you say overload? The other night we sat down to figure out our schedules for the next three and a half months and realized that he has classes five days a week, two of those days he is in school 4.5 hours, and he has 3 weekend seminars. Dave's goal for the next 113 days is to get through and survive. My goal is to supoort Dave and do whatever I can to help him get done and teach Ben how to mow the lawn; something that I have had to do exactly 3 times in our 13 years of marriage, Dave has always done it. So if you happen by our house and the lawn has funny mohawk stripes or is waist high, just know that we are in the HOME STRETCH!

Ben's Cause......

Benjamin has a friend named Paige that he met in kindergarten. They became fast friends and remained friends even when they were not in the same first grade class. It is kind of an "odd couple" friendship; her shy and quiet, him very loud and outgoing. However, it is a solid friendship; ask Ben to name his friends and her name always tops the list.
During the kindergarten year Paige became very ill and was diagnose with Type 1 (Juvenile) Diabetes. Imagine being six years old and finding out that the rest of your life will be devoted to blood sugar and insulin.
Fast forward almost two years, and Paige is doing well, she is insulin dependent, but knows how to check and regulate her blood sugars very well. Which brings me to Ben's cause.........
Benjamin (and I) are participating in the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation's Walk for a Cure on September 30th at Oaks Park. If you are able to make a donation to his campaign, it would be greatly appreciated. Just click the link to the side and it will take you straight to his donation page. He is very excited to be supporting his friend and has already raise almost $20 by having a lemonade stand.

Eryn made me do it......

A couple of weeks ago, my friend Eryn e-mailed me the link to her new Blog..... it was so cute and fun. I don't do a very good job of staying in contact with her, so I appreciated the gesture of her including me in on what is going on in her life, especially since I have loved watching her go from a teenager to a young woman to a wife and now to a mother! Thanks Eryn, and even though I'm not the best at staying in contact, I do love hearing and seeing what is going on with you. Which leads me to what Eryn made me do..........she inspired me to create my own blog, so here it is. I don't know what it will become yet, but hopefully someone finds as much joy in it as I found in Eryns!