Allergies

Poor little B has been suffering from some unknown allergen for a long time now. Our usual remedy would be to give him Benadryl just before bedtime. However, when he began getting terrible, itchy hives all over his body each and every night, we decided we had better get him checked out by an allergist. Afterall, I myself suffer from a vast array of allergies, most of which are so severe, I can suffer from anaphylaxis, and must carry an Epi-pen with me.

Here is a not-so-good picture of the hives poor B was experiencing...




While we were at the allergist, B did such a good job! He was so brave, and didn't fidget at all while the nurses were poking him all over the place.




The diagnosis was that B is allergic to cats (which we have), dust (which we also have), and mold. The mold was his most severe allergy, and it confused us, because we couldn't figure out where there would be any mold in the house.

We finally found the culprit, hiding at the top of our vaulted ceiling.

This small area started as a teeny damp spot. We thought it was from an old leak. However, since we are now in the rainy season, that teeny spot has been getting bigger and bigger, and it is now looking to be growing some mold in it as well. This does not bode well for B, whose bedroom is on the other side of the leak on this wall, and his bed is up against it.

Looks like we are going to have to look into getting this one fixed sooner than we had anticipated! Good thing we're just renting! :o)

A Momentous Occasion

Jay and I have always asserted with our children that we do not follow after the patterns of this world, but rather, allow the Lord to be the ultimate authority for everything we do with our lives. This proved to be a rather difficult lesson for R... especially when it concerned getting her ears pierced like a lot of her friends had done.

We told her that when she could prove to us that she was mature enough, and to tell us why she really wanted to get her ears pierced, that if we felt that her reason was a well-thought-out one, we would consider allowing her. For several years, her response to this was to tell us that she wanted her ears pierced because all of her friends had them. Or because she really, really, really, really wanted them, etc. So, our answer has always been, "NO."

Until now...

R came to us and told us that she would like to get her ears pierced because she felt that it would make her look more feminine, like a beautiful young lady. She said that it is important for girls to look and act like girls, and for boys to look and act like boys. And that earrings would help her to look more like a girl.

We were proud of this answer. A big step towards the direction of true, biblical womanhood. But, we told her that we would consider her reason, and give her an answer soon.

We gave her that answer 3 weeks ago while we were at the mall. Jay asked her if she felt that she was ready to get her ears pierced. The look on her face as she heard this was absolutely priceless! She was so giddy with excitement! But, she also handled herself with grace and maturity as we walked up to the counter to pick out her new earrings.

Here are some pics we took to document this momentous occasion...


Waiting her turn, and really hoping it doesn't hurt too bad.




Her turn came up, and she was a tad bit nervous.




After it was done, the emotional strain got the better of her.

But, within seconds, she was giddy with excitement again. She just couldn't believe we actually let her get it done!




The finished product. She chose for her first earrings to get them with her birthstone. And she has been trying her best to color coordinate her outfits each day so they match her new earrings. She is so cute! :o)

A Close Call

Friday morning began like any other day for my parents. My dad decided to go flying in his plane, which had lately become his favorite pastime. He picked up a passenger and headed to a small town just outside of Indianapolis, IN to look at a possible job situation.

As he was attempting to land in the small grass landing strip, he realized he was coming in too fast, and chose to go back up in the air and turn around to try again. This is not uncommon, but he was unfamiliar with this airstrip, and in the blink of an eye, the tail of his plane clipped some power lines nearby and sent his plane pummelling to the ground. He crashed, upside down, on top of 3 vehicles in a used car lot. He and his passenger, with adrenaline rushing through their bodies, ran from the wreckage as fast as they could, sure that the plane, which was leaking fuel, would soon burst into flames.

Two people at the used car lot barely escaped being hit by the plane, and were soon used to assist my dad and his fellow passenger, who by this time, were in the beginning stages of shock. Steve said that he couldn't see anything through the blood that was pouring out of his gashes into his eyes. He was rushed by ambulance to Methodist Memorial Hospital in Indianapolis soon afterwards.

His injuries, while quite painful, were minor, considering the accident he had just endured. He has some broken ribs, a broken collar bone, a punctured lung, and deep lacerations over most of his body. Part of his lip was missing, leaving an empty hole, which needed to be repaired. And his rotator cuff (which was torn earlier this year), is now worse than ever. But, for the most part, there were no major injuries reported. His fellow passenger fared even better. He only suffered some minor scratches and bruises, and was released from the local hospital he had been taken to, glad to have a new lease on life.

Dad is currently staying at the hospital for observation a few more days before he will be released to go back home. He does, however, have some recovery time ahead of him. He will not be able to work (he is a painting contractor), and may never fly again. There is still an investigation going on through the FAA, detailing the crash and trying to figure out what went wrong.

Overall, however, we are all so very grateful to have him alive and well (for the most part). God's merciful hand was in this situation the whole time. He crashed in Indiana, within driving distance of most of his family members, who were able to rush to his bedside while my mom was frantically trying to drive from TN to get to him. This accident brought back some pretty painful memories for the whole family... one of Steve's brothers died in a small plane crash several years ago. Needless to say, they were all very relieved that they did not have to relive that horrible situation again.

We are all very grateful to have Dad back with us after such a scary ordeal. We appreciate all of the prayers that went up on our behalf, and we know that the Lord heard those prayers and answered them by sparing the life of our beloved husband, father, and grandfather.

For those who are interested, here are some video stories of the crash from a couple of the local news stations in the area. Not all of the facts are accurate, but for the most part, they will give you an idea of just how blessed Dad is to be alive!!!

Funny Thing About The Dead Sea...

R has been studying about Ancient Egypt, Israel, the Middle East, etc. during homeschool history lately. This morning, she asked me how the Dead Sea got it's name. I explained to her that the river flows into it, bringing with it all sorts of junk, but that there is not another way out so all the muck and junk just stays there, building up so much that nothing should be able to survive in it. So, it is called the "Dead Sea". She was very interested in this fact.

Later in the day, I was trying to clean the house, and kept finding junk that everyone had just thrown all over the house (like a dirty old shirt and stinky shoes under the dining room table, dog food pebbles on the living room floor, and cheese cracker crumbs in the bedroom carpet).

So, I started grumbling about it (okay, fine. I was on a pregnancy hormone rampage), upset by the fact that nobody seems to be capable of cleaning up after themselves. It almost felt as though they were trying to play a very annoying game of hide-and-seek, putting things in odd places, and guessing how long it will take me to locate it and "right" the "wrong". Ugh. I was a bit perturbed about it, to say the least.

But R, trying to apply the newly learned knowledge to a current situation, and completely unaware of the fact that I was ready to bite the head off of the next person to get in my way, pipes up.

She proudly announces, "Hey, mom! Our house is like the Dead Sea! Junk keeps piling up in here, and nobody bothers to clean it all out!"

Well, at least she is learning something in homeschool this year... :o)

"Cleaning" the Lanai

With a large family, which includes wild, crazy & messy children, as well as filthy animals (I'm talking about the dog...not my husband -- this time), the lanai and pool area can tend to get a bit dirty. Okay... a LOT dirty. So, every so often, I make the children clean up the messes they make out there.

On this particular day, I decided to allow them to have a little fun while they were cleaning. It ended up making more of a mess, but the good thing about having a lanai and pool area, is that you can just hose it all down and make the messes disappear! :o)

Here are some pics of the kids' adventure at "cleaning" the lanai...

It started out innocently enough. I let the kids use shaving cream to wash the outside table and chairs.

Pretty soon, though, all three kids were covered, head to toe, in shaving cream...
This is no ordinary boy... he is a regular wild and crazy guy! Just look at him pose! Watch out, ladies! Ooh la la! :o)
Little Miss Copycat... She MUST be just like her big brother and sister... OR ELSE! :o)

My friend, Bronie, often tells her blog readers how she deserves the "Mother of the Year" award, due to the interesting things she does for her children when they find themselves in a pickle.

Well, Bronie, this is one of those moments for me.

I sat there and watched him do it. He didn't understand the rules of shaving cream and the delicate membranes of the eyes.

Did I know what was going to happen? Yep. Sure did.

Did I try to stop him? Nope.

Did I run immediately and get something to assist him? Nope.

What did I choose to do instead? Grab the camera and tell him to say "cheese!"
He had been really enjoying himself until this moment. Needless to say, however, soon after this picture was taken, B learned an important lesson about not putting anything in or near his eyes. Poor little guy. He'd been having so much fun...

But, it's like I said earlier... the good part about it all, is that we just had to get the hose, spray him down and the "ouchies" miraculously disappeared! :o)

Dinosaur World

I have been so busy lately! I have barely had time to keep my house in order, let alone post to my blog! But, since I really need to start working on it... here is some pics from one of our recent family adventures.

We took a trip to Dinosaur World one Saturday. Jay and I are always a bit wary of allowing the children to see information about dinosaurs without us being present to provide them with correct information. As Young Earth creationists, it is very important to us that our children are always taught about dinosaurs from a biblical perspective.

This trip to Dinosaur World proved our point. Evolutionist theories surrounded every piece of information given about the statues we saw. Thankfully, however, the children are trained enough to catch on whenever they see the words "millions of years". Once we got over those obstacles, we were free to enjoy seeing the statues and the rest of the park.

Here is a picture of the kids (nervously) putting their hands into some holes to try to determine which dinosaur can be found inside.

Here, everyone seems to be terrified of the giant, hungry-looking T-Rex.


One of the fun things the children got to do was dig for their own fossils. Believe it or not, they got to take home three REAL fossils from whatever they found at the dig. Mostly, they found old sharks teeth and fossilized sea shells. But, there were also some sauropod bones as well!



Probably the favorite part for the kids was unearthing a dinosaur.
They all took their "jobs" very seriously... especially R.


At the end, when they were done looking at the statues, the kids decided to play on the playground inside the park. Jay told them that if they could climb all the way across the high net, he would buy them an ice cream.

As you can see from the picture, R was determined to get across the thing. B, on the other hand, was a little less enthusiastic... (and, yes, we did end up getting them both an ice cream).





It was scorchingly hot outside and we were sweating like crazy, but the kids really seemed to have a good time. All in all, it was a really good day. :o)

The Sweet Faith of a Child

My sweet son, B. He is so precious. His sweet, child-like faith is so innocent and free. I love watching him as he learns new things about the Lord and our faith.

We had been discussing during our family Bible times that we, as Christians, are to strive to obey the Lord in all things, and to follow Him everywhere that He leads us, even if it is to a place we aren't sure we are going to like (we always want our children to understand this fact, since being in the ministry can - and has - taken us to many different places all across the country).

So B and I have this conversation while we are stopped at a traffic light in our van:

B: Hey, mom! Guess what?

Me: What?

B: God is right here.

Me: He is? How do you know?

B: Because we just stopped at the red light.

Me: ???

B: Well, we follow God everywhere, right? So He has to be at this light. And since He stopped here, then we stopped.

Okay, yes, we have a way to go before B has a real understanding of spiritual things. But, wow. What a sweet expression of his innocent, child-like faith.

My Big Birthday Boy

My dearest B.J.R.,

Today is your birthday. You are now five years old! I can hardly believe it! You are growing up so fast!

I remember the day you were born. Daddy and I decided not to find out if you were a boy or a girl, so we were waiting with anticipation for you to come out and see for ourselves. We didn't have to wait long. You came faster than any of the other kids. You were born within 20 minutes!!! That is really fast! You came so quickly that I didn't have time to get any pain medication. But, you also came so fast that I almost didn't need any pain medication! ha ha. :o)

When you came out of my tummy, you started crying and crying! You did not like all those doctors and nurses wiping you and messing with you. But, then they said, "It's a boy!", and laid you on my chest. I started to talk to you, telling you how happy I was to finally see you. And immediately, you stopped crying and looked straight into my eyes and just stared at me for the longest time. I fell instantly in love with you, and we bonded right away.

And you were the easiest baby in the whole world! You hardly ever fussed, and when you did, it didn't take much for you to stop. All I had to do was lay you down in your bed and you would go to sleep for the whole night! You do the same thing today. You sure do love your sleep! You are my early bird, and you are always so happy in the morning.

And you are such a joy to raise. You are a very sweet boy. You are kind to everyone you meet. You make lots of friends and everyone likes you. Anyone who has spent any time with you always comes up to me to tell me how much they love you. You are a very good boy! And so funny! You really take after your daddy in the humor department. I get such a kick out of you when you get in your "Preacher Man B" mode. You love to entertain, and you sure do love a captive audience! :o)

You are very smart, too. You are already learning to read, and you are very good at it! You love to do school work, and ask me if you can do more when you get done with the assignments I give you. I think you are going to do really great in Kindergarten next year.

My prayer for you as you turn a year older is that you will continue to have a kind heart and love for others. I pray that you will grow in your faith, knowledge and love of the Word of God. You have such a sweet and gentle spirit, and I pray that as you grow older you do not grow out of that. That is a very good quality to have! I hope that your prayers to the Lord will stay just as sweet and personal as they are now, and that your relationship with the Lord will continue to grow and mature as you do.

I love you so very, very much, my wonderfully sweet little boy. I hope you had a very happy birthday. And I pray the Lord allows us to have many more to celebrate with you in the years to come.

God's blessings be upon you, my son.

Love you always,
Mommy <><

A Seamstress in the Making...maybe.

I have been wanting to learn to sew for the past several months, but with not a single clue as to where to start, I was beginning to get a little flustered. However, my parents came down to visit (and spoil) the kids, so I took the opportunity to ask BEG my mom to help me learn how to sew.

When I say I had no clue where to start, I am being completely serious. I had never used a sewing machine in my life! I didn't know what a straight stitch was, let alone what a basting stitch was. What is selvage? And, what in the world is biase tape, and why does it matter if it is single-fold or double-fold??? All of these questions swirled through my mind as I was beginning the quest to learn the wonderful art of sewing.

My mom was surprisingly understanding of my plight, noting that she had felt the same way at my age, and had begged her aunt to help her learn. She took me to a fabric store, and we searched for a pattern that she thought would be a good starting point. I wanted something very simple. Nothing fancy. No fringe, no ruffles, no sleeves, no zippers, etc. Just a plain and simple dress so I could learn the basic skills needed to sew. I thought a little dress for Hannah would be perfect for my initial voyage into sewing.

Once we found a suitable pattern, we began the search for a good fabric. I had no idea that there was different fabric that was used for different things! For example, I found a lot of really cute fabric designs that I thought would make a nice little dress. But, I learned that those were used with quilting, etc., and were not really intended for use in clothing. Wow. I had a LOT to learn!

We finally settled on a design on the correct type of fabric. Then came the time to read the pattern package to find out what notions would be needed. WHAT?! What were notions??? I was beginning to get overwhelmed, but my mom stayed pretty calm and patiently explained each item that was going to be needed to put the dress together. We picked out the different types of thread (which is another thing I didn't know... that there are different types of thread), we found the biase tape and the buttons, etc. And when everything was purchased, I went home to venture into the world of sewing!

I will admit that there were several times I wanted to give up. The directions on the pattern were so confusing, they may as well have been written in Chinese! Sewing has its own little language, and I was not fluent in it! But, my mom did her best to explain what everything meant, and ever-so-slowly I began making progress. The pattern pieces were all cut out finally, and then it was time to put them all together.

But, that was the point when I was going to have to use the sewing maching for the first time. I had no clue what to do with it. But, I learned what the bobbin was and how to thread the machine properly (after several failed attempts). I learned how to lock the stitch in by going backwards. And I even learned how to clean the machine out if there is a jam (which was a learn-by-doing process because I jammed it up several times).

There were a LOT of mistakes that led to me being forced to take a seam ripper to the stitch I had just finished and undo the entire lenth of the stitch because I did not have it lined up properly and, therefore, did not sew the two pieces together at all. That was a long, tiresome lesson to learn. And I made several of those. :o)

BUT... after what seemed like an eternity, I put the finishing touches on the pattern, sewed the button onto the back, and stared at my newly completed masterpiece! I was actually surprised when I looked at it. I kept saying over and over, "Wow. I can't believe it! I actually looks like a dress! A REAL dress!" Ha ha ha.

The ultimate test, though, was to try it on Hannah to see if it would fit her properly. It actually fit her great! It was a little bit big on her, but I had purposely made the dress a size 4, instead of the 3 she is in now, so that she could wear it longer. But, the bodice was in the right place, the skirt was gathered in all the right places, the sleeve holes were even, the skirt length was appropriate, etc. Everything looked great!

I am sooooo proud of myself! I keep staring at Hannah with the dress on in amazement that I actually made something that she could wear in public! Ha ha ha.

Now I just need to think of what my next sewing project will be... :o)

Chaplain at Florida Hospice Resigns Over 'God' Restriction

Oh, wow! Jay sure does relate well to this!!!
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A chaplain at a Florida hospice says she has resigned due to a ban on use of the words "God" or "Lord" in certain public settings.

The Rev. Mirta Signorelli said that Hospice by the Sea in Boca Raton told her and other chaplains on Feb. 23 to "cease and desist from using God in prayers," the Florida Sun-Sentinel reported.
That ban on religious references, she said, rendered her incapable of doing her job.

"I can't do chaplain's work if I can't say 'God' — if I'm scripted," Signorelli told the Sentinel.
Hospice by the Sea CEO Paula Alderson said the restriction applies only to staff meetings. Ministers, priests and rabbis still are free to speak about God when counseling patients or families in private.

"I was sensitive to the fact that we don't impose religion on our staff, and that it is not appropriate in the context of a staff meeting to use certain phrases or 'God' or 'Holy Father,' because some of our staff don't believe at all," she told the Sentinel.

But Signorelli said the policy also forced her to watch her language when leading prayer in the hospice chapel, and when meeting patients in public settings like nursing homes or weekly patient conferences with doctors, nurses and social workers, the Sentinel reported.

"If you take God away from me, it's like taking a medical tool away from a nurse,” she told the paper.

None of the six other chaplains have objected to the new policy, she said.

Click here to read more on this story at Sun-Sentinel.com.