NMM Stellan Style

MckMama is still at the children's hospital with her precious MckMiracle....Stellan. To check on his updates, go here. I decided to "copy" my blogger friend Gracie and post a NMM Stellan Style! Here goes....

...I do NOT check MckMama's blog a few... no several....no a dozen....no any spare moment I have to get updates on Stellan and his fast beating little heart.

...I do NOT find my thoughts, as of lately, consumed with all of the sick children that I know personally or do not know personally but know about.

...I do NOT find myself in prayer, 99% of my waking moments, for these children; and I do NOT find myself in prayer for children who may be sick that I don't even know about.

...I do NOT find myself, not sure of what to pray for in certain circumstances, so I cling to this scripture...Romans 8:26-28

26 And the Holy Spirit helps us in our weakness. For example, we don’t know what God wants us to pray for. But the Holy Spirit prays for us with groanings that cannot be expressed in words. 27 And the Father who knows all hearts knows what the Spirit is saying, for the Spirit pleads for us believers[a] in harmony with God’s own will. 28 And we know that God causes everything to work together[b] for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them.

...I did NOT think seeing Stellan's name gallery was just plain AWESOME! My favorite was not the picture of his name with MERCY ME....I am NOT a HUGE fan of theirs. I am NOT thinking of a cool way I could write Stellan's name as well, and I am still NOT brewing something up there.

...I did NOT shed a tear (and it wasn't the first)....as I told NPayne of MckMama's "Tour Eiffel" entry....when I read the first 2 sentences that said...."Stellan is not doing good. I am not doing good." I did not feel the lump swell in my throat and my heart tighten in my chest as I did NOT try to will my arms around this woman I only know through a blog. I did NOT tell him that it made me sooooo sad to read those 2 sentences in her post.

...Last week when one of my girls asked...."Is that MckMama's blog?" I did NOT proceed to tell them all about Stellan's health and encourage them to pray with me for him, and they did NOT quickly and willingly agree. They are NOT great prayer warriors themselves.

...I am NOT praying so hard that my mind rarely thinks of anything but the sick children and the children who have already left this earth and their families.
...I do NOT feel so grateful for my own family, and I do NOT pray for their continued health as well.

...I DO TRUST GOD! I DO KNOW THAT HE IS IN CONTROL! I DO KNOW THAT HE BRINGS GOOD! I could NOT put a "NOT" in those 3 above sentences, because it just seemed weird to write that....even in a Not Me Monday post.

IT BUGS ME WHEN .....

...people make assumptions.
...we are too busy.
...my house is cluttered and messy.
...folks wait until the last minute.
...parents don't pay attention to their little ones at McDonalds, Chuck E Cheese, etc.; and they end up out in the drivethrough lane (this actually happened while one of my friends, Angie, was at McDonalds....yes ma'am....that mama was sipping her diet cola and visiting with her friends while her toddler was in THE DRIVETHROUGH LANE....Help Me Henry).
...I don't get a response to an e-mail....especially when it's one I sent to a teacher or principal.
...we pay a chunk in school taxes, BUT we are nickeled and dimed to death all year long for "necessary items". ROBIN HOOD really bugs me!
...kids are mean intentionally!
...my nail polish is chipping off.
...I have to ask someone to do something numerous, I'm talking NUMEROUS, times!
...we don't get to eat dinner together.
...my family leaves water bottles, trash, shingards, etc. in my car!
...the laundry baskets need to be emptied, and I haven't had a chance to empty them.
...our front yard and porch are a mess!
...the TV is on, and nobody is watching it!
...folks interrupt!
...people are really uptight....loosen up!
...folks aren't grateful for what they have!
...my children, or anyone for that matter, whine and complain! It really BUGS me when I whine and complain!
...people act like Autism is a made up problem.
...people talk down to me or are condesending!
...I balance our checkbook....not pretty!
...I can't give away a ton of money to those who need it!
...God's name is used in vain...even by saying "Oh My Gosh!"
...people don't want their pet any longer, so they just dump it on the side of the road.
...we have to pay a deductible! I know, I know....I should be thankful for insurance; and I am... really I am!
...there is trash in my front yard!
...strangers walk through my front yard!
...my neighbor's dogs poop in my front yard, and she watches them do it and doesn't offer to clean it up!
...I smell something that I don't care for!
...I lose stuff!
...folks are disprespectful!
...I cook dinner, and someone complains about what is served!
...my computer is soooooo slow!
...I feel like I'm rushing through the day...when I haven't had a chance to sit down and talk with NPayne, play with my children, read my Bible until it's already bedtime. Busyness in general BUGS me! It bugs me when we don't have "free" time! But I think that Bug is about to buzz away....stay tuned!

They Don't Call Them Special For Nothing....

DEFINITION OF SPECIAL:

adjective
1. of a distinct or particular kind or character
2. being a particular one; particular, individual, or certain
3. pertaining or peculiar to a particular person, thing, instance, etc.
4. having a specific or particular function, purpose, etc.

5. distinguished or different from what is ordinary or usual
6. extraordinary; exceptional, as in amount or degree; especial
7. being such in an exceptional degree; particularly valued

-------------------------------------------------

Guess what made this little boy so very happy??? Was it climbing the tree? No, he did enjoy that; but that wasn't it. Was it playing outside? No, he loves doing that too; but that wasn't it. Was it watching the train, that you can see from our house? No, well yes, that probably did make him this happy; but that's not what I'm referring to.....

This little boy....my SPECIAL needs little boy....my just plain SPECIAL little boy....my boy....

WON....not one,

....but two
FIRST PLACE RIBBONS at The Special Olympics!!!! YESSIREE....He sure did! He won first in the 50 meter dash and first in the softball throw! YESSIREE....He sure did! And he was proud, and so was his family!
As I said, they don't call them "special" for nothing!

Please Pray!

I added the prayer for Stellan button on my blog. You can click on it to get updates about Stellan's health from MckMama....his mama. He is in very serious condition, so please pray every time you think of him!

Sunday Sermon Summary

COMING SOON! Probably tomorrow.....my Sunday, Monday and Tuesday have been crazy busy; so I'll post the Sunday Sermon Summary in the next couple of days. I know, I know it will not be Sunday....or even Monday for that matter.....but the sermon this past Sunday was too good not to share. I'll keep you posted....da da duh!

Bryna Mae...the beginning of the crooked teeth!

It's official....Bryna is on board to crooked teeth. Between NPayne and myself, our children are destined to have crooked teeth. Once they start losing those sweet little tiny baby teeth, they start growing in those huge and very crooked big people teeth. NPayne and I have already determined that we will be paying for braces for approximately 10-11 years straight.....hellooooo....we could buy a brand new car for that amount of money, BUT I do know that braces were a good thing in my young pre-teen life. Although quite uncomfortable to endure, I was so grateful to have my big ol' buck teeth pushed back into my head where they were suppose to be. NPayne was never afforded the luxury of braces, his mama just couldn't afford them for him, and he has always regretted never getting them.....NPayne, if you're reading this, remember that I was completely okay with you getting braces after we were married....your choice babe! Addi currently has braces, Cal and Drew will definitely need braces; so I'm assuming that Bryna and Elliot will as well. I'm hoping all of my younger 4 will be like Addi and wait it out, so we don't have to do that whole expander and 2 sets of braces thing. When I first started taking her to the orthodontist, recommendation by my dentist, one ortho. said let's start today.....we will put in an expander, then her 1st set of braces, then wait a year and do the 2nd set. HUH???? The second ortho. said....if she is patient, and waits until she loses some baby teeth; she will only need braces once. HOWEVER if she is bothered or self conscious by her crooked teeth, we can go ahead with an expander......hellooooo.....we are going to go ahead and save a little moola that we don't have handy right now and wait.....besides she wasn't one bit self conscious about it. As a matter of fact, when we left the ortho. I said something like Are you okay with waiting a while? And she said something like sure mom...."Do you think I need braces?" Without thinking I immediately replied with the following...."Well Yeah"....Have you looked at your teeth ?(I didn't actually say that second part out loud, but I sure was thinking it). Anyhoo here we go again....losing teeth, crooked teeth, big people teeth = growing up way too fast for this mama's liking! BOO HOO! Of course her tooth wasn't really lose enough to be pulled, but she knocked it out while doing somersalts in the front yard. Talk about a lost tooth, that was definitely the case, we never did find the tooth in the grass....it was really lost!

My Wish....My Prayer!

"Just like prayer, there is no wish that is too big or too small. "

When I looked on MckMama's blog this morning to check and see if Not Me Monday was posted, I read that Stellan is very ill and in Children's Hospital with heart problems....if you have kept up with her blog, you know that her baby was diagnosed with a fatal heart problem while still in her womb. He was not expected to survive long enough to be born much less survive at all after birth, but God chose to use Stellan as a miracle; and he was born last October. When I read this news about Stellan, I didn't think anything but....God is with him, He is in control. He worked a miracle once, I know He can do it again if it is His will. Then I prayed for Stellan, and I prayed for MckMama and Prince Charming.

My heart has been heavy for several days, because my sweet Drew is going to lose a friend any day now. One of her classmates, Jayla, has leukemia; and she is down to her last days on earth. Believe me when I say....Drew is very matter of fact about death. Sure she is very sad, but she is so comforted to know where Jayla is going. She is so comforted by the fact that Jayla has declared that "she is not afraid"! Still my heart is so heavy for her parents, for her mother!

It's times like these, where you see your blessings....my friend Leslie told me that a few short weeks after losing her second son during childbirth and recovering from a stroke. She told me that you often see your blessings in your losses, and I have experienced this first hand as I have grown closer to God through Leslie and Jeff and their losses. Don't misunderstand me....I do not want to suffer through what they have, what Jayla's parents are, what Angie has, what Tuesday's parents have; I DON'T! But....I have learned so much through their losses....through their faith....through their love!

As I was driving to Addi's school this morning to take her her gym clothes, that she had forgotten to put in the dryer yesterday (and yes I was a little irritated); I made a conscious effort and even prayed that I would deliver her gym clothes to her with a smile on my face and a courteous greeting. If you have read my blog before, you know that Addi is not the tidiest child; and she is not the most responsible child as far as remembering her gym clothes, or her band log, or other simple things like that; but she is a very responsible child when it comes to caring for her siblings, helping her grandmothers, being generous beyond belief to perfect strangers and causes she really believes in or is passionate about. I have let her suffer the natural consequence, of being irresponsible, several times before....when she has forgotten her lunch, and I didn't take it to her; so she had to borrow money or go hungry that day....when she has forgotten her homework, and I didn't take it to her; so she had to sit out at recess. But today I didn't let her suffer the natural consequence of forgetting to put her gym clothes in the dryer, I bailed her out....so to speak. I kept thinking about Jayla's mother and MckMama, and how they would give anything to "bail their children out" right now; and I decided that I need to make a more conscious effort to still let her suffer the natural consequence but sometimes to "bail her out" and to do it courteously instead of expressing my frustration and irritation. I know it's important for her to learn to become responsible for, even these little things, but I also know how blessed I am to have her in my life and to have the opportunity to "bail her out" from time to time. Be grateful for the gifts God has given me!

On the way home from taking Addi her gym clothes, I heard the song by Point of Grace...."I Wish"! I couldn't remember the name of the song when I heard it, so when I got home I looked it up on their website; and I found the quote at the top of this post...."Just like prayer, there is no wish that is too big or too small". I then looked up the definition of wish in the dictionary, and it said the following: to want, desire, long for! It's weird, but sometimes I have a hard time praying for a miracle in a situation. I feel sort of hypocritical praying for something that I truly don't believe will happen....I experienced so much guilt from this when my dad was sick, because while my mom was praying her heart out for a miracle; I wasn't. I prayed for peace and comfort for him and for us, I prayed for the pain to stop, I prayed for my children, and I prayed for our time together to be meaningful; but I didn't pray for him to be healed. That's not to say that I have never prayed for a miracle.....and oddly enough, it's much easier for me to pray for a miracle when I'm praying for someone I don't know, someone I am not watching suffer first hand, someone that I don't see the doubt or sadnesss in the doctor's eyes at each visit. I told my pastor this and how I struggled with the guilt, and how I felt like I let my dad down; because I didn't pray for a miracle. You know what he said.....he said, "Sometimes the ultimate healing is death!" As much as we don't want that to happen for the ones we love, as much as we don't want to feel the pain so deep it feels like someone punched you in the stomache, as much as we don't want to miss the person we lost so much we don't want to get out of bed.....I believe he was right.....the ultimate healing is death.....eternal life! I will admit this is much easier to accept when the person lost is not a child. The loss of a child leaves a different kind of pain, sadness, emptiness and grief. I do not know this from my own personal first hand experience, but I know it from my own personal second hand experience!

My wishes.....my prayers.....

A cure for cancer!

Children wouldn't die before their parents!

World Peace!

No more suffering!

Our world would be the peaceful, beautiful place that God intended it to be!

I haven't experienced the loss of a child, and I thank God for that multiple times per day. I wouldn't "wish" that on anyone!

I Dine With Royalty.....

I hope you have the honor of dining with royalty from time to time....it sure makes supper much more enjoyable!

A Much Better Day.....

We, I mean she, survived the colonoscopy and endoscopy. Besides following in her mother's footsteps of becoming violently ill after anesthesia, she came through with flying colors. Now we wait for results. While killing time yesterday and trying not to think about being hungry, Drew kept herself busy by hand sewing this little stuffed horsey. Isn't it cute? Drew was feeling so good by lunch time today, that she happily agreed to make B a stuffed animal as well.

She's working away.

B chose this fabric....the pretty floral....not the roosters. That's our vinyl table cloth that protects our table from glue, crayons, paint, etc.

Drew is cutting out her self made pattern.

During a nice lunch, they played the Fancy Nancy Game together. It was great to see my girl feeling so good after such a rough day yesterday and a not so great morning this morning.

Thank you all who have said a prayer or two for my girl. Keep them coming!

Guess What I Get To Do Today????

Well I can tell you it's not going to be near as fun as yesterday with the Bentley Boys! 16 oz. of this stuff....YUCK! At least it's cherry flavored!
Clear liquid diet from 9 am until tomorrow after the procedure!

One good thing....popsicles are allowed and encouraged!

There is my princess eating her dinner last night and savoring every bite! She knew she had to be on a liquid diet today, but she did get up and have a huge breakfast. Say a prayer for her today and tomorrow....a colonoscopy and endoscopy is no fun, but when you're 8; it really stinks! She's a real trooper and trusts in God! She reminds me, with her chipper disposition, that it could be a lot worse; and we are thankful that there are medical procedures that can help people get better!

Guess What I Got To Do Today????

I was awarded the honor and privelege of doing a photo shoot of the BENTLEY BOYS! One of these boys will be a future son-in-law of mine. I love them all, so any of them will do just fine!

Everybody should have a Bentley Boy in their life, don't ya think?

Sorry I haven't had a chance to touch up these photos yet, so some are still really dark; but I couldn't wait to post them. My computer is still giving me fits and being very tempermental with my Photoshop! By the way....I am by no means anywhere near being a professional photographer! It's just a hobby that I enjoy doing with every ounce of my being!

Stop and Smell the Flowers.....

Do you ever rush your children to the car, because YOU are running late?

Do you ever find yourself in a worrysome state about something of which you have no control?

Do you ever forget to get lost in the moment?

I do!

I'm so glad that NPayne and Addi took these pictures today. They help me remember to Stop and Smell the Roses (or in this case wildflowers....NPayne would call them weeds) nonetheless....a gentle reminder to cherish the little things, because really the little things are the big things!

ROADTRIP, FAMILY, FRIENDS and the lake!!!

We had a wonderful time visiting with our friends. I got to spend 3 days with 2 of my best friends and their families. We are all so blessed and thankful to have each other, and we recognize that more now than we already did. I am truly amazed by the progress Leslie has made. The road that she and Jeff have traveled and continue to travel is a difficult one, but they know and will tell you that they are being nudged along by God. They don't ask why? or what if? but instead they witness and they share the love of our God and the good that has come from their circumstance. It truly amazes me that 2 1/2 months ago, Leslie was lying in a hospital paralyzed from a stroke she suffered during childbirth; and now we are sitting by a campfire drinking coffee and enjoying each other's company. She still has a lot of recovering to do, but for where she is today.....I am so very thankful and grateful! God is good!

We truly did nothing but enjoy each other, let our chilren get really dirty, eat really good food (and a lot of it), sleep late, and enjoy God's beautiful earth!

Addi and Cole waiting their turn to fire the bow. Addi ended up with a bullseye!

Elliot after a day on the boat, by the campfire, jumping on the trampoline, blowing bubbles....whew....that takes a toll on a girl's hair.

Kool-Aid lips and big bubbles!

NPayne and Cal on the boat!

Mama and Elliot on the boat!

Leslie.....doing what I enjoyed the most.....sitting by the fire, sipping coffee!

Cynthia and Beau. I have told Leslie before that Beau looks like she could be Cynthia's daughter, and she does!

All 18 of us going for a ride on the boat....8 children, 6 adults, and 4 dogs!

Elliot coloring on the easel.

Beau loving on her dog.

We did a whole lot of this.... Bryna, Beau and Drew sitting by the campfire!

Drew holding Jaques and Henri....2 of their 4 dogs.

The kids got a great campfire going.

Cal trying out the tricycle. We forgot to bring his bike. He is very resourceful.

Cade practicing his Archery skills.

As the vacation came to a close, I found myself feeling just like my girls did when we were leaving....dragging their feet, heads hung low, mumbling under their breath "I don't wanna go home!" Neither did I!