June. All of it.

June2012...fun month over here, y'all.  What have we been up to?  Apparently I've been so busy (um...no) that I haven't blogged at all.  So here is all of June in one big post.  Mostly pictures.  Because there was just too much going on to narrate it all!

Just before June, we took the kiddos to the Harn Homestead in OKC. fun times with friends,

At the beginning of June, we had a fun time at the park with our cousin, Noah!

I also got my hair cut at the beginning of June or end of May...

then again today! ha...

At the beginning of the month, S turned 6.  We had a Yo Gabba Gabba party in May for both boys with our families...but on S's actual bday, our fam of 4 spent the day at the science museum and ate lunch at Hideaway Pizza (yummmm-o).  S is really growing up this summer and is a great helper. He has helped R with pottying, he helps R get dressed, he helps with the dishes and the laundry...he's just getting big enough to be a big ol' help.  He also is super smart.  He can read pretty much anything you put in front of him, and his math brain is fantastic.  Good stuff.  He is learning (sometimes difficultly!) that our actions speak from what is within us and he is absorbing (usually!) what we are trying to teach him in this respect.  I'm so proud of him, my first baby, the one molded pretty much just like me, although his art genes came from somewhere else, further back in our lineage, I suppose!  Because I couldn't draw or paint if my livelihood depended on it.

The Sprinkle Cake of DOOOOM.  but it was yummy. and rainbow colors inside.

super funny daddy.

 big day. tired them both out.

(for S's birthday, Gibby got him some rad golf clubs!)

In the middle of June, I took a much anticipated, carefully planned vacation with some of my college girlfriends-- we all turned 30 this year and we went to Puerto Vallarta, Mexico and had a GREAT relaxing time!!

It was all so ugly. Can't you tell. Feel sorry for us.  Terrible trip.  :)

Then...I got back, and we celebrated two anniversaries in one day!! June 28, 2012 marked NINE years of marriage for us....

 

Date night photo captured by my eldest child...and (there are nine  flowers in the other photo (for 9 years, duh!)...gerber daisies...i love)

AND...we went to orange leaf to celebrate the ONE YEAR anniversary of NO blood transfusions for Ridge!!! Way to go, God!

Three years ago, no one knew, but many speculated, that we would never see this sight:

And now, we don't have to be scared when Ridge picks up a bat and ball, because his last set of labs were fantastic, with a hemoglobin of 12.6 (holllaaaaa!) and platelets of 242,000-- well within normal range!!! We believe in the Lord, our Healer!

As for the rest of the summer, I've really enjoyed these zinnias that are doing crazy well in our mailbox flower bed...

And Sawyer finished up his second t-ball season...

I've been making a few of these for some nappers in the fall--

And....while I'd love to stay and chat....

I really mustache.

mamaaaaa!!!

Moms. This weekend, we recognize you.  We recognize me, too.  Because I'm a mom, you know.

So a few sentiments for you here.

http://1x57.com/2012/05/03/letter-from-a-mother-to-a-daughter/

Any of these will get ya, not only in sentiment, but probably in laughter.  I can't just link to one, because they are all really great:

http://skitguys.com/videos/theme/mothers-day

And now my thoughts on this most blessed holiday.

Being a mom is hard work. The fighting.  The crying.  The spills.  The forget-what-I-just-told-you-five-seconds-ago-ing. And we haven't even gotten to the kids yet. :)  No, but really, it's tough. Juggling schedules and extra activities and changing diapers and doing laundry (I have a fantastic husband who does laundry and washes dishes and even occasionally cooks to help me out.  It's okay if you want to be jealous.)  It just gets overwhelming. It's rewarding, but overwhelming.  You can lose your temper easily if you're wired that way (I am.  It's just the truth, people).  Patience can be short.  Grace can be lacking.  But love is great.  And prayer is strong.  And I've also read if you just put a big brown paper grocery bag on your head while you're getting kind of upset, it will really just calm everyone down.  So we might have to try that sometime around here.

But one thing that really gets me in mommy-ville is...

poop.

Poop, poop, poop. Stop reading if that alone has grossed you out.  Just go away and have a happy Mother's Day.  Stop back by in 7 months when I finally blog again.

Poop.  Diapers. Some days, I will clean up dog poop.  Then change a diaper. Then more dog poop. Then the bigger kid will "hold it" too long and have a small accident. I would NOT be lying if I told you the other day, I was cleaning up a small human's poop out of my carpet-- and it wasn't even from the littlest little in my house!  I'm not jokin- I  was bawling huge crocodile tears and crying out loud, and sounding seriously like a child (I know it, I thought it myself "I sound like a child").  I knew it should be funny, but it wasn't.  Not yet.  And it still isn't, yet.  It wasn't fun.  The littles were quarantined to the bathroom-- for the sake of avoiding poop smears everywhere, and for everyone's sanity.  The knight in shining armor came home at lunch and bathed them and made things all better.  I shampooed those carpets and steam cleaned the bathroom and bleach cleaned what I could....It was bad, y'all. Poop.  In. My.Carpet.  POOP!  gag.

And let's just talk about bathroom-ing in general. #1? #2? Just blowing your nose? Taking a bath? Whatever. It doesn't matter.  Those sweet angels just come on in.  There's no privacy.  If you need to use the bathroom, get ready...because mamas are gonna have a....

pottyence.

not an audience.  A Pottyence.

If someone else has coined that phrase, you're a genius.  But for now, I'm calling it my own.

What is it about those moments?  If I'm sitting here with you, child, you could care less about my presence.  But heaven forbid I get up for 2.7 seconds to pee fast enough to break a world record...I mean, the world's gonna fall apart if I'm gone that long!!! So you come with me. Pottyence.  I know some people's pottyence clap for them when they have success going potty.  My littlest little isn't potty trained yet, so he doesn't do that.  But still.  Gotta love that pottyence.

For all the crap that is in my house (pun completely intended)... there's more good stuff than bad. :)

Good stuff like hearing my 5 year old read out loud.  Or tell me he likes me best (even though it isn't a contest and if it were, his dad should totally win.  but it's mother's day-ish. So I win.

Or having my 3 year old grab my face when I'm changing his (ugh...poopy) diaper-- he will pull me close to his face and say, "I huv you mommy.  I give you a kiss.  Eye kiss? (butterfly kiss) Esimo kiss?"  I mean. What are you going to do there?  You're gonna love that poopy diaper because well, it provided that sweet moment with a usually pretty swift moving 3 year old.

The poop in the carpet I could do without.  The kids who provided it?  Never.


Happy Mother's Day to all you mamas!

so glad to see three! (years. not babies. don't be getting any ideas)

Tomorrow, when the sun comes up and we roll our sleepy selves out of bed, the littlest little in our home will be a big ol' 3 year old!  A birthday will be celebrated tomorrow!  Today, as we ate pizza (birthday boy's choice) and noshed on "cuhcapes" (cupcakes), my little boy BEAMED as we sang "happy birthday" a day early to him.  I'm sure his daddy and I beamed, as well.  So in keeping with blogging-semi-tradition...here is a letter to my littlest prince, for his special day.

Baby Ridge-
my how you have grown!  Three years ago was a fantastic day in our lives, as we became a family of 4 instead of 3!  You looked just like your brother at birth, and stole our hearts from your very first cry....well, probably from even months and months before that!  Your first year of life was scary, tragic, hopeless, hopeful, miraculous, tedious, trying, tearful, growing pain inducing, wonderful, celebratory, sad, fantastic, so outside of ourselves that there are really no words to truly describe it.  That year, and for at least 6 months following that year, our lives were somewhat horrific.  Our lives were also insanely blessed.  We saw the hand of God at work in your little life, and in our little lives, in a way we had never before seen.  It had been there, we had just been too much of something else to stop and ask for it.  To stop and see it.  Your trials, your illness, your fight for your life, has taught us so much more than we would have ever stopped to learn on our own.  Thanks be to God for you, and everything about you.

Your second year of life allowed for "normalcy" to begin to creep upon your little mischievous self.  You began to fully leave behind the disease that plagued you-- Jesus has taken that away from you.  You haven't needed a blood transfusion in 10 months (and counting!) and have not been in the hospital in over 15 months.  Your hemoglobin is stable.  Your platelets are NORMAL, which prompts me to laughter every time I hear the lab results.  You are a living, breathing, walking, talking, smiley miracle.  A miracle! A miracle (actually two of them, bc it is not blind to us that our oldest is a miracle himself-- by the grace of God he is here with us, and free of disease) sits at my table every day, and sleeps in my house, and eats my food, and writes on my walls, and throws fits in my floor.  A miracle. 

And now, tomorrow, you will be 3.  Three years ago, early in the morning, I was getting settled in a hospital bed, in early labor, there to be induced.  Labor progressed quickly, and within a few hours, there you were.  Easy peasy!  We went home a day or two later, life began, life changed, we changed, we are still changed, and God is doing some mighty works in our life...works that would not ever have even been in our field of vision had it not been for that bump in our journey.  That rare, rare, almost zero chance of ever happening bump.  Praise God for that bump.

At 3, here are some of your current loves:
*pizza
*hot doggies (corn dogs)
*cuhcapes
*freekas (fruit snacks)
*wearing shoes
*watching yo-gabba-gabba
*our (but mostly your) dog, Thunder
*coloring
*using (kid-friendly) scissors
*making messes
*asking me to leave your plate out so you can eat more food later, as you feel "hungy" again
*jumping on the trampoline
*joking/hiding/sneaking/being silly
*saying "i huv you mommy."  "i huv you the most"  (huv=love)
*saying your brother's name as "gah-gahs"...this is something you probably could be finished with by now, but we encourage it, because it's just too cute that you say his name so incorrectly.
*stating some of the 12 disciples by memory.  Judas Iscariot is my personal favorite- how many 2/3 year olds can say that stuff?!?!  too funny.

You bring laughter (and other emotions, too) into our lives every single day. You are a MESS!  A BIG OL' MESS!  Potty training is about to change your world this summer, and I am so excited for NO MORE DIAPERS!  You have a tender heart- your feelings are hurt easily, you kiss other people when they are hurt, and you say you're sorry if you are mean to someone.  You are talking more clearly and can pretty much ask for anything, using complete sentences.  You are a joy in our life, and we count ourselves so super blessed to be the family God chose for you!  Without you, and what the Lord has already done through your small but large life, we would NOT be the people we are today.  Because of the journey God took us on through you, we are still growing and changing into people we couldn't even imagine three years ago. THANK YOU for taking "normal" from us.  THANK YOU for the opportunity to start again, to change, to allow God to begin a movement in us, and in our family. 

We love you, baby Ridge!  You are one of God's greatest gifts in our lives!  All praise to our Heavenly Father for the miracles he has performed in ALL of us, because of YOU, and because of His great great love for us!

HAPPY THIRD BIRTHDAY, my brown eyed, dark haired, devious, sweet, sweet, boy!!!  Momma (and Daddy, and Gah Gahs) looooves you!!!

in like a lion, out like a lamb...or not

So spring is here.  We've had a mild winter and I loved that.  I know that meant allergens were high, and we definitely suffered over here....but less cold was fun. I know we need cold and freezes and whatever, I get it...but I enjoyed the mild winter!  I love the weather we are currently having...those temperatures where you can wear pretty much whatever attire you want and be comfortable (although today it was really in the 80s and long sleeves and pants would've been hot.)

I have nothing stupendous to say today. or ever. ;)

Since a month ago (when I last posted....good job, me)....here's what's been going on:


nothing.

No, probably that isn't true.

Sometime in the last couple of months, my biggest little lost his first tooth!  The second one is super loose and will come out this week, if I were a betting woman.

A couple of weeks ago, I sojourned to Arkansas for a wedding shower for the last of my college gal pal's to get married.  Her wedding is in a few weeks, so I will be trekkin it back to the AR for that shindig again.  I always love getting to see those girls (hi, girls!).  I hope God puts us all right by each other in Heaven. I know we won't care once we get there, but I think it'd be fun if we were all neighbors.  In this life, or in the heavenly realms :).

Ridge has been sick.  Fever, snot, cough...doctor thought strep, nope...flu, nope...so who knows what it was but it went away. he didn't bleed any from it.  He had a lab a week or so ago....well, almost 2 weeks I guess. I don't remember. Anyway, we are getting labs drawn every 3 months now, and my goal is in September, when we go back for our 6 month consult/appointment, to get those labs scaled back to every 6 months...and then hopefully NEXT summer (2013) get to once a year labs/checkups.  At his last lab, Ridge's hemoglobin was 11.9.  It has been 11.9ish for the past 9 months.  This is good, people.  His platelets, this last lab, were 251,000.  This. Is. Fantastic.  Normal platelets begin around 150,000.  Ridge, on a good day, back in the "scary times" would have platelet counts of 20,000.  This is super low.  It was normal for him to be in the 10-15K range...we wouldn't transfuse any platelets (they exacerbate his bleeding, even though that makes no logical sense) until he fell below 10K. This is like chemo-therapy platelet levels, I've been told (but I am no expert, so forgive me if that is incorrect. I do not mean to sound intelligent in that realm, because I most certainly am not).  ANYWAY...251K is WELL in the normal range, and if I could do a cartwheel, I would've, on that day we received THAT news.  That is FANTASTIC, y'all.  He is still on no meds.  Some other hurdles we've overcome this month:

He had to be on oral antibiotics for the first time.  We've always done shots (thankfully, we haven't really needed abx for much of anything).  Anyway, the by mouth antibiotics did not make him bleed  (back in the day, even one dose of abx by mouth would make him bleed).  So that's a HUGE hurdle, jumped.

He ate some grapes. I know that seems stupid, most likely, but he doesn't get a lot of fruit with skin on it...and he hasn't had many grapes, but he's had 5 or so at a time, with no ill effects/no bleeding.

He threw up (if you have a light stomach, skip this paragraph. NOW.)  This was once during the fever/cough/snot illness aforementioned.  Vomit sicks me out, but a kid with sores and clots and blood in his stomach...well, THAT vomit grosses me out, scares me, and makes me want to cry all at once.  Vomit...this time...was normal.  It was just barf.  Plain old nasty barf. no blood. No clots. Just gross, normal puke.  Praise the Lord for pretty throw up.

He got the chicken pox vaccine.  We skipped most all of his vax from 12 mos to now.  We will make a few of them up, but not most of them.  Chicken pox is one of the two or three I wanted to make sure he gets (although I don't know why...I am not that worried about the chicken pox, although it is a convenience to know we most likely won't get them, now....perhaps I'm naive, but I can think of much worse things he could get than the chicken pox.) ANYWAY, this was his first LIVE vaccine. Ever.  I think.  He may have had the rotovirus vax once when he was a baby.  Before all the big stuff began happening in his little life.  Anyway, he handled the chicken pox vax perfectly.  BDawg took him, and Ridge cried, but he didn't get a fever, he didn't bleed, nothing.  He just got vaccinated, like most normal kids.

He went to Sunday School- with all the other kids!  Now people, this is a big deal.  Our kids go into the church service with us.  But after church, for a LONG time, we didn't go to Sunday School at all, because we did not want Ridge to get sick, so we'd all just go home together.  A few months ago, we started splitting shifts-- Sawyer got to begin going to Sunday School (which he loves!) and Brandon or I would stay in one of the adult classes.  the other of us would take Ridge home.  Last week, Brandon and I both stayed for Sunday school, but took Ridge with us.  He was super good and played in a corner with some plastic cups....and wrote on the dry erase board.  But this week, we let him try Sunday School. I was told by two of my friends who were in the nursery working today that he did great!  I am so happy for him, and so appreciative of those girls for watching out for him!  My heart is happy for him!!!  The Lord is good!

Sawyer is kind of at the end of our Kindergarten curriculum...I think.  We still have quite a few days of school left-- so I am looking forward to finding some more relaxing things to do.  We still need to learn money (he sort of knows it, but we haven't concentrated big time on it...), but he's got his reading down, and his writing is pretty good, and he can add and subtract and tell time.... now that the weather is nice, we can do some more activities outside....and I really need to teach him to tie his shoes. I know he should know how to do that, but...he just doesn't get it yet.  He is getting so big now, and  so handsome, and so smart. He is a challenge at times, because he is growing into an individual.  He is developing his own character traits, and he is pushing some limits when it comes to obedience, back talk, lying, etc.  So discipline is having to be consistent, and it is very frustrating when I know he is not telling the truth. I know he knows in his heart what is right, and he will usually come around to apologizing for things on his own-- he is not inherently obstinate.  I want him to always make the right choices, though! That is so much easier for us all!  Discipline is never fun.  Isn't that the truth?? !!?!?  Oh how I love him, though.  He is such a sweet sweet spirited boy.  T ball begins soon for him.  We will see if he takes to it better this year.  (The little one can play next year, and I know HE will be ALL over that opportunity. That littlest little of ours is rough and tumble all the way.)

I blabbed longer than long enough.  So I will leave you  with that....until next time!

don't cry. or do. whatever.

If you want me to be funny, read my last post. I tried, anyway.  I don't see a lot of funny coming in this one....sometimes it sneaks through, but don't place any bets on it this time.

So.  It's a beeeeautiful day outside today.  I tried to do a little reading outside while the boys rest/nap, but the wind was a teeny bit chilly for me, because I'm becoming old.  So I came inside and opened the blinds and pretended I was outside.  I also pretended I was a lot skinnier and having fun on the beach with my friends.  Which I will actually be doing in about 4 months.  But I probably will still be pretending to be skinnier.

Anyway, I digress. I'm trying to read through the Bible in 90 days, if you've been absent from the blog for awhile. I'm failing.  I'm reading it every day, though.  And I'm all the way into the Psalms, which I suppose is pretty good considering I really did start in Genesis, on Jan. 1....yes, of this year.  So anyway, I'm really only about 10 days behind, because I just couldn't read big huge chunks of the 1sts and 2nds (You know, samuels, kings, chronicles). I couldn't do it. I'm a baby.  So I finished Job today.  And I've always liked the book of Job.  Mainly because all this bad stuff happens to Job, but he doesn't implode or become a recluse or anything.  He survives.  But there's a lot of good stuff in there.  Like how God even talks about dinosaurs (or dragons.  or big beastly things.  scholars? no, scholars aren't beastly. i'm asking their opinion. I like to think, based on a pro-dinosaurs are in the Bible-scholar I've heard speak before, that dinosaurs are what some of the beasts in Job are...) Anyway...and how Satan is weird and is just roaming the earth.  Just roaming around like he has nothing else to do...stupid. Roaming. And God asks him if he's noticed Job...Job who is ever so faithful. And Satan is like, "uh yeah. No wonder Job's so "awesome"...nothing bad has ever happened to him. like ever."  So God says, Okay. You can mess with him. I give you permission.  (that's another thing...God gave Satan the go ahead.  Because He's God. So He gets to be in charge.)  So anyway, Job loses all his children and his livestock (as in, they die.)  And other stuff. And he is sad and mourns and grieves but doesn't curse God.  And then he gets all these sores on him, but he still doesn't curse God, even though his wife tells him to.  But he does lament and wish he'd never been born.  And the his friends tell him some messed up stuff and disagree with him about everything pretty much concerning how he won't curse God.  And finally, at the very end, God is like, Hey Job.  Brace yourself like a man. I'm gonna question you and you will answer me.  Do you know how to mark off the earth's dimensions?  have you seen the gates of death? can you make the constellations do stuff?  do the lightning bolts report to you?can you capture (Behemoth, Leviathan, DINOSAURS! okay, i'm not an expert.  but these WERE some sort of gargantuan things way back in the day). ANYWAY...God's like, So. Job. Can you do any of that stuff?  And obviously, all of it is stuff GOD can do and/or has done.  And Job's like, I can't even talk to you.  I spoke once, but I don't have an answer.  I'm not saying anything else.

And towards the end, Job notes that God can do anything.  That's kind of God's point.  Yeah, Job had some really crappy stuff happen to him. REALLY ROUGH STUFF.  Hardcore, make you cry until you throw up kind of stuff.  But sometimes, that stuff happens.  God knows it's coming.  I mean, He could stop it if that were His plan, right?  But sometimes, He allows that stuff to happen.  Yes, suffering and junk just happens in the world. It's part of life.  But if God wanted to let us live a life free of suffering, He totally has the power to do that.  But He chooses not to.  I'm sure there are some ailments that could befall me that the Lord has said "Nope. That's not going to happen to her today."  I'm sure when Ridge was born, God could've made sure that the genetic weirdness inside him causing him to have MLT was obliterated. But that time, he allowed that hardship to go through.  He had a plan. He knew what was on the other side.  He knew that with Job, too.  At the end of Job, in the epilogue, we read, "The Lord blessed the latter part of Job's life more than the former part."

Amen.  Sure, Job never got his kids back, and he lost all those animals and servants...but the Lord did bless him with more kids (I'm not saying there wasn't still heartache and loss from all the stuff that came his way previously. There was.  Heartache doesn't just go away, I know that. I'm not being insensitive.  Unless I'm being insensitive to myself, because clearly we've lived through some junk.)...Anyway, really really really hard things happen. And they make us really really really hurt. And we cry until we don't think we can breathe.  And we are sad. And we are angry at times. And we don't know who to even talk to because who could possibly really understand?  But at some point, the hardship is over.  It may not end how we want it to, but it does end. eventually.  And for those of us who have lived through the hardest time of our life so far, and are now seemingly on the other side...and who have new struggles because of those previous hardships...and who still have days filled with tears.....for those of us who have walked through that darkness, but seen the hand of God at work in the midst of that...for us...for me...I can say, "The Lord has blessed the latter part of the Carys life more than the former part."

There are hard days.  There are days we have obstacles to overcome that didn't exist before our struggles with Ridge's health.  But there is no greater truth for me at this moment in my life than the truth that the Lord has done and is doing a mighty mighty work in our lives BECAUSE of that dark time we lived through.  Every day is a gift!

date weekend!

We don't have a lot of date nights, as far as getting fixed up and going out goes, around here.  We might watch a movie after the kids go to bed once a week or so...I mean, we really live it up.  Part of this is because we have two kids.  That means asking someone to watch them-- of which we have several family and a few friend choices, so no complaints there.  But sometimes after a week with two kiddos, getting all fixed up and ready to go out just doesn't have the same appeal as it did 8, 9, 10 years ago.  heck, 5 years ago when i was halfway to gigantically pregnant.   Another part of this is because we don't budget much for entertainment....because we don't have a ton of extra to budget for that, and because honestly, there are better ways to save our money than blowing it on ourselves. But this weekend, we were able to go and do a few fun things.

Friday night, we went to dinner at Matthew Kenney in OKC...and you should try it.  Very good.  It's a raw foods restaurant, but you need to brace yourself, sushi or sushi aversion crowds...it's vegetarian cuisine.  And it's fantastic.  I don't love sushi, and it has nothing to do with the taste... it is simply because the idea of raw fish gags me  (the thought of raw any kind of meat gags me).  So we headed to Matthew Kenney, because it looked unique, and I had a groupon there :). We started off with a dragon roll, which was fantastic...then we had a Salsa Verde salad, also fantastic (the chips were made from roasted red peppers....so good).  Then for dinner we had tortellini (me) and tamales (b).  My advice, for sure, is to get an app and/or salad before dinner, bc dinner is savory but small.  The prices are not bad at all for the caliber of restaurant (entrees max out at $12, I think).  But heck to the no when it comes to skipping dessert. DO NOT SKIP DESSERT IF YOU GO HERE.  In fact, i say get the chocolate ganache tart.  It is insanely delicious...with a french press of coffee on the side. Holy yummo.  Anyway, it won't be a regular stop for us, but we will definitely go back.  Unique, and tasty, and you don't leave hungry.  Plus everything is organic and nothing is cooked past 180 degrees, if cooked at all, so it's all really healthy!  So good.  But we can't go back anytime too soon. Not just bc we are out of fun money for the month...but because of what happened at the end (THANKFULLY) of our dinner.  BDawg had paid out...and was waiting at the table with my stuff while I went to the restroom.  As I entered the corridor housing the restrooms, our waiter was standing at the bar, and he saw me coming, so he politely opened the door to the restroom for me (they are those one room bathrooms, you know, you have it all to yourself, the way a bathroom should be).  I thought, "that's so nice of him!"  Until I walked in and thought, "Is this some sort of joke?  A prank??"  Because there, in front of me, sat a chef. On the toilet.  You know, going potty.  A girl younger than myself, and hopefully not reading this, and if she is, I'm here to say, I'M SO SORRY AND IT TOTALLY WAS NOT MY FAULT!!!  But I couldn't say that.  I was flabbergasted.  I just stood there like an idiot.  Thinking, "this has to be some sort of joke??? right?"  but the sweet girl just looked up at me in one of the  most vulnerable positions in which one can be seen,  and said, "oh. i'm sorry."  so i turned around, walked out, and our waiter opened another bathroom door for me...and i turned to him and said, "well now.  that was awkward. for everyone."  and then I shut the bathroom door. locked it, and triple checked to make sure it was locked, and texted my husband to get to the car right now...i could not face walking back to the table where i would have to see that chef again (because the restaurant is open kitchen and you can see the chefs preparing your food).... Anyway...yeah.   To that poor girl...I'm sorry. And I bet she never ever ever forgets to double check the lock ever ever ever again.

Then we went to see a late showing of "The Vow" at Yukon's old ghetto-fabulous movie theater.  We have a newer theater, but it wasn't showing that movie, and we knew it'd be mega crowded at the OKC theaters, and cost more anyway (remember. budget, people.)  And in serious, this theater is older...and kinda dirty  (the seats are supposed to be blue, i think, but mainly they look brown)...but I'm not dissing it, because we've been there on several occasions and my husband or I one always know one of the students working, and the staff is super duper friendly, and the prices are not sky high, and we don't care about high tech stuff, and I like small towny feel...so it's a winner in our books.  Anyway, ...we were able to watch the movie in a theater that only had about half capacity....and I told God he doesn't ever have to give me a teenage daughter if he doesn't want to, because the 37 of them in the theater were enough to make me about come unglued.  I mean, you can't deny the attractiveness of Channing Tatum, but if they could just keep the giggles and sighs to themselves, that'd be great.  Thanks, girls.  And whichever one of you thought it was cool to leave your phone on, not on vibrate,  but full out turned up, and then let it ring for what seemed like 5 minutes before silencing it to answer it, well, I want to tell you, thank you.  And I want to say, these girls are at every movie in every theater in the United States of America.  And they always get on my nerves. And then I imagine buying their mom a cup of coffee or glass of wine, because if I were living with that every day.... I'd love it to pieces, I know.  I was the most lovable teenage daughter known in history. Mark my words. A perfect angel.  I never did anything remotely exasperating. Ever. Not once.  Ever ever ever ever ever.  No, really.  I still have a halo...somewhere.  But anyway, yeah...big ol' thanks to them for making my movie going experience extra special.  You know when they didn't sigh or swoon aloud?  You know what moment I got to smile to myself?  A moment they would never in a billion years understand in their premium youth...the moment when I saw the "other" guy in the movie.  Scott Speedman.  As in, Ben, from Felicity.  As in, way before your time, chickadees.  But not before mine.  So swoon over Channing Tatum.  Swoon away.  But I will let my husband just make fun of me for the look on my face when I said, "You know who that is?!?! That's ben, from felicity!!!"  and then all those teenagers told me to shut up with my swooning. shhhhhhhhhhhh.  okay. they didn't.  but i uttered some SHHHHs to them.  yes. i'm that person.

So that ended our Friday night. 

Saturday morning I made breakfast, then B ran some errands while I worked on some craft things.  Then we got ready and headed to Thackerville, OK.  It sounds small, right?  Yeah. It is.  But you know what they have there that's super big?  I wouldn't know this on a typical day, so I assume many of you do not.  But they have the WinStar World Casino.  It's enormous, and looks like all these different areas of the world outside-- London, Beijing, um, lots of places. It's beautiful. Outside.  We aren't casino goers- sorry to any of you who are-- I don't know how people do that.  First of all, I was never aware that many people still smoke in the nation.  I think maybe  everyone who smokes was all there that day.  I mean. wow.  Second of all, and I'm sure this is because we aren't acclimated to the environment, but we just didn't "get" it.  WAIT- before I go on, we were not there for the casino experience-- we were there for a concert.  Anyway, we just didn't "get it"...Brandon said, "it's like grown ups...sitting in front of a video game all day?" Yeah, totally didn't get it.  But we were there for a concert that my husband has been hoping he'd get to go to one day, for as long as I've known him.  It just happened to be 2 hours away from our house in the prettiest smoke joint you've seen.  ALABAMA.  Not the state, because clearly i already said we were in thackerville, Oklahoma.  Alabama, the band.  Anyway, it was a good time, and we came home with a little jingle still in our pockets.  That means money, if you don't get the reference....which means you don't listen to alabama.  what's wrong with you?

Anyway, good weekend.  Dinner where I got to see another adult using the bathroom.  Movie where I decided swoon worthy actors' movies should only be shown in divisions:  mothers with their daughters (or teenage girls with a supervised adult) can view the movie at this time, teenage girls without a mother/adult can view the movie at this time, and women who are too old to swoon but do it anyway can view the movie with their friends or significant other at this time, without worrying about 13 year olds and their cell phones. (okay all you 13 year olds-- i know you're sweet girls, most of you, i'm just super sure of it!  but you know, sometimes when you get older like i am, you get kind of grouchy and set in your ways.  so, you be you. and i'll be me.  and when we aren't in the movies together, or any other public place where you are acting kind of inappropriate but you don't really know it because you're 13...well, all the times other than that, we really would be great friends, i know it.  really, i do.)...and finally, Alabama concert where I got to see first off, lots and lots of smokers.  I got to also see a line for the men's restroom longer than the women's restroom line....and I got to see that we were mostly the youngest age of people at the concert...and I got to see three men in or near their 60s showing off like they'd never stopped. 

Hope you had a good weekend, too!

recovery

I betcha didn't know the reason I've been gone for the past 2+weeks is because I hurt my knee. Running. We assume....

Yes. It happened.  Me...in all of my athletic glory.  I was hardcore, people.  Run.ning.   6AM-ish, 2 days a week, and only a bit later than that the third day of the week. Yoga/Pilates 2-3 other days a week. And nothing 1-2 days a week (I like those days best).  Then it happened. I went for my 6 AM run, and made it about 1/4 of the distance....and my stupid knee just wouldn't stop throbbing. I couldn't sufficiently walk, much less run.  So I called it quits, came home, was annoyed.  Emailed my friends, one of whom is a doctor...she prescribed a visit to my actual doctor.  So...the next day there I was.  I still couldn't walk well at all. I'd been icing the knee. I'd been resting it. I'd been taking Advil. Nada.  So the doctor pushed and prodded the knee, and was pretty certain nothing was too amiss (no tears, no sprain, etc).  Bursitis. An inflammation of the bursa, if you will.  That junk doesn't play, people.  It. HURTS.  Like, makes you wanna cry when you put your underwear on-- not because you are getting old and have two children and have ugly granny panties kind of crying, but cry because you can't even move to clothe yourself.  And after that, there are pants....and socks...and shoes.  For the love!  Disastrous.  So anyway, yes, the little fluid filled sac that is supposed to help my joints move smoothly  (we have many of these in our body) was inflamed.  An RX for some NSAIDS, as well as icing and resting and doing some strengthening exercises was the remedy.  After a week of that, and severe limping....and missing activities...and crying....I went back to the doctor.  She was more than accommodating to give me a shot right in the knee.  Within 2-3 days, I was able to cut back to only taking half of my medicine....and today I haven't needed any.  Much less limping.  Much less crying.  Much less drama from the mama (at least with regards to my athletic injury.  since i'm an athlete.)

So anyway, I feel much better now.

So my knee is almost recovered. I will be working up my nerve to run again....

Onto another type of recovery.  So I've been reading-- lots of things...The Hunger Games Trilogy (oooooh looooove thooooose), the Bible (a few days behind in my 90 day reading plan...but going strong-- some of those books of the Law....well I had to be put on a slow track plan, self-imposed, for those.  But we're almost to 2nd Samuel now, so things are moving a bit more quickly), "7" by Jen Hatmaker (READ.IT.), Interrupted, also by Jen Hatmaker....Boundaries, by Henry Cloud and John Townsend...and a few others I can't think of off the top of my head.  So, anyway, through several of these books, as well as several instances in my life lately, I can not shake this.....this thing I can't even put into the correct wordage.

  I spoke with someone the other day who was talking about someone praying with them; in and of itself, that is a wonderful gesture.  If someone's praying for me, I love that!  If someone feels compelled to pray with me, I love that, too!  What I don't love is what I heard next-- in that praying with this person, the prayer that was uttered was more of a lecture and preaching at that person than a communication with the Lord.  What is prayer?  Is it our opportunity to interact with one another?  Perhaps on a level of community, it is.  But prayer itself is an open opportunity for us to speak to the living God.  If I see a fault in someone's life, first of all, I may not even know the truth there or the entire story, and second of all, if I want to pray for that person's eyes to be opened or whatever, there's no reason I can't ask God for that, but to do so in a way that is so off putting and so blatant and so in front of that exact individual who may be in a delicate situation that I really know very little about?  really?  I just don't get it.  I don't.  Prayer is an opportunity for us to fall before the throne of the Lord and to praise Him for who He is in the midst of the ugly that we often are.  To ask Him to clean up the ugly parts of who WE are and turn them into the very thing He desires us to become.  It isn't my opportunity to preach at someone.  If I need to confront someone about something, prayer isn't a hedge to do it so that they will maybe hear me say this about them in my prayer to God and thus get the idea that I think they need to change their ways.  WHAT?  no.  If I think I need to tell someone something like that, that's what I should do. Tell them.  Not send a subliminal prayer message.  Because that's gonna go over well.  If I'm praying, even if it is in unison with a body of believers around me, even if thousands of us are crying out for the same thing from the Lord, prayer is us.talking.to.God.  He hears us.  It doesn't matter if anyone else does. That isn't what it's for.  Nope. That kind of livin' isn't going to 'learn' anybody anything.  Love, people. Love.  That isn't to say we shouldn't pray FOR people...but...um....we shouldn't preach AT them if we are praying WITH them.  nope. I don't think so, anyway.  I'm guessing that indirectly that kind of leaves the person on the receiving end of that not really wanting to come back for more of that kind of love.

I have had conversations recently, some with myself, some with other more sane human beings....about "church".  I love our church family-- love the friendly people there, love the honesty that pours out of our pastors, love the sense of family, even though we have not been near as involved as I would like (due to Ridge/health stuff).  I love THE church family in general (globally, universally, internationally)-- the body of believers, the absence of definition by denomination, but the relationship amongst us being knit together by our common thread in Christ-- by the salvation He has brought us, and by the change we long to continue experiencing and the change we long to bring and the eternity we hold to.  But I don't always love "church" in the sense many Americans think of it...the buildings, the "have to check this off my list for the week" mentality.  And it doesn't matter what "church" you go to, there are people in every denomination (some more than others! :) ) who just "do" church.  That's what they've always done.  Maybe they've said some prayer or walked down some aisle, and far be it from me to determine anyone's sincerity in salvation-- I sure hope people don't try to determine mine, because there are days I'd be better off to just hide under the bed all day-- but really they just "do" church. Sunday morning, maybe a class, maybe Sunday night, maybe even Wednesday night. Heck, I was at the church every time the doors were open from childhood till I was about 18 years old.  But for some, that's all it is, a "to do"....a sit-in-the-same-seat-every-week-ritual-and-if-you're-in-my-seat-ima-gonna-tell-ya-that's-fosho redundance.  Bless.You.  BLESS. YOU.  I will pray for you.  Not at you. For you.  Because when that stuff happens and other people come hungry to meet Jesus but encounter you first, they decide maybe they just won't come back.  oooooh that we would BE the church!  That we would love the new faces that we see in the BUILDING, in the parking lot, across the street, at work, at the grocery store....that joy would fill our hearts and pour out of our mouths....that tears would fall for the hurting....that prayers of restoration and healing would be prayed....that hungry and homeless would be fed (LITERALLY, PHYSICALLY!) and housed and helped by us, so that Jesus would shine so brightly that our stupid humanity could not cloud His glory!  AAAAAAAAAAH!  We need to rise up!  We need to need to neeeeeeeeeeeed to!  If we can not have joy in our hardships, and can not love those who hurt us, and can not give up our flippin seat to someone who obviously had no idea you had to buy season tickets to the show, then what does that say about our love for God?!?!  Wreck us, O Lord...for your Glory, and your renown!  May our arms be open wide to the hurting, may the scales fall from our eyes and you allow us to see the needs right before our very faces.  Humble us!  Change all those 'us'es to 'me's so that I don't sound like I'm preaching my prayer :).  Lord, give us hearts and hands to love the hurting, feed the hungry, clothe the needy, help the helpless, hold the orphans, care for the widows....not in word, not in prayer alone, but in DEED.  Give legs to our words.  Change everything so many of us have been comfortable with for far too long.  There is recovery that needs to happen, and this movement is stirring in the hearts of many people of God. 

If you need a seat at church this Sunday, I can totally promise that the row we're usually on is full of crazy because our two kids sit with us (one is known to laugh or cry out loud often...the other one is fairly consistent at silently stinking up the area (and this is the one NOT in diapers anymore))...and for those reasons, I will gladly give you my chair. :) 

MICAH 6:8
He has showed you, O man, what is good. And what does the LORD require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.

Numbers...even this math brain over here can become bored....

Okay, so on my 90 day journey of reading through the Bible, I have reached day 11.  I  haven't missed a day, and you do realize this means I am 12% of the way there.  I know, it's only 12%.  But dude, that's a pretty decent dent for 11 days!  So I'm just getting towards the end of Numbers.  Not gonna lie....the last part of Exodus, ALL of Leviticus, and the first half of Numbers...= brutal.  I'm glad we have all the details, but...bru.tal.  In fact, Leviticus convinced me, on Sunday, that it was definitely nap time.  Definitely. So Sunday got a 2 part plan for reading...half before nap, involuntary nap, half after nap. 

But. Numbers ain't all bad.  There's some funny stuff in there  (not supposed to be funny I'm sure, but I'm a dork, so some of it's funny to me.)
  * not funny, but totally eye-roll worthy EVERY.SINGLE.TIME. they do this-- the Israelites. They gripe about EVERY flippin' thing.  they want more food. God gives them manna from heaven, miraculously.  They get so tired of it they want some meat.  God gives them quail- literally tons of it (no one gathered less than about 17 tons of it! seriously! ri.dic.u.lousssss)- tells them they will eat it till it comes out their nostrils.  Only they've griped so much up to that point, He decides to just wipe a bunch of them out with a plague.  Do the rest of them learn? Nope.  The entire book of Numbers is filled with the same complaint, "Why did you bring us out of Egypt???" (um...you were slaves in Egypt.  You were totally mistreated.  I think you're forgetting how bad it was there.)
  *After much griping by the Israelites, Moses asks God (forgive me, I am paraphrasing somewhat) "How am I supposed to deal with these people?  Seriously, I'd rather you just kill me."  Thankfully, the Lord gives him some other people to help with the difficult ones (which was like...all of them).
 


And there's some really good stuff in there.  Here's what I gleaned the most from today.  The Lord tells Moses that the reason He brought them out of Egypt was to be their God (Numbers 15:41).  THE.REASON=TO.BE.THEIR.GOD.  Countless times the Israelites ask/say things like, "Why did you bring us up out of Egypt to this terrible place? It has no grain or figs, grapevines or pomegranates.  And there is no water to drink!" (Numbers 20:5).   He allowed Moses to bring you out of Egypt so that He (the Lord) would be your God.  That's why.  He rescued you from something terrible, and yes, you are living in something not so great either, but just because junk is happening all around you doesn't mean He's forsaken you.  Get your heads in the game people (Israelites...oh, and me, too.  You?  I'll let you decide that for yourself).  It isn't just about you (Israelites/me...you?) and your wants.  Stuff happens.  Did God MAKE the Israelites slaves?  Did He MAKE them have no water, no figs, no...pomegranates (the horror!)???  Did He MAKE Ridge have MLT?  Did He MAKE my father in law die way too soon and leave us with a hole in our lives??? Did He MAKE my dear sweet friend lose her twin babies before she ever got to hold them?  Did He MAKE several friends of another dear friend suffer and fight cancer SIMULTANEOUSLY (as in, all be stricken with it at about the same time?? and two of them are CHILDREN??)  No.  none of that stuff is fun. none of it is fair.  and the Lord can stop it, or He can allow it.  Of course He is capable of creating it, because He is the Lord.  But did He create that stuff in those people?  Well, I just don't know that I believe that.  I'm not the end all be all here, but I just don't buy that.  But what I do buy is the fact that THROUGH IT ALL, He will take those people affected by those situations and use those situations that are terribly unkind to BE OUR GOD.  He is our God.  So, whatever you are going through-- WHY?? WHY has God brought you to that, through that???  He wants to be your Lord.  He wants to carry you past it and better you from it and love you through the hurt.  I know, because he's done it for me.  And I am so thankful for that.  Even if I did have to read a bunch of laws and ceremonial stuff and genealogies to get to the heart of the message.

dismemberment {ooook, not really}

Today was my first "long" run in our half marathon training.  4 miles.  The training schedule operates on a run/walk rotation....so I didn't have to run the WHOLE 4 miles...good thing because at about 3.25 miles my legs literally felt like there were going to kick themselves off my body and just lay down on the sidewalk in exhaustion.  So I walked more than I ran the last .75 miles, but I ran as much as my long legs would cooperate.  I didn't finish in the time I wanted, but I was still pretty close for having to walk at least half of the last .75 miles.

Then I came home and stretched for a good long time because I'm pretty sure if I hadn't, my legs would have started a revolution against me.

And now I'm going to blog about Jesus.

So...then I read today's portion of the 90 day Bible reading plan.   Seriously, y'all...seeeeriously-- sometimes I read stuff and I wonder why some stuff had to be written out twice.  I finished Exodus today, and yesterday I read all about all the requirements for the building of the Ark of the Covenant, the Tabernacle, the priest's clothing, etc....some serious details, people.  So today I get to the part where the Tabernacle, etc are actually being built.  And instead of just saying, "and the people built the tabernacle exactly as God had commanded"...it goes ALL through the details. again.  I mean, I'm thinking, "did I read this already?  did i? I think I did??? What? OH. They are building it now, so we must need to reiterate exactly what they did."  That's fine, no big deal, now I get to start Leviticus!!! :)  But anyway, back to Exodus.  So of course the first part of Exodus is cool with Moses telling God about 10 times that he can't speak to the people and seeming kind of winey and then God says "ok. aaron can talk for you"-- props to God on that one, because I think I'd have lost it with the "I can't. send someone else" stuff.  Then there's some more coolness with all the plague, redemption from slavery, the sea swallowing Pharaoh's army, the Ten Commandments, the Israelites having the golden calf made (and Moses grinding it into dust and making them DRINK it.  rock on, Moses)...plus when God is going over all the laws...and this probably isn't supposed to be funny, but I was grateful it was in there because it gave me a good chuckle...God says, "do not go up to my altar on steps, or your private parts may be exposed."  well, I'd for sure not go up to the altar on steps then, because, really...who wants their private parts exposed???? aaaaa!  but then all the details about the tabernacle...gollllllly it's tough to read.  Some serious directions, there, God.  And totally understandable--- God is holy, his house of worship is to be holy, so there were specifications...and it's pretty legit that He himself spoke the details as to what was to be constructed.  But the whole time I read that, I'm thinking, "HOW the heck are they gonna accomplish this? How are they even going to remember?  Is it okay if it's just "sorta" right?  What if they mess up?  It's just too much to remember!!!"  I mean, I'm just thankful God wrote the 10 commandments on the tablets for Moses, because those alone would've been tough to remember after only hearing once!  So...then God makes it clear that he has already appointed those who are to help with the construction of the tabernacle, and he has already prepared them to build it to his specifications, as well as to teach others how to help do so.  WHEW~!  I mean, what was I thinking? Of COURSE He's gonna take care of that.  I'm way to OCD to have been Moses.

Anyway, I think it's cool that through all of those....rules....God knew what he was doing, and made preparations for it.  And his people didn't just depend on someone else to get the job done-- when it came time to build the tabernacle, those he'd appointed, helped to build it, and all of the people who were able gave offerings of supplies-- all the things the tabernacle was to be made of, the people donated if they had it, and the women even wove some of the linen and yarn.  They banded together, so much so that Moses had to tell the people to stop offering supplies because they had MORE than enough to build the temple. And when it was all said and done, it was all exactly as God had commanded.  They worked together, according to the Lord's calling on their lives, they gave of themselves, and it was hard work, and there were specifications...but they did it....and I'm betting it wasn't always fun (and the Israelites did their fair share of grumbling after being saved from slavery, so I'm guessing that probably some of them were tired and grouchy from working, but maybe not).  But anyway, it was a community affair- they didn't depend on someone else to do their work for them, God readied them to do it, so they did it.

So. along those lines, or totally not, I have felt, and have felt from others, a sense of unrest in the hearts of many believers.  Not that Christ isn't enough,but that we aren't.  Meaning, what's different about us?  Did you know that if your income is $35K, you are in the top 4% for wealth in the world...$50K, you're in the top 1%?  Seriously!   Over half of the world survives on $2 a day.  (thank you to Jen Hatmaker's book "7" for those stats....it's totally worth the read, and I'm not even halfway finished with it yet.  you can find it on amazon.com-- paperback or e-reader version).  We have houses and cars and oodles of clothes and food and whatevers, and we all want more.  Or maybe we don't want more, but we feel like we don't have enough...or we buy more anyway...or we "need" this...or this is 'old' or out of style or whatever.  I'm not pointing a finger at you-- dude, I've seen my closet. And my pantry.  So you can point a finger at me, if you want-- it'd be justified.  But even living in what we see as middle class, we are wealthy in the world's eyes. Maybe not in gluttonous American eyes, but in the world's, we are!   But what are we doing about it!?!?!  Can we live on less?  Yes. Will we?  I hope so.  What are some small things we can do to change the world? Big things?  What can we do?  Because most assuredly, we should do something.  There are people dying every day due to starvation. Children going to bed hungry, with no parents to love them.  Dirty water that is spreading disease amongst communities in many many other countries.  LITERALLY dying.  Of course, it is our job to also bring Jesus to these people--  but along with living water, how about actual water?  I just don't think it would be okay with Jesus for us to say, "Hey. Jesus saves.  I'm praying for you." and then walk away and hope those people get some clean water, or vaccines, or PARENTS.  WE HAVE THE POWER TO DO SOMETHING.  It is time for us-- ME-- to step up and make a difference.  Because living the "American Dream" has to be so overrated.  Because you can feed someone for a whole day for less than the cost of a drink at Starbucks.  Because for what some people spend on car payments and mortgages in one month could provide clean water to a community FOREVER.  Because Jesus loved the orphans, the widows, the diseased, the poor-- not in word, but in DEED.  And I want to be like Jesus.  BE like him, not just "do stuff" that makes me look like I love him- going to church, saying the right things, avoiding certain things, etc etc...because I think anyone who grew up in church and has felt this unrest can shout with me that THAT is not IT.  It isn't.  praying a prayer or saying a phrase or whatever isn't IT.  Jesus came to CHANGE us, and if we are only changed in what we say and in legalistic ways, what the heck is that?  Jesus changed us, Jesus redeemed us, and he loved the unlovable.  He WENT.  He DID. He LOVED. He DIED for the least of these (and that's US, too, people! We aren't good enough!  His GRACE is.)  It is time to start sacrificing what we might not see as luxuries, but what really are...and using that time or money or whatever to put legs on the faith we say we have.  Because I want to be like Jesus.  And the WORLD needs to see that in us-- the lost, the dying, the starving, they need to see Jesus with skin on, and it's time we step up and become that.  

I love it.  love love love it.  I'm so excited I'd run another 4 miles if I had any legs other than these jello ones to stand on for the rest of the day.

Peace to you on this beautiful, beautiful day!!!

well hey....this keyboard is dirty. and other {more sentimental} sentiments.

Seriously, I've gotta be one of the worst bloggers EVER! But, in all honesty, I've said all I need to say over the last several weeks, and it is just now that I have anything else I'm wanting to get written down.



First some updates and what we're up to, etc. (forgive me if any of this is repeat information, I don't always remember what I share where, socially speaking).

Christmas:  We had a good Christmas; we spent some time at home, some time with family, and some time doing things as a  family-- volunteering at the City Rescue Mission (we will be doing this 2-4 times each month from here on out, as we are able), visiting the OKC Museum of Art, eating downtown at Coney Island, watching movies together at home....we had a good break.  We were all surprised (well, maybe not BDawg...okay, definitely not him, but the other 3 of us were) when this was in our living room Christmas morning:

 

Sawyer deemed his name "Thunder," so that is what we're calling him.  Isn't he the cutest???

Here we are on Christmas morning:

  

Okay. so there's that. 

BDawg just started back to work today, so that means S and I started up some new Kindergarten learnin'.  Today was slow-goin, because of a couple of things-- well, actually 3.  1) It was the first day back...so naturally, it took 12 times longer to do everything. 2) we have a dog that needs tending to, now...because we want him to think he's a person, not a dog, so we try to include him in a lot of things....so today, he mastered writing his name, complete with correct pencil position.  I know, you're impressed.  3)  Ridge is just getting over some sickies. 

Let's just segue from 3 to here, stating the already stated obvious.  Ridge.got.sick.   Now, I'm still going to be the best defensive player ever in that arena, because I don't want him to ever get sick.  BUT, ladies and germs, you need to hear this-- The boy got sick. Sawyer had some sort of sore throat with low grade fever the other day. Fearing strep like I fear alien invasion (or not), he was promptly taken to the after hours clinic, where strep was DENIED, but abx were prescribed anyway, just to be safe, because his ears were red.  So he was better, like, within less than a day--in fact, he told me he got better because he ate some TGIFridays loaded potato skins chips or something.  Good job, kid.  So that was last Thursday.  I didn't think we had anything to worry about when no one else had the sore throat demon Friday...or Saturday....or Sunday....or Monday.  But lo and behold, on Tuesday, Ridge had fever.  Like...102.  Which meant, a year ago, we had to pack our junk and hit the road to Children's Hospital, "just in case" his line was infected.  No line=no rush trips to the hossy (hospital).  Sooooo...we had to decide what to do. He probably didn't need abx, since they didn't really apply to Sawyer's sore throat anyway.  So we decided-- tylenol, and wait.  So we did.  And today?  My normal ridge was back! no fever or anything (good thing we went and spent $50 on new thermometers last night).  Best news: he didn't bleed AT ALL from being sick/the fever/etc!  Seriously!  If we make it through January with no more hospital, then we've made it a YEAR without being there for anything other than checkups/removal of his line!  We have gone with no transfusions for six months.  Really...let's do a cartwheel.  I'll sit here and wait for you, because I don't know how to do one.

Okay. so there are some updates.  Here's what Christmas and the New Year are bringing to me...
1) Reading. Lots of it.  I've read Heaven is For Real, The Hunger Games (book 1 only, so far), and most of The Glass Castle in the past 2 weeks.  Part of that is due to the cool Kindle Touch my parents gifted me for Christmas.  My largest reading feat is a Bible Reading plan-- read the Bible in 90 days (interested? Check out Youversion.com).  I'm totally stoked about this, and I'm only 4 days in, but I haven't missed a day yet.  I know when I get to all the law and genealogies, it's gonna be brutal...but that isn't THAT much of the Bible.  I just finished Genesis...and it was neat to read such big chunks at a time to really feel for the stories  more than previously-- to be honest, I've never intentionally read the entire Bible-- I may have read most of it in passing over the past 30 years (oh yeah, I turned 30 a couple of weeks ago.  yep. here i am, all wrinkly and old).  So anyway, check it:
Joseph takes his sons to Jacob's bedside at Jacob's deathbed....and Jacob, their grandfather, who hasn't really ever even met them because Joseph's been in Egypt ruling stuff...places his hands on the foreheads of the young men (Joseph's sons) and says: "May the God before whom my fathers  Abraham and Isaac walked faithfully, the God who has been my shepherd  all my life to this day,
 the Angel who has delivered me from all harm    —may he bless these boys.
May they be called by my name  and the names of my fathers Abraham and Isaac, and may they increase greatly on the earth.”

Love.It.  Super old man Jacob and young men Ephraim and Manasseh...and that blessing-- that God, who has been Jacob's shepherd all of his life....may that God bless those boys.

That's a good blessing from a grandpa. 

2)Running.  no, I'm not kidding-- so those of you who KNOW me, can pick your jaw up off the floor, or stifle your laughter, which is totally warranted, bc I look like a fool, I promise.  I'm hitting the pavement 3x a week training (along with some other friends in other states! get it, girls!) for a half marathon due in Dallas in October.  While it'd be expected for me to say it's because I want to get fit or lose weight or whatever, that wasn't my motivation- if it were, I'd have done this well before 2012, people.  Here's what's extra awesome about this race-- it benefits World Vision (you know, the organization we bought the goats and ducks through at Christmas time)-- the money raised for the marathon benefits building clean water wells in Africa.  Now, that's totally something worth running for!  I'm horrible so far, but I've managed almost 5 miles this week, which is a big ol deal for this lazy bones.  More to come about this in the future. 

3) cleaner floors. partly because we have a puppy.  partly because dirty floors drive me insane. but mostly because for my birthday, my momma gave me this sucker-- which disinfects your floors using only steam.  I bet I use it at least 4 times a week.  It.Is.Awesome.

And...that's about all we have to update over here.  Here's to hoping I'm sitting at this filthy keyboard (which I'm about to clean) more this year-- at least in the bloggy sense!

For you!

Merry Christmas! May the truth of this season and the peace of the baby King envelope your soul, amidst the hustle and bustle all around.

We didn't send a ton of Christmas cards this year, so if you didn't get one, here's yours-- much love to you all!

such a strange way...

No updates here, no wit to be shared, probably nothing too funny-- just some thoughts today.  So if that's not up your alley, feel free to stroll along somewhere else...  but in the abundance of free time we all have, if you'd like to just read some thoughts...this is the place, perhaps, for you.

I have an issue with Christmas.  I wanted to type "I hate Christmas"...but I won't, because that just sounds crass.  But I do have issue with Christmas-- it becomes overwhelming-- and not just for me, I hear it from friends and family, even when/if they don't know they are saying it.  The "responsibility" of making sure everyone has a gift, and spending "x" amount, etc etc...It just becomes nauseating.  From a gift giving standpoint, I think we should always try to give something personal- I don't mean handmade/homemade, although I LOVE giving gifts like that-- because you can put love into and the person knows you thought specifically of them when you made it, even if the item isn't something they "asked' for...but I mean even store-bought gifts...it's easy to just grab something off the shelf and check that person off your list...but where's the fun in THAT?  I think gifts should be personal-- even those from the mall.  If you know someone loves this book, or this artist, or this color, or whatever...that's the way we should shop....not just via checklist for each person "Oh i found this for sally, and this for joe, and this for that lady I don't even know but I have to go to her Christmas party..." Sickening.  I even said last night to my husband, "I'd rather get so and so NOTHING for Christmas than just get them something random that I don't even know if they'll like."  Scrooge, I know.  Anyway, it just becomes stressful.  And let's face it, with two young kiddos, life is stressful enough. I don't need that extra garbage.  None of us do.  Don't worry, close friends, family...you won't be getting lumps of coal from the Carys this year...we took care of you...but we tried to make sure we got you something you'd love, or we know you'd use, or we know you'll appreciate, or something you could use but might not ever buy yourself.  All of that being said, that isn't even the point of my post.  But I will sum that part of it up with-- I love giving gifts.  I love it.  I love making something for someone I love, and wrapping it, and giving it-- I always hope they like it, but that isn't even the part I love most-- I like the giving of it...I want the gift to bring them joy, but just being able to give something as a way of letting that person know that we love them, I LOVE that.  Love it.  With that disclaimer offered, I move on...

Knowing that I have nothing against gift giving in general (or receiving, for that matter), I hope you can read the rest of this without thinking me a Scrooge.

What if we didn't buy gifts?  Or at least didn't buy as many gifts?  I mean, I like getting gifts, but I wouldn't be sad if someone did NOT get me a gift.  Especially if they did something else with that money. What if we took the money we spent on Christmas gifts every year, and not saved it for ourselves or a future purchase or whatever, but we spent it elsewhere, on a need-- like water, food, vaccinations, clothing, housing for destitute nations and communities?  Obviously, I'm not the genius behind this thought process; I'm often too selfish to even think like this.  But to me, that is just so much more....lasting.  I'm spending the money ANYWAY, why not do something for someone in NEED?  We scaled back this year and did some of that, but truly, at least within our own family of four, I think I would love to scale back even more and more as the years go on.  Because the joy is in the giving- whether I'm giving to my kids, my mom, my sister in law, whoever-- that's joyful to me.  And I want to TEACH my kids that-- I'm not saying they should receive nothing, I'm just saying maybe receiving only one thing isn't ridiculous.  They're getting gifts from other family members anyway, just like we love giving gifts to our other family members.  Why not??

We live in such a "more is more" culture...and as I told a friend even just today, some days, I'd like to just be Amish.  Seriously.  Full out Amish.  I know it's difficult work (not from experience, obviously), and I know most of our luxuries would be non-existent...but I really do think sometimes life would be richer if it were simpler.  Honestly.

Consider this:  ' The underdeveloped societies suffer from one set of diseases:  tuberculosis, malnutrition, pneumonia, parasites, typhoid, cholera, typhus, etc.  Affluent America has virtually invented a whole new set of diseases:  obesity, arteriosclerosis, heart disease, stroke, lung cancer, venereal disease, cirrhosis of the liver, drug addiction, alcoholism....In saving ourselves we have nearly lost ourselves.'--Ralph Winter quote, taken from excerpt in Advent Conspiracy by Rick McKinley, Chris Sea, Greg Holder

wowza.  Just some thoughts.

Along similar lines, in the true spirit of Christmas, I was thinking on something I read today.   I just began reading through the Youversion reading plan http://www.youversion.com/reading-plans/rediscovering-the-christmas-season/settings "Rediscovering the Christmas Season" this month.  I started a few days late in the reading plan, but I'm glad I started it--  day one is awesome.  Luke 2:21-40 is good stuff.  This is what I thought about, amongst other things, while/after reading it...

Jesus was born, a baby in this world.  When he was taken to the temple to be presented to the Lord, Simeon held him and said to the Lord  "...my eyes have seen your salvation, which you have prepared in the sight of all people..."  He also told Mary, "This child is destined to cause the falling and rising of many in Israel, and to be a sign that will be spoken against, so that the thoughts of many hearts will be revealed.  And a sword will pierce your own soul too."  I imagine so...as a mother, how much anguish Mary must have endured as Jesus grew up and was crucified.  The passage goes on to note Anna, a widow after only 7 years of marriage, at this point 84 yrs old and living in the temple, worshiping day and night.  She came up Simeon, Mary, and Joseph and thanked God and "spoke about the child to all who were looking forward to the redemption of Jersualem."

Imagine.  This baby has been born, only a few days prior.  And sure, some people probably just thought he was a regular ol' baby.   But some people knew.  The ones who had heard the good news that the Savior had been born....The one who would redeem them from their sins, the one who would be their Salvation...some of them got to see him-- in the form of this little tiny baby, destined for greatness.  Imagine!  Of course we all know that children will grow up to do...things.  Hopefully great things.  We see our kids and we know that one day they will be something, maybe even something incredible!  But with Jesus, they KNEW.  He.was.the.Messiah.  Imaaaaaagine.  For me, it is somewhat breathtaking.  Simeon holds this baby, and he knows.  He is holding what has been promised for so long!  God has sent the Savior to the world...Simeon knows Jesus will be persecuted, and in His pain, his mother will also have great anguish.  Anna, who has lived 84 years to that point-- by our standards, elderly-- sets her old eyes on the Messiah.  In baby form.  And she knows.  She is seeing in the flesh what God has promised...our Deliverer.

I can't fathom how awesome that must have been.  So I will leave you with that.

...."for my eyes have seen your salvation, which you have prepared in the sight of all people,"

Way to go, God.

Merry Christmas, everyone!