Praises & other things...

God has performed yet another miracle. My aunt, whom I requested your prayer for back in October, who had 50% of her cells being cancerous (multiple myeloma, one of the worst!!), had a bone marrow biopsy done Friday. The results were made known to her on Monday...
SHE IS CANCER FREE! Now 0% of her cells are cancerous!
How awesome is that??
Some people go through their life not seeing any miracles (or not realizing that they're seeing the miracles), but my aunt gets to BE a miracle....TWICE. What a living testament.

I was cleaning the refrigerator the other day. It was completely filthy...dried crusty pickle juice, kool aid, juice, various fridge cheesery, you name it. Nasty. But I had always put it off as it's hard to empty everything & have it sitting around & having a 1 & 3-year old climbing all over you while you are spraying really strong cleaner.
So, we need food & the fridge was fairly empty & I knew it would be a good time.
So, I sprayed the kitchen antibacterial multi-purpose cleaner. And as I wiped the clear glass shelves off, the fridge seemed even dirtier. I rubbed & scratched on that dried pickle juice, only to expose more filth & the underside of the glass, which had gunk on it I didn't even know existed.
So what started out as me just wiping the tops of glass shelves transformed itself into an even bigger job.
As I wiped & saw more & more filth, I thought of the process of our transformation with God. When we ask Him to cleanse us, it might seem to us that we're just a little bit dirty. But as He sheds His light on us, we're made aware that it's more than just a bit of sin. As that bit of sin is washed away, we begin to see the things that were hidden, some jealousy, a bit of unhealthy competition... maybe some hautiness. And then you see back where the crisper is, maybe a tad of self-righteousness has dripped down, you see a little bit of self-reliance is stuck in the crevaces.
I've been a Christian most of my life, but I'd say that in the past year I've started to see my sin as it really is. Things I struggle daily with... somedays I might overcome them & the other days where I lazily refuse to deal with them.
In Corinthians, Paul tells the church that he dies daily. I'm no bible scholar (& you'd think after a yr & 1/2 of bible college, I might know exactly what he means by this) but I know that Paul had lots of struggle & I believe he refers to putting himself under submission each day.
I always liken everything to food (see my previous post wherein I eat a whole thing of bubble gum ice cream in 2 days time), so for me, forcing my body under submission could mean not becoming a glutton. For some, it's going a day without picking up the phone to call someone & gossip. For others, it'even worst (of course, sin is sin, so me using the word worst there is strictly objective).
But isn't it rather cool that we're able to be cleaned? That in our Christianity beliefs, we're lent this ability to pray directly to God & are forgiven, cleansed & handed tools (Holy Spirit, prayer, bible, other believers, etc.) to deal with our downfalls. And through those tools, we rub & scrape at that dried pickle juice, until we see a gleam.
Now....
on to my oven.

And the Eyes Have It

Aunt Gi & Flynn...

HopScotch & Other Fun Things

Just in case I haven't mentioned it within the last few hours,

these kids o' mine have the best daddy in the world.

The best.

Flynn got an interest in learning hopscotch from jumping on the squares of one of our throws, then Daddy telling her, "that's like hopscotch." So, on one of our beautifully spring-preview days this week, he took her outside for a hopscotch lesson.

Being catlike & agile, our girl took to the scotch like a pro.

She's had the one-foot hop mastered for some time.

The other thing she has mastered, is how to be an adoring sister. Her favorite catch-phrase,
"Why is Bubby so cute? He is SOOOO cute!!"

She even yelled out from her bed the other night (when she should've been counting sheep), "MOM!" And when I appeared in her doorway... "Why is Bubby SO cute?"

Even tho it plucked away at my heartstrings, my reply was, "Flynn, Good Night."

But man, he IS cute!

Gotta Get My Honeycombs

We had a BRAND new box of recently opened HoneyCombs cereal,

sitting on the table, near the edge.

Apparently Bubby wanted some...

well, apparently he wanted A LOT.

Because he pulled them all down on him.

The whole box.

So we turned it into a "Cereal Party".

The more the merrier.

Bubble Gum Ice Cream

If I could marry it, I would (sorry Jeff).

As far back as I can remember, I loved it. My favorite.
So, what's the harm in loving a flavor that no one else can stand?
Finding it. Sure, everyone has chocolate, vanilla, even swirl or mint.
But no one has my blessed bubble gum.

I love it so much that my BF Heather brought it to me in the hospital after I had Flynn.
And when we forgot to grab the remaining 1/2 pint from the nurse's freezer the day I got to go home?
We went back & got it.
It's like gold.

For the longest time I couldn't find it. For a while the Baskin Robbins on Tesson carried it, but no more.
The place in St Chuck where Heather would go, was the only place in the Greater St. Louis area.

Until now....
(drum roll please)

NOW!, Breyers makes it. Found in the Walmart freezer section.

And as much as I HATE Walmart, I'd even venture there, if it meant tasting that yummy, sweet bubbly taste.

V'day, part of our date included a shopping trip to Walmart, where I bought this:

And 3 days later, it looked like this (I'm not kidding):

Allergy Season Already??

That warm weather yesterday might have been great for most of us.

But for Flynn, it meant going through an ENTIRE box of kleenex, just during breakfast.

Oh wondrous Grammy, who took Flynn today to the "Art Project House" (aka P.A.T. PeeWee Picassos) then to White Castle. It doesn't get much better than that. And Mommy had almost two hours 'Flynn-Free' to do perfectly selfish things.

Like shower.

Flynn's absolute favorite pasttime is ART. "Can we do an art project?" is all I ever hear. Art Projects are 'up there' with Hide N Seek and Going ByeBye.

The best thing about what she did today?

I am not the one that cleaned up shaving cream, glitter, paint & paper mache.

I love this picture, because against that person's large derrierre, you can see Flynn's perfect profile.

V-Day Memories

We had such a good V'day. And it didn't hurt that it was also a SNOW DAY, so Daddy stayed home! We always have little parties, so we had a "Valentine Party" complete with card making, cookie making & gift opening!

Gabe doesn't yet know the significance of these two letters!

The baker hard at work on the Valentine cookies.

Ready for our *HOT* date at the "The Castle" (aka Whiteys).

I was trying to get a good photo of the kids for a frame I gave Jeff,

Gabe nearly had a breakdown, so I subbed in.

How sweet is Strawberry Shortcake?

So cute!!!!

A Little Reminder

Reading Baby Noah's blog is a regular thing for me now. I asked Jeff this morning, "How can I grieve for a baby I never knew?"
When I read all her medical posts & saw the pictures of the tubes & needles, it took me back to the days Flynn spent in the NICU. Granted, we went through NOTHING CLOSE to what the Gravesons went through, I'd never insinuate that. But it did jog my memory.... enough to look up to see if Flynn's caring bridge site was still active. And it is! (click on the title)... if you have a moment, you can read the journal entries I made most of the days she was in the hospital. It was such a hard & sad time for us. I always say that one of the worst feelings (definitely the worst thing I went through) for a mother is to have her child taken from her. And that's literally what happened with us... Flynn was born, then had to be transported from my hospital (which was a very poorly-equipped hospital with NO staff or means to treat an ill infant) to Cardinal Glennon. Then I laid there another four days & heard babies being taken to their mommies & families going home, knowing my baby was in the city without me. I remember laying there in that hospital bed praying for NOW... what I mean by that is praying that there would be a day (like today) where Flynn was healthy & home.
And... Flynn is a healthy thriving girl, whom we have NOW! Thank God! He is good & His mercies endure forever! We have it so good... I hope I never seem like I'm complaining. If I do, remind me of those days, the days when I wanted these days.

Let Me Call You Sweetheart

I'm in love with them...

Date Nights

No, I don't mean Jeff & I... I mean Jeff & The kids.
Every week I spend a night at work. Not the 'whole' night, but I'm gone 5-6 hours; so it's definitely a Daddy night for the kids.
Jeff could spend the bare minimum, meaning, he could just 'get by.' You know, make sure they don't eat anything poisonous or set the house ablaze... be sure they get supper & are put in bed at a decent time. But that's not all he does.
The nights Mommy works is "Popcorn Night." He & Flynn make popcorn. Since she can't have microwave kind, they make it from scratch (which is better anyway!). They play hard & if it's a bath night, they get a bath.

When I start to feel sad that we can't buy our kids lots of stuff, these are the things I remember. Because I know, these are the things they'll remember. They aren't going to remember if they had a Barbie Jeep or the $200 Buttercup Pony. They aren't going to remember that when we go to Target, they get a toy to play with while they're AT THE STORE (which gets put away before we check out).
But they're going to remember Mommy & Daddy reading to them everyday. And doing art projects. And going to church together. And Daddy's date night with them when they make popcorn.

Big Boots to Fill

Size 13s to be exact.

Papa's work boots are more like waders.

But that doesn't matter.

He looks good.

And since he loves his Papa so much,

it's no wonder he loves the boots.

Reading it has Changed my Life

I've been a little obsessed. Reading it whenever I have a free moment... staying up late reading it. Sitting there staring at the screen & sobbing.
A family, just like any other, touched in such a way... a way all of us hope we're never touched, yet they'd have it no other way.
They're hoping through this situation, they're touching many. And they are. As for me & my motherhood, they've reminded me of how things could be & why I'm thankful they aren't. After I read this, I held Gabe a little longer, forced more kisses on him and was more patient than Flynn. Instead of go-go-go last night, Jeff & I did nothing but played with the kids. He took her & I took him & we went into their rooms, sat on the floor & played play, completely directed by them, for an hour straight.
So what I should tell Noah's family is - for our family - as I'm sure is the case for many other families, they've reminded us how fleeting life is. Since heaven is a promise for believers, the fleeting moment of this life is just the thin curtain between us & Christ. But for a parent, the reminder of that fleeting moment makes each minute more precious.
So when Gabe was up for an hour in the middle of the night, I asked Jeff if he could just lie between us. We took turns rubbing his thin hair & wiping his snotty nose. I wasn't upset that I was losing sleep. I was thrilled that I had quiet time with my baby boy.
And this morning when I lost my patience with Flynn & yelled at her. I apologized, I don't want there to be a second when she isn't sure of my abundant, unconditional love.
Be sure you have kleenex on hand and be ready to have your viewpoint changed... even if only as temporary as your mind remembers. Click on the title. And God bless Noah's family.

Groundhogs Rule!

I think I have a typical attitude when it comes to the seasons. I always want the NEXT season & like the present season for only a few weeks. As soon as the "new" wears off, I'm ready for the next one.
Well, the honeymoon is over for winter & me. I'm tired of him & he's been taking advantage of me....doesn't tell me he loves me anymore...and I can't remember the last time I got flowers. I'm sick of his snow & how cold he is to me. And if he sticks around much longer, I'm going to have to tell him to pack his old frosty bags & hit the trail.
There's someone else. His name is Punxsutawney Phil. I like him now.
He has told me of sunnier days ahead. I can just see us frollicking in the bright meadow...the sun on our faces... me in lighter fabrics... him in just his fur.