An answer to prayer...

Our family was all packed and looking forward to going on a camping trip this weekend when Noah started coughing several days ago. As the days went by, he wasn't showing much sign of improvement. He would be totally crushed if he did not get to go camping! As Friday approached, I lay in bed Thursday night and prayed that God would "without a doubt show me whether our family should go on this trip." Well, he revealed his answer not through Noah but through myself. At 3:30 a.m., I was struck with "the stomach virus" that is going around. There will be no camping for our family this weekend. We will re-evaluate how we feel Saturday morning and may drive up and spend the day. God doesn't answer our prayers as we want them to be answered, he has his own plan for us, and I accept that.

GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOAAAAALLLLL!!!!!!!!!!

Here's the set-up for the soccer game today:

1. There has been much discussion about where is the ball and which direction do we go with the ball.
2. There has been even more discussion as to who our team-mates are.
3. Both teams have been out of bounds more than in-bounds.
4. Lots of team members have been flat on the ground. (I secretly think they liked rolling in the grass)
5. One bloody nose. ( ...on the other team, awesome kick by-the-way)
6. Three crying, screaming, hysterical children. (Yes, Noah was one of them)

and then...

during the third period .. . Noah gets the ball and races down field, he shoots, he SCORES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
The only goal the Tigers scored today! We are so proud of him.

P.S. Camden was also so excited that he provided us with a little present of his own. Unfortunately, I did not have an extra change of clothes and so he ended up wearing Noah's sweatpants and his winter coat. Note to Mommy, make sure you have more than 5 wipes in the wipes case, a trash bag, an extra set of clothes, a changing pad and lots of disinfectened before leaving the house!

It has not been an easy week at our house. The kids have been in rare form all week. Discipline has been in full force with little respect for it from the boys. Today, I decided we needed a change of scenery. So, I took the boys to the mall. They did great! We checked out the Disney store, rode the train and watched the fish swim around in their tank. As we were watching the fish, a security guard came over and gave Noah a handful of pennies and told him to make a wish and throw them into the wishing well.

"What is a wish, mommy?" says Noah.

"A wish is something that you would like to have" says Mommy.

He begins to make wishes and throws them into the well. Typical things like:

" I wish for, pizza, ice cream, a birthday cake, a train"

Not so typical things like:

" a tunnel"
" a river"
"a light bulb"
" a really BIG, big boy stroller" ( I think he is tired of watching Camden ride while he has to walk)
"for Camden to be a big boy" ( I think he secretly wants Camden to walk so he can ride)

After all the wishes, Noah announces "making wishes sure does make me hungry". I agreed, so off to McDonlad's we went!

WOW, what a difference a little bit of therapy makes!

We started speech therapy a little over three months ago for Camden. At that time he was saying vertually nothing out of his mouth and almost everything in his throat. Today, he only said ONE word in his throat!!!! He is saying two and three word combinations and is interacting during story time! He has made such progress in such a short time, I am so proud of him.

With that being said, we still have a long way to go and lots of things to work on. He refuses to make a "T' sound and I believe it is just him being stubborn. I will have to find a way to be creative and make him say the sound. He may be strong-willed, but he is dealing with a mother who is his equal! I thanked the therapist today because we will not be seeing her again. (We will have a new therapist next week, which I am sure will bring some back-tracking with it). She has definitely helped to improve our lives as far as giving me the tools to help Camden communicate. The temper tantrums have diminished since he has started to feel confident that we understand him and that always makes life a little easier.

I am also so proud of Noah. He is such a great big brother to Camden. Every opportunity he gets, he labels things and has Camden repeat the word. Noah has such a compassionate heart for people and truly loves helping his brother learn. I couldn't ask for anything more.

Randomness

Nothing real though-provoking going on here, just a little bit of hard work and fun.

Noah is off on spring break this week and as of Wednesday we have enjoyed playing with several different friends that we haven't gotten together with in a while. We tried to go to the park on Wed. morning and found out that it was COLD!

I am still "spring cleaning". I have tackled our closet, Noah's room & closet and the dining room. Noah's closet is a beautiful thing right now. I am sure it will not stay that way long. My goal has been to get the toys out of the living room, kitchen, dining room, bathrooms, laundry room, our room, etc. and into the kids rooms and more specifically into their closets. Soooooo, finally, in Noah's closet there is a space for everything. Camden's closet is going to be a bit of a challenge, but I am up for it though.

We are currently doing a study in my women's group about having a Mary heart in a Martha world. I am such a Martha as you can see by my current post. I am looking forward to this study and seeing what God will reveal to me on how to slow down and sit at his feet.

Hope everyone is doing well. Have a great week!

Show and Tell

Noah took his Daddy as show and tell to school this week.

Well actually, Daddy and a few of his instruments. Brian took a Violin, Viola and Cello to demonstrate to the kids and then let each kid play a little song on the instrument. It just happened that they were also learning the letter "V" this week ( Violin, Viola). Noah was sooo proud to have Brian as show and tell.

If you look close at the front of the picture, you will see Camden sitting on the chair not paying attention. This is normal behavior for a 22 month old. However, what is going through my son's head at this time is "how can I run wild through the room and try to tear all the cool pictures off the wall without getting caught by mom." You can imagine what happened next. Yes, he went nuts! He even got the door opened that the teacher closed and took off down the hall. Not once, twice or three times.... try five times!!! He kept ending up in the 2-year old room (imagine that) and on the fifth time we introduced ourself to that teacher. She looked at me funny when I asked her if she had a baby gate for her room. (I didn't have the heart to tell her he would be hers for 4 hours a day twice a week in the fall.

Brian finished up his spring break by taking Noah and John (papa) to the Dallas Zoo. He really enjoyed taking both boys to Chuck E. Cheese for a birthday party on Saturday (wink, wink).

It is back to work on Monday for Brian. We will miss him bunches!!!!!

Spring Break?

Brian has been on spring break this week from work. He probably will tell you that he worked harder this week than any week he has been in school. I would have to agree with him on this.

Monday we took Noah to the pulmonologist. Had a LONG but productive visit. Heard good news and it was good to hear that I have been doing all the "right" things for Noah.

The rest of the week has been spent cleaning out the kid's baby things. We have unloaded closets, the attic, toy boxes, etc. and took everything that someone 18 months and younger could play with or wear, to a consignment sale. "Come on shoppers, please buy our stuff!" Noah had a really hard time saying good-bye to things he has not played with in a year. Mom did not!!! You don't realize how much stuff is hidden in boxes, under beds, in closets, and under the couch!

I am a woman on a mission. Spring-time always gets me in the mood to clean. My goal for the next several weeks is to de-clutter this house. Everything is finding a home and lots of things are going in the trash or to the church garage sale. I am tired of looking at all this stuff! It is going to be a mammoth project, but I look forward to the end result! Does anyone else get this way in the spring or is it just me?

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First Soccer Game!

Noah's big Kick

FIRE!

Just one of those moments...

All their fire-drill practicing paid off this morning at Noah's pre-school. A grass fire broke out right in front of his pre-school. 911 was called, and all the kids lined up outside and watched as the fireman arrived in their big red fire-truck. Noah said it was "cool" watching the fireman use the "big hose to squirt the fire". I am thankful it was not more serious.

Allergies, Asthma and Awesome weather...

HERE WE GO AGAIN!!!

About a month ago, I was looking through the kids medical history for the last two years and noticed that we frequent Dr. D's office in March more than our share. So, I have been preparing for the worst this March. It looks like I did not have to wait long.

March 1st - Camden & Noah play outside in beautiful 88 degree weather.

March 2nd - 7:00 a.m. -Camden wakes up barking like a seal!
12:00 p.m. -Trip to Dr. D's office. We left with five prescriptions that should last us for 10 days. Poor Noah didn't even escape unharmed, he had a Hep A. shot that mommy remember he needed for school. He was not happy! I thought he was going to kung-foo me and the nurse trying to hold him down.

Camden has to stay inside until he is symptom free. It is a shame that he will not get to enjoy this fantastic weather. He is on a preventative med, so maybe next March will be different.

Please pray for strength, good health and wisdom for our family during March.

Snapshots of Noah & Camden in Feb. 2006

Noah
* He has almost learned all of the phonic sounds for the letters in the alphabet. He will tell you what letter a word starts with and whether that word has two of those letters in it. He also loves to play the games on "Behind the Lions" and can insert the missing vowel or consanent in a word. The beginning of reading is happening and it is happening fast.

* One of his most favorite things to do is count to 100 over & over.

* He proudly tells anyone every new word Camden is learning. He also likes to sit with Camden and have Camden repeat words that he is saying.

* He is soooo excited about soccer and looks forward to hopefully playing a game in the near future. (Rain, please hold off this weekend.)

* He is so close to being potty-trained at night!

* When thrown a baseball underhanded he will hit it with a bat a LONG way!

* His favorite T.V. show right now is "Diego" and "The Amazing Race" which he enjoys watching with mommy.

* He is struggling wanting to go the bed by himself. He is waking up at 4:32 a.m. every morning and trying to sleep in our bed. (Not happening!)

* He loves to be read to!

* He is a very sensitive, loving, intelligent, thoughtful child.

Camden
* He is exploding with words. After several weeks of not progressing he has caught up and is flying high! He still will not say any "T" words or for some unknown reason, "bird".

* He adores Gracie, our lab. He gets so tickled playing catch, tug-of-war and keep-away with her.

* He is starting to go in the potty.

* He misses his brother when Noah is not around.

* He loves to bring you books, sit in your lap and be read to.

* He is very routine oriented and will let you know when you have skipped something.

* His favorite toys are trains, a Home-Depot van, a Harley Davidson bike and his block truck.

* He loves to go outside and play.

* He has to go to sleep with his purple blanket, his plane blanket, his "ba" and the light on.

* He is a very loving, strong, smart, happy little boy.

Thank you Lord, for providing me with two incredible children. I am humbled that you thought me worthy enough to raise them and guide them back to you. I grow stronger everyday in my faith, knowing the sacrifice your son made for me and my children. You are an awesome God!
Amen.