Husbands

Do you ever have those days when you can't believe what an amazing guy you are married to?

Two days ago I came downstairs to start some laundry - really early in the morning because Gabi has seen fit to wake me up between 5 and 5:30 every morning this week. I turned the light on in the laundry room and discovered that the load I had been about to put in, the load of good clothes, the annoying ones you can't dry but have to hang, obviously my least favorite, was already done and hanging up to dry. That warm, fuzzy feeling that comes when he does something unexpected for me started to creep up from my toes. Then I came out into our family room and noticed that the two HUGE baskets of laundry were folded and just waiting to be put away. The feeling crept a little higher. I also noticed he had emptied all the garbage containers and done a few other little things. I was smiling the rest of the day. Amazing how those things make you feel so loved, huh? And they were all things that, besides the garbage, are things I really should be doing. Dustin has never said, this is your job, you stay at home. But honestly, I feel it is. After all, I do get to stay home. What has been frustrating is that when I'm treating myself I can't get it all done. Sometimes the tears spill out as I look at the laundry that is clean but needs folded and put away. But I can't because I have to sit there. It sounds nice to have to sit there for awhile but it gets beyond frustrating. I'm telling you this so you realize how special it was to find the laundry folded for me by him. See, I got a gem. :-) Marriage to the right one really does just get better and better over the years. Because you see, not only does he help me when I need it, but he understands when I mess up, he never complains when there isn't dinner on the table, or I haven't packed his lunch. Yes, he is a keeper. No he isn't perfect, but that is a good thing since I have all my faults he has to deal with. Now, hopefully things are on the upside for him and he won't have to do my laundry and will get regular meals. :-) Yes, I'm still feeling better. Not perfect, and I have a few semi down days, but I'm better! Thanks for the prayers. Keep them coming.

conversation on thankfulness

As we drove home tonight I was telling Karis the story of Thanksgiving. That got us on the subject of thankfulness. After we had shared a few things I said,

"I'm thankful that Daddy has a job."

"Why?"

"Because a lot of people have lost their jobs this year."

Short pause.

"How did their jobs get lost? Why couldn't they find them?"

Good question, bet those people are wondering the same thing. :-)

While this conversation made me laugh, I'm so glad it isn't the case with us this year and feel blessed by the way God has taken care of us. He is good!

This and that

Dustin stayed home with the girls while I did some shopping today. That is a rare treat. Usually I am dragging two reluctant girls who are trying to escape me at every turn. Needless to say I never get to brouse and I usually only end up with half of what i came for. Plus I am thoroughly frustrated and determined to never shop with my two little angels turned monsters again. Today that was not the case.

A quick stop at Michales turned up a treasure of fall decorations that were 70% off. I found this wreath and a little candle one, as well. Something that has been on my wish list as my old one is faded and cracking.

My silly and consuming health is so much better than last week as is evidenced by the fact that my bathroom not only got cleaned last night, (and let me tell you it was gross!) but I shopped, cleaned, AND decorated a little today. It is SO nice to feel like my home is coming together again. I keep saying I will put pictures up, but I haven't painted my door yet, and it really does look terrible. Priming has pretty much been ruled out as the paint that I already put on seems to be sticking just fine. That might be a bad move, but at this point all I really care about is that it is finished. :-) Sad, but all too true.

When Karis saw my new purchases she declared the jewel like beads beautiful and told me, "Mommy, I love you, you are the best decorationist." You know, I had no idea the approval of a four year old would mean so much to me, but it made my day. It is fun to be able and share these things with her. We seem to be entering a new phase in our lives.

Weekend Reunion

We headed to the cities for a reunion staying in a hotel near the Mall of America. The girls did relatively well on the drive up, thanks to a dvd player some friends loaned us.

Gabi helped Grandpa bring in the bags. If you can't tell, she could have ridden on it all day.
Grandma and Grandpa had their hands full. I don't think it was a very relaxing weekend for them, but we sure appreciated the help. Especially since Dustin couldn't make it. I don't have a picture of it, but Karis thoroughly enjoyed the pool. I love the look of pure joy that comes on little faces when something delights them. I feel like I've lost that ability to live in the moment completely when something delights me. Too often I enjoy the moment but I'm thinking of all the other things on my mind.
Gabi and I enjoyed the weather by going on a beautiful nature walk with some of my cousins and their kiddos that were around her age. it was a little more difficult than we imagined it to be having to carry a stroller more than we got to use it. Thankfully we had a couple of guys to make it a little easier on us, but still, with the majority of the kids being under two it was a challenge. We stopped to let them throw rocks into a oversized puddle. Gabi could do this all day. The adults stood back and watched, occasionally stepping in when a rock was going the wrong way, catching up on each others lives. All of the sudden I heard a thunk that made me cringe. Only one thing made that sound. A little head hitting a rock. My eyes found the source and discovered that it was my babies little head that was the noise maker. I rushed over as her screams filled the air. Blood was gushing out as only scalp wounds do. And I'm ashamed to admit this, but in the midst of my panic for my baby I inwardly cringed because I had chosen that day of all days to wear white. That though was fleeting, however as I pulled her, blood and all, close to comfort her. Family jumped in to put pressure on the wound which was thankfully close to the hairline. PTL! Her screams soon subsided, and the bleeding soon stopped, but we had a LONG ways back and it was an uphill climb with LOTS of stairs. I thought I was going to die by the time I got to the top and I'm sure we looked like the walking wounded with both of our faces blood spattered and my top COVERED in blood. I was grateful I got in on clearance because I was positive it was ruined. I thought we would be getting stitches, but my mom, a nurse, and my cousin a policeman, assured me they could fix her up with some butterfly tape, etc. I'm glad I have so many cousins because we needed all of them to help us. Some to go to the store, some to patch Gabi up, etc, etc, etc.... :-)
See, it really isn't that bad... just a scraped up nose and a fairly deep cut, but no bone showing, so I guess it wasn't that bad. She is currently fine, and the cut looks great.
Now for the most amazing tip of the weekend, and you probably already knew this, but I didn't. Hydrogen Peroxide takes blood right out of clothes. Out of pretty much anything, actually. My policeman cousin told me this. Yep, bubbles it right out. I saw it with my own eyes. My white shirt, which I foolishly worried about, is white again. You would never know that it had any blood on it at all. So, the next time you get blood on something, don't sweat it, just pull out the H.P. :-)

I've been a little quite on the posting front because it has been a busy week of treatment, but also one that has been a little discouraging. Instead of getting better I was getting worse. Pain, not unlike what took me to the Dr. in the first place, was invading my body and making me want to rush to the nearest hospital and demand they pull my lung out. Not just 20%, the entire thing. Heck, take them both if it meant not having to deal with it any longer. I know, not rational, but I compare it to my state when I am in labor. I don't care how much I wanted to do it naturally, you give me that epidural, and you give it to me NOW! Either that or just put me out of my misery. Ok, so I wasn't in quite as much pain as the ending stages of labor, but it was getting close. If I hadn't thrown out my drugs I would have been downing them.

But....

Today is a new day. I am prayerfully saying that God is doing a work and allowing this treatment to gradually do it's job in my body. The pain is next to nothing. I know getting rid of my wheeze and cough will be gradual, but my hopes are back in place. It worked once. Keep praying that not only will I have the same success again, but this time I can wipe it out. Or rather, God can wipe it out. :-) He has a way of getting our focus on Him, doesn't He? Even if it takes putting something pesky in our lung.

Almost done...

Patched and ready to be painted over....
Karis was a huge help with Kalvyn. He was a little fussy, but she played her part of older cousin very well and kept him entertained. I'm not sure he know what hit him, but at least he was amused. :-)
Some people buy those fancy tool to help them get the edges, me, I just bring in my talented sister, Elle. How many of you know a store bought edger that can produce the perfect edge while holding a baby? If we ever move across the country I will fly her in to help me paint. :-) Thanks Noelle! I will post the after pictures soon. I still need to get the door done. Right now it looks like it has two eyes with bushy eyebrows because I forgot I needed to prime it first. If there is one thing about painting that I dislike it is priming. :-)

My little interior decorator

I think Karis has been watching me move everything around too much this last year. A couple of days ago she decided to try her hand at it.

There used to be a picture of her on the wall beside Gabi. Now, as you can see, there is a big empty space because....

Another space was created by placing these two painted mirrors right here, on two empty nails. Then....
Karis placed her picture, complete with a beaded necklace, in the empty places created by the afore mentioned mirrors. She very excitedly came and got me, explaining her decorating process. What is a mother to do? I guess I will have to somehow fill that empty space on Gabi's wall. :-) I wouldn't want to discourage budding talent.

Taking the time..

Yesterday we had to get out of the house because the floor was drying from my first protective coat. Yes, I finally got it done. You see, I got smart. I did it during nap time so that I still had energy. :-) Should have thought of that in the first place.

God blessed us with another perfect fall day, so it was actually a joy to get out of the house. We stopped at a park where Gabi got pushed down the slide (with a crash landing) by her older sister and knocked flat by someone on a swing she walked under. I had looked up for a split second to check on Karis and she ran right into the swings path. Not seriously hurt, but not a good day in Gabi land. :-) After the park we went to the lake and that was better.

The girls played and I took time to look at God's amazing creation - something I don't do often enough. Whenever I take the time I always am amazed by the time He took into making our world so beautiful... well, not that it took Him much time. :-) Right about now I'm wishing I had His abilities to speak and have everything come into being. My house would have been done six months ago. :-) Do you ever wonder how He picked the colors. Why blue for the sky and water? White for the clouds? Green for the grass and leaves, and then the various colors they change into? Boggles my mind, and that is just colors. We haven't touched people or animals. :-) Good thing we aren't God. Since I'm struggling with just decorating my little house I probably would have made the world all grey! Saves time. Then again, I suppose if you can just speak and it comes into being you have time to be creative. This boggles my mind as well. Anyway, that is why the picture of the sky. Isn't it beautiful?

Karis is drawing a map from the States to Brazil. That way we can find Owen when we go. It looked like a pretty short and easy trip by her calculations, so I'm thinking we may just make that trip tomorrow. :-)
Gabi is helping. Looks more like she is playing baseball to me. :-)
More of that beautiful creation.
I am staining the filling that I put into the holes in the wood so it looks like the other knots. Thankfully their weren't that many. I am a little tired of doing this floor so my patience for this last little bit isn't what it was for the main part. Almost done. I have two coats of protector on and two to go.

Metal mouth

I thought I was done with the braces and retainer stage of my life. Apparently not. For those of you who haven't known me all my life my journey into the world of braces, head gear, retainers, etc. started at age seven. I had a underbite, I guess. All I remember is the fact that if you wear a chin cup long enough in the summertime your chin sweats and it starts to stink. Yes, fond memories. :-) Anyway, I wore my retainers faithfully until I got married. At first I didn't wear them because, well, it's not exactly a romantic thing to get in bed with your new husband and, when he starts to kiss you say, "Um... could you hold that thought for a moment while I take this plastic and metal out of my mouth? Thanks sweetie." And then, for the first four months of being pregnant anything in my mouth besides food makes me gag. So... no retainers for a while longer. And then I just forgot. Unfortunately, five years later, I can tell that my bite is starting to move, and it hurts. That is what really is making me take action, I hate pain. So, last night I put the retainers back in. It felt so weird. I even had crazy dreams that I had this swollen tongue that was stuck out of my mouth and I kept trying to push it back it. Very frustrating, and when I looked in the mirror, yes, I remember looking in the mirror in my dream, how vain is that? But, anyway, I looked like a zombie with their oversized tongue falling out. Also in my dream I owned a store and my appearance was scaring customers away. I was quite distraught about this. :-) Anyway, I managed to wake myself up from this unfortunate dream to find that my top retainer was sticking out of my mouth like my tongue had in my dream. I know, not what you really wanted to hear this fine sunday morning, but as it is the new addition in my life you got to read about it. :-) Here's to hoping our kids don't need braces or retainers.

On a more spiritual note, it has made me realize that no matter how hard we have worked at our relationship with Christ in the past we can't just set it aside for indefinite periods of time and forget about Him. If we do, the relationship, like my teeth, will start to slip. In the long run it is so much easier to stay faithful in the little things. A lot less pain involved. :-)