I am back!!!!

Hello Everyone! Yet again, I have been lurking – but haven’t left many comments! I was keeping up with everybody even though I was on vacation! So, sorry about that!!!!

Let me first update you on Michael. Our family truly thanks you for your continued prayers – we have certainly felt them. God is a God of miracles and that continues to be evident to me in this entire situation. I went to visit Michael in the Rehab Unit this past Sunday and he is doing much better. They are to meet with the team of specialists (neurologists) today to talk about how rehab is going and what to expect next. He has been there for one week now (a new hospital) and seems to be doing very well with it. It is pretty neat because he has a “sitter” who is always with him – 24 hours a day. Obviously it isn’t the same person, but the same few people rotate. They do not leave his side. It is pretty cool. Monday – Friday, he has rehab from 8 – 3 in 30 minute intervals. They are working with him on both physical and neurological therapy. When I saw him on Sunday, it is very much like he has “woken up” from the last time I saw him. He is very much “alive and awake”….I would liken it to talking to someone like “Rainman”. He just talks continuously and moves a lot and just has a ton of nervous energy. It is like his brain is moving really fast and he is doing his best to keep up with it. The best way that I can describe it is if you imagine that inside your head you have a bunch of vaults. Each vault contains specific information that you need to function – but it has to stay inside that vault. It is like his information is all over the place and he is trying to put it all away where it belongs but he can’t get the keys fast enough. You can tell that it is all still “there”…but he can’t get it all right. He just keeps asking you to tell him that he isn’t crazy – but I am sure he feels like he is crazy. And then people come to visit him and just sit there and stare at him….that would make anyone crazy! But I knelt down and got right into his face so I could look right into his eyes and we talked. He was telling me what a miracle he is and I told him that this means that God isn’t done with him yet and that I can’t wait to see all that God has in store for him. He agreed with me. He quoted scripture to me…” I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” He keeps saying…”Let’s start from the beginning…” and he will recap what he has been told happened to him. So, it was GREAT to see him and talk to him….but he definitely has a long road ahead of him. They have told his parents to expect at least 6 months to a year before he will be somewhat normal again. And they still haven’t told us what “permanent brain damage” means. I guess the reason behind that is…they did say that it really depends on how smart he was before as to how much he will recover. He was extremely intelligent…so hopefully that is good news! He did get a letter from his scholarship committee telling him to not worry about his scholarship – that it will be there for him as soon as he is able to return to school. That made his day! So…please continue to pray and I will update you as I know more. His mom is not doing so great. She is severely diabetic and has an ulcer on her foot. She is going to have to go to the doctor this week because it continues to get worse. But GOD IS GOOD! Michael will tell you that himself!!!!

Now, for an update on our vacation! We had a wonderful time! It was a LONG drive there and a LONG drive home, but we had a great time!!! The kids LOVED the ocean – or should I say that Isaac loved playing in the waves of the ocean and Faith Anne loved playing in the sand! Gracie just took everything in – but didn’t like the feel of her feet in the sand! We left on Sunday and drove to somewhere in South Carolina. Then we got up on Monday and drove (via a scenic route, I think) to North Myrtle Beach! We finally found the place we needed and got our hotel voucher. So, we headed off to our hotel – which actually turned out to be condos!!! So, we were in this gorgeous condo building that over-looked a marina. They messed up our reservation (go figure) and so Mom and Dad got bumped up to a two-bedroom condo! It was very nice!!! Ours had a bedroom with a king-size bed, a bathroom, a full kitchen, a living/dining area and a balcony (oh, and a washer/dryer!!!). Their condo had a bedroom with 2 full-size beds and an attached bathroom, a full (BIG) Kitchen, a living/dining room area, a master bedroom with a king-size bed and a master bath and a balcony (and a washer/dryer!!!). It was very, very nice!!!! We were impressed!

So, the first night, Scott ran and got us subs from Subway and then we headed to the beach! It was like 2 miles from where we were staying, so we drove and parked right on the beach and walked out. I got Isaac and Faith Anne’s initial reactions on video-tape. It was pretty cool. Faith Anne immediately began playing in the sand and Isaac walked right out into the waves. We kinda thought he would be scared and we would have to work with him…but we were dead wrong. He wasn’t the least bit scared…..which scared me. I would have liked for him to have a healthy fear of the water, but he wasn’t scared of the big waves….he just loved it! So, we stayed there for a bit and then went back to the pool at the hotel. We went to Wal-Mart (what vacation is complete without at least one trip to Wal-Mart?!?!) and got groceries. I did a million loads of laundry while we were there. I just hated all the sand being in everything, so I washed all of our stuff a million times! It was so nice to have the washer/dryer!!!

The next day, Scott got up and went to play golf while the rest of us headed to the beach. We got there at 9:15 and didn’t leave until almost 4:00 or so! We had a GREAT time!!!! Faith Anne played in the sand the entire time. It was so funny when the tide would come up and get her wet. She would get mad…almost as if someone had splashed her instead of the tide coming in. She yelled at the water the first few times….then she would just say, “OH Water!!!” She was so cute. When we were getting ready to eat lunch, she wanted the sand wiped off her hands. So Mom would wipe her hands off and then she would put it back in the sand…this went on about 5 times! She didn’t realize what it was doing…too funny! Finally I just told Mom to let her eat a little sand with her bologna sandwich! Isaac, Dad and I had fun riding the waves on boogey boards! That was a blast!!! Gracie did well….she took a few cat-naps in her play-pen and was really pretty good for us all day. The tide kept coming in and eventually we had to keep backing up and backing up. At one point, Gracie’s playpen almost got washed away! It was funny. Scott met us there when he got done playing golf…but we didn’t stay much longer after he got there. The sun takes a lot out of you! But boy, did we have a good time! We left there and went back to the pool at the hotel….this was a great way to get all the sand and salt-water off of you before you go to your room. They had showers there.

Oh…one funny thing. I had Faith Anne pee in the ocean…..believe me, that was a better alternative than the public restrooms they had there! Anyways, so the first time, it was awkward for her…but then she did ok with it. Well, we got back to the hotel and she said…I have to pee and she just did! She was standing on the concrete. I about DIED!!! Luckily no one was around so we got her cleaned up and cleaned up the concrete……but I guess that is the problem with telling a 3 year old it is okay to do it one place but not the other! LOL Aside from that, she did so great with the potty!!! She had a dry pull-up every night….and no accidents on the trip. It has just clicked with her for some reason!!!! Thank the Lord for that!!!!

So, back to the re-cap….we all got cleaned up and Mom and Dad took the kids to dinner and to an Alligator Park…oh yeah, Scott saw an alligator on the golf course! Yikers! Anyways, so they took the kids and Scott and I got to go on a date! We went to dinner at Logan’s (yummm) and although we can eat at Logan’s here….Scott had never been to one and it sounded good. So, we ate there and then went and found a private access area to the beach and walked on the beach collecting shells. It was a lot of fun. Then we went and did a little shopping and got ice cream before we headed back to help with the kids. We actually beat them back to the hotel because I was worried and felt bad about leaving my parents alone with them the whole time, but they were fine.

So the next day we had to go listen to the time-share deal for 3 hours. It wasn’t that bad really and we got to tour this gorgeous resort! While we were on the 15th floor, we saw dolphins! It was very cool! There was a shrimp boat and they were following it and just jumping! It was a beautiful site to see! We got done with that and got a bite to eat and then relaxed for a bit….went to walk on the beach some more, got dinner and then the boys went and played putt-putt while the girls went to Myrtle Beach to check out the sites down there. We found this awesome place called “Broadway at the Beach” and it is a HUGE outdoor mall all around a lagoon and they have amusement parks and shopping and all kinds of neat things to see and do. Bummer that we found it so late, but we had a great time. Faith Anne made a doll! They had this thing connected to the Build-a-Bear place where you can make your own doll. It was very neat. She got to pick out her personality (stickers), put her heart in her, take her to the salon to dry, curl and fix her hair – and put on make-up. Then she picked out her clothes and accessories and made her a birth certificate. It was very cool. I honestly don’t know who had more fun, me or Faith Anne!

The next morning we got up and headed home. Mom and Dad stayed a few more days, but we headed back. The kids did great….but I was still very ready to be home and out of the van! We had a great vacation….and I can’t wait to go back to Myrtle Beach again! I highly recommend it to anyone for a good vacation spot!!!!

So, now it is back to work and reality….bummer! No more time off for quite a while! Isaac started football conditioning last night. He has it every night this week for 2 hours. That is lots of fun (dripping with sarcasm). We will see if he can do this! It is so hot and they run them for the entire time. I feel bad for him, but he needs the exercise! So do I, for that matter!!

Dad bought us a swing-set for our backyard. He got a great deal from someone who was getting rid of it…it looks to be in great condition and it was probably at least $1000 when they bought it….so he got it for much cheaper, but had to take it down and move it to our house. He took it down yesterday and is putting it together today. The kids are very excited about that. They told them at Christmas that they were going to buy them one, but we hadn’t found a good deal like this until now! So, that is exciting!!!

Gracie is doing pretty well with sleeping. She actually slept through the night every night (except the first one) on vacation! That was heavenly! She didn’t sleep well once we got home, but did sleep through the night last night. I think the lights we had in their room were too bright for her…so I tried something else last night and that seemed to work. We will see!!!! She is crawling all over the place and getting into EVERYTHING! It is so much fun to see her explore…but a little aggravating too! We have to work on baby-proofing everything!

I guess that is about it for now. I am sure there is so much more to tell you…but I have to work sometime today! You all have a great day and love ya!

Update - Please pray!!!

Good evening Ladies! I just popped on here real quick while I am getting ready to leave in the morning on vacation! I am very excited to be going - as we all are - but also a little worried about the timing! Let me update you on Michael...

I saw him on Thursday evening and that was the first time I saw him awake. Every other time that I had been there, he had been asleep. It was very sobering to see him. The initial reports that there is no brain damage are not accurate. What they probably meant when they told us that was that there was no bleeding on the brain - there was no other damage to the physical part of the brain. There is damage to the neurological part of the brain. At this point, we aren't sure how much and what it will mean for Michael. His speech has gotten worse each day, instead of better. It is really hard to describe how he is....but he just keeps asking - about every 2 - 3 minutes - what happened? And then he will ask why and then he will ask what did I do and he starts crying. It is very scary for the family and today was not a good day for his parents. They just told them today that there is probably some brain damage.

At any rate, they did the surgery yesterday and put in the defibulator. This is like an insurance policy....he may never need it....but in case he does, it is there. They are planning on moving him to yet another hospital - Miami Valley - on Monday to begin intensive cardiac/neurological/physical rehab. I am hoping that they see a dramatic improvement in him once they get him up and moving and really start working with him.

An amazing thing today....one of my cousins was up from Kentucky and she is also a whiz. She is a high school honor's teacher and also a professor. She asked Michael what a(squared) plus b(squared) equaled....and he told her c(squared). She said that was right. Then she asked him what that was and he mouthed it....barely audible, but said phthagorean theorem. Now, I didn't even know that! LOL And he also kinda looked at her like why in the world she was asking him that. So....I thought that was an amazing sign.

So...anyways....it is a long road ahead of Michael and our family would covet your prayers. I can't stop thinking about them and I know my Dad feels the same way. On one hand it will probably be good for my Dad to go away on vacation and kinda get his mind off of it. But on the other hand, I know he feels bad about leaving. Michael has always had a special place in my Dad's heart and vice versa.

I will say one thing....so many of Michael's friends have come to see him and it is amazing to see how much these young people are pulling together for him. It really says a lot about his character. I am so proud of him.

Thanks for your continued prayers. I might post from the beach if Scott's computer gets good reception...and if I have time!

Love you all!!!!

More pictures and updates!

First, let me start with an update on my cousin. He has been transferred to the new hospital and is still doing well. They are taking him to Columbus today to run some more tests and then bringing him back here to Kettering. I am not really sure what that is all about. I guess there must be a specialist or something in Columbus. At this point, they do not expect that he will have any damage to his heart and they are expecting to put a defibulator in. Originally they were planning on doing that on Friday – but they haven’t actually scheduled it yet, so I am not sure. He is having some pretty bad headaches, as to be expected, but is doing okay. I will keep you posted if I find out more today. Still pray – but it really is such an awesome miracle! The girl who saved his life (the lifeguard friend-of-a-friend that did CPR on him) came to see him at the hospital yesterday. I think that was good for both of them. I can only imagine the emotions she has been going through as well! She is an angel to our family, that is for sure! God is so good. I just am continually amazed when I think about how awesome He is. I have been driving without my music on the last few days and just singing praise songs – mostly “How Great Is Our God”…and I cry every time. How true…how true!

SO – other things that are happening! It has been a crazy week – just like last week was! But it is on the downward spiral now…for the next week anyways!

So, Faith Anne was running a fever on Sunday night – we got home from Xtreme Games at church and we gave everyone baths/showers and then we all went down for naps. Well, when she woke up from her nap she was a little warm. Within a few hours, she was downright HOT. She was running a temp of 102. We gave her Tylenol, but that didn’t bring it down, so we gave her a cool bath and that helped. On Monday, with all that went on with Michael, I kinda just let Faith Anne slide. She had a low-grade temp that day and just wasn’t acting right. On Tuesday when I picked her up from my Aunt’s house, she was fine but just not acting right still. Oh, and she didn’t sleep well on Monday night. So, I made an appointment for her on Wednesday….we are going on vacation next week and I DO NOT want her to be sick on vacation! Well, she didn’t sleep hardly at all on Tuesday night – so I met Scott and the kids at the doctor yesterday morning – and of course there is nothing wrong with her. Oh well, better safe than sorry! She ate fine and slept fine last night. Of course she did. LOL She weighs 42 pounds! I was SHOCKED when I saw that at the doctors office! She has gained some weight lately!!! She did so good at the appointment – even if it was a waste of $20!

Isaac started football this week! We went and picked up his equipment on Saturday. They didn’t have a big enough helmet for him – shocker! His age group was the last to go and they had run out of the bigger helmets with the bigger kids. So, they had to order him a new one. He was a little disappointed that he didn’t get that, but he looks so adorable (as you can see) with all the other stuff on! Let me just share with you what an experience this has been…..he has to wear a cup for football. I don’t know how I end up in these situations when his daddy isn’t home….but I do! Monday night was his first night of football camp. They told us that he doesn’t need to wear his uniform – just his cleats and his cup. K….so I get him ready and put his “girdle” on. In football, they have this thing called a girdle. Basically it is a pair of tight shorts that all of their pads go into – and their cup. Well, he didn’t have to wear the other pads, just the cup. So, I get the girdle on him and I don’t have a clue which end is up and which is down on the cup, but I get it on him….or I think I did. Anyways….he was giggling the entire time. He thinks this is the funniest thing ever! He asks what it is for (where is Scott???), so I tell him. That makes him laugh. It was a trip. So, we get in the car with the girls – I am taking them to MIL’s house – and as we are driving, Isaac is playing drums on his cup. I tell him to leave it alone….he thinks it is funny. (See…even young boys are infatuated with it!) We get to the football field and he gets out and tells me he “needs to wiggle it a bit because it is bothering him…but wiggling it will get everything in the right place.” Whatever. So, all through practice he is playing with it. Finally on one of his water breaks I ask him if he wants to take it off and he quickly says yes….so I have him stand real close to me and I pull it out – which he also thinks is funny. It was a trip! He did well in football camp this week (it was 2 hours Monday, Tuesday & Wednesday nights) and he seemed to get along well with all the coaches. It is going to be hard for me to sit on the sidelines and let them take care of my kid. I wanted to get up and tell him to stop something last night, but the coaches really don’t like that. They address things when they see them, but what they think is okay and what I think is okay are two different things. But maybe I am just too hard on him. At any rate, last night was the only night that I had to have the girls there with me. That was fun…trying to keep them occupied for 2 hours! They did okay except for the last 30 minutes. Not bad! When we get back from vacation – he has practice 5 nights a week the first week and then 4 nights a week after that until school starts and then it is only 3 nights a week. Fun, fun. Hopefully the grandparents will help out some! It wouldn’t be so bad if I didn’t have to lug the girls there. In fact, if I could be there by myself, that would be a beautiful thing!!! So…that is what is going on with Isaac! He had his physical/6 year check up last week and he is off the chart in height and weight. He is 4’3” tall and weighs 101 pounds. So, he needs to be moving in football!

Gracie is doing good. She had her 9 month check-up last week and she weighs 22.9 pounds and is 29.25 inches long. She grew 2 inches in three months. She is in the 95% in height, weight and her head. So, at least she is proportional! She really took off crawling last week – so she is into EVERYTHING. Her favorite thing is outlets and cords! It is really hard to keep everything up and out of her way – since Faith Anne is into all the girly toys that have a million small pieces that she could choke on! It is lots of fun. And when you tell Gracie no…she just starts wailing as if you took her right arm off. My Dad likes to do it just to see her react…it is pretty cute. LOL She is doing better with sleeping – but still wakes up at least 3 times a week at night. I can’t wait until she sleeps through the night consistently. The other night, Faith Anne had been awake a few times and was sleeping with us. Gracie woke up and Scott got up and got her and took her out to the kitchen to make her a bottle (not the right thing to do, but she goes to sleep so much faster….bad, bad parents). So, he put her on the floor so he could make the bottle…she started screaming bloody murder. So I got up and went out there to help him…usually we are both not nice people on these occasions and we get frustrated at each other. But this time…we were both just laughing and pleading with God to please let our kids sleep – just one night!!!! It was kinda funny. But seriously, one night of un-interrupted sleep would be BLISS. Maybe on vacation we can convince Mom and Dad to take all 3 kids one night. I wouldn’t do that to them!!!

So, have I mentioned that we leave for vacation on Sunday? Can you tell that I am just a bit excited?!??! We are going to Myrtle Beach for the week! We are leaving Sunday morning and going to drive more than half-way (it is like a 13 hour drive) and get a hotel with a pool so the kids can play (and Scott!!!) and then get up Monday and finish the trip. We have reservations for 3 nights, but will probably try to find a place to stay for at least one more night, if not more. I have been looking on-line and there is a ton of things to do down there – so I am getting really excited! Today is really the first day that I have had to start thinking about that…there has just been so much other stuff going on! I hope that Michael is stable enough that Mom and Dad will be able to go and really enjoy themselves. I am sure my Dad feels guilty about leaving now.

So…..I guess that is about it! I don’t know if I will post before vacation – although things at work are really SLOW right now, so I might post tomorrow! If not, I will talk to you all when I get back! I am sure we will take Scott’s computer so I can keep up to date with everyone!

Love you all and thank you so much for your prayers for my family. They really mean a lot to me. I know that prayer has totally made a difference in our lives! Love ya!!!

We serve a MIGHTY GOD!!!!

I just have to share with you what an AWESOME God we serve! He has shown my family His miraculous power this week – in a BIG WAY! Let me share the story with you…

My cousin Michael is 19 years old and a great, great kid. He graduated as valedictorian from his high school in 2006 and has been attending Wright State with a FULL RIDE scholarship (books, living expenses, everything included). He is a full-time student and also works 2 part-time jobs. Because he is so smart and pushes himself so much, this fall he would be starting as a Junior (his 2nd year in school). He is just a good, good kid!

He was at a church playing basketball with his buddies from high school on Sunday night. At about 10:30, he was running down the court and just collapsed. Literally, in mid-run, just collapsed. His heart stopped. Fortunately, there was a “friend-of-a friend” who was in the prayer room of the church who was a lifeguard and knew CPR. She immediately began working on him and did not stop until the paramedics came and took over. (Come to find out later…she was going to leave the church about 20 minutes prior to this, but just decided to go hang out in the prayer room instead). When the paramedics got there, they did detect a heartbeat, but it wasn’t his. It was what she had created by working on him for so long. They had to use the paddles on him 3 times in order to get his heart to start beating on his own. They put a ventilator in and had him on life-support to transport him to the hospital.

Once in the hospital, they told his parents that he had actually died and his brain had been deprived of oxygen for the 17 – 20 minutes that his heart had stopped beating. They told my aunt and uncle to prepare for him to die (they had revived him at this point). So, as any scared parents would do, they stayed by his side praying and hoping for the best. Two hours later, Michael woke up. It was truly a miracle and although the doctors hesitate to use that terminology, they were amazed. They then instructed my aunt and uncle that although it appeared that Michael might survive, they needed to prepare for the fact that brain damage was inevitable because his brain had been without oxygen for so long. Again, as any scared parents would do, they stayed by his side praying and hoping for the best.

Michael was able to open his eyes a few times, but could see nothing. He was incoherent and at times, thrashing to pull out his IV – not understanding what was going on. I went in to see him at about 9:30 am and he tried to open his eyes to look at me, but they just kept rolling back in his head. He was white and just looked sickly. It was a very hard sight to see.

Not even three hours later, Michael was sitting up in bed – recognizing – SEEING – his Dad, the nurse and how many fingers she had up and joking with my Dad about how cute the nurse was! PRAISE THE LORD!!!!

There were times after this that he “relapsed” and couldn’t tell who some people were or how many fingers the nurse held up, but we were holding out hope that this was because he had “rattled his brain” when he fell not due to brain damage.

Last night, after many hours of tests and discussions, the neurologist came into the room and told my aunt and uncle that Michael’s brain is “beautiful and perfectly undamaged”. PRAISE THE LORD!!!! They said that they see no reason that Michael would not fully recuperate and live a “normal – although perhaps less physical” life.

So, we still need your prayers. They are in the process (as we speak) of moving him to a better hospital where a team of heart specialists can analyze all of the data to diagnose exactly what happened and how to treat it to prevent it from happening again. But with modern medicine, that is more of a “how”…not an “if”. They do think it was a birth defect that stems from a problem with the electrical chamber of his heart. If that is the case, they will do surgery to implant a defibulator on his heart that would “kick-in” if his heart were to just stop again. From what I hear, that is a pretty normal operation.

So, PRAISE THE LORD. God is so good. He is in control even when we don’t feel like He is. He is so amazing! Please pray for this family and continued strength. His mom (my aunt) has her own set of numerous health problems (with chronic diabetes) and is really not doing well. But GOD IS GOOD and HE IS IN CONTROL! Thank you for praising HIS NAME with us!!!!!

Princess Tea Party Pictures

Just thought I would share a few pictures from our "Princess Party" this past weekend! It was so much fun!!!!

Happy July!!!

Hello Journal Goddesses! It has been forever (or so it seems) since I last updated! Life just gets so crazy and I don’t often get the chance to update you on my extremely exciting life! So, sit back and enjoy the ride….just kidding! Let me bring you up to speed! We have had some big things happen since I last wrote!

Little Miss Faith Anne has turned 3 years old! Boy, did that fly by or what? It seems like just yesterday when she was born – not 3 years ago! We had a wonderful Princess Party for her and it was so adorable. I forgot to bring my camera to work today, so I will have to post a few pictures for you next time. But just imagine the cutey girls all dressed up in their Princess clothes – it was so much fun! She got way too many presents – even though we didn’t invite as many people as we normally do to our birthday parties! I really had a good time and got to enjoy the company more than I normally do…not sure what was different, but that was nice. She also had her first sleep over at our house. Her little friend Madison spent the night with us. It went fine, except for the next day she was a total brat. On Sunday, I thought our precious girl had been abducted by aliens because the person we had was intolerable! LOL Lucky for me, Scott spent most of the day with her while I was at church! She is quite the DIVA. I saw a t-shirt that said “What part of Diva do you not understand?” If it hadn’t been an adult shirt, I would’ve bought it for Faith Anne! I love her to pieces, but she can be challenging at times! She is still doing great with the potty training! She has had an occasional accident, but for the most part does really, really well! I am so glad that something finally just “clicked” with her!

Little Miss Gracie is crawling! It isn’t the traditional “crawl” just yet…but she is working on it! She is 9 months old and just such a sweet baby! We still have a rough time with her at night, but hopefully she will come around eventually! We go to her 9 month appointment tomorrow. I can’t wait to see how much she weighs and if they have some great advice for us to get her to sleep through the night. We should know how to do this by now (this is # 3, afterall)….but apparently our normal tricks aren’t working! We had to lower her crib because she is sitting up in it at night and also trying to pull herself up to standing. It won’t be long now until her 1st Birthday Party! They just grow up too fast. My favorite thing with her right now is when she gives you kisses. Your cheek gets completely slimed while she tries to bite/suck on your face! It is so adorable! I was so excited to get out some of Faith Anne’s old clothes for her. It is fun to see her in those clothes! I cleaned out her drawers a few weekends ago and panicked that she had no clothes….but I had a bunch that would fit her in the garage! Hopefully this will continue that she will be on the same kind of schedule that Faith Anne was! Although, it is also fun to buy new clothes! Just expensive! We are such bad parents…we never did her 6 month pictures and we still haven’t made an appointment to do her 9 month ones. Maybe on Saturday afternoon. We will see….

Isaac is keeping busy! I had to turn down his Uncle Jimmie for a play-date (aka Tractor Pull) for Friday because of Camp Extreme. We take him for his football physical tomorrow and then to pick up his football equipment on Saturday! He has football camp 3 nights next week….then we have a one week break…and then practices start – 4 nights a week! Isn’t that crazy? I think it is! But….with him, he needs the exercise and he loves to be busy. So, it will be a good thing for us. It will make life crazy, but oh well! Life is already crazy! He is so excited to start football- I just hope he likes it! It will be a real bummer if he doesn’t! T-Ball is over….on the last night of that, his coach had a pool party at his house and it was a ton of fun. The kids had a blast in the pool and he got a trophy. We had a great time! So, he is keeping busy! It is hard to believe that in just a little over a month it will be time for him to go back to school!

We are taking a family vacation and taking the kiddos to the beach for the first time! I am so excited! I haven’t really thought much about it because this week has been so buy with Camp Extreme – but I am really excited to see their reaction to the sand and the ocean! We are going to Myrtle Beach with my parents the week after next. We are going down there and listening to a time-share thingy…so it is pretty cheap! We plan on taking the kids with us to listen to the speech…and give them lots of sugar first, so hopefully they don’t keep us too long! But, you can’t beat those deals if you can say no to the sales pitch! Anyways, our reservation is for 3 nights right now…we might add on another night or so – it just depends on how much we like it. I don’t think that any of us have ever been there before, so we will see! Again, I am just excited to see how the kids react to the ocean! I hope they have fun! It is nice that Mom and Dad can go too because Scott is not a big sun-lover, so he might party poop out of the beach all day! LOL He is going to play golf once….it is part of the package…and it is his vacation so he should be able to do something he likes to do on his vacation! I have to keep reminding myself of that! LOL So, that is pretty exciting!!!!

Um, Camp Extreme is going GREAT this week! Seriously, it is going so great. The last few years of it have been a bit stressful….but this year it seems that most everything is just really falling into place and we have it down now. I think we have done it this way enough time s now, that most people understand the rotation and everyone gets it! Registration was a breeze – even on the first night! The theme is Super Heroes and the auditorium looks amazing! We worked on it for HOURS on Sunday and it paid off! And the classrooms are cool! It is just neat to see how it all has come together. We have had 117 registered kids this week…and another 8 or so in the nursery. So that is awesome! Last night I was able to be in the worship time and just enjoy it with Faith Anne. It was really moving to see/hear all of those kids praising God. They sang and signed “How Great Is Our God”…and let me tell you, I couldn’t sing towards the end because it was so beautiful and moving to see. I LOVE Camp Extreme. It is so great to see GOD moving through at our church! I think we will for sure have at least one new family as a result. This one Mom has been sitting in the foyer every night while her daughter is in class….and we have a little “café” thing set up out there….she has gotten to meet so many people that way and has commented that she loves to see how we all interact with each other. She said it feels so friendly and like a family. I told her that we are very much a family and because of that that we do have squabbles some times….but we also come back and forgive each other and move on. It was very neat to talk to her last night and hear an outsider’s perspective. She is very interested in coming to our Ladies’ Bible Study and Women’s Group. So, that is very cool! Faith Anne has LOVED being a part of the Preschool Class with her buddies. I guess she got mad last night because Elena wouldn’t hold her hand…..how funny! She always wants her way! Oh, the first night, we had a Spiderman “scale in” and it was very cool…..but it really scared Faith Anne. She is scared of everything, so I was prepared and right by her side when he came out. It was cool because we were singing “Jesus, You’re my Super Hero” when he was there…and one line of the song is “…better than Spiderman”….very cool. So, my week has been crazy with working and then rushing home to change clothes and then heading to the church until about 9:00 and then getting home and giving all the kids baths/showers and in bed. I am pooped! I had a big meeting at work on Wednesday too! So, stressful? Just a little!!!!! Thank the good Lord for my parents! They have had my kids for dinner and then just brought them to the church for me all week. I feel like I haven’t seen them (my parents or my kids) much this week! I don’t know what I would do without my Mom and Dad!!!!

What else? Oh, yeah….I had a birthday! LOL I was trying to forget about that. Yep, now I am “in my thirties”. I think that is worse than just being 30! I hate it! Oh well! I guess it is a fact of life! My birthday was alright - nothing to get excited about. Scott did buy me a very pretty watch and a dressing gown thing…..that was nice. I got some money, some gift cards, a very cool wall hanging that Jodi made for me….oh….and how weird is this? My FIL and his wife actually came to the church to give me a present on my birthday! I was surprised, to say the least! So, it was a nice enough birthday. My MIL forgot all about it and then when Faith Anne was telling me Happy Birthday she laughed about forgetting it and still hasn’t given me a card or anything. That is a bit weird, but whatever. It’s kinda funny that the only person in Scott’s family that acknowledged it was my birthday was his dad – the one I can’t stand the most.

Uhh…I guess that is probably good enough! I know that a lot more happened since I posted last….but that is all I have time for now! I have been lurking and commenting occasionally! You all are in my thoughts and prayers every day! Love ya!!!!