How Blessed We Are!

This morning, Bro. David Langerfield retold the story of an experience he had while on a mission trip in Ecuador. I have listened to this story before, but today I truly heard it...

(paraphrasing Bro. David's story) "There was a mother of 7 children that we met while on a mission trip in Ecuador. She came to us for medical assistance. I asked her where the pain was and she pointed to her kidney area. The team and I immediately knew that she had an infection and I asked her how long she had had this pain. She told me it had been about 6 months. I asked her why she hadn't already gotten the medicine she needed to clear up her infection and she told me that her husband had died on the job at his work and it was up to her to take care of and feed her 7 children. The children were wearing red shirts- I found out that the shirts they had on was the only shirt each one of them had and the mother washed them in the river each night. She told me that she was not able to get the medicine she needed because it would cost her around $4 and that she could feed her 7 children on $3 a day. If she bought the medicine she needed, her children would not eat for the day. This mother was also barefoot. She would not accept money from us, but did accept the shoes that we went and purchased for her. Within about 2 days we saw her again and she was already feeling 150% better since the medicine had started to work..."

I listened to Bro. David tell this story and wanted to sob. How blessed am I that whenever I am sick, I can immediately go to the Dr. and get medicine to cure me? How blessed am I that I don't have to worry how I am going to feed my (2) boys each day, b/c I have food in the pantry, freezer, and fridge? How blessed am I to have not 1, but around 7 pairs of shoes? What about the number of shirts that my boys have to wear each day? Air conditioner, electricity, a nice house, a husband still alive who loves and provides for our family?... I could go on and on...

My prayer is that I would be reminded of that story each and every time I feel an attitude of ungratefulness for all that God has blessed me and my family with. And thank you to all the servicemen and families of servicemen who have sacrificed so much for our freedom so that we (America) can enjoy all the MANY, abundant blessings that God has given us!

I encourage anyone who takes time to read this to also read Luke 21: 1-4. It is the story about the widow's mite and a great encouragement and reminder for us to give sacrificially. After all we have been given, after all Jesus has sacrificed for us, it is the very least we can do.

I am SO proud of Cade! He is finally trying new (healthy) foods! :) Since Sat. he has tried a cheeseburger, raw carrots w/ranch dip, corn, a green apple, a turkey and cheese sandwich, tomato bisque soup, salad (w/spinach leaves) and ranch, and dark chocolate and vanilla yogurt covered raisins. This is the child who has lived off of chicken nuggets, fish sticks, pizza, and about 2 or three other items his whole life! You cannot imagine what a blessing this is! He actually likes everything he has tried (except the cheeseburger, oddly). And he is excited about trying new foods and learning about eating healthy!
I have to thank my husband, Keith, for this. He determined last Fri. that enough was enough and literally threw away some unhealthy food out of the freezer and set this into motion. In addition to Cade trying all these new foods, we have eaten our last 5 meals at our dining room table as a family. You cannot imagine the difference it has made in a mere 2 days! I would encourage anyone who doesn't eat at least one meal a day at the table together as a family to just try it. You will be amazed at the conversation and bond in creates! We go around the table before eating and all say a prayer. Cade has been so honest and precious with his prayers. And after we've eaten, he thanks Keith and I for the meal and helps clean off the table. This may be "the norm" for some or most families, but it has not been for us. What a blessing it has been already! :)I honestly look forward to meal time now with my family instead of dreading it. Before, I would fix something for me and Keith, something different for Cade, and something different for Dalton. Now, we all eat the same meal together! And it is nice having help cleaning up afterwards! I am SO THANKFUL! :)

We Survived the Yard Sale Weekend!

My feet are aching and I am exhausted, but I think it might have been worth it! This weekend, our family made over $570 during our yard sale! I have heard of people making good money and having successful yard sales, I've just never made more than maybe $100. So, needless to say, I'm pretty happy!
I literally couldn't have done it without Keith! He hung steel piping across the 2 trees in our front yard so I could hang the maternity clothes, set up tables, and helped me get everything set out and after it was over, packed back up.
We pretty much sold all of the summer clothes pieces and have just fall and winter left, so Keith suggested we have another sale at the end of the summer! I think that's a great idea since everything is already priced, organized, and ready to just be set back out on table and hung up. Should be pretty easy!
It's exciting to have made so much because we can use this money to go to TX and visit Keith's family this summer. Keith mentioned us possibly staying there for a week, as long as he could work some during the days. Now all we have to do is pick a week that works for everybody!
All in all, an extremely stressful and exhausting week/weekend, but it was all worth it!

God is listening!

Through a stressful and very worrysome week, I can honestly say that I have experienced God in a very real and personal way. My week started with Cade running 100.6 fever all of Sunday evening and night. I decided to take him on to the doctor Monday morning, only to be sent home with a diagnosis of "something viral, maybe" because Cade had no fever and he looked and sounded good.

Monday night, Cade ran 103 fever all night long. You talk about a worried mama! I called my mother-in-law (thank you God for her!) who is an extremely accomplished nurse for the last 20+ years and told her Cade's symptoms. She asked me to get him to take a deep breath and cough hard. When I did, he started to cry and couldn't get a deep breath. He said his "side and back" hurt. Helen said it sounded like pleuracy or pneumonia.

From all the trouble I had out of Dalton on Monday's doctor visit, I knew better than to take him back the very next day! So, I called and asked my stepmom, Sylvia to keep Dalton while I took Cade back to the doctor. She graciously headed straight here!
I called the doctor back and was told that a "nurse would call me back". Well, my motherly insticts kicked in and I didn't wait for a call back. I took him and walked into the doctor's office and told them that I felt he needed an x-ray and could have pneumonia. They worked him in and did get an x-ray and a white blood cell count.
The doctor came in the room minutes later and said Cade did have pneumonia, even though they still couldn't hear any crackling or anything wrong with his breathing. Helen had told me that sometimes you just couldn't hear the pneumonia, you could only see it on an x-ray.

I brought Cade back home and Sylvia stayed with Cade and Dalton while I got his prescriptions filled. Cade was so lifeless and his fever was so high, I was extremely worried about him. I had been praying and had asked my best friend Jessica to pray and some church friends to pray. I hadn't completely lost my mind, but I was on the verge. This may sound silly to most people, but to those who understands how worry can overtake you and steal your rationality, that is how I was feeling. Irrational. Cade had already had a steroid shot at the doctor and the doctor was confident that he would be fine with antibiotics, but I was still SO worried!

So, anyway, I got back from Walmart and Sylvia went on home. I tried to give Cade the first dose of one of his two antibiotics. He threw it up. I tried a second time. He choked and gagged and threw that one up too! I knew I wouldn't have enough for the 5 days I was supposed to give him this medicine now, so I called the doctor to ask what I should do. As I was on the phone, on hold, Cade starts yelling, "Mom, Dalton is pouring something all over the floor!" I ran into the living room to find that Dalton had poured the last three doses of Zithromax all over the carpet!

Well, that was about all I could take and I just started sobbing! I walked into the den, away from the boys, and tried to catch my breath, but I was so worried, so angry with Dalton, and so exhausted from no sleep, that I couldn't stop crying. I called Keith and I guess I sounded as bad as I felt, because he just said, "I'm coming home. I'll be right there." Keith actually left work to come home and comfort me and help with the boys. Now that's an amazing husband and daddy!!!

Cade did finally (after I went and got a new prescription) take his medicine for Keith. I guess one dose of the Zithromax paired with the steroid was a perfect combo, because he started acting completely normal by late Tues. night. He got a great night's sleep and woke up Wednesday feeling great!

We went to get his sats checked at the doctor's office Wednesday morning. After waiting 25 minutes, I went to ask what was taking so long. The receptionist then told me that the doctor needed to see Cade after all and do a full blood workup! I wasn't able to wait to be worked in because Keith had a meeting to get to and he was keeping Dalton. So, I scheduled a check-up for this morning at 8:30. I basically worried about Cade's white blood cell count (this is why the doctor wanted to check him again the very next day) which was at 31,000 (the normal being 4,000-12,000) all day yesterday and until I got the call that it was back to normal today at 5:00. So, everything is good and nothing to worry about, right? Not necessarily...

Cade and I were fixing to eat supper and we started to pray. Cade said his prayer and then I prayed thanking God for the food, for Cade feeling better, and then asked for God to protect Dalton from getting the pneumonia and that God would give me wisdom to know if Dalton was showing any symptoms. Literally within the hour of praying that, I was holding Dalton and noticed that his forehead felt warm. Oh, no! I checked his temperature and it was 99.4- are you serious? Immediately, I made an on-the-spot diagnosis of pneumonia. I was just sure of it! So, I called Keith and told him I was fixing to take Dalton to Med Serve and asked if he could come home and watch Dalton. He said he would be here soon and I finished eating and started getting Dalton's bag packed to head out.

I was ready to go, all I needed to do was change Dalton's clothes, which he had gotten all muddy from playing outside earlier. As I grabbed him to change his clothes, I noticed a dirty diaper. Not just any dirty diaper- it was a "teething-style dirty diaper". Ok. Wait a second... My mind started thinking a little more rationally... A teething diaper, a low-grade fever, a runny nose for the last several days... YES! He is just teething! All the symptoms fit and I immediately felt peace about it. I had asked for wisdom and within the hour, God had listened and answered my prayer! Now that's a great feeling and a huge blessing in the middle of such a tough week! Thank you God that I matter to you, that you listen when I pray to you, and that I don't have to worry because you are in control and have my (and my family's) best interests at heart!

Where does the time go?!

Well, I sure don't know where the time goes, so if anybody out there does, please let me know! :) All I do know is that it gets harder and harder to accomplish my "list" each day. Maybe I should just chunk the list!

Cade has been really enjoying his new karate class. He started last week at Kinetic Kick here in Tupelo. Both instructors there are really focused and serious with their students, but also have a positive attitude about them. Keith and I are really pleased. The great thing about Kinetic Kick is that Cade can go 6 days a week if he wants and the price is the same per month. This gives Cade somewhere to go and something to do, especially in this rainy weather when we can't enjoy the park and outdoors!

Dalton is learning so much! He says new words all the time and they get clearer and clearer. Two nights ago, he pointed to a tree in a book and said, "tree!" clear as day! I kept thinking, I didn't teach him that word yet,... Then I remembered hearing it on one of his Baby Einstein DVDs he watches in the car. I also noticed him mimicking the sign language on one of them yesterday. So amazing! Dalton has really been noticing that Daddy and Brother leaving every morning and doesn't understand why he can't go with them. It's so sad! :( I know Dalton will be so excited to start preschool this fall.

Keith is finally making use of his new golf bag I got him for Christmas. He bought a new driver club the other day that he just loves! Keith took Cade Sun. afternoon and they hit some balls at the driving range. He said the driver is just amazing! Since he is officially off the disc golf board, he will have more free time (and less stress) to play real golf. I am excited for him!

I have been pretty busy lately! I get to work Mother's Day Out at our church some Mon.'s now and a Thurs. here and there. I have enjoyed being a little more busy than usual and the weather allowing Dalton and I to play in the backyard some. I miss Cade while he is at school; at the same time, he is getting more and more independent all the time, so I had better get used to it! I have so many projects and good-will ideas that I want to work on, not to mention scrapbooking! Man, am I ever behind on scrapbooking! I literally have over 30 sheets of paper and stickers just sitting here waiting to be scrapped!

Just about 6 more weeks until the beach!!! Oh, I can't wait! I hope Cade and Dalton will really enjoy it, especially since their cousins will be there to play with. That will make a huge difference for Cade, I know. It is going to be hard to make myself leave the hotel, from the pictures we saw over the internet. An outdoor grilling area and huge, beautiful pool, games, exercise room, activities for the kids... We are definitely looking forward to our mini-vacation with family!

Well, I still have so much to do around this house and "Curious George" is almost over (ha!) so I had better get back to work! Laters!

Pearly whites!

Cade had his second visit to the dentist this morning! He did so good, again! The dentist said "no cavities" and that his teeth looked good. Dalton had a blast playing in the waiting room. They have this real arcade game in there, along with all kinds of trains, balls, and learning stations. It's like a little playground!
I got to eat lunch with Terry today! We went to Ichiban and I ordered the cooked salmon sushi. WOW! It was excellent! I will definitely be ordering that again soon!
Nothing else exciting today... :)

What a Super Weekend!

It has been a Super weekend, and not just because of the Super Bowl! :) Friday our family just stayed in and watched TV, played chase with the boys, and I caught up on laundry. Nothing special there, but it was kinda nice to stay in and spend time together!

Sat. we headed to Lowe's to look at some paint swatches and start getting ideas on repainting our room and possibly the boy's room. Keith and I have a lot of things we want to work on in our house. We are compiling ideas right now! I (finally) got a hair cut Sat. afternoon and I LOVE IT! She basically did that (old now) SAHAG haircut, where they use a razor to thin out your hair by sections. It is so easy to dry and fix now, since she got rid of so much hair! There's just something awesome about getting a fresh haircut to me! ha!

Sat. night my sis and her family came over to eat with us and let the kids play. They played so good together! We adults played some spades (it has been literally over 8 years since I played) and that was so much fun! There's nothing like a good card game! Amanda had never played before, but she caught on quick! I hope we get together and have a game night again real soon!

Sun. we got up and went to early church. Bro. Forrest had a great sermon, as usual, and Bro. David also in Sunday School class. Me and the boys snuck in a Sun. afternoon nap before we headed to mom's for the Super Bowl. My sis and her family came over too and we had a great time! Thomas and Amanda brought pulled bar-b-q pork, mom made her famous hash brown casserole and Holy Smoke, and Keith grilled bacon-wrapped chicken. We had other odds and ends- it was all delish! I didn't journal my eating today, because I didn't want to depress myself. ;) I just decided to enjoy eating today and start fresh in the morning!

Valentines will be here before we know it! How can that be?! We just celebrated Christmas! I truly need some ideas and help on what to get Keith. He has asked me what I wanted too, and I have no idea! If anybody reading this has any ideas, help!:)

Cade starts Karate!

Well, it has been an eventful week/weekend! Cade went to his first (Christian) karate lesson at the Wellness Center this past Thurs. He was so psyched about it and even showed me his "new moves" once he got home. As Cade was talking and karate-ing away, I noticed Keith was limping into the living room. It turns out, he went to play some racquetball while Cade had his lesson and his knee popped out of place and back into place. He iced it and did what he could until Fri. afternoon when he went to an orthopedic specialist to take x-rays and check it out. Luckily, his patella wasn't chipped (like happened to his other knee years ago) and he just needs some physical therapy to rebuild his knee. It could have been much worse, so we will be grateful that it wasn't.
My papaw Price had his 73rd birthday Fri.! All the family had his birthday lunch Sun. afternoon. It was fun! And the cake... was scrumptious! My mom made some amazing potato soup also! yum!

Just to see them smile...

Today has been pretty uneventful, but I will mention one thing... Dalton fell asleep on me in the rocking chair this morning, and I just happened to look at him at the right moment. When I did, this slow, huge smile spread across his face. It was just precious! I remember Cade smiling in his sleep all the time! I love it!

Humor break-

Dalton just poured by small bowl of trail mix out on the living room end table and organized the peanuts, raisins, and M&Ms into groups! He cracks me up! And, hey... why can't I get him to organize his toys like this?! :)

What we've been up to!

Finally, I post something new! ha! It has been fun and very busy around our house. Since my last post...

We had a great time at the hockey game Fri. Jan. 8th. It turns out that kids 6 and under get in free to the hockey games, so my family and my sis's family all went together. Dalton did really good- I was pleasantly surprised by this. He enjoyed all the action and just walked back and forth down "our isle" all game long. Cade thought it was a little long (and it was for a 6 year old), but he enjoyed it too. He could hardly wait until the game was over because he knew Keith was taking him ice skating with the players after the game. Me and my sis, Amanda, took the younger two back to my house while Keith, Cade, Thomas, and Thomas Aaron skated. It was our first hockey game and we enjoyed it and will probably go again sometime!

The next morning, Keith left early to be the tournament director for the Bag Tag Challenge disc golf tournament. He did a great job, as usual, and everyone had a good time, despite the frigid temperatures!

All the next week was a little uneventful, but the weekend was fun. I went out with my BF, Jessica, and we ate at Olive Garden and then watched "Leap Year". It was a good, clean, funny, romantic comedy. And why can't 'they' make more movies like
that?! Sat. me and Dalton played in the mall playground while Keith and Cade watched Alvin and the Chipmunks. Cade thought it was so funny and talked about it, literally, for the next 2 days straight. He kept saying, "Mom, I just keep thinking about that movie!" Keith thought it was a little corny, but a great show for kids!

All last week was pretty busy between errands and appointments. School was out on Mon. so Dalton and I were glad to have Cade home with us for the day. I started a new Bible study Wed. mornings and we have been going to Wed. night church. Terry and I had lunch Thurs. (at Newk's-YUM) and it is always fun talking with her!

Fri. 22- Dalton was especially challenging, so when Keith got home, we all decided to go out for a while, change the scenery a bit. :) We ate at Taco Bell (Cade's choice and request-his new food is tacos), then went to Hobby Lobby to get ideas for redecorating the house. We found some great frames for the boy's room and got some ideas for ours. We are considering repainting the red walls in our room to a darker tan or beige color. Not sure yet...

Sat. 23- Cade had two birthday parties: F-U-N (for Cade anyway :)Before I took Cade to the parties, my friend Jessica and I walked 3 laps around the track. We would have walked longer, but the wind was harsh and Jessica gets ear infections easily. We still got some good exercise! We also went to a few stores looking for a picture board for the boy's room. No luck- I may have to look online to find what I want!

Sun. 24- We went to church and ate lunch together at home. Keith went and played a quick round of disc golf at Ballard and then we headed to Dad's to watch the championship football games. We were happy the Colts won, but disappointed in the way the Vikings/Saints game turned out. At first, we were ok with either team winning, but the more breaks the Saints got, the more we rooted for the Vikings. I am a big Bret Favre fan anyway!

That pretty much catches up to this week. I am focusing on healthy eating and eating less. I have also done some form of a workout program and stretching each day. I have lost 1 pound in 2 days, and that's not bad! I am currently working on designing my blog page and starting a snapfish account. I also want to start a scrapbooking project I saw on an awesome website called "Kevin and Amanda"(Thanks Candise for this site- I am in love!!) Anyway, Dalton is up from is nap and there is lots of laundry, ironing, and cleaning still to do! Plus, I need to sit down and have some one-on-one playtime with Dalton! Hope everyone is well!

Snow Day!!!

We are still in Mississippi, right?! Yes, it is snowing today! And sticking. And there was enough snow for Cade and I to have a (short-lived, but very serious) snowball fight! Little Dalton got to go in the backyard and walk around for a minute and then went to the front yard with his "monkey gear" (a monkey backpack with a looped handle for me to hold onto him) so he could run around without worries of getting into the street. Dalton lasted a few minutes in the front yard and then it was his naptime. He went to sleep while Cade and I went back and forth from the back to front yard, carrying containers of snow for our snowman. The front yard's snow had pine needles and debris all in it, but there was perfect, good-packing, and clean snow on the back porch. We topped him off with button eyes, a small carrot nose, and twigs for arms. So, we our little snowman is now in the front yard for all passers-by to admire!

Our neighbors across the street were outside throwing snowballs at each other and declared a snowball fight against me and Cade. I think Cade won- he got 2 or 3 really good hits. Of course, it was probably because of the superb, quite large snowballs his momma was handing him non-stop! ha! Now that's teamwork at its greatest!

It has been a pretty great day all around... This morning, I listened to Wizard 106 (local country station) to try and call in to win a family pack of tickets to the MSU vs. LSU hockey game tomorrow night. Can you believe I actually won?! And on the 3rd giveaway- talk about 3rd time's a charm! I won them to give them to my sister, Amanda. She has had a rough time at work and Thomas is still in seminary school. I thought they could use something fun and different to do! Kids 6 and under get in free, so I think my sis and her family might all go together since all our kids will get in free. And the boys will stay with mom to spend the night Sat. Boy, is Cade excited! He has been begging to spend the night with my mom all week. Dalton enjoys it too- a nice, big house to run around in. Oh, and terrorize their cat. (Again, Dalton is like his daddy!)

Well, tonight is the big game! We want TX to win, I assume, since Keith is from TX. I just always like to watch a good, close scoring game. That makes it exciting! We plan to watch the game at dad's house, as long as the roads aren't icy tonight. Will all this snow, who knows... :)

New Year's Resolutions

We all have them, right?! Good New Year's resolutions and a lot of good intentions. I have learned that making a bunch of resolutions just stresses me out! So, this year, I have a couple "goals" in mind, but I'm not even gonna call them "resolutions". That is such a strict word! Rather, I have goals, fun things I want to do.

I have already been de-cluttering the house, purging unused and unnecessary items, and organizing. It is amazing how much stuff piles up in your house throughout the year! And it is scary how much I enjoy organizing! I keep saying one of these days I will have a career as a professional organizer. ha!

One goal I have for this new year is to keep up with our family's blog page and learn how to navigate the internet better. Maybe this will help keep in touch with family better! I also want to understand the Bible better. Ever read Scripture and not get a word of it? Some passages are very self-explanatory, and others, for me anyway, leave me clueless. I have a good self-help book on discovering the Bible. I went through the book of Daniel last year using the techniques given by Kay Arthur, and I really learned a lot I didn't know. It was interesting. So, now I need to pick a new book and get started... which book to pick? :) There are also several great Bible studies that are fixing to start at our church.

The boys are both growing like weeds, especially Cade. He is doing great in Kindergarten- he is the top reader in his class of 15. His favorite day is "computer day" because he loves to navigate the computer. (He is truly his daddy's boy!) Dalton is into everything and then some. He loves to explore and manipulate things. He also likes to empty containers and re-organize them. (I guess he is truly his mommy's boy!) Cade and Dalton love each other and play well together, most of the time. They are a lot of fun. I will try and post at least several times a week and tell funny stories as they happen...so...

The funny story of the day, and I close this post... Keith was here for lunch and reading an old, hilarious e-mail that my grandma Price had sent me. Keith was laughing so loud and so hard that his face was turning red. Dalton was watching Keith really closely and all of the sudden just busted out laughing. It was the most fake, loudest, funniest thing you've ever seen! Basically, Dalton was mimicking Keith. And when Keith and I laughed at Dalton, he just kept doing it, at that point, for more attention. It was SO FUNNY!

Hope everyone is well and having a great start to the New Year of 2010! God Bless!