Thursday, March 31, 2011

Sitting at the dentist's office...

So this morning I'm at the dentist's office for my cleaning. Nothing abnormal, right?

Isn't it funny how the normal things to us are luxuries in other countries. Thinking about my little Cesar and his family with 3 children. They can't afford what we consider the basics to life.

I'm so thankful that our family has the means to help him get basic care that so many of us take for granted! I hope to someday see that beautiful smile that we've been blessed to help create <3 <3 <3 <3

Tuesday, March 29, 2011

Pictionary Tomorrow :)

Okay, so, I admit it.  I'm sooooooo competitive.  I love trivia games, crosswords, and any board game where I could possibly win. Scott won't play games with me because I'm so competitive.  Not nasty competitive, but overly enthusiastic and bubbly and excitable - it drives him crazy.

My most favourite game is Pictionary.  Luckily for me, my work has spring fun/winter carnival.  Almost every year for the past 10 years, I've been on a Pictionary team during this week/two week period. My great friend at work loves it soooooo much too.  We are on a team together.  I think we are pretty awesome along with our third player. We play tomorrow and I'm so psyched.  I hope we win tomorrow and win the whole thing.

What is funny, every once in a while I try to figure out why I'm so competitive and love games so much. I figured it out this past weekend.  While at my grandparent's anniversary, my uncles, aunts and father were in this competition over scrabble.  Every Monday night, a few of them gather at my dad's house or my uncle's house and they play scrabble.  They compete to see who is the ultimate scrabble champion.  To see their faces and the fun they have with each other made me realize that I grew up with these people and of course their fun-loving competitive ways concerning games would most definitely rub off on me.  I may have to join them next Monday : P

Monday, March 28, 2011

Tonight's devotion...It's Hard Being a Parent

So, tonight's devotion was such an awesome one.  I love that this devotion book seems to capture many different scenarios that have happened at our house with Noah and Olivia and even some that hit home with Mama! Tonight's did not disappoint.

They are short, so, I'll type it out....

Dad frowned at the broken spokes on Eric's bicycle.  "You won't believe what happened," Eric said as he wheeled the bike closer.
"I can guess." Dad's face was red. "you were in a hurry to play catch at the park.  How many times have I told you to park it in the bike rack instead of throwing it on the ground?"
"But I didn't--"
"Don't lie to me.  I'm not fixing your bike this time!" Dad yanked it away.  "Start thinking of ways to earn money to pay the repair shop."
Eric stormed inside.  He was sitting on his bedroom floor when Dad came to the door. "Son, I need to talk to you." Eric didn't want to talk to him ever again, but his dad came in and sat down. "A policeman just told me about the teenager who drove his car into the bike rack."
Eric blurted, "See, I wasn't careless, and I wasn't lying!"

Read:
Ephesians 6:4

Think:
Why do you think Eric's dad did what the verse says not to do?
How could he have followed the verse instead?
Make up an ending for the story, showing how ERic's dad might apply today's verse. 

Do:
Parents are people too.  How hard do you think it is for a parent to make good decisions all the time?  A little hard? Pretty hard? Really hard?
Choose what you will do the next time your mom or dad makes a mistake.  Does it help to know that parents aren't perfect and have to answer to God?

Pray:
Ask God to give your mom or dad wisdome and patience.

Memorize:
Ephesians 6:4 - Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger by the way you treat them.  Rather, bring them up with the discipline and instruction that comes from the Lord.

So, my kids are getting really good at understanding the devotional, the verses and are really getting good with coming up with the alternate "right" ending.  The devotion includes a possible ending at the back and a "What's the point?" bullet that explains the entire devotional and why it was something important to learn.

I thank God for this devotion, it taught me a verse I knew nothing of before tonight, and it also taught my kids how to show grace to someone.  I asked them if I've ever made mistakes and had to say sorry to them (which I have on many occasions) and they remembered.  I explained that I always ask God to forgive me when I realize the mistakes I've made. 

I just thought this was such a great devotion for the times when we mess up as parents to help the kids understand that we aren't perfect...we are still learning too.  However, it also shows us the way :)

Speaking of devotions, last night, I didn't get the book out, but took time with both kids to have a spiritual talk with.

I get in Noah's bed and I say "so, Noah do you have any questions about God, church, etc?" Noah replies, "No, mom do you?" I laugh to myself.  Soon, he came out with "How does God know everything?" 

So, he wasn't going to go easy on me by asking who the 12 disciples were, lol.  I was trying to put into words so that a 6 year old would understand.  Maybe it is a wrong analogy, but I think it put it into terms he understood and gave him the answer he needed.  My explanation...you know how you like Lego? you know how you create your ship and your bases and your people, you make them interact with each other and you know everything that they do?  Well, God created everything in the earth, he created you, me, your friends and everything in it.  Because he created everything, he knows everything that is going on.

We soon delved into salvation.  We briefly spoke of Heaven, angels and Hell where I had to explain what Heaven will be like "no more sickness, pain, sadness, everyone will be happy.  Noahs asked if people didn't accept Jesus into their heart, would they just stay here.  I had to explain that Hell was the opposite of Heaven and that "no, they wouldn't stay here, but they would go there".  Very deep conversations with a 6-year-old, but I believe God wants us to be open and candid with our kids so that they know they have a safe place to ask those questions where the truth will be told without sugar coating.

I pray everyday that my children would grow in the word and become devoted followers of Christ from an early age onward. 

Saturday, March 26, 2011

60 years of wedded bliss...

Today our family celebrates my grandparent's 60th wedding anniversary.What a milestone! Sixty years is such a long time to gel your life with someone and make it on the happy side of life.

I say happy side of life because they raised 9 children (7 boys and 2 girls)and I can imagine once all those boys finally were married off and started to haw children of their own, the constant struggles of parenting, financial stress and general busy-ness were over and it was the happy side of life for them!

Don't get me wrong, there are so many happy times on this side in the moments where you get lost in a silly moment, a loving moment, a together moment where you forget about the struggles of raising children, financially tension, the disconnect you can feel when it seems all effort goes into your kids, work, and friends where your spouse can become the last person you think of giving to.

I think the happy side of life is your reward if you've taken those happy moments (in the difficult times)and held onto them and really cherish the reason you first loved each other.

Happy Anniversary Grampy and Grammy! I pray your day is a reminder of the love you first felt over 60 years ago and the love you feel now will only grow deeper as each day passes!

Monday, March 21, 2011

Been a while...

I believe I'm failing as a blogger....HA!

I don't know how you others do it, having something interesting to say every day, every second day, or every week for that matter.

How do you choose what to say? Do you pick your topics based on what? do you choose funny, motivational, challenging, or total randomness?

I feel that if the story isn't captivating, no one will care to read it...but then again, I don't believe I have a following...so, I should write what feels good to me.  With that said, when I'm having good days, I like to share, when I'm having bad days, depending on how personal, I feel hesitant in sharing.  You just never know who may "happen" upon the blog.  So, I struggle.  I want to write uplifting things, but I'm not always in that place. So, I don't want to be seen as the "negative Nancy" who is always speaking of the down things......

REVELATION.......

my blog is like me.....worrying about what others think.  Makes sense, it is my blog...it should reflect me and my personality.

So, I guess I'll finish with an update on what has been going on...

-I just read an awesome book that ALL married couples should read...The 5 Love Languages. We've been married for almost 12 years and the knowledge I gained in the few days it took me to read the book will stay with me.  Now, I just need to apply what I've learned after I convince Scott to read the book....or at least take the questionnaire so that I can speak his "language".

-Olivia has her new prescription as well as her second pair of glasses.  She is doing so well with them.  We can't be happier.  I just keep praying that they do what they are intended for and that the lazy eye will be corrected.  What an incredible girl she is....she doesn't fuss over them, doesn't complain about them, puts them on without being reminded and takes such good care of them.  So thankful that she has responded so well to such a drastic change for a carefree little girl.

-I've been very strong in my resolution (not New Year's resolution...just  resolve) to be a more active parent in bringing Faith at Home.  I've been doing nightly devotions with the kids as well as beginning to bless them several nights a week before they go to sleep.  Tonight, I found a blessing our old youth pastor (back 15-16 years ago) used to say after every youth service:

May the Lord bless you and keep you.
May the Lord make His face shine on you and be gracious to you.
May the Lord look upon you with favor and give you peace.


I think I'm going to have to incorporate that into my blessing I say over Noah and Liv....that almost says it all.  I just love to watch their face light up when I'm praying over them.  It is as though they know that what I'm doing is something that is good for them, about them.  They just seem to soak it right up.  I mean how could you not when someone is speaking great things over you to your maker?  the feeling of importance and pride and self-worth! 

-we've had a developing breakthrough with Noah.  This child loved, I mean LOVED his vegetables as a baby and toddler.  His favourite were peas....he never really enjoyed carrots.  He never had any issues with them as a baby.  He didn't, however, like fruit at all.  I assume it was a texture thing.  He preferred veggies over fruit.  Somewhere between 12 or 18 mos to one year, he just started not eating them.  No apparent reason that I know of...he gradually just started not eating them when they were served and then slowly started gagging when being forced to eat them.  Anyway, this past month, we've been trying to work with him.  We've promised a big reward if he ate one vegetable at supper time each day.  He chose broccoli.  He did well for the first week....but he would eat everything else first and then begin to complain he was full.  After the first couple nights of this, I started using the oven timer and would give him 5 minutes to eat the floret. 

He would dilly-dally and I would give him an additional 5 minutes.  Usually, within the 10 minutes he would have it eaten. Not tonight!!!

He put off eating it with his supper, as usual.  When his main supper was done, I gave him 5 minutes... When I set the timer, I warned him that if the broccoli wasn't gone in 5 minutes, he would lose the reward.  After the 5 minutes, he had started to eat a little so, I showed grace and gave him 5 more minutes.  During those 5 minutes, he was playing around, arguing with Olivia, bragging about how much time he had left....yes, 5 minutes is a lot to eat one floret....but this kid can make one floret seem like it was a whole head of broccoli he takes so long. 

Scott and I were getting annoyed.  So, when the 5 minutes were up, we explained (maybe more of a reprimand) that the reward was gone.  He began to cry.  We continued to explain that 10 minutes was ample time to finish a piece of broccoli, not to mention the 20 minutes of suppertime before that additional 10 minutes were granted. 

It was such a hard thing.  He has done so well for the past 7-8 days and it sucks that we had to tough-love him to show him responsibility, integrity and reward.  Uggh!  I felt so horrible....but how else do you show your child that you mean what you say and say what you mean? how do you teach them the importance of keeping their word? how else do you teach them it isn't okay to manipulate Mommy and Daddy's good grace to get away from what has been asked of them? Tough-love is the answer tonight!  Why doesn't it have to be so hard on the parents though? maybe even tougher on us than him.  I just want to give in and start over tomorrow...he did eat half...but that isn't the deal!

-about to start reading a book called "Made to Crave" which is a book for women to retrain their brain to crave God instead of the food...what an awesome concept....we are made to crave, but we fill it with other things than God.  I pray that it works for the emotional eating I tend to lean on!

-tomorrow going on a mini shopping spree for me.  I am in need of some work clothes: pants, shirts, etc.  I am bringing along some great friends who will give honest opinions of what looks good, maybe give suggestions of things I would not normally try.

-although I haven't spoken with the doctor to hear my results from him, I spoke with his secretary/nurse/wife who advised me that my abdominal u/s I had a couple weeks ago revealed that I have gallstones--1 large and 1 small.  So, I go to my family doctor in April to hear the full results and likely get referred to a surgeon to have my gallbladder removed.  Maybe it is psychosomatic, but since I've heard the diagnosis, I've been noticing the constant nagging feeling under my rib on the right-hand side.  Maybe it has been there for a while, but since I was denying the whole gallbladder issue, I was chalking it up to gas!  I even told the tech during my u/s that "for the record, I don't have gallstones...it is just escess gass" HA! She was likely measuring it as I said that and was like "Okay, lady".  Anyway, praying for a quick process of getting these looked after.

-I also had a pelvic u/s.  Since my mom died of ovarian cancer, my doctor felt that it would be a good age to start screening.  We don't know, for sure, what age my mom first started having trouble.  I do know that she had a hysterectomy (partial) back in 1991-1992 (she would have been 40ish at the time) and I don't know the reason behind it.  She announced her ovarian cancer in 2004-2005 and died in 2007....but when she announced the cancer, it was stage 1....very treatable at this stage and a common cancer to have.  So, she could have had issues earlier...but I'll never know.  Anyway, my doctor felt it was something to investigate.  I don't have any issues or concerns in that area, so, I'm expecting a bill of health there :)

I think this post has gone on long enough!  If you are still here, thanks for listening to my ramblings:)

Sunday, March 6, 2011

Glasses - Take II

So, Olivia's glass journey has been a litle bumpy to say the least.

After the initial shock/guilt/sadness of knowing she needed glasses, we soon got to see how much better she could see things as well as how adorable she looked in them :)

We initially didn't feel great about our optometrist with Olivia but felt as though the reflection could have been brought on by our discomfort with her needing glasses.

While waiting for her glasses, we noticed her left eye was turning inward more and more frequently. We made an appt to see our family doctor since our optometrist gave us no direction other than the lens prescription. We dissent have a treatment plan and he blatantly denied her left eye was turning inward at all.

Our family doctor, quickly looked at her eye and noticed what we had been noticing, he calmed our fears and recommended a second optimetric opinion because of our lack of info received.

On Thursday, I brough Liv to her new optometrist who I couldn't get over how much we were missing out on at our last visit :( Her first word "did the last optometrist dilate her pupils before testing?" to which I replied, "no, is that normal?" Apparently, no child Olivia's age should have their eyes tested without these drops or the result will be inaccurate.

After two hours with a phenomenally gifted optometrist who related so well with Liv, it was determined that Liv was being undercorrected and not given an appropriate treatment plan.

So, we after having glasses for a week, Liv had to return her glasses to the optician to have the lenses adjusted to te proper strength. We will follow up in 7 weeks and then again in a few months to begin the patching regimen.

I know this sounds like a big complaint...which it is, but at the same time, it is a huge sigh of relief that we went with our gut and didn't stop searching when we didn't feel right! We ended up with an awesome doctor, a referral to a specialist, and a detailed treatment plan to help our baby girl see what she needs to see without strain on her eyes :)

Thank you God for your wisdom! Thank you for Your hand in all of this guiding and directing us through it all :)