{change of shift report}

well, not really, the shifts are ongoing here. ;)

noah's fever is back up to 102.9 and he is not due for his next round of tylenol yet (i'm rotating the motrin and tyl) he's pretty miserable. he did get up and play with legos for about 30 minutes and started chilling again.

the reason i am posting is noah has a TERRIBLE history with his lungs - beginning from when he was a newborn. so, we have fought pneumonia, tons of bronchitis, rsv x i lost count in his little past. so, for him, i've been particularly fearful of this flu. his cough is still very nasty and wet, but lungs are staying clear. so, if you could just remember him in your prayers tonight, as i am ready for him to round the corner.

will keep you posted.

{when i grow up}

or, maybe when I can ever find that rewind/re-do button, or..hmmmm....maybe take some hints for her.....yep, that's it, i'm thinking she definitely needs to mentor me.

but, why was I not surprised today when I hear my doorbell ring - we scramble. Well, all of us but Noah. He did not budge from his cave of blankets and pillows on the floor. I'm reminding Scott to tell whoever it is at the door....."we" have the flu. I see a corner of a purple Halloween bag hanging from my door. Scott thanking someone.

A goody-bag. And, not just any goody-bag. A great goody-bag.

I'm sure you all have guessed it. Mandi Williams.

Need I say more?

Seriously, the girl has wings.

Wings that fly at a warp-speed to get everything she gets done.

I have the best, best intentions. She flies.

Thank you Ms Mandi.

Once again.

Someday......

ps, MW you cannot kill me for posting this. I've typed in code in the past as not to reveal your identity. But, this was the topper. You made a mama cry, and a sick little boy smile.

And, since I only have 5 readers, and they all know your secret identity. Your secret is still pretty safe. ;) Thank you so much!

{homebound}

and, not by the reason I would choose. Noah had a big bite from the nasty flu bug. He is down for the count. It hit in the wee hours of Friday morning. Dr. W's office let us come as a walk-in - I made it to the clinic from hanging up the phone in 24.5 minutes. And, of course I was not even dressed when I made the call. Test = +. A long, long, long wait for the Tamiflu to be filled. He had an upset stomach on the way over, but, did not succumb to that until we were back home again. Thankfully, since yesterday, no more of that. His highest fever today - was this morning - 103.4. Poor thing.

I was heartbroken that they would miss their long-awaited trick-or-treating tonight. So, I made a mad dash to Wally World this morning and loaded up on candy and a new movie. He's still totally lifeless in there and looks horrible. The cough is nasty - but, so far his lungs have stayed clear. I do not feel well, but, then again, I haven't really slept for days - so, I'm thinking mine is just a cold (again) and fatigue. The other two are faring well so far. Let's just keep it that way. I've been editing away, doing a little online Christmas shopping, snuggling, snuggling, administering meds and ummm....snuggling.

Although I often dream of being home all.weekend.long.....this was not the box I remember checking?

Stay well everyone!

{MIA.....again}

sorry for the lack of updates! (that is particularly addressed to Aunt J!:)

noah and I had a bout with "something" last week. it bit me worse than it did him, thankfully. i made it through the wedding and finally started feeling better saturday. now, it is major catch-up time to a degree that i can't even put into words.

just me and my santa coffee mug filled with peppermint mocha.

all will be fine.

at least, that's what i keep telling myself! so....i'll be underground for a few more days. :(

{despite.....}

such a sad loss this afternoon....but, last night before she zipped away on the jet-plane to make it for that nail-biting game...this super-sweet razorback cheerleader helped with our fall festival fundraiser in a big way. she drew a big crowd for this photo-op!! hmmmm......i can't imagine why? ha! thank you so much lexie! (spelling, i apologize) we sooooo appreciate it. you are a beautiful girl inside and out!

despite a small space and a very last minute make-shift backdrop...here are a few. i have only posted kiddos i know, since i have no permission to post :)

two of greenwood's finest......




look at sweet hudson!!!



okay, noah's feet have not yet touched the ground. he has called everyone he knows. he thinks he must still have her lipstick on his cheek. and, he has requested i have this printed and framed to take to school on monday. oh, yeah, he is pretty sure his teacher will put it on the smartboard. hmmm....





one of the sweet guys who saved noah's night....

{my heart could burst}

when my world is spinning, they slow it down.........so incrediably thankful.

{conversations in the car}

today noah informed me that "she was a REALLLLLLLLLLLLLLY good teacher, when she wasn't teaching."

hmmmm....

{here fishy, fishy}

today we opted to skip out on the (house)fly-fishing and stopped in a local gas station for some minnows. problem is......evan. he's just like that big bunny cartoon who loves his pets to a literal death. poor molly - that girl hasn't a chance. it's a miracle she is still with us.

back to the bait.

evan CANNOT leave them alone. i am pretty sure they have shaken-minnow sydrome. he just took me to the little container they are sitting in - that sits in an empty flower pot. he has stabbed a stake next to the bottom edge of the plastic bag. a near miss. if it had been millimeters closer - he would have had a waterless bag of dead minnows.

flies, anyone?

{clarification}

in case my son noah informed any of your children on the playground last week that he had detention. well....he didn't. he thought he did because he had to pull a card. that in and of itself about caused him to stroke. so, apparently, he spent his entire recess thinking he had detention. then, he panicked because he didn't know where to go for detention. he asked a teacher and she explained because his teacher had not given him instructions on how to fulfill his feared detention requirement, she assured him he was probably safe in assuming he really didn't have it. well, he fretted all night. went to teacher #2 the next day as soon as he could because by then he thought he would be having detention (he was still very unsure as to what that actually meant) PLUS whatever comes along with the absolute worst offense (principal?) since he was certain he had skipped it the day prior?? she explained to him, he was safe. she had not assigned that fate to him.

poor guy. he wasn't even relieved because he had himself so worked up.

{fly fishing 101}

evan has developed a crazy-love for fishing. at some point, he has heard the term "fly-fishing". today, in the midst of the ongoing rain...he begged and begged scott to take him fishing. unfortunately they didn't get to go.

however, i found a PILE. and, i am not talking one or two. but, a PILE of flies. of the house fly variety.

apparently, he was getting ready for his fishing trip with a fly swat in hand when i was working. i couldn't even take a picture it was so disguisting.

when he asked for me to place them in a ziploc. i grabbed the hand-vac instead. we'll stick to minnows.

{paint}

i forgot we weren't finished. the ceiling is being painted right now. thus, my put together living room. nada.

and, thank you Aunt J - got your sweet message yesterday. I'll call you soon!

{emotions}

very, very, very happy; what started out as a enormously rough morning....turned around. just makes me smile.

and, update: evan slept in his bed ALL.NIGHT.LONG last night. he is a happy little camper too! very proud of him!

and, i miss noah. :(

{obedience}

this is an excerpt from a recent blog post by Lysa TerKeurst

LOVE it!

"So, at the end of the day I have to ask myself, is the best in life found at the end of the easiest routes or the ones that require perseverance?

For me, what started as the faintest whimper of a yes to God eventually caused a glorious break in the dam of my heart. Eventually.

I may not live the easiest life. But, I do rejoice in the overflow of obedience. And no, I don't regret it. Not even in the slightest."

To read the entire post, go to lysaterkeurst.blogspot.com

(my link option is not working)

{clarification}

yes, the patio is not what was originally planned. the stamped concrete idea had to be scrapped because scott dug a pond (went a TAD too deep) and that was no longer feasible. so, with the cement man very unsure of the stability of concrete based on the above, we went to Plan B. antique brick that had been on his grandparents store. so, now we are happy for scott's poor judgement at 3 am. love, love, love the patio.

{pics of the agony}

here are a few, pictures are not cooperating to load......but, this is the lastest marathon stint of insanity....

obviously, the outside project did not get finished by class reunion time due to the floods of noah...but, they didn't seem to mind. it will eventually get there....





here are a few, pictures are not cooperating to load......but, this is the lastest marathon stint of insanity....








here are a few, pictures are not cooperating to load......but, this is the lastest marathon stint of insanity....



















a quick list of the last minute projects that i very poorly planned: i painted evan's bedroom and the boys' bathroom, new mirror and lighting for the bathroom, changed the decor up some and ordered my fav picture from the beach as it is "beachy themed, had crown molding put up and painted in all the main living area, halls, kitchen, entry and two bathrooms, stripped the wallpaper (finally finished it) in the guest bathroom, texturized the walls (myself. don't look too close!), new sink and lighting for that bathroom, painted the tray in the kitchen area, new countertops and chocolate sink (love it)in the kitchen.

the plumber finished up about 1 pm. I had to have in post-reunion-ready by 2 pm. whew! i'm tired. NOTHING else until after the holidays!!!!

{barely survived}

by a breath! all inside renovations were completed by yesterday AFTERNOON. thus,it was a scramble to get EVERYTHING back into place by 3 pm. i'm not sure i have ever been so tired in my life. but, the reunion was fun and great. and, no one noticed the paint fumes too much. ;) pictures to post soon!

{lies versus truth}

this will be a very butchered summary of today's sermon. do not let my poor job of summarization reflect what an awesome message bro. ronnie brought to us today. it was not all sugary fluff - which i love and appreciate, but, he went straight to the matter in love. and, bottom line, it is BIBLICAL....so, who can argue with that? although, we try...

this is wonderful for ANY married couple or any friend, who will very likely be in a position sooner or later to counsel or mentor another friend/couple...

i'll get straight to it....and, i will also STRONGLY suggest that you tune in to the audio on the church website (First Baptist Greenwood Arkansas)- to get the full sermon. I did add a few things that struck me during the sermon in my notes, and, included those as well.

"Satan's Lies About Marriage"

Satan's Lies versus God's Truth

Luke 6:46-49

LIE: Marriage is 50/50
TRUTH: Esphesians 5:25 - Husbands love your wife as Christ loved the church...
50/50 does not work. It is not biblical. That would make it performance based. What if God loved us and stayed in a relationship with us only if we performed our 50%. Do we ever even perform even close to 50% of what God gives us? Thank God he doesn't base our relationship on our performance. We should not base our marriage on the same. We should serve. We should love unconditionally ---- "just as Christ loved the church." Our marriage should be 100/0%. A hard pill to swallow, but, true and even more importantly....biblical. In our marriage, we should expect NOTHING back.

LIE: I can't forgive him/her for that.
TRUTH: Ephesians 4:32 - "Be kind to one another, tender-hearted.." Imagine for a moment if God chose not to forgive us. Think about what God gave to us and sacrificed for us so we could be forgiven. Do we deserve it? No. But, He did. And, will do again, over and over. NO MATTER what we do. (or, don't do) We are all flawed and need a Savior. We will hurt and get hurt in marriage.

LIE: I don't love him/her anymore.
TRUTH: (failed to write the accompanying verse of scripture)
This is exactly what Satan wants for you. For your family. Truthfully, we do not have what it takes to love our spouse. But, through God we do. Marriage is tough for everyone. The little things can escalate into an ugly monster. The marriage God designed is not based on those emotional feelings. But, His Word. This also goes hand and hand with the lie (to yourself) that "I will be happier if I divorce". Truth: Malachi 2:16 "for I hate divorce, says the Lord". Happiness was NEVER the goal for God in marriage. Happiness is based on emotions and fickle. Marriage is about commitment no matter. Today, recommit yourself to the fact divorce will NEVER be an option, never in your vocabulary. No matter.

LIE: The grass is greener.
Truth: Exodus 20:17 "do not covet your neighbors wife".
When you start thinking....they will treat me so much better, they would never talk to me like that, they could be so much better for me".....nothing but Satan's lies. Nothing more. Ask any of your friends who have crossed that fence for greener pasture...ask the ones that will be truly honest with you. With that honesty, it will be guaranteed that they will confide in you that the grass was absolutely not greener. Hopefully they will open their hearts to the regrets they have. The "He/She" they crossed the fence for....has all the flaws that we all carry.

LIE: That is just the way I am, I am not going to change. (this relationship is so far gone, it's not going to change or my feelings are gone, it's not going to change, i'm just not attracted to them anymore, we've changed, we've grown apart, and, it's over...i'm done)
TRUTH: Phillipians 4:1 "I can do all things through Christ...."
When we start thinking or saying those things......we are merely in a selfish mode. Because we are promised...we can do ALL things through HIM.

LIE: You don't need God anymore.
TRUTH: John 14:6..."I am the way..."
You decide you don't need God in your life, decisions, marriage. Part of this lie that we use is...God loves me. He wants me to be happy. I'm not happy anymore in my marriage and God wants me to be happy and basically "out of this." Satan gets us so side-tracked with this. We absolutely need to pray with and for each other. Only 5% of Christian couples actually pray together.

In summary, we can either follow God's design for marriage....or, Satan's. There is no in between. We have to take out the fluff. This is literal spiritual warfare and nothing less. There is nothing more powerful than for Satan to destroy a marriage...a family. God designed marriage, man did not. Would you ever attempt to build a dream home or an elaborate building without a blueprint? We have the architect and builder of marriages.....why would we not follow His plans but, rather, Satan's lies?

{devotional: to me}

and, some of you may enjoy as well.

This is from Lysa Terkeurst. I feel like I know her since she spoke at our church. All kidding aside - I love how she has taken SO MUCH pain - and allowed so much good to come from it. She could have stayed bitter, but, she chose not to. There are parts of my life, I could revert back to and either stay or re-enter the bitterness, but, on most days, I chose not to. But, it's so easy to slip.

This is from her blog a few days ago...

My devotion “Thorns and Petals” is running over at Proverbs 31 Encouragement for Today. You’ll find the verses I promised below along with a special announcement.

In my devotion, I talked briefly about the pain of being a child in a family torn apart by divorce. When my Dad left our family, he not only didn't live with us anymore, he slowly stopped participating in our lives all together.

It’s been over 20 years since I've seen my Dad. That’s hard on a girl’s heart.

But just like today’s devotion mentioned, I came to the place in my life where I realized I could focus on the hurt his absence caused or on other things in my life. Beautiful things.

Where my Dad fell so short, God has filled in many gaps. I've come to realize I don’t have to be the child of a broken parent the rest of my life, I can be a child of God. Loved. Truly loved.

That’s the way I felt recently when I had a speaking engagement in a small town in North Carolina. After sharing my story that Friday night, I walked to the lobby to greet the conference attendees. After a few minutes I saw a woman out of the corner of my eye using a walker to make her way toward me. She moved slowly but very deliberately.

When she got right in front of me, a feeling of warm familiarity spread from my head to the tips of my toes. Before my brain even realized who this person was, my heart blurted out, “Aunt Lou Allie.”

A sweet connection to my little girl world. A beautiful memory of love somehow lost all these years in the flood of hurt and rejection.

We shared a tearful reunion and a few minutes remembering a slice of my little girl world I’d long forgotten.

I think Aunt Lou Allie stayed up half the night after that preparing to see me the next day. She walked into the conference with a smile like sunshine dancing across her face. In her hands she held a white envelope full of pictures.

Evidence that despite the painful rejection of my Dad, there had once been love. A love I might have never known if it weren't for this chance encounter with my aunt.

Aunt Lou Allie died one month later.

Our encounter had been just in time. For me. For her. For both of us.

So here’s where I make the choice to give God the credit and look at this whole reconnection as a rose handed to me by God Himself. Yes, the thorn of my Dad’s absence is still there. But it is completely my choice whether to focus on the rose or the thorn.

Thorns appear in several places throughout the Bible. In Genesis, thorns were part of the consequence to sin entering the world (Gen. 3:17-18). Then in Judges we are reminded we must get rid of anything in our life that seeks to distract us from God or it will forever be a thorn in our side (Judges 2:2-4).

But probably the most moving Scriptures about thorns can be found in John 19: 1-3. This is where the soldiers placed the crown of thorns on Jesus’ head. And He took those thorns to the cross.

My thorns. Your thorns. And in the midst of the thorns Jesus gave us the greatest rose of all.

Redeemed life.

This Friday I’ll be sharing part of the redeemed life God has given me on the Oprah Show. For more information, go here and click on “Friday’s show.”

{a blurb or two}

i can't even tell you how behind i am. so, i won't.

**my class reunion is saturday. a portion of saturday evening is here. i will not say there are men in my kitchen busting out a wall/backsplash of tile, putting in new countertops and a sink. i just won't.
**i will not even mention the possible fact there are workers building a fireplace to finish out the patio. nope, because with two days of flooding ahead...there is all the possibility in the world that could be finished, right?
**i will not mention the molding installation was finished yesterday. but, has yet to be prepped and painted. the crew will be back tomorrow and start painting friday -they will need a day and a half to paint. sure, it's all going to be finished.
**i will not mention that the guest bathroom has no sink. because a sink cannot be installed prior to the painting of the trim. remember: that is scheduled for friday or saturday.
**nor, will i mention that we will be without a kitchen sink for 2-3 days. that will be alot of fun, huh? i think i may need to add paper goods to my list. when will i ever make it to the store?
**and, with all of this very well-planned remodeling stint going on, there is no way that every piece of furniture and any item of decor has not been shoved into three bedrooms and a garage. that would just be a blast to put back into place on saturday.
**oh, yeah, the carpets are standing up well to all the feet and the fact we have had days and days of rain. carpet shampoo, eh..maybe saturday afternoon?
**and, noah surely did not state that he will never have the need to move because...he is pretty sure we moved within the walls of our house.
**oh, did scott try to rip up two broken floor tiles and in the process mess up 10? the tilers are not allowing him to enter the kitchen again. ever. i'm pretty sure that is what they said.
**and, i surely did not repaint or paint 3 rooms. i hate to paint remember?
**and, my ice maker did not stop working.
**nor did my dryer.
**or washer. two of the three have indeed been repaired.
**oh, and the landscaping i have worked on for the past month did surely not shrivel up and die because before the floods of noah, i had all the time in the world to water them. dead. dead. dead.
**and, my little son who has never had a real bedroom set - well, did you know that you can buy entire sets in which every.single.piece has to be assembled? 5-drawer chest anyone.

okay, now for the serious part. my best friend is thinking we need to find another location for the after-dinner activities saturday evening. i am thinking she is stressed for me. because, and, this really is the truth. i think i am brain dead at this point, because there is not one single part of my brain that is stressed.

now, back to work. not on the house, i do have a real job, you know. :)