{sweet little patient}

I have a sweet little guy staying home with me today. He started having complaints of tummy trouble last night and it hit about midnight.

I am praying so hard this is isolated and with a rapidly quick recovery. I'm about at a loss right about now.

{activation, please?}

My little Romeo, Evan has been scheming in a big way. He is trying to figure out how to get his hands on some mistletoe. He is very intrigued and is thinking that is the best stuff since sliced bread! And, of course, he has a certain girl in mind {who really does not acknowledge his existence very often}. Over the weekend he asked me how to activate it once he gets it. Activate? He is determined she will have no other option but to kiss him once he dangles it over her beautiful little head.

I am in so much trouble!

{LOVE this}

This is that Advent Calendar that I've been dying to do! I've seen it many times out in blog land and it is officially from Martha Stewart's website. I just have yet to find the time to go out and collect cute socks. But, the boys would love it, but I think I actually would a little more! So fun and festive.

A lot on the agenda today,but I am not feeling so great this morning; I think it is purely fatigue. So, some things I really wanted to do will be crossed off the list today in order to manage to get the most important things taken care of. {sad face}

{snippets}

*heading to a wedding today....still packing up my stuff {which takes FOREVER} and getting dressed in something other than my pj's would be a really good thing! out of flash batteries, detour to sam's. i hate doing ANYTHING before a wedding.

*new lense arrived. it is WONDERFUL. {but, it should be! gasp!} it came in right after my rental lense arrived. lovely.

*arrived at a birthday party yesterday a week early. i have totally lost it. gone. bye-bye! just so glad the police weren't called as i kept looking through the windows trying to figure out where everyone was. THE MOMENT it dawned on me, I bolted down those stairs like a rocket. AND, i didn't fall.

*my computer CRASHED. In.a.major.way. It about pushed me over the edge. That is a bad thing anytime. But, seriously? In the MIDDLE of catching up and getting all of my photography edits/orders finished. I was in tears. Literally. BUT, got to pick it up last night and it is working like a new one. Why didn't I take the time to take it in before it died, when it was just hobbling along?

*totally stopped by unannounced so scott could see mr. brad last night. they've both gone through a lot lately and i think just wanted to make sure the other was okay. ha!

*scott's having a lot of pain again, but per MD totally to be expected. stent comes out monday.

*okay, i have GOT TO run!

{santa's key}

it's magical around here! Evan is TOTALLY immersed in it. So, so fun! And, Noah is still believing if for no other reason than the fear of not believing. But, they are both having so much fun with it. Elmer our Elf arrived back to our house late on Thanksgiving night. I have a feeling he was out there on the many, many times that Evan went in search for him. Finally, the tears broke my heart as he had decided he was not coming back. But, when I picked him up and carried him out if got him just high enough to spot Elmer lounging in our door wreath as if it were a hammock. Elmer gets Evan out of bed every morning. We LOVE Elmer. I'm not sure he will not stay as our exchange student this year. The boys fighting.....almost zilch! They are so concerned he will hear them. Big teachable moment. :)

This morning, Elmer brought a special key back from the North Pole. Evan has been highly concerned about our fireplace and has begged Scott not to burn it until after Christmas so Santa will be safe. The key is the perfect solution. Santa sure is a smart fella! And, it is so pretty, Evan is amazed that it is encrusted in "reallllllllll rubies!!!!" {per Evan, not me}

{update}

Scott's BUN and creatinine levels {labs that measure kidney function} are still elevated. Waiting to find out what the next step will be. BUT, H&H are climbing again, so no transfusion! :)

{skirting the issue}

Why?

I'm not sure really?

I see more and more people I know that are immersed in christianity, but completely condone it for the sake of happiness. I.really.don't.get. it. And, for the record ONCE MORE, I am not casting judgement, I am just so confused with all of it. And, when it's playing out before my eyes, it's somewhat hard to miss. Although I try.

Affairs.

Unfortunately, they happen every day. Two hours ago, CNN ran a snippet at the bottom of the screen that announced another televangelist succumbed. I have had family members and dear friends fall for the same lie. You cannot sprinkle sugar on a sour mess. I'm sorry, it's still sour.

The last two years have been beyond challenging for me. I have confronted. I have prayed. I have sought counsel on basically, WWJD, I have loved from a far, I have prayed and I have pulled back.

I have witnessed my dear, dear friend go through it from the receiving end and experienced the heart-wrenching pain as I stood my her side as we both shed thousands of tears. Her life was torn and ripped apart due to no fault of her own. Pure & utter devastation. It was beyond painful to watch.

Today I learned of another marriage demise. Another family destroyed. My heart is heavy for what this wife and children are suffering through right now.

I see other spouses/friends who have been left behind. It is devastating to watch. I can't imagine having to live through watching Scott walk away from our family and excitedly building a new one with someone else. I pray I never do, as I clearly know that no marriage is immune. But, I want to take active measures to protect mine. And, yes, there are days I would box him up and send him out with the Fed Ex man {and, I'm sure he would do the same with me}...but, really? destroy a family? a testimony? a legacy? what justifies that? I won't even go to the greener pasture lure that is guaranteed to fade like all other grasses. Been there, done that on this blog.

After so much praying over handling particular situations in the way that HE would have me handle them I have sought so much counsel. After learning today's news, I sat here and sought technological advice from a wonderful mentor....even if it by way of the Internet.....Lysa Terkeurst. I remembered reading a specific post she wrote a while back when she learned one of her very dear friends was in the midst of an affair that destroyed her sweet family. I didn't locate that one, but my search led to one in which she overheard a man in a restaurant who was clearly in the midst of destroying that legacy with these poor choices. And trust me, when I say that I have sought in how to handle these situations, I HAVE sought. And, the funny thing is, I try so hard to avoid all of this swirling around me, but every time I turn around it is THERE, regardless of my attempts to avoid. But, when I read this today, it spoke to me in a huge way....

{excerpts from the blog post @ lysaterkeurst.com}

A healthy awareness of the reality of our broken world motivates me to love lavishly today {my husband & family}, choose to trust, fill my mind with the truth of God and pray like crazy for the protection of my marriage. She went on to explain that "I know many of you were hoping I had a story of a great dramatic confrontation, but I don't. Believe me, I begged God to let me hurt him {the man in the restaurant}, I mean lovingly confront him with the truth and redemption of Jesus. But God said no.

This man is blind.

This man is deceived.

This man is dancing with the devil.

But, God did say I should pray!

She went on the say she hopes God breaks his heart in the best kind of way.

I love that. And, it's just what I needed to "hear".