Happy 8.5 Mia!

8 1/2 years!  Time flies!  Seriously.  I can't believe our little girl is 8 1/2 today.  She's not a little girl anymore, she's growing up.  It hurt worse when Brad told me she was half way to 17.  Yikes!  Thankfully we are not there yet.  Today we will do a little celebration for her.  She wanted a lemon cake, so that is what it is.  Here's the sweet girl on her half birthday! 

She is as sweet as she looks.  She's been memorizing verses for Sparky's (Awana club) and one of her verses came from Revelation 21:4, "He will wipe away every tear from their eyes.  There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away."  As she was memorizing, she asked me if we could add in no more seizures too and I told her for sure.  She now will ask to pray after a seizure and always throughout the day whenever we pray for God to take away her seizures.  Patiently, we wait on God's timing for that. 

Thank you for praying for our sweet girl!

These kids...

They keep me on my toes!  I don't know that anything has changed since the last time I blogged; we are doing well. 

Parenting is definitely not for the weak hearted.  I keep having to remind myself that I'm in it for the marathon, not the sprint.  That seems especially true when your kids need so much discipline.  You think, why haven't they gotten this yet, I have told them a million times that they shouldn't be mean to their brother/sister.  Then I need only look in the mirror at my own reflection and think about how God is constantly working on me, does He ever say the same things about me?  We are born sinful and we are always maturing.  I just have to keep reminding myself how little my kids are and that the time invested now will pay dividends (hopefully) when they are older.  It's a journey, not a destination. 

And they are good kids.  But they are kids and make mistakes.  I guess the hardest part is getting to the heart of the matter, getting them to realize the heart issue about it. 

On a different note, Mia had a seizure at MARE yesterday.  We had finished her riding lesson and were in the barn looking at some things.  I didn't see it happen, but all of a sudden I hear a crash and she is flat on her back on the floor.  But, by the grace of God, she still had her riding helmet on and she fell backwards.  Her head was totally protected and she got away with no bumps, bruises or scrapes at all.  Even through all of the junk of the seizures, I see God's hand on her life in a mighty way.  Over and over again, He protects her.  I'm so grateful.  Thank you Lord!

Too Many Irons In The Pot

That's what it seems like or that's the excuse I give for not blogging as much.  We just have too much going on.  Keeping up all the daily household stuff + homeschooling + any extra life activities and then I can barely keep up.  I don't know how to make life any simpler because I feel like we live fairly simply. 

I got to get away last weekend with my best friend from high school and still best girl friend today!  She and I went away to celebrate our 40th birthdays!  When I was little and my mom turned 40, I remember what a big deal it was...now, it doesn't seem like such a big birthday.  I guess it is all perspective.  Anyway, we went away to the coast and just relaxed and shopped all weekend.  We stayed in Cambria and there are so many cute stores to peruse around in, it was fun.  Aside from the uninterrupted sleep, I told her the best part was having time to finish a conversation and not be interrupted.  That was nice.  Daddy was a trooper and held down the fort, the kids didn't even miss me...dads do a good job of that. 

A few weeks ago Grandma Cheri bought the kids a play set and this week we have been assembling it.  It will have swings, a slide, a fort on top and monkey bars to crawl across.  The boxes have been in our garage for a bit and the kids have been asking when we would build it and the time has arrived.  Uncle Paul has been a trooper and has been over here doing a bulk of the work.  I feel like I am just here for moral support and to find pieces.  Especially pieces that the kids pick up and move around and shouldn't do that to.  Hopefully it will get finished today. 

Mia is still having seizures.  We have an appointment in April to explore alternative treatment for her (cannabis oil).  Please be praying about that, just wisdom and direction on what to do.  She also has a tentative surgery scheduled in May, but I'm waiting to hear back from doctors regarding that.  It will simplify our bowel management process and so just be praying about that also.  We hate doing surgeries, but know that sometimes it is the best choice and now seems to be the right time for this to happen. 

Calvin and Asher are doing well.  They both had check ups a few days ago and are growing, healthy kids.  Thank you Lord!  Asher has just started to recognize certain letters/sounds that start words.  The other day he said, "pink, that starts with "puh" with is a p."  He was super excited.  I said, "what does Asher start with?"  He said, "aaa with is a."  Just trying to write down and soak up the sweet moments because there are quite a few not so sweet moments too.  :)

Birthdays, Birthdays, and more Birthdays

It seems like February is the month of birthdays in our family.  We start the month off with our sweet groundhog baby and then move on to daddy's birthday on Valentine's day.  Then on the 21st of the month is Calvin's 1/2 birthday.  Its been a fun month of birthday celebrations for the family.

Asher had an airplane birthday party.  We invited a few friends and had dinner, cake and presents.  Rather than trying to plan some themed activities, I decided to just let them run around and play.  It worked perfect, they were completely happy to do that. 

Daddy wanted a special "cashew" cheesecake for his birthday.  I tend to get intimidated by recipes and I've been trying my best to push threw that, so I took the challenge.  We have a vitamix and that helped to blend up the cashews until they were creamy.  Surprisingly, the cheesecake itself was easy to make.  It was the raspberry topping that was challenging because of all the boiling and straining of seeds that took place.  But it was delicious and Joy especially approved.  :)

Calvin had no clue that his 1/2 birthday was on the 21st.  I was trying not to make a big deal about it because it was our Missions day at church and I knew we were going to be consumed with stuff to do.  Rather than telling him, I wrote Calvin, 5 1/2 on our chalkboard on the wall.  I guess he was eating his breakfast and noticed the sign and ran to ask Daddy what it was all about.  I then showed him his 1/2 a birthday cake and he was so excited that today was a special day for him.  When we got to church, the activity center was decorated for the missions lunch and there were red balloons on all the tables.  Calvin's eyes grew really wide and he looked up at me and said, "Is all of this for me, Mama?!"  It was rather sweet. 

Anyway, I didn't get enough great pictures of much, but here are a few pictures from Asher's party. 

Happy Birthday, Asher!

Dear sweet Asher,

You are 3 today!  What an amazing ride these past 3 years have been with you!!  You are so passionate about so many things, we pray that God can help us to grow your passion for good!

You are a big boy.  You've grown 4 inches this past year.  You are like a little bean stock.  We keep telling Calvin to watch out, you might pass him up one of these days.

Last year we could barely understand a word you said, but your speech has improved so much this year that we can clearly tell what you want and when you want it.  You have two volume levels, quiet and extremely loud.  This year we really want to work on your inside voice.  :)

You love to learn and want to do everything that big brother and big sister do.  One of your favorite toys are Legos and you can't get enough of them.  You are also excellent at puzzles and you are slowly learning how to use a scissors!

Mama is your best friend, except when you are in trouble.  Calvin is your favorite person to play with.  You love music and you love digging in the dirt.  If you could listen to music and dig in the dirt, you would be the happiest boy in the world.

We love you sweet boy!  We can't wait to see how God grows you this year!

Love,
Mama and Daddy...Mia and Calvin