HAPPY NEW YEAR (a little early)!

In case any of you (like me) want to know what this traditional new years song is about....follow the link:

I'm trying to figure out this link thing, so it's not here yet. But you can go to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Auld_Lang_Syne
in the meantime.....

Craig.....strange happenings here!

Well, once the girls were feeling better, Craig started noticing his tongue was numb. It was either Christmas Eve or Christmas, I can't remember which. It was really strange, but he had just had an MRI in August because of some strange vision things going on. The MRI was clear and that was attributed to migraines, so we thought maybe it was bleach? He had cleaned the bathroom with bleach earlier and it was really strong. Or maybe an allergy?

Then on Wednesday, he was driving home from Lowe's and the entire left side of his face went completely numb. It has progressively gotten worse and he now has almost no control of the left side of his face. I remember hearing of this as a teenager and looked it up online. It's called Bells Palsy. We went to the doctor to confirm, and it was confirmed!

WOW....for some reason, we are a magnet for strange illnesses! We are so grateful though that it is reversible (and not something more serious) and pray his recovery will be quick! There is a large range of recovery times for Bells Palsy. Right now he is in quite a bit of pain. He's had a constant headache since it started and pains that shoot through his head on occassion. I would think since it's paralyzed he wouldn't be able to feel, but I guess the nerves are still connecting? The other major issue is his eye. His eye doesn't blink as well or stay closed at night and dries out easily. We have to tape it shut at night and put drops in to keep it from being too irritated. Add to that, the fact that he looks at a computer screen all day, and this can cause problems!

His friends at work have been great! I'm so grateful that he works with people that really care for him and take care of him when I'm not there. Charlie and Becky gave him a sweet card and baked him brownies, and Kathleen printed out information from the web on Bell's Palsy and accupuncture and gave him a referral and vouchers to get started there. The've all shown him care and I am grateful for that (Thank you guys, if you're reading!)

All this is a reminder that our life here is short and we don't know what our future holds. Only God holds our lives in His hands, and can use all situations to bring us closer to him.

"And not only this, but we also exult in our tribulations, knowing that tribulation brings about perseverance, and perseverance, proven character; and proven character, hope; and hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out within our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us." Romans 5:3-5

Craig is doing well and looking at this as an opportunity to grow in character. It will be challenging, but I know God will bring us through this stronger and full of faith. He has so far!

We covet your prayers! Specifically for quick healing, wise doctors and what paths to follow.

Christmas Day

We spent a quiet, lazy day at home on Christmas. Everyone was finally feeling better (except a strange symptom with Craig, more later).

Kiley is now officially in another stage. She didn't get a single "toy" for Christmas! Most of her presents were knitting, sewing, craftly things, which she LOVES!!! Mamaw is very happy that someone in the family loves to sew!

Ashlyn was soo happy with her dress up clothes and doll bed and everything else! She is definitely a differnt girl than Kiley. Kiley would open clothes and be so excited. Ashlyn opened clothes and put them down immediately to go to the next gift, looking for a toy of some sort.

Merry Christmas Everyone!!!!

The Whirlwind of Christmas.....

It seems like the season just started, but it's over already! We've had a busy two weeks. All the antibiotics the girls have been on since April have taken their toll. Since antibiotics kill good and bad bacteria, their bodies are suseptable to getting sick easier. And, they did! Ashlyn had a cold / virus that turned into the croup the week before Christmas and Kiley had a cold / virus thing that turned into Bronchitis at the end of last week. We thought she was better before heading out of town, but I think it was the excitement that helped to feel better for a couple days. Now at least three family memebers have come down with it. Sorry guys!

Here's a few pictures from our travels. First we went to my parents in VA then my aunt and uncles in WVA. Then we came home early to help Kiley get better.

Dance Program

Kiley's dance program was this past Friday and Saturday nights. The pictures from rehersal actually came out better than the one's of the performance (user error, I had the camera on the wrong setting). But I did get a few (after I realized my user error). We also had someone take a family picture at the performance. Although the first person must not have seen Ashlyn....the one's he took were missing Ashlyn's head!

Dress Rehersal

Tonight was the dress rehersal for the Christmas Program Kiley is in this weekend..... My Little Angel!

Christmas Cookies and 78 Degrees

We have to pretend that it's really cold outside to help us stay in the Christmas Spirit. Not really though, I really don't have trouble there because I love Christmas and have no problem putting up our tree the weekend after Thanksgiving! But it is hard to believe that it's nearly 80 degrees outside!

The girls have been very patient (well kind of) with me. I've been telling them we will do Christmas cookies for at least a few days now, but with everything that goes with these skin infections and the work involved in getting things clean, bathing, spraying, spot medicating, and lotioning two girls in addition to calling doctors and researching specialist and alternatives to antibiotics, we've just ran out of time each day. We started to do them last night, then I realized the dough had to be refrigerated. So today was the day. Although we had to finish schoolwork, three loads of laundry, chores, phone calls about medical stuff, running to the post office, calling another pharmacy to try and track down what the doctor ordered, and then visiting another pharmacy to finally find what we needed, although we can't get it until tomorrow. All this to say, it was nearing 4pm by the time we got around to the cookies. But they had a great time....although I think my conf. sugar is stale. The icing tastes like powder, and once I thought about it, I think the conf. sugar has been in the pantry at least a couple years?

Red Wagon Project

For the past few years Kiley has been dancing at Kingdom's Feet, a ministry of Grace Covenant Church. It has been awesome. Her teachers are great and she loves dance. For the past few years they have developed a program called THE RED WAGON PROJECT. It started out small, for just a few families and has grown to include over 400 kids this year!

It was held at the Harvest Center near uptown, which is a place people in need can come to get food and clothing. Kiley and Ashlyn both helped set up on Friday for the event. It took us over 4 hours to do our small part, and they enjoyed themselves helping to get the party ready for the kids. From what I heard, over 100 of the kids that came didn't even have parents, so it was nice to give them a little fun, and tell them of the gospel and that there is hope for their lives.

I'd like to share a little about a wonderful little girl we met. Kiley and I were stationed at a table with younger kids. One little girl was very precious and really stood out to me. Her name was Shay and is nine years old and came with her twin brother and sister who are 2. It was just the three of them that came together that day, so Shay was in charge of taking care of them! Can you imagine? She was very sweet and asked me if she was going to get a Bible to take home, that she just loved the story of Mary and Joseph. I was very happy to tell her that she would get a Bible to take home and read whenever she wanted.

About 10 minutes into the party, her little brother started acting up and not listening to her. She started tearing up, so I went over to her and asked her what was wrong. She said she really just wanted to enjoy the party and knew she couldn't because he wasn't listening to her. I took her brother so she could just have fun for a few hours. He was a handful (he was so hungry he just about took my hand off as I was trying to open twizzlers as fast as I could, they hadn't had breakfast that morning), but I think it really blessed Shay to have a break. Another helper came to my aid about half way through and took the little brother so I could concentrate on the other 13 people at my table (it was suppose to be just 10, but ened up being 13)!

Kiley and Shay really hit it off. Shay was so excited about this party and wasn't just waiting for a gift, like most kids would. She was invested in every aspect of what was going on and eager to hear more about Jesus. They presented the gospel, and as soon as they asked if anyone would like to ask Jesus into their lives, she raised her hand. She did ask Jesus into her life that day, and I pray her heart was truly changed and that he will give her strength each day and help her to shine in the world and a true desire to learn more about him.

At the end of the party, all the kids were given a gift. Shay received a portable CD player and a Worship CD and was more excited than I have ever seen anyone getting a gift. She was so thankful and kept telling me and Kiley that it was the best day of her life! She couldn't believe all the work that "these people" had done.

There were other kids at the table too. The one thing I saw in common in them all, is that they just needed to be loved. Two boys at my table (both 6 years old), came to me at different times and just wanted a hug.....that's it, just a hug! And they kept on hugging for at least a few minutes. I don't know much about the life these kids went back to, but I know it is different than my life. We are so fortunate! I pray that these kids hearts were pricked and that they have a hunger to know more about the Lord!

I wasn't able to get any pictures of the kids during the party, I had my hands full, but I did get some beforehand. All the dancers in the ministry team (if you look close you can find Kiley), wore their dad's shirts over their costumes for rehersal and until the performance. I thought it was so cute seeing all the kids in their daddy's shirts! The picture of the three girls are Kiley and her friends Meghan and Elizabeth.

Here it is....Me flxshing the Coastguard!

A few of you have asked me to elaborate on one of the "things you didn't know about me". Ok, so I did flxsh a ship of Coastguard members, but it was completely by accident! I think some of you know the story because Mickey read it aloud during one of the Valentine's banquets....

Within a couple of years of being married, my boss "awarded" me a trip for two, a cruise to the Carribbean. It was wonderful and completely paid for! Well we went to bed one night while at sea and in the morning I awoke and took a shower, just like I did every day before that. Those bathrooms are so small that I would bathe in the bathroom, but would dress in our cabin. So, I walked out of the bathroom, nakexd, and it was really dark in our room, so I went over to the curtains and with one swoop, opened them completely, only to find we were now docked within feet of a Coastguard ship. It must of been time for them to report on deck, because each one was perfectly lined up along the edge of the deck, at attention, facing OUR ship, and OUR window, and MY nakexd body! YIKES!!!!

So, beware, next time you are on a cruise!

BTW....my content blocker, blocked me originally, I guess for the words NAKEXD and FLAXSHING. That's why I've added the X in those words so it won't be blocked. It's nice to know it works!

I'm tagged....

I'm not sure exactly how this works, but Jess tagged me to tell my favorite Christmas song and why. I've added a few of my favorites to my blog page. All the classics are great. I really don't listen to any new Christmas songs because the old ones are so great. We have the TimeLife Treasury of Christmas set and it is awesome.

If I had to pick, I would say Hark the Herald Angels sing (sung by Nat King Cole, of course) is my favorite, followed by Away in a Manger by Ed Ames. I love these classics!!! They remind me of Christmas as a kid! It also helps me meditate on what it must have been like that night long ago. We tell the story over and over, but just imagine and angel appearing and giving YOU a message. And what about all the people in bethlehem that night, hearing that the saviour that has been long awaited, has arrived!!

So, there it is....Now, I tag Anna.

Busy, Busy, Busy....

We've been up to a lot lately. Unfortunately, I neglected to take my camera! Uhgg! So, as an update....Last Friday we went to see the Nutcracker with Jessica and Brittany Moore, and had a great time. Then, Friday night we went to A Familly Christmas at Lake Norman Baptist Church. It was a blast! (and free, BTW) I wish I had pictures, but you'll just have to imagine it for now. Hopefully Jess will send me copies of hers from the Nutcracker, and perhaps Holly will send me some from A Family Christmas and then I can post them.

I did take pictures today of the Gingerbread House the girls and I did. It's really cute and the best kit I've ever purchased. I've always had trouble with those kits, but this one worked really well. The girls had a great time putting it together, but were really disappointed at the end when they asked if they could eat it now, and I informed them it was for decoration. I guess that's something I should have told them before hand, huh? I did give them 1 piece of the candy and a couple squirts of leftover icing...so they were content!

I know I was Tagged!

I know someone tagged me, but I'm not sure who it was. Maybe Anna or Erika? So here are my answers (I'm not even sure if I have the right number of answers):

8 Things you didn't know about me:

1) I wanted to be an astronaut when I was in middle and high school. I went to Space Camp and everything...Even had a mural of Saturn on my wall.

2) I built our fence in the back yard almost by myself (Craig dug the holes for me). When Kiley was a toddler, I would put her to bed and go outside and work for a couple hours in the dark. It only took about a year to complete.

3) I failed a class in college because I only went to class twice and never took any of the tests (sorry Mom and Dad, you never knew that one)

4) Pocohantas is in our family tree

5) Once on a cruise ship I flashed a ship full of Coast Guard soldiers at attention (accidentally)

6) I was one of those kids that never really had to study

7) I was called to the counselors office in high school because she thought I was being abused at home. It really was just a bicycle accident I had while on a family vacation at Cades Cove in the Smokey Mountains. My face ate the pavement and I still have the scars to show for it.


7 Children's Books I Love:

1) Good Night Moon

2) What is God Like? Kathleen Bostrom

3) Who is Jesus? Kathleen Bostrom

4) Annika's Secret Wish - Beverly Lewis

5) God Makes Nighttime Too - Dandi Mackall

6) The Gospel for Children - Leuzarder (AKA The Hell Book as Kiley Calls it)

7) The Boxcar Children - Warner

I don't think there are any bloggers out there that haven't responded...I know Shelley has a blog, but it only has a few entries. So Shelly, if you are out there you are tagged.

Girls again

Just a few pictures of the girls. First Kiley dressed up Ashlyn and Emma, then she let them dress her up....FUNNY GIRLS!

Medieval End of Unit Celebration

Wednesday night Kiley and Ashlyn both had their end of unit celebration. They each had tables to display their work over the first quarter and everyone dressed the part. We had medieval food, toasted with goblets and everything. They had a great time. The kindergarten class that Ashlyn is a part of put on a skit that was really cute. Kiley's class sang a song they learned about all the continents.

We really enjoyed being a part of this and look forward to more!

Here's a few pictures, again most came out blurry...

Dance

I took a few pictures of Ashlyn in dance class this week, my camera is acting up again, and most of them turned out blurry, but I got a few. She LOVES dance as much as her sister! How did I... the girl that played He-Man and GI-Joes with my best friend Taz, get two girly girls? Not sure about that one....but I Love it!

Didn't we just start school?

It seems like we just started school, but we celebrate the end of unit 1 (out of 4 units) in our co-op next week! We are having an end of unit celebration with a medieval feast. I'm trying to put together a slide-show for the party and have been looking at tons of pictures, so I thought I would share some from our first quarter of school this year. The girls have loved being a part of the co-op! It has been a blessing for us...Thank you to all the mom's that have volunteered to make this possible, especially the teachers and nursery workers!

We look forward to starting unit 2!