Well, I've been tagged so many times with this thing but never taken the time yet to do it. The thing is, I love reading everyone else's 25 random things soooo....I decided I would go for it, who knows what I'll end up with.
1. I never had stitches or broke any bones as a kid and then during my junior year in high school, in a span of only 26 days, I had stitches on 3 different spots on my face and broke my nose twice (had to have surgery after the second time).
2. I had a friend in high school who had two middle names and I fell in love with her name...hence the reason Chris and I gave all 4 of our boys 2 middle names (Corbin Michael Allen, Callen Matthew James, Cade Alexander Rae and Cohen William Garrett).
3. When leaving a tip at a resteraunte, I have to round up to the nearest dollar making it even...my dad always did this and I picked it up somewhere along the way because I cannot handle doing it any other way!
4. I am not a dog person, never have been and may not ever be. I do love all 5 of my boys though and I know one day they are going to want one so I'm already preparing myself so that I can be ready when that day comes.
5. I am an extreme perfectionist! This can be good in some ways and bad in others.
6. I love to organize EVERYTHING!!! Everything must have a home and needs to return to it's home after having been used...still working on getting all 5 of my boys to understand/comprehend that! :-)
7. I have over 60 pairs of shoes...and that's after getting rid of 8 pair just about a month ago. I believe shoes make or brake an outfit and I even have a t-shirt that says "will work 4 shoes"! :-) Did I mention I LOVE shoes?
8. I LOVE cake...one of the many reasons I started my cake business, "MaMa's Cake Boutique". I believe everyone should have a fun/unique cake, that fits their personality, on their birthday to brighten their day!
9. I can sleep anywhere, on anything and with almost any kind of noise. I guess that's what happens when you are the oldest of 6 kids and shared a room with 2 sisters! We LOVE every minute of it though...well, maybe not the minutes when one sister colored all over my comforter with red lip stick or the minute when one of my brothers climbed up my bookshelf (that had about 25 precious moments on it) like a monkey and brought it crashing down...other than moments like those though, we loved them all!
10. I never took any cake decor. classes, I just taught myself by watching cake shows and trying the stuff out.
11. I LOVE the color GREEN!!! I can't seem to get enough of it. I also love pink. I think those two colors are my favorites but I really just love pretty colors. Chocolate brown, teal and black are among some other favorites! I used to live by the simple rule that decorating with bland/neutral colors was safe and timeless. True...buuuuttt...not as much fun either. I still like to use the neutrals for my walls and main peices but LOVE throwing in the accent pieces full of color!
12. I can ramble on forever about just about anything...have you noticed that yet?
13. I love making new friends, and getting closer to existing friends! Friends are a Huge part of my life and I pray they all know how much I care for them and love them!
14. I LOVE babies...young and older babies, big and little babies, fat and chubby babies, long and short babies, boy and girl babies, friend's and my babies! Good thing my tubes have been tied! :-)
15. I love winter because I love snow (more than that I love to go snow skiiing!!!), I love summer because I love to go the the pool with my boys, I love spring because I LOVE flowers and baby animals, and I love the fall because it is breathtakingly beautiful (the scenory and weather).
16. I love playing games with family and friends...nothin' like a good ole game of Trash Train!
17. I can truly shop 'till I drop, and still have plenty of money left since I got everything for 75% off or more...I can smell a good deal from a mile off!
18. A dream I've had for years is to open and run a Bed & Breakfast one day and allow Pastors, Worship Leaders, Missionaries, etc. to come and stay for disc. and/or free.
19. Another dream I've had for years is to own/run my own Boutique store one day. I did start a business making and selling different hand made items about 2 years ago...Nifty Thrifty Designs.
20. I love food...especially a good steak!!! I'm not usually bashfull about eating but am going to have to be careful in the next couple of months because starting in May after I switch Cohen from nursing to drinking cows milk from a cup, it will be the first time since December 2002 that I will have not been either pregnant or nursing without a single day break in there!!! Can you believe that?...that's 6 1/2 years. Wow.
21. I never knew I could love four little boys as much as I do know or that I could be content having all boys but it is amazing how God knew just what I needed and would LOVE!!! My cup truly overfloweth!!
22. When I cook, I tend to either make up things as I go or change recipes up as I make them and add stuff to recipes ALL the time! I figure that's how someone came up with the recipe anyway, so why can't I? It's fun and I haven't ruined anything yet.
23. I've never gotten a speeding ticket...or any other kind of ticket for that matter. Have had a couple fender benders though.
24. Got a degree in Church Music at Dallas Baptist University and then taught private vocal lessons for 6 years after that. Taking a break from that for now but would love to be some type of music teacher in a pre-school one day!
25. Really don't have time to do things like this because they put me to sleep...it took me 3 nights to finish this because I kept falling asleep! But I finished, finally!!! :-)
Tuesday, February 24, 2009
Sunday, February 8, 2009
His Strength In Our Weekness!
So I posted a couple of days ago about the minor problems I've been having with several different joints over the past 7 months or so. Well, this morning our pastor, Ross Sawyers, said something in the sermon that struck me as if it was said just for me. God has been working on my heart relentlessly since Cohen was born and I've known that. He has been showing me that He HAS given me more than I can handle...on my own that is. I can only handle all this when I rely on Him every step of the way. It's with His strength that I can wake up each morning and face the day with a positive attitude. When my focus is off of Him though, it's the opposite and I'm miserable. A feeling of failure prevales when I rely on myself. So back to what Ross said. The series is on spiritual warfare (War is actually the title of the series) and we have been going through the pieces of armor we are to put on. This week was the shoes. We are to shod our feet with the Gospel of Peace. When we do, we are bound to Him, settled and ready to move with confidence. When we don't, Satan attacks us all he can, mainly in three ways: our assurance in Christ, compromising the truth and fear. Fear was the big one that Ross was saying gets to him if his focus gets off. His main fears are of death (not where he is going but just the unknown of what it will look like) and that his health is going to get worse. He said he had to actually admit to God that he does not like the verse II Corinthians 12:9. The verse talks about God's power being made perfect in our weekness. Not fun if we really think about it. It hit me like a ton of bricks, not in a bad way, just in a revelation kind of way. God is making this task of raising four precious boys even more impossible for me to do without Him by allowing these joint problems. I'm a do it yourself kind of girl, going all the time. Health has never stopped me (and I'm not saying it is now, it's just a tad bit in the way). I used to think that we could over spiritualize things but after hearing the first sermon or two in this series, I think I've changed my mind. We live in a world that is one big battleground, it's all around us. Why not take the little things that set up back a bit or seem like bumps in the road and take them as warning signs that maybe we need to dig a little deeper in the Word and pray a little more throughout the day. Can we do those two things too much? I think not. So, I'm going to do my best and embrace my weekness (joint problems) and pray that through this God's strength can shine through!
MaMa's Cake Boutique
Just a quick update...still loving the cake business and it's going well. I currently take about 4 cakes a month and have been booked up for the last 8 months straight. It's so much fun seeing someones face light up when they see a cake made specifically for them! If your looking for a cake for any type of event and would like something unique, you can e-mail me at kara@niftythriftydesigns.com for orders.
Bath Buddies!
These boys just won't take a bath without each other yet! They have so much fun...just had to share these cute pics of one of their latest bubble baths.
Pulling Up...All Too Soon!
It's just so hard some days for me to swallow that Cohen is growing up so fast. It is such a bittersweet time! I just adore him in every way and am so proud of how fast he is learning and how well he is doing but then there is that side of me that just wishes he would stay my baby a little bit longer! I know most mom's feel that way as we watch our children grow and just pray that we will remember these special time forever! All that to say, my sweet Cohen has been pulling up for about a month and a half now, and we are cruising down furniture now too. I love it and it is so precious but I still can hardly believe it. Here are a few pics of some of his firsts.
He was 8 months old here and already pulling up on the side of my bed which I could hardly believe because there's not anywhere to get a good grip!
This is all he wants to do in this green high chair...which is why I have to put him in a different seat and buckle him in!
He is such a little toot, when I tell him to sit down, this is the reaction I get...how can you get frustrated with that?
He was so excited when he learned to stand up in his bed...only problem was that for about two weeks he couldn't figure out how to lay or sit back down once he was up, so if he stood up while he was trying to go to sleep, I had to go back in several times and lay him back down 'cause he would be stuck...it was kinda pitiful!
Oh how I love and will cherish this sweet smile forever!
He was 8 months old here and already pulling up on the side of my bed which I could hardly believe because there's not anywhere to get a good grip!
This is all he wants to do in this green high chair...which is why I have to put him in a different seat and buckle him in!
He is such a little toot, when I tell him to sit down, this is the reaction I get...how can you get frustrated with that?
He was so excited when he learned to stand up in his bed...only problem was that for about two weeks he couldn't figure out how to lay or sit back down once he was up, so if he stood up while he was trying to go to sleep, I had to go back in several times and lay him back down 'cause he would be stuck...it was kinda pitiful!
Oh how I love and will cherish this sweet smile forever!
I Had To Take Pictures!
You see, my sweet Cade just does not care if he gets messy while he eats (or plays for that matter)! And you must know that when Corbin was little (and to this very day) he did not like to get messy at all! So this has been something I've had to get used to over time. Fortunately God has kinda eased me in slowly when it comes to this area of raising boys because Corbin is my cleanest, Callen is quite a bit messier than Corbin but at least he gives effort towards staying clean sometimes, Cade is so much messier than Callen and really hardly ever puts effort towards not making a mess...I could only hope and pray that Cohen doesn't continue the progression here.
So, now for the story of these two pics below. Cade wanted some chocolate pudding one day so I just went ahead and took his clothes off so that he would not get them too messy. Good thing. Boy, I did a few dishes while he sat at the kitchen table and "ate" his pudding...few minutes later he is standing next to me and looks like this saying "Mommy, I sticky!". I turned around and all that I could even think of was "I have got to take a picture of this!"
So, now for the story of these two pics below. Cade wanted some chocolate pudding one day so I just went ahead and took his clothes off so that he would not get them too messy. Good thing. Boy, I did a few dishes while he sat at the kitchen table and "ate" his pudding...few minutes later he is standing next to me and looks like this saying "Mommy, I sticky!". I turned around and all that I could even think of was "I have got to take a picture of this!"
Friday, February 6, 2009
Falling apart at age 30?
Not really, but it kinda feels that way some days. I am forever grateful that God has given me 30 incredibly healthy years! I cannot say that enough. Since Cohen was born though, things have been going kinda south a bit. Not too bad though. I don't post to complain, just to inform, if that's ok.
So just about 7 weeks after Cohen was born I started to have problems with my left hip. At first it was just sore and I thought that I must be sleeping on it wrong. But it continued to get more painful, to the point that I was limping and having a hard time walking around and carrying the boys. So I went to a specialist that my doctor referred me to and she did x-rays and an MRI. The x-rays were inconclusive and the MRI came back abnormal, showing that I had Bursitis as well as some type of benign tissue on the back of my hip bone. For some reason, without treatment, the pain began to go away and has been back to just a soreness ever since. Then I had some pain in two of the knuckles in my right hand, which has also gone away now. Following that I had some pain for a few days in my right shoulder, also gone. Then my wrist began to hurt about two weeks ago. Within two days it was very painful, so I called my doctor and scheduled another appointment. She said I have tendonitis and wanted to get some bloodwork done to see if I have arthritis. She is confused because she says it is rare that someone my age has pain in this many areas this close together without there being something that is a root cause, kinda tying them altogether. Well, I got the bloodwork back today and it is normal! :-) I'm excited about that, but she is confused still so she referred me to an orthopedic doctor whom I will go see next Thursday. Well, to top it all off, I noticed this morning that my left shoulder was hurting but once again, I figured I just slept on it wrong. Wrong again, it has hurt all day any time I lift anything or just lift my arm very high up!? So who knows what it going on, I'd just like to know. Not really worried or stressed by it, just curious and would like to know if there's something I can do to help the pain so that I can function better with all my sweet boys! Sarah was so gracious to lend me a very nice brace for my wrist which has been helping SOOOOO much! Thanks friend!!! I'll update everyone when I find out more.
Lastly, I just need your prayers as to whether I should go to a doctor for my heart as well. Every once in a while (maybe a couple times a month), I notice it speed up really quickly and then come to almost a screeching halt for a couple seconds and then it goes back to normal again. I've always noticed this over the years, it just seems like it is doing it more often now. I think Chris really wants me to go get it checked out so I'm sure I will, just not sure what doctor to go to and would love to get through this bone/joint stuff first.
I feel like these are such minor things compared to many people but I really would appreciate your prayers if you get a chance! Thanks to all who ask daily/weekly how I'm doing! Romans 8:28, 38 & 39...some of my favorite verses!
So just about 7 weeks after Cohen was born I started to have problems with my left hip. At first it was just sore and I thought that I must be sleeping on it wrong. But it continued to get more painful, to the point that I was limping and having a hard time walking around and carrying the boys. So I went to a specialist that my doctor referred me to and she did x-rays and an MRI. The x-rays were inconclusive and the MRI came back abnormal, showing that I had Bursitis as well as some type of benign tissue on the back of my hip bone. For some reason, without treatment, the pain began to go away and has been back to just a soreness ever since. Then I had some pain in two of the knuckles in my right hand, which has also gone away now. Following that I had some pain for a few days in my right shoulder, also gone. Then my wrist began to hurt about two weeks ago. Within two days it was very painful, so I called my doctor and scheduled another appointment. She said I have tendonitis and wanted to get some bloodwork done to see if I have arthritis. She is confused because she says it is rare that someone my age has pain in this many areas this close together without there being something that is a root cause, kinda tying them altogether. Well, I got the bloodwork back today and it is normal! :-) I'm excited about that, but she is confused still so she referred me to an orthopedic doctor whom I will go see next Thursday. Well, to top it all off, I noticed this morning that my left shoulder was hurting but once again, I figured I just slept on it wrong. Wrong again, it has hurt all day any time I lift anything or just lift my arm very high up!? So who knows what it going on, I'd just like to know. Not really worried or stressed by it, just curious and would like to know if there's something I can do to help the pain so that I can function better with all my sweet boys! Sarah was so gracious to lend me a very nice brace for my wrist which has been helping SOOOOO much! Thanks friend!!! I'll update everyone when I find out more.
Lastly, I just need your prayers as to whether I should go to a doctor for my heart as well. Every once in a while (maybe a couple times a month), I notice it speed up really quickly and then come to almost a screeching halt for a couple seconds and then it goes back to normal again. I've always noticed this over the years, it just seems like it is doing it more often now. I think Chris really wants me to go get it checked out so I'm sure I will, just not sure what doctor to go to and would love to get through this bone/joint stuff first.
I feel like these are such minor things compared to many people but I really would appreciate your prayers if you get a chance! Thanks to all who ask daily/weekly how I'm doing! Romans 8:28, 38 & 39...some of my favorite verses!
Goals for a New Year...
So, every year we all think of things we would like to work on, change, get better at, master, get rid of, stop doing, etc., right!? Well, here are some things that I've thought of over the last month that I'd like to try and work on/do over/throughout the year 2009. You can keep me accountable! :-)
1) walk one mile at least 5 times a week (pulling the boys in the wagon behind me of course!)
2) cook home cooked meals at least 6 times a week (healthier ones than last year as well)
3) sweep my floor every night so it doesn't look like a bomb went off every morning!
4) never yell at my boys!
5) do at least one load of laundry a day.
6) memorize a verse of scripture a week.
7) go on one date a week with my husband.
8) pay for everything in cash, updating our budget weekly
9) spend quality, individual time with each of the boys daily
10) home school Cobin in Kindergaten this Fall
oh wait a minute...just kidding! If I did all these things (and the list could go on!!!), I would be super mom...AND I"M NOT!!! :-) Let's try this again...now for the real list.
1) Chris and I are doing a Dave Ramsey budget, getting out of debt as fast as we can!
2) Chris and I are going to have a date night once a month, kid free, no matter what!(one month down already!)
3) make more memories with my family and worry about the cleaning less (it will always be there but they won't stay kids forever!), in my husbands words..."I'm gonna walk through this year instead of sprint!"
4) Spend more time in the Word than last year.
5) Pour into others more than into myself!!!
Hopefully those things are more realistic. I pray God will give me the grace I need to give others, the strength I need to make it through each day, and a humble, loving spirit before all I come in contact with this year!
1) walk one mile at least 5 times a week (pulling the boys in the wagon behind me of course!)
2) cook home cooked meals at least 6 times a week (healthier ones than last year as well)
3) sweep my floor every night so it doesn't look like a bomb went off every morning!
4) never yell at my boys!
5) do at least one load of laundry a day.
6) memorize a verse of scripture a week.
7) go on one date a week with my husband.
8) pay for everything in cash, updating our budget weekly
9) spend quality, individual time with each of the boys daily
10) home school Cobin in Kindergaten this Fall
oh wait a minute...just kidding! If I did all these things (and the list could go on!!!), I would be super mom...AND I"M NOT!!! :-) Let's try this again...now for the real list.
1) Chris and I are doing a Dave Ramsey budget, getting out of debt as fast as we can!
2) Chris and I are going to have a date night once a month, kid free, no matter what!(one month down already!)
3) make more memories with my family and worry about the cleaning less (it will always be there but they won't stay kids forever!), in my husbands words..."I'm gonna walk through this year instead of sprint!"
4) Spend more time in the Word than last year.
5) Pour into others more than into myself!!!
Hopefully those things are more realistic. I pray God will give me the grace I need to give others, the strength I need to make it through each day, and a humble, loving spirit before all I come in contact with this year!
Thursday, February 5, 2009
Sorry to keep you...
on the edge of your seat for sooooo long! (like this has been all you have been thinking about, right!) :-) So here you go, actually, I think only one person actually got the answer correct. As for the rest of you, some good reasoning going on and funny thoughts thrown out there, but, gotcha! :-)
So, as for A...there's our lie! And thank goodness!!! If Cohen had started walking at 8 1/2 months I would still be crying from loosing my baby so early. You all know how much I love babies and being that he is my last one (tubes are tied now for those of you who may not know), it's even harder this time to watch him grow up so fast. I do predict though that he will be our earliest walker out of the 4 boys, although that won't be too hard for him to accomplish since the earliest one so far was Corbin and he didn't walk until he was 13 1/2 months old. Crazy huh!
Of course that means that B & C are true. For many of you I'm sure C is not that hard to believe 'cause if you know our boys you know that they are very strong, extremely coordinated, and quite the little dare devils...well, Callen has NO fear at all so once he tries something and accomplishes it, Corbin is right behind him. All I know is that we were at the park and I look up just in time to see them start climbing up a 7 foot chain link fence. I tried to tell them to get down but by the time I had finished my sentence they were already up and over the thing and coming back down. Looked to me like they had done it 100 times before, they made it look so easy. Who would've thought?!
B, however, was the one several of you were thinking would never happen as long as I'm the mama. Well, believe it or not, I'm the one that made them come over and pet the wolf once I found out what it actually was because I figured that might be our only chance in our lifetime to do that...not everyday you run into a wolf at the park! :-) So to make a long story short...we were at a park in Keller and the boys were playing in a big sand box with 3 other little boys (all brothers as well). Their dad was the one who had brought them and he had this enormous dog with him. It was really just breathtakingly beautiful! And just as tame as I've ever seen a do before! Of course everyone was stopping to talk to him and pet the dog so I kinda waited 'till everyone was gone and then asked how much he weighted. 140lbs. to be exact. And if I was looking at him right, the top of his head stood at about 42+ inches tall. Like I said, this was a big dog. Well, at one point the dog finally looked at me right in the eyes and it just struck me...that dog looks just like a wolf. So as quietly (so as not to draw attention), respectfully and politely as I could I told him that he looked just like a wolf. The guy smiled and quietly said back..."he is". Just as much as I couldn't believe it I knew in my gut he was telling the truth. I've not seen one in person before but I've seen enough of them on tv to know what their faces look like. He said that his dad was a wolf that stood about 8" taller than he, and his mother was a wolf with a bit of malimute in her. BEAUTIFUL!!! And a full blown domesticated pet. Legal too, didn't know that. So I did what any mother would've done (well, maybe not) and called the boys over and said "you guys have to come pet this dog because you know what...it's a wolf!" Their eyes all got big and they were very excited to get to stand there and pet the dog/wolf...which was bigger than the 3 of them put together.
So there you have it...our two truths and a lie.
So, as for A...there's our lie! And thank goodness!!! If Cohen had started walking at 8 1/2 months I would still be crying from loosing my baby so early. You all know how much I love babies and being that he is my last one (tubes are tied now for those of you who may not know), it's even harder this time to watch him grow up so fast. I do predict though that he will be our earliest walker out of the 4 boys, although that won't be too hard for him to accomplish since the earliest one so far was Corbin and he didn't walk until he was 13 1/2 months old. Crazy huh!
Of course that means that B & C are true. For many of you I'm sure C is not that hard to believe 'cause if you know our boys you know that they are very strong, extremely coordinated, and quite the little dare devils...well, Callen has NO fear at all so once he tries something and accomplishes it, Corbin is right behind him. All I know is that we were at the park and I look up just in time to see them start climbing up a 7 foot chain link fence. I tried to tell them to get down but by the time I had finished my sentence they were already up and over the thing and coming back down. Looked to me like they had done it 100 times before, they made it look so easy. Who would've thought?!
B, however, was the one several of you were thinking would never happen as long as I'm the mama. Well, believe it or not, I'm the one that made them come over and pet the wolf once I found out what it actually was because I figured that might be our only chance in our lifetime to do that...not everyday you run into a wolf at the park! :-) So to make a long story short...we were at a park in Keller and the boys were playing in a big sand box with 3 other little boys (all brothers as well). Their dad was the one who had brought them and he had this enormous dog with him. It was really just breathtakingly beautiful! And just as tame as I've ever seen a do before! Of course everyone was stopping to talk to him and pet the dog so I kinda waited 'till everyone was gone and then asked how much he weighted. 140lbs. to be exact. And if I was looking at him right, the top of his head stood at about 42+ inches tall. Like I said, this was a big dog. Well, at one point the dog finally looked at me right in the eyes and it just struck me...that dog looks just like a wolf. So as quietly (so as not to draw attention), respectfully and politely as I could I told him that he looked just like a wolf. The guy smiled and quietly said back..."he is". Just as much as I couldn't believe it I knew in my gut he was telling the truth. I've not seen one in person before but I've seen enough of them on tv to know what their faces look like. He said that his dad was a wolf that stood about 8" taller than he, and his mother was a wolf with a bit of malimute in her. BEAUTIFUL!!! And a full blown domesticated pet. Legal too, didn't know that. So I did what any mother would've done (well, maybe not) and called the boys over and said "you guys have to come pet this dog because you know what...it's a wolf!" Their eyes all got big and they were very excited to get to stand there and pet the dog/wolf...which was bigger than the 3 of them put together.
So there you have it...our two truths and a lie.
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