The faces behind the stories!

The faces behind the stories!
My little Loves.

Thursday, May 26, 2011

Ode to find Joy as often as Matthew! :)


We had just gone potty, and were washing our hands. As I looked over to go dry my hands, I found Matthew thoroughly enjoying himself and his reflection in the hand drier. He absolutely cracked me up and I really wished in my heart that I could find simple joy as often as he can. :)

This is how I walk 5 miles with my pals.

The other day, I just wanted to walk. I wanted to get a workout in, but I can't push the both of them in the stroller on the hills by my house anymore. It's about 120 pounds with both of them in it, and the hills are steep enough that my back tells me it's not a great idea. Ha ha ha So, I brought them to a mall that has a 1 mile loop, and I walked for 3 hours. Yes, 3 hours and 5 miles later (we had to go slow sometimes because of traffic)...They sat in their seats and were great boys for me! Those Leapster Explorer handheld games are a LIFE SAVER when I need them to enjoy just sitting somewhere (also great for our long drives up north!). I'm so thankful that my boys are good boys. They were sweet to let me get a walk in, and they were kind to people we passed by too!

Fire Station Field Trip!

Joe's Kindergarten class went on a field trip to the Fire Station... I was one of the 5 lucky parents who got to join them! I LOVED getting picture of all the kids being able to spray the hose! This fireman gave each child special time, talked with them, and really made them feel important! LOVE that!

Joe's Sweetness...

My boy went and got his own scissors, found a little container, filled it with water, and walked around our back yard to cut roses from different bushes for me. He said, "I looked to make sure I got the ones that didn't have bugs." :) What a sweet guy he is.

Wednesday, May 18, 2011

The Things They Say...



I've really been enjoying hearing the little things the boys come up with. I thought I'd put together a little list of the recent verbal pleasures I've experienced!

* The other day, Joe had spilled his water on the table clothe during dinner. After Joe had left, Matthew walked over to Joe's seat and sat down. He saw the wet table clothe and said, "This is Joe's spit I presume?" Oh my goodness. I said, "YOU PRESUME???" He smiled in victory of having used a new word. He picked it up from "Mega-Mind"... I'm just thankful he tends to pick up healthy new vocabulary and not the more colorful type that is sometimes displayed in movies!

* While Joe was at school, I was walking through the grocery store with Matthew. In the middle of an aisle, he said, "Mama, I wish I could see God right now so I could play with him and maybe pillow fight." I smiled and told him, "God would LOVE that Matthew, because you're very special to Him." He sat in a smiley faced thought.

* The other morning, the boys were sitting at the table having breakfast. Matthew got a bit too rowdy and threw his thermos cup down. Unfortunately, it hit the bottom of my piano (Luckily, no damage done). I had been in the kitchen getting Joe's backpack ready and walked into the dining room. I bent over between the piano and Matthew and expressed to him how precious it is to me. It was a gift from my grandparents when I was 8 years old and it helps me to play music to tell Jesus I love Him. My eyes got watery (kind of with intention), and I looked at them both and asked them to please treasure my piano and treat it as my most precious thing. Joe sat in thought for just a second, and then said, "Mama, our lives are most precious." I smiled and said, "You guy and our family ARE my most precious people and loves... the piano is just a "thing" but it is my most precious thing." He seemed to take that answer OK. :)

* Matthew has really been into trying out his new sayings... I put some cereal he really likes in the cart and he picked it up and said, "SERIOUSLY MAMA?.... SERIOUSLY?" :).... Another instance, I heard the boys playing and Matthew getting frustrated with Joe. All of the sudden I hear, "Joe, you have left me no choice!" I sat, on the other side of the wall from them, smiling at my little guy who's brain is growing so much.

OK, Last One!

* I was driving home from bringing Joe to school, and Matthew and I were enjoying a rainy morning. He said, "Mama, it sure was nice that God gave us a shower today, because he knew that bird poop on my window was bothering me."  Ha ha ha!

Saturday, May 14, 2011

Joe's "Who Am I"...

We went to Joe's Open House for his Kindergarten class this week. The kids each painted a picture of themselves.  They came up with hints about themselves so their families could find them. I thought Joe's was VERY cute!
His hints were: I have blue eyes. I like Star Wars. My mom makes dinosaur chicken nuggets that are yummy! Who am I?

Joe's Latest Masterpiece.

I LOVE this... Joe's spelling makes me smile.

She loves him!!! :)

This is a note that Joe's "Girlfriend" Delaney wrote him... We went to a play date at her house (luckily for him, I enjoy time with Delaney's mom!)... She sat there asking how to spell "Because" and "Special." When Joe received the note, he felt special... and decided to write her a note too. His note said, "Delaney is crazy." ha ha ha When she saw it, she felt like he was making fun of her... But, to him, he enjoys her craziness! :) The beginning of male v.s. female perceptions for Joe!

Wednesday, May 11, 2011

My Time with Mr. Magoo...

This morning started out, EARLY. Matthew has been into waking up at 5:45. When the whole house finally got in motion, we got Joe to school and Matthew and I started some time together. By the way, I have no idea where "Mr. Magoo" came from, but I call him that very often.  He and I decided on an impromptu photo shoot. I have no idea why I agreed to this, seeing that my face still looked half asleep, but here's a little peak into that adventure:
After this, we decided to have a painting adventure.  My friend Shavonne got Matthew THE CUTEST birthday present (OK, no hard feelings, all the presents were great but this one was very unique!). Here's some pictures from THAT adventure!
The box came with 3 pets for "us" to paint!


Look at that form, holding his brush! :)


I LOVED watching how intent he was about this adventure!

Finished Product! :)
I would introduce our new pet to you, but when I asked Matthew what his name was, he said, "I will think about it when I'm sleeping." ha ha ha

For those of you who know me, I mean REALLY know me... You KNOW how difficult it is for me to just "let um rip" with messy things... I had fun letting him do what he did on the fish, and I had my water cup and paper towel standing by! LOL He was actually pretty clean with it, only a few spots on the ground to clean!

We are raising our glasses over here (Chocolate Milk and Coffee for us)... Here's to a great day full of fun adventures for all!!!

Good Morning World!

My Littlest Sunshine woke me up at 5:45.
(Rockin his new sunglasses!)

Wednesday, May 4, 2011

Our Journey to Healthier Foods...

On my journey to learning how to be healthier... My family gets some fun adventures too! This time, it was french fries made with Butternut Squash. I had THE BEST of intentions and a great recipe on this one. The only problem is, it turned out to be french fry MOOSH! lol I've gotten a few additional pointers from friends, and I'll eventually try this again. After all the thought that went into planning that night (I went out and bought that dumb fry maker and had hamburgers for my guys etc etc)... to have it not turn out to the wonderful plan I had in mind... BUMMER!  So, I told the boys (who are not afraid to tell me when one of our new health food adventures are not their favorites), I wont be doing that again, but I appreciate them trying it! :) I also tried a healthier version of a cupcake (dry cake mix, mixed with a can of pumpkin instead of the oil/butter) and they love that... So, it wasn't all a loss!

Monday, May 2, 2011

Supraventricular Tachycardia...and me.

By definition: Supraventricular Tachycardia (SVT) is an abnormal heart rhythm that causes the heart to beat very fast. This kind of fast heart beat originates in the upper chambers of the heart. An SVT can cause the heart to beat greater than 100 beats per minute. SVT can have a rapid burst of heartbeats. This can start and stop suddenly with out warning and is called non-sustained. SVT can also be sustained, in which the heart beats at a continuous fast rate.

For me... There was an occurrence about a year and a half ago.  I was on a work retreat, had just been blessed with a free spa treatment, a great dinner, and I was walking to my hotel room to get my keys and go to a movie. Slow paced, nothing exciting, but my heart started to pound in my chest. I was scared, but I was also the one 6 women were depending on driving them to a movie in Palm Springs... So, I took a pause in my hotel room, sat down and tried to take deep breaths, but it did not stop.  It wasn't until 1/2way through the movie when it finally went back to normal. I was scared, but I was more scared to find out what happened. Everyone said, "Oh, it was just an anxiety attack"... so, I never went to the Dr.

This past Saturday, Aaron was about 3 hours away from home on his way from Northern CA. I had just sat the boys down to eat their dinner and I was cleaning up the kitchen. It began. My heart rate was going so fast (over 250 beats a minute), I felt dizzy, short of breath and pressure in my chest. I got Aaron on the phone with the idea, "If I stop talking, call 911 and give them our address." I went upstairs and took 2 aspirin, thinking I may have been having a heart attack. I came into my office and put my blood pressure cuff on, it just kept giving me an error message. As I was sitting at my desk trying to get my body to calm, I sent my neighbor a text to see if they were home. Praise the Lord, both my neighbor and her daughter were able to rush to my help. Jessica stayed with my boys and Melody drove me to the hospital. I had called the hospital and they guessed it was SVT and told me to call the ambulance and get right in. But, I'm a cheapskate and my neighbor was right there ready... so we drove.

Aaron called his parents, they came to relieve Jessica and be with the boys. He called my parents, who then called me and said, "If I don't hear from you in an hour, we're on the road to get there!" ;) I'm so thankful for both of our parents who just wanted to jump in and be there for us!

We got to the hospital and Melody made sure I was all checked in and being taken care of before she had to leave... They did an EKG and had me on all sorts of monitors. The look on the nurses faces when they saw my heart rate was a bit unnerving... I should call them and let them know to get their game faces on for the next patients! ;)

It had been about an hour of the very fast heart rate when they finally brought in a medicine (I had only been at the hospital maybe 20 minutes, and they were doing the tests to just see what exactly my heart was doing before they brought it down... I guess)... So, they are standing there with the medicine and say, "Now, this might stop your heart for just a second and then it will start up with the right beat again." Ummmm, ok? lol Then, the Dr said, "You will feel a little funny." I said, "Dr, Funny is a very vague descriptive." He smiled and said, "Well, I've been told it's a very vague feeling." He was right.

The pushed the medicine... a few seconds later I felt very funny. After that really odd sensation, I got a tingle from my head to my toes. Almost like warmth and almost like electricity.  After the meds went in and my body did that reaction, all went back to normal. I was back to my typical 116/69 ish blood pressure.

(all the while, with an oxygen tube up my nose while having a cold... can I tell you THAT is not fun!?!)



Since being at the hospital on Saturday, I've been talking to God about my fears. They can't tell me why it happens or what I can do to stop it, or any signs of when it's coming again... That's a bit unnerving when I am home alone with my boys as often as I am. BUT, I still know God. ;) He set Jessica and Melody and Lynne and Gary up to be available, he allowed it when Aaron was 3 hours away instead of the start of his 2 week job out of town. It was not fun, but it was orchestrated perfectly for what it was. While at the hospital, I got to witness with a couple of nurses and I got comments about my joy in the midst of the feelings I had...I love that.

So... I've come to the conclusion on this one... Lord, your will be done. If SVT is my new "friend" in life, and I'll have the opportunity to witness to ER staff... then let it be.  If SVT was here for a short visit and He intends to heal me, then I can be a witness of his continual healing in my life.  There is one thing I asked of the Lord, though... If it happens again, that He be gracious in provision for my children as He was this time.  *I just got that tingle pain in my nose when tears are trying to come* I'm so thankful He meets us right where we are and makes a way.

Today, I am ok! It's a new mini-journey the Lord and I are walking through as to my feelings/fears on it...but just a bleep on the scale of my full journey and I'll be just fine!  I so appreciate every one's prayers and checking up on me! I feel very loved and I appreciate that from the deepest part of my heart!

The Lord is Good!!