Lift up my head

I'm feeling sad today and need encouragement from the Father. I need this song today. Lord, please lift up my head.

Grandpa's boy

This little cutie thinks his Grandpa hung the moon!

Attack of the strep throat

#2 was sent home yesterday not feeling well and saying his mouth hurt. A doctor's visit confirmed what I feared...strep throat.

Last night, #3 started feeling bad as well, and another trip to the doctor later confirmed what I already knew...strep throat.

At least they have antibiotics now and should be recovered and ready to go back to school tomorrow. For now, they are having a movie marathon on the couch. Right now, they are watching The Chipmunk Adventure, which is a movie I loved to watch growing up.

So today I am working at home (aside from posting this blog entry). Back to work for me!

Here are the patients hanging out on the couch

Pre-K Christmas program at #1's school

OK, I am slowly making my way through the backlog of pictures and getting them posted here. We have finally finished with the Thanksgiving activities and now we can move on to Christmas. Hopefully I can get caught up to real time soon!

#1's Pre-K class had a Christmas program that was cute. He attends Reynolds Elementary in the mornings for Pre-K and then rides a bus over to Northland for lunch and afternoon nap. He is in the PPCD program at Reynolds and they are helping him to overcome some of his challenges that he faces with autism. I am amazed at how patient and kind his teachers and helpers are, even when he does not want to cooperate. He has come a long way since beginning the PPCD program last year, and I am hoping and praying that he continues to develop. He definitely has the mental capability to learn, and I've been told that he likely is gifted and talented, but the challenge is getting him to concentrate and stay on task to learn.

For the Christmas program, his teacher Mrs T wrote down on an index card "Welome to the Preschool Christmas Program" and was going to have him read it to the audience at the beginning. Well, he did not want to cooperate and when he discovered the microphone was on, just kept saying "Ooooooooooh" into the microphone.

Maybe next time...

Buttons

What is the deal with clothing companies including a little baggie of buttons on new clothes? Does anyone actually save these buttons? Are there useful ways to use the baggies that contain the buttons? I always throw them away, but just wondered...

MOOOOOOOMMMMMMMMMMYYYYYY!!!!

Every time I pick up the boys from school, or when I arrive home from the grocery store, #1 comes running at full speed towards me to barrel me over with a giant hug, yelling, "MOOOOOOOOOOOMMMMMYYYYYYYYYYYY!!!"

It doesn't matter what he is doing, he stops everything, jumps up, and has the sweetest smile across his face as he runs towards me.

Today, as we were hugging, he said, "I'm so glad you're home."

Melts my heart every time...

Me and my honey

Picking the lemons and limes

My mother-in-law has several lemon and lime trees surrounding her house, and the boys were very excited to help her pick them. They were, of course, dressed in their Halloween costumes, even though Halloween has long since passed by. By the way, did I get a great bang for my buck on those costumes? I think so!

My favorite motherhood resources

I am compiling a list of resources that I have found helpful to me as a mother for a women's event at my church coming up, so I thought I'd share it with my blog friends.

What resources have helped you the most in your motherhood journey?

1. Shepherding a Child's Heart, by Ted Tripp
This give a biblical perspective on parenting and puts the offense into perspective. What may seem trivial to us parents (i.e., fighting over a toy), is likened to a condition of the heart (selfishness). The Bible says, "from the overflow of the heart, the mouth speaks" so the entire book is dedicated to identifying the heart issue that is causing the words or actions of the child. Instructing and training is done using biblical examples. My only criticism of the book is that the author promotes spanking as the ONLY appropriate way to discipline (based on the proverb in the Bible that says "spare the rod, hate the child." I completely agree that discipline is completely necessary for a parent to adequately teach and instruct the child; however, I don't believe that spanking is the ONLY way to discipline. For example, one of my sons is autistic, and the spanking doesn't seem to get through to him. He is so hurt and shocked when I spank him that the whole lesson goes out the window. I have had to use other disipline techniques with him that have been more effective. Spankings seem to work fine on my other two boys. To make a long story short, each child is unique and must be disciplined, but spanking in my opinion should be an option among many discipline techniques, but not the only option. With that said, I still wholeheartedly believe the book is one of the most useful and practical parenting books out there.

2. A Cup of Comfort for Parents of Children with Autism, stories of hope and everyday success, by Colleen Sell
This book is formatted like the "Chicken Soup for the Soul" books, with short stories of real people who are dealing with autistic children. I read this when I need encouragement as a parent of an autistic child because I can identify with the situations, from the people making snippy comments in the grocery store when my child does not act the way they believe a child should act, to dealing with the anger and frustration that sometimes comes and goes. My son looks no different from his non-autistic peers, and does not wear a sign around his neck stating his is autistic, and as he grows older, the general public's expectation of his behavior grows, and I receive comments and glares from others that indicate I am somehow failing as a parent because my child is not acting his age.

3. Finding God in Autism, by Kathy Medina
This is a 40 day devotional for parents of autistic children. There is a main verse highlighted every day, with a discussion on how it can be applied in our situations.

4. www.mvelopes.com
This is an electonic way to do the financial budgting and planning using the tried and true "envelopes" system (where you cash your paycheck and put the cash into envelopes according to your budget such as utilities, entertainment, mortgage, etc.). With this system, you set up a budget into virtual envelopes on the web site. You link up your bank account and credit cards to electronically download to the system (and yes it is secure you can read about it on the web site). From there you categorize each line item according to the envelope in which it belongs, and it keeps a running total of how much is left over in each envelope. When your paycheck is deposited, you "fund" your envelopes according to your budget. This way, you can use your credit card and/or debit card to make electronic transactions rather than carrying cash everywhere you go, and helps you stick to your budget.

5. No Debt, No Sweat, by Steve Diggs
This is a book about how to get out of debt from a Christian perspective. I attended a two hour seminar at West Houston Church of Christ with Steve Diggs and he really made sense, so I bought the book. He was a business person who lost pretty much everything and had to rebuild his financial future from scratch. This is a very practical, easy to read book from a down-to-earth, realistic, Christian perspective.

6. www.starfall.com
This is a website that my toddlers LOVE to visit. There are fun, interactive games that teach everything from learning the letters and their sounds to reading short books. One of my sons learned to read at age 2 and I believe this web site was

7. www.hannah.org
This is a Christian web site and message board that I relied on heavily during the period of my life when we were trying to start a family. During this journey (one of the darkest times in my Christian walk), we experienced a miscarriage, a year and a half of infertility, fertility treatments, miscarriage of a triplet, and giving birth to twins three months before their due date. This message board allowed me to see that I was not alone in the journey and the feelings I was having were felt by others in similar situations. Fertility challenges and miscarriages are not easy topics to discuss in person, but through the message board I found comfort in the anonymity. Here is an excerpt from their web site:

Hannah's Prayer Ministries provides Christian-based support and encouragement to married women around the world who are struggling with the pain of fertility challenges, including primary and secondary infertility, pregnancy loss, early infant death, and adoption loss. Our outreach extends to those who become mothers of living children through pregnancy, adoption, and/or foster care.

"...Hannah wept much and prayed to the Lord...'I have been praying here out of my great anguish...'" ~ 1 Samuel 1:10, 16 (NIV)

Using the story of Hannah in 1 Samuel 1-2 as our encouragement, we at Hannah's Prayer attempt to help meet the emotional and spiritual needs of married couples experiencing fertility-related difficulties through prayer, understanding, friendship, shared information, and biblical counsel.


8. www.facebook.com
As a mother of three, wife of a football coach, and full time employee, I don't have much time to do girls night out or meet up with my friends. Most of my interaction with my friends came in the form of short phone conversations in the car to and from the grocery store or school, until Facebook came along. I know it is more preferable to meet together with friends to develop the relationship, but my other friends are busy moms as well, and our schedules often don't allow the face-to-face interaction. With Facebook, I can keep up with what is going on in their lives, see pictures of their kids, etc. in between our visits.

The boys LOOOOOOOOOOVE to jump on the trampoline. It's like a WWF wrestling match!

Thanksgiving with the Meekins family

This picture turned out so cute. It seems like the ones that were not posed or planned often make the best pictures.

The diva cousins at Thanksgiving:

The boy cousins wearing their beret hats from Mimi and Big D's trip to Europe (oui oui):

The gang's all here

Pictures with Dedee

Down on the farm

Here are some pictures of the farm at sunset. It is so peaceful and it reminds me of God's beauty. Living in the city, we don't get to experience those beautiful sunsets because the skyline is blocked by houses, buildings, and busy interstates. Now don't get me wrong - I love living in the 'burbs (and I wouldn't want the job of having to mow all that land), but it is nice to be able to get away and experience the sunrises and sunsets on the farm.

Going for a ride

This little red Mule provides countless hours of entertainment to the boys when we visit my parents. My dad acts so silly, and when they go down the "mountain" (which is really more of a small embankment that they drive up and down), the boys squeal with delight. They love to "drive," visit the cows, go fishing by the pond, chase rabbits, and honk the horn. I'm sure that little vehicle is quite useful for hauling things around the farm and getting where his truck can't go, but for the boys, it is pure entertainment!

Playing baseball with Daddy

Every time we go to visit my parents, Matt packs a bucket of wiffle balls, a tee, and a bat. He and #2 spend a good deal of time playing baseball, which is #2's favorite sport. It is neat to see how much he has improved every time we go out there, but more than that, I love that my husband and my son have found an activity that they love to do together.

Baby

I was talking to Matt on the phone and he was in the car with the boys headed to Cici's Pizza. We ended the conversation and he said, "Love you, baby. Bye."

A quiet but insistent voice from #3 spoke up from his car seat saying, "Daddy, Mommy is NOT a baby! She is a mommy!"

I love that kid! He says the funniest things!

Dedee and his sons

We were blessed to be able to visit with my Uncle Danny and grandfather (we call him Dedee) at Thanksgiving. They came to my parents' house from Lubbock where they live. It was so nice visiting with them and enjoying their company. My dad and Uncle Danny are always fun to be around to to see their comraderie as brothers. It is sad to see the pain in Dedee's eyes when he speaks about Memee (whose advanced Alzheimers has robbed her of her mind and left him so lonely). He told me about his brothers and stories about their lives, but I could tell (and even he admitted) that his memory wasn't as good as it used to be. We enjoyed playing dominoes with them that night and Matt offered to give Dedee some much needed "domino lessons" so they took turns offering to give each other lessons as the night went on and bravado increased with each winning hand. I love the fact that my husband gets along with my family and teases them like that. They are not just strangers who say "good to see you" at each family gathering. He is real with them and I love that about him.

Here is a great picture of Dedee and his two sons (how did they both grow to be taller than him?):

The tops

Since my first niece was born 10 years ago, my parents have kept tops at their house (the spinning kind). No matter how many times they have seen it, the kids still love to watch the tops go around and around. Every time I see a top, I am reminded of my parents.