An update...

An update on Diane's dad...he went in to surgery this morning at 8:30 AM. The surgery lasted until right around lunch time. He's now recovering in ICU. The surgeon indicated that he was very confident that he'd gotten all of the cancer and that the cancer hadn't spread.

Please continue to pray for Diane's dad. He'll be in ICU at least through tomorrow, in the hospital for about a week, and then at home for a six week recovery period. Pray also for strenght and endurance for Diane's mom as she goes through this exhausting time.

David.

My Dad!!

I love this picture of my kids with my dad. Hannah doesn't look too thrilled. But I guess that comes with being a teenager.

Anyway, my reason for this post is to ask for prayer for my dad. He was recently diagnosed with lung cancer. Due to a sharp eye of his urologist it was diagnosed early. So, we are thankful and hopeful.

He will have surgery this coming Wednesday to remove the cancer. Please pray for the peace that passes all understanding for my family during this time. This is scary, but God is greater than all our fears.

Must be a Boy Thing!!

It is 4:30 in the am and I am AWAKE. Why you may be wondering...well I was sleeping peacefully when I heard a pounding. So I went to the boys room to investigate. Their room was quiet, but Elijah was not in his bed. So, I followed the pounding noise and found Elijah upstairs on the floor on his stomache, pounding the floor with his head.

So, being the good mom that I am and desperately wanting to sleep, I invited him to follow me to bed. It was so sweet, he nestled in close to me. Finally, blessed sleep. No way...he began to beat his head against the bed. Then, his right leg. Then, his left leg. And I don't mean a gentle beating, I mean a full force knock you out pounding. After my nose narrowly missed being broken by his skull I decided to get up.

And now, I hear the pounding somewhere close. He has gotten out of bed and is in our living room..pound, pound, pound. It is getting faster and now he is starting to hum. Last night we gave him Mucinex for his cough...I don't think we'll be doing that again!!!

It is a mystery why Elijah pounds his head to go to sleep. But, the truth is his brother has to roll his head back and forth to go to sleep. I'm wondering if they both might have rocks in their heads and they like to hear them shaking.

Little E has found me, he is now sitting in a chair, pounding his head, his leg and rolling his head back and forth....mind you his eyes are closed!! Poor little guy.

Funny Blog!!

If you have time to kill or you need a good laugh, I'd recommend going to visit www.thatsmywholething.com and meander around. His latest blog post has created a palpable tension in our home. As my husband said, he went from preaching to meddling!!

After an evening of discussion and debate we've decided to the graciously disagree with our friend Greg. We just can't end our love affair with DVR...at least not yet. However, we really did enjoy reading this post and laughed our heads off with his description of what is all too true in our home.

Mr. Steady Makes a Change!!

This is the formal announcement that my husband is leaving his career at EDS and changing careers entirely. The following letter was sent to David's co-workers and I thought it summed things up nicely. Our family would greatly appreciate prayers during this transition time.

Letter from David's Manager at EDS...

As many of you already know by now, David Smith has decided to pursue a new career opportunity with New Hope Christian Church in Bartlett, Tennessee as a Discipleship Minister. David's last day with EDS will be on Friday (1/18), so be sure to say goodbye and good luck to David prior to that time.

David is very excited about his new career venture with some of his new responsibilities that will include oversight of all adult ministries at the church including Men's Ministry, Women's Ministry, Sunday Morning Adult Bible Studies, Small Group Bible Studies and Life Groups (mid-week intergenerational small groups).

This would also have been David's 20 year anniversary with EDS on 10/10/08, so on behalf of EDS, your many co-workers, friends, and the entire leadership team, we congratulate you and thank you for all your many contributions to the success of numerous projects during your EDS career.

Although you'll be missed, we wish you much success and happiness with your new career venture.

Our many thanks for all your many contributions and years of service to EDS.
From all your many, many friends at EDS.

Reading is Rewarding!!

Who knows where this post is heading...just to warn you. I'll start by sharing the books we read last night. The boys and I read "In the Castle" which is a beautifully illustrated book about old England. This is a book they love to read and they pick it regularly. The swords, the king and queen, the jester, the knights, these vivid pictures capture their imagination. Of course they love the feasting page. One day they will be teenagers and we will be hard-pressed to feed them. Then we read "Goodnight Moon". One of my personal favorites. Elijah continued "reading" after we were done saying goodnight to everything.

After the boys went to bed, the girls and I read from two books. The first is "Helen's Temper and It's Consequences". This book was written in 1872. It's a sweet little book that packs a powerful punch. The book is about two sisters. One who is outwardly good. And the other who shows much kindness from her heart. The hysterical thing is that the two sisters in my house were DISCUSSING HEATEDLY last night about who was Helen (outwardly well behaved, but inwardly mean and spiteful) and who was Betty (younger without all the right answers, but kind and tender-hearted). Betty shows much kindness to a young cripple girl she meets. Helen on the other hand is mean and worried about what others think. Much to both their chagrin I pointed out to them that at times they are both like both. That seemed to settle the argument.

Some of the language in this book is old-fashioned...the little girl is called a maiden several times. And yet, I like it. Why? Because it's simple, but not shallow. In the chapter we read last night Betty shows her little crippled friend, Louisa how to be helpful. She teaches her to clean while her mother is away working. I LOVED THIS PART!!

We also read from one of Hannah's school books, "The House of Sixty Fathers" which is about a young boy in China whose family fled from the Japanese via a river. While his family was away working, the sampan he was on got loose and floated back down the river into enemy territory. He was all alone in enemy territory. Well, not exactly alone...he has a pig named Glory-of-the-Republic (who I renamed G-pig). The little boy's name is Tian Pao (well I got tired of trying to say that so I renamed him T.P.)

One section we read last night described him watching a group of obviously starving children from a bush (with G-pig). These children ate grass and one little boy, the smallest of the lot began to eat mud. TP realized that he had not seen an ox, goats or pigs. The enemy had taken all the food. He realized that his pig was in serious danger. But before fleeing, he snuck over to the little, mud-eating boy and gave him the last of his rice. And ran away. This section undid Clara. The thoughts of starving children were difficult for her. But, she stuck it out and we finished the 18 page chapter we were reading.

Now, of course we don't do that every night. (We started reading Helen's Temper at Thanksgiving and are on chapter four) The two nights before we watched American Idol and promptly sent them to bed!! This morning I was thinking about the importance of reading books to my children. It seems to settle them. The boys sit in my lap. It puts us all in the same room. Really, it is
comforting to me also.

While I've avoided making New Year's Resolutions this year, I would like to make sure we carve out time to read together more regularly.

New Year's Eve

When we lived in Ohio, some of our friends started a New Year's tradition that we've decided to continue. In Ohio, we usually went out to dinner with a few couples and then gathered in a crowd at someone's house. Those were some sweet times!! I always feel a twinge of sadness that I'm not with the Adams, the Depps, the Harts, the Russells, or the Slatons at New Years. (We still love all you guys!!)

This New Year's Eve we had two gatherings. Our friends Matt and Jana, not really pictured anywhere, joined us for an early pizza dinner. It was nice, quiet and relaxing. They had to get home and put their little one to bed.

Then, the party kicked into full gear. We had several friends over for a New Year's Eve game night. It was loads of fun and we enjoyed kicking off the New Year in a relaxed, casual environment. The children were all amazing and went on and on like energizer bunnies!!

Now, you will notice the intense game of Settlers (We did miss the Richardson's and the Watson's...Thanks for letting us use your settlers board.). These people did not move from the table the whole night. This was some serious gamesmanship!!!

Anti Day

One of the websites I frequent is http://www.flylady.net/ and on this website Wednesday is deemed anti-procrastination day. So, today I decided to get some things done that I have not been getting done. Of the twelve things on my list I completed eight items, did not get two things done (both phone calls), and 1/2 completed two items.

So, I'm calling that a success!!! And, I'm adding another anti day to my life. Every day is anti-sticker day. Let me explain. One of my to do items was to touch base with friend whom I haven't talked to in a while. I picked Elijah's rest time as an opportune time to sit down with no interruptions. It was a wonderful, lengthy conversation with my friend.

When I got off the phone, Elijah was pleased to show me what he had been up to...he was supposed to be in his room napping. He had found a Little Einsteins workbook he received for Christmas. The idea behind this work book was for him to have something to do while his sister did school. Rather, what he did was stick ALL THE stickers on the floor all over the house.

I just finished peeling stickers off the floor....after all it's anti-procrastination day so I couldn't put it off until tomorrow.

So here's my challenge to you....do one thing you have been putting off. No excuses, just get it done. You will feel much better.

AND NEVER EVER SEND ME STICKERS...OR CONFETTI...AUNT MARILYN I'm talking to you!!!

Locks of Love

This evening Clara sweet-talked her daddy into taking her to get her hair cut. She has been REALLY wanting to get "her hair short in the back and long in the front". (in her words). She had enough hair for locks of love and the BIG BONUS is her haircut was FREE.

Christmas Day!!

One of my favorite activities during holidays is to try to get a picture of all four of my children. I'm realizing that we are not the picture perfect family. And, let's face it I am an amateur photographer. It takes a real professional to get my crew to smile and look at the camera at the same time.

So here's my best attempt during this Christmas season!!

Necessary Evil!!

Yesterday I went to the dentist to complete some dental work I had done a couple of weeks ago. Unfortunately, my mouth was not done being tortured because for the last two weeks I've had throbbing pain. So, the verdict from the dentist was I needed a root canal and a crown. Happy New Year.

So, again I was subjected the drilling, scraping, clenched fists, keeping my mouth open for an hour. Now I remember why I despise going to the dentist. This morning my mouth hurts. My hope is they were able to fix the problem and there is not some other little demon in there waiting to arise so I will have to go to the dentist again for more torture.

On a positive note, I have dental insurance. They used gas so I was "relaxed". And thank the Lord for the numbing medicine.

There will be NO pictures added to this post.

Happy New Year!!

This morning Elijah (our two year old) came up to David and asked for a "beer". Of course David brought him to me and said, "Tell your mommy what you want." And granted it did sound like he said "beer". Trying to get to the bottom of this, I asked him if he wanted root beer. He shook his head vehemently "no".

Then, he went to the cabinet and pointed to where we keep the medicine and vitamins. And then, asked for a two "beers". At that moment it hit me that he was asking for his gummy bear vitamins.

It reminds me of my friend Shelly who lived in Dayton when we lived there, but was transplanted from Texas. When her son asked for "ice", it sounded like something else. If you can't figure it out, try saying ice with a texas drawl.

Have a beary (not beer-y) Happy New Year!! I think I'm going to take a nap now!!