Friday, November 29, 2013

Awesome Adventures Mission's Conference

When we realized we would be here for our church's Mission's Conference, Josh asked Pastor if he could do a children's program each night.  Pastor said yes, and Josh began brainstorming and came up with some really fun ideas.  He decided he would invite the kids to fly with him on Awesome Adventures Airlines each night of the Mission's Conference.  
Each night Pastor had them sing "Count the Cost" to kick off the conference, then Josh announced that he (the Captain) was now boarding for a flight to Nepal (the next night was Brazil and the last night was the Philippines.) Beth and Brenna were the Flight Attendants and helped the kids to their seats in the other building.


Each night Captain Josh did a crazy skit on Safety Precautions.  The kids loved it!


He prepared songs and games and the kids all participated so well!


The Flight Attendants served snacks that went along with the country we were visiting.


Then, Josh presented a slide show about life in that country and the missionaries sharing the gospel with them.



Each night he preached a practical message on being a missionary right where you are.
I'm so proud of my kiddos and the heart they have for missions and to reach children.  They had such a great time and love working in the ministry!


Tuesday, November 26, 2013

Praise the Lord!

Thank you everyone that has been praying for my Callie Grace.  We got a call today from her doctor and her EEG came back normal.  Praise the Lord!  They said this means that she did not have a seizure during the test and that they could not stimulate one.  The Pediatrician said that if it happens again they will refer her to a Neurologist.  We're praying it doesn't ever happen again.  I am so thankful for this good news today!

Sunday, November 24, 2013

Callie's EEG

 Last Friday was Callie's EEG.  She did so well!  We followed the nurse's instructions and kept her up until midnight on Thursday night.  Then, I woke her up the next morning at 6:08.  (It was supposed to be 6:00, but I hit the snooze)  :o)

 At first it was hard to wake her up, but then she was excited when I mentioned that she could color!

 Then, at about 12:30, it was time to go.

 But, first we stopped to pray with Daddy.  He watched the other 5 while just me and my Callie went to the Outpatient Center together.

 The Lord really blessed us with a great Tech that was great with kids.  He sweetly talked to Callie and explained everything to her (and me!)  He had on cartoons for her.  It was cute, Callie was actually tuning him out for most of the instructions so she could watch cartoons!  He prepped her head with lots of red marks and goopy stuff.  Then, he attached the 26 wires and put gauze around her head.  There were 3 phases of the test.  For the first phase she had to blow on a pinwheel flower for 3 minutes.  We both thought this was great fun and made a game out of it.  She ended up getting a little giggly.  Then, for the 2nd phase, they wanted her to sleep.  She was tired already so it worked perfect! They turned out the lights and she snuggled with her blanket.  She was out in no time!  Then, for the last phase, they woke her up and flashed bright lights at her.  Then, we were done!

 She said the worse part was when they wiped the yucky stuff off of her head.  She said that the wipe hurt.  I was so proud of my girl!  She was so good and obedient!  So, of course I had to reward her! :o)

I called Mom and she met us at ColdStone for a scoop of Strawberry Yogurt.

As far as results, they said if there was anything alarming, they would call us Friday afternoon.  We didn't receive a call!  The report will be sent to her Pediatrician Monday.  Callie has been as active and goofy as ever, Praise the Lord!  I sure do love my girl!

Wednesday, November 20, 2013

A Day at the Naples Zoo

We had a great time while Mariane and Georges were visiting.  We all went to the Naples Zoo together.

 It was the perfect zoo to take the kids to and enjoy a couple of hours of the fresh outdoors and wild animals.
 We arrived early, so most of the animals were awake and hungry!



 Mariane, Micah and Marc


 Georges, Callie and Joshua



 Silas was so excited to hear they had Cheetahs.  They are his favorite!
 Brenna made sure we followed the map and saw as much as possible.
 Micah pretty much snacked on Froot Loops the whole time.

 You could buy 5 leaves of Romaine lettuce to feed the giraffes.  Silas and Callie loved it!


 Denise and Brenna taking a pitstop.

 Georges and Micah
 Micah's favorite was the playground.
What a beautiful day!

Monday, November 18, 2013

Question for Bloggers

I have a sad confession...once I started blogging, my family photo albums and printing of pictures ceased :(  Sad, I know.  I still kept up with my kiddos photo albums, but now I want to print out our memories for me to have and I think the easiest way would be to print my family-type posts from my blog.  Have any of you done this before?  Which company did you use?  Any ideas and advice would be great!

Thursday, November 14, 2013

My boys are back

Patrick and Josh had a good trip to St. Barths.  They accomplished much.  So many prayers were answered, Praise the Lord!

 It was pretty emotional closing up our house.  New renters are already lined up.  It was pretty emotional having to sell some of our things that we aren't able to store there or ship back.  It was even more emotional to say good-bye.  I had written Patrick's Grandmother a letter for Patrick to read to her.  I told her how much I loved her and how special it was to live by her.  She put up with my crazy french and helped me along.  She always had a snack for me and the kiddos.  She knew I loved Coke and Chips! ;)  She made us feel welcome.  It was wonderful.  I told her that one of the  best moments, though, was when she accepted Christ as her Savior.  What a glorious day when Mama also became my sister!  Our friendship and fellowship became even more sweet and I'm so thankful for her.

So, now my boys are back.  They hit the floor running and have been busy ever since!  It's a wonderful feeling for all of us to be together again.

Wednesday, November 13, 2013

A moment forever etched in my mind

Have you ever had one of those moments where everything slows down, life becomes more fragile than ever and your heart cries out to God out of desperation?  I had one of those moments last Friday.
I had been invited to a friend's house to get together with some other ladies for a little girl time.  My Mom had volunteered to watch my 5 (Josh was still in St. Barths with Patrick) and we were all excited about our plans for the night.  I got to my Mom's house a little early to visit for 5 minutes.  As we talked, the kids played.  Callie was on my Mom's rug in the living room with a rubber ball.  It was the kind that's a little bigger than a basketball.

I have no idea what happened, but I heard her cry out.  I thought, "Oh no, that sounds like an 'I'm hurt' cry"  I figured she had busted her lip or bumped her head.  When I got to her, she was completely limp, yet her muscles  were tight.  Hard to describe.  Her eyes were extremely wide open, but she didn't look there and her eyes were rolling to the side.  I called out her name and laid her flat on the floor. At this point we all knew it was an emergency.  I hollered out for my Mom to call 911.  The girls were screaming.  Callie just laid there.  I thought the worst.  It was the scariest moment of my life. Her lips and chin were turning a gray/blue color.  Mom was receiving instructions from the operator and an ambulance was on its way.  I told the girls to go pray as I kept trying to get Callie to "wake up."  Then , she started to focus on me and come out of it.  I tried keeping her focused on me.  Then, she started to go out again.  Then, she would focus on me and she started sweating.  Then, she began to talk.  She seemed so weak.  By the time the ambulance arrived she was doing much better.  They looked her over, and said they could take her to the ER, or it might be better for her to see her Pediatrician in the morning.  Since she was stable, and doing wonderfully, I decided to wait for the next day.  They gave me things to watch for, and I watched...all through the night, with my girl in my arms.

The next day the doctor told me that she believes Callie had a seizure.  There were no bumps or bruises on her head and the way her arms went during all of this was very seizure-like.  So, my little Miss Callie Grace has a couple of tests coming up. Please pray for my girl and for her doctors to have wisdom.

Praise the Lord she is doing wonderfully now!  Later on Friday night she told me that she could hear me, but not see me.  Then when she did see me, I was moving funny.  She must have been dizzy.

I'll so thankful for my baby girl.  She has her bed beside mine for now.  I'm so thankful she's doing better. Life sure is precious.

Wednesday, November 6, 2013

Some New Duds and a question

 Callie and Micah love to have their picture taken.  They love to pose and say Cheese!
 Callie was so happy when her friend gave her a bag of goodies.  We love hand-me-downs!  Her friend loves princess pretty dresses.  So, Callie was thrilled to wear this beautiful one!
 Micah loves wearing his tie.  I think he wants to look like his Daddy and Josh.  His little smile with the dimple makes me melt!


 But, the question is....How did she get her feet to do that?   Weird!

Monday, November 4, 2013

Moved into the "Big House"

It was about 2 weeks ago that we moved into the "Big House"  (We've got to come up with a different name! ha ha)

Our first visitors brought us 5 gifts.  They know us well!


 Denise let Silas take home some of the trucks she had in her garage.  Silas has had a great time!  He even lines them up on the tile for their parking space.


 My Mom gave Callie a sweet wooden cradle to rock her bear in.  She loves it and is a perfect little Mommy.


 Micah is not sure what to do with all this space.  I think he's still trying to figure out what a closet is!  Ha! We didn't have these in St. Barths.

 And of course we know what needs to go in the freezer first, too!  What a great treat after a busy day of moving!