Tuesday, February 26, 2008

The Man in the Suitcase

Here you go - another glimpse into the life of my son.

This was a few nights ago, but I was having computer issues and couldn't get the post to publish. He thought it might be fun to see if he could fit in his suitcase. What do you think? Maybe we can pack him like that the next time we drive to Georgia!

All Scrapped Out and Other Random News

This weekend I went on my first ever scrapbooking retreat. I mostly agreed to go because it was 2 nights away where I was free to do whatever I wanted, even though I went under the pretense of "scrapbooking." Out of the 15-20 people that were there, I only knew 2 others, so I literally was on my own. Friday night flew by and even though when I got to Okoboji the antiques stores and flea markets were calling my name, I went to the resort and even decided to start working on my books.

Before I knew it, I was actually enjoying myself and getting a TON done. Seventy-four pages later - yes 74! I had completed everything I had brought with me to do by 11:00 Saturday night. It was a great weekend and I made it to church on Sunday in time to see Ashlyn sing with the Sunday school classes.

This retreat came after a trying week with Carter - one of the reasons I was so eager to go! The medicine he was on to keep his ears clear until we could get to the ENT made him HYPER! He's one of those kids anyway, but he was almost uncontrollable on the medicine and like clockwork about 30 minutes after his daily dose, he was bouncing off the walls.

Thursday afternoon we went to the ENT and just like everything else with this kid, the answer was clear as mud. The doc basically said if it was his kid, he would do the tubes, but not to count on them staying in any longer than 9 months to a year. Our dilemma is that winter is just about over (snow is actually melting here!) and we're headed into the time of year when last year, he didn't have a single runny nose or ear infection. The dilemma is that if the tubes do help but only stay in 9 months, we're right back to November when all of this started up again this year!

And one final bit of random news - my friend Angela is finally pregnant! She's just gone through in vitro and the blood test came back positive yesterday afternoon. She's only 4 weeks, so please pray for her that things go smoothly over the next few weeks and months for them.

I'm off to enjoy the warmer weather. I check back in later...Maybe when the sun goes down since it's finally out again!

Wednesday, February 20, 2008

BBBBRRRRRRRRRRR!!!!!!!!!!!!

That pretty much sums it up today. Just when you think you're heading toward warmer weather (it was 35 on Saturday!), a day like today hits and it's just not nice.

Right now the temp is 20 BELOW ZERO and the wind chill is about 45 BELOW ZERO. School is delayed for 2 hours right now because of how cold it is and kids that ride the bus can't be warm enough when it's this cold.

I'm going to put on another sweatshirt...

Tuesday, February 12, 2008

Finally Some Progress

Carter went back to the doctor today for his ear re-check and his 3 year check up. We finally have made progress on his ear problems. The doctor here is sending us to an ENT next week and is recommending that we have a tube put in Carter's right ear. Finally! I had to really fight being angry at the doctor we had in Georgia for not doing this sooner. According to the doctor here, Carter probably should've had a tube put in some time ago. Now we're just praying that there's no hearing loss due to all the ear infections he's had.

In other news, Carter is a whopping 32 pounds and is 37 1/2 inches tall - both of which fall in about the 50% range. So, he's one average 3 year old.

I'll be sure to let you know how his appointment next week goes! Thanks for praying for him (and me!).

Thursday, February 7, 2008

Ice Fishing

This is one phenomenon that I still cannot wrap my head around. The lakes here have been frozen for a few months with A LOT of ice on top. I heard something like 20 inches the other day.

But. It's. Still. A. Lake. Why in the world would you drive a truck on it?

Better yet, why would you have a "fish house" with a heater in it? On ICE??? This Southern girl just can't do it yet. Maybe one year.

These pictures are of the same lake in Worthington that these pictures were taken at this summer. Blows your mind, doesn't it???

Tuesday, February 5, 2008

What If?

I was talking to Britney about this the other day and he said I should blog about it. If you're bored - blame him :)

Do you ever ask that question - what if? What if I fail? What if this doesn't work? What if you move to Minnesota and hate it? What if I make the wrong decision?

There have been so many times I've seen people paralyzed by this. They have to control everything in their lives and by not being "sure" of something, it keeps them from following what the Lord is telling them. Drives me crazy!

If you know me well at all, you know that I am not a worrier and that I have little or no patience for people who are. I think there are a couple of reasons for this. (Not that I'm saying it's right not to have patience - just want to let you know where I'm coming from if you're ever on the receiving end of my impatience...)

When I was in second grade, my teacher, Miss Cantrell, told us that we were not allowed to ask the question What If? I remember being freaked out about that because as a child I worried about EVERYTHING! My thoughts after she told us that were things like what if there is a fire in our classroom - how will we get out? A little dramatic for a 7 year old, I think.

But, Miss C's words have always stuck with me. It probably doesn't hurt that one of my spiritual gifts is faith either. And that my parents were pretty good models of having faith in the Lord to meet your needs.

I'm not saying throw caution to the wind and do whatever the heck you want. I'm just saying the next time you feel led in a certain way, pray about it and if you truly feel like God is leading you there - FOLLOW HIM! Even if you fail and fall flat on your face, at least you can say you had the courage to try and follow Him. I know I don't want to get to heaven and get asked why I didn't trust Him to lead me through life.

And, if you need encouragement or someone to pray for you when you're going through that - call me!