Thank You, Lord for my problems

While surfing the net the last several days, I have been very affected by what I have seen. The news out of China has been bleak and while I sit here trying to get organized for all that we have going on, I have to thank God that I have these issues. I could be sitting on a broken ground waiting to see if my only child will be found dead or alive and if alive, maimed for life. Instead of griping about how hectic I am with ball practice, shopping, carpool, etc, I could be frantically digging at a pile of debris that used to be a school, tired of waiting for rescue workers that can't get to me to help find my child. I could be afraid to go into my home because of the aftershocks even though there is no shelter outside. I could be preparing for a burial, or several. While I complain about my children and how frustrated they can make me, I have to thank God for being able to be frustrated and offer my prayers for those parents whose children have died or children whose parents have died. Please take a moment to think of others around the world and remember how similar we are instead of how different. Let's focus on how we can help and not how we are better than "they" are.

Thank You, Lord for all my problems and help me to see what a blessing they are instead.

Prayers

You know how you start to look for something and then you find something else? Well, I was hunting under the bed and found a bag with about eight packages of film in it. I had gotten the CDs with each one and I have spent all day uploading certain prints. These pictures are from 2006. This has also made me realize that I have not done any scrapbooking in a while. I was pretty caught up at one point and now I think I am starting on Alex. That's 2003, January. I think its time to get busy, again. I have put a few above to show how my guys have changed through the years.

I can't figure out how to put the pictures within my blog, so if you have any suggestion, I am open!

My sister-in-law has MSRA on her lip, chin and throat. This is on top of the bout of Bell's Palsy she is fighting. She has been through so much so please keep her in your prayers. She is trying to maintain a good attitude, but come on!!

My husband was fired today from his job. I would be more upset , but the Director of Operations was also fired today. I am not sure what we are going to do, but we will make it work. Or, rather, I will take a deep breath and put it into God's hands. We have been saving money to go to Disney, so we have something set aside. So, keep us in your prayers as well, please.

I was reading another blog the other day and she had asked several thought provoking questions about God's hand in our lives. I believe that God is in our life every day and every way. I posted a reply to her blog supporting her and someone critiqued my post! I was very upset at first, but then got to thinking that it wasn't worth it. Why argue with someone. As long as my point was understood, everything was fine. Has anyone else had this happen to them? What did you do, if anything?

Oh, well enough soapbox!!

I am currently listening to three little guys playing with those Fisher Price toys that I was going to give away. Boy, am I glad I didn't!

Summer Fun

I know it has been a while, so please excuse me if I ramble..

Heather's last day of school is tomorrow and she plans to spend a lot of time " on the couch watching t.v. this summer." I had to hold back the laugh, didn't do such a good job because she said that she wouldn't mind watching cartoons. O.K., moms, you know that is not why I was laughing. I am not sure where she thinks she will be living if that is her plan. I have plans for the summer and they really do not include a lot of t.v. time. I have been asked if I will watch a couple of the carpool kids for the summer so those two plus my three does not equal a lot of TV. Life is a learning lesson, though, isn't it.

Aaron's Little League team is undefeated and they have only three games left in the season. Clark is working on baseball cards for the kids. They look just like real ones with stats and everything. I think they will really like them. Each boy will get a set of the entire team. Aaron is really working on getting straight "A"s this semester. He is close!!

Lauren is having problems at school with listening and keeping her hands to herself. She has been grabbing classmates and giving them hugs. Clark said it is because she was actually finished with her classwork in January. Its quite possible. We are working on it with her. Her brain is just going so fast that it is hard to remember everything she has to. She is really into Robert Frost right now and I am feeding that by reading with her. She is on level two book from the library and I think they are too easy for her. Next time I think I will get some level three ones to challenge her.

Alex is just plugging along. We are still working on his alphabet cards. I took a set of index cards and wrote each letter with its upper case and lower case. We go through junk mail and he cuts out pictures to glue on the back of each card. I have been letting him pick the pictures. He has come with a few interesting ones. For "H", he picked a picture of two children and when I asked him about it, he said it was because they were humans. For "E", he found a picture of Cleopatra's head and said it was for Egypt. The other day, he lay on the ground watching ants. I was about to talk about them and how hard they were working when I saw that, as they got close to him, he was blowing them away off the sidewalk. So much for that lesson!

We are getting close to our Disney trip. Did you know that Disney will let you customize maps of the theme parks with the stops you want and mail them to you with your family's name? All for FREE! We are very excited. We were watching Modern Marvels the other day and it was talking about behind the scenes at Disney and now my guys want to go underground to see that part. What happened to all the other stuff?!

Well, it is late and tomorrow will be here soon. In case I don't get on until after Mother's Day...

A mother is the truest friend we have, when trials, heavy and sudden, fall upon us; when adversity takes the place of prosperity; when friends who rejoice with us in our sunshine, desert us when troubles thicken around us, still will she cling to us, and endeavour by her kind precepts and counsels to dissipate the clouds of darkness, and cause peace to return to our hearts. - Inspirational sayings by Washington Irving

To all the mothers I know.. God Bless and Happy Mother's Day!

My Mother taught me LOGIC

"If you fall off that swing and break your neck, you can't go to the store with me."

My Mother taught me MEDICINE

"If you don't stop crossing your eyes, they're going to freeze that way."

My Mother taught me ESP

"Put your sweater on; don't you think that I know when you're cold?"

My Mother taught me TO MEET A CHALLENGE

What were you thinking? Answer me when I talk to you... Don't talk back to me!"

My Mother taught me HUMOR

"When that lawn mower cuts off your toes, don't come running to me."

MY Mother taught me PATIENCE

"Sure, you can do that. As soon as you're 21 and leave the house!"

My Mother taught me DIPLOMACY

"I don't want to hear who started it, It takes two to fight."

My Mother taught me SHARING

"Play nicely with that or I'll just take it away from both of you."

My Mother taught me ETIQUETTE

"Use your fork! If I see that hand on the table again I'll Slap it!"

But most of all, My Mother taught me LOVE

" You know that whatever you do or whatever happens, I'll stand behind you because I Love you."