So here's the question....

If God provides you with boxes full of miscellaneous veggies such as onions, bell peppers, celery, tomatoes, cauliflower and shallots, what are you going to do with them??

Keep in mind that it's BOXES full of them.... lots and lots and lots of them!

So what are you going to do????

Make stewed tomatoes and can them of course! Or at least that is what I did last night!

24 pints of stewed tomatoes completely FREE! all I paid for was the salt in them and the lids for the tops. Not even the rings, just the lids! God is so GREAT!!

It's off to bed for me now because I have that case of peaches to deal with in the morning... I feel a Cin-ful Peach Cobbler calling my name.....

Night All,

Blessings!

Not Me Monday!

I keep meaning to do this.. then Monday escapes me! Well NOT today! I am going to join Not Me! Monday!... at least for this week :) Know what Not Me! Monday! is?? Well, if not here is the intro....

Welcome to Not Me! Monday! This blog carnival was created by MckMama. You can head over to her blog to read what she and everyone else have not been doing this week. MckMama is one of my daily "must reads", so I hope you enjoy her as much as I do!

So here goes....

Not Me! I certainly did NOT play hokey from work all day Saturday to finish building a golf course in my front yard. And even if I did, I most definitely did NOT bring my business partner with me, leaving my husband to babysit our boutique while we my business partner and I played with all the power tools..

And I so DID NOT sit at work all day today at my "mortgage job" wishing the ENTIRE seven hours that I could quit, walk out the door and NEVER return!

Oh, and if anyone was watching me at church yesterday, then they know that I most definitely did not sit through the entire service crying my eyes out for no reason that I could think of! Nope... that was not me!

Yup, and I did not trick my wonderful daughter into thinking she got to sleep in my bed three nights last week! So, since it wasn't me that tricked her, then it couldn't have been me that let her fall asleep here, then carried her to her own room only to bring her back in here before she woke up, so she thought she slept here all night.... and I certainly did not do it three times in the last week because it was simpler than arguing with her!

And while I am at it, I DID NOT charge the bridezilla I had in this last week a $40.00 handling fee to take her dress to get it cleaned because she took up too much of my time with her petty complaining... nope I would NEVER do that! My time is not worth that much, right?

Oh, and I did not skip dinner twice last week because the kids were eating at church and I didn't feel like cooking anything for myself! I would never do that!

And finally, I am NOT sitting here blogging while this box of free produce sits on my table waiting to be sorted out and put away...


Nope. Not me. Never!

Wow... that was fun! And a weight on of my chest... if I really did all of those things!

Hope you enjoy Not Me! Monday!.... Wanna give it a try with me next week??

Birthday Party Success!

*WARNING* This post has TOO many pictures.... but I just couldn't cut anymore out!!

I think we had birthday party success.... it was touch and go there for a time or two, but in the end I think everyone had a great time and it was a great success!!

Faline, Lorena, Mark and I have been working for about two weeks on the miniature golf course in our front yard (yes, I am sure my neighbors are rolling their eyes at me!) and I was getting really worried. But yesterday Faline and I kicked butt and got it done! I was really happy with how well it came out! Thank God for a SIL as crazy as myself who got down and dirty with me to get it done yesterday! Check it out.... what do you think for a do it yourself homemade course? Oh yea, and CHEAP too!!! Like I said.. I was happy with the outcome :)


Had to name it all for the Birthday Boy of course :)

1st Hole, Pirate's Cove


2nd Hole, Through the Mountain

3rd Hole, Duck Pond.

By and far the most popular hole of the course! And of course the one that daddy got to "fix"the most often since he was voted the official "ball fisher"!

4th Hole, Fiesta Time!

5th Hole, Western Trail

This pic is hard to get, but this hole was actually really funny. The ball went in the cardboard tube UNDER the sleeping bag, complete with life size doll asleep IN the sleeping bag, and came out on the other side of the tent!

6th Hole, Beach Time

And 7th, and final hole, Zen

The kids had a go at a few rounds of golf and had lots of fun. Then we took a break and opened some presents. I spared you most of the present pictures, but what birthday post is complete without at least a few.....

I loved this face.... can you just hear him saying "COOL!"??

Isn't that a GREAT hat?? I love my hat creator!!!

He is actually READING the card!!!!

(and if you know of his school issues, that is a HUGE deal!!)

After the presents it was on to CAKE, YUMMY!!!

So, we created this fun golf themed cake...

complete with the miniature golf cake balls in the sand :)

We had to head inside because the slight breeze we had would not allow me to light the candles and Nathaniel INSISTED on ALL of the candles being lite! Silly compulsive little guy :)

But he did get them all out again! Hope he wasn't wishing for anymore new balls!

After we enjoyed our cake and visited it was back for more golf.... Nathaniel really had a great idea with this one! And it was all his idea. We had so much fun!

Audrey in deep concentration on the 1st hole.

Nathaniel the little golfer!

Mommy (AKA me) showing Audrey how to actually hold the club!

And Audrey celebrating that on her VERY NEXT swing she made it in the hole, finally!

Josie was right in there having fun with the little ones. I am so thankful that she and Bri made it back for the party! Thank you Lord for answered prayers!

Getting it just so....

Such a cute birthday boy hu?

And this little guy saved the day!

Nathaniel was so proud. He came up with this birthday party idea and invited ALL of his friends from school. He was so excited about his friends coming to HIS house to play on HIS golf course. But then I never heard ANY RSVPs from any of the friends he invited. I know that the invites went out, but I just didn't know what to expect. We had an almost melt down when the party had been going for a bit and Nat realized that NONE of his school friends were there. I suggested that we start playing and hopefully someone would come.... in the middle of the first time around for Nat this little guy came waling up! THANK YOU LORD!!! I was so worried for my little guy! But this guy made Nat so happy :)

Nat and his school buddy playing together!

Audrey so happy to have some lap time with Gramie Sharon

Overall, it was a long tiring day, but what great party doesn't produce those results??

We had so much fun, and my little birthday boy is a very happy little guy!

Blessings!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO MY PRINCE OF PRINCES!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO MY PRINCE OF PRINCES!!

It's hard to believe that my precious little boy is 9 years old today! The time has both flown by by and at other times crept by. But as I waken on this fine morning of his 9th birthday my heart is prompted to write a little something to him...

Nathaniel, my Prince of Princes, I love you so! I can't believe that you are turning 9 whole years old today, can you? There is so much in mommy's heart to tell you, as always, but more than anything I want you to always know how honored I am that God chose ME to be your mommy! I love you so!

In April of 2000, when I found out that I was carrying such a special child I was terrified. I was sure that God had messed up, and that I could never be the strong mommy that you would need me to be. I guess He proved me wrong hu? We haven't done too badly together :)

Your strength, charisma and joy make me smile, even in the hardest of times. You astound me with the magnitude of pain and hardship that you endure, yet you stay so positive and caring.

Nat the Great, your compassion and sweetness break my heart at times. How can one little boy be so filled with so many emotions and know just the right time to give me a hug? You may be an ornery little thing, and drive me right to the brink of insanity with some of your testing, but right then, just when I think that I am about to fall head first into the craziness, you come off with one of your "It's all gonna be okay Mommy" moods and after a while I am laughing so hard and so happy with all of the hugs you are lavishing on me that I forget the craziness!

Nathaniel., you have a VERY inquisitive mind, and love to fill it with knowledge beyond your age! I think you will be a doctor when you grow up, you always want to know everything about how the body works, and why it does the things is does. I do dread the day that you realize how much limitation your body puts on your life, but I know that God will give us the strength to endure even that day!

Then there is your passion for balls ..... how can one little boy have so many balls?? And more so, how can that same little boy possibly think that he can play with ALL of those balls EVERYDAY??? Seriously little guy, you crack me up... when you aren't driving me to hide balls anywhere I think you might not find them for a few hours :) But then again, seeing as none years ago the doctors told me you would never stand, walk, run or jump, and you do ALL of those things, how can I complain that you love balls? Thank you Lord for the gift of mobility and ambulation that you have given my precious Prince! May he continue to be blessed with it for MANY years to come!

Nathaniel, my dearest boy, we have been through so much together in these last 9 years and I know that our journey together is far from over. But I want you to always remember one thing... now matter how much you test me, or how far you push when your little mind just doesn't get that you are pushing, mommy will ALWAYS love you! You will always be my most special Prince EVER! Pray with mommy for grace in all things and wisdom to understand you, my precious boy.

Today, I pray for the BESTEST 9th birthday EVER for you! I hope you love the golf course that you asked for and Mommy, Aunta, Daddy and Lorena have built for you. I pray that the Lord sends many of your friends to celebrate this day with us, even if none of them have let me know that they are coming! And I pray for MANY more birthdays to celebrate with you.

Happy Birthday Nathaniel, my Prince of Princes!
I love you to the end of the world and back..... a million zillion times!

Is there time to breathe?

Ok... so I seriously want to know if I am the only person having this problem.... Is there time to breathe?? I mean am I the only one so busy that there isn't time to do any of the things I WANT to do, because there is so much I HAVE to do?

I want a day off of the the HAVE TOS to do some WANT TOS! And just so I don't forget...

I want to have mommy dates with each of my kids!

I want to shoot hoops with Nathaniel without having to worry about anything else.

I want to scrapbook!

I want to blog for real!

I want to curl up with a book, a glass of wine and a fire in the fireplace on a rainy day.

I want to detail the inside of my car.

I want to paint the house.

I want to finish my bathroom! (2 years latter...)


Okay, out of my system! For now.

Good news?
Nathaniel's foot is healing WONDERFULLY!!! And he is out to the wheelchair!!!!! I am so happy about this! Thank you Lord!

Bad news?
NO ONE has RSVPed for Nathaniel's birthday party THIS Sunday! Is no one coming, or is everyone so inconsiderate that they make me stress out over this? He is so excited about inviting ALL of his friends from school, and them coming over. He will be so broken hearted if no one shows up. I am actually crying just thinking about it! Please Lord send one or two of his friends. We don't need all of them, but on or two please?

ALSO, the night of the dance show someone dropped my camera (yes, I see the dent on it even if no one is confessing to it..) and it does not work anymore. I am so bummed out about this! It wasn't an expensive camera, but it was my ONLY camera. And I love taking digital pics of my children and blogging and being able to remember.... And there is NO WAY I can afford to replace it. So I hope my parents understand me stealing theirs often... because I am crying sad over this too!

Ok... as much as I have so much to share from my heart, tomorrow is another very busy day and I must get some sleep.

Blessings!

So summer is here.... and it's making me crazy already!! Seriously, I have been so busy with the kids and work and doctor's appointments I have not had time to WORK this week! It has been insane! I seriously hope it settles down SOON!

Monday was the dance show. Two hyped out dancers, one hyped out Brianna (because she is ALWAYS hyped out), one melt down prone Nathaniel, and two leech kids that attached themselves to us on stuck like super glue even though we were NOT responsible for them... made for one mommy who got NOTHING done in the way of work! I knew this heading into the day... well all except the melt down Nathaniel and the two extras, those were surprises... but I knew I wouldn't be able to get any work done. Tuesday was an early morning appointment to have Nathaniel's leg braces adjusted, a quick trip to the hospital to have his X Rays done, a stop at the pediatricians office to pick up a corrected prescription, and a trip to my work to get a pay check. I barley got back to Butterfly in enough time to drop Nat off before I had to go into Morro Bay to get the girls from basketball camp. I had a few hours at the store that afternoon before an annoying appointment, but the kids were so out of sorts that I was unable to get much work done. It's really hard to hear myself think when they make so much noise!! Today I headed into the mortgage job in SLO then had an appointment with Nathaniel and his Orthopedic Surgeon in south county. I got back to LO in enough time to run a couple quick errands, and dash home at 7 to fix dinner! Tomorrow stands to be about the same! I feel like I have been running like crazy and not getting a darned thing done!

To boot, there are a few things weighing heavy on my heart tonight..

The first in a sort of loss that we had today. Wednesdays are the day that I pick up our surplus grocery bags. I headed over to the church like normal to get our food, and none was there for us! I asked the pastor that was there, and he had seen it earlier in the day, but it was just gone when I got there. It was so weird.. and he was speechless. It took every ounce of strength I had to not break down and cry right there! That food is the majority of what we eat each week. And not only that, but it was food for three families! I pick up our food, Faline's food, and that of a single mom friend that I have here in LO that has no way to get to SLO to pick her's up. It was heart breaking. And I am not sure what I will do for my family this week. I am waiting on the Lord to see what He has in store for us!!

The second thing really getting to me tonight is Nathaniel's wheelchair. When I had to put him back in it I noticed that there were parts of it that were broken, and that it was too small for him. I made an appointment to have it adjusted for him and fixed, but the guy who looked at it last week said that he was maxed out on the adjusting for it and we would have to get a new one. I can't do that right now! This chair was scheduled to last him until about 6th grade, which is two more years away! And the co pay that we had to pay for this chair in 2003 when it was new, was $3000! And that was AFTER our private insurance paid A LOT! We no longer have private insurance, and the state is in such a bad manner, I am really concerned about having to buy a new chair. So tomorrow we have an appointment with the specialist, and I am PRAYING that he will have a better solution! I am praying that he can either adjust this chair to make it more comfortable for Nathaniel, or that perhaps he has a "borrow" or donated back chair that we can trade for. Please Lord? I am so not in the position to buy a new wheel chair!!! So this is heavy on my heart.

And finally, I am struggling with the whole Mark situation again. I know that he is my husband and I have a Christian duty to him, but it is so hard right now. I want to throw the towel in, but know I can't because God tells me not to. But I am so tired of the battle.... I am ready for this season to be OVER!!! So if you are a praying soul, won't you please pray for me tonight? I sure could use that infusion of hope, strength and grace!

The fun thing of the week (other than the dance show) is that Audrey and Josie are doing basketball camp at my Alma matter this week :) And my old coach is coaching them! Along with some of the girls I used to play ball with. How cool is that? And my little Audrey is LOVING it! She is so darned cute and everyone keeps telling me how hard she is working! I hope to get to pick her up tomorrow so I can take some pictures of her playing ball..... Well that is, I hope to take some pictures IF my camera that broke Monday is working again! I am so bummer that my camera broke and I just don't know HOW I can replace it. So I put it away and prayed that it will be fixed when i take it out again.... we will see how that goes tomorrow!

In my blog world friends, one Mama and her little cubs are very sick.. join me for praying for their health? And another friend has posted a weight loss challenge.... I NEED to loose some weight, so I am considering joining it... anyone what to join with me??? My understanding is that it consists of working out, eating healthy and reporting in on Fridays about your personal progress.. oh yea and some thing about posting before pictures... I am not so sure about that part of it! :)

May your week be calmer than mine has been and may you be blessed today!

Blessings!

PS.... I have a super duper surprise coming soon from Butterfly that I am soooooo excited about!!

Deep breathe... we did it!!!!

I love my girls.
I love their dance.
I love supporting them.
But, I am glad to say we did it! And this one is over! :)

But it was REALLY cute and they both did AMAZING!!!
So, I am beat, and out of words.... so here is a picture journey through the show!

Audrey in her first number, Petite Ballerina.
She is obviously not AS petite as the ballerina next to her.... but she is still petite! :)
And here are all of the tutus that Faline was holding in the pictures in the post earlier today.

Ballerina Audrey

This was Audrey's second number, a tap number called Happy Feet.

Little Miss Tapper Attitude!

Aren't they so darned cute???

Couldn't resist a few great shots of Josie. This is in her ballet number called "Cinderella"

This was Audrey's THIRD number! A Ballet number called Skip & Hop... she was the smallest and youngest on is this group, but she held her own :)

Doesn't she look like she is having fun??

Here's another one of those "great Josie" shots... I don't remember which number this was.. Fly Away, maybe??

And here is Audrey in her FOURTH and final number, Jazz Hula Babies... these two are so darned cute in this number!!

She sure knows how to shake those hips.... I think I am in trouble with this one!!

And she is thinking "Whew... I did it!" Don't you think??? I do!!

So aren't they so cute??

I got to bring the still pics home, not the video, so you are spared that tonight... but I might add some tomorrow! If you want to check out more Josie pics check out Faline's blog.... there were just too many for one blog!!

I am off to dream land.. I earned it today!

Blessings!

Count Down is ON!!

So the countdown is on, and we are all running around here like crazy, but I just had to show you this and ask you this one question....

How do you carry 10 tutus for little girls all at once??

Like a great big pom pom that is almost bigger than Faline!!!

Isn't that funny??

Blessings!

Today is the DAY!!!

Today is the day! After months of rehearsals, practices, costume making, costume fighting and even some tears, today is the day of the big annual dance recital!! Can a hear a big WHOO HOO?? I love the girls and their dancing, but I am ready for this one to be over :) Can't wait to see all of their hard work put together, then move on saying, "that one was great, moving on."

So, in case you want to come check it out, here's the 4-1-1....

TONIGHT!! At 615 pm, at the Community Center in Los Osos, Central Coast Dance will be having their annual recital. Tickets are available at Butterfly today for $8.00 each, and at the door of the show tonight too...... Look for Audrey in 4 numbers, and Josie in..... 6 I think, maybe more...

Hope to see you there!

Blessings!

the crazziness continues....

Wow... somehow I made it through the last 48 hours.... I am NOT sure how! I am soooo ready for life to settle down some, maybe after Monday I hope.

Thursday was the last day of school for my kiddos. Good and bad. I am glad that they both had a good year. And am REALLY excited for Nathaniel to be moving into the 4-6 class. Where we live, the special day class is first through third grade with one teacher and fourth through sixth grade with another teacher. His teacher for the last three years was really good at a lot of stuff, but I think he maxed out there and is ready for a change. He has definitely matured a great deal and is ready for some technology in his education too! He continues to struggle with linear processing, which makes forming the letter so incredibly hard. I am excited that he will have the opportunity to use computers and alpha smarts so much more next year! Learning these will be a big part of his summer school program too! Also, Nathaniel will mainstream at grade level for Social Science, Science, Music & PE next year, and he wants to try out for the school choir! Audrey finished Kindergarten, and is doing really well. Being my emotional child, she has been crying a lot about the change, but I think that is just part of growing up. She is excited about going into first grade, and has even decided what teacher she wants, of course it's a different teacher than I would like to see her with, but we all know that God will place her exactly where she needs to be!

Nathaniel continues to struggle with the wound on his foot. It is very slowly healing so we continue with the insane medication schedule and the wheelchair. Speaking of the wheelchair, I was sort of in denial about him needing to use it again, so when we put it away last time it had a bunch on broken or loose parts. Now that he has to use it again that is a problem. Also, it seemed small for him, so I called to have it adjusted and repaired. We went in yesterday... and got NOT GOOD news. It seems that he has out grown his chair! This was not easy for me to take, as I had hoped not to have to buy him another chair until he was closer to middle school. Nor do I have the money to buy him a new chair right now! Last time we bought him one we had private insurance that helped A LOT, but it was still money out of our pockets... money that I plain don't have right now. So we have another appointment on Thursday with a different specialist and I am PRAYING that he has a way to adjust the current chair. Pray with me on this one?

The other fun (pure sarcasm) part of Nathaniel in his chair is his behavior. He doesn't like the chair or the restrictions that it puts on him, so he acts out. This has been really hard on both Faline and I. We have been slamming busy at Butterfly Boutique, we have had a BUNCH of other things going on, and Nathaniel has taken one of us almost full time the last few days just to deal with his defiance and physical assaults. He even got sent home from school on the last day because of his behavior. (though after listening to his side I sort of felt sorry for him, they did nothing to include him in the group because his chair made it difficult) I am sincerely hoping that he heals well and comes out of the chair SOON, I really hope by his birthday in a few weeks he will be walking again! But I also hope that he settles into his summer routine soon and feels better.

Speaking of summer routines, Faline and I finally got the summer school work together and I just have to list out the daily assignments now! I feel good about getting that together, and I am really committed to keeping the kids on track through this summer. I have goals for each one of them and would like to see them head back in the fall doing great! And I am really thankful for the work books that both of my kids teachers sent home. It seems that there were books being discarded as not usable in school anymore, so they sent them home for summer practice! I am so happy!

The other BIG thing going on right now is the dance recital on Monday night! Josie and Audrey have been working so hard to get ready for it, and Faline and I have been crazy making the costumes for it. It has become a big family affair! So we have rehearsal all day today, and final fittings on costumes. That should be fun. :) If you are localish and want something family friendly and fun to do Monday night come on by! The show will be at the Los Osos Community Center at 6:15 Monday June 15th, and you can get tickets at Butterfly Boutique or at the door! Come support the local kids!

Now I need to get up and moving... I have garage sales to go to... got to find cool things to build a miniature golf course in my front yard for the upcoming birthday party! Don't ask how I got talked into that one, but it was all Nataniel's idea!!

Blessing!

Craziness!!!

Itell you, it's been sheer craziness and business around here. It's the last few days before school gets out fro the summer, the last week before the BIG dance recital, Nat has been sick battling a big infection, and business has been really good and busy too.... hence I have been unable to carve out any blog time I feel like, but there is so much I want to say!

I will start by telling you that the meeting on Monday that I was dreading turned out ok. Thanks to everyone who prayed for me and it! Those prayers really helped. So I am not thrilled with the situation but at least I feel like I know what is expected of me, and can power through it to the end. And now there is a vague end in sight, so I can hold on to that! So much of this is out of my hands, which is not the best thing for an organization queen, but I am working on my anti stress techniques with it!

Next, I will tell you that Nathaniel seems to be stabilizing a little with his infection. We went to see his pediatrician yesterday, and things looked ok. Can I tell you, he has the BEST pediatrician EVER!! I love this man! He is so supportive, and so accommodating, and always validates me as a mom and encourages Nathaniel too. I am so thankful that God has out him in our lives! So, anyways, Nat looks good. The wound looks fair. The meds are the right ones for him to be on (yes, the labs confirmed that). So now it's just a waiting game to see what happens, and pray for healing.

Opps.... my big man (Nathaniel) just came in... so I guess more catching up will have to wait because I have a boy to snuggle!

Have a great day in His grace!!

Blessings!

(Nat is in the back in the yellow shirt and white hat)

For the past few years Nathaniel's class has been part of a pod play. It is always so cute and the teachers do such a great job with the kids on it.

This year it was a musical type play called Character Matters II (we did Character Matters I two years ago!) Nathaniel was a Fairy Tale Park Ranger.... and he loves to perform and sing, you can see how much in the video! It's so cute, you will have to check it out! Enjoy....

I think I finally did it.... I think...

Nat is in the red shirt and hat in this clip (the dancing one!)

And turn up the volume, it's pretty quiet on the video..

You should be able to click HERE to see a clip of Nat's part in his play...

And HERE is another part that I thought the student did really well in.. and the finale song too :)

Blessing!

We are home from the hospital... with what I *hope* is good news and a stable boy!

We went in last night because I was very concerned with how Nat's wound was looking and he was showing signs of infection throughout his body. Infection confirmed. Labs being run currently, for both blood infection in foot and UTI, to see what sensitivities will work for him.

We were blessed to be able to work with a kind Doctor, who did not have a God complex! I really don't like it when Drs don't think I know my son, or what his danger signs are. I have been down this road with him before! I know what to look for, and what does not work with him. But when you go to the ER, so many times moms are not listened to and dismissed as crazy or whatever. Last night the young doctor (so young I asked if he actually had finished med school or was he still in the middle of it! He must have started when he was 10!) was good at listening, and good at admitting he knew little about my son's underlying conditions. So he asked what had worked in the past and went with that route...

So, we have a cleaned wound. All of the infected tissue was stripped away and we have a fresh wound to his body to try and heal. Hopefully now his body can heal it without the other tissue there to confuse his body! We injected a broad spectrum antibiotic directly into the wound to try to jump start healing. We applied a topical antibiotic to the wound to try and heal from the outside, and to protect from further infection. And we started on a 10 day course of oral antibiotics.

I am so praying that this course of treatment works, because I really don't want another PICC line. Don't get me wrong, I am thankful that we have the technology to do PICC lines, and the knowledge to treat the infections without extremes like amputation, but I still would rather not have a PICC line! They scar me! And push me on the boundaries of comfortable in my medical training (or lack thereof!) Also, we have had so many bad experiences with the home health nurses in this area not having a clue about pediatric patients that I just don't want to go there....

Please God?!
Do you hear me?
I would really like to see my little boy healed...
WITHOUT a PICC line....
In you time and will of course! :)

Also, while I was taking Nathaniel to the hospital, the most amazing plumber in the world came to my house to fix the shower that has been tormenting me for the last few weeks. I have been broke beyond belief, like REALLY REALLY broke. So the shower has not gotten fixed. I took FOREVER to drain... like 12-16 hours! So many times in the last week one of the kids took a bath in the evening and in the morning when I took my shower there was still water in the tub. Really cold water. Gross water around my feet while I showered. YUCKO! But what is a girl to do? I can't put the shower being fixed over food for the kids or the mortgage....

So yesterday I felt called to look on Craigslist in the "Barter" section for a plumber. Guess what? I found one! And he was a REALLY nice guy! So he came last night and fixed the shower. And he was so great about it too! So, if you EVER need a plumber and you are in the Central Coast area, give this guy a call:

Kusko's Plumbing Maintenance
$50/hr
24/7/365
No overtime EVER
(805) 460-3007
nomoreleak@yahoo.com
Micheal Kusko

Seriously, this guy is so nice, has a really great attitude, and did a FABULOUS job!!

So, when I finally got home last night I got to take a real bath with wonderful bubbles, and NOT have cold water around my feet this morning during my shower!
Thank you so much Micheal!!

Now I think I need a nap..... it's been a crazy few days, and tomorrow promises to be equally draining! I could really use your prayers for tomorrow... I need that nightmare to end..

Blessings

Everyday that we have a "normal medical" day is a blessing to me. "Normal" for us is not what most would consider normal, but we do it. Day by day, in the grace of God, we walk the path he has laid before us. But these last few days have been harder than normal for me.

~

I have been under a great deal of stress from outside sources that I can not control. I have been using my best anti stress techniques and clinging on by the tips of my fingernails, but for the last couple of days I feel over the edge!

~

Simple things can throw Nathaniel for a HUGE health loop.

Really simple things....

Like a little blister on his little toe where his shoe rubbed.

Big trouble for my little guy :(

~

With his Spina Bifida, the circulation to his feet is so poor that he has the hardest time healing from anything on his feet at all. A few years ago, a simple cut lead to 9 months in the wheel chair, 3 weeks in the hospital, 9 weeks with a PICC line (an semi permanent IV administering medication 24/7), and a recurring sore on his foot to this day. So when I say that somehow he has a blister on his toe it really IS a BIG deal around here.

~

We have been cleaning the wound a couple times a day.

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He has been unable to wear his shoes and braces, which means he can not walk, yet he does not feel his feet so he can't understand why we won't let him walk. He has had to be back in his wheelchair, which is hell on all of us.

~

And now his OCC has kicked in and he is obsessing on his toe LIKE CRAZY.

~

Now throw into the mixture that as soon as there is infection in his body ANYWHERE he will get a UTI. Because we catheterize Nathaniel every two and half hours (yes that's right .... about 9 times per day we catheterize him!) it is pretty easy to tell when he has the beginning of a UTI.... and he has one now :( His poor body can't deal with ANY kind of infection AND still keep his bladder healthy, it's just too much for it.

~

So now I have a little boy with a goobery toe, and a goobery bladder, and I get the great joy of heading back to the ER with him and explaining to the Dr on duty that it really is a big deal with my little guy! Oh fun! Hopefully it will be one that already knows us, and they can get us in and out of there without too much trouble.

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So if you are the praying type, please pray for my little guy.

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And me... I am over the top!

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And Audrey too.. since she gets a short fused mommy and a sick brother.

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Blessings!

My child....

Is a little odd....

She is getting ready for dance class.

She put her leotard on backwards (again!)..

So I tell her to "turn it around"....

This is what I got!

She turned around and said "here is the right side."

Got to love six year old logic!

The world is full....

Of things I don't like.

~

Some days I wonder...

Am I that picky or am I just surrounded by evil?

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Today has been hard.

Beyond hard actually.

I have shed many tears today.

I am tired beyond belief.

And I feel hopeless.

Not in the get a gun out sense,

but in the, I try so hard and nothing ever works sense.

In the, I pray so hard,

but I wonder if He hears at times sense.

~

In this world, why do we have:

people who abuse?

people who steal?

people who lie?

people who devalue others?

people who hurt others to feel bigger themselves?

people who don't follow through on their promises?

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In life, why do we:

make choices that haunt us for years?

dig holes deeper than we can get out of?

carry so much useless baggage with us?

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I am haunted by

questions that I know have no answers.

I am haunted

by the fallen world we live in.

I am haunted

by the need to understand that that the Lord does not have for me to understand.

~

Some days the only way I know is

to bury myself deep in the word of the Lord,

to shed the tears in my soul,

to scream and yell and get it all out,

and to close the door on the rest of the world.

~

Today is one of those days.....

Pray for me?