Keeping the happy through it all...

December was filled with tons of medical yucka in our house, but I was determined to keep some of the joy of the season too. Last year (2009) the holidays were very hard with daddy choosing addiction over family, and the final stakes in the loss of many of my dreams. There were bright moments, like dear friends crashing with us, sharing our home and love with friends and family and blessing from above, but for the most part the holidays had a dark cast over them. I was determined to make that different this year!

We were blessed with many fun Christmas activities, unfortunately most of them were crammed into one weekend! But we had a blast anyways :)

First on Thursday we went to a Christmas party for the agency that provides the in home support for Nathaniel. Both kids were totally jazzed about going.... check out the HUGE smiles!

While there, Nathaniel played lots of Foose Ball with the teenage boys, and held his own very well. Audrey on the other hand had to make sure she got to EVERY craft station, and had this cool butterfly painted on her face for FREE! I got to snack on some yummy foods and visit... crazy I know, but we actually had an in home with us, so I felt safe letting the kids cut loose :)

They had an AMAZING couple that did Santa and Mrs Claus and I loved the pictures I got... too bad my camera died and I had to use my blackberry for these pictures, but they were better than nothing!

Telling deep secrets with Santa!

Beaming happy children... love it!

I actually think that this is the best Santa picture I have ever gotten of either of my kids!

This fun party ended with a super cool trash can band that both kids adored. Overall, much fun to be had there!

Our next adventure that week was Friday night, when at the last possible minute I scored tickets to the Nutcracker for free for the kids and I.

 What a complete blessing this was! And we had so much fun!! BOTH kids sat still through the whole production, and they both enjoyed the show. I did as well. I thought that the production was put together very well and enjoyed that the dancer's personalities shined thorough on stage. What a delight to watch and share with my children!

After the show we were able to meet and greet with the characters and take pictures. It had been a long day, and Nat's meds were starting to wear off, but we did hang out for a few minutes. It was nice to see old friends and catch up for a minute or two.

The next morning was our home town Christmas parade.

First we enjoyed a pancake breakfast with Grammie prepared by the local Kiwanas club (which Papa is a part of), then we sat at our table and watched the parade. Audrey was very into the candy, but Nat was ready to go home from the get go. I gave him my camera in hopes of engaging him, but he took one lone picture.....

That is it.
The only thing in the parade that caught his attention enough to take a picture of it!

After the parade and a small rest we were off to the SibShop Christmas party, where NONE of the pictures that I took turned out! Again we took support staff, and I am beginning to think that this is the ONLY way to go anywhere! Audrey played with her friends and did crafts, Nat and Jenn watched the football game and hung out, and I got to visit with big people... .crazy, but enjoyable!

That took us to our final day of the whirl wind holiday weekend. On Sunday we we blessed to be gifted with tickets to the local Melodrama Christmas production.

We received two adult tickets and two children tickets, so I took Brianna with the kids and I. We had the BEST time. The kids were all three so well behaved, they enjoyed the show and we had ZERO behavioral issues. This was seriously the most fun I had on an outing with the kids in so long!

After the Melodrama we traded Brianna for Grammie Sharon and headed up to the Polar Express reading. This was held at a local winery in Paso Robles.

They have antique train cars there that they decorate all up and the adults are dressed in costume.

 

The kids get their tickets, get on the train, then get their tickets punched before listening to a reading of the Polar Express Story.

After the story the kids get to see Santa and Mrs. Clause

Where they received their very own bell,

And a small gift,

Then they got to have yummy hot chocolate while listening to a wonderful trio sing Christmas songs.

It was a completely delightful evening and outing!

And after THAT weekend I had to sleep all day Monday to recover from it!

Honor Roll!

This blog is more than just sharing life with those who want to share with us, it is also a way for me to chronicle our days together and someday I want to make it into a book for my children... so I have a few pictures and events that I missed in December when I was buried with living life! So I hope you can bear through some "catch up" posts... or come back soon and I will be back on track :)

There is one little boy in our house who had cause to be VERY PROUD of himself!

Nathaniel made Honor Society at his school for the first trimester!! I am so proud of him.

This really is Nat getting his award from Mr J (the principal at our school)... really, he is in there!

These pictures really are not great, but they are all I have! I was TIRED, it had been a long day, and there were lots of people around... so this is the best I could do!

Nat up on stage being proud of his accomplishment. I love that he is standing with Anthony and Matt, two of his buddies!

And here Nat is giving Reb, Audrey and I a thumbs up for our help in his accomplishing his great success. I love that our school teaches the kids that families are teams that work together for everyone to reach their goals and help the kids to acknowledge this!

Such a big smile and a proud boy.... as well he should be!

An evening walk...

As relaxing as the morning started out, by the end of the day I was fried. The kids had been arguing non stop since I picked them up from school, one of my machines was being a pain in the booty and made an order late, and I was TIRED! I decided we all needed a little break...

 So we headed out to go for a little walk. Now, mind you, Nathaniel is not fond of walks (and to be fair they are hard on his little body) but I had an ulterior motive... I wanted to make the kids tired so they would go to be earlier too! So we walked down the street a bit to this beautiful nature preserve that we live very close to. I kept promising the kids that the sunset would be worth it (and praying at the same time that the Lord would not make me a liar!).

 I gave the kids the camera (I know I am a bit crazy!) and they had fun snapping pictures.

 And I always enjoy seeing what they took pictures of when I am going back through them and editing them. Nathaniel took this picture of the sunset and then told me we had seen it so we could go back home.

 By no means was I ready to go back home yet, so I told them that they had to pose for me until the sky turned orange.... still hoping that there was going to be a stunning sunset!

 And the Lord must have known that my heart needed a stunning sunset tonight, for He provided!

 Audrey took these pictures (the one above and the one below).... not bad for a 7 year old hu?

 A man who was out walking saw the kids and I and offered to take a picture of the three of us. I thought that was very kind of him, and had fun playing with the editing on the picture he took. I am sure he had no way of knowing that as a single mom I seldom get pictures of my kids and I together, so this gesture was extra sweet to my heart!

 But then it was time to take my camera back....

 because the colors that God painted the sky....

 We absolutely heart stopping,

Awe inspiring, 

Glory! 

These images of the sunsets are NOT edited for color, these are the colors we saw tonight!

I can not tell you how blessed I feel that we live here, in the midst of all of this glory!

My life might be a battle on so many fronts, but I can walk out my front door and down two short blocks to this every day.... how can I complain?

Now if I could just teach my kids to be quiet and rest in these moments of glory....

I hope you enjoyed and were blessed by our evening walk....

I was to some degree....

But I am still hearing the complaints about it from the peanut gallery in the other room!



Hello There!

I feel like I have been MIA in the blog world for SO LONG... (and I have been!)... but life has been CRAZY! The last few days I have been toying with how to jump back in gracefully and I decided TO HECK with grace :) This is on my heart, therefore it is what I will write today!

Sometimes life is HARD, but I have learned that I can always look around and see someone with troubles just as hard if not harder than mine. I DO NOT say this to minimize what I deal with, nor do I say it for pity, it just IS. One dear man taught me that.... some times life just IS and you deal with it! In the past year I have fought battles that have drained me so much, yet I still see so much hope when I look around, and I still feel God's STRONG pull on my life.

Recently I have found myself bargaining with God.

Have you ever tried that?

You would think that I know it does not work...but I can be a little hard headed at times!

I am STRONG willed, and sometimes (or maybe a lot of times...) think that if I just stick to my guns I will win. Yea.... NOT! God seems to have a longer holding time than me. Who would have EVER thought that??? This past week or so He has decided to HAMMER me and I think that my hard head might finally be cracking...

You see I KNOW His call in my life. I hear it loud and clear. I know the life verses He has placed in my heart and that I strive to walk out daily. But I also KNOW how hard everything is these days. So I keep trying to bargain. You know, "Sure God, that is an AWESOME idea, but I am a little snowed under here. If you want me to do that could you just deal with this and this and this. Then I would I be happy to do that for you." Not the most intelligent idea, because (just in case you didn't know..) God does not bargain! When He calls you to something He wants you to do it NO MATTER WHAT.

So I am here to say:

 "Uncle!!!

 I get it God!!!

You can stop with the hammer to my head!

 I bend.

 I give.

 I am willing to do it your way!"

And the truth is God wants me to say it, but also to DO it....

(Yes, I KNOW that even if He thought it necessary to remind me six ways from center this week!)

So here I am to SAY it:

Lord, I am willing to follow you on this thing that you have put on my heart and find a way to bless these people you have shown me your burden for. I am ready to walk in YOUR will and YOUR path in all of this, no matter what else is going on in life!

And also to tell you that I DID it!

I wrote out some of what burdens my heart and shared it with another who God showed me has a similar heart.

I made a date to DO something about one of the burdens, it is officially on the calendar!

And I took a step out of the shadows in my quiet work, and am ready to partner with other liked hearted souls to boldly go forth and show with deeds Gods love for the people He has placed on my heart.

And all of this is to say,

I am a bit overwhelmed, so won't you please join with me in prayer? I am so excited to see His plans unfold. (It is like a bit of electricity running through my veins!) but I am also timid about extending myself any more. I know that I can do all things through Him who strengthens me, and I know this is His call, so that equals the perfect path.... My heart is totally there, now if I could just get my hard head there too!

And this is also to say to those of you who are believers, 

What are you DOING to show those whose lives you touch the love of our Father in Heaven?

And on that note, it is so GOOD to be writing again, and I hope to share some of the HUGE things that have been going on in our lives very soon! 

Positions Available!

Positions Available!

I am SO EXCITED to have all of the funding in place to hire MY OWN staff for Nathaniel and our families needs, but at the same time I am a bit nervous about finding the RIGHT people to hire! Really nervous! The finding came through close to 2 weeks ago. I wrote the ad last week. After MUCH prayer about HOW to advertise the positions, I am finally posting this... HERE! :)

You might think I am crazy, but I have thought and thought about this. I want the information out there, but don't want ten million crazies applying either, so I post it here, and pray that the Lord directs the right people here! I will also be looking for people advertising that they are available (after all they are serious enough to put themselves out there..) and directing them here to find out more about us. This also gives people who know us a chance to share with those they know...Good idea? I guess we will see!

So without further to do....

In Home Care Providers Wanted!

We have openings on our care team! The client is a special 10 year old boy with multiple medical and neurological needs. We are looking for some caring, compassionate and fun loving individuals to join out care team working in our home.

The ideal candidate for these positions would be individuals who:

• Have a heart for helping
• Love to play, especially outside and sports!
• Are willing to learn about and adjust to his "quirks"
• Can provide constant one on one supervision while working (sorry but distractions like other children, homework, excessive talking or texting on the phone, etc. will not work with this position)
• Will be willing to be trained on an existing ABA behavioral plan that is in place and carry out the implementation of said plan.
• Will be willing to be trained on para medical procedures as needed, including but not limited to, catheterizing, and orthopedic brace care and assistance.
• Be physically able to be safe during occasional physical tantrums.
• Be accepting of working in our Christian based home.
• Be able to clear a Department of Justice background screening.
• Be willing to be contracted through the funding agencies.

We are looking for a combination of 2 to 3 individuals to fill the following shifts:

7:00 am to 8:30 am Mon-Fri

4:30 (or 5) pm to 8:30 pm Mon-Fri (usually latter on Wen)

a 4 hour shift on Sat (pretty flexible on timing here)

and 9:15 to noon 2 Sundays per month

Hours do flex some on school holidays and breaks (we usually use more care during those times, not less!)

Our home is located in Los Osos, and compensation will be $10.00 per hour.

Please respond with a brief description of yourself, the hours you are interested in, any related job experience and the best way to reach you!

Thank you for your interest!