Monthly Archives: March 2006

Darling daughter’s cold took a turn for the worse yesterday, so today we were off to the doctors to have her lungs checked. Sure enough, she had some fluid in there and her ear was starting to bother her. She should be back to her normal self in a few days. That took a major chunk out of our day. It didn’t help that we had to go to the pharmacy 3 times to get our meds! (They had to have them shipped from a different location and forgot to call and tell me they were running behind. ARRGH!) I figured that I would accomplish very little today, so I made up for it with kid cuddles.

“A wasted day is not truly wasted if you spent it snuggling your munchkins!”

We had a nutritious lunch, but everyone was tired tonight, so I made popcorn on the stove and strawberry/pineapple slushies for dinner. (This is a rare treat and always elicits shock and happy dancing from the children! LOL)

I found a recipe for laundry detergent at Getting Back to Basics! The children are sensitive to certain detergents, but I’m not sure which chemical does it. I know things with aloe and some fragrances set them off. I will try this and let you know!

We were watching a show a few weeks ago that showed a pregnant cat and then she had her kittens. We flipped a little to avoid gore, but they got the idea and it was fun to see the baby kittens. We handled one or two questions naturally and moved on. No Problem! Well the wheels began to turn in middle son’s head and more questions were coming, I could tell. A few days later during lunch, darling son asks, “So how does the baby get out?” Without missing a beat I reply, “Through the birth canal.” The boys look at each other confused. Middle son ventures, “So they poop it out?” (me) “No, the birth canal is not a “bum” or a “peeper”, it is a special chute that God made for the baby to come out of.” The boys were unimpressed with this piece of knowledge and moved on to more interesting things. (Whew! I was pleased that we had added a tiny piece to the puzzle that was age appropriate and presented in such a way that it was not going to be a big deal. That wasn’t so bad!) An hour later, oldest son comes in and says that darling daughter is calling me. I went to her room to find her naked and standing on her head in front of the mirror, and frantic, “Mom! I can’t find my birth canal!” (Apparently God has a sense of humor to keep us humble!)

For more funny parenting moments see Kids Carnival of Comedy!

Week two of our travels found Hubby and I flying to Florida for a hurried house hunt. We had our lists of properties, town houses, and rental homes to see. We had our budget to consider, and the children were safely under the watch of both sets of grandparents. We had 4 full days to find and secure an address to move all the stuff from 2 different states to. We prayed for God to shut doors clearly, so that we did not waste our time and our choices would not be unsure. We assumed we would be in an apartment due to cost, but that door was closed when we found out that (unlike any other city I have been in) Florida apartments sell out and wait list for a year at a time! They were not even accepting new WAIT LISTS until June! We found a real estate agent that worked with property rentals and tried that avenue. The 1st house we went through, we both LOVED! But, assuming we needed to have a better picture of values and what was available we looked at several others. The options were not impressive, if we gained square footage, we needed to supply all the appliances. If we found appliances, the owners wanted us to pay rent immediately even when we wouldn’t be moving in until the end of April. The 1st house was wonderful, we turned in paper work and kept looking while we waited for it to clear. The town house that we thought was promising, was pulled off the market so that door shut. Two more condos pulled up as new listings but one was higher in price and the other was near the paper mill. (pew!) We cased the neighborhoods, went through a few more houses, and checked for other listings each day. Phone calls were not returned. Houses were unavailable. The house that we both loved was at the absolute top of what we could afford unless our Michigan house sold soon. We finally got the call that our paper work cleared, now we needed to discuss details. We prayed that God would close this door and save us from our own stupidity if this was not what we should be considering. We drove by “our house” and the owner happened to be in the driveway spraying weeds. Hubby wanted to deal directly with the owner so that we were very clear on what was expected. The ad for the house said no pets and we have a cat. The owner had a cat also, and just didn’t want big dogs ripping up the yard so he said our cat was fine. We told him we were not looking to move in till end of April, he said that was fine, just start rent when we moved in. He told us that he was pulling the house off the market while he had a renter (it was originally for sale). He told us we could paint, decorate, and rewire the garage for 220 if we needed more outlets of the higher power. (Hubby is a car guy so this was exciting to him.) He informed us that pool care/service was included in the rent. Hubby offered to take over pool services (he grew up with a pool) if the owner would take it off our rent. The owner agreed. The owner was going to leave some furniture that fits with the house, but asked if we would prefer that he donate it to get it out of our way. (Entry-vase tables, bar stools, book shelves, a complete kitchen table set, and a microwave) Not only are they like new, but they match the feel of the house perfectly! By the time we finished talking to the man, we were more convinced than ever that God had lead us to this home. It is way better than we would have even considered, and everything just fell into our lap perfectly…..complete with a price reduction and some furniture. God is very good!

Our trip to Michigan went well. Hubby completed his class for work. We have been trying to find a reliable and inexpensive vehicle. Hubby is a weekend car buff, so he was very specific on which cars he wanted based on past experience and knowledge in repairing and part availability. We had found a really good 4×4 in Michigan, but figured it would be gone before we went home in 2 weeks. We prayed that if it was the right car, it would be available and that we could get enough time to see it. Hubby wasn’t very hopeful. When we got to Michigan we couldn’t believe it was still available, but then we couldn’t clear our schedule to go see it. We had one free night, and my father in law was available the same night too! They drove across the state expecting to find out it wasn’t as good as the advertisement. The car was great. The owner said he had several calls on it and one guy was supposed to come see it but he had never showed up. He knew the 1st person to see it would buy it. God held it for us!
After 2 days of driving from Michigan back to Texas, we are more impressed than ever that this car is in great condition. Everything on it works, it only looks about 3 yrs old, and we have no car payment! We are very happy and we can’t wait to take it on the 4×4 trails (gently, of course) this summer!

The weary travelers have arrived! We just returned home from a two week trip. We drove from Texas to Michigan for Hubby to take a class for work. Then we left the children with the grandparents (each set had them for 3 days) while Hubby and I flew to Florida to look for a place to rent. Then we flew back to Michigan, picked up the kids, and drove 2 days back to Texas. The trip was a success, details will be coming. Right now I am going to throw in a load of laundry and soak in a hot bath!

Yesterday I completed #13, we ended up with tidy drawers and 4 bags of outgrown clothes to pass on! That got me to thinking about all the stuff I hang on to in my life. As I sat on the floor surrounded by clothes that no longer fit (but would bless someone else) I realized that I do that in life too. I get set in my ways and don’t want to put aside old habits for new patterns of thinking. By holding on to things that I need to let go, I make it too crowded for other blessings to come in. If I do receive a blessing, will I even know it and use it, or is it buried under so many other things that it will never fully reach its potential. Am I missing an opportunity to bless someone else? This applies to both material things and spiritual giftings. (Picture my little girl in a shirt that was her favorite as a toddler. She loves that shirt but she has grown and changed. The shirt doesn’t fit anymore, her tummy peeks out, she can’t wear it in public, and it is constricting when she moves. It crowds her drawers and makes organizing them difficult..it is time to pass that shirt on to a younger child that can benefit and love it as much as she did.) I think I need to find avenues to benefit younger wives and mothers more. God has blessed me with different gifts and experiences. While I am still gleaning information from those who have more or different experiences than me, what am I passing down to those who are less experienced than I? That is my challenge this week, to find more ways to bless others by using the gifts that God has blessed me with and stop saving them for “when I have more to share”. I don’t need more, I need to use or pass on the blessings I currently have!