Canada or bust

leaving in the morning....so many things to do.....about 20 hours in the car.....we will split up the time and stay someplace tomorrow night, but still. I am excited though and I am surprised at that. I am looking forward to a bit of solitude. time for reflection. Caleb is so excited. he is getting himself into trouble from the excitment. We took him to get a hair cut and he now is sporting a faux hawk, that we put Blue goo in....he thinks that he is a "rock star". he told me this morning that "all the girls will like me", I told him he was right, he does look very cute with his new do. Audrey has no clue what is going on, she is just enjoying the packing and unpacking. we have 3, 35 gal rubermaid totes that we have our clothes in and then we have a bunch of bags, so the good ole suburban will be loaded. Please pray that Michael gets a bear. He will be hard to live with either way, if he gets one he will be bragging, if he does not then he will be bummed. Well this will be a good time for us as a family and I am looking forward to this time with them exploring new things and seeing new sights. will update more when I have something to put here, until then love ya

update

If you will remember about 6 months ago I had brought a prayer request up. It was for my friend Diane who had just found out that she had colon cancer along with being pregnant. WHile she delivered a healthy baby boy Andrew, she has now received some really bad news. SHe is not being told how long she has, just what they can do to keep her alive. she is going to be on chemo for the rest of her life. SHe is no longer a surgery candidate, she has new tumor growth and her lymph system is now involved. she is heart broken, as is her husband Michael. SHe is angry, frustrated, upset, depressed, worried....she is so worried about her baby boy and her husband. she wants to live and that is a good thing, but at the same time she has to deal with the fact that she is not going to be here as long as she wants. SHe has posed the question, what cruel joke is God playing on her. while I try to comfort her and give words of encouragement, I too wonder what is up with this? I know that all things have a purpose, but I wonder what purpose this will serve? A baby without a mother, a man without his wife, a mom without her daughter, sister without sister, friend without friend. What she is having a time with now is the doctor telling her that they will give her chemo to get her to Christmas and then do another MRI at that time and see what if anything can be done to just get her by day by day. That is no life, what is she to do? How is she to look each day and make it through? UGH. I am so frustrated for her. I have told her that I would pray, but I feel so bad almost as if there is more that I am to do.........I hate this helpless feeling. I hate cancer. her cancer started out just like my grannies, so this is bringing up some memories... I o not want her to go through what Granny did. Please pray with me...her name is DIanne ROTH and her husband is Michael and baby is Andrew. thank you.

Created for Worship

Sunday pastor spoke on how we are created for worship. God formed us to worship him. He asked if we ourselves liked to be praised for things that we do and the answer was yes. how does it make us feel, what does it make us want to do? it makes us feel wonderful, and it makes us want to continue to do things for others. what if we never received praise??????? we would die.....how do we feel when we praise GOd or someone for a job well done? what if we never praised God or a person for what they have done? we would shrivel up and become cold, lifeless.
The Bible instructs that "Everything that hath BREATH PRAISE the Lord!"
Are you breathing? I am and I have seriously fallen behind on praising God. I have also fallen behind in giving credit where it is due. So first to GOd be the Glory, honor and all praise for ALL the blessing that he has given to me and my family. Now to all of my dear friends you are all ONE IN A MILLION and I am a blessed person because of you. I love you.

Olympics

This week we have been watching some of the Olympics.I am amazed at what the human body and spirit can do. Call me an old sap, but the National Anthem still gets me. We have the most awesome flag in the whole universe. We have been trying to instill patriotism in Caleb and Audrey as well as respect for other countries. So trying to explain to him that even though countries have issues with each other this is 1 time every 4 years that they all come together as one. For 1 brief moment all is at Peace....Caleb got this really confused look on his face and asked."Mommy why can't people always get along?" Such a simple question with such a complex answer. So explained I tried,given the example of how he does not always agree with mommy and daddy, and sometimes he does not like his sister and so on. only to be met with the final comment, "So we are really just one crazy family." well in essence Yep, we just have not realized that part yet, pretty dysfunctional, but all in all one family. The thinking of a child. If only I could be that simple and matter of fact. to them things are just simple, black and white. When did we start seeing things in grays, and off white? why did that happen, how did I become so jaded and callous?

anxiety setting in

I know that this may seem funny to some of you, however, I have OCD so just bare with me while I ramble on. We leave for Canada in exactly 9 days, and I am getting anxious. Not to get there, but all the stuff that I need to do prior to leaving. then the drive(about 20 hours) with the 2 kids, then when we get there how to keep them occupied while Michael goes bear hunting (crazy I know). The amount of money that we need to take with us and the bills to pay prior to leaving, will the car be okay, will my house be okay...keep laughing...what will I do while there. we will be in east egypt. no cell phone reception, no computer, need I go on...I am having palpitations here. can you see that I am not 100% sold on this trip. But I am going because this is the trip Michael wanted for a family vacation and it is a 1time thing for him. but come on....canada of all places. Well one place that I can check off my to do list. Please PRAY for me I NEED it desperately. mostly for the trip to be heaven. also that Michael bags him a huge bear so that he can gloat or whatever the men do when that bring home the kill....I will have to oh and ah over it for months, and NO this will not get hung on my walls. I may make a rug out of it, but then who knows that will be what keeps us warm this winter. I could go on, but all I ask is your prayers. so from 8/22/08 to 9/2/08 I am counting on you to hit your knees in remembrance of your dear friend in the great north, that will come back home more crazy than when she left. I hope you will all still love me.....:)

summer cold

there is nothing more in the world that I hate than a Summer Cold. UGH! I am so tired of snarfing, (coughing and sneezing at the same time). I have done this a couple of times that I see little stars. good thing that we close our eyes when we sneeze or else I would be picking my eyes off the floor. then the sneezes that never really happen, those are the worst. and of course being on blood pressure medicine I have to watch what I take.
I had to go the OB/GYN on friday and he is still as cute as ever. so here I am all stuffy, sneezing, coughing, let me just say I was ever so attractive. NOt to mention that having a pap smear is the most comfortable thing in the world. mid breast exam I feel a sneeze coming on, so I try to squelch it, but no it just has to eek out. I think that my doctor just wanted to get out of that room. It was literally 10 min exam. I almost felt violated. I am sure that he went to the Haz Mat room to get the germs off. oh well I will not have to see him for at least 1 year.
I hate summer colds/.

the name

I have been listening to a CD from Lakewood Church pastor Joel Olsteen and let me just say that I love it. One of the songs is about the "name". talks about speaking the name, when you have nothing else to say, or you can't find the words to say just say his name and it says it all. As you already know I am talking about the name of JESUS! I have found myself singing that song all week long and at various times as I walk the halls at work it will come to mind. I do have to say it is in those moments when I speak his name that I feel my spirit lift. I feel like I could just cry. The mention of that name causes things to happen, seen and unseen. SO when you find that you are at your wits end and you just do not have the mind set to handle anything more...just try saying "the name".....JESUS.
love you

things

I am such an emotional person...who knew...
Tonight I was having a hugging fit and was lavishing my hugs on Caleb. I told him that he was not my little boy any more he was now my big boy....to which to this mothers heart delight he replied...
"Mom, I promise to always be your little boy, a least for a week."
He amazes me. he is so into the "time stuff" now. how long will it take, what time is it, what day is it, so on and so on. To him a minute is an eternity and what I would not give for a minute of QUIET. Oh to be a child again.
Audrey has been playing the coy card lately. she will act like she is going to hug you, kiss you, and then at the last minute she goes running in the other direction laughing. but if you act like you are hurt or you cry she comes running for a hug and a kiss for your owie.
How precious are our kids. the things that they say. If it be in total innocence, awe of the moment, or they know exactly what to say, it is amazing to think that they came from us. Very observant, always catching us in the moment. I love it!