Curtis' 30th Party

Tonight we celebrated Curtis' 30th birthday with an Aggie tailgating party. We had lots of food, lots of fun, and tons of people! It was a really time, with a lot of wonderful people. Thanks to everyone who came, and helped celebrate Curtis' 30th birthday! The set up!
All the Aggies.... or at least the ones who dressed in Aggie attire.

Curtis and his roommate from college Daniel. Daniel and his family came in and surprised Curtis before the party.
Curtis getting his present from me. Tickets to the A&M game tomorrow!! Come on Ags.....
Blowing out his candles.
Our best friends, the Findleys.

So stinkin' CUTE!

If you've read Lindsey's blog or Jamison's blog, you've seen the fun pictures from our play date this past Monday. Here are a couple that I captured.

Look at those cute feet!

Looks like FALL!

Maybe it's because we're just staying home for Thanksgiving this year. Maybe it's because last year I didn't do any decorating because I was so preoccupied with Benjamin's head. Maybe this is all my Mom's idea! Or, maybe it's just fun!

Regardless, we've been decorating for fall!

Another picture post....

Here are my cuties wearing their adorable pumpkin shirts. Elizabeth looking quite adorable and cute!

Micah looking quite cute too. Too bad you can't see his wonderful work of art!

Benjamin was all over the place! This was the best I could do.

Thanks to Lindsey for letting us use your beautifully decorated front porch!

We are the Aggies, the Aggies are we!

No, we don't actually glow in the dark, it just looks like it in this picture.

Gig 'em Aggies!

A&M class of 2026
A&M class of 2028
A&M class of 2029

Pumpkin day!

Today was our first annual Pumpkin Day! Pumpkins, pumpkins, pumpkins! It's been a good day!

Here's what you do on Pumpkin Day.

You go to the local pumpkin patch and "pick" pumpkins.




You make tie dye pumpkin shirts. (pictures of children actually wearing their shirts will happen.... eventually)

You make, decorate and eat pumpkin cup cakes (actually, they were chocolate, but we did have pumpkin papers!)

Then everyone gets bathed, and is sound asleep before 8:00.

A good day!

How to reason with a 2 year old boy

If you don't watch Disney on a regular basis, you might not know that the movie Sleeping Beauty has been re-released for a short time. Because of this re-release, there are MANY commercials for Sleeping Beauty.

Elizabeth knew who Princess Aurora was, but had never seen the movie. Yesterday, after taking the babysitter home, we stopped by the movie store to pick up a movie. I told Elizabeth and Micah that we were only getting one movie, and it had to be a movie that they both wanted to see.

While they are busy looking at the selection of kid movies, Benjamin is busy roaring at the big card board cut outs of the Incredible Hulk, the Joker, and Batman.

After looking around for several minutes, I try to encourage the decision making process, since Benjamin is now trying to knock over Batman, while roaring. Elizabeth suddenly gasps. I turn around, and she's holding Sleeping Beauty. "Let's get this one!" I reminded her that her brother had to want to get it too.

E: "Micah, do you want to get this princess movie?"
M: "No! I not yike princesses!"
E: Looks very sadly at me.
Me: "Micah, there's a dragon that can breathe fire!"
M: "Yet's get that dragon fire movie!!!"

Last night we watched the princess/dragon/fire movie. And everyone loved it!

Mud Tales

My older two children have a history with mud. So I don't know why I would be surprised to find them playing in the mud yesterday morning. Thankfully, the mud fun had just begun, and it really was bad. But I was still mad, since all this happened while I was on the phone with another cranio mom, and we were going to have to leave in 30 minutes to go pick up the babysitter so that I could go tutor.

Thankfully, I didn't flip out. I did, in a very calm way express to my children that I was MAD. I think the fact that I wasn't freaking out freaked them out a bit. Elizabeth was very sweet, and apologized without prompting.

E: "But Mommy, one time when I was two, or three, you let me play in the mud and didn't get mad. Why are you mad now?"
Me: "Because we have somewhere we have to be. We have plans, and this makes things harder."
E: "I'm really sorry Mommy!"

Out the door we head. When I get home from tutoring, several hours later, I was talking to Elizabeth about out plans for the next day (today). She had wanted to go to the park with the babysitter, but couldn't because her brothers had been asleep.

Me: "Maybe we can go to the park tomorrow. Daddy's taking the van in, so we won't have a car during the day, so we'll just have lots of fun time tomorrow."
E: "We don't have any plans tomorrow?"
Me: "Right!"
E: "We don't have anywhere to be?"
Me: "Right!"
E: "Well, if we don't have anywhere to be, maybe we could play... in... the... MUD!!!!"

Oh the logic of a four year old!

Girl time and an early birthday

Last Sunday, after Thomas the Train, my Mom came home with us, to help out during Micah's surgery. My Dad was wandering around Germany that week, so we were able to steal her for the entire week! It was a GREAT week!

Our week started off with a trip to the softball fields for the WPC softball showdown. Curtis really wanted my Mom to be there, and of course, she was. And she even managed to watch and cheer a few times, while helping me chase my kids!

During the rest of the week, Mom made trips to the store with me, took us out to eat so I wouldn't have to cook, watched the kids (a lot), took us to the Bounce, took Elizabeth to ballet and tap, loved and cared for all five of us, and made us wish we had her here all the time!

Another special thing that she did was to give Curtis a little birthday celebration. If you didn't know, Curtis will be turning 30 next week, and even though I'm super excited and think this will be tons of fun, he's kinda dreading it. A lot of that is because he's missing his mom, so having his "extra mom" here made it very special!

Right before Curtis got to open his presents.

After presents, we enjoyed a very yummy steak dinner. It rivaled Outback, it was soooo good! And since no birthday celebration is complete with out a cake..... And Mom, just so you know, we are STILL enjoying that ice cream cake. And a funny story for those of you who know (and love) Curtis. Usually, when we cut this kind of ice cream cake, we cut it like pie. Well, Curtis cut it in a rectangle, which meant I didn't get as much of the chocolate yumminess as I was wanting. When I asked him why he cut it that was he said that he HAD to cut with the lines on the "field" of the cake.

After Curtis blew out his candles, us girls headed out for a fun evening at The Theater Company, seeing Cinderella. The idea of a girls' night was my Mom's idea, and we had so much fun!Mom and Elizabeth getting ready to head in.
Elizabeth and I during one of the intermissions. By the way, intermissions are a very hard concept for a four year old to understand, so we just called them bathroom breaks!

Two of the most beautiful girls I know!

And since, after all, my Mom is SUPER GRANDMA, she and Elizabeth did "projects" on Saturday, right before my Mom left. These projects were completed after my Mom had watched all three kids (Curtis was at work and I was at a baby shower) for the entire morning, including a trip to Mc Donalds.

It was a great week! Mom, we miss you so much, and are thankful for the time you were here.

Update on Micah

I've had several people call, e-mail, or just ask how Mr. Micah-Moo is doing after his little surgery. The day of surgery was rough. He was a bit of a handful, and I was so thankful that my Mom was in town to help!

Thursday morning, the day after surgery, I heard him wake up and quickly prayed, "Lord, please help him to be normal! Please help today to be better!" Micah burst into our room and announced, "I'm going to go wrestle Elizabeth!" That's a good sign.... well, not for Elizabeth.

And he has continued to do really well. Thank you all so much for your thoughts and concern. Now, here's hoping we see some of those positive side effects quickly!

Update on Justin

Tomorrow morning, Justin will under go surgery to remove the cyst (wasn't a tumor, PRAISE GOD!) from his brain. If all goes as planned, he will be in the ICU for a couple day, hospitalized for several days after that, and hopefully back at work, depending on how he is doing of course, in six weeks.

Please pray for him as he under goes the surgery. Pray for protection over his brain, pray for the doctor's hands, pray for a complete removal of the cyst with no negative side effects. Please also keep his family, especially his wife and kids, in your prayers as well.

God is good, all the time. All the time, God is good! We are praising God for so many reasons, mainly because of the way he has sustained Justin, and for how rather than a tumor, the are dealing with a cyst. Even in the midst of uncertainty and fear, God is showing himself good, loving and merciful!

Need a laugh?

Go HERE!! See what the Krajca and the Findley men are up to on a Sunday evening at the church.

Family rivalry

We are a Big XII family! However, the schools were some alum pledge their loyalties vary greatly! Curtis and my Dad. Gig 'em Ags and Go Cowboys!
Just a little family rivalry.....

At least we all dislike the Longhorns!

Prayers

**UPDATE**

Curtis just talked with his Dad, and just is doing well after the surgery. He is awake, breathing on his own, and talking.

On Monday, they will do an MRI to get more info on the tumor, and form a plan of action.

Thank you for your prayers!


Please pray with us for my (step) brother-in-law, Justin. Yesterday he was diagnosed with a brain tumor.

We don't know much at this point, but here's what we do know.

Justin went into the doctor because of persistent, bad, headaches and occasionally blurred vision. He left the doctors, planning on doing some CT scans. Yesterday evening, he went into cardiac arrest. He was revived, and taken to the hospital. When we talked to my father-in-law, Justin was awake, and communicative.

Later yesterday evening, after running the tests, they found the tumor. He was taken quickly to the OR, where the doctors put drains into his brain to relieve the extreme pressure that had built up, causing all the other problems that he was having.

Last night, when we talked to my father-in-law after the surgery, Justin was in ICU, but doing relatively okay. There is still much to be determined, but as of last night the doctor didn't think the tumor was cancer, and was relatively optimistic about a positive outcome.

Please pray for Justin, for his healing. Curtis and I know very well the power of prayer, and we ask that you would join us in praying for Justin.

Please also pray for his wife, Amanda. I can't even imagine the emotions that she is going through. Pray that her faith would be strong, that she would be overwhelmed with peace and grace.

Justin and Amanda have two little boys, Jackson (almost 4) and Carter (16 months). There is lots of family in town to help care for them. My prayer for the boys has been that they would be protected from the fear that is present., and that they would be overwhelmed with love.

Please also keep my father-in-law and his wife (Justin's mom) in your prayers as they minister to Justin and his family.

"He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High

will rest in the shadow of the Almighty.
I will say of the LORD, 'He is my refuge and my fortress,

my God, in whom I trust.'

If you make the Most High your dwelling—

even the LORD, who is my refuge-
then no harm will befall you,

no disaster will come near your tent.
For he will command his angels concerning you

to guard you in all your ways;

'Because he loves me,' says the LORD, 'I will rescue him;

I will protect him, for he acknowledges my name.
He will call upon me, and I will answer him;

I will be with him in trouble,

I will deliver him and honor him.
With long life will I satisfy him

and show him my salvation."

Psalm 91

Justin, Amanda, Jackson and Carter,

You are all in our continuous prayers. We love you all, and are praying for God's strength, peace, and healing.

Micah Update

This morning, Micah had tubes put in his ears and had his adenoids removed. We are home and Micah is sleeping.

The surgery went as planned, though it took a lot longer from the time he left till the time we saw him than I had thought! They took him back at about 8:35, and we got to see him an hour later. The nurse came and got him, and Micah just walked off, like a very big boy!

Usually what happens when they are waking up from anesthesia is that the nurses actually would put him back to sleep, using the IV he had. Unfortunately, Micah went a little crazy and flailed around so much that his IV came out, and they weren't able to put him back to sleep. They brought Curtis and I back, and poor Micah was a mess! He was screaming, throwing himself around, talking about stuff we didn't understand. It was rough!

But, shortly after 10:00, we were able to come home. Micah told us that he wanted a nap, so he's in taking a rest right now.

The surgery went very well. The doctor told us that his ears looked okay, which is great! There was a large amount of adenoid tissue, which they took care of. We think all that adenoid tissue was what was causing all his problems.

Thank you for your prayers!

Our day out with Thomas!

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

A sneak peek.

The sovreighnty of God in the little things

Today was the big day! The day we road Thomas the Train. It was a good day, a very good day! We have so many pictures, that I think a montage is the only plan. Aren't you excited? :-)

Yesterday, not as good as today. Not even close!

Our morning was good, busy but good. I was very please when I accomplished all my goals for the morning, which included finishing all the packing, packing the car AND making dinner. All that with three kids under foot.

At 11:30, I went to pick up our babysitter. I brought her back to the house, wished her luck, and headed out the door to school. Then I got rear ended. Yeah! Read ended!! Nothing major. And I had to laugh because really, who else has this kind of crazy stuff happen? Just me.

I had a great day tutoring. It was my first day with students and so many times I just found myself on the verge of laughter. There were so many things about middle school students that I had forgotten about. This is going to be fun!

At the end of the day, I start getting ready to leave. No keys. Sure enough, I had locked my keys in the car. So, I had to call Curtis to come rescue me. The whole process put us behind schedule. But praise God (keep reading).

We get home, and get on the road. We hit Hearne, which is only about 15 miles away, and we are in stand still traffic. We tried a short cut, but just ended up back in traffic. We could see the emergency vehicles, but never saw the accident. The police turned us around and we were diverted. We came to find out that the accident killed one adult and three children, and happened around the time we would have been there, had I not locked my keys in the car.

While we were in traffic, just a few cars behind us, there was another, more minor accident. It happened right behind us.

Oh, and during our time in traffic, Benjamin made himself throw up. Twice!!

We got into Oklahoma City around 1:15 am. We didn't get much sleep, but we were so thankful to be here safe and sound. It's so easy to take for granted God's protection. But we didn't yesterday!

Ears

Micah had his ENT appointment this morning, and surprise, surprise, he still has an ear infection. He also failed his hearing test in one ear (the ear with no tube) though this is just temporary due to the fluid and infection. In one week, Micah will have a second set of tubes put in his ears. While they are in there, they are also going to remove his adenoids. The whole procedure will probably only last 15 minutes, but we would covet your prayers. The part that I'm most worried about is when they take him back. He's old enough to be weary of strangers, but not quite old enough for lots of prep. I'm also worried about when he wakes up from anesthesia. He was an angry mess last go around, and now he's almost twice as big!

I'm very thankful that we're going to be able to get this taken care of. I think it will help Micah a lot. They've told us that some of the behavioral problems we've been dealing with should be resolved, which is a HUGE perk!

Thanks for you prayers!

I'm tired!

What a day! A good day, but a long, tiring day. And I have a feeling tomorrow is going to be more of the same. Here's what my schedule looks like.

8:00 all five of us out the door, dressed and looking good.
8:15 Micah's ENT appointment. We're all going so that the ENT can check out Benjamin, and since that put me with both boys, I'm dragging Curtis and Elizabeth along for the fun. And the doctor is the reason we have to look good. Other mom's tell me if I'm crazy here... I always feel the need to have us all looking put together when we go to the doctor. I want to look "worthy" of their time. Plus, I also want my kids on their best behavior (which is the case most days) so I have bags full of tricks to distract and amuse if the doctor is taking too long.
9:30 Hopefully we will be at my Young Mom's Bible Study.
11:00 ish leave the church and meet Curtis for lunch (not sure where).
After lunch, take the van in to have the oil changed and the inspection done. Looonnnngg over due! While the van is being taken care of, the kids and I will be shopping for car snacks and maybe, if they're lucky and I'm weak, car toys.
1:30ish home so boys can sleep
3:00 My sweet friend Andria is coming over so we can chat about our cranio kids.

Once Andria leaves, we head to Arowen's house (a friend of Elizabeth's) to borrow Thomas the Train movies and books, since Thursday we will be leaving to SEE and RIDE Thomas the Train!! We will be meeting my parents in Oklahoma City for this fun, early Christmas present. This week in school, we have been reading about trains, learning about trains, making calender countdowns till we ride the train, coloring pictures of trains. Anyone know any train songs?

Curtis works tomorrow evening, so my evening will be a blur of packing, cleaning, amusing the kids, feeding the kids, bathing the kids, and convincing the kids that I love them as much as Daddy and they don't NEED him to put them to bed.

All and all, life is great right now! Sure we're busy, but God has been very gracious and we haven't been left feeling as stressed as I thought we would.

And just so we don't have any parents go through Grandchildren Withdrawl, here's a picture of me and the boys this weekend and Anthony's birthday party.

And because I like doing Then and Now pictures, look at what a difference 16 months will make!

I couldn't make this stuff up!!

As I talk to other parents, we often find ourselves saying some of the same things. "Where do the kids get this stuff?" "Why in the world did they do that?" Here's a sampling of the latest thing that has me asking those questions.
Look closely, and you'll see froggy toes coming out of Micah's shirt. Why? Because there is a stuffed frog in Micah's shirt.

Kids are so funny! Curtis and I will be laughing about this for awhile tonight.