Boo-boo!

Well, it has finally happened. Not too bad for almost six years of parenting!

Actually, I say that to assuage my guilt for feeling like the world's most horrible mother. Our first major boo-boo happened yesterday. What can I say? My boy is, well, a boy.

We have this particular table in our house. It is designed as a coffee table but it is also a trunk in which we store toys to keep them out of the way for when visitors visit. Anyway, the top has been broken on it for a while now. Actually, it was broken and then it was fixed and then it was broken again. We did not have the right hinges and supports on it to keep it from slamming shut on little fingers so we decided to take the top of until we could get the repairs made. Meanwhile, the top to the table is sitting on the floor.

Those of you who know my kids, or any kids for that matter, know that it does not matter how many wonderful toys a child has, they will always find a way to play with whatever is not intended to be played with. In this case, the table top. I cannot tell you how many times I have said, "Noah, don't play on the table top" over the past week.

First, we had it standing on end, resting on the table. Well, Noah decided that looked like a fun slide. Not too smart on my part I suppose. So I laid it on the floor under the table. Part of it was still sticking out however and apparently it looked like a good ice rink. So Noah dons dad's shoes, walks over to the table to try to play on the top and proceeds to trip over the shoes and fall face first into the side of the coffee table. Our coffee table is a rectangle. And wood. And hard. Not a good combination.

I was sitting right there and I was able to get to him immediately. Then I learned something about myself. I do not handle crisis well. His nose immediately swelled up and did not "look" right. And I went into frantic mom mode.

Madison got the ice. I got the phone. Daddy got the doctor's bill.

Actually, she said it is possible it was not broken. She did not do an X-ray because there was nothing they could do for it anyway, unless it was displaced, which was thankfully not the case. We have been icing it up and loving on our boy. And he is still all boy. It was about two seconds before he was off to torment his sister again.

Ahhh, the joys of motherhood!

I'm it...apparently

I never was good at tag. I am way too slow. But, I have been tagged by my friend Cheryl so here goes:

The Rules: Answer the questions using only one word.
Then tag four others.

1. Where is your cell phone? charger
2. Your significant other? cute
3. Your hair? ponytail
4. Your mother? crazy
5. Your father? Florida
6. Your favorite thing? kids
7. Your dream last night? forgot
8 Your favorite drink? water
9. Your dream/goal? weight
10. The room you’re in? living
11. Your hobby? reading
12. Your fear? kids
13. Where do you want to be in 6 years? home
14. What you’re not? quiet
15. Muffins? chocchip (that’s one word isn’t it?)
16. One of your wish list items? basement
17. Where you grew up? Indiana
18. The last thing you did? diaper
19. What are you wearing? clothes
20. Favorite gadget? computer
21. Your pets? none
22. Your computer? Dell
23. Your mood? tired
24. Missing someone? Papaw
25. Your car? mini-van
26. Something you’re not wearing? shoes
27. Favorite store? Target
28. Like someone? lots
29. Your favorite color? red
30. When is the last time you laughed? morning
31. Last time you cried? ???

eeney, meeney, miney, moe....
...I'm tagging Rick, Alyssa, Brooke, Denise

(sorry guys-I don't know too many bloggers-you can blame Cheryl ;)

Still here...

Sorry, we have been neglecting the blog for a couple of weeks. Let's see if I can catch you up to date on what has happened since our last post.

1) Happy Birthday to Rick! He turned 31 on June 23. He got the great privilege of getting to go see Kung Fu Panda for his birthday-lucky guy!

2) We were all very involved in our church's VBS that same week (6-23 thru 6-27). Madison got to move up this year since she graduated kindergarten (YAY!) and Noah got to go for the first time. This year's theme was Power Lab and it was all about the Power that Jesus gives us. They learned that Jesus gives us the power to be thankful, to help others, to be brave, to live forever, and to tell others about God. At which point if they saw me writing this they would shout very loudly "Eureka"! (That is what they had to do every time they heard the Bible point). Anyway, they didn't quite get it because they say "Hooreeka"! I think it is a cross between Hooray! and Eureka!

Rick and I were crew leaders for the older kids and we had lots of fun being big goofs as well. I love VBS because it is the one time of year that Rick and I get to do ministry together and it was so much fun and we had an awesome group of kids as well. A total of 9 kids came to know Christ that week. Hooreeka!

3) I have been in the throes of planning this upcoming school year's curriculum which has been occupying most of my time. And there you have it-my excuse for not staying on top of the blog. Anyway, I am just about done, just have to narrow it down a little and then go about buying it-which is much easier said then done when you are cheap like me and have to look at ten different places to find the best price. I am planning on posting the curriculum when we are done so you can all see what Madison and Noah will be learning this year.

4) Brady has received four teeth, and they all came in the same week. Yeah, that was lots of fun! But that grin is worth the sleepless nights. Now he is working on crawling. He gets on his hands and knees and scoots backwards and gets quite frustrated by the fact that he is moving further away from whatever it is in front of him that he is trying to get. My little boy is growing up!

5) Okay, I have another excuse. As most of you know, this past year we began homeschooling. While we had tons of fun and I loved it, there were times when I felt incredibly lonely. I am pretty social and it was hard to be home all the time and have to start saying "no" to more and more things. There are many churches in the area that have many homeschooling families who attend but ours is not one of them, so I decided I needed to come up with a way to meet some other homeschooling moms so I could get some support. So when I got the homeschooling newsletter in the mail I was excited to see a request for help with our annual Open House. I jumped at the chance, figuring it would be a great opportunity to interact with other homeschoolers. It is the largest and most well-attended annual event in our area. However, there is a LOT of planning involved. My goodness! I am very excited about all of it as I have had fun communicating with various exhibitors and workshop leaders. My responsibilities include making reservations for all the exhibitors, developing and finding speakers for various workshops, and community marketing. The event is August 7, so needless to say, I have been a little busy recently.

6) And last but not least, drumroll please, we have a new pastor! Thanks to all of you who were praying for this. I am very excited that Pastor Troy Hochstetler, his wife Shari and their daughter Kyla will be coming to serve at our church on August 24th. There is a link a few posts back where you can go to listen to his sermons-he is very good at what he does. This is a very exciting time for our church. I am on the church board again this year so I am looking forward to working with him and getting to know him and his family better.

Well, that's about all I can think of for an update right now. We will try to do better-we promise!

Father's Day

Father's Day holds a special meaning for me. It reminds me of the times that I have spent with my grandfather Gene. He has had the biggest impact on my growth from a boy to a man. When I grew up I spent a lot of time with my grandparents. I remember almost everyday during the summer once he got home from work we would grab our gloves and go outside behind their house and he would hit baseballs to me. He would hit some at me to start with and then once my arm was warm he would run me all over the yard with pop-flies and grounders. And in the fall we would go out back and throw the football around. Anyway, he was always there for my games. No matter what sport or what the weather was he would always be there. I am not sure if I ever told him just how special he is to me. Even in school after I was informed that I was LD (learning disabled) he never let me fall back on that and use it as a crutch. He made sure that I knew how smart I was but he he also made sure that I pushed myself. Even now after Lisa and the kids the next person that I what to make sure that I do not disappoint is my Grandfather, Gene.

Another person that has meant lot to me is my dad, Joe. He is my step-dad, but who would ever be able to guess that with the love and attention that he has put into our relationship. He is a great husband to my mom and a great dad to myself and my brother Dylan. What I think that I will always remember most about my dad is that he is a fighter. I don't mean that he would hit us or anything, but he is a fighter (after all he is married to my mom, sorry mom). I remember several years back I was at a friend's house watching TV and stuff. I got a call from my mom. She sounded like she had been crying which was out of the norm for her. She explained that Joe had been diagnosed with skin cancer that had spread. The doctors gave him very little time to live. If I remember correctly it was like a 12% chance to live two - five years. That night I did not go home but I did cry myself to sleep. I have never been good with bad news or situations (just ask Lisa), so while my dad spent a long time in different hospitals I think that I saw him twice. It was not that I did not want to see him or that I did not have time for him, but I guess that I thought that the less time I spent with him then his situation would not be real and he would be okay. After he was transferred back to a hospital in Lafayette I went to see him one day and we talked for about an hour. Even though I did not want to go I did and it was worth it. I remember later my mom telling me how much that meant to him that I went to see him.

The next time my mom called with the same tone as that night. It was to tell me of my dad's heart attack. He had been out mowing their yard when he felt weird. He has told me since that he knew what was happening to him. He put the mower away and called 911. While they were on their way to get him he put the dogs away and unlocked the door so that they could come right in and take care of him. He said that he put the mower away and the dogs up so that my mom would not have to do that later (what a guy, he is having a heart attack and he is thinking about making sure that my mom or brother do not have to do any more work). My mom told me that as he was getting on the life line shuttle to the heart hospital that he told her that he did not think that he would survive this. So she promptly told him that, "you better make it through or I will kill you." Well he is still alive today. What did I tell you - a fighter.

I could go on and on with stories about both my dad and my grandfather (for those of you that know me know that he is my Gene, and that I have never said grandfather this many times ever). But now that I have kids of my own I worry. If I could ever be even a quarter of the people that Gene or Joe are then my kids will be truly blessed. But I worry that instead of these two real men in my life that I will be more like my real father. As you see I have no stories of him. Not even a little joke to let you know a little about him. This is because I have never met him. And the fact that I have his dna in me scares me. I see my kids growing so fast even Brady. Lisa tells me that I am here with them and for them and this already makes me a better dad than my biological father. So here I sit with two earthly examples of a good dad and the greatest example of all our heavenly Father, but I still feel uneasy. I do know that this Father's day that I am truly blessed, I have three kids that seem to hang on my every word. How much more could I ask for? To all the dads out there happy Father's day. I hope that your live is as full and blessed as mine.

And to our Father in heaven, HAPPY FATHER'S DAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The Man

Well, today has been a tough day for our family. Today marks the one year anniversary of the death of my beloved grandfather, Edward Brady. I still miss him so badly it is painful at times. So much so that it is a struggle to breathe. I dream of him frequently and talk of him with my children almost daily. My grandfather was the epitome of strength. He never disappointed me. NEVER! I mean, seriously, how many people can you say that about in a lifetime? There is so much more I could write as my head is swarming with a lifetime of memories right now. But all I can really do is share a couple of pictures. My grandfather didn't like to have his picture taken very often, but when you did catch him you could usually see him there-his mischievousness, his love for life and family. He knew what was important. And so I share him with you. You're the man, Papaw! Oh how I miss you.

Papaw and Madison (4 days old)-well, Papaw may have been a little older here!

One of Madison's favorite spots!

Papaw's Kids

Papaw spoiling his kids-out for breakfast at IHOP-or as Noah calls it "My Hop"

Come on, all together now, awwwww!!!!