Grace-I finally finished your giveaway winning!

I had a giveaway on Mother's Day and I am ashamed to say with all that happened with Brandon breaking his arm, our van being broken into, and Mike having a car accident and that car is still in the shop-everything extra got put on hold.  So, it has taken me till now till finally get back to actually doing the things that people won in my giveaway and Grace's (http://wheelsoffun.blogspot.com )is the first thing I finished.  So here it is-I hope to mail it sometime tomorrow.

Hope you like it.  Kelly, Bridget and Barbie-your things are being worked on-Barbie if you are reading this let me know if you still want the bib and silkie-I haven't finished that yet so if it is too late and you want to pick something else just let me know.
Enjoy-maybe next time my life will be a little less hectic when I do one of these. lol
On this pathway-
Jill

It's Electric!-

My office-a little tiny room off of our bedroom that was a perfect nursery for Analeigh until about 2 months ago when we moved Alyssa into the old office (a spare bedroom)-Analeigh into Alyssa's old room and the office into the tiny room off of our bedroom which used to be Analeigh's nursery-had an issue with the light/fan today.
I was gone shopping all day yesterday with my good friend Donna in Weatherford Texas ( It was so much fun-my sweet Mike kept all the kiddos and she and I went all day without any children-I can't remember the last time I did that.)  Anyways-when I left yesterday morning the light and fan in my office worked-but this morning when I went in there to work on my office and clean it up a bit-no light.  I went to the wall and turned it off and on-then to the fan itself and turned it off and on-still no light.  Bummed, I called my dad (who God willing if everything goes well with my sister's surgery on the 30th-on her colon-they will be leaving on the 1st to come and spend the month of July with us(since we only get to see them once a year) he told me if I could wait two more weeks they would be here and he would fix what ever was wrong.  One of the many things he is is an electrician-but I couldn't go two weeks without the light in there-it is a room between two rooms and so there are no windows so without the light it is dark as a cave in there-great for sleeping not so much so for working! lol

I went on to explain what it was or I guess I should say not doing and dad told me it sounded like it might be that the switch had gone bad.   So while at Wal-mart I got a new switch, came home shut off the electric and tried to put the new one on with no success.
The holes on the back where the wire went were too small-even though it was the same size.   So I went to Lowe's this time.  Found a gentleman and told him my predicament and he then told me that they don't make the switches to fit the size wire I have any more and I would have to buy a wire stripper-strip the wire and then coil it around the screws on the side and screw it on and then put it back in the wall and screw it in there.   So, I bought the wire stripper, the switch and headed home.
I shut off the power again and went to work with my husband holding a little flashlight next to me cheering me on! lol

I got it done-put it together-turned on the breaker again and came in to turn on the light and ta-da there was light (oh the fan works again too) I was so excited-my hubby made all the kids come in and see the light switch and tell me I am a genius-lol!!  He snapped a few photos and then I called my dad to tell him what I did.
He was proud!  Thanks Dad for the advice and to the man at Lowes that had all the faith in me that I could do this-thanks to you too.
Last week it was the air conditioner and this week the light switch-maybe I need to venture out on a new career.
On this Pathway-
Jill

The Stairs

I had someone send this to me via e-mail and I 

wanted to share it-I thought

 it was really good-hope it touches you too.

 







The Stairs 
=========== 
This morning I stood at the top of the stairs to our basement 
and watched my two-year-old son journey down the stairs. 
 
He was on his way to catch his mother. He was afraid his mother 
would leave without him and head for his school. I desperately 
wanted to take him by the hand and walk him down the stairs. 
But I knew that if I never let him do it on his own, he would 
always depend on the balancing power of his father's hand. 
 
Instead, I simply stayed close behind ready to move in an 
instant if he appeared to fall. 
 
With his little legs and fragile sense of balance, he could not 
just walk down the stairs like an adult could. He sat down on 
his bottom and scooted down the first step. 
 
Then he scooted down the second step. 
 
By this time, his mother had made it to the garage to load the 
other two kids. 
 
As I watched him scoot step by step, I was reminded of the 
steps all of us have to take in life. Just like my son, we have to 
take one step at a time. 
 
We step at the rate and posture where we can maintain our 
balance, until we reach the end of the stairs. 
 
If we move too fast or maintain too lofty of a posture, we will 
tumble down the stairs. 
 
If we move too slow or stop moving altogether, we could get left 
behind or hold up the kid behind us. 
 
Looking at all of the stairs at one time looks scary, focusing 
on one step at a time and conquering that step is not so scary. 
 
My two-year-old like many adults, did not know the 
father stood behind him lest he fall, nor did he realize 
that his mother would have waited for him to arrive. 
 
Even though you are older than two, how are you moving 
along your stairs of life? 
 
~A MountainWings Original by James Bronner~

Our Car Accident Today

Well, all I can say is Satan is after us for some reason-the last few months we have had our share of bad things happening and after today I just wanted to throw in the white towel and surrender but I am gonna fight instead and just think that God has something mighty planned that he wants us to be a part of instead!
Mike was in a car accident this morning.  It was not good and since he was the one turning into traffic even though the other guy must have been going way over the speed limit-Mike is at fault.  The car is not drivable and we had to have it towed and know nothing at this point about the damage but we are praising God that the kids were not with him and he and the other party are all ok.

The car is a mess and now we are down to one car-but praise God we have rental up to a certain amount on our insurance so we are looking into that currently until we know what will happen with our car.
I know bad things just happen-we live in a world where bad happens to both good and bad people every day and there is no rhyme or reason to it all because we live in a sinful world.  But Satan is having a field day with all of this that has happened the last month and a half and I feel like I am drowning some days.

I had to step down from my job last week since we will be homeschooling Alyssa in the fall and they changed the rules and Analeigh is no longer allowed to come to work with me.  So that income is gone now too.   We started getting Brandon's medical bills for his hip and they are out of this world-now we have the ones that will start from his broken arm that should have never happened.   Everything that was stolen from our car will not be replaced since it is under our home owners insurance and the deductible is higher than the amount of what was stolen.   Our refrigerator died two days ago and we had to go purchase a cheaper new one or lose all our food-I burnt my arm on the stove today-Alyssa fell and has a injured foot.
The list just keeps going on and I am a weary mama-I so need a break some happy news-and yet I almost feel guilty saying that because in all of these circumstance things could have been so worse.

Brandon's hip could have been cancer but it wasn't-his surgery went well and he is recovering-even though the school was at fault with his arm-it could have been worse-it could have required surgery or it could have been his hip.  Alyssa's foot is just sore-a sprain we all think.  The items stolen from the car are in the big picture just "things" and at least it wasn't our home.   Again the car can be fixed or replaced-the kids weren't with Mike and he is fine-just mentally shaken-but he could have been in the hospital or worse even killed and he is fine.  My burnt arm will heal in a day-only second degree and so life is good, God is good, we are good and so blessed.   My human heart is just a little sad today and we are trying so hard to be debt free and give money where it is needed and get ahead to do for others and every time we get two steps ahead, something happens and I feel like we go back 5.

Trying to be thankful and not whine I feel like that is all I have done the last month with my blog-I really am going to make a promise that my next post will be nothing but praise and thankfulness.  I am going to write in my journal right now everything I have to thank God for.
God is good all the time, all the time God is good. Thanks for you letting my cry on your blog shoulders-I needed to vent and my poor hubby just is sad himself today and didn't need to hear this from me!
On this Pathway-
Jill

Random-Memorial Day-and school

Our Memorial Day was kind of a quiet one-we went swimming at HSU where Mike teaches-they have a 

really nice pool.

The kids swimming and Brandon and Analeigh eating a snack by the pool.

I just love this shot of Analeigh-I love black and white photos and I loved how the wind was blowing her hair all around.  She loves to have her photo taken.

Next, we came home and while I cooked burgers and hot dogs on the grill the kids and I made something for dessert-do you know what we made?  Can you tell from these photos?

The big can is the outside of the contraption -the little can has the ingredients in it.  Any clue yet?

Here it is after much shaking, rolling and spinning around-Yep-ICE CREAM!

The final product.  It was really good.

At the pool a butterfly landed on my shoulder and it stayed there for a really long time.  I walked down from the table area at the pool all the way down to the pool and it stayed on my shoulder the whole time. It was really neat.  I love butterflies and a friend and I started a weight loss group called FAITH 101 and our symbol is a butterfly so this was kind of neat.

This was the last day of school-Wednesday June 2, 2010.

My three amigos and Alyssa's last day of Elementary School.  Made me almost as sad as the first day of Kindergarten.

The kids with their teachers.  Brandon with Mrs. Partin-Alyssa with Mrs. Gililland and Derek with

 Mrs. Watson.

It was a fun and busy last week.  Along with Brandon's broken arm and our car being broken into-it was kind of crazy but fun.

On His Pathway-

Jill

Bounce House=Broken Arm for Brandon-Yes Brandon!

I can not believe the day we had- we are back from the Dr after the school called and said Brandon fell in the bounce house-really?!!! He has 3 medical excuses to not do PE and Recess in his records on file at the school and they let him go in a bounce house. He fell on his arm trying not to hurt his hip and broke the bone in his upper arm. 

We have an appointment on Thursday at 8:15am but until then it is in a sling.  Where it is broken they usually don't cast and our Dr. said they used to wrap it but they have found that is heals usually just being in a sling-so that is what he has at this point. We won't know if they will do anything else till Thursday. Thankfully since it is the bone in his upper arm he is ok pain wise with just Motrin if he doesn't move it much.   

I am so sad and angry and I know it shows in this post and I am trying not to be-I hope if I write about it now that when I go to the school in the morning that I will only reflect Christ.  I really want that-I am trying not to feel this way the the human, mama bear side of me is coming out and I am in shock and disbelief that they allowed this and someone really dropped the ball on this and I am really struggling with being kind, sweet, compassionate and understanding.

I need prayer for not only having to go into the school tomorrow to inform them that it is broken and see what they plan on doing about it but that Brandon is ok and that there isn't something wrong with his bones.  He has broken two other bones, his ankle and his wrist at 10 months and two years, both from falling on cement and commons falls and breaks but now with this break and the hip break (they say that was caused by the cysts) that is 4 in almost 7 years-he will turn 7 in August.  I keep going back and forth in my head-Satan is having a field day with all of this.

 I am worried something is wrong with him. But the only thing that makes me think  maybe not, is we have gone 5 years since he broke his arm so surely if it was some bone issue he would be breaking things all the time and they wouldn't be healing. 


Our Dr told us today that it isn't a stupid question to ask the Orthopedic Dr on Thursday but he has seen the same kids 4 and 5 times in one year with broken bones and that the Ortho Dr's have said it was normal-so I will ask but I am praying it is nothing more than accidents.  
Also the Ortho Dr at Cooks surely would have thought something was wrong with his bones if they would have seemed brittle or something when she was in there operating on them and she didn't say she was worried about anything. I don't know-so I am of course asking that he would be ok and that he has just been really unfortunate in having this all happen and that his arm would heal quickly-the only thing he could do this summer is swim and now we can't do that either.  I am sad and hurting for him-I think he doesn't get why him?  Not that we should ever really question that-cause why not us?  It is just hard to understand at 6.


Please just pray I will be a light and I will reflect Christ tomorrow at the school-I am not angry at anyone really- just really upset at the situation and that this was allowed to happen-it just should not have happened with those excuses on file. I expected when I sent him back to school that he would be protected and I didn't have to sit around worried about what might happen-he was out for 3 weeks-the school knew that and the if all the teachers at the bounce house didn't know that someone should have told them and it shouldn't have happened.  
I want to reflect Christ when I go-my human side is mad and sad and hurting for my little boy-I expected to follow the rules and they didn't-but I don't want to go there mad, sad and angry-I want to be a witness-please pray for me. Thank you for being so willing to always come along side us and cover us in prayer.
I have a feeling I might be asking a lot of that from you all for the next 18 years at least.
The last week with the car being broken into and now this-I am feeling a little defeated. I will trust in the Lord with all my heart and learn not on my own understanding.
Praising Him on this Pathway-
Jill