Snow Day

It snowed here on Tuesday, from about noon till I went to bed that evening. I kept taking pictures and movies of it, sure that any moment it would stop and melt away, leaving no evidence of what seemed to good to be true.

But it didn't, we got a full day of big, beautiful snowflakes falling. For it to snow here where it's pretty close to a miracle for it to happen was magical. I happened to be driving in it when it switched over to all snow and I actually started giggling like a little girl. This was real snow and it was sticking, I was excited!

We played out in it for a hour or so, except Kylynn who wasn't so sure about the cold aspect, and when we got in we were all tired! I guess as an adult playing in snow is exhausting. But it was so worth it, the winters from my childhood all came back to me the way snow crunches under you boots, the way it covers up the ugly and makes it beautiful, the way it tastes-my favorite thing about snow!

Here's some pictures from our snow day.

Snowman building

The view from my front porch

Kylynn's first snow angel

Our snowman, pretty good for Texas, huh?

Yea!! for pockets

You've got nothing on me...

Got OCD? Wash your hands a lot? Well you've got nothing on me.

I'm sad to say, during this cold season I wash my hands an average of 83 times a day. I wash my hands every time I change a diaper. Every time Kylynn needs to be wiped. And of course after I use the bathroom. Every time I blow my nose, Jack's nose, or Kylynn's nose (this alone accounts for at least half of all hand washings). I wash my hands before I touch food I'm making for me, Jack, or Kylynn. Before I unload the dishwasher. After I wash dishes that contained raw meat, after cleaning or dusting.

You get the picture, there is a lot of hand washing going on around here. And now I'm off to pick up a dead roach and you guessed it, wash my hands.

The Ears have it

Once again, my week went the way of a sick child and so I wasn't able to blog as often as I'd like. Jack, now has an ear infection. His temporary ear tubes fell out a few weeks ago and sure enough the first cold he got led to an ear infection. I was in denial for a few days, despite Kyle's insistence that he had an ear infection. Jack was on antibiotics for pink eye and I thought surely he cannot come down with an ear infection while on antibiotics..turns out I was wrong!

I asked the doctor how many ear infections he would have to have before they would go ahead and put back in permanent ear tubes and he said Jack needs to have an un-treatable ear infection for two to three months! I'm trying to be patient but I think I know how this is all going to turn out and I hate to watch him suffer for two to three months before we can do something about it.

Pray for him. The ear infection makes him feel cruddy and he doesn't eat very well at all, which of course is my worst nightmare, the last thing I need is for Jack to stop eating. At his last appointment he had lost a pound in the week or so he's had it...I think chewing hurts. Plus he absolutely hates the taste of the antibiotics and we are having a terrible time trying to get him to actually swallow them.

On an up note, we've had a great weekend. We went on a 13 mile bike ride yesterday and I felt amazingly good afterwards. Kyle is helping me train for my first official bike ride, which will be 20 miles and raise funds for a local charity, this is something he's done for years, but is new to me. The kids were happy the whole two hour ride, which is a small miracle. Today the rain went away by the time church let out and I'm about to go out and enjoy doing some yard work in the warm weather and sun!

Are you watching the olympics? Oh it's good, if you're not watching you're missing out. I think now Canada is towards the top of my list of places I would love to visit. Enjoy you're week and hopefully this week I'll be here with you blogging, not running to the doctor again!!

How I kicked my soda habbit

I think there's been enough studies done to convince most of us that diet sodas are no better for us than the ones containing all that sugar (which we know is bad for us). But I use to love every afternoon opening up a diet soda and enjoying it as a kind of treat, a reward for making through a morning with two toddlers. I loved the sound of the can opening, how cold it was, and the bubbles.

From time to time I would quit drinking soda for a couple weeks and would always, without any extra effort drop at least five pounds. I know, I know that should have been motive enough, but sooner rather than later I would always end up falling off the soda wagon.

I sometimes tried drinking flavored, sparkling water, but they contained the exact sweetener that supposedly made diet soda bad for you, so really what's the point in that. Then I found it, La Croix, a naturally flavored sparkling water, there is no sugar and no artificial sweetener, just carbonated water and natural flavors, and I've been soda-free for months now.

Let me say that this drink is not going to have the same taste as most diet sodas, it tastes like a sprite minus all the sugar, but if it's the cold and the carbonation that you're really craving when you reach for that soda, then this will satisfy.

I haven't banned soda from my diet, but like alcohol I've moved it to a sometimes food. Like my sister says, you have to have Coke with pizza, so that's when I'll let myself have one.

Besides losing the standard five pounds I have a more consistent energy level throughout the day now, previously I would drink a soda around 1pm and then crash less than an hour later, feeling terrible, that is completely gone now.

If you try it let me know what you think, you can get them at HEB and Kroger and Kroger even makes a knock off, that's equally good.

A glorious day

It's a glorious day today. First, it's sunny! Like the most perfect, clear, blue skies, sunny. Oh, such sweet medicine for my soul, that sun.
Second, I'm feeling better after almost two full weeks of being sick, I decided yesterday that I definitely had a case of pneumonia/mono/cancer of the sinuses/bronchitis, but today I can definitely tell I'm on the mend. Thank you God, for how you answer prayers.

Third, a caterpillar has decided to turn himself into a butterfly hanging from our front porch. Kylynn has loved butterflies for a long time and we have read many times a very boring book about how caterpillars cocoon themselves and turn into butterflies, so to have one we can watch is such a blessing.
Finally, I was able to do something today that I've felt the Lord asking me to do for a long time. It feels good to obey, I feel excited to see Him doing a good work in me.

"I will awaken the dawn.
I will praise You, O Lord among the peoples,
And I will sing praises to You among the nations.
For Your mercy is great above the heavens.
And Your truth reaches to the clouds.

Be exalted, O God, above the heavens,
And Your glory above all the earth;
That Your beloved may be delivered,
Save with Your right hand, and hear me."
The Bible, Psalm 108: 2-6

Making me smile

Things making me smile today, two beautiful children and a way to bring the beauty of the outside in for free.

Catch up

I'm sorry it's been so long, since I blogged. We've been sick, as most people are this time of year. There was something about this bug, the way it went from one person to the next to the next, and just when you thought you were better, you woke up the next day with a fever and sore throat again, that exhausted me and kept me from doing no more than the bare minimum. But after a week or so, we seem to all be on the mend, although still going through an insane amount of tissues each day, so much that it makes me a little anxious. I'm one of those people...you know the ones that always have partially used tissues in every coat pocket, in my purse, on my nightstand, and of course in the waistband of my sweatpants. It drives Kyle crazy my need to fully use a tissue before I through it away, so as to not waste it. The problem of course is you forget you've already got a half used tissue in your waistband, so you grab a new one and add it to the stack and by the end of the day you realize how gross the room looks and grab all the tissues and throw them away anyways.

It's sunny today, which is so wonderful and enticing, I tried to take the kids to the park, not realizing that it's sunny but in the upper 30s with an even colder wind. We go to the park and Kylynn immediately starting screaming! IT'S FREEZING TAKE ME HOME! After two minutes or so I couldn't argue with her assessment, nor could I stand the screaming, so we drove home a long way, to enjoy the sunshine through the windows of the car as long as possible.

I have missed the sun so much these past few months, I cannot remember another time that there were this many cloudy days in a row, or this many period over a few months time. I decided that I have seasonal affect disorder (SAD) until every person I've talked to said they too feel down and depressed from the lack of sun, so perhaps I'm just a normal person who really misses the sun. Right now I have every set of blinds in my house up to soak up as much sun as possible, what I really want to do is go and sit in the sunniest spot in my yard lay down and look up at the blue sky, but it's ridiculously cold out there.

If I had been well and actually turning on my computer I would have posted this dip recipe that I was making for the Super Bowl, so I'll post it today. It doesn't have a name that I know of, so I call it "Corn and Cheese yummy dip". I got it from my sister in law, and I'm not sure if it's a family recipe of theirs or from another source, so if you deserve credit for inventing this dip, let me know and I'll give you credit. Every time I make this dip (which is often) it is a huge hit and completely gone in a couple hours, enjoy!

Corn and Chesse Yummy dip:
-1 c. mayo (you can use low fat of fat free instead)
-1 c. shredded mont. jack cheese (I use more, b/c I love cheese)
-1/2 c. shredded Parmesan cheese
-1 small can diced green chilies
-1 can mexicorn
-chopped jalapenos to taste (optional)

Mix all ingredients together. Cook at 350 for 20 to 25 minutes, or until hot. Serve with tortilla chips or as you wish. Really you can change up the recipe as much as you like. Enjoy!

Saving the Children

By now you've all read the story. A group of American baptists from Idaho, went to Haiti, and tried to smuggle 33 children out of the country. The group claims that they were just trying to do the right thing, to save the children, if you will from the tragedy that is Haiti.

As an adoption lover, it is a frustrating thing to watch. Unfortunately, it is these types of situations that make international adoption the long, grueling process that it is. It is in a hope to stop illegal adoptions, where children are stolen or bought for wealthy parents, that cause the international adoption process to have so many hoops to jump through, and require so much paperwork, time, and money. This situation is the answer to the question I am so often asked, "But why does it take so long to adopt a child if there are so many children in needs of families?"

I also can't help but question the motives of these Americans, who I believe on some level really thought they were doing what was best, even if they had to break the law to, "give the children a better life." But I'm frustrated by a belief system that says that giving people a better way of life is preferable to children being raised by their parents and/or family. That one's quality of life should be measured in terms of income, shelter, and food without considering the largest factor of all, love.

I understand that people's hearts break for children that they see living in terrible situations and we should respond to that urge God places on our hearts. We should be helping the Haiti people, all of the Haiti people. Help them rebuild, help to meet their needs, help them to hear about a God who desperately loves them, help them to be able to live in a better Haiti in the future. Don't help them, by taking their children from their home, because you value physical comforts over the love of a family.

I love adoption. I think it teaches us about God and His love for us. I think it's the greatest thing ever. But it is not something that we should be trying to do for children who have families, that are able to care for them. There are enough children in this world that need to be "saved" if only from a life without a family, then to start deciding that those who live a life so different from ours, need saving.

Fleeting

I'm not sure if it's because Jack and Kylynn are getting a little older and time seems to have slowed down from the clip speed it goes at when you have an one and three year old, but lately I've been finding myself acutely aware of how temporary the type of relationship I have with Kylynn is.

She is only three and yet I can see all the signs of the days to come. Someday she will look at me and and say "nothing", "whatever", and "leave me alone". There will perhaps come a day, where she no longer thinks my clothes and hair are "cute", but instead is embarrassed to be seen by me. There will be yelling and disrespect and tears on both sides. Somehow I feel that all of that I can endure, but when she comes and climbs in my lap to give me a hug and a kiss, I cannot bear to think that that will not always be.

I have no idea why I suddenly seem to have this thought in my mind so often. When she kisses me goodnight, I wonder how many more years I have of this. I catch myself staring at her and wanting so badly to be able to capture her right here and now. The way she looks, her innocence, her voice, the things she believes, to lock it up in my heart and save for a rainy day in the future.

It is now, this stage in life, that I think I finally am beginning to understand what God was saying in His word, "Behold, children are a gift of the LORD, the fruit of the womb is a reward. Like arrows in the hand of a warrior, so are the children of one's youth. How blessed is the man whose quiver is full of them; They will not be ashamed when they speak with their enemies in the gate." Psalms 127:3-5