In Memory of Matthew

Many of you who knew John and Lori Ennis, whether in person or virtually, are feeling the immense pain and sadness in the passing of their sweet miracle baby Matthew on November 29, 2009. Many have struggled to find a tangible way to help.

To that end, John and Lori have provided alternatives to flowers in order to create a lasting legacy for Matthew's life.

Many are you are aware that recently I participated in a "Pie in the face Christmas Challenge" to raise funds for children in Kyrgyzstan to have Christmas. John Wright is the individual who was coordinating that effort. Because John and Lori have a heart for the children of Kyrgyzstan as well, one of the requests is for individuals to make a donation to help fund an EKG machine for the baby hospital in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan. This is the hospital where unwanted babies are taken. Imagine the juxtaposition of a baby who was so wanted, so longed for and these children. There are only two EKG machines in the city so this is truly a need for those children.

To donate to this worthy endeavor visit John's site to donate by Paypal OR make check payable to:
Society of Cornelius
Memo: orphan account .EKG
and send them to:
Possibilities International, Suite 253525
Highland Road
WestKitchener, Ontario
N2M 5P4

Another option John and Lori have provided is to donate to Now I Lay Me Down to Sleep. Do not visit this site without tissues because it opened my eyes to a cause that would certainly be dear to my heart: photography. However, this is a service provided for families whose children pass away. The image shown on Lori's blog was taken by a photographer from this organization. It is a service I never knew existed, but, MY! what a ministry. What a way to provide something for families that they never might know they would want -- until much, much later. How beautiful their photos and how lovingly they are created. I've cried through the entire site (and I think I've read it all). To donate to this organization, click here. Enter John Matthew Ennis' name, along with John and Lori's name in the comments section.

Please consider one of these two options if you were looking for something to do in Matthew's honor. It's a way to ensure that his memory can be honored.

Blessings,
Maria

Twenty Months

CORRECTION -- this post was originally titled "Twenty-one Months" until Allison reminded me that our girls are only TWENTY months old - ha! I don't know how my child is!!!

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Ellie turned twenty months old on Sunday. I realized I hadn't even thought of it when I went to bed that night. I was so consumed with the news of the passing of sweet Matthew.

But, I do want to post an update on how "The Princess" is doing and what's new in her development.

She LOVES to dance and will dance pretty much anywhere and anytime. Her favorite time to dance is early in the morning when Dora the Explorer's theme song comes on. While our nieces were here, Danielle made a video of her dancing on Josh's Dance, Dance Revolution mat. It is hilarious. I wish I could get it to post here. She twirls, jumps up and down, claps, spins on the floor -- she covers it all.

She is beginning to say more words. I'll try to list the ones she is saying now: mama/mommy, daddy, kitty, doggy, Joshua (or some weird version of it), shoos (aka shoes), socks, go, gone, car, bye, hey, hi, stop, no, hot, open (pronounced "opi"--so cute!!) amd uh-oh. We hear lots of single words at single times and we actually hear conversation appropriate phrases but they aren't being repeated so we don't really "count" those. She certainly recognizes lots of words because she follows pretty much every direction she is given. Today she surprised me when I called her a little monkey and she did the sign for monkey. Considering her prematurity and difficult start, I think to only lag in this one area is tremendous. I think she certainly will get there with her speech, just maybe a little more slowly than her peers. Considering how much she jabbers, maybe her not talking a lot is not such a bad thing right now!! *smile*

She has become very loving and will give kisses and hugs and wants to snuggle on the couch and in the bed. She loves playing with Josh lately and follows him everywhere. They laugh and laugh and it's such a beautiful sound.

She has learned to go both UP and DOWN the stairs which makes her much more able to follow Josh when he tries to go hide in his room. *smile*

She drinks independently from a regular cup, usually without spilling. This is in juxtaposition to the fact that she's still taking a bottle at bedtime -- probably because her parents just don't want the drama of taking it away just yet.

She has all her teeth except some molars in the back. She eats pretty much anything, but her favorite is still broccoli -- go figure. She has also developed a bad habit of feeding the dog a large majority of her food. She drops food from the high chair, giggling the whole time -- even if you tell her not to do it.

She remains a girl with a temper and can drop into a hissy in a moment's notice. We are working hard on ignoring it and/or telling her to stop it.

She loved unwrapping the ornaments for the tree and handing them to me. She's been such a good girl about not touching them or trying to rip them off the tree.

She's begun to become very interested in playing with Addie when she's there and Dee'Anna called the other day to let me hear them laughing and giggling with each other. Sweet, huh? She loves to rock her babies in their cradle and kiss them.

She loves to help -- wash dishes, dust, pick up things, take things to others, throw trash in the trashcan -- whatever you ask her to do, she likes to help. I'm thinking she'll need a pint-sized cleaning set for Christmas.

She and the dog have come to an understanding of sorts. He doesn't jump out of his skin and run off everytime she comes near now and she tries not to step on him. In fact, if I had to guess, I'd say her food sharing has caused them to become friends. She also loves the kitties as much as ever. They continue to be ever-tolerant of her, probably because she loves to pet them and remains oh-so-gentle when she does.

I hope to do some pictures of her soon so -- stay tuned!!

Mourning

No Christmas decoration photos today. I was not in the mood to decorate. I've been stunned and in mourning today.

My dear friends, Lori and John, went in to deliver sweet baby Matthew on Friday night. Sometime on Saturday, from what I can gather on Facebook, Lori had to have an emergency C-section and little Matthew was Lifeflighted to another nearby hospital's NICU where he later passed away.

I don't know any other details, but I am so in shock and so sad. A friend described it best: I am numb.

Lori and John have wanted children for so long. They were waiting to adopt from Kyrgyzstan when the country shut down. They decided to try IVF and it took on the first try and miracle boy Matthew was conceived. I have followed along through her pregnancy and have been so excited to see the birth of this sweet, so loved little boy.

I have trouble understanding God at times like this. I know He loves John and Lori and Matthew and that He has a plan in all of this, but I still can't help but ask WHY??? really loudly and really frequently. I've struggled with this all day long. It's never far from my mind.

My heart is with John and Lori right now. I can't imagine what they are going through and what their lives will be like over the next days and months to come. I can only pray earnestly and frequently that God will hold them in His loving arms and make His presence very known to them during this time -- that He will carry them when they can't take another step in the day.

So, out of respect for them, no photos today. I ask you to just stop right now and take a moment to remember wee little Matthew and his parents.

Christmas Decorating

We started our Christmas decorating this evening. I always forget how much stuff we have to decorate for Christmas. Unreal.

This year it was especially fun because everything was new and magical to Ellie. Since she is old enough to really be excited about most of it, it's fun to see her reactions to everything. It's all new, exciting and curious to her and she has to investigate every bit of it. FUN!!

Both Josh and Ellie have their own Christmas trees that go in their rooms. Ellie got hers this year, and, yes, it is pink -- much to Josh's dismay. Ellie, however, loves it. Everyone got in the act of helping Ellie decorate her tree.

The reindeer ears made me a bit sad because just last year we were taking pictures of Sunshine wearing the ears and now she's not with us. Ellie, however, loved the ears and wore them around for quite a while.

We incorporated Ellie's Kyrgyz yurt nativity scene in with our other traditional nativity. Ellie had a great time when we got it out. She'd take the out of the yurt and put them back in the yurt. She even wore the yurt as a hat at one point. I'm so thankful that the Schoolers gave her this wonderful gift when we were there to visit her the first trip. She loves it and it's a great way to talk to her about her country.

Everyone got into the process of putting the tree together. I was bummed that no one would let me watch Christmas Vacation again this year. It's a tradition at our house. HOWEVER, the UK v. UT football game was on, so.... We haven't put the decorations on the tree yet -- saving that for tomorrow -- so maybe tomorrow I can slip that traditional movie viewing into the plan!!

I love these pictures of Josh getting the lights ready and Ellie playing with them. I took them without a flash because I loved the look.

And while we were decorating, Josh broke into dance with Ellie. It was so sweet. He was twirling her and dipping her and she was just laughing and laughing. Sweet times.

When we finally got the tree up, Josh was putting the tree skirt down and here goes Ellie, scooting up under the tree. You can't say she doesn't investigate everything!

More decoration photos tomorrow! I love Christmas!!!

Christmas Lights

The idea sounded great. That's usually what begins most of the horror stories of my life. And while this one wasn't quite a horror story, it wasn't all warm and fuzzy like I'd hoped it would be.

My sister in law and nieces are in town for the holidays. My brother in law is in the military and is currently overseas. Today Angie called and wanted to know if there was something we could do with the kids. We thought and thought and decided it would be fun to go see the lights and decorations at Opryland Hotel.

We took the kids to lunch at McDonalds and then told them where we were going. Then the grumbling began. We dropped off my mother-in-law and the four kids at the entrance and then Angie and I parked and walked back. When we got back, all the kids looked bored out of their minds sitting in chairs waiting for us. Emily declared this, "BORING". Josh complained about one thing after another. I don't think I ever heard Lauren complain. Ellie and I were both dressed way too warmly and she had not had a nap even though it was after 1 p.m.

Do these photos give away how happy they all were or what???

We took pictures near the poinsettia tree and Ellie was less than accommodating. At this point, Josh tells me he has to go to the bathroom and I thought he went one way and we followed. After we all used the bathroom, I finally decided to yell into the boy's bathroom and there was no answer. I got kind of sick feeling, thinking that we might have missed him, misunderstood him or something happened. I gave Ellie to my mother-in-law and took off back to where we were when he went to the bathroom. He was there with the lady working at the information desk and he was on a cell phone. He looked distraught and when I got there, he burst into tears while I held him and told him I wouldn't have left him. He had called Kevin and told him that we had left him and asked him to come get him. Poor thing!!! After he gathered himself back together, we went back and met up with the others. By this time, I had to take off one of my shirts and we took Ellie's shirt off her and just left her overalls on. She was so hot and so tired.

These are the ones that turned ok good enough ...

I like this one of Nana, Ellie and Josh

As well as this one of Nana, Ellie, Josh, Emily and Lauren

We finally just decided to call it a day and go home. Angie and I were disappointed that the kids didn't have more fun. Afterwards when we took them back to McDonalds for ice cream, they had a blast. Go figure!

PIE

I never knew there were so many people in my family who were so very anxious to throw a pie in my face. Poor Josh had to "fight off" my dad, my mom AND my husband to put a pie in my face today. BUT... since I had promised this honor to Josh and asked him to pray for God's provision of the funds for the kids (and he did), it was his honor. He said he had "been waiting all his life for something like this!" Ha. Yeah. Me too.

Because of Melanie's words to the wise, I made sure I sat my pie out for a while before throwing it, but it was still cold. When we got ready, I had a moment or two of "I can't DO this! What was I thinking? I just can't DO it." But, I sucked it up and took the pie. Pictures are worth a thousand words, so here you go.

Josh did SUCH a good job that it was all over my shirt, my pants and even all in and over my shoes. I basically had to go in shower, wash my hair and fully change clothes. But, I'd do it all over again to help those kids. I cannot WAIT to see the photos of that event!! I wish I could be there to help.

Thanks to mom and Angie who took the pictures.

Happy Anniversary

Fifteen short years ago I married the most wonderful man in the world and he has since become so much more to me than he was then. We have grown so much both and individuals and together as a couple. I wouldn't trade what we have for anything in the world -- even when I'm mad at him (and yes! that certainly happens from both sides).

I am so glad that God knew exactly the person I needed to complete me, to put up with me, to love me unconditionally and to be the father of my children. Kevin and I have been through a whole lot in fifteen years, but I can't imagine that I would have been able to walk through it with any other man other than him.

I love you Kevin. I can't wait for 15+15+15 more years!!

Getting Ready for Pie (in the face)

Tonight preparations began for the GREAT Pie in the Face Christmas Challenge!! Readers, family and friends came through and met my challenge to raise $500 for the kids in Kyrgyzstan to have Christmas. I am making my final PayPal donation tomorrow of all the funds I received and also will take my pie in the face. Because I wanted to give my all, the pie is homemade. I will admit I made two -- one to throw and one to eat (yum!!).

Now to share the recipe for those who might want to make their own pie.

COCONUT CREAM MERINGUE PIE

In a small saucepan, combine:

2/3 cup of milk

1/4 cup cornstarch

1/4 tsp salt

Stir in

2 cups of milk

until smooth. Cook and stir over medium heat until thick and bubbly. Reduce heat. Cook and stir 2 minutes longer. Remove from heat.

Stir in a small amount of filling into

3 egg yolks, beaten (make sure you beat your eggs in an Elmo bowl as they come out great!!)

Return all to pan, stirring constantly. Bring to a gentle boil; cook and stir two more minute. Remove from heat.

Gently stir in

1/2 cup coconut

2 tablespoons of butter

and 1/4 tsp of vanilla and stir until butter is melted. Pour hot filling into 1 9" baked pie shell crust.

For MERINGUE:

Combine

3 egg whites and

1/4 tsp of cream of tarter

and beat on high until high peaks form, adding

6 Tbsp of sugar after peaks begin to form.

Put meringue on pie making sure the edges are sealed and sprinkle with coconut.

Bake at 350* for 12-15 minutes. Refrigerate at least three hours before serving.

This is actually the second pie, which is the one I'm going to throw because it isn't quite as pretty as the first one.

The best part of pie: licking the beaters at the end. This was Ellie's first "beater licking". She wasn't quite sure what to do at first until she saw Josh doing it. When she tried it, she got the biggest grin on her face. I handed her the beater then and she just continued to lick and lick until I finally took it away. Notice the meringue on Josh's nose. Yum -- good!

The pie is ready; I am ready. Let the Thanksgiving festivities begin. Let us be thankful for every kid who will get Christmas because of the generosity of people they will never meet. Last check, John was up to 1744 children funded. Only 256 more to go!! Incredible. With God all things are possible.

A Little Friendly "2 on 2" Action

After the "YouTube experiment" with vinegar, baking powder and a soda bottle proved fascinating for the boys (ie, it blew up like it should), they have now resorted to a more peaceful activity: 2 on 2 basketball. Following this, of course, they are headed to two hours of open gym at the school to ... play basketball. Go figure. At least it's exercise and doesn't involve blowing anything up. *smile* I'm glad they are having fun. I want Josh to be able to remember these days, so that's why there are photos that will likely interest no one but him (and his mom).

PIE!!!!

I just checked John's blog and noticed my total for the Children's Christmas Challenge was at $315. I decided to add up what I'd received this weekend from: Stephanie and Brad, Mike and Maggie, Jennifer, Dianne and her coworkers and the money I've been holding from Amanda, Leigh, Lynnette and Mary.

I HAVE EXACTLY $500.

PRAISE BE TO GOD that He has provided the money for 100 kids from this wonderful group of people. I will be making my PayPal donation on Tuesday after I deposit the funds on Monday.

I also checked the total number of kids that have been funded (and went ahead and included what I'll be adding on Tuesday). The current total is 1317 kids!!!

I will be continuing to pray that the rest of the 683 children will receive funding before Thursday!!! Please pray with me.

AND, THANK YOU from the bottom of my heart to every single person who made a sacrifice adn donated to these children!!!

Josh's Sleepover

I have never laughed so hard in my entire life as I think I did last night watching Josh's friends at his sleepover.


We were supposed to be having his birthday party/sleepover, but after hearing that Josh had only had an hour's worth of sleep while at Mickey's sleepover, we decided it would be best to postpone until the weekend of December 11. Kevin is going to try to see if we can use the church's gym and let them play basketball and have pizza there.



However, since many of the parents had already made plans, we ended up with 4 of the 5 still coming over. We decided it would just be called a sleepover at that point.



So, all the way home I laughed at them talking about their "girlfriends" and music and the basketball game they just had. My mom was outside when we stopped by and she said she heard their music when we turned in at the corner.


THEN, we got home and Kevin suggested (facetiously) that they get out Josh's Dance Dance Revolution. NOW ... Josh, I don't think, has ever played with it since we got it two Christmases ago. We were surprised when they all said they wanted to play. Hmmmm... didn't expect that from boys. So, we got it out and got it set up and I laughed and laughed and laughed at them. Photos just cannot do the experience justice. Anyone who's ever had a 12 year old boy knows that if there is a dance -- they don't. Apparently dancing for boys isn't cool. I know why now. But, in their defense, they had a great (and gassy) time. After it was over, I passed out Gas-x to several boys. Ellie had SO much fun with the boys that she almost had a breakdown at 10:30 when we made her go to bed.


The boys did well and all passed out relatively early (before midnight) and slept until 8 this morning. I consider that FANTASTIC. They are currently down at Tommy's house down the road and I've got a few seconds of peace and quiet until they return for more laughter!

The last I heard was a phrase from Zach, "Yeah, we learned how to do it on YouTube", referring to mixing baking soda and vinegar in a bottle. *sigh*

Zach and Braiden playing Guitar Hero:

Josh and Tommy (being cool) watching GI Joe on the computer:

And then the DDR started ...

It took three of them to get it set up...

I told Tommy I was going to post this picture on Facebook on his "girlfriend's" page telling her that Tommy was cuddled up on the couch with a younger woman (ha!).

Ellie has always had a "thing" for Zach. Look at her giggling!!

Then the DDR got wild.

Look at these moves!!

And the more movement came about, the more, um, smells, came about ...

These boys had some MOVES going ...

This is Braiden "shaking his booty"

So... what do you think about that??

Yes, Jarret DID dance, but he hates to have his picture made, so we didn't get too many of him. In fact, he WON round one.

Finally, after realizing they weren't very good on their own, they decided to tackle it as a team ...
Even that was a lot of work, so they just sat down and used their hands.

The results, unfortunately, were still the same - check out the screen:

It was a LOT of fun though!!

Happy Birthday Kevin!!!

Today is Kevin's birthday. I won't tell you how old [45] he is, but we celebrated his birthday on Thursday night since we knew we would have kids over on his actual birthday.

Ellie thought us singing "Happy Birthday" to Kevin was the funniest thing ever. We finally managed to get her to say something that pretty closely resembed, "Happy Birthday, Daddy!" which was so sweet and probably the best present a dad can get. :-)

Here are photos of him and Josh lighting the candles on his cake.

I can't wait to celebrate 45 more years with you (and more!!!). I love you, Kevin!!!

Helper Ellie

Ellie loves to help out around the house. And even though sometimes her helping is a bit of a challenge, I like for her to be able to try.

When I was little (I'm not sure how old I started), my mom would have me pull a kitchen chair up to the sink and wash the dishes.

The other morning when I was washing dishes, Ellie wanted to help, so I pulled her up a chair and let her "help". We had to quit letting her help when she poured a cup or two of water out on the floor. I thought it was cute though!!

As a side note, we DO have a dishwasher, and for this amount of dishes I would have normally used it, but we were trying out our dishwasher cleaner stuff where you put it in an run a load and it cleans the spouts and inside of your dishwasher to make it run better. It worked pretty well and, with my coupons, I think I paid $.25 for it!! YAY!!

Another View: Josh's birth

I got this from my mom last night. It's her view of Josh's birth. Granted, I was a little too busy to know most of this was going on and probably didn't care if I did know! HA!! It will be nice for Josh to have one day.

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Have you forgotten that I was in the room all day with you and Kevin and your daddy was outside in the waiting room running out the side door smoking one cigarette after another? Someone showed him how to go out a side door, and he took advantage of it. I tried to get Kevin to go get something to eat, but he wouldn't leave you.I went out and got Charlie, and we went downstairs and ate. I brought Kevin some crackers back, but he wouldn't eat them. I can remember the chair he sat in all day {I might say his jump-in-the-box chair} because every time you moved he jumped up and ran over to the bed and asked you if you were alright. He would get a wet rag, and wipe your forehead. I also remember the chair I sat in. It was a bit softer than the one Kevin was sitting in. I remember sitting there thanking God, you and Kevin for letting me stay in the delivery room with you because I missed that with you, and I felt like God had given me a chance to be there when you had your child. It helped relieve some of the emptiness I had felt all those years for missing the first 22 months of your life. Somehow that made up for some of the feelings I had carried around with me all those years. I did, and still do, miss that part of your life just as you miss that part of Ellie's life. Your friends came pouring in about 1:00, and I would go out in the waiting room and keep them posted on your progress. Thank God they kept your daddy entertained or he would have had a nervous breakdown or smoked himself to death. I remember after you had him they all got to come in the room and was passing him around like a sack of potatoes, and I thought to myself they shouldn't all have come in here at one time. I had never heard of that before. Now that I think about it they did that back in the old days. When a woman would have a baby at home all the women would be by her side and all the men would sit out on the front porch and wait.

I will never forget what I wore that day and every one of Joshua's birthday's since. I even wore it today even though I didn't get to see him till tonight. I will never part with my gold and black jacket and will wear it on Joshua's birthday as long as I live.

I remember his birth just like it was yesterday. I didn't think his little {or I might say big} was ever going to come out, and when it finally did I thought he was the prettiest thing I had seen since we saw you for the first time. My heart was pounding so hard until he made that first sound. I remember the nurse telling me I could come closer to him. I bent down and said,"Little Leroy it's your grandmamma {that is what I was going to call him and called him that while you were carrying him, but that changed after he got here} and he open one eye and looked straight at me and melted my heart right there and then and still does to this day. I love hearing him say I lub you tooooo. MeeMee will always love you, Joshua; you are very special to me and Dee Dee because you are our first grandchild. Now we have two to love. We love you too,, Ellie, and I hope someday I will hear you say I lub you toooooooo. I love you and Kevin too for giving us two special grandchildren.

Love You
Mama

Reminiscing

Throughout the last year, we have lost a lot of pet friends. Today while I was scanning the pictures of Josh's birth, I found several pages of the pets who have left us and I wanted to share some of the sweet memories I have of them as well as a few of when we got Bear.

I still find my heart missing Punch on a regular basis. Last night I dreamed of her. She and I were on an adventure involving a float of some sort and a river or a ride. She was swimming and I grabbed her up and put her on the float. Then we were climbing out of the water and I had her in some sort of pouch on my chest -- like a baby. I so miss my Punch! These were taken of her when she was five out in our yard. They have always been my favorites.

And sweet Duke. He was such a mild mannered cat, allowing us to do funny (cruel??) things to him like dressing him up in a witch's hat for Halloween. Excuse the scrapbooking -- it was a LONG time ago. I still find myself gasping when I pull into the yard and see his sister, Duchess, out in the yard because I think it's him. I miss him a lot too.

And, speaking of mild mannered -- you can tell from these pictures that Sunshine was the epitome of mild. She was Josh's horse and his pillow -- but more importantly, our friend. I miss that sweet old girl!!

And these are from the day we got Bear -- isn't he TINY? Considering he's now a 110 pound ginormous dog, I can't believe he was every this little. He's just a big ole' luv bug though!

Happy 12th Birthday Josh

Twelve years ago I was in the hospital giving birth to Joshua. I went in at 6 a.m. and was hooked up to pitocin to induce at 7 a.m. I remember being so scared because I didn't have a clue what to expect and HOLY COW was I right. I suppose, looking back, that I just wasn't quite as prepared for how bad the contractions would be with the pitocin. While I was hitting the highest you can hit on the contraction monitor, I wasn't able to get an epidural because my contractions were being "productive". Leave it to me to have unproductive pain. It was a long day of contractions until I begged and pleaded to get an epidural. As I remember I got it about 1 p.m. By that time my mom and dad had arrived and were ready to become grandparents.

Unfortunately, I was unable to produce that grandchild in a timely fashion. My dad sat out in the waiting room telling my friends, "If she would quit talking she could have that baby." Yeah, right.

Finally after having been dilated to a 10 for quite a while and doing a whole lot of pushing, I developed a fever. At this point (around 5:30 p.m.) they called my OB who came in and asked them why they let me push so very long. I was hooked up to an IV of antibiotics. She got out the "vacuum cleaner" and about 12 minutes later at 5:42 p.m., Joshua made his debut into the world. Kevin was able to cut the cord and got blood squirt all over his shirt (why didn't he have "the garb" on??). Josh weighed in at 7 pounds, 15 1/2 ounces. He had a huge head (which was the delivery problem) that came out pointed.

I remember thinking he was the most beautiful baby I had ever seen!!!

When we brought him home, we were concerned about how the four cats we had would respond to him. They were fine with him and very curious when he was sleeping. When he was awake, however, they gave him wide berth. Here are some sweet pictures of my dear Punch smelling of him the day we brought him home.

I used this cartoon when I scrapped this cat page. Who knew at that time just how very true it would be??

And, here is sweet Duke propped up on the side of Josh's bassinet peeking at this new "hooman" that we had brought home.

Now, here we are twelve years later. Looking back at these photos, it seems like another lifetime ago. But to think my baby is twelve seems unreal. He spent the night last night with his friend Mickey whose birthday is a day before his. I talked to Mickey's mom this morning (and Josh who will not remember the conversation he was so "out"). Apparently, many of them stayed up all night long. Josh apparently got a spray bottle and sprayed people's hair while they were asleep -- great! Of course, I'm sure he wasn't the only prankster -- there were 20 boys there. This morning Maggie called back and told me she "got him back" by painting his toenails pink while he slept! HA!!! She's supposed to take a picture of it so I'll post it when I can.

We have plans for his birthday, but I'm thinking we might have to postpone them due to his late night partying last night. He also has a basketball game tonight, so.... a lot going on.

I love you with all my heart Josh -- no matter how mad we can get at each other, I want you to always know that there is nothing you can do that will make me love you less. You were the baby who introduced me to parenting. I know I haven't done it all right -- or, honestly, even a lot of it. But you have remained a willing pupil at my attempts to learn. Know that it is all done in love. One day (as my mom said), you will understand when you have kids of your own.

Daddy and I love you so very much and hope today is a wonderful day for you!!

Ellie Update

Haven't posted more than a few random things about either Ellie or Josh as a of late and I want to make sure I capture the things they were doing when they were __ (fill in whatever the age).

Ellie's speech is beginning to improve ... a little. Not enough for me to be excited about. I sent an email request to the local college's speech program but have not heard back. I need to follow up with a phone call. We get insurance again on December 1 and at that time we are going to schedule a hearing consult to rule that out. Clear as a bell the other night she stood up in her crib and yelled across the hall, "MOMMY". That was a new thing. She is calling me mommy and Kevin daddy and she says it very frequently now. Tonight, while we were celebrating Kevin's birthday (early), we tried to teach her the Happy Birthday song and she was able to say "Happy" and "Daddy". Birthday was just mushy, but she tried. She says things very randomly, and as her mom I know what she's saying but no one else would. She doesn't really seem to want to call Josh "Bubba" but instead tries to say "Joshua" with pretty good successs. I've been trying to work on "up" "down" and "open" quite a bit lately and while I know what she's trying t communicate, it's not coming through well. She has learned and uses the word "OP!!" frequently, meaning "Stop!". It's been quite an interesting experience and I can't wait to get the results from a hearing test. Then we can move forward in attempting to get a referral to the speech therapist. I know it's early, but I say the earlier the better. There is no sense in her being any further behind just because of her age.

She continues to test her bounds on a daily basis and has gotten really good at ignoring us when she wants to and doing what she wants. She is certainly a strong willed little girl. What served her well during her time in the orphanage is not serving her well now. She can take a room apart in seconds just by picking up and dropping. She's taken to dropping things quite loudly or throwing them now -- doesn't matter what it is. I'm finding she has to be physically removed from a situation a lot because she just won't leave if you say no. She has a predication to screaming at the top of her lungs as if were were killing her when we try to put clothes on her. What's up with that???? You never know if it's going to be a fight or just fun and giggles when you put her clothes on. Same with the carseat. She HATES being put in it -- and not for the reason you might think. She wants to get in the front seat and play with all the buttons and "drive". I've tried explaining early on in the process that we are leaving, where we are going and that she is going to need to get in her car seat and she will not be able to drive this time. Still no good. So, if you see us out and it sounds like we are killing her we are not; we are simply strapping her into her carseat.

She continues to love the cats and dog and will go to the door with me and "call" them by making kissy noises and saying, "Cat". If she thinks they want to go out, she comes to get me so I will let them out.

She loves to watch "Dora", "Barney", "Elmo" and her Bible series DVDs. She loves to dance along with anyone who is playing music or singing.

After thinking we might be ready to take on some potty action, we have decided it isn't time for her yet. She is very interested in pushing the music buttons on the seat and taking it apart and running through the house with it, but not ready yet for potty action.

She was doing very well with her night time and nap time rituals until lately. We had broken the routine of someone sitting in the room with her and she was sleeping through the night with no wake-ups. I'm not sure if her cold/allergy-like symptoms are the cause but she has started waking up screaming a few times in the middle of the night again -- much like night terrors, honestly. After a period of time, she'll settle down and take her bottle and go back to sleep. Today at nap time, she only slept for 30 minutes before waking up screaming. All very odd and hopefully will pass quickly. She loves her "Mona Monkey" (a build a bear creation) that sleeps in the bed with her. We kiss Mona every night and have Mona rub Ellie's face for a little while. It's funny that she never wants Mona outside of the crib.

She continues to astound us in the gross motor skills department. She loves to color (herself, the furniture, paper) and write. She has begun to play with the Little People sets we have for her. She climbs constantly -- up on chairs, onto tables, into any nook or cranny she can find. She is going to certainly be a gymnast!! She also loves to help clean-up anything (good thing, considering ...). Today she helped me unload the dishwasher, stood on a chair to help me "wash" the dishes (we made a bigger mess than we washed dishes, but a girl has to learn sometime!!), and helped me pick up her Little People toys when she accidentally dumped them all on the floor.

We've started making a big deal out of praying at dinner to teach her. She will close her eyes for just a wee bit. Usually she has them opened and is eating before we are done, but as soon as someone says "Amen", she starts to clap. It's sweet! She's fascinated with watching the process at this point.

She is still fascinated with "shoos" (shoes) of all kinds. Her (multiple) pairs of shoes are kept in a drawer low enough for her to reach and she has begun to enjoy looking through them, picking out a pair and wanting me to put them on. Of course, it doesn't matter if they match what she is wearing (or even each other for that matter), she just likes them on her feet.

She has definitely hit a recent growth spurt in her height as the 6 and 9 month sleepers that were fitting her just a few weeks ago will no longer fit her length. She is finally comfortably in 12 month clothes and I suspect she will hit 18 months pretty soon. I think she might eventually end up pretty much on target for her age.

That's pretty much it for Ellie's update -- we'll call it her 20 month update as she will be 20 months in about a week and a half. Look forward to a Joshua update in the next little bit as he will soon be celebrating his 12 year old birthday!!

Let's Say Thanks

One of the fun things I enjoy doing every year is to send a thank you card through Xerox's "Let's Say Thanks" holiday promotion. You visit their site, choose a postcard you like, enter your first name and city and a message and they will print the postcard and send it to a serviceman or woman.

Last year, I remember sending a "Muscle Car" post card. This year, I sent this one because I thought I'd get a kick out of it if I were to get it! It was drawn by 10 year-old Brianna in Jacksonville, NC. I think I enjoy looking at the pictures the kids drew more than anything.

Go there, pick your own, send your appreciation -- it takes only SECONDS and imagine the thrill these folks get from getting these cards. Send one from each person in your house. Kindness ---> pass it on.

FREE PHOTO CHRISTMAS CARDS

I think I've emailed a lot of you about this deal, but I just got my FREE (yes, absolutely free) Christmas cards delivered by FedEx today and I LOVE LOVE LOVE them!!!

Click this link and you will go to a website called Freebies 4 Mom. You'll see the link to click. You can download software and design your own photo Christmas cards (4x8) and use the promo code: freebies4mom-1109 when you check out and you will get 50 cards, envelopes and shipping for free. I ordered mine Tuesday, November 17 and got them TODAY (two days, people -- really???). They are cute, cute too. I think I like them more because they are free.

The deal ONLY RUNS THROUGH NOVEMBER 30 (it has changed several times between November 21 and November 30, so go ahead and get it in as soon as possible) so GET ON THE BALL and get yours done. We chose to forego a holiday dress theme this year and just went with pictures I liked of the two of them. I was able to squeeze 5 pix on without it looking too gaudy. (My back is hurting now or I'd go downstairs and scan one for you to see). I figure if people what to see holiday pictures of them -- check the blog. *smile*

An added bonus: if you are new to SeeHear.com (a Fuji company), you'll get 100 free prints when you sign up so you can use those for another order. Double bonus!!

I'll warn you that sometimes the site is really busy and you might not get it to load. Just wait a bit and try back later.

Thankful: November 17, 18 and 19th!!

Ok, so I've not felt very thankful the last few days because I've felt so funky. Just when I get my energy back and I'm ready to tear the house down -- wait, Ellie's already done that, I meant: put the house back together -- I am felled with a staggering loss of energy, headache and often a coughing spell. My back is also hurting terribly. SO... there, I'm a whiner and I'm allowed to because I don't feel well.

BUT.... even in my really stinky bad mood, I've tried to think about things that I am thankful for that I might miss because they just aren't "big enough" -- the little things that I occasionally stop and say, "Thank you God for ...." So, here's just a short list of things I am thankful for and that will comprise my Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday thankful post.

• Heat and air -- after having been in K'stan, this is such a blessing and we just don't appreciate it enough. Try to remember that when you complain about the bill -- it could be worse, you could not have it at all.
• Electricity - along with the heat and air, I am SO glad that electricity was invented to power all the things that make our lives more convenient. Yes, I'm spoiled and I'm certainly sure of it, but I am thankful for electricity.
• The staff and volunteers at my church - I am usually remiss about thanking the folks that make our church run as well as it does. I know that the amount and level of commitment each of these people put forth is incredible and they are either a) overlooked or b) criticized. I want them, and their spouses, to know how very, very much I appreciate all they d0. Clap, clap, clap!!!
• Ice - I like my drinks to have ice. Again, in K'stan, there was no ice to be found (well, other than at the Metro) and I was beside myself. It was hot and I wanted some ice.
• The sun and the moon -- I love pretty much everything God created, but I am fascinated by the sun and all its functions and the moon and its function. I'm happy they are there. I am currently re-reading the Left Behind Series and there will come a day, foretold in Revelation, when the moon will turn to blood, followed by a time when the moon and the sun loose 1/3 of their power. I can't imagine what those days will be like.
• Flannel sheets - I love, love, love flannel sheets -- even in the summer (unless it's really hot). There is nothing more comfy than flannel sheets.
• Cameras - Imagine life without cameras???? All my memories are caught with a camera. I am able to flip by through some of the most precious moments of my life and see them in details that I might have missed during the actual event.
• Clean water - We are so fortunate to live in a country where the vast majority of our tap water is drinkable. So many others are no so fortunate.
• Books and bookstores - I love the smell of walking into a bookstore. I hope heaven has a bookstore. *smile* I have piles of books sitting everywhere that I want to read. I try to read a wee bit each day, capturing time in sparse snatches whenever I can. I am so appreciative of books that I cannot read a book with the dustcover on it, cannot bend pages and don't want anyone to write in a book in my presence (other than workbooks or my Bible and then it's ok).

So, there is a spattering of things I am thankful for. I'll try to continue hitting the highlights as the month goes on, but from here on out it gets crazy with Josh spending the night at his friend's tomorrow night for his friend's birthday; followed by Josh's birthday on Saturday, a basketball game; taking his friends out to eat and bringing them home for intense movie and game time and spending the night; Kevin's birthday on Sunday; catch up on work; create a football memory book for the team and get it ordered; kids being out of school after Tuesday, clean the house really well for Thanksgiving and begin thinking about the menu for Thanksgiving for 10 -- small compared to the last family Thankgiving which was 18!!; and hopefully, heading out on Black Friday with "the girls" to scout out any deals. And then.... duh, duh, duh -- decorating for Christmas. Anyone tired but me?? *smile*

Take time to be thankful -- even if you are in a funky mood.

Josh-isms

My friend Susan said I had to post this so I could remember it in years to come (she knows the memory malady I suffer from) and rub it in to Josh's wife and kids.

So, here goes: tonight we were on our way to take Josh's friend Braiden home. He and Ellie were in the back seat just minding their business. Josh was doing homework in the front and I was (surprise) talking on the phone to my mom.

Out of the blue, Josh yells to Ellie to, "STOP IT, ELLIE" and jerks around in his seat. I put the phone down and ask what she was doing to him and he replies .... "She is breathing too loud." UGH. She's congested, PUH LEASE!!! Now, my mom was on the phone and heard the reaming I gave him (and promptly told me I should talk nicer to him *smile*). Braiden even commented, "What do you want her to do?" Josh said, "STOP". Braiden's reponse was classic, "Breathing??"

Alas. He has lost computer time for an undetermined amount of time for his continued hateful attitude toward others. . I hear it will only get worse. We need to have some serious conversations about the fruits of the spirit. Of course, I will have to pluck the plank out of my eye so I can see the thorn in his. Lord, either prop me up with 2x4s or forgive me if I just give up now.

$135 away from Pie!!

STOKED!!! Just when I was telling Kevin tonight that we probably wouldn't make our $500 goal for the kids and that we'd need to start earlier next year, I should have known to put more faith in God. I just checked John's blog where he is keeping the tallies on the Christmas Challenge for the kids in Central Asia and my "pie" total is up to $265. I have $100 from various others that I have collected that is ready to donate the first part of next week (I'm waiting until the last minute to get in all the funds from others who are giving it to me over the weekend), so.... I'm SERIOUSLY thinking that there are going to be some PIES FLYING at Thanksgiving.

John has extended the deadline because he wanted folks to be able to get their pies in the face at Thanksgiving -- well, that works well for me because my sweet nieces will be here and I know that they would LOVE to help Josh with the pie in the face project -- especially since their family was one of the contributors !!!

Stay tuned Constant Readers: there will be photos.

I cannot express my gratitude to all who have given. Many I know, others I don't. You know, God knows, and the [hopefully 100] children will know and that is really all that matters. Blessings and to God be the glory!! Oh, and today's total indicates 1026 children have been funded for Christmas this year. People -- that's serious. Thank God when you pray!!!

If you want to see a video of Jengish, the first person to get a pie in the face, there is a really fun video here. Jengish lives in Kyrgyzstan and the video is TRUE Kygyzstan; it took me right back. The "pie" is actually a tort. I'm not sure they have pies there. They do have some really fancy cakes, however. Sugar is not the staple there that it is here. Probably not a bad thing. Anyway, I'm thinking if I have a video it won't be quite so fancy, but his did set the bar high.

Thankful: November 17

Always a day behind, I'm now posting yesterday's thankful post.

I am thankful that I have a husband to take care of me when I am sick. I started feeling yucky on Friday and it has continued to progress until yesterday I was so sick that I literally could not get out of the bed. I think, it's probably pneumonia again. I get it every so often. Fever, headache, cough, congestion in my chest, extreme fatigue -- the works. Fortunately, my doctor is a high school friend and Kevin called and got some sample meds for me. He met her hubby last night and picked them up for me. I'd like to say I'm 100% better today, but not so much. In fact, I see a nap in my very near future.

But, I am so thankful that Kevin took it upon himself to call his office (even with a new job) and say that his wife was too sick and he couldn't leave and asked if he could review files and write reports from home so that I could sleep and someone would be able to watch Ellie. He also took care of giving me medicine and cooking food for all of us so that I could stay in the bed the whole day. I honestly don't know what I would have done without him yesterday.

He is such a good husband.