She's here...

My first neice, Eden Michal, was born yesterday morning. I have 4 bruisin' lil' nephews, so it was about time another little girl made it into the family. She'll be spoiled with lots of bows, jewels, dresses, etc. Olivia and Jeremiah, the proud mama and daddy, made we wait for the name, too. They, along with Traci, are teaching me great amounts of patience. They actually changed the name once they got to the hospital. It was a rough delivery for Olivia, but she's recovering and resting peacefully at the the hospital. I haven't seen pictures of Eden yet, but my mom says she has dark curly hair on the back of her head, and lighter hair on the top of her head...mom says she looks like she has hi-lights. So...sweet little girl, welcome to this crazy world. We love you so much already! ***Just got some sweet pics of the happy family***
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Gross

My sweet hubby took the kids and I out to eat for lunch the other day. Our waitress came up to the table--wet hair, sloppy demeanor. The entire time she was getting our drink orders I stared at this long, strangly hair sticking to the front of her shirt. All I could think was that I really didn't want that hair in my water or on my salad. I figured once she went back to the kitchen to get our drinks another server would be nice enough to get that hair off of her shirt....But, no. She comes waltzing back to the table with our drinks....and that nasty, yucky, gross, wet strand of hair was still hanging off of her shirt. I couldn't handle it any more. I reached out, grabbed the hair, and threw it on the floor. I said, "I'm sorry. You had a hair on your shirt. I thought you'd want it off." She acted mad, offended, angry. She brought my salad out last--I'm sure that was because she was busy spitting in it and placing random hairs throughout the lettuce leafs. Rick was convinced we were having a "Seinfeld" moment, and I had to agree. So...my question is, what would you have done?

3:30

I was fast asleep, dreaming of getting a full night's rest with no interruption. The kids were all nestled in their beds with visions of cocoa puffs dancing in their heads--apparently. At 3:30 in the a.m. Baylor tapped me on the shoulder. I cracked open my eyes to see who could be interrupting my perfectly wonderful night of sleep. Baylor stood there with a box of Cocoa Puffs. She was popping them into her mouth one at a time. When I asked what she was doing she sweetly said, "I'm saving the world one bite at a time." I laughed myself back to sleep. I have no idea how long she was up eating cereal, or how much she ate. I allowed my 3 year old who was "saving the world" free roam of the house in order to get back to that peaceful rest.

Life

Life is never dull around our household. I guess it'd be too much for me to ask to have healthy kids for say....1 month in a row. We've transitioned nicely from whooping cough to strep throat....all 4 kids. Our doctor's office staff said they're going to start leaving our file on the counter--since we're in there every week.
I'm learning to "love" cleaning up vomit in the middle of the night....learning to not get completely grossed out when I step in a pile of vomit in the dark of night. You know the drill, girls. As disgusting as it is, I've sure had some sweet moments with my children during their illnesses.
One of my dearest childhood friends, Heather Rudy Erickson, lost her 29 year old brother to leukemia this week...what in the world am I complaining about??? I can most definitely deal with strep throat.
Tomorrow is Father's Day. I have Rick's whole family coming over for lunch. Rick was supposed to come home tonight from a trip, but his company had other plans and are keeping him until tomorrow night. So much for the surprise lunch, cake, gifts. Am I complaining again??
On a positive note, I found the greatest company. I bought several items from them, and can't wait to get more. They will custom print verses, sayings, children's names, anything.....you have to see it, it's too hard to explain. http://www.ezwordart.com/ And for my friends' with children...I found a miracle product. It's called Red Erase. You can buy it at Linen's and Things or online at http://www.evergreenlabs.com/ If you get red kool-aid, or anything red on your clothes, and spray this stuff on it takes it out. I haven't found any other products that work this well. There's my 2 cents, spend it wisely.

My little "pony-girl"

Since my beautiful little Piper was 2, she's been telling us she wanted to be a "pony-girl." Not a cowgirl, a ponygirl. She wants to ride every horse, at every fair, carnival, party...that she comes across. We finally let her start taking lessons. Her instuctor's name is Abby--the sweetest 15 year old I've come across in years. Piper's horses name is POKEY. And believe me, when you place your precious 4 year old daughter over to a horse for the first time, you want that horse to be Pokey. She absolutely loves every minute of her lessons. I've tried convincing her just how much fun gymnastics, tennis, swimming, etc. could be, but without a doubt her passion is horses.

$140

$140 used to go a LONG way. A new outfit, purse, shoes, night out on the town, groceries (do you like how I prioritize??)....well now $140 fills up our beloved Brutis' gas tank. $140!!!! Gas is nearly $4 here. When we got married, just over 8 years ago, gas was still under $2 and people were freaking out that it may reach $2. Who wouldn't kill for $2 gas right about now? We heard on the news that it may go as high as $6 in the next year, or so. I may just have to buy a Prius (hybrid car) and strap the kids to the top....that couldn't be any more wrong than charging people $4-$6 for a gallon of gas.

Mother's Day

I always wondered why my mother spent half of mother's day in tears? Wasn't she happy that she had the 4 GREATEST (ha ha) kids in the world??? Why in the world was she sad when little urchins were bringing her breakfast in bed, giving her macaroni noodle necklaces, and handmade fingerprint cards? I just didn't get it....until this year.

Mother's Day, for me, started like any normal Sunday...in a rush to get kids dressed, food in mouths, stinky teeth brused, Bibles in car, and to church no less than 10 minutes late. As I settled into my seat, late, I began to think about how lonely my life would be without my four little ones. I would be lonely not dressing, feeding, loving, caring for them. Just thinking about them, the tears started welling up....then the preaching began.

"Do you pray for your children, mothers??" That's how the sermon started. Well, of course, I thought. I pray for my children. The preacher continued. "Do you pray for them to find their purpose in life? Do you pray for them to be content...just the way that God made them? Do you pray for them to find the importance of integrity?....to acquire wisdom?...to be protected against the world?".....

My tears of pure shame were falling at this point in time. Yes, I pray for my children, but definitey not nearly as much, and not nearly as fervently as I should. The devil is waiting for our children. Preying upon them. A sense of guilt fell upon me....and it was at that moment that I began to understand why mother's cry on mother's day. We have been given an immense responsibility. To raise Godly children in a society of complete immorality. So if anything, friends, I encourage you to pray diligently for your children, grandchildren, neices, nephews, friend's children. They need to be bathed in prayer every single day....every single day!!

My kids bring great joy to my heart. I received 2 sets of paper flowers this year for mother's day, 4 hand-print cards (priceless) and LOTS and LOTS of hugs and kisses. I hope each of you had a very special mother's day, too.