Friday, May 2, 2008

Life is precious and fragile

I have been quiet the last few days because we had a tragedy in the family on Wed.  Around 3:30 PM I got one of those calls that you dread.  It was the call where the one calling is frantic and you brace yourself because you know bad news is coming.  The one calling was my mil.  She told me to listen carefully that she didn't have time to repeat herself.  Her younger brother and his 6 year old daughter had just been in a terrible car accident.  She was still getting details herself, but they did not know the condition of either her brother or her little niece, but that it did not look good.  My mil said she needed me to get the word out to all that I knew would pray asap.  My mil just happened to be in the town where it happened with her mother which is about 1 1/2 hours away.  I hung up and tried to first text a msg. to as many close family and friends that I knew would pray immediately.  It was so hard to concentrate on getting the message typed out and to everyone.  Then I sent out a prayer email to several that I knew she would want to be informed.  My kids could tell something was up and I asked them to quickly pray with me that these two would be ok.  I remained calm for their sake.  Right then my mil called back and said that the little girl had NOT survived and that her brother was being care flighted to a local hospital in our area.  No one knew how badly he was hurt.  I was in charge of getting the word to everyone.  I had to tell dh while he was in a mtg. celebrating his best month at his new job.  My heart was  breaking at the thought of this mom hearing the news in the next few minutes that her only child was gone and that her husband was being taken to the hospital in an unknown condition.  Long story short, the uncle has stabilized.  He had severe internal injuries, and has to have his knees and hip replaced. He is 54.  We had to talk about what had happened to our kids.  Our 4 year old didn't really understand, but our 7 year old did.  They were fairly close to this young girl, playing with her at all the family get togethers.  I tried to death not sound too scary or unknown and answered all of his questions, no matter how specific they were (with discretion, of course).  
Of course, I am comforted to know this little one is with Jesus.  She isn't unhappy or suffering.  The dad does not know about his daughter dying yet.  They couldn't tell him until he stabilized and he is in and out of consciousness.  They have been instructed to wait until his last surgery today and when he gets his breathing tube out.  The family believes he already knows.  He has asked about her every chance he gets and the family just says how much they love him.  I read a good article on death.  Check it out if you get the chance.  I know I've hugged my little ones a lot more lately.  I also don't take safety guidelines for granted either.  Neither were wearing seat belts and the 6 year old was in the front seat.  It is so easy to get too comfortable with letting safety slide just this one time....  Pray for the family as they continue to walk thru this tough time.  
Thank You!

Wednesday, April 30, 2008

His Bann-uh - Over Me is Wuv!

Check out 5 minutes for mom for more Wordless Wednesday.

check out this great give away

I love this blog.  She has a great give away going on too.

Tuesday, April 22, 2008

Things I can't do anymore since becoming a MOM

1. Watch the local news. Dh is with me on this one. Every child on that news program looks like one of my kids, somehow. I can get literally ill when I hear of a parent hurting an innocent little child. 2. Watch any type of "Save the Children" kind of infomercial. I almost had a breakdown the other day when "American Idol Gives Back" was on. I was so overwhelmed at how much suffering is in this world, and I felt so unable to help. I was especially moved (upset) when Annie Lenox went to an African family where only the children were still alive. The 15 year old brother was trying to take care of his younger brothers, but he looked like a baby, himself. The parents had died of HIV. The littlest one was barely 3 years old. It was a good reality check, though on how easy my own life is. 3. Watch any type of wild animal shows. I used to watch Animal Planet all the time. It was one of my favorite channels. Now I can't stand to see the animals hunt and kill for food. Secretly, I used to get a kick out of it. Now, it just really bothers me to see any type of suffering even if it is a part of the circle of life. Am I the only one on this??? 4. I don't judge other mothers like I did BEFORE having kids. Isn't it funny that I knew everything about parenting before I even had kids???? HA! I love it when I get criticism from people who have never actually parented themselves. I don't see discipline as black and white as I used to. I don't know why it becomes so blurry when it is your own kid. I mean, it REALLY is adorable when my 22 mo. old shouts "NO MOMMY" to me....isn't it???? 5. I don't enjoy McDonalds anymore. I used to love it. Now, it just tastes like chemicals to me. Same goes for most "kiddie" type foods i.e., goldfish, candy, sodas, french fries, etc.. 6. Go to bed early. I have to have kid-free unwind time. That means if the kids went to bed at 8:30, I need to have about 2 hours of no pressure time to unwind. 7. Get sick. Moms can't get sick. I had this realization the other day when my 4 year old was sick. He needed me to hold him and give him special attention. The world keeps right on going even if mom gets sick. There is no such thing as laying in bed all day without any interruptions. At least, I've never experienced it. That is all for now. Please let me know I am not entirely CRAZY!

Monday, April 14, 2008

Small playroom or what???

In our home, Dh and I don't believe in "spoiling" the children. In my day, we never had such a thing as a "play room." A pile of dirt and an old tractor tire for a fort was all I needed to be completely happy. So, we have tried to pass on this "Simplistic" way of life to our own kids. Hence, the fun in the closet..... ENJOY!

Wednesday, April 9, 2008

Wordless Wednesday....(kind of)

Just so you know....Our family has "Gone Green."
For More WW go to 5 Minutes For Mom

Tuesday, April 8, 2008

7 Things Meme

Elaine over at THE MISS ELAINE-OUS LIFE tagged me to write out 7 things about myself. It has been a long time since I blogged last, so this will be a good re-entry.
Here are the rules:

The Rules:
1. Link your tagger and list these rules on your blog.
2. Share 7 facts about yourself on your blog, some random, some weird.
3. Tag 7 people at the end of your post by leaving their names as well as links to their blogs.
4. Let them know they are tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.
Here we go:

1. My favorite thing to say to hubby, sister, etc. is "Know anything new?" Translated this means, "Have any juicy information from the outside world?" DH hates it when I ask him this. This all started when I was in high school. My sister and I started asking each other if we "knew anything that our current crushes might have said about us." For instance, she would come home from school and I would say, "I'll tell you something Joe Blow (her current crush) said about you today in Algebra, if you know something that Hunk "My then crush" said about me in band. What we found out years later is that we both made up everything we said just to get information. The whole game was based on lies. The sad thing is I had her convinced this boy liked her enough that she asked him to the Sadie Hawkins dance. He said no, and she never forgave me for the humiliation she endured.
2. I have a very keen sense of smell. It is almost freakish. It is almost a curse rather than a blessing, depending on who I am with. I can tell if dhzz washed my kiddos hair even without putting my nose on their head. Dh sometimes likes to take shortcuts when bathing our children. He doesn't get away with it much.

3. I like to eat things most people don't, like the dark meat on turkey (with skin), dark chocolate, fatty pieces of meat, tomato juice, dark grainy bread. In school I was the only white milk order, while everyone else had chocolate.

4. I just cut off most of my hair. I've had long hair for 3 years, so this was a big deal. Dh actually loves me in shorter hair than long. Here is a picture


5.  I have to have my feet neatly tucked into covers.  Btw, dh loves his feet outside of covers.  Conflict has occasionally occurred.  

6.  I just turned 32.  I feel young and hip until I go to the mall and wonder why teenagers are even allowed out of the house after 5 pm.  There should be a mall JUST for teens.

7.  I am pretty frugal.  I just bought 4 new bath towels from Target, which meant to make room for them, I had to throw 4 of our old towels away.  We have had these towels for 10 years.  I actually was sad to put those towels in the smelly trash.  I tried to think of a good reason to hang onto them, but I didn't need any more cleaning rags.  It is hard for me to spend money on something for myself.  I love the "hunt" of a great deal.  
>I tag:


The Durham's
Gwen
nestingplace
Rocks in my dryer
Jennifer



and YOU!