VBS Is Taking Over My Life....

Let's bring you up to date...VBS is only a week away. There's still a lot to do for VBS. My husband is very busy with VBS. People are at our house every day to help him get ready for VBS. I have been making extra lunches for the people here to help for VBS. There's cut-out dinosaurs and a cave in my yard for VBS...and that's not the last of the props being made. I made the flyers to advertise for VBS. I mailed the flyers to last years VBS attendees. I'm organizing all the snacks being made for VBS. I still need to update and print the VBS parental permission forms. I still need to update and print all the registration paperwork. OH MAN, what am I doing enjoying some leisurely computer time when VBS is just a week away! Have I mentioned that VBS has taken over our home??? Are you tired of me referring to "VBS" yet??? VBS is always an exciting week around here, but I'd be lying if I said I'm sad when it's behind us. I genuinely enjoy it, and I enjoy watching the kids get in to it, and hearing about kids accepting the Lord. That's why we have VBS...but I know that as soon as it's over we get to head to Erie for some R&R. We get to let my parents take over for a couple weeks with raising our kids. Okay, we don't let them completely take over, but it's a dream I have...uhm...sometimes. :)

Here are some recent pictures of Joel. I guess this one below will need some explaining...especially to my mother who is probably saying "why are they dressing up my baby?" All I can say is that this is what happens when I leave Dave alone with the kids.

Here is my happy boy. He is smiling lots and lots these days, and cooing.

After his baths he loves to be snuggled up in his towel.

Joel in his baseball outfit from Uncle Ed & Aunt Shelly.

Nothing Much...

Wow, I almost hesitate to type this, but it's actually farely peaceful and quiet around here at the moment. I'm sitting at the computer typing out full sentences, and that in itself is rare these days.

Julie is outside playing with a kid from church. Alayna is in the room with me, but playing contentedly by herself....hold on, she just took my Bible in to the bathroom, I should probably see why....okay, nothing major, all is safe & sound. I do have a third child...let's see, where did I put him??? Oh, yea, he's sleeping, and has been for the past couple of hours. He's due to wake up any moment, but so far the quiet continues.

Yesterday, Dave & Julie spent most of the afternoon with some friends of ours. Dave is busy planning our upcoming VBS, and he met with one of the guys yesterday that helps him with the skits, etc. Julie played with their daughter, and had a wonderful time.

Our VBS is a "dinosaur" theme...with a safari flare. I guess that's a good way to describe it. We are using material from "Answers in Genesis", by Ken Ham. All I can say is that at this moment props are being painted to construct a dinosaur in our front yard. VBS is held in our yard each year, due to lack of space at our church. Last year a western town took up our front lawn, this year a dinosaur, an archaeological digging pit, an obstacle course, and whatever else my husband decides to build will be taking it's place. I am completely staying out of it this year, for obvious reasons...and for the fact that my brain just doesn't think that "big." When Dave mentioned having a digging pit for the kids to dig up fossils, and so on, I mentioned getting a kiddy pool, filling it with sand, and letting them dig in there. WHAT WAS I THINKING???? Apparently that is not "grand" enough. Instead he will be hauling in 3 yards of dirt or mulch or sand or some kind of mess, and making a much bigger digging area. I've learned to just nod and smile. Isn't that what Pastor's wives are supposed to do anyway? Nod & smile, just nod & smile, Kristen.

Okay, enough about that. Have I mentioned that parenting 3 children is a lot of work? I'm enjoying it, don't get me wrong...who doesn't love sleep deprivation, spit up, diapers x2 (Alayna hasn't mastered the potty training yet), standing up to eat a luke-warm meal, while trying to keep the baby's pacifier in his mouth with the other hand???? Really, doesn't it sound glamorous? Well, overall, it's wonderful.

The peace & quiet is ending. Joel is awake, and Alayna is now covering the office floor in scrap paper. Guess I should stop ignoring my children and get back to work. Duty calls...

Keeping You Informed...

Does the look on this child's face read "GUILTY," or what??? And guilty she was! The other day I was so pleased at the length of nap Alayna seemed to be taking. She has been fairly miserable lately, and I am reminded that she is quickly approaching the age of two. So, naps are crucial. After thinking that she had napped 2 1/2 hours, and realizing that if she slept much longer she'd have a hard time going to bed that night, I decided to wake her. When I went in to the room she shares with "Gigi" (her name for Julie), I discovered quite a mess...to say the least. Julie has a bag of "play" make-up...and by play, I mean VERY REAL make-up that is made to look cute for little girls...it's not the plastic lipstick stuff I had as a kid. Anyway, I did not realize when I put Alayna in for her nap that the make-up was out and on top of the dresser near her crib, well within her reach. Needless to say, I needed some assistance from Dave, since it seems like when one of my kids needs some immediate attention, the baby decides to scream at the same time. It may not be too visible in this picture, but the make-up was all over her sheets, her clothes, fingers, face, etc. She was placed right in the tub, her clothes and sheets were put in the wash, and since the make-up was obviously ruined, was thrown in the trash. Have I ever mentioned that life is never dull around here?

Sunday, Dave's sister, Shelly, and her family came to visit us. Shelly, Ed and their two younger boys stayed the night at our home, since they live over 3 hours from us. We had a great time, and Julie thought it was a lot of fun to have her cousins to play with. This is Julie, with Christopher (on the top bed), and Jeremy. They were waiting for Uncle Dave (a.k.a., Julie's daddy) to read their bedtime story.

Our baby boy is now one month old! The time is already going by so fast. He had his one month check-up on Monday and now weighs 9lbs. 5oz., and is 21 1/2" long. He is even starting to smile a little bit, and I don't mean the gassy smiles either, for all you skeptics. :)

Julie & Joel sharing a moment. He loves the attention of his oldest sister. She's not quite as rough as Alayna, who is known to sit a little too close to his head sometimes.

Julie's Graduation

A week ago my brother and dad came up to get my mom & grandma, who had spent the week helping us. Here's a picture of Uncle Doug and his nieces and nephew.

Before saying good-bye to everyone we had to capture a group shot. However, my mom is not in the picture, since she was the photographer. Sorry mom.
I think I'm looking a little tired in this picture...I wonder why?

Mommy & her two sleeping babies. Yes, I still think of Alayna as my baby, too. After all, she's only 21 months old. She was so tired this day that she fell asleep in my arms while I rocked both her & Joel. What a precious moment.

Julie has officially graduated from pre-school! She was very reluctant to wear her special graduation cap. Dave was able to convince her to wear it, after promising to show her pictures of him wearing a graduation cap, when we got home. She finally agreed. She was impressed by the pictures of Dave in his cap & gown. Graduation from seminary with a Master of Divinity degree, and pre-school graduation...kind of the same thing, right? :)

The pre-school grad! I couldn't be more proud! Her future plans: Kindergarten!

We've Reached Five Miles!

Hey! It's me, Dave, writing this post. I'm the Jr. Assistant blogger for Kristen. The head blogger is in a hospital bed holding the fith Miles. Yup that's right! It's been a long road (pun intended), but he is now on the outside.

His name is Joel Philip Miles. He is 8 lbs. 7 ozs. and 21 inches long. And as you'll see he has carried on the family "hair" tradition.

Kristen and baby went through alot. Her labor started at 12:30AM, Monday. Her labor went very well but when she began pushing his heart rate kept dropping and staying low. So they did an emergency "C" section.And it's a good thing. His cord was wrapped arround his neck and his back facing Kristen's back (Not the best direction). But now they are doing great, though Kristen's recovery will be a little slower. He was born at 7:24AM June 2nd.

They should be home Thursday. Thanks for all your prayers! Julie and Alayna are proud big sisters. Julie's been concerned about Mommy and baby. She has alot of questions about Kristen's cut on her tummy. And Alayna just points, touches, and says, "Hi, Baby." I'm not sure she realizes he's coming home with us soon.

Can't wait to show Joel off to every one of you! Oh, and I'm doing fine. Thanks for asking.

Still Pregnant...

In case anyone is wondering, yes I am still pregnant! I'm due any time now, so it's a waiting game. Just thought I'd keep everyone up to date.

Having Fun Making Faces

Julie was having a good time making faces at the camera, while I took pictures of her today. She was laying up in the "fort" section of her swing set, while I took pictures of her from below. I thought they turned out pretty cute and wanted to share them with you.

An Afternoon Outside

Here are some pictures from today. The weather was beautiful & sunny. The girls and I spent a couple hours outside playing, after their naps. They enjoyed the fresh air, and playing on all their fun outside toys.

Happy Valentine's Day...from the cripple

Yes, that is right, I'm a bit crippled right now. Dave and I were supposed to go out for dinner tonight...our first time out alone since around Christmas, I think. Instead, I apparently decided it would be a good week to put my back out of place and be confined to the couch with an ice pack. On top of that, Alayna is still fighting her cold and not sleeping well at night.
I made a trip to the chiropractor today and she confirmed that there were several things wrong in my lower back. I'm out of place in more than one place. She helped me quite a bit, but it's going to take a few more trips back before I'm okay again. I am continually thankful that my husband works from home. He has been such a great help since I can't do much of anything. Last night he got up every time Alayna woke up, and tonight he took care of dinner...chinese take-out. Happy Valentine's Day to us! One of these weeks we will get out alone...maybe not on the same night, but we'll get out alone, nonetheless. :)

Update On My Mom

Thank you all for your prayers for my mom during her surgery Wednesday. I believe we got about the best news possible for the situation. The doctor was able to remove the whole tumor, and the entire procedure only took about an hour. He checked other areas as well, including the bladder, for signs of cancer and found nothing. Another huge praise! She is home now recovering. She is supposed to keep her feet up and rest for a couple weeks, but I know she'll have a hard time with this, especially since she's feeling good already.

She will continue with her chemo-therapy treatments in a few weeks. The type of chemo she is receiving is working well for her, and we are thankful for that. Thank you to all who were praying. God is SO SO good!

Continuing Adventures...

Can I just tell you that I've almost completely forgotten about this blog in the past two weeks...There's been plenty to "blog" about, but it's been all-consuming and I've just not gotten around to it. I was telling my mom today about some things that have been happening and she mentioned wanting to read about it on my blog to see what I'd write...oh yea, I have a blog...duh!

First of all, if you don't know already, my husband is on an adventure of his own. A couple weeks ago he started having severe pain. After a week of off and on pain he went to the doctor. He was referred to a urologist and diagnosed with a kidney stone. He had a CT Scan this past Monday and it showed that he indeed has one stone, and it is 1/4". OUCH! It has not "passed" yet. He is on pain meds and meds for the stone. The week he was in so much pain was the week he took vacation time for archery hunting. He still managed to go out hunting, until the pain was so severe he could barely move. A day after receiving his pain meds (a narcotic) he announced that he was going to once again resume hunting. Whatever... Still no deer, but tomorrow begins rifle season and ends archery. He feels his chances will be better now. We'll see...I just hope this stone doesn't decide to "pass" when he has a deer in his sites. He'll be awfully disappointed. :)

The girls have once again come down with colds. There is so much going around right now. Alayna basically just has a runny nose and ocassional cough. Julie, on the other hand, being the drama queen she is, I believe she's dying. Okay, she's not, but I'm not sure what to think half the time. She did run a fever for a day, or two, and complained of her throat. Now, she's come down with a bad cough. It mostly affects her at night when she lays down. I feel very sorry for her, because I know it's painful. The part that gets me though is that when she goes to bed at night and the coughing starts to worsen, each cough is now followed by a scream. Last night I was at my wits end. She'd sit up, cough, and then scream, cough and scream, cough and scream, cough and scream...are you catching onto the pattern??? I know it hurts, please don't get me wrong, but when she screams she is also thrashing herself around on the bed. It almost mimics a night terror, but I know she's awake. Dave was away at a meeting last night, so I was on my own. Julie would start her cough/scream routine. At first I was talking calmly, but about 10 minutes into it I was clapping my hands, raising my voice, waving my arms and acting like a maniac trying to get her to stop. As soon as I'd act like this she would stop and look at me like I had 10 heads...okay, now I know she can stop and control the screaming part...so this is how it went all evening long. She'd fall asleep, wake up coughing, then start the cough/scream thing, I'd go in and act like a maniac, then she'd calm down and try to sleep again...5-10 minutes later the whole process would get repeated. Around 10:00 I gave up and let her come to bed with me until Dave got home. When he got home she was sleeping and we moved her back to her bed. I am often so thankful that I'm not on some reality show where they videotape our family life, I would come off as some kind of looney tune mother with a strange approach toward handling my sick child. Whatever works...

I did end up taking the girls to the doctor this morning to have Julie's cough checked out. It sounds so awful...but as always, IT'S JUST VIRAL!!! Why do I hate that answer so much??? I don't like antibiotics, and I'd prefer my kids not to be on them. But why do I feel so stupid at the doctor when they tell me my children just have colds? Last week I had Julie to the doctor because I found a tick embedded in the back of head. I was unable to remove it at home, so I had to take her in to have it removed. Thankfully that is out and no rash has appeared. The adventures of living in a wooded area. At least I wasn't told the tick was "viral" and to wait it out...I think I would have slapped the man...or at least jumped up and down, waving my arms and clapping my hands like a maniac...hey, it get's my daughter's attention!

I know I haven't posted pictures in a while. I have good intentions, I just haven't taken any pictures. My children have gone un-photographed for about two weeks now. :) Alayna is walking now...still a little wobbly, but doing really well.