JUST 2 THINGS

Two names you go by:
1. Mommy
2. BJ

Two things you're wearing now:
1. yoga outfit
2. house shoes

Two things you would want in a relationship:
1. trust
2. love

Two things you want very badly at the moment:
1. McCain as president
2. Hubby to come home

Two people who you think will fill this out & return:
1. Mrs. Goofy
2. Laurie

Two things you did yesterday:
1. laundry
2. ironed

Two things you ate yesterday:
1. lunchmeat sandwich
2. butterfinger milkshake

Two people you last talked to:
1. Little Man
2. Kid-O

Two things you're doing tomorrow:
1. cleaning
2. visiting with parents

Two favorite holidays:
1. Thanksgiving
2. Christmas

Two favorite beverages:
1. Coffee
2. water with lemon

Two people no longer alive that you'd like to talk to:
1. Clara
2. Papaw Denzil

Little Man Update...

I have not updated you all in a while about Little Man and what we know and don't know. First, I will recap for those that might not know what is going on. When Little Man was about two, he started limping on his right leg occasionally. Sometimes it would get to the point that he would start crawling again. He also had a few mannerisms that I did not understand, but he could not talked very well to explain. Then in February of this year, the leg thing happened again, his time he was crying in pain, so I called the doctor again, insisted that they see him and refer him on to an orthopedic doctor. He did an MRI of his leg and found nothing wrong. Well, then about a month later, when Little Man was doing all his rubbing and hitting and everything else that he does, instead of telling him to stop like I always had, I asked him why he did that. His response, "I have bugs on me and I can't get them off." This from a four year old. So I called again, insisted on see a neurologist, even though the doctor thought I was crazy, and we began a battery of test. Little Man has had blood work done (which showed he was dehydrated, so we started him on Gatorade, which helped with the fatigue and dizziness), peed in cups, MRI of his brain, and an EEG, which showed something abnormal about his heart. So we were off to the ENT to determine if the dizziness was inner ear related, which it was not, and the pediatric cardiologist. There he underwent an EKG and an Echo cardiogram. The EKG showed that Little Man has aortic stenosis, a malformation of the heart valve. (You can read all about that in post archives for August). So that gets you updated quickly. There is more to the story, if you would like to read, just go to Little Man label.

Currently, for the last couple of weeks, Little Man has been pulling on his closes and rubbing his head more than usual. His forehead pain has seemed to return as well. So Monday, I had to take Kid-O to the doctor because she was sick with strep throat. Well, right before we were leaving to go to the doctor, Little Man began to cry, "but I need to go to the doctor, they have not gotten rid of my bugs yet". Wow, talk about heart breaking. I don't really know what else to do, I can't imagine feeling as though I had bugs crawling on me all the time. At this point, because of the amount of tests we have had done, I no longer think it is anything more serious than the heart issue; however, I still want an answer. And I know that this maybe one of those things I never get an answer to, but I want to be able to tell Little Man in all honesty that we have tried everything we could. So I called the neurologist office yesterday, told them what had happened Monday. They asked many questions, and then proceeded to schedule him for an MRI of his spine for Nov 11. (Praise God for insurance, each one has cost us between $400.00 and $500.00 instead of $2000.00 to $3000.00). I tell you all this to update you, but also to ask each of you that reads this to pray for us every time you think about it, pray for a quick answer through this MRI and peace for me that if they don't find anything, that it is time to stop trying to find an answer.

Just Fun...

Get your own Family Sticker Maker & MySpace Layouts.

October Challenge

In the previous post, you saw the stuff that was given to us for this months challenge. Here is my final creation with the stuff given and a couple of things from my supplies.

When Little Man is at the barber shop getting his hair cut, he just sits in the chair and stares straight ahead. The hubby thinks the vacuum sound puts him in a trance. Only Little Man knows and he is not talking.

Random Stuff

Today, I remembered to take a picture of the new kitchen floor. So here you go. It is a porcelain tile that is a bit darker than the carpet, but still in the neutral colors. The hubby and I think that it looks great up against the dark cabinets. We still have to nail down the quarter round and put the dishwasher and refrigerator back in place, but it is mostly done.

I also thought that I would include a picture of everything that was in this months challenge from our scrapbooking guru. As you can tell, there are four pieces of paper, rub-ons, ribbon, and dip sticks. We get all this for $5.00, and the chance to win a scrapbooking prize. I will be working on my challenge today, since it is due tonight. I will post a picture when I am done, so you can see what I did with the stuff. I don't have a idea yet, but I am sure it will come together.

Our House

I thought I would share pictures of our current house with you all. A friend told me a long time ago to share pictures, because I had done a good job decorating, but I never did. So I am now.

This is the front, outside of our cute little house. We like our house, but I do believe that we have out grown it.

This is the great room. I assume it is called that because it is a living room and dining room in one. It is L shaped. We like it, however, a slightly larger dining area would be nice. We have a rather large dining table because family dinner is very important to us.

The dining room. Enough said.

The small kitchen, but I like it. Everything is easy to get to and close to you. I spend a lot of time in this room of the house. In this picture you can see the new floor a little bit. I will take better pictures of the floor, maybe tomorrow, and upload them for you all to see.

This is our room.

Our bathroom, which you have seen before, because of the remodeling pictures.

Kid-O's room. All pink of course. I like it though. I am glad I don't live in it, but I thought it turned out cute when I was done with it.

Little Man and Mini-Me's room. I love the paint job in this room. I will be doing that again if God sells this house. Little Man's bed was built by daddy, Papaw, and Me. We have not gotten around to finishing the ladder, it is still rough wood. Maybe someday.

The main bathroom, which you have seen before also.

Here is the 12 x 16 barn that mostly daddy built last year. He did have help setting the foundation from Papaw, and Trooper Man helped with the roof and a few other things.

Anyway, this is our house. Hope you enjoy.

"Rend your heart"

Joel 2:12-14a "'Even now,' declares the Lord, 'return to me with all your heart, with fasting and weeping and mourning.' Rend your heart and not your garments. Return to the Lord your God, for he is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in love, and he relents from sending calamity. Who knows? He may turn and have pity and leave behind a blessing..."

The Hebrew word for rend is qara a primitive root meaning; to rend, literally or figuratively (revile, paint the eyes, as if enlarging them) cut out, rend, surely, tear.

God has really impressed a need for me and all of us Christians to pray for our nation and the people of this nation. We have turned from God and his ways, we have turned to the lustful things of this world, sex, drugs, wanting it all right now, not asking God, abortion, gay marriage, etc. 1 John 15-16 says, "Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For everything in the world - the cravings of sinful man, the lust of his eyes, and the boasting of what he has and does - comes not from the Father but from the world." So much of what we do is totally against God, and he has had mercy on us, but at some point if we do not turn back to Him, His mercy will be lifted from us.

Most people, whether Christian or not, know the story of Sodom and Gomorrah, if not I beg of you to go read if; Genesis 19. I believe we, the US, has become the modern day Sodom and Gomorrah; we need to be begging the Lord for forgiveness and to have mercy on us as; he did Lot. I know to many this may seem like just gloom and doom, but it is not. I ask you a question, when was the last time you called out to God for guidance, wisdom, seeking his will for your life? Do you just go through your day as though you are in charge of it, or do you recognize all things as being from God or allowed by God? James 1:16a-17 says, "Don't be deceived, my dear brothers. Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows."

I am by no means perfect, I make many mistakes and ask forgiveness many times, so don't think I am just talking to you, I am talking to myself as well. But I do seek God's good and perfect will for my life, his guidance. I know if I seek His will and His guidance He will guide me to what and where he wants me to be and do.

If you are reading this and don't know the Christ as your Savior, then John 3:16 is for you, "For God SO loved the world that He gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life."

Official...

Our house is on the market.

I am also in the process of laying porcelain tile in the kitchen. I will blog pictures later. Here is a picture of the kitchen. You can't see the floor, but it might give you an idea. The kitchen had the same vinyl flooring as what was in the bathrooms, so if you don't remember, just go to the remodeling label and look at those pictures.

Mississippi Vacation

Here are the pictures I promised from the children's week at Grandma and Grandpa's house in Mississippi.

Feeding the catfish.
Watching the catfish eat.
Just a cute picture.
Look at me at the Zoo.
Grandpa built the kids a see saw.
The boys were trying to lift Kid-O. They weren't having much luck though.
Playing at the park.
Little Man loves slides.
Just a Swingin'.
Fishing at the house.
I am not sure Mini-Me was actually fishing.
Look at the size of the catfish Little Man caught with his Spider Man pole.
Nice fish.
Kid-O's first fish, I do believe.
I don't know if Mini-Me knows what to think about those fish.

Picture Updates

In a post a few days ago, I said that I would post pictures of the Hubby's new Gibson J-100 guitar. Well, here it is. He and I love the way it sounds. The J is for jumbo. You can tell from the pictures that the body of this guitar is very large, which is part of what gives it should a great sound.

Thanks again to the in-laws for providing a very large chunk of "chicken feed", as an old neighbor friend would always say, to help pay for this baby.

I beleive we have settle on Autumn for this guitar's name.

Look how happy.

Silliness...

1. Your real name ..... Brenda

2. Your gangsta name (1st 3 letters of real name plus izzle) .... Breizzle

3. Your detective name (favorite color and animal) ..... Blue Puppy

4. Your soap opera name (middle name and street you live on) .... Jean Buckhead

5. Your star wars name (1st 3 letters of last name and 1st 2 letters of 1st name) ... Reebr

6. Your super hero/criminal name (2nd favorite color and favorite drink) .... Pink Water

7. Your Iraqi name (2nd letter of 1st name, 3rd letter of last name, 1st letter of last name, 2nd letter of mom's maiden name, 3rd letter of dad's name, 1st letter of a siblings 1st name and last letter of mom's 1st name!) ... Brerwvjn

8. Your witness protection name (both parents middle names) .... Arlene Lawrence

9. Your Goth name (black and name of one of your pets) .... Black Max

Rested and Relaxed

So, as I mentioned, the Hubby and I got to spend the last week together without any children around. It was great to get to spend some quality time with the Hubby. Thanks to the in-laws.

Anyway, we spent the first three days in Nashville at Opry Mills. We got a lot of Christmas shopping finished. Best of all, the Hubby got an amazing Christmas present from his parents and myself. It had to be a joint effort. He got a Gibson J-100 Acoustic/electric guitar. I will post pictures of it later. We are still coming up with a name for her. He said Amber because of her color, I am thinking Autumn.

We also watched two movies while in Nashville. We saw Eagle Eye in Imax, and Fireproof. Both were excellent movies, I recommended them to anyone. And you know, now that I think about it, I don't believe I remember any cursing or indecent scenes Eagle Eye. Nice.

Then we came back home and the Hubby got the lights up in our bathroom, then I fixed the hole in the wall left by the previous light, and a hole in the wall in Kid-O's room where the previous owners had put a hole in the wrong placed then never fixed it. I also got mulch in the rest of the flower beds around the house. Oh and the Hubby balanced all the fans. I do believe we are ready for the market now. The realtor will be coming over Wednesday night or Thursday, not sure yet.

Then Friday morning we took Breezy up for her Chrysalis flight, relaxed around the house, then Friday night we went to a home grown Opera - Carmen at the Lincoln Center, Ars Nova. It was actually pretty good. That little opera house actually has a lot of talent in it. We were pleasantly surprised. Saturday, we did Chrysalis stuff and relaxed some more, before the children arrived home.

Sunday morning we went to breakfast with the in-laws, had a nice conservation, then they headed home and the family headed on to church.

Oh, I ate lots of good food this past week. I think the best part of this vacation, aside from being alone with the Hubby was the fact that I did not cook a single meal from Saturday night until Saturday night. It was great. On the way home Saturday I asked the hubby if we could eat out one last time before I had to start cooking again. He humored me and said yes.

So, as you can tell, we had a great week and the children had fun as well. I will post pictures of the new guitar and the kids weeks in the next couple of days.

LAZY MONDAY

Like Father, Like Son

Do you notice the sleeping similarities?