GIVING THANKS!

Oh give thanks to the LORD, for he is good; for his steadfast love endures forever!
1 Chronicles 16:34

Last Thanksgiving we began making a list of the things we are most thankful for and it was wonderful to reflect on all our blessings. We are so blessed that it is difficult to make a condensed list. Here are a few things I am most thankful for this year:

That I am a child of God! I am thankful for salvation and God's forgiveness and love and His provisions! No matter what obstacles may be in our way, there is so much comfort in being a child of God.

For a husband who loves me unconditionally and makes me so happy!

For the 4 girls God has entrusted me with. What a blessing despite the fact that being a parent has so many challenges. I love those girls and am so thankful for each of them and the joy they bring to me each day! I am so thankful I get to spend my days with them!

For wonderful family and friends to share our lives in the good times and the not so good times. I feel so full when I think of all the people God has placed and continues to place in our path. I love you all!

To have 2 church families for this time in our lives. This is a huge blessing! It is wonderful to be a part of numerous church families. We love our newest church family so much. The ways they have blessed us are too many to count. We had our Thanksgiving meal with them this past weekend and I left there and was overwhelmed by God's goodness. They love our children like they are their own. They are some of the sweetest people on earth! Then we still have our church family here who is wonderful to keep in touch with us. How could I forget our church family back home as well? We still feel a part of them even though we are far away. Even though moving around and saying goodbye a lot is hard, it is such a blessing to be a part of so many groups.

That I get to watch my husband do what he is called to do and loves to do so much each week. I love seeing him in the pulpit (even when he uses me as illustrations)!

There are so many more things that I am thankful for but this is all I have time to list for now. May you and your family have a Thanksgiving in which you can reflect on your many blessings and GIVE THANKS!

I need all the help I can get!

As the mother of 4 girls I desire to help them in any way possible to get through the tough times of being a girl and maturing into Godly women. Our society makes that very difficult! Trust me, you find yourself dealing with issues that you thought were in your distant future much earlier than you expected. As a friend and I were discussing one day, taking care of an infant doesn't hold a candle to dealing with a tween or teen! As Elleigh gets older and parenting gets tougher there are so many times when I think, "Lord, what were you thinking? You gave me 4 of these!?!? I am not sure I can do this with 1, but 4!" Then I have to get my act together and tackle the drama of the moment! I do love my girls! I also think it is important to begin dealing with a lot of these issues before they arise. All of that to say I have begun reading this:

It is recommended for mothers of daughters ages 0 to 18. The book covers how to approach different issues at different ages, etc. Like I said before, the issues come long before we expect them so it is great to be prepared.

It's all about perspective

After sharing the events of yesterday, I feel I have to share today with you. First let me say that in yesterday's post I forgot to add that on Tuesday they dumped an entire pack of taco seasoning in the playroom! Millie and Lizzie both rubbed it in their eyes. It was a huge mess! I caught them with a box of mac n cheese and I went to put it back and when I came back they had dumped the seasoning everywhere! So, as I said yesterday, it's been a week! Today is Friday and that helps my perspective but something else helped me today as well. I know that at least some of you out there are praying for me. I can feel it. I was putting my make-up on this morning and Elleigh was getting dressed to go have lunch with a friend (sushi-my picky child and sushi!). However, that could be a whole different story. I have finally taken a different approach and she eats a lot more variety of foods now. Just ask her what happens when you complain about what we are having for dinner! Eat it or do without! They really won't starve! Back to my original story. Elleigh walked into my bathroom to ask me how she looked and no kidding her life flashed before my eyes. How did my baby grow up so fast? I couldn't answer her for a minute because my mind was spinning and suddenly my perspective on dealing with mischievous toddlers changed really quickly. This time passes so fast. Too fast! Now I am not saying that I enjoy getting them out of mess after mess but it made me realize that they do grow up and these phases pass and then there are other issues. May I embrace every stage that these wonderful girls God has entrusted me with may go through knowing that our time with them passes quickly despite the days that seem never ending.

Of course once I was finished processing all that I grabbed my camera! My beautiful firstborn! You are beautiful inside and out and I don't tell you that enough! I love you Elleigh!!!

On the Kid's Menu today...

Body Spray for Millie and Advil Cold & Sinus for Lizzie (and possibly Sallie). NO, I am not kidding! WHAT A WEEK! Really, we have not had one quite like this in a while! I have not felt well and the girls have literally been into everything! Unfortunately, my job doesn't come with sick days. Today I have felt better and the girls well, they have been into even more! As Millie has gotten older them getting into things has gotten worse. They just feed off each other and Millie being more mobile means another one to never take my eyes off and I only have so many eyes! So, this morning Millie gets Elleigh's body spray and when I get to her it is all over her. I have no idea if she drank any or not. Her mouth smelled like it but it was all over her so she smelled like that all over. Of course, the first ingredient is alcohol. I call A and we decide she has not actually drank any of it. I should have called poison control first. She was not gagging or anything and I stuck my tongue to it and it was like Vodka only stronger. Yes, I just told on myself. I used to do many things I am not so proud of! So, I decided she couldn't have possibly drank any because she would be screaming. Whew... Thank you Lord. It doesn't end there. We had finished eating lunch and I was cooking the meat for vegetable soup for dinner when Lizzie comes in and hands me an empty Advil Cold & Sinus pack. She had eaten about 3/4 of a tablet. There were 2 tablets in the pack in a bowl on the very back of the kitchen counter and she climbed up and got them I guess. She told us Sallie ate the other one but as Aaron always says Lizzie is quick to "throw somebody under the bus." Once again, I call A and he quickly tells me to get off the phone with him and call poison control. The lady was very calm. I forgot how calm they are. I haven't called them since Elleigh was little and ate carpet fresh and peace lily within the same week! She said that 1 would not hurt them. It would probably upset her tummy and make her hyper (GREAT!). I will take hyper though. If you are wondering where the little darlings are while I am typing this-fast asleep. Praise the Lord! Really, I am not trying to make light of the fact that my children could have been seriously hurt today. My nerves are shot and I have to laugh to keep from crying (already done that!). I really need a vacation day-oh, I forgot I don't get those either! I really do love my job-without sick days or vacation days and with very mischievious little darlings!

Sallie's Celebrations!

On Friday night we took Sallie to Dallas to the American Girl Boutique and Bistro. We took the girls once before but we did not have reservations and could not eat because the wait was 3 plus hours. So, we decided Sallie would enjoy going back for her b-day. I think every child in the Bistro was celebrating a birthday. She did have a great time! Saturday we started the day with her favorite breakfast which is pancakes and then she opened her gifts and she LOVED them all! Thank you! Thank You! Saturday afternoon we had what else but HSM cupcakes! The day was all about Sallie and we had a great one! I made the outfit she has on Friday night! I am quite proud of my first finished sewing project for one of the girls! Now, I can say that because you all can't see it up close! I did not actually make the jeans-just put on the ruffles and embellishments and of course I didn't make the turtleneck. Sallie loved it and that made me very happy! Below is the slideshow of all our fun!

HAPPY 7th BIRTHDAY SALLIE!!!

Our Sweet Sallie,

I have said so much lately about how much we love you and what you mean to us. We could never tell you enough. Today we celebrate 7 years of life with you! Your big smile, servant's heart, excitement for life, intelligence, and so much more make us so happy each day. If we could all be a little more like you the world would be a better place. I praise God for the 7 years He has given us to spend with you and look forward to your future. I can't wait to see what God has in store for you! It's gonna be great!!! I pray that you never take your label of "special " in a negative way because you are "special" to us and to God but in a different way than the world may view "special." My favorite definition of the word special is "designed for a particular purpose or occasion." That is you Sallie! I LOVE YOU and am so proud to be your mama!

Her Story Extras

I asked Aaron to help me with this. He and I had a lot of the same ones. Elleigh heard us talking about it and she said she wanted to include some things as well.

What we have learned the most:

Aaron:

We do not understand what we do not have to deal with. This is so true. Until you have actually walked whatever situation someone is in you can never fully understand.

We can deal with more than we ever can imagine. I could not agree more. I have a hard time choosing what I have learned the absolute most but this definitely ranks close to the top. Every time I am uncertain or fearful about some situation I am reminded that we really are much stronger than we think we are (through Him).

God truly is good!!! All the time!

You learn by asking questions-of doctors and of God.

God's plan IS perfect and ours is not.

More about the ear than I ever thought possible! AMEN!

Regardless of all her problems, Sallie is one of the happiest people I have ever known!

Cameron:

People just like you and me are faced with situations every day that they never imagined they would have to face. I am so much more sympathetic and aware of the trials others face.

Life is far from what we dream it to be. This ranks high as well. I laugh at how I used to imagine how things would be. Praise God I have been humbled so much! We learn so much in the trenches.

To go along with what I said above, I think as a family we have learned to change our focus. Life is not about what we have or what we can give our children as far as things go but it is about celebrating life and the victories in life and teaching our children everything we can about the Lord so that when life doesn't go as planned they can handle it.

That having friends and family who care so deeply for you is a major blessing and not something everyone has. There are so many special people who have walked and continue to walk this journey with us and we thank God for placing each of them in our lives. We are always touched by the people who are always so good to check in on Sallie just because. It is very comforting to know that she is on the minds of so many people who continue to pray for her and us.

That God is our ultimate comforter.

God can use someone so small and fragile to touch and change so many lives (especially this mama and daddy).

God is in control and we are not!

To look for the good in every situation and realize that there are others who are struggling as much or more than you.

To be thankful for the opportunity to take care of such a special child as Sallie. Thank you God for her life and for allowing us to be a part of it. SHE IS WONDERFUL!!!

Things we wish we could change:

Aaron:

My initial reaction

Others view of Sallie

Though I would love to take away some of her pain, I would not change anything about Sallie. This may sound strange to some but this is the way we both feel. She is perfect to us. No, we don't enjoy the things we have to put her through but she is who she is and we love her for that. I feel kinda guilty saying this because I never want anyone to think I am saying we benefit from her issues but God has used Sallie to get us where we are today. That little girl impacts us every day.

Cameron:

Aaron touched on others view of Sallie and of course I feel I need to elaborate. Most people are very intimidated by Sallie and we wish so much that they were not. She often gets left out because others feel they don't know how to deal with her. This is heartbreaking for parents. Sallie loves to be a part of everything and we try and understand when she is not included but it is so hard.

I wish I had never cared what other people thought. I wish it had never bothered me for people to wonder why she had aids or why she doesn't talk or whatever. People are just curious and most mean well. I wish I never felt like other people were looking at me and trying to figure out what I did to cause these issues. I am so thankful to be delivered from these thoughts and feelings. I take her wherever and am proud of her no matter what.

This one is a praise and something I wish I could change. As parents we often get so caught up in our children's appearance and or shortcomings. Now let me stop and say I do not mean our kids should go around dirty and with dirty clothes or have unhealthy lifestyles and us not care. If you know me, you know I do not mean that! I am saying that I think it is so important for us to teach our children that we are all different and that the world is made of people with all kinds of strengths and weaknesses and that it truly is what is on the inside that matters and not the little things on the outside that the world thinks is not perfect. I am thankful that our children will grow up knowing that it is OK to not be "perfect."

I wish Sallie would not get so upset about going to the Doctor. She is getting better but she just really has a hard time with it. Once again, breaks our heart.

That everyone would realize what a blessing ALL children are!

Elleigh:

People to treat Sallie better

People not to stare

People to understand her situation

People to not think she is not intelligent

People not to leave her behind

People to include her

I type Elleigh's list with tears. We forget sometimes how much Sallie has changed her life. Siblings of special needs children face so many challenges. We are adults, but to a child it seems so unfair that their sister would have to go through these things. Elleigh gets so upset when she feels Sallie is not treated like everyone else and it is heartbreaking and so sweet all at once. She is such a blessing to us and to Sallie and I know that Lizzie and Millie will be as well when they are old enough to understand.

A couple of months ago there was a post on Bring the Rain which for those of you who don't know is the blog of Angie Smith whose husband is Todd from Selah. They lost their fourth daughter just hours after birth. Todd was actually the one writing the post but he was saying that when they first were told that there was a problem with Audrey and they thought it was something like Downs that he prayed God please do not let her have Downs. Later they found out that it was not Downs but appeared to be more fatal and he said at that point he prayed Lord, please just let it be Downs. That pretty much sums it up. Trials cause our perspectives to change so much. I have said a million times and I will say it again. God gave her to us, has allowed us to keep her for this time, and we will do anything for her. When I get caught up in the difficulty of the circumstances, I am reminded that everyone doesn't get the chance we have.

Update: We saw the geneticist today and we both really liked her. She was very down to earth and great with Sallie. Basically, she said that it could be either a glitch in fetal development or a chromosomal issue. She said there were some chromosome tests that looked really deep into the chromosomes that would not have been available when she was tested at birth. She seemed to be very much on the same page as us concerning not just trying to give this a name. Our goal is to find out what we can to help her most and she said either way what we were doing would not change. We took her on to get the testing done when we finished at her office. If it comes back that there is an issue with her chromosomes then they will test Aaron and I to see if one of us has that issue as well. If that was the case, then the other girls would be tested to look at their chromosomes as well. The reason for all of this is so that they have all the information they need at the point they begin to have children. If her tests come back normal, then we will know that it is isolated birth defects. We go back in a month to discuss the results. Please continue to pray. I was very calm today and we are very pleased with how the visit went. She quickly picked up on how smart Sallie is. That made us proud! Also, she was telling us about the tests and she said, "You can wait a week or so if you want since it's about to be her birthday." I thought I would cry. She got it! She really understands! Our hearts break the most when Sallie is sick or going through something at special times, like her birthday. She deserves a birthday break! Her birthday brings a flood of emotions for Aaron and I each year. The Dr. made a really big deal with Sallie about her upcoming b-day. We have other appointments about once a week for different issues for the next month so please pray for those visits as well. WE LOVE YOU ALL!

Thank you for allowing me to share her story. I cannot begin to tell you how much this has helped me. Also, as a testimony to doing what God tells us to do I will share this quickly. I got an e-mail from my friend Shannon concerning an old friend of hers that she has recently re-connected with. Angela (the friend) reads Shannon's blog and saw our blog listed on Shannon's. So, she came over and read Sallie's story. Her son is 7 and has some similar issues to Sallie. They actually live in this area and she and I have e-mailed back and forth and she has already been very helpful to me. I pray that somehow I can be helpful to her as well. It was not by chance that I shared all this and that Angela happened upon it. God is always at work!

Popcorn "cake"

Several of you have asked me for the recipe for the popcorn "cake." First of all let me say I renamed it cake because I put it in a cake pan to mold. Elleigh and I saw something similar on Giada and I adapted it from there. She put other things in hers and she made them into balls. So, here's what I did.

Melt 3 tablespoons of butter in the microwave. Mix in a bag of mini marshmallows and return to microwave until marshmallows are melted. Stir in popped microwave popcorn (I used light butter but whatever kind of popcorn you choose). Make sure to remove any kernals. I popped 2 regular sized bags but I only used about 1 1/2 bags. You can add whatever depending on how marshmallowey (I know that is not a word!) you want it. Stir in 1 bag of m&ms and place in a greased tube pan. Press down into pan to make it even. I let it sit in the bundt pan for about 30 minutes before dumping so that it could mold well. Like I said, you could make them into balls but I thought it was easier to dump it in the pan and then we just sliced it or you could put it in a rectangular pan or get creative and put it in a shaped pan (I just gave myself an idea!). I plan to make one at Christmas with Christmas M&Ms or it would be cute in the spring with the spring ones. It is fun to make with the kids!

No tricks, just treats and fun!

On Thursday night we finally took the time to do some of our fall traditions including making "ghost cookies" and carving our pumpkin (last minute I know but we got it done!). We have so much fun every year! This year the girls and I also made a popcorn cake. Based on their response I have a feeling we will be making this every year as well now. It was yummy and I quickly sent it to work with A the next day! Halloween night Elleigh went to a friend's house so you will see her as an 80's pop star. Funny! What can I say, "Girls just wanna have fun!" A, the girls and I went to the Fall Festival at Wedgwood. Sallie was an angel. So sweet! Her costume was very homeade (except for the wings that I bought last year on clearance). Lizzie was Tinkerbell (very fitting for her!) which was an old costume of the girls and it happened to be popular this year with the movie being re-released. Millie was a fairy in Elleigh's first ever ballet costume. It was neat to see our fourth daughter in our first daughter's first ballet costume! Below is the slideshow of all our fun!

TUTU CUTE!!!

I have wanted to take tute pics of the girls for a while and I finally did it! My neighbor made these adorable tutus and tops for Lizzie and Millie. I love them!!! I never can decide which pictures to share so you get lots. I thought about putting them in a slideshow but sometimes it cuts some of them off and I didn't want that so you got lots of individual pictures. The girls were on the go as usual so I chased them and caught what I could. They are way too busy for me! Next on the agenda is Sallie and I think she will be much easier! Enjoy!