MY LEGS ARE SO HAPPY

I have been secretly coveting fleece jammy pants for a really long time. A really, super, duper, incredibly long time. Well, last night I hit Old Navy to spend a gift card for our offspring. As a sidenote, it's really fun to spend someone else's money on cute clothes for your kids. And to shop alone. And wander. And not worry about the time.

Anyway, as I was shopping for someone else's Christmas gifts to the little Ws I spotted fleece jammy pants. For adults. Like me. I showed tremendous maturity and kept walking. Well, there was some immaturity, as I kept glancing back at the $10 sale price they had marked on the rack. Suddenly, I had a vision. It was God speaking to me, I'm sure of it. I could see very clearly in my mind's eye a gift card someone had given me for my birthday back in June. A gift card that I had with me. A gift card that still had $10 on it. So, in an attempt to follow God's clear direction, I snagged a stinkin' cute and very warm pair of fleece jammy pants for myself. In blue, of course. Aren't they cute?

GOODBYE THANKSGIVING, HELLO CHRISTMAS

I recently mentioned our sneaky snowman on my "T" post. Figured now that Thanksgiving is over I should tell you about him. Here's the scoop on his magical abilities. Every night the kids say "Sneaky Snowman so cold and white, please go hide while I sleep tonight". As long as they do that, then he hides while we're all asleep. We have no idea how he gets around the house, as he has no feet. And adults find it impossible to find him during the day. He can only be found by children. Once he's been found, then the kids can play with him until bedtime. If they don't say their goodnight to him at the end of the day, then he can't hide. That's happened a couple times and the boys found him the next morning in the same spot they'd left him the day before. The magic is in the words they say to him.

Here's some non-magical info that may interest you. He's only about 5 inches tall, too big to get lost, too small to be in the way. We discover him when we unpack our Christmas decorations and he stays around until the decorations are taken down. We can only assume that he lives in the Christmas boxes during the rest of the year. We've seen snowmen that seem to be related to him at Dollar Tree. And that, my friends, is your introduction to the Sneaky Snowman.

And I'll wrap this up by sending you to see my Dad share a little Christmas spirit with you. He has a reputation for taking songs and tweaking them for the sake of amusing us. I wanted to embed the video into this post, but I'm not smart enough to figure out how to do that. Evidently using the "embed" option at the video doesn't work. Go figure. If anyone feels like telling me how to do it, then you'd be my best friend for the day. Meanwhile, just click on the link to see the video.

11/27/08 THANKFUL THURSDAY

It's Thanksgiving and I could list a bunch of things I'm thankful for. I'm going to stick with one thing each Thursday though.

I'm thankful for our landlord doing a bunch of upgrades and repairs over the last week or so.

What is one thing you're thankful for?

SHE'S GONE

Ciara's page is no longer available. It's just been one month since it was posted. Assuming that means she now has a mom and dad, I'm so happy for her. Of course, it makes me really sad for the kids that are on the Northwest Adoption Exchange site for years and years.

Oh man, I want one of those kids. I'll do some work toward adopting another W in the next few months, but won't go hardcore until the spring. Basketball has started and I'd be setting myself up for a nervous breakdown if I started a big project right now.

V - V - V - V - V - V

Victory - The Blazers beat the Kings last night, 91 to 90. Thanks to Greg & Lisa, who had tickets they couldn't use, we were able to take the boys to their first NBA game. The four of us had a great time and Naomi got some quality girl time with Kema while we were at the game.

Vocational Training - Today the boys are at work with Tim. They really look forward to the couple times a year that he brings them along! I'm enjoying the day too. I've had lots of time to play and snuggle with Naomi, read my Bible, and bake cookies. Do your kids ever go to work with their dad? Unless it's completely impossible (your husband is an ER doc, pilot, or something similar), then you should send them on occasion. It's good for them to see what their dad does when he's gone all day!

Voice of the Martyrs - Americans are so blessed to be able to choose if, what or whom, and how they worship. It's a blessing we can easily take for granted. If you go to the Voice of the Martyrs website, then you can sign up for a free monthly magazine that tells you about people being persecuted for their faith around the world.

U - U - U - U - U - U

Unsurpassed, Unbeaten, Unbelievable - That's the kind of customer service we get from Sonlight. Not only do they treat their customers well when it comes to ordering, but they truly care about their customers as people. Devon received a personal card last week from the co-founder and head of Sonlight letting him know that they were praying for him during his hernia crisis and in the days following his surgery, as he recovered. We're thankful for such an awesome company to do business with!

Upside Down Pizza - Just thought I'd share a favorite recipe around our house. There are few things that all 5 Ws are equally fond of and this is one of them. It's on my recipe blog too, in case you want to give feedback on it over there.

~ Country Magazine, Aug/Sept 2000

1 lb. bulk Italian sausage
1 medium onion, chopped
1/4 c. chopped green pepper
2 T. plus 1c. all-purpose flour, divided
1/2 t. dried basil
1/2 t. fennel seed, crushed
1 can (15 oz.) tomato sauce
2 c. (8 oz.) shredded mozzarella cheese
2 eggs
1 c. milk
1 T. vegetable oil
1/2 t. salt
2 T. grated Parmesan cheese, (optional)

In a saucepan, cook the sausage, onion and green pepper over medium heat until meat is no longer pink; drain. Stir in 2 tablespoons flour, basil and fennel; mix well. Add tomato sauce. Bring to a boil; cook and stir for 2 minutes. Transfer to an ungreased 13x9-inch baking dish. Sprinkle with mozzarella cheese. Place the remaining flour in a mixing bowl. Beat in the eggs, milk, oil and salt until smooth; stir in Parmesan cheese if desired. Pour over casserole. Bake uncovered at 425 degrees for 25-30 minutes or until browned.

Notes: I always use way more that ½ t. of basil and I often replace it with Italian seasoning. I never use fennel, as there is already some in the sausage. I frequently use whole wheat flour because it’s healthier and people who aren’t crazy about it can’t really taste a difference due to the strong flavor of everything else in the dish. I think the Parmesan is a must, and more than 2 T. You can never have too much cheese! I always make a double batch of the base and then freeze the extra in quart-sized freezer bags. You can pre-grate and freeze the cheese too.

Urban Camping - That's the term that Becky used to describe our lifestyle lately. We've been without a working furnace for several weeks, but we've had space heaters to keep us warm. Then our electrical panel blew last week and we've had no power in our hall, bedrooms, or bathroom. We've been peeing and showering with a flashlight for several days. However, we will have a new electrical panel tomorrow and a new furnace on Tuesday. Woo hoo!!

I'M OFFLINE

Word on the street is that people have wondered if I dropped off the face of the earth.  First I post about how rough life is, then no one hears from me online.  Guess that created some suspense and concern.

I'm fine.  However, we have no power in the back half of our house, which is where our wireless is hooked up.  So, I have no computer.  I'm typing this from Becky's, but I may not be online again until next week.  I'll be back next Wednesday though, unless I pop in from someone else's computer before then.

WHEN IT RAINS, IT POURS

To say that my life has gotten progressively more stressful over the last 5 1/2 weeks would be an understatement. There has been stress and frustration in multiple areas, none of which I'm going to hash out here. However, I think the tide is slowly turning and I'm thankful for that.

I'm also thankful that my grandmother lives just around the corner. And that she brought me flowers when I was wiped out yesterday. And that she has let me use her computer two days in a row.

Next week will be better, right? It has to be. It's Thanksgiving week!!

3:30 AM

I was wiped out on Sunday night. It had been a long week and I was already tired. Plus I did about four hours of yard work after church. I love yard work, but it pushed me over the edge from tired to exhausted. I desperately needed some downtime.

So I took a shower and crawled into bed with a book around 6:30. I turned out the lights at 7:20. Everyone else was still up and playing, so I didn't fall asleep right away. It was still nice to rest though. The kids went down at 8:00 and I was asleep within minutes. I woke at 9:15, then fell back asleep. I woke at 11:15, then fell back asleep. I woke at 12:30 and am still awake. I stayed in bed for a while. Then I got up to read my Bible, type out a bunch of stuff that's on my mind, and send off an e-mail I normally do in the mornings. I tried going back to bed, but couldn't sleep. So, I've just been reading my Bible.

Monday is going to be a long day. I hope I can take a nap.

T - T - T - T - T - T

Therapist - My therapist called on Saturday night to see if life was still in the "stink, stank, stunk" phase. I explained to him that there were three main areas stressing me out. One has naturally taken care of itself. The second still stinks, but my therapist prayed for me over the phone. The third area was improved a little after my therapist reminded me of an important detail I had forgotten. So life isn't all sunshine and roses, but I'm feeling better. I've got a great therapist. I call him "Dad".

Traditions - I love, love, love traditions! I mean, I really love them. Seems that the holidays bring out many, so I thought it would be fun to share them. Here are some of ours. I'll try to stick to ones that aren't necessarily traditional (like Easter egg hunts).

Birthdays - It's "Doughnut Date with Daddy" for the birthday kid's breakfast. We cancel school (we school year-round) on each family member's birthday. The kids pick a birthday cake that I bake and decorate. Take a picture of the birthday kid in a pair of jeans and white t-shirt that belong to the same gender parent. It's the same outfit every year, so we can see how they grow.

Valentine's Day - We do a homemade valentine swap with people from the SL forums. We save all the valentines we receive in a basket until 2/14 . Then we spend the morning decorating heart-shaped sugar cookies, which we eat while opening all the valentines. We also map the places the valentines came from.

Christmas - We have a Sneaky Snowman that arrives around Christmas. I'll tell you more about him another day. The kids open one gift, jammies from Tim & I, on Christmas Eve. We drive around to look at Christmas lights. We go to Zoo Lights. Decorate the tree as a family while listening to Christmas music. We read tons of Christmas books. Listen to lots of Christmas music of our own, from the library, and on Pandora. Tim and I watch White Christmas (I love it, he loves me) while I eat pumpkin bread and apple butter (I love it, he doesn't). We do stockings first thing on Christmas morning. We watch the Christmas Ships. Tape all the cards, newsletters and pics that we get to the wall. Decorate tree shaped sugar cookies. Have dessert and crockpot cider on Christmas Eve after reading the story of Jesus' birth in the Bible. One ornament per kid per year, which they'll get to take when they move out. We go to an awesome concert for free.

Random - Tim does "four corners" with the kids, particularly when they're babies and toddlers. He kisses their forehead, each cheek, then their chin. The boys have carried on the tradition and do it with Naomi. I tell the kids "you're my favorite __ year old/baby" all the time. Sometimes that morphs into ...

Me: Guess what?
Them: I'm your favorite __ year old?
Me: How did you know?
Them: Because you tell me all. the. time.

I'll include some of my dad's, simply because they involve our kids. He has traditions of taking the kids to "Old McDonald's" and Chuck E. Cheese when he visits, taking us to a pumpkin patch, and doing magic tricks. He and Debra have a tradition of getting each of our kids a teddy bear when they're born.

I'm sure I'll think of more later, but that's the bulk of them. I'd encourage you to start (and keep!) traditions in your family. They don't have to be spendy, time consuming, or super exciting. They're just the things that make your family a special group to be part of, that give a sense of belonging and comfort, that provide something to look forward to and depend on.

So, tell me some of your traditions!

Turkey - I got a turkey for 22 cents/lb at WinCo last night. If you spend $50, then you can get a Butterball for 58/lb or a generic one for 22/lb. That's 17 lbs of meat for less than $4.00! I know Safeway has a similar deal going on. So go snag some cheap meat for your family! If anyone else has the opportunity to score a cheap turkey that they don't want, then let me know. I'd love to pay you back for 22/lb meat!

STINK, STANK, STUNK

That's my week in a nutshell. I'd say it sucked, but then I'd end up offending someone. That would result in some online scandal, which would take my week all the way to stonk, stenk, stink-o-rama. And that, my dear friends, would be more than I can handle right now.

I must say that there have been bright spots - my grandma taking the kids and I to McDonald's after Devon's post-op appointment, having friends for dinner on Monday, IMing my sister, and some super cute pics taken of the fam at Penney's. But it's still been a hard week. I'm discouraged, overwhelmed, and tired. Blah.

Hope next week is better.

11/13/08 THANKFUL THURSDAY

I am thankful for easy access to good medical care and health insurance that helps to pay for it.

What are you thankful for?

FACEBOOK STUFF

I have had no desire to get on Facebook. E-mail, two forums, and two blogs take enough of my time. However, I found out my sister was on it. So, I signed up just to see her stuff. Then I got some friend requests. I'm a Facebook snob and will not approve everyone. I'm just not interested in having 539 friends who I don't really care about and who don't really care about me. I've let some through though.

Today is only the second time I've logged on and I'm just thinking it's cluttered and confusing. Like the News Feed. What's the point? So I can know what each of my friends is doing right now? And whose sites they've all commented on? I don't care whose sites they've commented on! Status updates? Just a less cluttered view of the news feed? And live feed is the same info all over again?

What am I missing here? What's the big draw? I'll stay if I can be convinced it's worth my time. So, if you like using Facebook, then tell me why. If you don't, then I guess you can tell me that too, but I'm mostly interested in the reason for doing it.

S - S - S - S - S - S

Sisters - Just have to say my sister is fantastic. Her name is Belinda and she's younger than me, which naturally makes me more mature than her. This isn't about me though, it's about her. Right? Anyway, she desires to be a good wife and mom and works toward those goals. She is way more girly than I'll ever be, but she's not prissy. She's crafty and artistic. She married her high school sweetheart and they've been married ten years. She desires to grow closer to God and works toward that goal. She has moved a gazillion times since graduating from high school. She lives in the mountains of the Philippines. She's honest. She can speak Tala Andig and used to speak Cebuano (until the Tala Andig took over). She's funny. I could go on, but I have two more "S" things to write about and only so much free time in my day. One more thing though. She introduced me to cracker nuts. That's too important to leave out.

Sleepless - When I turned the computer on Wednesday morning I realized it hadn't been shut down properly the last time it was used. Weird. Even weirder was that there were kid games on the screen. I knew for a fact that I hadn't been playing kid games before going to bed the previous night. A bit later Silas woke up. The first thing he said was "I woke up and played games while everyone was sleeping. It was 1:01 on the microwave clock when I woke up. I played for a while, then I went back to bed. It was all in the middle of the night." Fabulous. Another insomniac in the family.

Song - I have a friend, Susan, on the SL forums whose husband is in the music business. Just after Silas drowned she told me that his drowning was the inspiration for some lyrics that she and her husband had composed. Well, they were finally able to share the song. Before I link you to the song, let me share what Susan posted a couple days ago. For those unfamiliar with internet shorthand, "dh" means "dear husband". And "The Big Bison" is Susan's online nickname for her husband.

Here's the song the Big Bison and I wrote for Bethany! Well, OK, we didn't actually write it for Bethany. But something that happened to her inspired it.

Here's the back story. Dh asked me to help him write 4 songs he was commissioned to write for a music house in town. The way this works is that periodically, the music house puts out CDs of music that radio and TV stations and advertisers can license music from. You might here it as background music for a commercial on TV. They commissioned him to write 4 "modern folk songs" (whatever those might be) on any subject he desired.

So, he started bugging me to give him some ideas, and I turned to YOU ladies, because on these forums you certainly find a sampling of life in all its aspects: hopes, dreams, tragedies - topics ranging anywhere from the mundane to the glorious. (And may I say, that very often, the glorious is found in the midst of the mundane. Which sounds like an idea for another song.)

So, at about the time that he was bugging me to come up with some ideas, Bethany's son Silas almost drowned. What a shocking thing that was!!! One moment they were in the midst of a relaxed family get-together, and the next, the unthinkable had happened.

It took my breath away to read about it, and I prayed earnestly for Bethany and Silas and all the W's. And it got me to thinking about the concept of "life". How fleeting, how fragile, yet how tenacious and determined is our very breath, our very heartbeat. So, I jotted down some phrases for the Big Bison, and he did the rest.

And here is the song. It is just audio, no visual, and is about two minutes long. Enjoy!

11/5/08 THANKFUL THURSDAY

We are dealing with a very frustrating situation with our house right now and my attitude stinks. I'm justified in my frustration, but I don't want to turn into a grump. So, I'm starting something new. Each Thursday I'm going to name one thing I'm thankful for and ask you to do the same. I allow anonymous comments, so you can leave a comment even if you aren't registered.

I'm thankful that Tim and I get to go on a free date tonight.

What is one thing that you are thankful for?

FREE CHRISTMAS CONCERT

We went to a fantastic Christmas concert last year and I wanted to give all my local readers a heads up about it. It's held at and put on by members of Portland Christian Center. It's big, it's professional, and it's free!! Performances are being held 12/5-12/7 and 12/12-12/14. Last year there was a childcare available. We didn't use it, so I'm not sure of details. If you are counting on using their childcare, then it would be wise to call and confirm that it's available this year and the ages they'll take. Hurry and click here to snag some tickets!

JUST FOR THE RECORD

I'd like to publicly declare that I am enjoying my kids. Three months ago I was really struggling with feeling like a failure as a mom. I was overwhelmed, discouraged, and not really enjoying my kids.

Today things are so much better. Obviously there are moments I'm fried on motherhood, but most of the time I'm happy with how things are. I've spent more time praying for them, hanging out with them, and smiling when I speak to them. I've made a conscious effort to not complain about them, whether in serious frustration or lightheartedly. I've also spent more time reading my Bible and praying, reprioritizing the way I spend my time (housework, school, computer, etc) and taking time to relax by myself.

I don't want to be one of those women who only talks about motherhood in a negative light, so I just wanted to make sure I told you all how much fun I'm having as a mom to the little Ws these days.

DEVON AT DOERNBECHER

Devon was discharged on Friday about 8:00pm. He's doing well, though his recovery has been different than Silas' recovery from a hernia repair. Devon's surgery was the result of an incarcerated hernia and Silas' wasn't. Devon's surgery was bilateral and Silas' wasn't. Devon's surgery was laproscopic and Silas' wasn't. I think the fact that Devon's belly button, which is one of the places they went in, was involved is why he's been moving a little more slowly. You can't ignore sore belly muscles! Anyway, he's doing well - went to church, is playing around the house, etc.

Just thought I'd share some pics of the adventure. Some were taken by me when I took Silas, Naomi, and my grandma up to see Devon before surgery on Friday. Some of them were taken by Devon. I told him we'd do a blog about his hospital stay like we did with Silas, so he took a bunch of pics of his room to share with all of you. One picture is the "photo shoot" taken during his surgery. I'll save it for last and give you a warning, in case pics of internal stuff gross you out.

* Devon thoroughly enjoyed having the ability to control the lights, TV, and bed movement from his own nifty remote control.

* The view from the bed. In case you were wondering, that's a scale to the right of the TV. Devon found that to be noteworthy.

* Nurse Kelly, who I'm sure would love this picture.

* The smoke alarm, track for the privacy curtain, and sprinkler ... all in one picture!

* Cool pictures and design bordering the wall.

* The super cool, glow-in-the-dark moon and stars above Devon's bed.

* Devon was being a little bit solemn and grumpy. It had nothing to do with medical problems and everything to do with copping an attitude. So, while everyone else went to hunt down the cafeteria, Devon and I did a photo shoot. He absolutely loves getting kissed by me. Loves it! Can you tell? The fact that I have him in lockdown is coincidental. I assure you that he was not trying to escape. And his hand by my chin? That's a stroke of affection and not a defensive push.

* Little case of the giggles.

* I specifically told Devon to be serious. He's so defiant.

* The loot! Devon came home with all sorts of goodies from the hospital and his visitors. We didn't get it all in this pic, but you can see how fruitful his visit was. They even had a bag of candy for him, since his surgery was on Halloween.

* Abs of Shrek, which is way cooler than abs of steel for any boy. The top one is for the belly button entry, the other two are the hernia sites. In case you missed it, when they pushed the incarcerated hernia back they discovered a mild hernia on the other side. So, he had both repaired. Did you notice how nicely his iodine skin matches his orange sheets?


* The next pic is of his insides, so feel free to be done reading if you have a wimpy tummy. The pics are small and aren't particularly gross or anything, but I know some people can't handle seeing anything internal under any circumstances. So, I'm just trying to be thoughtful. Nice of me, isn't it?

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The two pics on the left are where his incarcerated hernia was. See how there's a darker red area on the top left of the top picture? That was the hole the intestines, which are on the bottom left of the pic, went through. So, if you'd been watching the hernia happen, then you'd have seen the back of the intestines as they went away from you through that hole. In the bottom picture on the left you can see how they tightened the hole up so no more intestines can try to escape.

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The two pics on the right are where his mild hernia was. I think those pics are harder to "read". The top picture has a dark spot in the upper center. That's the escape hole. The bottom picture has a spot that's obviously been tightened up, but I have a hard time matching it up with the first picture. It's just not as clear as the first set of pics.

BOOKS I FINISHED - OCTOBER 2008

I enjoyed all three books I finished up during October. Click on the titles for more information.

Beautiful Boy: A Father's Journey Through His Son's Addiction , by David Sheff
The thing that I loved most about this book was that it was just real. There wasn't the doom and gloom that says addicts will never recover. There wasn't false hope given to people by saying "if you just choose the right program, then the addict will live happily ever after". I recommended it to a friend whose son is in rehab right now and she confirmed how great the book was. The author really draws you in and you feel like you're riding the emotional roller coaster with him. Excellent book for those who love someone, particularly a child, who's battling drugs. Also a good read for any parent, as drugs know no boundary. They reach kids in public, private and home school, those raised in families that are devout Christians and those who are atheist, kids who are athletic, artistic, or intellectual, the loners and the popular kids, those who are rich, poor, and middle class, living in inner cities and tiny towns.

Love & Respect: The Love She Most Desires, The Respect He Desperately Needs, by Emerson Eggerichs
Judy Slaughter gave me this book a couple years ago when I told her how much I struggle with having a critical spirit. I read it then, so this was a re-read. It's broken into three parts - one for the husband, one for the wife, and the rest for the couple. When Judy gave it to me she forbid me from reading the husband part, as my critical attitude would have me thinking "see, I knew he should be doing that!". Though my attitude has improved since then, I chose to skip that part again. It's a great book and I recommend it for all wives who struggle with being critical of people, particularly their husbands.

Mountain Rescue Doctor: Wilderness Medicine In The Extremes Of Nature, by Christopher Van Tilburg
The author of this book is a doctor and a Crag Rat, part of a volunteer search and rescue team in Hood River county. His book tells about several of the calls he's gone out on, both on Mount Hood and in other locations. There are happy endings and sad endings, high profile calls that made nationwide news and small ones that no one ever heard about. He also includes a lot of history, information about the outdoors, and views on legislation concerning outdoor recreation.

TUNES WE LISTENED TO - OCTOBER

The Music Appreciation Project brought us some random music during October. Last month I didn't want to give our opinions on each album because I don't want to sway those with different musical tastes. I'm changing the plan this month. Some of these were so horrible that I wouldn't want anyone else to suffer through them. So I'm going to give some opinions this time.

The Bagpipe (World - Ireland, Scotland, Brittany, Galicia, Canada) - Sounded pretty much like bagpipe music.

El Gran Combo De Puerto Rico - Arroz Con Habichuela (World - Puerto Rico) - This was fun music and Naomi's favorite dancing album of the month.

Jolie Holland - Catalpa (Folk) - This was the most unpleasant music I've ever heard, as if someone randomly woke one day and decided to record an album.

Etta James - Matriarch of the Blues (Blues) - Loved it!

Toby Mac - Portable Sounds (Christian) - A favorite of everyone in the fam, listened to it a lot!

Taj Mahal - World Blues (Blues) - Liked the music, wasn't always listening carefully to the lyrics

Darby O'Gill - Waitin' For A Ride (World - Ireland) - Didn't mind the music, but the lyrics left something to be desired

Kid Ramos - West Coast House Party (Blues) - Fun music, kids did lots of dancing to it.