BEST BUDS

While Brooklyn is at school all day,

these two have created a special bond.

It's fun watching their friendship grow within their 'sibling-ness'.

OSCAR AWARD WINNER, LUKE MATHENY

Soooo...watched a high school classmate win an Oscar last night. Don't get to see that every year!

http://www.facebook.com/l.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Fvideos.nymag.com%2Fvideo%2FOscars-Luke-Mathenys-Speech&h=1a6e1

What an exciting night for Luke.....
and my brother, Andrew.
Scott and I were watching the acceptance speech and the phone rang. Andrew called practically hyperventilating he was so excited. I knew Luke was up for the Oscar so we were watching to see if he won. Probably should have let Andrew know....ha!

Congratulations, Luke!

MEDICAL UPDATE

It's on the calendar!

March 21st

7:30am

We will be leaving our house at 4:45am to arrive at the hospital by 5:30am to prep for surgery. There will be 3 hernias plus an entire 'defective' area (as the surgeon called it today) repaired, abdominal muscles reigned back in and held in place along with removing any excess skin....essentially a 'tummy tuck' which my insurance company has deemed medically necessary. It must be bad to have an insurance company agree to cover it?!?!?

The surgeon says I will have a completely reconstructed abdominal area at the end of all of this...thank goodness!!!Not sure if he will follow through with my request for a six pack to be sculpted??? I will spend 2-3 days in the hospital. And, have been told I can start thinking about working out 6 weeks after surgery. Can't wait!!!

Although, I can feel my blood pressure start to rise thinking about going back into the hospital after the last experience...it has to happen. The end result will be worth it. A couple months of pain (a different kind of pain) to get back to being healthy and active. Totally worth it!

And, it will be a

HAPPY BIRTHDAY

for my husband!

Just what he always wanted....

to wake up at 4am, drive his wife to the hospital and deal with a drooling fool for the next several days. What a lucky guy!!!

IT WAS QUITE THE PEP TALK

I love my husband.

For many reasons....

one of them being his sense of humor

and saying just what I need to hear.

Tonight as Scott and I were sitting on the couch, I made a comment about how ridiculous I feel. I'm 36 years old and my skin looks 13 due to the high dose of hormones I'm on right now yet the rest of my body feels like I skipped several decades and went straight into the 70's.

I feel RIDICULOUS!

My husband's 'pep talk'???

"Don't worry....

in less than a month, you will feel horrible!"

How could I not laugh?

BEST VERSE OF THE DAY

IN LIGHT OF BEING IN A BODY THAT IS SEEMINGLY BETRAYING ME AND SUCCUMBING RAPIDLY TO THE AGING PROCESS OF THIS WORLD....

PSALM 73:26 (MSG)

WHEN MY SKIN SAGS AND MY BONES GET BRITTLE,

GOD IS ROCK-FIRM AND FAITHFUL.

THIS VERSE MADE ME LAUGH

AND

PRAISE GOD ALL AT THE SAME TIME.

ITS THE CRUELEST OF DAYS

IT IS AWESOME OUTSIDE TODAY!!!

AWESOME!

64* AND SUNNY

I HAVE 2 WINDOWS OPEN

FLIP FLOPS ON

ALEX IS RUNNING AROUND OUTSIDE

AWESOME!

But, it is only for today.

By the end of the week...

it will be back to the 20's with possible snow.

WHY ???

THE OLD HAS GONE, THE NEW HAS COME

II Corinthians 5:17

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ,

he is a new creation;

the old has gone, the new has come

This is a Bible verse that I have memorized

and it now has real meaning for me.

It was a long night.

I had a wonderful time out with girlfriends and was home by 9pm. While we were out, some of us had a conversation about things in our past. Nothing earth shattering, just things that happened in high school and college.

After dinner, I was dropped off at home and hung out with my hubby for a while before heading to bed. But, God wanted my attention last night and made sure I gave it. Not much sleep was to be had.

See, although I know the exact moment I asked Christ into my heart...I also know all the times I was not walking with Him. Yet, there is another moment that I got right with God and started consciously trying to humble myself enough to give God the front seat of my life. Don't get me wrong...I'm a horrible backseat driver. I fail. A lot. But, in God's grace, I can ask forgiveness and start over. What an amazing God!!!

So, why could I not sleep last night?

Because God wanted me to understand that I wasted a whole evening talking of the 'old' and not talking of my saviour. I hate that my sinful nature can take over and monopolize my thoughts and words. See, I believe our past is part of what makes us who we are in the present. The good and the bad. Talking about these things to just talk is pointless. What we are called to do is to acknowledge where God was walking with us in all of it and give the glory to Him. He saved me. That is that part I should be talking about.

I am a new creation in Christ.

I am a daughter of the King.

I need to remember that and share the joy.

IT TOOK HIM A LITTLE LONGER

BUT HE HAS FINALLY DONE IT!!!

Riggs figured out how to pick up food and put it in his mouth. With how much he eats, you wouldn't think that would be an issue, right? But...he has not put food into his own mouth until now.

'See, Mom...here is the puff.'

'I put it in my hand, like this...'

'smoosh it into my mouth...'

'give it one more shove to make sure its in there...'

'Voila. See, I did it. Now get me more'.

NOT FOLLOWING THE LEADER

My little helper asked to vacuum...ummm, yes please!

Then I hear

"MOMMMM, WHY WON'T IT FOLLOW ME!?!?"

Geez, I don't know, Alex???

IT'S HERE ALREADY!?!?

We came home this afternoon to a box waiting for us at the door.

Grandma's much anticipated Valentine's box from Florida arrived.

As always, lots of fun and love packed into the box.

The girls put the gel stickies on the window

THANKS, GRANDMA!!!

BIG SISTERS

If I'm not ready for Riggs in the morning,

the girls race to entertain him until I get there.

He LOVES it!

They are such great big sisters!

HE IS SOOOO NOT HAPPY WITH ME!

Riggs loves to go upstairs and play with his sisters. But, there are times he needs to stay down and play with his stuff. He might try to follow them but would get to the first or second step and yell for a rescue.

UNTIL....

Wednesday, I was making dinner and noticed he hadn't been trying to scale my legs for a few minutes. Just wanting to see what he was doing, I started looking around.

Where did I find him???

On the last step to the top of the stairs!

Needless to say, there is now a gate.

And, he gets so mad....

WELL, THAT WAS DISAPPOINTING!

Sooooo....we had a blizzard.
I think.
Listening to the news, watching the radar,
seeing the fear in peoples faces
got me excited.

Not for the blizzard
(we all know how I feel about the weather around here)
but for a weekday at home with my husband and kids.
School would be canceled.
Work would be impossible to reach.
We would be warm inside, playing games, working puzzles,
drinking hot chocolate...you know, fun family bonding time!

But, noooo.
Other than sleeping in a wind tunnel last night
(and seriously thinking about duct taping my pillow to the bed)
and having to blow through a couple of large drifts
on the sidewalk and driveway....
everything is the same at our house.

FROZEN AND SNOWY!
with only me and the kids at home....dreaming of a land far away!