Wondering and Pondering....

I have been wondering about something....It is with a very heavy heart that I ponder this thought. How long do you give and give and give before you give up? How long do you try and help only to be rejected time and time again? How long do you give words of advice based on your experience, only to fall on deaf ears?

This is where I am. I know I do not have all of the answers and I am by far perfect, but when you care about someone so much and only want the best for them, when do you stop because it hurts you too much?

As I sat crying feeling sorry for my self and feeling like a failure for trying to help, the Lord spoke to my heart. I would like to interject here that God has the voice of Max Lucado to me...if you have watched any of the Hermie video's you will know what I am talking about. If I am sitting here this hurt and pained by what is happening in my itty bitty human life, oh, how must God feel when we do not heed his PERFECT advice?? I can hear him saying, with pain in his voice (like Max Lucado), "Oh, my child, if you would only listen". He must have the same goals that I have had...to help, make life so much easier, be an encouragement, be a friend...only to be rejected. I will tell you, this is hurting me so bad, I can only imagine what God must feel.

This also makes me think of gratitude...again...how long do you keep giving to someone when it goes unappreciated? Now, I am not talking about getting the "Giver of the Year" award or anything like that, but a simple Thank You...I appreciate it...would be nice every once in a while. I think a person can only go so long doing something for someone without hearing Thank You. Now, I realize that there are many thankless jobs out there and that many people do things because they love doing it and would do it without ever hearing Thank You. And once again, I wonder how it hurts God to not hear Thank You.

We hear of John 3:16 so many times, but, I think it goes even farther than Eternal Life...I believe that it can also be relevent to our everyday life....

John 3:16 (The Message)

^16-18"This is how much God loved the world: He gave his Son, his one and only Son. And this is why: so that no one need be destroyed; by believing in him, anyone can have a whole and lasting life. God didn't go to all the trouble of sending his Son merely to point an accusing finger, telling the world how bad it was. He came to help, to put the world right again. Anyone who trusts in him is acquitted; anyone who refuses to trust him has long since been under the death sentence without knowing it. And why? Because of that person's failure to believe in the one-of-a-kind Son of God when introduced to him.

We can have a WHOLE life...a fulfilled life...God does not want us to live an unfulfilled life or a partial life...but a WHOLE life...and ANYONE can have a whole life. Even today, no one needs to be destroyed in spirit...those that are downtrodden and wounded...my heart breaks for them. I need to remember that I am not Jesus, Jr....I can not fix or make whole...only Jesus can do that...but can I be Jesus with skin on?? Yes....

Too Much TV???

Oh, my....

This is the latest story Jake has for us...and he truly believes it to be true...He is going to be in for a rude awakening, I'm afraid.

So...we are going to Disney for vacation. The other night, as we are laying in bed talking about our day, he says to me,

"Mommy, while we are at Disney, the workers are going to come and knock our house down!"

Me: "Jake, I'm sorry, but that is not going to happen to our house".

He continued with this thought for quite some time....and then on Sunday...he elaborated even more.

J: Mommy, are you taking your cell phone to Disney?

M: Yes, Jake, I am definitely taking my cell phone to Disney.

J: Daddy...and you HAVE to take your laptop to Disney.

D: Why Jake?

J: So when we are at Disney, the workers can call us and show us what they are doing to our house!

My child is absolutely convinced that we are coming home to a new house because ours is really old! Like, is more than convinced....I am almost scared to come home!!

No more Extreme Home Makeover for him!!!! And I thought that was a safe show for him to watch!! Apparantly not!!!

More Funny Stuff....

The other evening, Kailey wasn't listening too well and I had to pull out the full name...Kailey Isabelle...

Well, Jake was quite quick to correct me..."Mommy, Kailey is NOT a bell!!!"

I had to laugh at him...and of course...Kailey didn't quite get it.

YAY Jake!!!!!

Jake has done it!!!  He has moved up a level in his swim lessons!!!  I am so proud of him!!!  It is bittersweet, though, because it is proof right in front of me that he is growing up so fast!

It is even more bittersweet when I think of a friend of mine's niece, who at just 2 years old, lost her life to Leukemia.  She also had down's syndrome and many, many heart problems.  Her heart was just too sick to treat the cancer.  You can see more here.  My heart just breaks for them and I just want to hold on to Jake so tightly!!  Please keep their family in you prayers.

More T Ball Pics!

Good Job, Jake!

Nice hit!

Foul Ball

Throwing to 1st Base

T-Ball!!!

We found a 3 - 6 yr. old T Ball league here in Waynesboro!!!  Of course, we jumped on the opportunity!!!  Jake had his first practice last night.  3 year olds playing T Ball is just way too cute and funny...even if you don't have your own 3 year old.

Getting a little instruction from the coach

Eagerly waiting for the ball to be hit to him

I have more pictures, of course, but Jake has been asking all morning to go out and play catch, so off we go to play catch.  And how nice of Daddy to dig out his old softball glove to give me to play catch with Jake....I'm so not a baseball kind of girl!!!

Kids Say the Darndest Things....

I may regret posting these later, but Jake has come up with some doosies lately....This first one, I'm not sure if I was happy we were in a restaurant or mortified....you'll see why....

A conversation with Jake and Daddy....talking about what we needed to get done after we got home...

Daddy:  Jake, you need to pick up all your toys from the living room and put them in your play room.

Jake:  Where's my playroom???  (because it has several names, the front room, the play room, the toy room)

Daddy:  In the front room, Jake.

Jake:  Daddy...where is your play room???

Daddy:  I don't have a play room...well...I guess the living room is my play room...it has all of my toys.  (does the couch count as a toy??)

Jake:  Daddy...but your bedroom could be your playroom.

And I'll leave it at that!!!  LOL.  

Lately, ever since I did a maternity session that Jake was there for, Jake has been convinced that he has a baby in his tummy...and he will let you know that he does!  Well...he and Daddy had quite the conversation about how only girls have babies in their bellies.  Jake wholeheartedly disagrees and informed Daddy that when he grows up he will have a baby in his belly!!!

I really, really need to be better about writing these things down as he keeps me laughing a lot these days.

Pictures, As Promised!

Jake hunting eggs

Jules hunting eggs  (this is his girlfriend)

Ms. Jules...

Hide it under a bushel, NO!

I'm gonna let it shine

This little light of mine

Oh, my!!!

I know...I still have to get pics up...but this was just way too funny not to share....

Kailey and Jake are drawing pics for Jesus....it's so sweet....

Kailey comes running out to me and tells me....

"This is the cross I died on last week when my mommy was running after me"

I guess they are really listening in church!!!

Jake had to come and show me his picture of "Jesus and the cross He died on"

I have to get some pictures of these....

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I have got to be one of the meanest Mommies and Aunts alive...

Both Jake and Kailey were just bouncing off the walls...hyper...mouthy...not listening...you name it...Why on earth I thought going to Burger King was a good idea, I'm not sure.  AND...I didn't do what my good friend Judy does with her kiddos...go thru the Drive Thru and then go to the play area....what a GREAT idea...one that I WILL use!

Anyway...I set the expectation of no yelling, no running, you need to sit at the table while I order.  Well, that was probably expecting a little too much from them, but, at the time, I thought they could handle it.  Of course, they were bouncing off the walls, there, so I warned them and reminded them of the consequence of leaving if they did not behave.  Well, let's just say, they chose not to behave and we left...didn't even get a chance to order.  I guess that it didn't help that I felt like people were looking at me like I couldn't control these children.  I don't understand why parents of teenagers seem to forget what it is like to have a 3yr. old that sometimes can be loud and disobedient.  

Lots of Crafts and Singing Today...

What a yucky, rainy, day!!   The kiddos were absolutely WILD today so we didn't even go to the library.  As I sat here pondering what on earth am I going to do with these guys today...I got the idea to do some spring and Easter crafts.

So...we made some foam crosses and decorated them for Jesus.  They were so sweet...They wanted Jesus to be happy with them for making beautiful crosses.  We talked about Easter and what really happened at Easter.  I am really suprised at what all they knew.  

Jacob decided to tell me this story:  (which, is a little frightening to me as he was REALLY sick last year and he basically passed out on us from being dehydrated)  Anyway...on to the story....

"One day, I was really, really sick and I went to Heaven to see Jesus, but God told me it wasn't time yet and to go back home".

I'll have some pictures to share a bit later of the crafts....

We put in a CD of some kiddie music...it is way too sweet.  They were stuck on "This Little Light of Mine"  I have some great pictures of them singing and dancing and holding out their "Little Lights".  It is now supposed to be quiet time (but this is the first day of doing quiet time) and it's almost quiet.  I think it is quiet enough for me to get my shower!!!  I'll be posting pictures later...

The sickies are gone...

YAY...Jake has recovered remarkably well.  I always get worried when he gets chest colds because we usually end up on Prelone.

Cosmic Skate in Waynesboro has beginner skate lessons on Saturday mornings from 11:30 to 12:30.  Jake really, really wants to learn to skate so we took him.  They are running a special that if you come to 5 lessons (and the lessons are only 5.00) you get a free summer pass.  I think that is a pretty good deal!!!  He had a blast and is doing pretty good, still working on that whole balance thing, though!

Bronchitis-Yuck!

It's not been a fun day at our house!  Jake is sick...went to the Dr tonight.  While in the waiting room, Jake burped.  We know that burp...and yep...threw up all over Daddy.  And while I'm running around like a chicken with my head cut off trying to find something to help them...no one helped us at all.  The receptionist was on the phone...the other guy back there (not sure of his position...but that is another story!)...and people sitting right next to a garbage can didn't speak up!  Okay, the person sitting next to the garbage can was a guy...maybe he just didn't have those natural instincts to jump up and help.

Anyway...Jake got the privilege of wearing Daddy's 3xxL, Tall, undershirt.  It pretty much swallowed him.  The Dr. took one listen to him and he has bronchitis.  If he is not better by Thursday, we get to do chest xrays and all that fun stuff.  I hope it clears out by then.  I hate it when he is sick!!

Moving up in Swim Lessons...

Not a whole class, yet...but he did get to move from a 3 layer bubble to a 2 layer bubble to jump today.  He is doing so great.  When he started, he held on to Ms. Kara's hands for dear life as he jumped.  On Monday, he didn't even need to be told to jump...he just jumped!!  A little too soon, I might add, as Ms. Kara wasn't even there...oops!

I hope that on Monday, we go to just the 2 layer bubble for the entire lesson!!!  It would be so great if he could actually swim on his own by the summer!!!

So long, Sal....

Good Grief!!!  Sal is now gone...

Again, another trip to PetSmart.  They are quite nice about it and believe they got a bad shipment of the small algae eaters.  Six have come back.  So...Doug got a larger one.  Let's hope he makes it!!  Dead fish are just nasty!

Poor Al the Algae Eater....

Well, we have had our first loss.  RIP, AL.  I guess Al decided that he wasn't right for the job and kicked the bucket.  Good thing Pet Smart has a 14 day guarantee on their fish!  So, Doug scooped him out, put him in a baggie, and put him on the back porch while we ate dinner....I mean, what do you do with a dead fish while you eat dinner???

So, Doug brought home Al's cousin, Sal...Sal seems to know his job and seems happy.  Hopefully, Sal works out much better!

Adventures in Aquariums

For Christmas, Santa brought Jake an aquarium.  Daddy pleaded with Santa to bring Jake one...and Santa listened.

Well...things have been going well with the little fishies.  All are alive and swimming.  Only one problem.  We placed it in our front room where we get horrendous afternoon sun and now we have algae growing on the sides.  We thought it would be cool to get an algae eater, so off to Pet Smart we go.  Once there, we were talked into going with 2 snails instead.  Okay, they are kinda gross but kinda cool at the same time.  Well...they both refuse to attach to the sides...one is hidden in the mountain thingy we have in there and the other is just crawling around on the gravel.  They are refusing to do their jobs.  So...off we go to Pet Smart again...this time, to get working snails...ones that know what to do.  It's now obvious that on one at Pet Smart agrees with each other and you will hear a different answer depending on who you ask.  So, we left with a real algae eater this time.

One problem...now we can't find either of the snails or the algae eater...appropriately named "Al" the Algae Eater.  I only have one thing to say...he better show himself and get to eatin' some algae!

A new post...

Oh, goodness...it has been a month....I really wanted this to be an everyday thing...

Well...the sickies have hit our house...Doug and Jake have really bad colds.  The big baby won't stay home from work...he insists on going to work with a high fever!  What can ya do??

The little one...he came down stairs this morning and announced that he woke up coughing and that he must have swallowed a fly.  He and daddy were talking about catching bug (a cold bug) and somehow they have turned it into swallowing a fly.  Doug does such a good job explaining things to Jake.  

Next week starts a busy week...and the reality that my little boy is growing up...we have swim lessons and Gymnastic lessons starting.  Jake has been doing a fabulous job in his swim lessons...I think he might get to move up after this next session!!

Kick, Jake, Kick!!

Singing during lessons...silly boy!

Swimming on his back all by himself!!!  I'm so proud of him!!

I can't wait to see what he does in Gymnastic classes!!!  I can't stay in there with him...only the 1st and last class...how sad!!!  I'm sure he'll do great...and it will give me a chance to work out...no excuses.

And, on the note of working out....I have a goal...I'm going to make it public so ya'll can hold me accountable....I am going to do everything that I can to run the Firecracker 5k run in Waynesboro.  By the title, you can probably guess that it is July 4th...so...I think I can do it!!!

Netflix and Might Machines

Can I just say, I LOVE Netflix!!!

As a Christmas present, we recieved a one year membership for the one video a month deal. Cool!! Well....with that you can also watch instantly on your pc or tv if your tv has HDMI inputs. Well, ours does...so...we have 12,000 movies and TV shows to choose from at the click of a button.

Well...Jake has an insane fascination now with Mighty Machines. It's just videos of Big Trucks, Construction Equipment, or anyother type of moving object that boys just love and they tell the kids what jobs they do...it's quite boring for me, but quite entertaining for a 3 yr. old boy!

So, anyway....all this can be yours, too for just 4.99 a month!! It sure does beat paying the cable company 10 times that much, only to have nothing on to watch!! LOL...I'm sure everyone can relate to having 100 channels but nothing of any value to watch!

I did it!!!

Woo Hoo!!! I just did my first blog background EVER!! It's quite easy, actually...not near as hard as I thought it was!! I just don't have a lot of digi scrap stuff downloaded yet, so this was just a VERY quick put together...and I still have to do a header....

A new personal blog....

It has been suggested that I start my own personal blog. Well...I guess this is it. Not sure what I intend on sharing here...maybe a few funnies from the day...because, well...as a mom of a 3 year old, there is always something new...or maybe just some random stuff that is floating thru my brain...or maybe, once in a while, I'll get on my soapbox and preach to the choir so to speak.

And maybe, just maybe....a craft or two will pop on the blog...who knows....it, quite literally, is a blank slate at this point.

So...stop back and hopefully I'll have an interstesting story to share!