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| 12/13/2006
Last night, I was so tired, I forced (and it was a force!) myself to go to bed at 10:30. I had to...I had no energy left in me. I remember then when I was cutting and pasting, I thought to myself, "Maybe you should save your word document with the older blogs." But I was honestly so tired, I couldn't even think about doing that. So I went on to bed. When I got up this morning (a bit more refreshed, though not vibrant yet :), I checked my computer. Apparently, it once again decided to restart itself...I lost the last few days of posts. :( Bummer! Oh well, that seems to be the way my cookie crumbles sometimes... I do know that yesterday's post was all mushy and sentimental. I probably should add a little flip side to this, just to keep it real. We really thought when we first got Maria that she was this still, mousy, quiet little girl, scared of the world. Well, she is anything BUT still. Trying to read a book to her is like trying to shoot at a moving target. And she is not quiet. For whatever reason, she LOVES to sing at the top of her lungs in the middle of the grocery store. And mousy? Not hardly. Out of our three children, she is, by far, the most strong-willed one we are dealing with. Even my mom, a very devoted grandma who LOVES her grandkids, agrees with that. But she is who she is...and we are still ever so grateful that God chose our family for Maria. Tomorrow is D-Day (Day care day)...not only is it is day care day, but she has to go a little early. You might pray for both Mark and Maria. It could be a hard morning for them! I am sure that Maria will let Mark know all the way to day care that he is driving the wrong way. :)I am still hopeful that Maria will one day ENJOY day care and being with the other children... If you think of it, there is a young man who needs our prayers. I have mentioned his name before on here. This has not been a good week for him; let's flood the gates of heaven with prayers for healing. Brent and his family have an INCREDIBLE faith and testimony; I learn more from them than I could ever give back. Speaking of prayers, I have a praise! Many of you know about Cole. He is the sweet young man we met on our way back from Mississippi over Thanksgiving. His family is a sweet, dear family. I am so grateful to have met them (through the computer!). Anyway, Cole got some WONDERFUl news last week. He had a very important scan done...there were NO leukemia cells present! Unfortunately, that doesn't mean he gets to stop treatment. His plan is a 3 year treatment plan; he has a little less than two to go. But we are PRAISING God for this answer to prayer! I need to do a few more things and head to bed. Good night and God bless! |
| 12/16/2006
Whew! We have been SUPER busy. Not doing the things I probably ought to be doing (Christmas cards, wrapping gifts...) but fun stuff nonetheless. Let's see, it has been a couple of days. Oh, day care. Whew...Friday was a doozy. Apparently Maria had another major tantrum when Mark left her. When I went to pick her up, she was playing happily and was actually kind of slow to come meet me. As we walked down the hallway, she wanted me to carry her. I had full hands as did she and I told her "no". Oh, I failed to mention, I was also in pajamas; we had Pajama Day in kindergarten. So I hoped to be in and out REALLY fast. Anyway, we kept walking when she just stopped and threw her bunny and blanket down on the ground. I told her to pick them up so we could go...the other two were in the car waiting. She just lost it. MAJOR tantrum. Right in the middle of the day care. The teachers all joked that she usually cried when we were leaving her, not picking her up. It took another 10-15 minutes to get her to walk (with some assistance) to the car. Oh, we ended up leaving her bunny there because she refused to pick it up. When we got in the car, she cried all the way home about her bunny that she had refused to pick up! (It is in her cubby now) When we got home, I told her she needed to sit on her bed for a little bit. She sat her little bottom down in the garage and refused to budge. We went on in and she wailed a while out there. This went on for about an hour. I am still not sure what triggered it or why it happened, but it was quite an afternoon...just what I needed after a very long week. :) It took her another hour or two to be pleasant again... Anyway, Hunter had a friend come over last night to spend the night. The boys went out to eat for steak; the girls went to McDonalds, since I was still trying to determine Maria's emotional state. (better by then) Then we met the boys for "Charlotte's Web" at the movie theater. Maria watched her first movie in a theater! She loved the popcorn and did very well. She is wiggly, but she will stay in our laps and whispers if she wants to talk. I was impressed. (second half will be continued on a new page tomorrow...) |
| 12/14/2006
Where is the joy? I have to admit...I love Christmas. But it is such a hard time of year. The semester is ending at school, so I am spending a LOT of time doing assessments. On top of all that, next week is the week that the Department of Ed. is coming to visit. We are prepared as a school, but it is one more thing to add to the list. I rush around taking care of gifts, trying to get Christmas cards prepared (they aren't), decorating. Oh, and Hunter's birthday is right in there too. I sometimes get to the end of the day and wonder if I have really seen my kids at all. I don't even remember the last five minute conversation Mark and I had. Then there is money...it is such an expensive time of the year. Oh, presents are part of it, but so are tickets to shows, going out to eat (because Mommy is far too tired to think about cooking), charities wanting end of the year gifts. I feel like the money just flies through my fingers. Sigh...I find myself wondering if I can make it to Christmas Day, because maybe then it will all be done and I can just relax. (well, until we start finding home for the new gifts...) And I just have to remind myself...where is the joy? Is it in the cards, the gifts, the decorations? Or is it in my heart, a gift from a God who loved ME so much that He sent His son to this earth to live and die for all of my sins. Ahhh, that is the joy. Remind me of that next week when it gets crazier and crazier. :) Uh, day care...not so good today. Please pray for the day Maria is HAPPY about going, smiling all the way in... Oh, speaking of charities...if you have a little extra (I know, hard time of year), Maria's Hogar is accepting donations to help the children and the nannies have a wonderful Christmas celebration. You can send checks to "Seeds of Love", 101 E. Church St. #100, Tarboro, NC, 27886. It is even tax deductible! (That is not where the Hogar is obviously, just the agent who gets the money TO the Hogar...)I have been there...those nannies work tirelessly to help take care of sweet little faces like Maria Elizabeth's.... |