the children & the Red Sox

Well, as I type this post it is a little after 11pm here in New England. Tonight is the 1st night of the world series & we are halfway through the 6th inning. The Sox are winning by a commanding lead of 13-1. Please note several things here. I did not say they have this game in the bag & have won, because any one who is a New England sports fan knows that the game is NEVER over until it's over. Unfortunately I've seen bigger leads blown. Let me also note that while IMOPO I believe that the Sox DO have this game in the bag; I do not want to gloat & say yeah! Sox are on their way to winning the world series. Again, I've seen N.E. teams doing really well & then it seems they relax their game face, let their defense down & next thing you know forget it they're going home without the trophy!
SO I WILL JUST SAY LET'S GO RED SOX!

The 2 topics are not related tonight. Emily has been sick as I posted the other day. Let me just tell you it was a very sleepless night last night. Tonight it seems her fever broke & hopefully she's turned the corner & will be getting better quickly! However, I don't know if she had a nightmare or what tonite, but it took me a few minutes to get her calmed down. Then Rachel woke up & now they're both laying on the couch with daddy. (NOT SLEEPING I might add!) Ahhh, comes the chore of trying to get them back into their beds. Wish me luck!

children & life lessons

So my little ones are feeling a bit under the weather today. Hoarse voice, croupy cough, low grade fever, etc. Mom's not feeling great either, but completely different symptoms. But it is amazing how amid the confusion & sickness, God can teach you a life lesson. My oldest daughter (by 2 minutes)is fussing & whining at me all morning. If she wants something it's ah,ah,ah,uh,uh,uuuuhhhhh. I do not tolerate whining well. So I'm trying to get her to tell me what she wants or what is wrong. All I get is more whining & fussing. I'm like Lord, please just give me the strength, help me figure out what she wants. God just tells me(not audibly- just one of those thoughts that pop in your head,)this is how you talk to me sometimes. You should be able to articulate what you want to me, yet all you do is fuss & whine at me. If you just tell me what you want, what the issue is, I can help you out. Gee thanks, God.
I don't know why my 2 year old throws temper tantrums- I NEVER DO!
Any one want to buy some swamp land in Florida?

Have a blessed day!

happy anniversary shout outs

So today's post is dedicated to couples celebrating years of wedded bliss! As my husband & I are quickly approaching 4 years(Feb.) We have several friends who are celebrating today. So Happy 17 years to our friends Steve & Maria I., may you have at least that many more.
And to Mike & Jen L., Happy 6 years. May you have many more years. And may both couples continue to keep Christ at the center of your relationships.

Today our church did an outreach project at a therapeutic riding stable. I had to stay home with the little ones so I didn't get to see all they did, but I guess they accomplished quite a bit. This is a stable that helps children overcome some part of their handicap by building relationships with the horses.(At least that's my understanding.)

God Bless.

how cute are children?!

So my girls love to sing & dance. I've been singing Jesus Loves Me to them since they were in-utero. So that is definitely one of their favorite songs; in fact we have a children's cd in the van that they ask me to play Jesus loves me. Another of their favorites is Twinklestar, for those of us not versed in two year old language that would be twinkle, twinkle little star. Daddy has taught them to sing "Take me out to the ball game" - now that is cute when they sing it! 1,2,3 strikes your out! Just visualize little fingers trying to do 1,2,3. And certainly not last or least is Happy birthday.

We eat honey boats at our house. You might eat them at yours too. This is what us adults would call "honey bunches of oats". I love my children, especially when they're sleeping. :) No, I love my children all the time, but sometimes they just really try my patience.

I hope you have a blessed day.

Red Sox - do they really stink???

I just need to vent here. My hubby is much more a Sox fan than he is a football fan. For this I'm eternally grateful. I am not a football widow or for that matter any kind of sports widow unless the Red Sox make it into the playoffs.

So last night was game #2 of the American League Championship series. Cleveland Indians vs Boston Red Sox. Indians draw first blood. This is okay because in game #1 they did as well & Sox ended up winning 10-3. The Sox do okay, get a few hits, get on top. Indians answer with a few of their own. So just over halfway through the game it is 6-5 Sox. Indians come back, score 1 more run & the game stays tied 6-6 going into the 9th inning. And the 10th inning, and the 11th inning. Then the Sox bring in one of their newer acquisitions to pitch, Eric Gagne. At this point it is 1 in the morning. Yes you read that right 1 am. And we are still watching baseball!!! (I think we must be "loco en cabeza. [for those of you who've never taken Spanish that is crazy in the head.]) We have to get up for church in 5-6 hours!!!! Well, at this point my husband says the Sox just lost(by putting Gagne in)I'm going to bed. YEP! He was right. Final score in case you don't watch sports & didn't catch it in the news(yeah, that would be those of you who could really care less about this post!)Indians 13- Sox 6.

I probably wouldn't have been so upset about the lack of sleep & staying up to watch the game if they'd at least won.
Sometimes the Red Sox really stink! (I don't have a poor sportsmanship attitude at ALL!)

COME ON RED SOX LET'S GO ALL THE WAY!

p.s. The boys(cowboys that is) lost to New England. I am not having a good weekend here. NO, I am NOT a bandwagon fan when it comes to the boys. I've been a fan since the '80's- in fact I went to the Bengals-'Boys game in Cincinnati where Cincy was in their prime. Bengals beat them something like 50-3 I don't remember the exact score, just the fact that the 'Boys got their butt beat & it was ugly & it was freezing cold that night!

Birthday shout outs & Red Sox

So today is a good friend's birthday. Sharon is from Oct to July older than me. We met when we worked together in Cincy. I thought she was pretty, but snobby* I'm being nice here I really thought she was a b---h! We ended up living together & becoming awesome friends. She's helped me through some difficult periods in my life & I think vice versa. We have often been envious of each other's lives. She was married & having children I wanted that. She envied the fact that I was single & able to pick up, move 12 hours away from all family I knew & go to Bible school & follow God's will for my life. Just goes to show you that what you think the other person has isn't always the best for your life. See commandment #10 Thou shalt not covet.....anything that is thy neighbor's. That would be Ex. 20:17.
Another thing about Sharon, her b-day is on the 13th. I've always liked the 13th & am not a superstitious person. This means that every 7 years she gets to have her b-day on Friday the 13th!
So Happy Birthday Sharon! Hope it was a great one! Hugs to you, girl.

Also another birthday shout out is our nephew Jaden- he's going to be 3 on Tu. the 16th. He's from Oct. to Mar. older than my girls, so it is nice that my girls have a cousin close to them in age. (I never did.) Can we please make these little people stop growing?!

Congrats to our friends Mike & Jen on the birth of their new daughter, Kendal Marie. She was born on Wed. the 10th after only 4 hours of labor. That is just not right, Jen! All of us mommy's who've had long labors are really envious. She is beautiful.
Makes me want to have another one.(at least for a few minutes- then I usually ask myself do I really want those sleepless nights back?)

So tonight is game 2 of the American League Championship series. The question on all Sox fans minds is have the Sox truly broken the "curse" & can they win another world series? I think they're on their way, but I've seen N.E. teams blow too many leads, or pull it out at the last minute. So as a Sox fan I always say it's never over till the fat lady sings. Stephen King said it well last night when the score was about 10 -3 in the 7th inning. The reporter asked him if he thought the Sox would win. He said "I've seen them blow other leads, so...."

We here just have 1 thing to say- GO RED SOX!!!!

false alarms, pregnancies & wonderful husbands

So, my friend, neighbor & landlord(all the same person, in case you couldn't tell!) is 9 months pregnant with baby #2. Her actual due date was Oct. 4th. Alas that day has come & gone & there is no baby as yet. Now most women would not be happy about being late, but would probably not stress about it. And just to clarify she isn't stressing about it either, however she is sooo done being pregnant. Not only that, she's a hairdresser & has exactly 8 weeks maternity leave. Her last day at work was 10/2 & she has to be back to work 12/3 & she's already booked solid that week (& probably most of the month of Dec.). Her 1st child was about 2 weeks late, so let's do the math- she only had about 6 weeks at home with a new born. As any mom can tell you, especially those who go back to work it isn't a fun thing to do. Not that you don't like your job, but you have this amazing, new wonderful little miracle in your life & now you have to entrust him to someone other than his own parents - even if it's family! So the long & short of it is she'd really like this baby to get here! To the point she decided to try castor oil. She said it was not all the horror stories you've heard & it did give her some contractions. Well, about 1:15am she calls me & says can you come sleep upstairs? The contractions are about 4 min. apart & after calling my dr. he said come in. Imagine every one's disappointment when she calls me a little after 3:30am & says they sent me home I'm only 3 cm dilated. :( So needless to say I got very little sleep last night.
Which is where the wonderful husband comes in. He didn't go to work today due to the holiday, & the rain(sprinkles) we had. Don't get me wrong, I'm not complaining about this especially after today! About 11am he tells me go lay down & take a nap. Gee twist my arm honey! I don't think I could hit the bed fast enough. He shut the bedroom door, took the phones away from me & said don't worry I'll entertain the girls. I got up almost 2 hrs. later feeling much more refreshed & almost my normal self. This is what I woke up to. He loaded, ran & unloaded the dishwasher. The girls were very quiet the 2 hours I was in the bedroom. Let me just paint that picture for you- we have a small 2 bedroom 5 rooms total apartment. They were sitting at the table eating mac & cheese w/hot dogs for lunch. Can you say WOW! Thanks honey- you made my day.

Now for the pregnancy part. People, people, people DO NOT, I repeat DO NOT ask a 9 month, late, pregnant person "So how you doing?" This is just asking to get slapped. Okay, maybe that's a little strong, but let's just think about this. How the heck do you think she's doing???? Do you expect her to say "Great, I'm gonna go run a marathon tomorrow, since the baby isn't here yet!"??? I just know that when I was in those shoes I was ready to start cussing like a sailor.
Well, on those rants, I need to get to bed & catch up on the sleep I lost yesterday.

I just have one more thing to say before I close- Go Indians, beat the yucky Yankees!

Red Sox

The Red Sox swept the Angels. My husband is happy, mostly. The Indians almost swept the Yankees, but alas there is at least 1 more game. We will see what happens. Hopefully in the next couple of days we'll be able to sing "Nah, Nah, nah, nah, hey, hey, goodbye" to A-Rod, Jeter & the rest of the Yankees. And then we'll be playing the Indians.
My brother grew up in OH, but now lives in NY close to Buffalo. (Do you see where I'm going with this one?) So he is a Bills fan, but as far as baseball is still an Indians fan. My nephew, his son, is a Sox fan so when that game happens there will definitely be a little family sports tension going on.


I just have one thing to say. GO RED SOX!

mom

It is 6 months ago today, that my hero & one of my best friends passed away. -my mom
It has been a long six months as far as missing her; yet it seems like it was just yesterday. This is the best & most recent photo I could find of my mom with my girls. L-R Rachel, mom, Emily
This was at Thanksgiving last year. She was actually feeling pretty good at this time & we took a walk up to her mailbox to get her mail.
I still find it hard to believe she's gone. And knowing that she's in a better place with our Lord Jesus Christ, that her body has been restored & she's not suffering, not being poked & prodded day in & day out; makes it marginally better. But it doesn't take away the pain of missing her. She fought a brave fight against her illness, myelodysplastic syndromes. And if you didn't know her you wouldn't have even thought she was sick. To learn more about this terminal illness go to www.mds-foundation.org.
It is amazing looking back, the things I have learned from my mom. Look for these in a later post, probably mid-December if/when I do a birthday tribute to her.
For now, I'll just sign off- I miss you, mom.