Just Breathe...

Oh boy! This week has been an emotional roller coaster. Ashton and Jenna are staying with their Nanny and Grampy in the mountains. Which one would think that it would be wonderful to just have a wee one to take care of. And all was good until the dreaded postpartum hit me like a ton of bricks. And I have to say it felt like it came out of no where. I had it pretty bad with Ashton but it was almost non-existant with Jenna. I had hoped that it would rear it's ugly head this time either. But, I guess with the house being so quiet it enveloped me. I've tried spending time out with friends, but the problem with that is that all of my friends have kids the same age as mine...

But, the most recent craziness is that Becca was in an accident. She was lifeflighted to Pensacola late last night. She was riding an ATV in the DARK and hit a pine tree. She's stable and all the test results are clear. There was worry of a concusion with possible brain damage since she hit her face and it swelled pretty good. She also beat up her right leg and arm. She'll be so very sore when she gets home, but at least she's alive. To be quite honest, when I got the phone call and the words hit a tree and lifeflighted were used in the same sentance, my guts just about got popped out of me. But, there's something about being a mom that gives you this insane ablity to instantly jump up and get to work-sleep or no sleep. Currently, I've had 2 hrs of sleep and I'm unable to get anymore right now. We got home this morning from the hospital at 4:30 and I didn't get Shiloh back to sleep until 5 and then I woke up at 7:30 and I'm getting ready for another hour and a half drive back out to sit in the hospital til she's dicharged. she so owes me a waffle for this one...But, I love her so much I wouldn't have it any other way.

Now that's funny!

Tonight for dinner i made a veggie casserole that had water chestnuts in it. Randall strongly dislikes those and tonight used orange juice to cut the taste in his mouth. Nearing the end of supper, Randall looked over at Jenna and she had a pile of them left on her plate. This is the exchange...

Randall: It looks like you inherited my dislike of water chestnuts.

Jenna: Yeah. I don't like those.

Ashton: Yeah, it must be because you had a hair in it.

So funny! Still laughing!

I feel productive...

Those who really know me, know that I can't go too awfully long without two sticks and string in my hands. For me my knitting has become as vital as breathing in my life. It calms me. It releases the creative energy that gets pint up inside when I spend days listening to the silly theme songs on kids shows. God created in me this insatiable desire to create. I enjoy learning all things crafting, cooking, home decore and improvement. I guess that's why I so easily became a personal publishing consultant with Heritage Makers. All this to say that I've finished some scarves that I have been working on the last two months.

They are just some basic recipe things, but I've enjoyed the automatic intuitiveness of them with all this craziness here.

This one is made with my first yarns that I spun on my spinning wheel. The tan in alpaca and the teal blend is sheep wool.

This one is some free yarn that I received as a gift with an order that I placed. It's a rayon blend and there was enough yarn to make a very long skinny scarf.

This is a scarf made with a skein of mohair and some of the leftover alpaca that I spun. when I was knitting it the mohair was a variegated green and the tan alpaca. I must say it looked like a set of army fatigues puked up in my lap. So, when I got done I dyed it with some food coloring and kool-aid to achieve this really pretty color.
Not the best pictures, but it's what I could do on my own this morning when everyone was asleep...now back to cleaning.

Easter on Rewind

On Easter we had a nice quiet day in our circus. I was able to get Jenna to wear the new Easter dress that Debbie got her for her birthday. Not only that but I got pictures as eternal proof to boot! We did all of our "Bunny" stuff on Saturday to keep Sun the sacred day that it should be. The kids had fun running all over the yard finding eggs. I didn't take pictures of that but Randall, the camera man that he is, got the whole thing on tape. It was fun to eat all the leftover chocolate that couldn't fit into the eggs. And I did it in record time too!

With out further ado, here's the photos. Shiloh didn't really want to sit with her siblings that day. She just wanted mom...

Happy Birthday Jenna!

Jenna is 4 years old today. How time has just slipped away. I remember very well the day she was born and I can't believe that she's not the baby that I'm changing diapers for now. My disbelief is probably accentuated by the fact that all three of my children look so similar when their babies.

So, today is Jenna's day. She wanted her whole party to be Spider-Man themed. At first she wanted it to be all Green Goblin (Spider-Man nemesis), but then decided that he was evil and always lost so she had to have Spider-Man since he was good and always won...For her presents she asked for a Kong-Fu Panda game, a bike, roller skates, and a rubber rat. Do you know how hard it is to find a rubber rat at Easter time? It took me weeks, but I found one at the Dollar Tree in town. She got 4 (count them 1 - 2- 3- 4) Barbies today. Which she surprisingly adores each one and immediately wanted to open them when we got home. She'll probably sleep with the necklace on that came with one of them. Maybe I'm raising a girl after all! So, I forgot to take pictures at the party, but I have a firend who did. (Thanks Becky!) But, until I get those you'll have to settle for a picture or two of the cake after we finished decorating it last night.

The Truth about Cats and Dogs...

is that they are mortal enemies. Yesterday we mourned the loss of a great cat. Fluffy was the best cat we ever had and he's now gone on to the great littler box in the sky. Ashton cried, as I'm sure you knew if you've read the previous post about Fluffy. Jenna said, "it's okay Ashton, we'll just get you a new cat." The culprit was our dog Ranger. He got a bit too ruff when he was playing with the cat and he died. So, now Ashton of course wants to get rid of Ranger for killing his cat. Oi...

On the brighter side, today Shiloh is 1 month old! I can't believe it. She's getting so big. I know she'll only keep growing, but there is a part of me that can't help but say, "she'll never be this small again." A part of me is mourning the passage of time already. It's easy to do when I look at Ashton and remember when he was that small and now he's six. I feel like I'm trapped in a time warp. It's like I went to bed 21 and a brand spanking new mom and woke up 27 with half grown babies. But, having older kids is providing me with lots of great picture taking opportunities. I got the cutest ones of Jenna holding Shiloh the other night.

But if not....

I subscribe to the Mercy River newsletter and a few days ago the devotional that was in it was about Shadrack, Meshack, and Abednigo. In the scriptures these young men say to Nebuchadnezzar, that they knew that God would save them from the fiery furnace, but if not, they would not worship the idols for they knew what was right and true. It is interesting to note the but if not. So often we go through life asking for things to work out a certain way. We sometimes forget that God has a greater plan. That he is omnipresent in all things. He knows what we need and when we need it.

Yesterday, Randall lost his job. We had made a plan for our family that didn't have this woven into it. It was our plan that Randall would be able to finish his schooling while still working at his current job so that we'd still have some money to live on. So, we were thrown for a loop. Now we have to regroup and figure out what to do. I'm sure that it is now time for me to prove that I will be faithful during this "but if not" moment.

Today is the begins the LDS semi-annual general conference. I love to hear the inspired words of our leaders. The holy ghost always has something for me to hear everytime. We've listen to the first session already and there were many things for both Randall and I to ponder on as we continue our journey together. But, one constant thread that I know I needed to hear was that the Lord blesses us with/through our trials, especially if we find and take opportunity to bless the lives of those around us who maybe much less fortunate than us. This is something that I learned from my parents and I have always tried to observe in my life. And now that I think about it, it's one of the very reasons Randall fell in love with me. At least that's what he says...But, I feel like maybe the Lord was reminding me of this for something else that might be in store for us. Maybe in the next coming months, we will have the opportunity to bless the life of someone here with what little we have to give and share.

I still feel VERY blessed. Heavenly Father has given me three wonderful sets of parents and multiple grand-parents who support us and love us and are examples to us. He has given us three beautiful children who we are in awe of and learn from everyday. Life is good. He blessed us to be in a financially secure situation when we had this loss occure. So, now we will sit back and see what more He will bless us with and in what ways we can be His hands here on earth.

I Am Blessed!

On Sunday, we had much to celebrate. We had my parents come down from AL. and we celebrated the birth of Shiloh by blessing her at church. Then we celebrated Randall's birthday. Shiloh is the second one we've had that we were able to bless that close to Randall's birthday. When Ashton was born we had our entire family there to share our joy. Sadly, though we were missing part of them this time, but they'll be here soon for a visit.

This year, as every year, for Randall's birthday, he got to choose what was for supper and dessert. He of course asked for pizza and Boston creme cake. The cake was "yum-o" and I'll definitely be making it again! Randall is ecstatic!

I'm feeling truly blessed now. I have beautiful kids who are the loves of my life and make me constantly happy. And to top it off, I have the most wonderful man as a husband. One of my closest friends reminds me of it every time she tells her daughter that she needs to find a Randall for the both of them. I. AM. BLESSED.