FINAL Job Update

Yes, you heard me right.  I won't have to keep telling you he's still looking because

HE GOT THE JOB!!!!!

Praise the Lord!  After starting in to the 12th month of lay off an offer was given and accepted.  His first day will be Feb. 8th. 

This is the company that he flew to N*wY*rk three days after surgery to interview with at their headquarters.  The local office is only 10 - 15 minutes from home!  Yea!

It may take awhile but life can begin to return to normal, whatever that is.  I'm going to have to readjust to having him gone again.  He has spoiled me with his house husband-ness, parts of me doesn't want him to be gone.  Our bank account on the other hand says different!

I'd like to thank all the people who helped us make it through these last few months.  Without your generosity things would have certainly been much more diffucult.  We love you and thank God for you.  Please know that your kindness will never be forgotten and you will forever be part of our testimony.  The Lord used you in a mighty way as He provided for us.  Blessed be Jehovah-Jireh!

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

In other news:

Rex has healed nicely since the surgery.  The week after being in the hospital his incision started bleeding whenever he would move certain ways or rubbed against it with his belt buckle.  This went on for about 4 days until he found ways to protect it better and not lift heavy things.  Since then it's had a chance to completely close and all is back to normal, minus one appendix.

I have been on a quest to find local Guatemalan adoptive families and was able to find someone not too far from me.  Hopefully we will get to know each other better and our kids can meet and form a friendship.  If you know of anyone in and around the Charlotte area, please send them my way!

Our family is getting ready to celebrate some important days.  Keep checking back to find out what they are and you can celebrate with us!

Job Update

Haven't talked about this in a while because there hasn't been much to report.  He's still looking and interviewing, currently on final interviews at a company's headquarters in N*wY*rk.  That's right...
After having surgery Monday night he flew out three days later so he wouldn't miss it.  A final decision is supposed to be made Tuesday of next week and there was no way he was going to reschedule.  You can't keep a good man down!

When people hear N*wY*rk they always ask if we would have to move.  Praise the Lord, no! I don't mean that in a bad way it's just that we like where we are and don't feel called to relocate.  The office he'd be at is about ten to fifteen minutes from home.  It's an ideal situation. 

I'm claiming the promise of Ephesians 3:20.  "Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us."  That has already been the case for this week and my prayer is for that to continue.  We believe He has the perfect job set aside and we want to be found faithful in our waiting. 

Join with me today as I lift up my strong man.  That he will say the right things and make the necessary impression to receive an offer.  Then, for safe travel as he flies home. 

Living In A Whirlwind

I'm really having trouble knowing even how to begin, we've been living in a whirlwind for the past couple of days.  First a quick update on K-Man since my last post.  You'd never know anything had happened to him.  He was sore the next day and kept saying, "Watch my head."  Ever since then, he's been back to his usual cute self.  He'll have his stitches taken out next week some time. 

The next day, Saturday, we were supposed to have our annual New Year's get-together with Rex's running buddies and their families at our former Sunday School teacher's house but it was canceled that morning due to illness.  Three of the six families were healthy and in town so we decided that we'd still meet since we had all planned to do it anyway.  We laughed, talked, played games, laughed some more, and ate way too much.  We always have the best time with those folks.

Moving on to Sunday.  My dear, sweet husband was ordained as a deacon during the evening service. 

I couldn't be prouder of him!  I've watched as his relationship with the Lord has grown this past year and it just blesses my heart!

He is a champion for our family and does all he can for us.  We love him so much!

During the service it was mentioned how s*t*n likes to attack us.  We had no idea it would happen so soon!

Around 10 o'clock Sunday night poor Rex is doubled over with severe stomach pain.  He thought maybe he had food poisoning from eating some bad leftovers.  He just couldn't get comfortable and was up and down all night.  By 10 o'clock Monday morning he was telling me it was so bad that he was going to the doctor.  For my man to go to the doctor means he must really be in bad shape. 

From the urgent care he was sent to have a ct-scan done to confirm appendicitis.  Sure enough, that's what was going on.  He was then told to be at the hospital within the hour.  By the way, this was the second visit to urgent care for one of us already this year, and the year was only 4 days old! 

He was taken back to surgery at 5 o'clock.  Love the hat honey!

The surgery only lasted about 45 minutes.  Everything went well so they moved him up to a private room to recover.  We were planning on going home around 9:30 but just about that time he started getting sick from the anesthesia.  It didn't help that he hadn't eaten all day.  We decided at that point it might be better if he stayed overnight. 

My mom was already scheduled to be in town for a doctor's appointment yesterday morning and was planning on spending the night.  Talk about God's perfect timing!  She was able to stay with the kids while I was at the hospital so there was never an issue with childcare.  It's no coincidence that all the details had already been taken care of.  God is so cool like that! 

After getting the kids ready for school this morning, I went back out to the hospital to pick up my sweetie, minus one appendix.  He has a big purple buise on his abdomen and walks kinda slow but he's been up and around the house for the rest of the day.  I have to keep reminding him to take it easy.

Whew!  So it's been an eventful few days at our house.  It's also been amazing to see how God has put all these pieces together like a puzzle.  What a mighty God we serve!  To Him be all the praise and glory!

We're off with a Bang!

A head bang that is.

After staying up late for New Year's Eve and then sleeping in, the kids were full of energy. So, what does K-Man do? Jump on our bed. A favorite pasttime that has gotten him scolded before but obviously not made the necessary impression. Well, this time what happened might have done the trick.

As he was having a good 'ole time, he fell backwards onto the pillows only missing them 'by that much'. He slams his head down on the edge of the wooden head board with a loud thud which immediately got my attention from the other room. I was down the hall in the laundry room just waiting for it. You know, the couple seconds before the wail. When it pierced the silence it wasn't the typical whine but a cry of pain. Time for mama to come kiss the boo boo.

As I rounded the corner, my husband, who had been sitting on the bed watching football, was already holding him and had his hand on the back of his head. All I saw at that point was blood dripping between his fingers.

I had to rinse the laundry soap off my hands before I could wet a washcloth and start playing my role of nurse mommy. I knew that head wounds bleed easily and sure enough, it didn't take long before the washcloth was covered. It was hard to assess how bad it was because Kenan's hair is so dark it made it difficult to really see what was going on. What I could make out helped confirm my initial thought of, "This boy in going to need stitches."

Well, because we had slept late, Madeline and I were still in our jammies so I told her to go get dressed. The look on her face was a mixture of panic and horror. She didn't know what was going on. I think all the blood made her think he was dieing or something. She started crying, bless her heart, but it was nice to see how concerned she was for the person she fights with regularly. We kept assuring her he was going to be okay. I quickly changed too and threw on a hat, no time to fix my hair. We all piled into the car and Rex held him in the backseat holding an ice pack and washcloth on his head.

I drove to the nearest urgent care which is only about 10 minutes from our house. Wouldn't ya know it! Closed! Are you kidding me?! Then I remembered it was New Year's Day. So, I called a friend of mine as we headed toward the hospital to find out where she had taken her son a few weeks ago when he broke his ankle. It ended up being the urgent care that we had gone to last year for Kenan's broken foot. She suggested going there instead of the emergency room because we'd probably get in faster. I called to make sure they were open this time. I guess we're becoming regular customers.

It didn't take too long to be called back but waiting for the doctor once we made it to the exam room took forever. Seriously, what takes so long? I began to wonder if they were watching and listening to us on a hidden camera. Finally, he comes in and sure enough, my Guatemalan cutie needs stitches.

I thought for sure my little guy would not handle this well. He's two and being stuck with sharp objects. It meant screaming, right? Wrong! All he made was an ouchie face and that's it. He didn't even move while the doctor tied three black stitches into the top of his head. What a man!

So, there you have it. Our first day of 2010. Have you heard the saying that what you do on New Year's Day you'll be doing the most of during the year? Let's hope that's not true!

Welcome 2010 - Happy New Year!

It was a quiet evening at home with the family on New Year's Eve last night. We ate a nice dinner and had a special dessert, molten chocolate cakes. The whipped cream is already starting to melt into the chocolate. Yummy!


We gave baths and played W*ii I*Spy until it was time to watch the final countdown. We toasted in the new year with sparkling apple cider, scout's honor, and remembered how Rex proposed on New Year's Eve 18 years ago. Has it really been that long ago? My how time flies!


So much has happened since then. I pray that 2010 holds wonderful memories and lots of exciting times. My top 10 things that I'm most looking forward to are:

1. Growing closer in my relationship with the Lord.

2. For my husband to find a job.

3. Celebrating birthdays, anniversarys, and gotcha days with my family.

4. Establishing an adoption and foster care ministry with two amazing friends through my
church.

5. For my women's ensemble to reach others with the good news of Jesus Christ through song.

6. Going on a vacation.

7. Getting back in shape.

8. Attending my 20 year high school reunion.

9. Getting my house decluttered and organized. It'll take a miracle but I believe in miracles.

10. Watching as the Lord answers prayers for us and our friends and family.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
As an added bonus I'm giving you the recipe for the delicious dessert that I know you're drooling over.

MOLTEN CHOCOLATE CAKES

4 squares semi-sweet baking chocolate

1 stick butter

1 cup powdered sugar

2 eggs

2 egg yolks

6 Tablespoons flour

Whipped Topping

PREHEAT oven to 425 degrees. Butter 4 custard cups or souffle dishes. Place on baking sheet.

MICROWAVE chocolate and butter in large microwavable bowl on High 1 minute or until butter is melted. Stir with wire whisk until chocolate is completely melted.

STIR in sugar until well blended. BLEND in eggs and egg yolks with wire whisk. STIR in flour. DIVIDE batter between prepared custard cups.

BAKE 13 to 14 minutes or until sides are firm but centers are soft. Let stand 1 minute. Carefully run small knife around cakes to loosen. INVERT cakes onto dessert dishes.
TOP with whipped topping.

If you like chocolate I guarantee you'll love this. It's also great to make for Valentine's Day.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I'd like to know what you're looking forward to the most this year. Leave me a comment so that I can celebrate with you! Have a Happy New Year!

Merry CHRISTmas!

A rainy Christmas morning came early this year. Madeline woke up at 7 and checked out the goodies Santa had brought. She ran upstairs and startled me awake. Who likes being woke up like that? I held her off another thirty minutes while I tried to get a few more winks and allowed my heart rate to return to a normal rhythm. That was all she could take so we made our way down the stairs to see what other treasures awaited us under the tree.

Santa was good and brought her a Le*gos set and the complete St*rW*rs saga computer game. He gave Kenan H*tWh**ls cars and a race track.

Mommy got the car monogram sticker she asked for.

Daddy got the Car*lina vs. N*treD*me print he wanted. (FYI, he and two of his friends went to that game and are in the picture, very tiny, but they're there. Oh, and our Hee*ls won which was a nice and unexpected surprise.)

The kiddos got the next book in the series written by Big*Mama. It's part of a Sunday morning children's program at church. They have online stuff too. Check it out.

BUT, the BIGGEST surprise of them all was a W*ii!!! Thanks dad, it wouldn't have been possible without you! I think she's just a little happy, don't you?

The rest of the day was spent playing with all of our new toys. It took 2 hours and 20 minutes plus a few hundred pieces...

...but she put the whole thing together by herself. This is Ana*kin's Y*Wing Fighter. Girlfriend loves Le*gos.

Kenan ran over everything with his new remote control car.

And everyone got in on the W*ii action.

Including the K-Man. Believe it or not, he's actually good at bowling or as he calls it, blowing.

For dinner that night I made Car*raba's Lentil*&*Sausage Soup. If you've ever had it, this recipe tastes exactly the same. I may have to share it with you sometime...maybe...

We ended our day by singing Happy Birthday to Jesus and blowing out candles on a rice*krispie treat cake. I didn't want the day to pass without remembering the One whom we celebrate, who makes this day possible in the first place. Thank you Jesus for coming to a rotten world so that I might live with you forever.

I also want to remember the friends, known and uknown, who helped make our Christmas all that it was. We had food on the table and gifts under the tree thanks to some kind and generous individuals. For that, we will be forever grateful. It was a very Merry CHRISTmas!

Christmas Eve And The Weeks Before

The weeks leading up to Christmas were busy to say the least. The first weekend of December Madeline had her first solo in the children's choir Christmas Musical - Hotel*Bethlehem. She sang "A Way/Away In a Manger" and sounded like an angel. Yes, I could have popped my buttons!

The next week we had our adult choir Christmas Musical - "A Hickory*Grove Family Christmas". I had to capture my little cherubs before the dress rehearsal. Check out the K-Man's tie! So cute!!!

We were asked to give our family's testimony and Rex did a fantastic job telling our story. We pray that our trials and their outcomes will encourage others.

After two jam packed weekends at church it was time to get ready for Madeline's Christmas Party at school. I planned a whole bunch of fun stuff for her class to do but the weather did not cooperate and school closed early before we could celebrate. Guess we'll just have to have a 'winter' party when they go back.

My mom and dad arrived on Christmas Eve and the kids were about to tear the house apart they were so excited. Can you remember being that excited at Christmastime? Our tradition is to have our big Christmas dinner on Christmas Eve. This year we made it easy and fixed a lasagna, salad, and breadsticks. I think everyone enjoyed their meal.

Then it was time to open a few presents. Another tradition is to give the kids an ornament that is representative of their year. So Madeline got a Jonas*Brothers ornament that plays one of their songs...

...and Kenan got Thomas *The* Train...

...a new pair of Jo*Bros pj's...

...and a photo book telling how God brought Kenan to our family.

Now it was time to get ready for Santa. We left food for the reindeer so they could find our house...

...and some cookies and milk for the big man himself.

Madeline insisted she sleep on the couch in front of the fireplace so she could see Santa...wonder if it worked? Daddy's settling down for his long winter's nap too.

Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night!