Swing!

I found this swing at a garage sale - the guy there said he makes them - the girls were SO EXCITED when they came home to it - reminds them of the swings from Rachel's daycare in G-burg :)

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Group Pictures with Uncle Dan and Aunt Amy

Quick Update

Well, it's been a long day today. We are feeling really bad for Dan has he has gotten sick since last night. We are so thankful that Travis was able to take Mark to the doctor today in his place. It's sounding like we are getting very close to mark having his surgery. Dr. Martin is doing a few other things and also consulting with Dr. Shepherd (the neurosurgeon) before anything is finalized or we get any kind of a time frame (we know nothing of times, dates, etc.). This is a very serious and somewhat scary thing for us to consider as they have really talked a lot about how dangerous this surgery could be for Mark with his other conditions in the long run (not the surgery itself but the possibility of the leaks creating more problems afterwards). I was feeling a bit overwhelmed today (as I often do after doctor appointments) and as I caught myself starting to ask the "why" question about so many things that seem to be swirling around me right now, I thought of this song..... Blessings Artist: Laura Story We pray for blessings We pray for peace Comfort for family, protection while we sleep We pray for healing, for prosperity We pray for Your mighty hand to ease our suffering All the while, You hear each spoken need Yet love is way too much to give us lesser things ‘Cause what if your blessings come through raindrops What if Your healing comes through tears What if a thousand sleepless nights are what it takes to know You’re near What if trials of this life are Your mercies in disguise We pray for wisdom Your voice to hear We cry in anger when we cannot feel You near We doubt your goodness, we doubt your love As if every promise from Your Word is not enough All the while, You hear each desperate plea As long as we have faith to believe When friends betray us When darkness seems to win We know that pain reminds this heart That this is not our home What if my greatest disappointments Or the aching of this life Is the revealing of a greater thirst this world can’t satisfy What if trials of this life The rain, the storms, the hardest nights Are your mercies in disguise I just pray for the strength to see God's mightly hand in my life. That I never doubt His goodness - that I never question His plans. That I can know that I know that I KNOW that He is always with us and refining us to be more like Him. Some days this is easier then others. But I do believe that the trials of this life can be blessings in disguise - we may never get to see that blessing fulfilled or know it's ultimate purpose - but I believe God's Word when He says that all things take place for good and to His glory (Romans 8:28) - Praise the Lord for that!

Noisy Baby! :)

Blue Bonnets

Blue Bonnet season is here - so tonight Gabie's prayer went something like this, "Dear God, thank you for the bestest day ever that I got to see and play in the blue bonnters things and bless all my friends and family. Amen"

Dan and Amy arrived safely last night and we've been enjoying having them here. Today we went to church, took naps and then the guys went to a Men's BBQ @ church and the girls had their own 'girl' evening out of shopping and dinner. I was reminded why I don't go out to dinner with 4 kids! haha. We enjoyed the evening a lot.

This week we have doctor appointments on Tuesday (for Mark w/Dr. Martin) and Friday (for Allison w/orthosurgeon). I'm sure between that and the usual running around we'll have a hectic week! Thanks for your continued prayers!

Crazy Busy

With starting work this week and having to get a whole car-full out the door in the morning this week has been BUSY. I love my job! It has been a blast! However, this week was a crazy one to start - coming off of spring break + a fire drill + three picture days (individual and group) + a licensing visit.....well let's just say it was hectic. But the kids I have are wonderful and sweet. I love our school!

Right now we are learning about creation in school. No matter how many times I read or study those opening chapters in Genesis I always get a fresh take on it. From the most complex Bible studies to the simplest teaching of it (I have 2 year olds right now! :) It never ceases to amaze me that there was nothing and then God made something from nothing. Of all the miracles that we can read in the Bible I think creation is a great summary - God can take anything and make what He wants out of it. From the greatest things in all creation to the smallest simplest things in our everyday life. God can do anything with something or nothing. What an awesome reminder when reading about all that He created!

An extra prayer request right now for Dan and Amy (Mark's brother and his wife) who are on their way down here right now - we're so excited to see them and hope they have safe travels! Thanks!

On we roll

I was surprised how quickly Dr. Heath's office called back with an appointment for me with a doctor in Houston (Dr. Kyle Dickson - he has great reviews! :) - and crazy enough it's in the same place that Mark sees his doctors, so at least I am very familiar with the area. I will go on April 1 to have the consult for the surgery, and apparently this doctor specializes in non-union pelvic fractures, so we are very blessed to be so close to where he is. I had another great day teaching - those kiddos sure do keep me busy! They are so sweet, and we're all getting to know each other. I feel so very blessed to be a part of the school here.

Mark is doing about the same. He's no better, no worse, just still in a lot of pain quite a bit, struggling with balance and having memory issues. We have no idea what kind of time schedule we're on as far as relief coming. Dr. Martin aptly put it at our last appointment "let me look at my crystal ball" haha. (he was filling out some of the disability insurance paper-work when he said that - they were asking on the form when he expected Mark would be better and able to return to work). We were able to get more information from the disability insurance today and we are now in the proecess of filing for social security disability - hopefully this will be a smooth transition as the other 2 disability insurance companies have 'approved' of his condition.

The girls are all doing great! They even got to enjoy haivng their little cousin over this evening (although since she's so little still we're doing the 'look but don't touch' thing still). Micaiah is so curious about little Samantha, lots of pointing and babbling. We are so blessed to have such precious girls.

I also took some time to reread some passages that I have been focusing on over the past few months - wish I would've done this yesterday, I found Exodus 14:14, "The Lord will fight for you; you need only be still." I need this reminder when I start feeling frustrated with things like insurance or lack of healing. So thankful for the reminder that God has already fought the fight for us and we can just rest in Him and be still :).

How much stronger?

Some things are starting to drain me - especially fighting with insurance companies - grrrr, why does that have to be so difficult? Now I'm having to fight with them about my injuries. This also came on the same day that I found out that my suspicions are true and that the break is not healing and if anything is getting worse (the separation). The symptoms I was experiencing are forcing the issue. So surgery for me seems inevitable. Dr. Heath (the orthopedic surgeon) is going to contact someone in Houston to take on my case since it's too complicated for him. As I was driving home today I heard this song on the radio:

Hey, heard you were up all night
Thinking about how your world ain't right
And you wonder if things will ever get better
And you're asking why is it always raining on you
When all you want is just a little good news
Instead of standing there stuck out in the weather
Oh, don't hang your head, it's gonna end
God's right there even if it's hard to see Him
I promise you that He still cares
When the waves are taking you under
Hold on just a little bit longer
He knows that this is gonna make you stronger, stronger
The pain ain't gonna last forever and things can only get better
Believe me this is gonna make you stronger
Try and do the best you can
Hold on and let Him hold your hand
And go on and fall into the arms of Jesus
Oh, lift your head it's gonna end God's right there
Even when you just can't feel Him I promise you that He still cares
'Cause if He started this work in your life
He will be faithful to complete it
If only you believe it
He knows how much it hurts
And I'm sure that He's gonna help you get through this

I love the song, but I also think - how much stronger do I need to be? I'm so thankful that I am too busy to sit and dwell on things, but that doesn't mean those moments don't come through that I just want to scream or cry or both. I'm so very thankful to know that God is still with us. I am trying to turn some of my fears and stresses over to Him, and to not take them back. Somehow I seem to do a good job of turning things over to the Lord, but then I have this bad habit of taking them back when they aren't taken care of the way or time-frame that I think they should be. I will continue to work on this pray that God will make us stronger through all of this. One thing I do cling to is His promise in Philippians chapter 1: "being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus." Even when I'm too tired to complete things, God isn't and He will keep us and take care of us.

Although it wasn't a great day for health things - school today was wonderful. I have a great class, and overall Micaiah did well :)

Fun @ the Park

The azalia's (sp?) are in full bloom here right now and they are BEAUTIFUL! Our park right by our house is surrounded by many bushes of different colors. Rachel loves playing at the park!

Tomorrow

Tomorrow will be a big day - Micaiah will be having her first day at 'school' and I will be starting the new job. I also have a doctor appointment with Dr. Heath tomorrow. If you have some extra time to send prayers they would greatly appreciated. I'm not sure which of the 3 I'm the most nervous about, but I know God is taking care of it all. Off to bed!

P.S. Joyce, yes we got them, I meant to call and I think that was during the flu or perhaps just the normal chaos - didn't even realize I hadn't till I saw your message - sorry and Thanks!

The World Goes Marching On

"But do not forget this one thing, dear friends: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day. The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise." 2 Peter 3:8-9a

Somehow wherever we are and whatever we are doing the world keeps marching on around us, whether we are in tune to it or not. I'm so thankful for the glimpses I have into other's lives and the goings-on around us - it helps me to remember not to get too wrapped up in our own stuff.

Loves to Snuggle!

Micaiah loves to snuggle. At night she sleeps with her kitty - she LOVES her kitty - thanks Jacalyn! It plays this awesome (long! :) lullaby and always puts her to sleeps - and most nights no matter where we put it in her crib you can find her with her little arm wrapped around it snuggling.

10 Months Old!

Hard to believe that so much time has gone by since our little Micaiah was born. She is growing more each day. She has 4 teeth, walks, climbs, says 'mama', 'dada', 'yay' and 'more'. She also loves to clap her hands and is just figuring out how to wave bye-bye.

Yucky Bugs

It's been an exhausting week!

Stephanie and Samantha

Micaiah meets Samantha and practices "gentle" :)

My sweet niece

Proud uncle

Well, you can probably guess from my lack of updating that the stomach bug decided to travel through the whole family. Cleaning up puke times six is never fun :( Thankfully the last 3 to get it (Eliya, Mark and I) are all able to not get sick all over ourselves or the floor :) Okay, tmi I'm sure!

Anyway, we are all doing fine now, and enjoying that our niece/cousin is home from the hospital - Hooray! She is so very tiny - hard to believe that 3 out of 4 of our girls started out even smaller then she is, I think we just forget how very tiny they are. She's so precious. We waited till the sickies were all gone for a full 24 hours before venturing over to see her.

As for Mark, he has another week and a half before he sees Dr. Martin again. Getting sick definetly didn't help his head situation. He is keeping a very positive attitude though and doing what he can and is learning his limits on what he can and can't do. We have both been taking Philippians chapter 4 to heart through all of this. I am in the process of memorizing it, currently on verse 8, "finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable - if anything is excellent or praiseworthy - think about such things." Whenever I find myself starting to have negative thoughts I say this verse to myself over and over again (sometimes I get the order of the whatever words mixed up, but I'm getting there!) and it does help to turn my thoughts around. God is amazing, how His word alone can change a situation, a perseption, a mood, a behavior.

Tomorrow my Aunt Pat arrives - we are looking forward to seeing her, and then early next week she will be taking nana back up north. So we will enjoy our last couple days with her in the meantime. I think this is the start of a whole string of company coming, with nana being here, Pat coming, then Dan and Amy and then Mark's parents. It will be nice to have the extra help and hands around. And we are so thankful that we go all the yucky bugs out of our system before they arrived so as not to share! :)

Thank you for your continued prayers and support and checking in on us. We appreciate all of you so much! We also pray for you each day.

So Hard Being Little!

Please mommy please can't I go outside too?!?!
My sisters are out there!

See mommy - out there!

Rhyme or Reason

Rachel taking a nap this afternoon - it's exhausting being sick!

After almost 3 weeks of keeping an extensive journal of Mark's headache and other symptoms I had hoped to see some kind of pattern or systematic way of when/why/how the headache increases or decreases, but that just doesn't seem to be the case. However, I also realize that the doctors may see things that I don't, so we'll see what Dr. Martin says at the next appointment. Some things we do know is that Mark's balance and memory don't seem to have a correlation with the headache. Those always seem to be off, where as the headache has fluctuations in intensity and position. I would love to tell all of you out there praying that it has gone away, but that just doesn't seem to be the case. We'll keep praying and hoping for a miracle.

In the meantime, I think the girls were feeling 'left out' on the medical side of things. Gabie has developed some kind of reaction to something and has been covered in hives off and on the past 3 days. Benedryl seems to help, but I'm wondering if she just has allergies and needs to get on something. I talked to the doctor on the phone and he said that if it gets worse or hasn't cleared up in a couple more days that I should bring her in (and you know that it will be 'off' when I do - haha!). Then last night Rachel and Micaiah got a touch of the stomach flu. I say just a touch, because in the grand scale of stomach bugs it was very short - hooray! About 2 hours in the middle of the night is all, but sadly the exciting trip that Rachel had been invited to go on today didn't happen for her :( We had a very relaxing day at home and almost everyone (except Eliya and I) took naps today and seems to be doing okay this evening, and this house is mega-clean now! Praise the Lord for that!

Since we are officially in the season of Lent, I've been reflecting on some different verses that we read this time of year.
Isaiah 53:4-5Surely he has borne our infirmities and carried our diseases; yet we accounted him stricken, struck down by God, and afflicted. But he was wounded for our transgressions, crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the punishment that made us whole, and by his bruises we are whole.

It's amazing to me that centuries ago Christ died to make us whole. Every part of us. He heals us from the little things like stomach bugs, but also from the bigger things that just don't seem heal-able to us here on earth. It's amazing to me that no matter how sick, diseased, bruised or beaten our bodies are here on earth that He has made them whole. It makes me think of our house in Gettysburg, SD - one winter we were having trouble with mice. Of course we did the usual traps and things and eventually got rid of them, but then the following spring, Mark and someone from the church did a walk around the house from the outside looking in. The mice had to be getting in from somewhere - a weak spot in the exterior (kinda the same way we get sick - from a 'weak spot' where germs can get it). They sealed off all the different spots that over time had become weak on the exterior. That winter - no mice! I think of how God heals us the same way - not only does he give us what we need at the time (similar to using the traps once they're in) but he also heals us from the outside making us whole, binding up our weak spots and healing them over. Psalm 103:2-5 Bless the Lord, O my soul, and do not forget all his benefits--who forgives all your iniquity, who heals all your diseases, who redeems your life from the Pit, who crowns you with steadfast love and mercy, who satisfies you with good as long as you live.

We are so thankful for all of God's goodness to us!

Garage Sales!

I love garage sales - I love finding things that I have on my want or even need list and getting them for a fraction of what they would cost brand new. We found a couple of garage sales today and I found all kinds of crafty items that I can use for school and a few other things on the list (like a stool for the girl's bathroom). Here are a few pictures of the girls having fun with some of the things we got. :)

Miracle of the Moment

It's time for letting go

All of our if onlys

Cause we don't have a time machine

And even if we did

Would we really want to use it?

Would we really want to go change everything?

Cause we are who and where and what we are for now

And this is the only moment we can do anything about

So breathe it in and breathe it out

Listen to your heartbeat

There's a wonder in the here and now

It's right there in front of you

And I don't want you to miss

The miracle of the moment

There's only one who knows

What's really out there waiting

In all the moments yet to be

And all we need to know

Is He's out there waiting

To Him the future's history

And He has given us a treasure called right now

And this is the only moment we can do anything about

And if it brings you tears

Then taste them as they fall

And let them soften your heart

And if it brings you laughter

Then throw your head back

And let it go,

Listen to your heartbeat

There's a wonder in the here and now

It's right there in front of you

And I don't want you to miss the miracle of the moment!

(by Steven Curtis Chapman)

Today we start spring break from school for the week. I'm looking forward to some down time, although getting ready to start my teaching job on the following Monday, I'm sure I will find plenty to keep me busy this week. I feel so incredibly blessed by the job I'm going to. The school that the girls go to is also a childcare setting, so all the girls will be with me during the day (so to speak). The money that I will be able to make will supplament the disability income that Mark receives and help us to have a budget we can work with, and I'm doing what I love to do, and have been trained for. Sometimes I'm just in awe at how God can work things out so perfectly.

The one thing that Mark is really struggling with right now is that he is not able to work. I was crying tears of joy when I got the phone call this week that his disability was approved for long-term, but Mark had a much different reaction. He's not upset that I found a job, and he's not upset that the disablity won't be an on-going battle to get benefints, but he's upset that he can't work and 'provide for his family'. I think that if you know nothing else of my husband that this would say a lot about his character. He is providing for his family through all that he does for us and has done for us through the kind of job that he has had. I can't say that I can relate to his struggle, but I think a lot of other godly men out there probably can. Please pray for peace for him as he continues to struggle with not being able to work. I keep encouraging him that God has amazing plans in store for him/us.

In the meantime we are truly learning to live in the moment. To praise God for the moments that we have together. To celebrate each day. Today was such a bad day for Mark, he was in a tremendous amount of pain. But he was able to join us for supper and we praise God for that! The girls and I decided to jam out tonight in the pots and pans. We are living in the moment, and that moment tonight brought joy, smiles and giggles from our beautiful girls. We also praise God for the moments that Stephanie and Travis got to spend with Samantha in the NICU. Every moment together as a family is a precious gift from God.