Morning mayhem

Andrew has today off, so he was sleeping in for a bit, at least until the kids took the din of the household up to a roar. Some mornings, it seems all they do it is argue over who is going to open up the cheestos first or where such and such thing is or even where teh bus is going to drop them off after a field trip.

Two are about to go off to school and the other 3 will go in about an half hour, then it will be back done to a quiet din. Meanwhile one is having meltdowns over clothes, shoes, and everything in betwen.

I think i need some coffee :) Im looking forward to spending a day with hubby with just a few kids home. Tonite, our realtor is getting married, so we are off to a wedding without the kids. Looking forward to getting out too.

MJ

All clear

We got the call from his doc tonite and its all clear. The soft mass of tissue is an extra fatty tissue area that is with the bone. So there isnt even a hole in his skull. The way the tissue was made it look like a hole on the cat scan. So everything is good, no tumor, no cancer, nothing to worry bout. God is good ... all the time!

Andrew is a bit disapointed though to not have the hole in the head, it provided a plethora of jokes over the last few days. But we are thrilled beyond belief, that this isnt anything to cause concern!

One thing it did do , though is remind me that if for some reason andrew is incapacitated, i really dont have any skill sets that would come close to making enough money for our family. Soo thinking bout how to go back to school soon.

MJ

Writers block

Not sure why the words arent coming out this morning, Im not a fabulous excellent writer in the first place. But lets just suffice it to say, things are a tad bit emotional around here. I suppose I could blame it on the pregnancy, but I try to reserve that line for cravings!

Andrew had his 2nd MRI yesterday afternoon, no word on when results are expected in but I figure we should hear something by thursday. Keep praying for peace, this adds an extra layer of tension right now.

I do know this God is good .. all the time. So even if things are chaotic, and uprooted and falling apart down here on earth, God is not knocked off this throne. He reigns on high. Its easier to forget that when troubles come a knocking.

Thats all for now folks
MJ

Change in perspective

Sometimes its amazing what God uses to get our attention and how one phone call and can change the filter you view the world thru.

Andrew had an mri last week, they did a quick cat scan of the eyes, just to rule out any potential metal in the eyes, since his past history was working some with metal. The mri of the ankle was okay, justa floating piece of bone but it was the cat scan that got our attention. His doctor called last night to let him know the radiologist spotted osmething on the cat scan, that he didnt think was an issue but is taking the better safe than sorry approach.

It appears my dear husband is indeed brain damaged, as I have always said he was :) He has a hole in the base of his skull with some change in bone density there as well. Best case scenario, something benign caused the loss of bone and is no biggie, worst case, bone cancer. Im trying really hard not to borrow trouble but somtimes with situations like this its like trying to stop a downhill rollar coaster.

I do know this without a doubt, no matter what happens, God is with us and has us in the palm of his hand. It might be hard, it might not be the outcome we desire , no matter, God is in it with us.

I cannot imagine living my life without my husband in it, I know someday that very well maybe a possiblity. I just hope God doesnt take him back sooner than we anticipated. The thing thats hard to remember, when you love someone so much, is they dont belong to you, in reality, they are Gods child. He and he alone can call them home at will.

Im going to end my pondering, with this verse, it has always been my favorite.

"Trust in the Lord with all your heart, lean not on your own understanding but in all your ways adknowledge him and he will make your paths straight" Proverbs 3:5-6

Naming 9 times over

As expected with this many kids, we are fast running out of names. So the search is on. I have pretty specific criteria for names at this stage of the game. I dont mind suggestions, but im incredibly picky!

It has to be 3 or 4 syllables. YOu cant go Katarina, Josiah, Nathaniel, Zechariah, Elijah, Ariana, Ezekiel , Zemirah and Bob. It just doesnt work for me, so a long name is in. The meaning has to be something good, usually biblical in nature or Godly character traits like purity. So Tamara meaning palm tree just doesnt cut it for me.

And it has to flow with the rest of the names and be not wildly popular. I like madeleine this time around for some reason, but it doesnt match the other names really and is pretty popular.

Middle names are less of an issue. Im thinking Audrey for the middle name after his mother. Possibly Daniel or Jonathan for a boy middle. At this stage in the game, most of the middle names are family related in one way or another. Although it didnt start out that way.

I have a few more E names i like, but we already have E1 and E2 and a Z1 and Z2 but some ofthe other letters just dont have names i like. Thats the last criteria, i have to like the name lol~ and dh too, he has vetoed Gabrielle for a long time. Of course its too popular anyway.

I have always liked Eliana, but its awfully close to ariana, so while its not out of the running, im not sure it takes front spot. There other names that ive liked for years, but they are too short and common for our use, like megan, laura and marissa.

Boys names i like right now are Gideon and maybe Bartholomew lol. I dont know, we still have plenty of time to ponder and search.

I was thinking today of Moriah, which is slightly different from mariah, but we have a niece named mariah, so then the question becomes is it too close to the name already used. My sil is pregnant too, one of hte other names ive considered recently, is now on her list of possibliities. And shes due first! Oh well, but i still like Amelia, im just not sure Amelia Audrey flows the way i want it to. Mostly though she likes names i dont like Dominic, or Bionca, so i think im pretty safe we will choose differently.

Ive never liked using nouns as names such as summer or rose or hope, just not my style. I like biblical names although most of the girls arent(cept for Zemirah which shows up in a geneology as a boys name). I have always liked hannah, rebekah and Abigail but those are way overused in my book as well.

Hmm maybe Mordecai, i like that one this time around! I know most people think a lot of our names are well , weird, or not a nice name to saddle a kid with, but they suit our children. Im not sure i want to name a child that means strength again, Ezekiel is one of the strongest little guys, he came out of the womb holding his head up.

I always say if my cousin can name her child venus( her favorite cow was also names this), then i can name mine anything!

Thats all for now folks!
MJ

Grumpy

I think i got enough sleep, so Im not really sure why everything the kids do this morning is hitting the wrong nerve. I feel just plain grumpy. Maybe its the rainy cold weather or just more tired i think i am. B ut not a great start to the day for sure.

Im hoping I regain my attitude once the big ones are off to school and its just the 3 little ones home to keep me company.

Its the little arguments and whining that really gets me down. Things like whether or not an elephant is too big to take to school or whether or not a child indeed has clean clothing in this house. Arguments between brothers over whether a stuffed animal is indeed an elephant or a mammoth really help set the tone. Add a reading assignment that iddnt get done last nite into the mix and we really have fun.

Thus is life... this too shall pass and I can always redeem the day and sneak in a nap!

Sleep deprived morning

I didnt settle in to sleep til 11 pm, so that didnt help much either, but the little kiddos took turns waking up last night. I literally took Ezekiel back to his own bed at least 4 times and Zemirah was up 3 times.

So needless to say, im a tad bit crabby. Im trying to shake it off and hopefully ill get somewhat of a dozing nap this afternoon since i have to work again.

I have moms group this morning, which im somewhat lookign forward to, i like having and hosting it. Im just tired today! lol.

Enough babblings,
MJ

I think i found it

It was general as i thought it was indicated to be, but reference in particular to a prophecy of Zechariah's . Ill have to read on more in the chapter to figure out what exactly it means. But it appears to be a symbol for wickedness and slamming the door on it.

Its Zechariah 5:7-8 and it doesnt specifically says woman is wickedness but it implies that with the two verses together.

I finally succumbed to using google to find it as i was getting increasinly frustrated that i could not find it. It did not help that my dear brilliant husband found it and was teasing me that it was in verse 8. Or maybe it was just the tiredness from being at work all nite too.

Either way enough challenge for today, i will work on his next challenge tommorrow with a fresh head!

Goodnite all
MJ

Cant quite find it

My pastor threw out a challenge for me to find some specific scripture, in this case, woman is wicked or wickedness. Now i can find specific references to specific women being wicked,but not in general. I havent been able to find those specific words. So i guess i need to search a little harder.

The concordance brought up some stuff in levitcus but not that exact phrasing. So the hunt is on!

Its a late start here today for school, so the kids are a bit more hyper i think than normal. We already had a thrown monopoly game, meltdowns and general crazy kid behavior. I woke up to ezekiel stomping around the house for fun. I can tell this is going to be an interesting day!

God is good ... all the time!
MJ

Laundry explosion

I probably have at least 6 baskets of clean clothes scattered around my house, yet every morning, i hear "I dont have any clothes". YOu would think we dont have clothes for anyone in this house, which evidenced by the amount of dirty laundry(good 20-25 loads to go) that we indeed have clothes.

Ah well, Im feeling slightly better this morning, so Im hoping to tackle folding/sorting some laundry and getting some more done!

Happy Tuesday everyone!

MJ

Monday Madness

Weekend was mostly good. Went to a citywide garage sale and got some great deals, 25 cent porcelein doll and 24 cent cabbage patch, a whole box of goosebumps books for 5 dollars. It really was a lot of fun bargain hunting.

Andrew is still catching up on sleep from his workweek in chicago. So Sunday was a bit more tiring, we did make some homemade applesauce which was delicious over ice cream.

Morning sickness is wreaking its havoc right now, so not feelign really great.

Thats all for now folks
MJ

Homecoming

Andrew comes home tonight and I am beyond excited and more than ready to have him back on home soil. I think he's ready to be home too!

what's kinda funny is this morning Katarina asked me if she could go to homecoming. I'm like the dance? She said no the football game. Its just another one of those markers that indicate she is growing up and becoming a young lady.

I remember my first homecoming dance my freshman year. I remember distinctly the skirt I had picked out and wore and more disticnt the fact no one asked me to dance. Looking back now and realizing how hungry I was for affection, its probably a good thing that I didn't have many boyfriends. Could have gotten me into a world of trouble, God was watching out for me even then when I didn't have a personal relantionship with him.

Today is filled with errands and getting the house in order for AJ to come home. I woke up with a sore throat and the beginnings of a cold... not good. It makes a little harder to deal with pregnant, since I cant take the normal over the counter cold meds I usually take to function easier. Hopefully it wont last long!

Solo flight this week

Andrew is currently in chicago teaching at the IT lab this week, so im on my own with the kids. Thankfully I got my work schedule cut down to only 4 hrs this week or im not sure i might quite make it. I really miss him when hes gone, its not so much specific things he does(although there is that too) but the being together that i miss the most. The being in the same room, occasionaly talking bout things, just sitting close and snuggling, and most of all falling asleep together. I know im such a sap :) Only 4 days and 3 more nights to go.

I came into this week after working 4 days, for a total of 24 hrs, which left me a tad drained i think.

On the home front, we got a new dryer. And while andrew didnt have time to install before he left, our much beloved pastor came over (while i was at work i might add) and got it all hooked up and running. Thanks Tom! You really made my night, i was sooo excited to come home and have it working. On top of that my friend, Gina started right in on my laundry! I have awesome friends.

God has been blessing us left and right, a chuch member dropped by and handed one ofthe kids some gift cards for us to order pizza. God knows, that one of the harder things to do is cook supper in the evening with all the kids doing their thing, so that was a huge blessing he bestowed upon us. God is good .. all the time!

On top of that I woke up refreshed today and not super tired like yesterday thankfully. Still sick every morning and quite a bit thruout the day but i suspect thats par for the course, during this time of pregnancy. God is still good!

Its Elijahs 7th birthday today. Its seems rather unreal that he could possibly be that old. Hes number 4 out of five boys and the fifth child, so he tends to get thought of more of the baby guy, although ezekiel is younger and im sure that will be even more of a baby kid thing. But he was always sorta lumped with the younger 4 and despite me not thinking he is old enough to be 7, he indeed is.

He was born on a sunday morning, i started to go into labor at church and a friend encourgaged me to start walking to get the labor established. Sure enough she was right :). It worked out timing wise too as we could just send the other kids home with the right people from church and i went to the hosp. I dont remember a lot bout his actual delivery but he wasnt coming out too early thats for sure, he was born one day before his due date. I had even went to the state fair that year, at the end of august hoping the endless walking around would convince him to come out, but no such luck!

He has a sweet spirit that somtimes gets lost in his stubborness but it keeps showing thru. He will genuinely share, even with his new toys. Just the other morning, he made a sandwich for his older brother who was quickly runningout of time to make lunch and get to school. May God use that for his glory!

Well thats all for now folks!
MJ

Sickies and school

I wrote a nice long post detailing our weekend but ezekiel shut down my pc and lost it. So suffice it to say our weekend was good, we really enjoyed our company and got some errands done and even managed a sunday nap.

School started yesterday, everyone seems to like their teacher. Ariana was annoyed by another girl in teh bathroom, Elijah didnt like music, zechariah seemed to enjoy himself and Nathaniel was irritated at only getting 3 min of playtime in gym. The middle schoolers did well as well, they seemed to make some friends and got to classes okay.

As for me, the sickies seem to have hit full force, i wake up sick in the morn9ings, eating every couple of hours helps some but its hard to eat once you already feel yucky. Its almost worse feeling like you are going to throw up all the time, rather than just doing it and being done. but this too shall pass.

Thats all for now
MJ

Busy day

Its days like this that i dislike, days where i dont really have time to do all that i need to acomplish. We have company coming in from out of town tonite, normally would be an exciting thing, esp since they are staying here but with having to work tonite that throws a kink in the works. I need to be at work by 3, so even if i manage to get the house in order today, i have no gurantee it will be in the same condition when i return at 9. Our guests are scheduled to arrive between 9 -930, im kinda hoping they will be late lol.

On top of that we are out of a lot of groceries, so andrew needs to make a run with the kids to the super walmart, fun times. Oh well, hopefully i can accomplish enough before i work and drill into the kids heads, keeping it that way

MJ