Goose magnet....

I don't like geese. Just don't like them. Here are 3 reasons why:

1. When my mom was pregnant with me, a goose chased her. (or maybe it was chasing me)

2. About 7 years ago, a group of my friends and I went to the lake to the beach area. There was a goose there that came very close to our blankets and Janna and I took off to the parking lot. We both do not like wild animals. That goose would not let us come back onto the beach. One of our friends, Melissa, was very brave and chased it away after what seems like an hour.

3. We have a small pond by our house that has ducks, geese and turtles. Well, anyway, seems this past weekend, one of those geese wanted to get a closer look at us. We were outside visiting with my mom and dad. The goose walked right onto our front yard. Mom and Dad were already in the truck getting ready to go so I jumped right on in with them. That dumb goose walked up to our front door of the house and looked inside. He/she then started walking in the yard and decided to fly to our roof and sit on it. My parents got a kick out of this sight saying that most people use roosters for weather vanes, not geese. He walked up one side of the roof and down the other. Then his friend decided to come to the yard to see what was going on. The roof goose flew back down and the two walked on over to the neighbors house. We've lived in this house for 7/8 years now and I've never seen the geese get so close. I think they know I don't like them.

So now you know why I say I just don't like geese....

Happy Memorial Day!

I hope everyone enjoyed their holiday weekend. We did, even though we got attacked by the allergy/sinus monster. We spent the day yesterday with our friends, the Churchill's, Mack's and Maxwell's. Ryland had a good time, especially at the pool and on the swing in the backyard. He is getting so big and loves, loves, loves to be outside.

This will be a busy week b/c we'll be going out of town. I'm going to try to get a little bit done each day so I'm not frantic by the end of the week.

Have a great week everyone!

Just checking in

Today is a very pretty day. Ryland and I are both in good moods. He's actually taking his morning nap right now. I love the days he's able to get to sleep easily.

Now onto the nights. He is still getting up several times through the night. Last night he had a low grade fever. I don't know if it's teething or what. It's so hard to tell sometimes. If anyone has any suggestions for getting him to sleep through the night again, please let me know. It's as if he wakes up during the "light sleep" and can't get himself back to sleep again. Most of the time, when I go in there and hold him for a little while, he starts laughing and playing with me. I guess I just need to let him cry it out. He slept more through the night last year than he has this year.

James put our pool up and it's ready to go. The only thing is the water's too cold to get in. I know that sounds silly, but I can't get in 70 degree water. I let Ryland stick his feet in and splash but even with that, he does it for a little while and then those feet come out!

Ryland's first taste of Oreo's

HIS mercies are new every morning

I am much better today. Ryland and I both had a bad day yesterday, but it seems today is a new day. I took Ryland to a place that has inflatables so he could jump. He loved it. He was a little scared at first, but running all over the place by the time we left. He came home and took a good nap. I know that wore him out...it wore me out too!

One positive thing

I do have a positive thing to say today....

Our Awana awards ceremony was last night. Our Cubbies (3&4 yr olds) did GREAT!!! I was so proud of them. They were so excited to be able to sing in front of their family. They sang loud and clear and none of them fell down the stairs.

Ok, starting to feel better by thinking about positive things.....

No Sleep + Hormones = Green headed Monster

Yep, that's me. I am so irritated this morning. I know it's b/c I haven't slept a full night in about 3 days. Ryland is going to sleep around 9 and getting up at 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 in the morning. Yes, that's right. Up every hour. I don't know what to do. For the first several times, I get up, and go cover him up b/c I think he gets cold (even though he wears long sleeves and pants to bed). Then about the third hour, he just cries. He's not sick, just awake and not wanting to go back to bed. I go and rock him and he starts playing "let's move mama's face back and forth and laugh". While it sounds cute, it's not at 3 in the morning. This morning, I slept in the recliner holding him for about an hour. Then I went to my bed for about 1.5 hours of sleep, and then he's up at 7.

James calls and we are having conflict between a doctors office and insurance from 17 months ago, when Ryland was born. I do not like insurance companies sometimes! Everything's got to be so complicated.

So as you can read, I need prayer for today. I don't like being grumpy.

Goodbye Sweet Emma

Today is the day that 2 of my best friends(like family) will lay to rest their 2 month old daughter. It's been a long week and today is a day of closure for me. I thank the Lord for the beautiful day today. I will pray for Denny as he speaks about his sweet princess. I will pray for Jim, Janna and Chris as they sing today. It's such a bittersweet feeling I have. I know that Emma is perfect and not suffering anymore, but I know her parents are and that's tough. Please continue to pray for them in the weeks to come.

May God pour out his blessings on today's service. May we celebrate Emma's life today.

Reflecting

Well, it's been a couple of days since Emma went to be with Jesus. I'm not numb anymore, just kinda sad. I know I should be joyful that she's perfect now(and I am), but my heart breaks for Denny and Vickie. To think that one minute Emma was here and the next she's INSTANTLY with the Lord is such an awesome thing to grasp. God's Word says "absent from the body is to be present with the Lord". I'm so glad that she's perfect now.

Please continue to pray for the Mack family. We love you guys so much!

Emma Mack

I want to dedicate this post to a little baby that touched so many lives. Emma Kinley went home to be with Jesus today. As I write those words, it really doesn't sink in yet. Life is so fragile, I sometimes assume I'm going to live for many years. We are not promised tomorrow. Then this little one showed me what it's like to live one day at a time, and be thankful that you did. Emma touched more lives in 2 months than I have in my 30 years. Please pray for my dear friends, Denny and Vickie, as they cope with losing their little princess.

This is a picture I took of her when I visited on April 23rd.

Where is all this wind coming from?

As I mentioned in a previous post, I do not like the wind. If I'm out and about, it's ok, but I don't like the wind at my house, where I have many trees. I'm scared a tree is going to fall on our house. I know, I know, it's a silly fear of mine I've had for years, but it's who I am. The girl that is afraid of the wind. I pray alot during windstorms because I choose to believe God is going to protect me. I know no prayer is too small or insignificant for my Abba Father.

My fever is gone and I'm just having the very sore throat. I am feeling better today than I did yesterday, thank You Lord. Ryland and I just hung out at the house while James had parking lot duty and did my Awana ice cream party tonight. Thank you baby, I appreciate you stepping in and doing that for me!

James bought me a tulip bouquet and 2 special effect lenses for my camera for Mother's day. Very sweet!

Hope everyone enjoyed their weekend and I hope everyone has a great week.

Feeling yuck and having fun

Guess who's throat is hurting now? Mine!!! Yuck, last night I was up pretty much all night b/c of 102.6 fever. It's been a long time since I've had a high temp like that so it kinda freaked me out. I've got the aches, chills, headache(throbbing headache), sore throat and white patches. Lovely... James has gone to pick up my meds and Ryland went with him. Nice and quiet house. I am thankful that I'm sick on the weekend. If it were the weekend and I have to take care of Ryland too, that would be difficult. All I want to do is lay down, but it hurts my body to lay down... Oh fun....

I'll change the subject. James put up our pool today and water is going in. It's nice and level and I'm so proud of him for getting it done so quickly. When the water level was about 3 inches, we put Ryland in there with us while we were smoothing out wrinkles. He had a great time. It's gonna be fun this summer.

What's new?

Ryland is doing much better. His throat doesn't seem to be hurting anymore. I'm very thankful for that. He's been really good and for the week, his temper tantrums have subsided.

This weekend is Mother's day. I thank the Lord every day for allowing me to be a mom. I am so blessed that he is a healthy, happy boy. I don't ever want to take that for granted. There are so many moms out there that do not have healthy children and I cannot fathom what that is like, nor do I want to. My heart is heavy for my good friend, Vickie, who will be celebrating her first Mother's day in the hospital with her beautiful, sweet baby girl, Emma. Emma has a rare skin disease that involves blistering at the slightest rubbing or friction. We are praying for Emma daily and ask the Lord to heal her fragile skin. Please pray for her as well.

Happy Mother's Day and enjoy your weekend.....

Poor Ryland

I took Ryland to the doctor today b/c he's had some fever and it turns out, his throat is "beefy red"...whatever that means. Anyway, Dr. B checked for strep and it came back negative. She said it's a viral thing and it has to run its course. He's on tylenol/motrin for the fever and pain. He went to sleep around 9ish and he's been crying on and off for the last 10 minutes. It's 10:00 as I type this. I hope he can get some sleep.

On another note, James informed me that Ryland has cut 3 teeth. Of course, I thought the front and side teeth come in first but he's cut 3 molars. He has 2 bottom front teeth, 2 top front teeth and 1 beside his front tooth. Now, he has 8! I don't know when those other front teeth will come in.

It's gonna be a long night.... Is it even worth it to try to sleep? I just want his throat to feel better soon...

Good morning

Today looks like another beautiful day. I may have to take Ryland to the park or something. I took him to church during the day on Thursday and let him play at the playground. 45 minutes later, we were on our way home. He loved playing and climbed up the stairs and went down the slide be himself for the first time that day. He was so proud of himself. I was proud of him too.

James is fishing on the river this morning with a friend. Ryland and I may run some errands and go play. It's so nice outside, I'd hate to waste the day.

Have a great day everyone!

Ryland's 16 month pics

Here are Ryland's 16 month pictures.

Camping pics

Here are some pics from our camping trip. This was Ryland's first time eating corn-on-the-cob. He loved it!!! It kept him busy so James and I could eat our food too. He had to go straight to the bath after that, but it was good while it lasted.