Hate Those Nasty Hiccups

Storytime today at the library had a grandparents theme. It was pretty cute. Grace sat front and center and Pop and I sat in the back. During one song, Grace turned around and looked at us and shouted, "Sing, Pop!"

Tonight I'm in the basement, nursing a headache, trying to decide between curling up in bed for Dancing with the Stars or taking a bath. I'm thinking the TV will win out; the tub is just too much effort right now.

But I'll leave you with a pearl of wisdom from Grace... at least what she thinks is wisdom although I'm not sure I was fully convinced. She had the hiccups this morning - bright and early, even before breakfast. She said, "I know what will stop my hiccupping!!! A chocolate chip cookie!!!"

Of course. :)

Christmas Shopping

So I've been thinking of getting my beloved a new mop-type device for Christmas.

Or maybe even sooner, like for an early Columbus Day present.

And I've been wondering what kind of experience my vast readership might have with items like the Swiffer.

I'm easily sold by commercials and the Swiffer looks amazing. Not quite as amazing as the Shark Steamer but I can't afford the Shark right now. The Swiffer is more in my price range. Yet it isn't cheap, so I'm wondering what ya'll might think about it?

Do you have opinions? Enlighten me, please! Do I go with the Swiffer Sweeper or the Swiffer Wet Jet, or are both just a waste of money?

I know my thoughts are not quite as deep as those from the Thought Dock, but sometimes when you're wading in the deep, you should question what it is exactly that you're wading in. If you catch my drift. ;)

Learning from our Children

Thursday night, Grace crawled into bed with us around 12:30 a.m. I listened to her toss and turn, trying to breathe with her stuffy little nose. That's extra difficult for her because she still sucks on her fingers as she sleeps. After about an hour I sent Robert upstairs for some Dimetapp. He gave her the medicine, and I told her to turn over and go to sleep.

She said, "Okay. After I pray." And she began to pray such a charming prayer, worshipping God ("God, You are bigger than the boogeyman and mighty to save"), thanking ("Thank you God for my family and the moon and the sun"), and petitioning ("God take my cold away!"). And she closed her prayer and closed her eyes and fell fast asleep.

The next morning I got up and was reading in my Bible this passage:

And they were bringing children to Him

that He might touch them,

and the disciples rebuked them.

But when Jesus saw it,

He was indignant and said to them,

"Let the children come to me;

do not hinder them,

for sto such belongs the kingdom of God.

Truly, I say to you,

whoever does not receive the kingdom of God

like a child shall not enter it."

And He took them in His arms and blessed them,

laying His hands on them.

Mark 10:13-16

I instantly recalled Grace's prayer the night before and the many other things she does that demonstrates faith at such a young age - the constant singing of "This Little Light of Mine," "He is Mighty to Save" and "He Lifts Me Up;" the amazing, focused prayers at bedtime and dinnertime; the assertion over and over that God is bigger than us all... and I was reminded that we have to work for that ourselves, we grown-ups - we have to work for faith like a child. To be ever focused on Him, to immediately draw near to Him in prayer no matter the circumstance, to have His praises always on our hearts, to know without a doubt that He really is bigger than the boogeyman.

The lesson was simply reinforced in such a tender, loving way that evening, when I told Robert about all of this. He smiled and told me that he, too, had gotten up early to read his Bible, and read the same lesson from Scripture but in Matthew.

God is good.

All the time.

Settling In

I'll try to snap some pics of our new boarder sometime soon.

Pop is settling in quite nicely. Hard to believe he's been here two full weeks now. We've settled into a good routine, I think, and he seems to be adapting well. I finally got in touch with his AV doctor's office for some prescriptions, finally got the ball rolling to change over his insurance, finally got the DirecTV stuff straightened out, and even got MLB Extra Innings so he can still watch his Dodgers and Angels here.

This week he's gotten out with me more and he seems to be doing well with his walking. He went to Storytime, Sam's, and WalMart with me on Wednesday and today we went to WalMart again and got him some new shoes.

I think he's enjoying the activity here and the food, although I promise I'm not making anything fancy. Tonight we had mac and cheese and it wasn't even the good brand! :) But he hasn't complained (yet!).

The Wigglies have completed about a month of school already. That's so hard to believe. They are both off to a strong start, and that's especially positive for Chris with some of the challenges we had last year. She also re-joined the youth group at church and has really be enjoying that. Joshua's school is trying to start Spelling Bee and Chess Club this year, in addition to continuing the OM competitions he's participated in the past two years. Christianne's school also restarted the Christian Club LOCKER and she's doing Wildcat Cuisine (a cooking club) again as well.

The only bummer is that in mixing with all the people they have, Christianne brought home a cold and lovingly shared it with her siblings. Praying that Pop stays healthy with it...

And one more prayer request - Pop's house is still in escrow. It was supposed to have closed 10 days ago. There aren't any problems - FHA is just slow with the paperwork, but if you'd pray for it to close soon, we'd appreciate it. We don't want the house to sit empty forever.

Gotta go tune in the Angel game for Pop.

xoxo

All Gone

Well the last ten days have been bustling with visiting family from Cali and Oregon, but now they're all gone.

Dad - check.
Den - check.
Mom - check.
Deb - check.
Pop - check. Wait. He's still here.

It's been such a good couple of weeks, but I have to admit I'm tired! Still, I'm very blessed to have such wonderful family.

Pop is doing well... Thank you for praying for a smooth transition. I'm sure we'll have some bumps in the road here and there but the first week has gone fairly smoothly, at least from my perspective! He's eating and sleeping and I don't suppose with 5 people, a cat, a dog, and various houseguests that he could be too lonely. :)

So now the travelers are all gone, kids are back in school, and I'm hoping to get settled back into a routine. I have a lot to do for Pop still, from organizing his things to updating his insurance, and I have a lot of things around our own household that have been neglected for awhile that I need to catch up - not to mention my unspecified business endeavor (which, by the way, is going extremely well and I'm excited to be building my team again).

Life is good.

(But if you listen to CCM, how could you not follow up that line with eternal life is better?)

Guess I should grab a shower and get to work, since I've wasted most of the day already. How's life in your corner of the world??

The School Called Today...

Seems my incredibly creative son, the child of mine with an awesome sense of humor... seems he spent about 10 minutes trying to convince his GT teacher today that over the summer we legally had his name changed to Gideon Aslan.

Finally she called me to verify.

Um yeah.

In other news, all is well on the Colorado Front Range. Skies are blue and clear, weather is a warm 75 or so, everyone is healthy and I think happy. Pop seems to be adjusting well so far. I'm sure there will be bumps in the road here and there but at the moment he's doing just fine. He's sleeping well and eating well and we are so blessed that he's here with us now.

What remains of our Cali Crew - Mom and Deb - went home yesterday. They have a few final things to do on Pop's house and it's due to close escrow next week.

The Oregon branch of our family tree arrives again tomorrow, and we're looking forward to seeing them again!

Meanwhile, we're still unpacking, organizing, arranging, adjusting, and dealing with phone calls from the school! :) Life is good.

xoxo

Moving Day

Well, they're on their way. I just got the call a little bit ago that they are officially on the road. Please, please pray for a safe journey for them, and especially for Pop's transition to living here with us. It's been pretty rough on him, saying good-bye to Palmdale, friends, and family. I'm sure it's going to be hard on those who will miss him, too - especially Deb. So if you'll keep my family in your prayers as they travel, we would so greatly appreciate it.

I'm way behind - haven't had time to blog and I haven't even replied to many e-mails. I'm sorry but I thank you for being patient with me. So much craziness all coming to a head this weekend - Labor Day weekend. It has been a lot of work on our end, and a heck of a lot of work on the Palmdale end, as Deb and Mom got 50 years' worth of stuff packed, stored, and sold - as well as taking care of the house sale and such. (Speaking of which, escrow is supposed to close on Tuesday as well, so if you'll keep that in your prayers as well, it would be appreciated!)

So, we're pretty much ready. We finished emptying our closets and drawers today... finishing up some last-minute cleaning. We still have a busy weekend even with waiting for the Cali Crew - lots to do. I am really looking forward to Sunday - by then, hopefully everything will be moved in and we can all just rest, relax, and enjoy each other's company for a couple of days.

I guess I'd better run... I have to work tonight. :) That's a good thing, but I'm tired from working at my non-paying job all day! Anyway... I hope you have a blessed, fabulous, relaxing holiday weekend.

xoxo

I Have a Question for You

Craziness.

Robert and I have been spending many, many hours working on our house. We've painted, moved furniture, cleaned carpets and blinds and ceiling fans, and much more. We even did a little decorating. Our house is beginning to look like we live here now, the upstairs at least.

Dad and Denise arrived from Oregon on Sunday afternoon, and we had a good visit with them. Yesterday was a recover day for me... I just kicked back and enjoyed cuddling with my last wee one in celebration of all the work we've been doing. But today I'm back to work: in 4 days the California Crew arrives - Pop, Mom, and Deb.

And then life will be different! Pop living with us full-time... I am both excited and a little nervous about it, honestly! But I know that this is an awesome opportunity and it will be a great time for us to grow closer to him. I know that his loneliness will be eased and he'll eat better... so for all that I feel a little overwhelmed at the blessing of it as well.

If that made any sense.

But this morning, here's what's on my mind.

I have a question for you.

Joshua always says that, before asking the actual question. I noticed it the other day. He'll come up, say, "Mom, I have a question," or "Dad, I have a question for you." Now it's my turn: I have a question for you.

Let's say it's Sunday morning, fairly early. You get up and get ready for church, maybe rushing because you overslept or maybe taking your time to look a little better than you do the rest of the week. You gather your things, your kids, your whatevers, and go out and get in the car to head off.

Your neighbor is outside drinking coffee on the porch, waves to you. He says, "Where are you going?"

"To church!" you reply.

And then he asks you a question: "Why do you go to church?"

I'm curious. Our pastor asked this last Sunday and it got me thinking. Why do we go? I mean, really. The honest answers. The why we really go is sometimes different from the why we should go, isn't it? But really, what's the point?

So then, I pose the question to you: Why do you go to church? Is it the same for you as why you should go?

OK - let's hear it!