Heersink Happenings

This Man

2012-01-26T00:00:00.000-07:00

The man I love,

My other half,

The father to our children,

A man of unending patience and unconditional love,

Someone who make me laugh daily,

And sacrifices greatly,

This MAN of mine

HAS A BIRTHDAY TODAY!!!

If you don't mind, stop off at the comments on the bottom of this page and send him some birthday love!

Happy Birthday my beloved!

Dancing Fool

2012-01-22T20:00:00.000-07:00

I've been trying forever to get a video of Henry dancing. This kid is a dancing maniac. He dances anytime he hears music and he's getting super good at it. He's got some pretty rockin' awesome moves.

Snow

2012-01-22T09:28:00.000-07:00

It finally snowed something significant yesterday. I was happy to stay home with my sick kids and my cold and hang out. Apparently, others had to go out. I saw this video on Facebook and can't believe how dangerous the conditions were. It rained most of the day, so you can imagine by the time it turned to snow, things were getting seriously icy and slippery. Whoever took this video lives about six blocks away from us.

Blessings, Fear, and Faith

2012-01-18T15:02:00.001-07:00

On Sunday, while singing songs in church, I found myself in tears. I fought them back for much of the morning. As I stood singing praise to my God I realized how anxious and restless my heart feels right now.

For over three years I have been content to watch as God builds our support team around us. I've been happy to take that time to spend with my loved ones. In recent weeks though, my heart is telling me it's time to go. We are slowly and finally getting ready for that day. We're compiling packing lists, and looking for the many things we need to buy to take with us. We're starting to talk about what will go, what will stay, what will be sold or donated. We are hearing Patrick talk more and more about moving to "Ah-cah." We're taking steps of faith that have felt too scary to take before, we are planning on an August departure. We are preparing our hearts and our children for that day.

The only problem with this is that we are still in need of 70% of our monthly support. If I allow my brain to wrap itself around that number I feel scared, and sick, and doubtful. Needless to say, I often feel that way lately. The process of getting from here

to there

feels enormous. It feels unsure. It feels terrifying. When we look over the next seven months of our lives, it's hard to imagine cramming everything that possibly needs to be done into that tiny little blip in time.

But God continues to make us feel restless and unsettled. He is making sure that the desire to work and minister with the children of Uganda turns into more than a desire - it turns into our lives physically, spiritually, and emotionally changing. Radically.

Beyond that, I still feel scared. I worry about people not hearing and seeing our call, our desire, our longing to be in Uganda. I worry about passing on our fire and passion for the ministry that Hope Alive is. I worry about people being unwilling or unable to support us. The bottom line is, that is what we need very most, supporters, partners, friends. Those people who will financially give, regularly to our ministry. Those who will pray alongside us not only when we land on Ugandan soil, but at this very moment while many of our hours are spent as a mom, or a bellman, or as a dad.

Sometimes I am not even sure how to categorize the people who have already given over so much of their resources to make sure we can do God's ministry in Uganda. To simply call them supporters, or partners, or even friends feels like it downplays what they really are and how we really feel about them. The people who come alongside us are very literally holding our hands, throwing out lifelines, and carrying us (even when our feet are still on US soil). How to put what we feel in our hearts, into words feels impossible at times. nd while thank you never feels like it's adequate enough, it's all we have to give. So, if you're reading this and you support us, THANK YOU! Our hearts are humbled by how God is using you in our story and how He plans to use you in the stories of Ugandan children!

I know this is so rambling, but I feel like there is a point to all of this.

Brandon and I both know that our times are in God's hands. We know that only God knows what His plan is and that we will get to Uganda when God deems it fit, and that he already knows that time. Sometimes though, it's just plain hard. It's hard to ask and it's hard to receive, and it's very hard to wait. The waiting is so hard, waiting for God to reveal the right people who will support us, waiting for the right date to start working towards, waiting for the magic of seeing that number climb to 100%.

The reality is, without regular, financial support from people and from churches, missionaries would cease to exist. I can't fathom a world where this would be the case. Missionaries rely completely on the financial gifts of their partners in ministry. And, many missionaries struggle to even begin to know how to ask. We can tell ourselves, and even believe it with all our hearts, that we are simply asking for some of God's money to be allocated to our specific ministry through individuals we know, but sometimes it doesn't make the asking any easier.

But, we keep moving forward despite discouragement because ultimately we know that the God of heaven has called us, specifically Brandon and Wizzy and Patrick and Henry Heersink to this work and to Uganda and to Hope Alive! He has told us to go, so we step forward in faith. Having faith doesn't always means it's easy, but it certainly makes it worth it.

So, if you pray for us, if you partner with us in our future ministry, will you pray that Brandon and I will ask boldly for the finances we need to go to Uganda and do ministry there? Will you pray that God gives us a heart of confidence? We were told once that God wants ambassadors on the mission field, not apologists. Will you pray that we won't portray an attitude of apology when we meet with potential financial partners? Will you pray that God will guide us to the right people and the right bodies of Christ that will get us to that 100% by August?

We need to be bold. We need to be confident. Somewhere in three years, we've lost our confidence and we fight to have the faith that this is what God wants for us, and for our current and future financial partners.

I have to continually remind myself, that this is God's great big story. It isn't just about the Heersink family moving to Uganda to work with Hope Alive. This story is about how God is going to use and bless the people who walk alongside us in our journey. It is an honor to get to be their hands and feet on the mission field. It is Hope Alive's! story. It is about the 500+ kids in the program. It is about the director's and leaders and mentors who are privileged to be part of Hope Alive. This story is so BIG. We are just a teeny tiny part of it.

Please take some time to prayer for our family as we seek new financial partners. Pray that God not only blesses us, but everyone he has already written into this story in great, big, huge ways. Please pray alongside us as we look towards a not too distant future that includes so many people. We covet and need those prayers right now. Our hearts are already in Uganda. We would love to be reunited with them as quickly as God sees fit.

Getting Through

2012-01-14T21:05:00.001-07:00

As this is a new year (I think we can still call it that), I've decided it's a perfect time to make some simple changes in my life that will make the everyday moments more bearable.

First, we're all working a little harder around here to keep things up. If you knew me, you might laugh at this. I am known as a MESSY, but being a messy and having ADD and two boys and a tiny apartment was making life feel very frustrating on a regular basis. I'm am working on making all the stuff in my life that I don't like GO AWAY. I don't tackle big jobs well. I don't handle chaos well, but it's kind of an interesting paradox that is presented in my life. I don't handle chaos well. That means I avoid it like the plague, but mostly in an unhealthy way. If our bedroom gets a little messy, I let the thought of cleaning it overwhelm me, so I ignore it. Then it gets worse, until it truly is a chaotic mess and as a result I REALLY and TRULY can't handle it. So chaos reigns and I bow down to it.

I am working to change that. We did a massive clean out of our bedroom nine days ago. We got rid of TONS of stuff. We looked at each other and promised it would never get that bad again. And in nine days it hasn't. That's probably a record for me. It feels too nice having a clean, organized, and comfortable place to go at the end of the day. Another way to keep the chaos down is staying up on the laundry - something that has never been my strength. I literally have piles and piles and piles of both clean and dirty laundry, all over the house. I've changed that too. I am working to get it all done, which means I do a load or two a day so I don't overwhelm myself. And, as soon as the loads are dry, I put all the laundry away. I can't remember the last time I saw the top of my dryer, but I'm liking how it looks. I am also keeping the boys room and toys organized on a fairly regular basis. All of this had led me to feel so much more at peace and I love it. I love that I don't wake up every morning feeling plagued by what I should be doing or what I didn't do. I love facing each day knowing I can tackle the small things way better than the big things. It is my goal to keep these things small and manageable. Check back in with me in a month. I truly hope we'll be in a great pattern by then.

Second, I am back on Weight Watchers. After a too long hiatus, I was pleasantly surprised to discover I have continued to slowly lose weight these last seven months. Some things I put into practice last May stuck with me and have helped me slowly lose 22 (TOTAL) pounds since April and four pounds since I started eleven days ago. Still just 22 pounds total. Telling you I need to lose 68 pounds to reach my first goal sounds so much better than 90 pounds. WOW, it feels good.

I am tired of being fat! I want to look in the mirror and actually see the person I feel like inside. I've never FELT fat. I still feel young and energetic, but my body and my choices speak to a very different reality and I am sick and tired of feeling like I have been imprisoned by this. So, I am choosing to move forward and make better decisions. I love Weight Watchers for that reason. It is teaching me to change my thinking and my lifestyle and it certainly is not what I would call a diet. I also love that in the last ten years there is radically more available in terms of low fat, high fiber, and low cal foods. It makes me happy. On that note, here are some of my faves that are getting me through.

Baked Lays - Cheddar and Sour Cream, and Sour Cream and Onion in particular. I have them everyday with lunch.
Baked Tostitos - great with salsa
Orowheat Sandwich Thins - ONE POINT baby. (Oh yeah, I follow the old point system)
Any of the Weight Watchers frozen treats - they have an ice cream sandwich for one point, and my faves are the ice cream candy bars and the cookies and cream ice cream bars. I HIGHLY recommend any of these!
Sarah Lee Delightful low cal bread. TWO SLICES for one point. It's not the greatest bread known to man, but it makes a perfectly decent sandwich.
popcorn - I have recently invested in an air popper and am enjoying it much more than microwave popcorn. I get sick of the weirdo butter taste in microwave popcorn. I use butter spray and salt or some other seasoning.
Nonfat light yogurt
string cheese
Special K blueberry cereal

I'm sure there's more, but those are on my mind now.

Anyway, as we've all heard before, it takes 30 days to make something a habit. I'm not sure it's true, I think many people need much more time than that, but we are well on our way to thirty days, and if I make that far I will just keep pushing through.

I'm praying this year that chaos will be defeated in my home and the battle of the bulge will be won.

WINTER COFFEE CHALLENGE!

2012-01-09T15:40:00.001-07:00

Christmas is over. The decorations already have or are currently making their way towards storage for the next year, and life is returning to some sense of normal rhythm again. You know what, though? It's never too late or early to give. There are so many worthwhile causes to give to that count on your support throughout the year, not just at Christmas time. It just so happens our family is included in that group I mentioned above. We want to move to Uganda. We are full of anticipation for the day that God tells us to "GO!" But we need your help to get there! Will you help us make Christ known to the children of Uganda by answering this simple question: How much money do you spend monthly on specialty coffee drinks? $25, $50, $75?

Would you consider spending that amount as a monthly supporter of our ministry to Uganda with WorldVenture?

Our goal is to be at 60% of full-funding by March 1st, 80% by May 1st, and 100% funding and on our way to Uganda by August. This is a lofty goal, but we know that with God's help and His people generously giving, we can reach Uganda soon! If you would like to be a part of our Winter Coffee Challenge there are several ways you can give. In terms of ease, we recommend donating online, but any option works.

DONATE ONLINE: You can log on to WORLDVENTURE click the MAKE A COMMITMENT tab and set up a payment arrangement or electronic funds transfer by selecting our name (HEERSINK, BRANDON AND ELIZABETH) under the drop down in the middle of the page. If you choose this method, please make sure that donation/giving is allocated to Brandon and Elizabeth Heersink.

SNAIL MAIL: Another great way to start giving is to mail a check to the WorldVenture Headquarters, ATTN: Donor Relations 1501 W. Mineral Avenue, Littleton, CO 80120. With this option, we ask that you make the check payable to WORLDVENTURE and add Heersink #063 to the memo line, without adding our name and special number, that money won't make it's way to our account. Please also specify in your mailing whether the commitment is monthly, quarterly, or annually.

PHONE A FRIEND: For those of you who like to hear a friendly voice at the other end of the phone to assure you that everything has been handled properly, you have the option to speak with our Donor Resource Center. They are a great bunch of WorldVenture staff at our headquarters in Colorado and will make sure that your giving is done with ease. Simply dial 1.800.487.4224 to phone a friend!

With any of these options, we would love to hear that you have begun giving! It will give us a great chance to catch up with you and help us keep our records straight.

For more information or to let us know you have joined our Winter Coffee Challenge, contact us via email at be.heersink@worldventure.net. If you would like to talk to us or have questions regarding giving, please let us know through email. We would love to call you!

Let it snow!

2012-01-07T23:34:00.004-07:00

Imagine Patrick's surprise when we woke up this morning to snow.

We've been waiting a LONG time for the snow.

Naturally, this prompted a trip to Grandma's house to play in the snow. It was perfect snow for building a snowman. What a fun time!

Oh Goodness

2012-01-06T16:11:00.000-07:00

We've been busy around here. Every night I think that I will blog, and once I'm sitting I've lost the inspiration. I guess it's just a phase I'm going through. I was sick for a long, long, time. That is finally lifting.

I guess it could also be that the boys keep me hopping. I keep thinking they've hit their peak of active and crazy boy-ness, and then they do something to make me realize we're only just beginning. Henry has started climbing on everything. It is not rare to come into a room and find him standing in the middle of the table, or perched on the edge of shelf, or mid-climb between the couch and a side table. It makes me tired even writing about it.

Patrick is officially phasing out naps. We've spent the week trying to get him into a routine of a quiet time of laying in bed looking at books. It hasn't gone so well. I eventually bought a timer and have set the timer. He is allowed to be done with his rest time when the timer goes off. He is a better child when he gets a quiet rest in and I am a better mom when he gets his rest in. He hasn't quite gotten the hang of the timer yet, but he will. He has no choice.

We've started back up on the diet plan. I've added exercise in (again, I know...) and am currently doing Jillian Michael's 30 Day Shred. It's okay (and the only reason it's okay is because I HATE exercise. I will never love it. I realize it doesn't matter anymore, I don't have to love it to do it). There are some things I love about it. First, it's only 20 minutes, so it's out of the way quickly. Second, those short 20 minutes are not wasted - in fact, they are a little frenzied, but she makes sure everything gets worked out. Third, I can do it easily from my own home - and let's be honest here, the last thing this fat mom needs is to go huff and puff around an exercise class in front of all the mom's whose lives are obviously perfect and well put together. You know the kind, who have extra time (after parenting their 4.5 beautiful kids and being the perfect wife who cooks only healthy, low calorie, organic food) to not only spend hours at the gym with their besties, blog, redecorate their homes on an obvious (NOT) budget, stop by the tanning salon a couple times a week and STILL find time to visit their plastic surgeon regularly (HA!). At least that's how it is where I live. Anyway...

When I weighed, to my shocking surprise, I found that I was down another six pounds, and have lost another two since. This brings my grand total weight loss since April to 20 pounds. It feels so good to say that. What doesn't feel good is knowing I've lost 20 pounds, but realizing other than making my pants fall off (which I thought was because I had gained so much weight they just weren't staying up over my huge belly), there is no noticeable difference in how I look. That means I've got a long ways to go, but 20 pounds is 20 pounds. I can't remember the last time I took off 20 pounds. Now to figure out how I'm going to baby my one pair of pants through another 20 pounds. I refuse to buy new clothes right now. I've got way too much to lose. And yes, I only own one pair of pants that fits me currently. It's a pair of jeans and belts don't help keep them up.

Yesterday we spent eight hours cleaning our room. Our closet was over stuffed. Under our bed, which started out as storage, had become a place where anything and everything wound up. I'm amazed we never lost a kid to that black hole. It took a long time, but with Brandon at the helm we did eventually complete the project and got rid of SO MUCH STUFF. There are some happy new owners of clothing, maternity clothes, books, home decor, shoes, and winter gear. Our space under the bed will no longer be used for anything, it's way too slippery a slope.

In fact, that brings me to my goals this year. I don't like the idea of a resolution. I like thinking more about it in the way of a life change. I don't want the goals I set to be short-lived. I want them to stick. More times than not, they haven't stuck, but this year a key word on my heart is INTENTIONALITY. This is the year to live more intentionally. So here's some goals for the coming days, months, and years.

Instead of whining about our small living space, work to make our belongings fit our space instead of making the space fit us. This will require some very intense organization. PRAY FOR ME. This is my biggest area of struggle. There is no sense in letting our lives overwhelm us and since we're moving to Uganda, why not start the process of cleaning and reprioritizing now.
Spend more time together with my husband. Make this intentional. Instead of counting our time zoned out in front of the TV as together time, set aside time to make it happen.
Lose weight. Keep it off. Work intentionally to change my patterns in this area of my life.
Spend more time with God. Study his Word with the intention of getting to know Him better. Become more tuned in to what his plans are for our lives.
Become more intentional about how we spend our money. In fact, it's not ours, it's God's. Work much harder to spend and save in ways God would approve of.

Last year was a roller coaster year for us. It started with us seeking a new direction in ministry, and ended with us headed to Uganda. It started with fear, frustration, and ambivalence. It ended with confidence, assurance, and us seeing God's faithfulness. It started with a three year old and a baby, it ended with almost a FIVE year old, and a crazy toddler. It started with Brandon exhausted from working two jobs and ended with him working one and more time devoted to raising our support.

I hope to be back in the near future with some new recipes we've tried and some pictures of the ever amazing Heersink boys.

10 Years in Review

2011-12-31T11:31:00.001-07:00

As we just celebrated our 10 year wedding anniversary, I thought I would do a quick review of the memorable things that happened in the last decade. When we think back on what our lives were like ten years ago, it feels like a lifetime has passed, but when we simply look back it feels like we blinked and here we are. Last night as I was reflecting over our years as a married couple and over what our dreams for the future were and what they have become, I thought it would be fun to look back with all of you as well. Those of you who lived through it with us, feel free to add.

2001: We got married just two days shy of ringing in 2002.

2002: Found us living in our first apartment together on Batchawana St. in Grand Rapids, MI. Brandon had his final semester of college to finish and I had graduated the spring before. I was working at a daycare. Life was so simple. We loved our apartment, it was one bedroom, but had a basement, which meant lots of storage. We rented lots of movies and spent many cozy nights on the couch. In the early summer we packed up our meager belongings and moved back to Utah. Brandon had big plans to go to seminary. I was a little more cautious in those beliefs. We found a great apartment and got real jobs (HA!) Brandon worked as a bellman at a hotel in Salt Lake (sound familiar?) and I worked in the produce department at Albertson's and was a teacher's aide at a local elementary school. Brandon brought it quite a bit of money in tips and life was easy. Brandon began scouting out seminary's.

2003: Brandon was accepted to Denver Seminary, and in the late summer, just one year after moving to Utah, we packed up again and began life over in Littleton, Colorado. We literally lived around the corner from my grandparents, it was about a three minute walk to their place. I am so grateful for our time with them when we lived there. Brandon began school and I found a job at a local daycare. I quickly made friends, and after about a month of crying myself to sleep over missing "home", we settled right in. We LOVED living in Denver.

2004: Brandon meets Eric in class. Eric introduced us to what would become our church home for about 18 months. We begin getting to know Eric and Cassy and spending time with them here and there. We also meet Mike and Tori.

2005: Our relationships with Eric and Cassy and Mike and Tori deepen. We meet Patrick and Julie as well. We spend the year working, going to school and enjoying our first ever couple friendships since we got married. We also begin to plan our summer of 2006, where we know we'll be overseas, somewhere for two months.

2006: We start the year planning and raising support for a two month internship in Northwest Argentina. Our first half of that year is devoted to that outside of work and school. We spend June and July in Tucuman, Argentina. We feel God's confirmation during our time there to pursue full time missions. We were challenged in ways I would have never expected. While there we also find out we are expecting a baby. After our return home we begin talking to WorldVenture about being appointed, and they give us some goals to achieve before we can begin the process.

2007: Patrick is born in March and Brandon graduates from seminary in May. I start this blog. We make the decision to move back to Utah after graduation to be close to family while working on paying down student loans in order to be appointed as missionaries with WorldVenture. Brandon is offered his old job back and I start my new job as a stay-at-home mom. We find a great apartment exactly 2 miles from my parents and we settle into life.

2008: Brandon works at the hotel and also works a series of second jobs. We get appointed with WorldVenture to Argentina in the fall.

2009: We find out we're expecting Henry and continue on in life as normal. Life is beginning to feel routine and we enjoy lots of time with family.

2010: Henry is born in May. God uses many events and people in our lives to start letting us know the ministry in Argentina is not the right fit for our family. I am much quicker to get on board with this than Brandon and I spend tons of time in prayer over what God wants for us. Brandon goes to Haiti and God uses his time there to bring us back into synch as a couple regarding our future ministry.

2011: Well, it's been a whirlwind year. We started the year thinking about getting to Argentina and hoping for a way to make our hearts for children's ministry fit into the field in Argentina. God quickly makes it obvious that is not His plan. We find a ministry we love, in UGANDA, my heart skips a beat (or a thousand) and we quickly throw together a trip to Uganda in June. We frantically apply for passports for the boys, we race to get our immunizations in, Henry gets tubes in his ears just a few days before we leave, and we hop on a plane in mid June. And, if you follow this blog, you know the rest of the story.

This run-down doesn't even begin to cover everything, so here's some more because the years sort of blend beyond the big stuff.

In this time we also went from having no nieces or nephews to having five nephews and three nieces.

We watched the heartbreak of divorce hit our family hard. We've had a relationship fracture and in this year we've seen a repair of that relationship.

We watched many of our family members move and move again.

We've made many trips and seen more of our own country we thought we would. Some of those places include: Colorado, Iowa, Michigan, Arizona, California, Nevada, Idaho, Ohio, and Florida. And as we were reminded of this week, we've seen lots of the world, including: Buenos Aires, Tucuman, Salta, and Juy Juy, Argentina; the airport in Amsterdam (the Motherland for Brandon), Kigali, Rwanda, and Kampala, Gulu, and Masaka, Uganda (and the places in between).

We have had great sorrow.

We watched as my Grandma fought cancer for three years and we celebrated her life together when she went on to her eternal home. I miss her. There are many moments in the last year when I think of how much she would have loved this or that.

We were witnesses to a horrible and ongoing injustice committed against Uncle Wesley. I still find myself angered or crying over it at times. My heart breaks a thousand times over every time I hear about abuse and the injustice that so often goes with it. We cried when we couldn't be together with our family when uncle Wes died. We are grateful for God's redeeming love, because only God could have redeemed the situation in Wes' life, although it didn't stop any of us from trying, and we believe by taking him home to heaven that he did just that.

We discovered Patrick was significantly speech delayed. We mourned the loss of what our expectations were for him in these early years.

We have also had great joy.

We have two amazing, wonderful, creative, exhausting, and brilliant boys. Ten years ago we didn't know if having our own kids would even be a possibility because I have PCOS.

We welcomed our nephew Tommy into the world exactly three weeks after Henry was born. It was a long wait for his parents and a desire for them that we didn't know God would fulfill in the way we expected him to. And now, we're awaiting the arrival of Tommy's little brother. God does work in his own time.

We have an entire new list of friends in Uganda. A year ago we weren't aware of their existence and now we can't wait to cultivate those relationships further. We are so excited we can hardly wait.

We have watched as Patrick's speech has flourished and we have thanked God profusely for the strides Patrick has made in speech.

So, there you have it. Ten years (and this is the brief version) of our life as a family. I thank God for this life he has given me. I thank him for it everyday. We are truly blessed beyond measure.

10 years, a walk down memory lane in pictures.

2011-12-29T09:20:00.000-07:00

It's hard to believe we've been married for ten years! In these years we've grown up together, experienced great sorrow and great joy, and we discover every day the love we have for one another. I am grateful to God for this man in my life and I can't wait to see what the rest of our lives will look like. For ten years I've not only lived in the present with the love of my life, but I've looked to the future as well.

Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails. 1 Corinthians 13:4-8

Some video

2011-12-27T10:41:00.000-07:00

Patrick gets his bike.Henry is a dancing fool.

Christmas

2011-12-26T09:35:00.000-07:00

We had a fun Christmas.

My cousins and their significant others came here to celebrate with us. It was a little crazy, but the kids had fun playing together, and we enjoyed catching up after years of not all being together.

Patrick did indeed get the one thing he asked for this year, a bike, and since we haven't had snow, he got to spend time riding it on Christmas day. Henry got lots of miscellaneous stuff, but the hit of the year was the red Cars ride on car he got from Great Grandpa Gordon.


The shirts say, "I'd agree with you, but then we'd both be wrong." and they were given to these guys. It's fitting.

The two nephews were given shirts that said, "My favorite aunt."

Jenny and Andy, who are newly engaged, got the awesome gift of the Jesus head.

Patrick got a Leapster. Andy and Jenny helped him get it set up.

Christmas Eve

2011-12-24T23:02:00.003-07:00

Here are a few more pictures from our day.

Just like the rest of the world, we have a tradition in our house that the kids get new jammies every year on Christmas Eve. Patrick loves fuzzy pants, so I went with a non-traditional Christmas choice this year. Henry doesn't care, so he gets totally traditional jammies.

Patrick was so excited about Santa coming. He and Brandon checked out where Santa was on NORAD and we read the Night Before Christmas. He literally jumped into bed and went right to sleep. I will be soon to follow.

These are as good as photos work right now. Patrick insisted upon sitting on the ball, Henry wouldn't look at me when Patrick did. I love it. So symbolic of this moment in time.

Merry Christmas Eve

2011-12-24T13:31:00.000-07:00

Phew. We're finally here. All the prep will be worth it.

I've been in the kitchen for about two weeks straight. I can't wait until our kitchen doesn't have a perpetually endless cycle of baking dishes piled up that we can never seem to catch up on.

Arriving in town Wednesday was my cousin Matt, his wife Ellie, and their two kids Blake and Callie. They had to get up at 3AM in order to catch their flight so they were all exhausted, but it has been fun meeting their kids and comparing fundraising stories. They are headed to Indonesia with MAF, so Matt can be a missionary pilot. Their son Blake is the sweetest little guy. Callie is six months old and has an angelic look to her. My Grandpa also arrived Wednesday. We received his Christmas card in the mail yesterday and I started crying, I opened the card expecting to see my Grandma's handwriting. She would have loved this gathering of the family.

My cousin Jamie and her husband Eric and their three kids, Kaylie, Zachary, and Abby arrived on Thursday. They also flew in with my cousin Andy and his new fiance, Jenny. It has truly been YEARS since we've all been together like this. Patrick is loving hanging out with Zachary and Kaylie. Kaylie is exactly one year older than Patrick and Zachary is about one year younger, so it's been a good mix. Jenny, Andy's fiance is awesome. She is kind and friendly and super easy to be around. She makes a great fit into this crazy family.

My mom's youngest brother, my uncle Scott arrived last night. So, we're only missing Gary and Laurie, Jamie, Matt, and Andy's parents, who live in Rwanda. It sure would be great to have them here.

So in addition to all our regular holiday prep, we are also making sure every evening is spent with family, all of us have covered a meal, and tonight we'll all go to church, and those who can make it, to a Christmas Eve open house at some good friend's of ours. It's been a crazy few days, I am staying up way too late, but God has given me the energy I need to get through the days. I am still struggling a lot with loss of voice and a sore throat. I finally did some research on Mono and it would appear since I fit all the symptoms the Dr. was probably right in her diagnosis a few weeks back. I am looking forward to a little return to normalcy after Christmas.

Next week we celebrate our ten year anniversary. My parents are taking the boys for a night and we're going to spend some time together apart from the kids. My parents have not had both boys over night before, but are taking them for a week in January. This will be a good trial run.

So, here we are on Christmas Eve. I am feeling overwhelmingly blessed. I am pondering the miracle of Christ becoming man for us. I certainly don't feel worthy of that kind of love, but that's what makes it an even greater gift. I hope in all the hustle and bustle of this season you have a chance to slow down and think upon the impact Christ's arrival in your life.

And finally, some pictures of decorating cookies for Santa. The boys got a little wild. But they sure had fun.

Around Here

2011-12-20T08:08:00.000-07:00

It has been an interesting couple of weeks around here. About two weeks ago I came down with a screaming sore throat, it quickly turned into a total loss of my voice. I've spent exactly two weeks hoarse and feeling like my throat was either going to burn up or dry up and turn into dust. It was a very depressing time and parenting the boys in that state made life rough - on all of us.

But, as you all know, we are moving into Christmas, faster than I'd like. While I was feeling awful, I didn't really have a chance to rest up, I was in the throes of Christmas prep. Last week was spent baking, cleaning, shopping, writing Christmas cards (SO MANY OF THEM), going to the post office, and whining (lots and lots of WHINING, Brandon is a saint).

My voice is slowly coming back. It's not normal, but I am able to speak with intonation. I can sing again. My boys can hear me when they aren't five inches from my face. I've gotten accustomed to whispering though, so I find myself whispering when I don't have to. I didn't know I was capable of such a feat.

Besides all the sick stuff, we've also managed to enjoy some of our traditions, new and old. We took the boys on a drive to see Christmas lights last weekend. We all had hot chocolate and blankets. We even found a house that had it's lights coordinated with Christmas music on the radio. The boys were riveted. We stayed for three songs.

Our family is also preparing to host all my cousins from my mom's side. This will be quite a Christmas. We're all really looking forward to it. We haven't all been together in a long time. They start arriving tomorrow and will be here through Christmas and into next week. I think it will be so fun for Patrick to have some kids to play with. It means there will be 24 of us at Christmas, with 8 kids age five and under. :) The last two days I've been helping my mom get ready for their arrival. I'm thanking God I am feeling much better and have had a lot of fun spending time with my parents.

So how do we spend our first official day of Christmas break? (We're calling it that because Patrick's last day of school for 2011 was yesterday)

We decide on a movie to watch.

We pick at our breakfast.


We get cozy to watch our Netflix selection (while looking intense).

Do you like the wreckage of our tree? Some years I'm not sure why I bother. The boys believe the beads are there to be pulled off. It certainly is a moment in time though.

And, I will leave you with an idea. For those of you who haven't gotten your tree yet, or are worried about space, here is a solution I found online.

Boys and their trains

2011-12-17T17:17:00.000-07:00

2011-12-16T15:19:00.000-07:00

I've been MIA. I know.

Christmas, two young boys, and a plaguing illness have kept me away. I'm sorry.

I will be back, but I need more than five minutes a day of downtime before that happens.

Anyway, until I get some pictures uploaded

HAVE A MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Recipes

2011-12-10T10:26:00.001-07:00

I've been thinking for a while about doing this, but never have.

This morning I started putting my favorite recipes into a tab on this blog. I am doing it more for me than for anyone else, but of course, you can benefit from it as well if you like to cook. It's just in the beginning stages, but it sure is a nice way to get all the recipes I love in one place that is easy to access from anywhere I am.

So, enjoy. I know I will appreciate having them all "under one roof."

Henry Jon at 18 months

2011-12-10T08:54:00.001-07:00

Henry actually hit his 18 month mark on November 26th, but I am jut getting to this now. I figure we're okay because he is still in hi 18th month of life.

Edited to add: I can't believe I forgot how much Henry LOVES Batman. He really LOVES Batman, in fact, one of his main words, used multiple times a day is...you guessed it, BATMAN!

Henry is a spit-fire. He is sweet spirited and easy going, but when things are going his way he does not hesitate to let you now immediately. In that way he is totally typically toddler.
Henry is our daredevil. He climbs anything and has no fear. He still does not understand the idea of edges and often falls off chairs, the couch, our bed. He's a tough cookie.
He LOVES sweets. He inherited his Grandpa Pat's sweet tooth. If he could exclusively live on chocolate he would. In fact, we've had to really start watching his sweet intake as he will refuse all other foods. We haven't cut sugar totally out, but his amount is very restricted right now.
He sleeps from 8PM-6:30AM. He wakes WAY TOO EARLY for my tastes, but I think he will adjust to that.
He is happily sharing a room with Patrick now, and I think it's made him a better sleeper, he used to be the lightest sleeper and now he isn't.
His sleep toy of choice is a small Winnie the Pooh bear.
He still has his suckies. I just can't wean him yet.
This last month he cut his top two molars, and his bottom two are about to cut through as well. That brings his tooth count to 10, soon to be 12.
He LOVES music and is a singing and dancing machine. He is hysterical when he dances. They boy has got some moves. Two nights ago when Patrick and I were singing him his good night song, he sang right along for the first time.
He loves the water. I can't decide if his ear tubes are a good or bad thing, they keep him out of the water, but if he had his way, he would be swimming like a fish.
Him and his cousin Tom fight over everything, they both have become total toddlers by following the rule of "What's yours is mine and what's mine is mine."
He has words. Let's see if I can think of them all - more, snack, mommy, daddy, night-night, mine, moon, wow, ball, book, no, bye bye, hot, hi, nu-nu (Patrick's bear), papa, mama (Grandma)
He plays so well with Patrick and loves attempting to keep up, they play hide-n-seek, cars, etc.
He is curious about everything, absolutely everything. He is into everything. In fact, life is never dull.
He is a love. Loves to cuddle, hug, kiss, and be silly.
He mimics everything. Patrick just shook my hand, and Henry was right behind him doing it as well.
He is not eating super well right now, but some of that is typically toddler, at least it was this way with Patrick as well. We aren't worried, it's not like he's dropping weight.
He is so easy going. He puts up with a lot from Patrick who uses Henry likes he is a play toy, not a boy. We have to do lots of intervening, but he also loves it too. We are just waiting for the day to come when he fights back, then we're in real trouble.
He has lots of silly nicknames: Hanky, Hank the Tank, Heinrich, Shorty, Hank-i-nator, Hunky, Chunky - and he answers to them all.
He loves to go out. He may look like me, but he is his father's son. Not only did he inherit Dad's sweet tooth, he also loves to be on the go. Patrick would rather stay home, all the time. Henry flips out when Daddy goes out without taking him. Needless to say, Henry and Daddy go on lots of errands together. It's the cutest thing.
He runs, jumps, tumbles, dances, kicks, spins, and walks backwards. He is a nut.

I absolutely adore this age. It is by far one of the most difficult in terms of just attempting to keep up, but it's also a time when he is just exploding, he is totally curious about everything around him, his speech is exploding, he is learning more independent play, he is able to interact with Patrick. So, while we are exhausted, we are also loving every minute of him at this age.

We love you Henry!

The North Pole Express

2011-12-09T23:00:00.000-07:00

Tonight we headed up to Heber to take Patrick to see Santa on the North Pole Express.

He was SO excited.

This excursion was expensive. In fact, we saved up Patrick's gift money from last year to do it, and we all think it was totally worth it.

Patrick dressed in his Scooby Doo jammies and we all bundled up. Grandpa was kind enough to stay home with Henry.

When we arrived, it was almost magical to see the old train right in front of us. Patrick got a cookie and hot cocoa (which he says was his favorite part). We sang carols, the host of the car read The Night Before Christmas, Santa got on the train at the North Pole and gave a bell to each child, there was a choir singing Christmas songs. Patrick had so much fun. So did we.

Arrival at the North Pole.

Seeing Santa.

Having a dance party.

It was a full car.

Getting his bell from Santa.

December goodness

2011-12-08T09:45:00.001-07:00

As an update to the last post - both Patrick and I have been to the Dr. We both have viruses.

Moving on to better stuff.

We've not slowed down doing Christmas activities. We've been busy making our Truth in the Tinsel ornaments, and pinning ornaments onto our "vintage" advent tree made in the 70's by my mom. We've done some shopping, watched some Christmas movies, and driven around to see some lights. All in all, despite the illness making its rounds again, we're enjoying this time together.

Patrick making some of his ornaments. I've really enjoyed this book we're working through, the lessons are great, and simplistic enough for Patrick to sit through. I'm so glad to have something like this for Patrick this year.

Working on his Zechariah ornament.

A cute Zechariah.

Making the angel Gabriel.

This morning, Brandon and the boys made breakfast. Brandon is the parent who allows the kids to get in it and get dirty. I'm more cautious and don't like the mess, so occasionally, it's nice when he does an activity with them.

sick

2011-12-05T14:14:00.001-07:00

I looked in Patrick's mouth today.

His tonsils are HUGE.

His breath smells like death.

My throat is on fire. It hurts to talk, breath, swallow.

WILL THIS EVER END???

Someone please throw me out a lifeline of hope. Because I am sinking fast.

Today's thoughts brought to you by...

2011-12-05T13:36:00.001-07:00

Single Dad Laughing and me.

I read this post a few weeks ago and meant to link it up here on my blog. I haven't read much of this guy's stuff . I wish he knew Jesus in a real and powerful way. But, I wish that for everyone. I also happen to really like what he has to say in his post. Most of you have probably read it by now, but for those of you who haven't, why not take a minute (or fifteen, depending on the speed at which you read) and read it.

I have my own opinions about lots of things. I have based my opinions on my life, who I am, where I have come from, but most importantly, even more importantly than those other things, I base my opinions and beliefs on my Savior. I believe in what he says is good. I don't agree with practices that He says are wrong. You know what though? Jesus taught love - radical, life changing, unique, love. Jesus loved the sick, the outcasts, the prostitutes. If anyone should be clothing themselves in love, above all else, it's Christians, it's me. So, while I may disagree with your choices, your lifestyle, your way of doing things - it does not mean I won't love you. I'm all for open and honest communication. I like having hard discussions. I do have strong opinions. But the best thing I can do for all people, is to love them.

Anyway, I know there are so many strong responses to this article. I'm not sure if I will hear any of them here, but, WOW, his words are powerful and spoke to me in a very personal way as I walk my own Christ following walk. There are things in the article I also don't agree with or particularly like the way in which he stated them, but it's not my article. I just read it and from my own perspective put my Christian spin on it and feel like Jesus calls us to love, not just the people we choose to be worthy of our love, but everyone. In fact, that is what being a Christ follower is all about. So, in the end, it's not about making myself feel better, it's about being a light for Christ in every situation, not just the one's we carefully choose or orchestrate. I think that brings glory to God. And ultimately, that's what I'm here on earth to do.

CLICK HERE.

Decorating, a new tradition, and ice cream treats

2011-12-02T22:13:00.001-07:00

Patrick is talking up a storm. I can't believe how well he is doing. We are getting super excited seeing the end in sight. He just needs to get his S sounds and his SH sounds down and we're done. How awesome is that? I will post some video of him chatting it up at the end of this post.

Yesterday in the midst of the big windstorm and without power, we took on the task of decorating the Christmas tree with our two young rascals.

It was fun and a little crazy, but we got the job done.

After tree decorating we headed out into the wind storm and over to my parents where we spent the majority of the rest of the day. We ran out of time to being our new advent tradition, so we started it today and did two days worth. Patrick had a lot of fun making his ornaments and is very proud of them.

Hanky ate snack while Patrick crafted away.

Adding his advent ornaments to his tree.

This evening we ran some errands and wound up getting ice cream treats for the boy. I had two free treat coupons at Dairy Queen, which made the boys endlessly happy (and us too because they were free). Today was a good day.

Here are the videos.

Advent

2011-12-02T15:13:00.001-07:00

We love Christmas in our house. It's always been a special season to us. We were even married at Christmas time almost ten (WHOA! TEN YEARS???) years ago.

We've not done anything lasting or unique in the past three years for Patrick. He was too young and I'm not sure it would have mattered much. This year though, he is WAY MORE verbal and I hear him processing things. Last week in the car during a particularly naughty moment, I asked him who always watches us, and why it's important to make good choices. His first response was, "Ho Ho (Santa)!" I chuckled and said, "Sure, honey, but JESUS is always watching us, JESUS wants us to act like him, which means we make good choices, choices that show love and not hate."

It got me thinking about how we are choosing to raise our children.

I was raised in a home full of fun, fantasy, and imagination. That is a very particular part of my childhood that I loved. I love that my parents allowed us to believe in Santa and the magic that comes with that childhood belief. I love that we were allowed to use our imaginations in wild and fantastical ways. I love that my childhood memories are full of story times involving princesses, dwarfs, witches, queens, talking animals, monsters, and princes. I think that my parents opened up a world brilliant in color by allowing us to dream of our fantasies. We want our children to experience these same things.

I grew up knowing the difference between Santa Claus and Jesus. I have always known the real reason we celebrate Christmas, but I also believed in Santa. For a few years I believed in him with all my heart. I wouldn't trade those magical memories for anything.

We want our kids to have these same experiences. We want him to be able to have the magic of both, Jesus Christ, the savior born in a manger, and Santa Claus, a the fat jolly man in a red suit delivering gifts to kids all over world.

But more importantly than having both experiences, we want Patrick to know with all HIS heart the real reason for this season.

Which means it's time to get very intentional about how we teach him.

We know he'll get all the Santa he could ever want from his peers, on TV and in movies, and in the world around him. It's not so easy to instill the love of Christ into his heart. I wish it were.

So this year, we bought an e-book called Truth in the Tinsel. This Advent season each day leading up to Christmas we will have bible lesson with Patrick, and he'll make an ornament to hang on the tree - all done in the true meaning of this Christmas season. I can't wait to get started.

And while we're doing that, we'll also let him enjoy the magic of Santa.

I think it's the best of both worlds.

Damage

2011-12-01T20:34:00.001-07:00

Last night and this morning our area experienced a HUGE windstorm. In some places the wind speeds were recorded at 100+ miles an hour. Needless to say, there is lots of damage, everywhere. Thankfully, our apartment complex was not damaged and we faired the storm well. My parents, who live in an old victorian home built in 1892, had relatively little damage as well. They have some huge old trees on their property, and while many branches broke and fell, they all managed to avoid the house, the garage, and the shed.

We spent this afternoon at their house. We used Grandma's stove to cook lunch and Brandon spent a few hours helping clean up sticks. There is more work to be done, but we are thankful it wasn't worse. Schools are closed tomorrow here in our county and it looks like a ghost town right now.

We were also without power for about eight hours. My parents are still without it. It's funny how lost we feel without our electricity. I am sure thankful for the people working round the clock to get the power back up for all of us affected here in Davis County. I took a few pictures on my phone. Here they are.

A knocked over sign.

Many trees were uprooted, including this one in front of KFC.

My parents driveway.

My parents backyard.

More backyard

A limb that did some damage to the neighbors fence.

My dad's fountain that blew from the front yard to the side yard.

More backyard.

Teetering

2011-11-28T21:36:00.001-07:00

So, I'm teetering on an edge...an edge of frustration, and panic, and impatience, and depression.

It has been a long and tough month in the Heersink household. We've all been sick (A LOT). And grumpy. And short-fused. If grades were given out in parenting (and you know they are), I would have received a big fat F this month. I am not proud that under pressure I have given way to my own sinful nature and not allowed God to guide me. I was not nurturing enough. I threw any healthy eating out the window. I didn't exercise once. I yelled at my husband. I was short with my sister. I am struggling. Thankfully, as we enter into this Advent season, I know that God's grace is sufficient for me. It covers all those things I so regularly beat myself up over. In fact, without the Advent, there would be no grace. And because of God's own nature, it doesn't allow me to stop there, it urges me onward to be better, more filled with love, more Christ-like.

Because of all this, I haven't wanted to blog. But, I have spent lots of time in prayer. And recently as I've watched my sons, I've become more convicted of the kind of parents we need to be in order to raise Christ-filled, Jesus loving (and OBEYING) men.

And in that, it just so happens, I came across this blog post tonight and felt it needed to be shared, with any of you who are raising boys. Listen, it talks about some tough topics, but sticking our heads in the sand won't make them go away. So, I will share it with you. It comes from a site called Jamie The Very Worst Missionary. She may be unconventional, but her message certainly comes across.

Guard your heart, bro.

Once upon a time, we took a short line from the Bible and we turned it into a life song for girls. We slapped it on silver promise rings and we stamped it on rubber bracelets. We emblazoned it on fitted v-neck T's, engraved it in hinged lockets, and chickified in every way imaginable. Then we developed flowery, heart themed girls-retreats around it to ensure that our daughters would embrace it.
"Above all else, guard your heart..."

Proverbs 4:23

We admonish our girls to guard their hearts, and we warn them about "giving away pieces of their heart" in the form of every kind of love to the unworthy slobs they hang out with after school. Then we wind their "heart" up with their virginity so tight it becomes a two-fer-one deal - in the process of guarding their hearts, we end up guarding organs south of border. It's a pretty brilliant plan, when you think about it.

Oh, and we train our boys, too, but not to guard their heart. To our boys we say,"For the love of God, avert your eyes and keep your johnson in your pants."

I'm, like, kind of an authority on guys because I have a husband who is a guy, and I have lot of friends who are guys, and, also, I have a bunch of kids who are all guys. So yeah, listen to me when I say that it turns out, guys really don't talk about their hearts that much. In fact, most of the guys I know don't talk about their heart at all. And I'm guessing 90% have never, ever been told to guard their heart. Probably because everybody knows that's totally a chick thing to do.

As the mother of 2.8 teenage sons, I win the awkward award for trying to engage dudes in these conversations. When I start talking about heart stuff, the eye rolling gets so intense it blows my hair back. This makes me nervous, so I do that thing where you try way too hard to be hip and relatable and end up saying stupid crap, like, "The Bible says you need to guard your heart...dawg." And then my kids shake their heads, "No, Mom... Just, no." So then I say something even more idiotic, like, "I'm just bein' straight wichyou. My boy, Solomon, was, like, the wisest brother to ever walk the planet and it's his advice, not mine, Bro." And then, naturally, one of them will point out that they are, in fact, not my "bro".

It's all very embarrassing. And worthwhile.

I don't think that our men are reminded often enough that they need to guard their hearts.

We teach them to guard their eyes, but I want my sons to know and understand that what porn does to their eyes isn't what will break them, it's what it does to their heart that will eventually leave them empty and hurting.

And we teach our men to guard their junk, to keep it in their pants, but I want my sons to know and understand that what promiscuity does to their loins isn't what will break them (although herpes is no cakewalk), it's what it does to their heart that will leave them lonely and aching for more.

I want my kids to get it when I tell them that the greatest thing they can bring into marriage will be their own well-guarded heart. A heart that, for all of its years and to the best of its ability, has borne the wisdom of Solomon; "For they are life to those who find them and health to a man's whole body."

When I look around the church, when I talk amongst my friends, when I peek into the world - I see men who are broken and hurting, men tied to their addictions, men out of control, men drowning in lust, so many men longing for peace and grace and mercy, and in desperate need of restoration for their tattered and broken hearts. Hearts that have gone unguarded for far too long. And I want to break this verse like an alabaster jar over their brows. I want to pour out the perfume of Redemption on their lives. I want to release the words of Solomon to his sons, that they may be free to take up their spears and stand guard over their own hearts, because their hearts are worthy of the effort.... above all else....

"Above all else, guard your heart,

for it is the wellspring of life."

...Above all else..... above all else.... above all else..... guard your heart, Bro.

Thanksgiving and stuff

2011-11-27T08:07:00.001-07:00

I haven't done a post on Thanksgiving. I actually didn't even take my camera. It was kind of nice not to worry about it.

We spent the day at my parent's house. Brandon had to work in the late afternoon, so we had an earlier meal. The group this year included my sister Katie's in-laws, my Grandpa, my Uncle Scott, my parents, and us. It was a fairly relaxed and laid back day.

We've spent this weekend getting decorated for Christmas. Patrick threw up Thursday night, but was back to normal by Friday morning. We took Patrick to see Arthur Christmas. We also bought our Christmas tree, which we can't get to stand straight. I'm sure if we had a plethora of tools and the space to mess with it, it would be fine, but we don't have either, so we've called for reinforcements and I'm hoping my dad can offer some assistance today. I am actually looking forward to fake trees in the future. But real ones sure are fun.

This is THE ONE. It is the perfect size and so pretty. Too bad we can't get it straight in the stand.

We've been sick, exhausted, and generally feeling weird. I am looking forward to this week feeling a little more normal than the last two have felt and getting out of this funk.

One of the funnest things about this time of year, specifically this year, is that Patrick now has memories of last year and is having so much fun with all the things he already considers tradition. It is such a huge blessing to see him getting into all the fun stuff that comes with this time of year and it's even better hearing him verbalize it all.

Hope you all had a lovely Thanksgiving weekend.

Rolls...

2011-11-23T23:15:00.001-07:00

I made an amazing roll recipe tonight for tomorrow's feast. I found the recipe on Pinterest, but I have never made rolls like this, and I haven't made any bread item using yeast in about 15 years. Okay, they are SO good. They were also surprisingly easy to make. Brandon's exact quote was, "They taste just like fresh baked rolls." REALLY?

CLICK HERE to see the recipe. YUM!

What else is that on the stove? That's Pumpkin Fudge. Which is also fantastic. You can see that recipe HERE.

Pumpkin Fudge - not yet sampled by Brandon.

The Crud

2011-11-22T08:32:00.001-07:00

I've had it.

I've shared on Facebook that one or more (usually more) of us has been sick since the first of October. For me, it's been lingering since then, just generic cold symptoms. You could throw in some chest congestion now and then. I've also had a mild bout of stomach stuff, and yesterday developed my second round of mild stomach stuff.

Henry has been congested and drippy since October as well, with a cough. He's also been teething various teeth since September.

Ditto for Patrick (well, except the teeth).

No one is sleeping well or solidly. Everyone is exhausted and grumpy.

Last week Henry came down with a stomach bug, and spent a night vomiting and miserable. Thankfully it was short lived. Patrick has managed to avoid the stomach stuff all together. I lost my voice in the middle of all of it and it hasn't returned to normal.

And the crowning blow came yesterday when I felt a little off, my stomach wasn't quite right. I ignored it. Brandon came home from work reporting he felt off as well. Following dinner and an evening presentation for Uganda, we came home and Brandon proceeded to get sicker, until he was throwing up at some point in the middle of the night. I lucked out by not vomiting, but my stomach isn't quite right.

Brandon and I so rarely get sick. If I had any sense of humor left about this, I would probably laugh. But, right now, all I want to do is cry. We're all so miserable and all so sick of this. Brandon has to work Thanksgiving and has these next two days off, we were planning on cleaning and decorating for Christmas. We were all excited to start the Christmas season. It looks like those plans will be put on hold. I'm okay with that, but I am not okay with the general feeling of illness around here.

In fact, I feel downright depressed. I've been sick enough with crud in my chest it has interfered with my plans to exercise. I feel depressed enough I haven't put the time and energy into menu planning and eating healthier. Our plans to get our presentation put together and ready to go have been slowed by all the illness. It feels like an attack. I actually believe it is one. Satan has his ways of trying to destroy our best laid plans.

While Brandon sleeps in the next room, I am working hard to keep a positive attitude for the boys, but my own reserves in that area are waning.

Please pray for us as we head into this holiday season. We really need your prayers. God is bigger than all of this! I need to keep telling myself that.

So, while it is rare for me to do a pity post, I really have nothing else to say.

Ugh. We're all in a funk and need to find our way out of this and back to health.

Autumn Leaves

2011-11-17T15:37:00.001-07:00

This afternoon we went to do some work at Papa's house. Brandon did a fair amount of raking and mowing. When all was said and done we had a huge pile of leaves to move, and while we were doing it, the kids had a ball "helping" us.

At the dentist

2011-11-16T16:35:00.001-07:00

Some words for this Monday

2011-11-14T11:36:00.001-07:00

Henry is crabby.

Every time I hear the word technology (Grover just used it on Sesame Street) in my head I sing the song from Napolean Dynamite, "Yes, I love technology, but not as much as you you see. But still I love technology..."

Sometimes while watching Sesame Street (which is fairly rare around here, because Patrick claims to hate it, but then sits riveted like this...)

I remember how funny and sarcastic it can be.

Henry, by the way, LOVES Sesame Street.

I'm sick of the colds and coughs the boys have had off and on, but basically unending since October.

I am thinking of weaning Henry of his suckies (binky's), but am a little afraid to and am wondering what the best way to do it would be since he can't really understand much right now. I just want it to not be an issue down the road and his need for them and unwillingness to find them in the night is killing me. EVERY night he wakes needing his suckie, but won't look for one so I have to get up. Usually there is somewhere between five and seven suckies in his bed at bedtime.

I have suffered from insomnia on Sunday nights for as long as I can remember. I hate going to bed on Sunday nights. I think I psych myself out most nights.

Patrick is now in my room trying on all my shoes.

Henry is super accident prone and not at all fearful of anything. Last week he fell off chairs six times in one day. He also won't go down the stairs right which leads to regular heart attacks.

Daylight Savings is bad. EVERY year, it's bad. I don't know whose brilliant idea it was, but they obviously weren't parents. I could care less that it stays light until 10PM during the summer. It took over a week for my kids to stop getting up at the crack of dawn and then having melt downs right and left throughout the rest of the day. Before I was parent I worked in daycare. It was equally bad there as well. Usually, everyone just winds up exhausted and super crabby for about a week. I got this picture on Facebook. Doesn't it describe it perfectly?

We got a new fridge. I am in love. Our old one was well past it's retirement date. I know that now, since we got our new fridge.

We're working on our presentation. Does anyone out there in blog land want to hear it? We would love to do it for you, and we can even do it via skype if you live far away from here. It's a good one.

Henry is still crabby.

I love Pinterest.

Thanks to Wallace and Gromit, Patrick wholeheartedly believes the moon is made of cheese. I let him believe it.

Patrick requested last night that we hand deliver a letter to Santa, otherwise his letter might get lost in the mail.

Mighty

2011-11-13T14:09:00.001-07:00

A pastor from a Cambodian church in Salt Lake spoke at church today.

He told us his story. Not the entire thing, but some of it. As I listened, I pondered what it would be like to live through what he has. He was in Cambodia during the time of the killing fields, and lived to tell about it. He spent time living in a refugee camp in Thailand, where he described the Thai people treated the Cambodian refugees as slaves. He emigrated to America and became a follower of Christ in 1984. His first wife died of lung cancer in the early nineties. Wow! I think we all have stories to tell. In fact, I'm not sure his story is so different from anyone else's in many ways, but there was a theme throughout this that made me think.

God is SO big. Charlie told of the story of the church he pastors, and how he felt God gave him a vision to first, begin having church in both Camodian and English - which was met with lots of fighting and disagreeing within the church, and second, to buy land to build an actual church. At the time he felt God giving him these ideas, he wasn't always so sure they were God's and not his own ideas, so he said he told god, "if it's your vision than work a miracle to make it happen." And, while he didn't state this, I am sure that plea came from a place of knowing that without God being behind it, it wouldn't work.

The thing that got me, was that God did it. Every time, God worked that miracle. Charlie's church eventually thrived with an English speaking service. Charlie found the land to build the church on, and bought it, without having the resources in hand. Charlie needed a job and wanted to work for the state, he failed the test five times, but asked God for it and it happened. I wouldn't say I'm a skeptic when it comes to what God can do, I might say I'm a realist. I think it happens all to often that we act out of place we say comes from God, when many times, it just doesn't. We are also of the American culture, where I feel we so often are prone to downplay great acts or miracles of God. I am really good at that.

So, some things struck me about Charlie's story.

First, I don't go to God often enough with the big stuff, and I certainly don't give God the credit he totally deserves when he accomplishes what we ask. Don't misunderstand, please. I give God lots of credit in my life, just not enough credit. It made me think about this big push in our lives to get to Uganda. We pray all the time about it, but I think I struggle daily with turning it completely over to God. I haven't been enough like Charlie in saying, "Okay God, if you will it, make it happen!" This doesn't mean I shouldn't work on things or be diligent to the course God has laid before us, it just means, it should belong totally and 100% to God. I think I always try to keep a stake in this, like I am subconsciously bargaining, "You can have 75% and I'll keep 25%."

Second, I don't believe enough that God can accomplish big things in my life. I believe God is BIG and ALMIGHTY, and POWERFUL, but I don't truly believe enough that HE ALONE has the power to do the biggest things in my life. I have some part of me that feels if I'm not working on it than God won't work on it either.

I know my bible. I am familiar with all the great stories, the small stories, the poems, and yet, I struggle everyday to apply those truths to my life.

Third, prayer. Diligent, diligent prayer. I don't pray enough. I don't spend enough time with God.

Charlie reminded me today of that.

I sat in church wondering, and then at lunch I wondered, and as I sit here now I wonder, how mightily would God bless this endeavor to get to Uganda, how mightily would he bless us and the people who he's led to support us, if I simply turned it over, every bit, to Him.

Okay God, I'm gonna try, every single day to lay this at your feet. This is yours! You've willed us to go to Uganda. You knew every penny it would take. You already know every single person that will walk beside us. It's yours! Help us be diligent to the task. Help us give you the credit. Help us to not walk in fear, but in conviction of this. Help us to love you and lean on you more as we discover what you hold in your hands for our future. I'm giving it completely to you!

Out of the mouths of...

2011-11-09T20:34:00.000-07:00

Oh Patrick.

What a character he is.

Last night while being reprimanded for unplugging the baby monitor and using it as a toy, he said, "I a kid. I don't know better."

Today as we were leaving Aunt Katie's house he asked if he could take some toys home. After I repeatedly told him no I found him on the stairs shoving things into his pants to sneak out with him. I talked to him and made him return the items. As I was helping him with his seatbelt something else fell out of his pants. After taking that back, I had a chat with him on the drive home.

We talked about how God teaches us to not steal and to not lie.

He said, "I a bad guy mommy."

I explained to him that sometimes it's fun to pretend to be the bad guy, but bad guys in real life are really bad and that we don't want to be like them, that they do really awful things. He seemed to understand. He went on to tell me he is a nice boy.

So, I returned to the subject, "Patrick, who teaches us not to steal and lie?"

Patrick, "Ho Ho (Santa)."

"Buddy, Jesus teaches us not to steal and lie, that those things are bad. You remember that right? We want Jesus in our hearts so we can go to heaven."

To which he replied, "Yeah, but we want to be good for Ho Ho, so we can get presents."

The view from here.

2011-11-05T11:44:00.001-06:00

It's snowing today. It's the first significant one of the season. We may have even broken out a Christmas movie this morning.

I love this season. I will miss snowy days of staying inside, warm and cozy under blankets, watching movies, reading good books, and drinking hot chocolate.

Utah has all four seasons. It always amazes me when people begin complaining about the chill of fall or the snow of winter...every year, like it's some big surprise that it's upon us.

Today, since we didn't plan well, we won't be playing in the snow, we'll be enjoying it from the warmth of our home as we play together, watch a movie, and read stories, all with the quiet hum of the furnace in the background.

I sure love this time of year!

Pray

2011-11-02T14:38:00.000-06:00

In the last day, I have read two things on child sacrifice in Uganda.

The first was this BLOG POST.

The second was THIS ARTICLE.

I am horrified. We have so much to learn. But one thing I am sure of, and always have been - Satan is alive and well.

Will you pray with us for this atrocious situation?

HALLOWEEN!

2011-11-01T23:35:00.000-06:00

We partied it up this year. In fact, it was the funnest Halloween we've had since having children.

Patrick was SO SUPER excited to be BATMAN and Henry LOVED his costume. He didn't want to take it off. And in other, kind of related news, Henry now says "BATMAN!" and it's the cutest thing I've ever heard.

Ready for an evening of trick-or-treating.

Believe it or not, they hadn't had any candy yet.

Ready to hit the streets for a second round. They did a little on Main Street before heading to my parents house.

The house. My dad had a fire on the patio, it was the perfect evening - great weather and lots of trick or treaters. Hard to believe we woke up to it snowing this morning.

Patrick's pumpkin.

Henry's pumpkin.

Brandon's pumpkin. I didn't do one of my own, I carved the boys.

We had to have a chat with Batman about taking candy and saying "Thank you!" He started out the evening telling people, no he HATED their candy. HA HA! We were desperate to convince him to take it, so that the rest of us could enjoy it later ;)

His most exciting treat. This kid LOVES popcorn.

Henry was an animal (pun intended). Apparently dressing up and getting free candy suits him well. He wanted to eat every piece he received and we believe he could have gone ALL NIGHT LONG. When we skipped houses because their lights weren't on, he threw fits.

Two of the cutest animals ever.

Asking if he could have that sucker. Well, not really asking, demanding it. Henry's favorite candy right now are dum-dums. Although, anything and everything else comes in as a close second.

The troll living under the bridge. My parents have a stream running in their front yard. In the fall and winter the stream doesn't run. We decided the bridge over the stream leading to my parents driveway was the perfect place for a troll to hide. Uncle Jon scared kids for a good portion of the evening. Isn't that mask AWESOME?

Yet another sucker. It's a wonder that kid slept at all.

It was a great Halloween. We sure enjoy watching the kids get dressed up and have fun with it this year.

Today

2011-10-28T22:38:00.000-06:00

We took Patrick to speech.


Henry wore a hat for no reason.

We took the long way home after speech.

Salt Lake City


Fall leaves - gorgeous.

After naps, Patrick watched Scooby Doo and Henry played and got into everything.

Before dinner we made caramel apples. Henry and Patrick ate chocolate to their hearts content.

Grandpa and Grandma came over for dinner and stayed for a while.

We tried on Halloween costumes.

Grandma read stories.

Grandpa napped and Brandon worked on the computer.

It was a full and very good day.

Pumpkins, pumpkins, pumpkins

2011-10-28T00:00:00.000-06:00

The babies LOVED running crazy. They don't look too much like babies anymore.

Tommy rejected this pumpkin. Katie showed it to him because she liked it. He obviously didn't. Mom won anyway.

The haul. Our family pumpkin carving party is Saturday. I think we'll be busy.

Patrick wasn't in most pictures. He was busy playing in the hay maze the WHOLE time.

We went to the pumpkin patch.

The babies kept us busy.

Patrick played in the hay maze the entire time. Well, actually he stopped long enough to demand a tiny pumpkin in addition to his carving pumpkin.

The weather was perfect and we have some great pumpkins for our carving party this weekend.

Waiting

2011-10-27T16:03:00.000-06:00

This word is on my heart today.

We are all waiting. What is it you wait for? I can surely tell you the things I wait for.

I wait for Brandon to get home from work.
I wait for nap time.
I wait for bed time.
I wait for Henry to be just a little older.
I wait for Patrick to speak clearly.
I wait for the boys to wake in the morning.
I wait payday.
I wait to make dinner.

We wait for Uganda. We wait for people who will become supporters of God's ministry to children in Uganda. We wait for the 100% mark that will let us go. We wait for the right doors to be open.

We wait and wait and wait, on so many things, for so many different reasons.

All of this waiting implies impatience - and it's a justified implication.

Humans are impatient. I certainly fall into that category.

This week my heart has yearned for a life that I can hardly even imagine into reality. I know somewhere in Kampala is a place we will call home. I know there are people to meet and places to be explored and so much more - halfway across the world, in a place that isn't home yet, but will be. I find myself lamenting the fact that I live in a tiny home, where we all live on top of one another and there is no sanctuary. I can't WAIT to have a home, not an in-between space. I can't WAIT to have a yard. I can't WAIT to have a dog. I can't WAIT to have a kitchen that I can actually use as a kitchen, not as a storage space for kitchen items.

I can't WAIT for us to be working in our heart ministry. I can't WAIT to get to know the Hope Alive! children by name. I can't WAIT.

It reminds me of this passage from Oh the Places You'll Go, by Dr. Seuss. I'm sure I've quoted it here before, but I think of this often. It's quite profound.

You can get so confused that you’ll start in to race down long wiggled roads at a break-necking pace and grind on for miles across weirdish wild space, headed, I fear, toward a most useless place.
The Waiting Place…for people just waiting.

Waiting for a train to go or a bus to come, or a plane to go or the mail to come, or the rain to go or the phone to ring, or the snow to snow or waiting around for a yes or no or waiting for their hair to grow. Everyone is just waiting.

Waiting for the fish to bite or waiting for wind to fly a kite or waiting around for Friday night or waiting, perhaps, for their Uncle Jake or a pot to boil, or a better break or a string of pearls, or a pair of pants or a wig with curls, or another chance. Everyone is just waiting.

As I wait though, I realize that much of this waiting isn't healthy. It moves me from one thing to another without ever taking the time to engross and envelope myself into a time and place where God has fully intended us to be. While waiting on all these things, big (like Uganda) or small (like bedtime for the boys) I have so much lost sight of the here and now - the small sweet moments God gives us to just enjoy one another, whether it's talking with Patrick about the things he loves and hates, or spending an evening at my parents house while the boys run around and soak in time with their grandparents, or eating out at our favorite restaurant with our family, or stopping to hug my husband as he passes me in the room.

The waiting has become overwhelming and stifling, and often even ugly.

I have forgotten how waiting is intended by God to be used. I have forgotten to apply the patient waiting upon the Lord that He has intended in every season of my life. You know, waiting never ends. Everyone is always waiting for something, but this week I was reminded of the following:

I remain confident of this: I will see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. Wait for the Lord; be strong and take heart. Wait for the Lord. Psalm 27: 13, 14

We wait in hope for the Lord; he is our help and our shield. In him our hearts rejoice, for we trust in his holy name. Psalm 33:20,21

I wait for the Lord, my whole being waits, and in his word I put my hope. I wait for the Lord, more than watchmen wait for the morning, more than watchmen wait for the morning. Psalm 130:5,6

Grandma and Grandpa: A farm, Las Vegas, Shopping, a Birthday, and an IPad.

2011-10-26T10:51:00.001-06:00

Grandma and Grandpa from Pella were last week.

The boys soaked up their time like little sponges and both couldn't get enough quality time with Grandma and Grandpa. Last Saturday, as we were leaving Patrick's last soccer game, he looked up at me and said, "I wish Way-away Papa was here. I miss him!" Way Away Papa spent countless hours playing with the boys and spending time in Patrick's room - the smallest bedroom in the world, as it's been referred to.

We spent time shopping, ate out a few times, and they introduced us all to the wonder of the IPad. I don't know who liked it more, the boys or me. It's certainly on my list of things to spend our gift money on. We also spent a morning at Wheeler Farm. The boys had a blast.

We also celebrated Grandma's birthday. We took her out to lunch at a great local place called Ruth's Diner, and then my mom threw a little shindig at her house that evening that included presents, candle, and a cake.

And finally, we went a whirlwind trip to Vegas. While it's not my favorite place in the world, it certainly was tons of fun with the Heersink's. They are always up for an adventure and that always makes travel and exploring fun. We saw a lot of stuff. So, while we came home exhausted, it was worth it.

Patrick was horrified, even though he'd spent the few day prior to this talking about cutting people's heads off.

We stayed at the Excalibur

Jelly Belly Statue of Liberty at the New York New York

We did a tour of Coke products from around the world.

The pawn shop from Pawn Stars. It was CRAZY. Wall to wall people.

It was great having them here! Come again anytime and THANKS AGAIN for everything!

The boys

2011-10-26T10:04:00.001-06:00

Right now Patrick is playing independently, which is incredibly rare. Henry is wandering and managing to bother Patrick and dance to the music playing in the background, "God's way is the best way, not that I know He loves me so..."

Patrick has been totally sassy lately. While it's totally naughty, it's also hilarious. I've fought back more fits of laughter during the last few weeks than I have in long time. He's attempting to phase out naps, but still kinda needs them. One afternoon he was particularly wound up and wouldn't even think about napping. He laid in bed lamenting, over and over, "POOR ME!!! POOR ME!!!" The other day when he was struggling with obeying, I got very upset with him. He wasn't putting on his shoes. I finally started putting his shoes on while talking to him about obeying me. He looked at me and said, "Mommy, why you buy me these shoes?" I said, "Because you needed new shoes and really wanted light shoes." As I'm answering him I'm thinking how he is going to thank me for them as he begged to get them. "Well, next time I pick my own and they won't be boring and stupid!"

Last night we grabbed dinner before I headed to my bible study. Patrick was being super naughty and super sassy. I was trying to pay for our food and Brandon had gone to get a table. Patrick was literally hanging on me and running crazy. I told him he needed to go find Daddy and sit down. He looked at me, pointed his finger, and growled, "YOU go FIND DADDY!" After talking to him about being sassy, he acted like he still didn't get it. So, I told him, he was not being nice. He looked at me like I had injured him, "I be NICE Mommy. I opened the door for Hee (Aunt Katie)." Ha, my literal son. And he's a smarty, he knew we would be forced to say, "You sure did and that WAS nice."

Henry is currently cutting two teeth and it looks like at least four more are imminently arriving. He also has begun to repeat tons of words, he'll repeat almost any simple word we ask him to. He's also pointing to body parts appropriately and making animal sounds. Some of his regular and spontaneous words include,

book
more
done
mama
dada
shoe
moon
nose
snack
no
hi
hot

He's also very strong willed and opinionated. He is radically different than Patrick was at this age. He won't eat unless he can feed himself. If you attempt to feed him he'll refuse the food and not come back to it. He's also pretty picky. His staples are eggs, pancakes, mac & cheese, grilled cheese, grapes, and currently bananas. He is fickle with everything else.

Both boys are basically disgusting most of the time with the exception of the few minutes after bath and before bed. Both have colds and are snotty and gooey. Patrick regularly pees on the bathroom floor and I am ready to lose my mind over it. Henry is teething, so the drool is endless. And usually they are sticky from one thing or another. I feel like all I do is wash hands, and wipe them with wet wipes and tissues. I've basically spent the last few years of my life feeling totally grossed out.

They both still manage to get smothered in love by me multiple times a day, so I figure it's okay to feel grossed out internally. Would it be different with girls? I don't know.

Speaking of gross, I smell poopy pants, so I must run.

This is why.

2011-10-22T20:28:00.002-06:00

I'm too tired to blog today. It's been a busy week and now I've got a cold, again. And so do the boys. It's been a long day.

So instead of a week recap while Brandon's parents were here, I've decided to share someone else's blog post with you.

Holly has worked with Hope Alive! in Uganda off and on for the last five years, or so. We actually don't know her well. She blogs when she is there and we met her briefly as our trips crossed over by two days. I don't know anything about her, but she wrote this post about Dorothy, a woman we were able to get to know when we were in Uganda. Dorothy is amazing and I took a liking to her right away.

CLICK HERE to read her story.

This is why we're going to Uganda. This is why we're working with Hope Alive!

The Visit

2011-10-21T22:47:00.001-06:00

This week we had Grandma and Grandpa Heersink from Pella visit us. It was a super fun time and we were busy. I plan on adding photos tomorrow, but for now, here are some highlights.

A whirlwind trip to Vegas.
Henry starting to cut two new teeth.
Grandma's birthday.
Shopping.
Finding out we have a niece on the way. WAY TO GO SCOOTER!!! We're all a little excited.
Lots of good food.
Lots of time in the car.
Catching up, talking, and spending lots of time together.

I promise I'll be back tomorrow with a more detailed run-down of our week. Until then you can just wait with baited breath.

A Story

2011-10-13T23:15:00.002-06:00

Once upon an October evening there was a baby named Henry. Henry wanted something to drink. He quickly discovered his cup was nowhere in sight, but found something much more tempting, a cup of milk belonging to his cousin.

He coveted this cup of milk. Since he was just a baby, with no reasoning or impulse control, he partook of his cousins milk.

And it was good.

As he was enjoying the milk that was not his, Henry's big brother and cousin Tommy went in search of Tommy's milk.

When they discovered the milk in Henry's possession they callously ripped it away from him. Henry's feelings were hurt.

He decided to lament this fact to his Aunt Katie.

At this time, his Mommy intervened on his behalf and got him his very own cup of milk and all was right with the world once again.

The End.

The Day to Day

2011-10-11T10:05:00.003-06:00

Our lives are busy. We've got a lot going on and raising two very active, very rough and tumble, very busy boys makes the days virtually fly by.

Are any of the rest of you wondering how we're already half way through October?

Since this time with the boys is so fleeting, I thought I would give a rundown of what might look like a typical day around here. I got the idea from THIS BLOG. I like the idea of freezing this moment in time because, given my poor memory, I won't remember these precious days with my two kiddos.

Anywhere from 6:45-7:30AM: The boys wake up. They share a room, so usually I lay in bed listening to Henry stir and then start his attempts to wake Patrick. Sometimes I'll run in there and get Henry and let Patrick sleep in other times Patrick gets up before Henry and comes to cuddle in bed with me. That's a favorite of mine. I love cuddling with Patrick and watching early morning TV in bed. It's a rare time for him where he's not quite ready to start the day yet.

8-9AM: Somewhere in this time frame I'll make breakfast. Breakfast is usually eggs, oatmeal, or cereal served with a fruit and milk or apple juice. The boys love eggs, so I make them often.

9-11AM: A little TV watching

and then play time. The boys do a fairly good job of deconstructing the apartment in this time. They also fight over any and all toys. Patrick begins his daily routine of filling bags full of random toys, Henry helps him.

I usually attempt to get something on my to-do list done, and I usually fail. My children do not excel at self entertainment. I also usually talk to my sister on the phone and we make plans to see one another. The boys continue to play and get into all kinds of trouble together. Things like smashed fingers happen during this time. I can't take my eyes off these boys.

11AM-1PM: Often we get together with Katie and cousin Tommy during these hours. Sometimes we grocery shop, or Katie comes over and the boys go crazy together.

Lunch is thrown in here too. And twice a week Patrick goes to school at 12:45, so we're pretty busy during this time.

1-3:30PM: Blessed, blessed nap time. Two days a week Patrick is at school and the other days he's home, he naps. How do I spend this time? It depends. Sometimes I work on stuff for WorldVenture. Sometimes I attempt to straighten the house. Sometimes I read or watch TV. Rarely I nap. I really cherish this time. Brandon arrives home from work somewhere in this time.

3:30-5:30PM: Hang out, run errands time. Often we'll get some grocery shopping done, or peruse the DI (Goodwill), or go to the park, or head over to my parents house to do some work there, like mowing the lawn or some other digging or work project.

5:30-7PM: Dinner somewhere in there.

7-8:30PM: Bedtime routine. This routine includes a bath, and stories.

Henry goes to bed at 8PM and we try to read him The Going To Bed Book. He LOVES it. We read it again, and again, and again. Patrick goes to bed at 8:30PM. Our latest routine is to crawl into our bed and watch about ten minutes of cartoons before reading books and telling stories to him. We end the night with prayers. Patrick has become and excellent pray-er. He prays for his family and thanks God for the stuff on his mind. This is one of my favorite times with him. We are pretty non-negotiable on bed time.

Most days feel like they will stretch on forever and then I find we're at the end of the day and it flew by. They boys are challenging at this age and I find myself asking God for patience and mercy throughout the day. Our boys are the very definition of boy. They are active and crazy and wild and rough and tumble. It's hard to keep up with them moment to moment, but I often think I wouldn't have it any other way.

4 1/2 YEARS

2011-10-08T20:39:00.001-06:00

We've now been raising children for just over four and a half years. Even more specifically we've been raising boys. In all that time we've had no injuries that were significant enough to require medical attention. I think that given how crazy our boys are, that's a pretty good record.

Ironically, almost at the exact moment I hit the publish button on my previous post, our littlest man encountered his first significant owie. I heard screaming like I have never heard before and knew, as my heart dropped out of my feet, something was very seriously wrong and took off running across the apartment. There, standing at the boys bedroom door was Henry. His little thumb was smooshed in the crack of the door, on the hinge side. His big brother was on the other side of the door, just inside the bedroom, pushing as hard as he could to prevent Henry's entry into the room. The door was nearly shut and Henry continued screaming this guttural scream, that I hope to never hear again.

Patrick, not realizing the seriousness of the situation wouldn't budge the door for me and in my hysteria I actually kicked the door open. It sent Patrick running/sprawling as he realized something was very seriously wrong. I sent Patrick to his bed and went to tend to Henry.

What I found was an indistinguishable flat hunk of flesh that used to look just like a chubby baby thumb. I kinda freaked. I am not the cool under pressure type, and know I really need to work on that (especially with TWO CRAZY BOYS). I quickly threw together a cup of ice water and plunged Henry's thumb into it. All the while Henry is screaming and screaming and screaming. I'm crying. Patrick is crying in his bed.

After about 20 minutes of being entirely unable to console Henry, I thought something must really be wrong. He has never in his life been inconsolable. I called my mom and attempted to tell her what happened over Henry's screams. She immediately called the Dr., who is a close friend, and who also happened to be working this morning. She called me back to let me know my dad was on his way to be with Patrick and that the Dr. said to come in.

Upon arrival at the Dr's Henry became silent. He sat on my lap for a while watching a movie while we waited and then began to play. Shortly after that my mom showed up and sat with me and Henry. Henry wanted to be with Grandma, so we were happy oblige him.

Dr. Kathy examined his thumb. He didn't cry AT ALL when she touched him. But, she determined he should get an X-ray. At this point it was well past lunch time and well past nap time. Henry had calmed down and my Dad had to leave, so we headed back home to feed the boys lunch. When I got home, I swung the van in tight and accidentally side-swiped our neighbors car. UGGGHHH!!! I started crying again. I walked in the apartment and my dad made some comment about it not being that bad and I told him I side-swiped the neighbors car. He chuckled and gave me a hug. He then headed out and examined the damage. It's really not that bad, but the neighbors aren't home, so I had to leave a note on their door. I feel terrible about it. After lunch we loaded up in the car and went back up to the hospital and got Henry his X-ray.

We got home at 3:30 and Henry went down for a much needed nap. He was a true champ. Other than screaming bloody murder in pain for about an hour after the accident, he was a trooper and barely complained about anything, even not getting his normal nap. I told Brandon I felt like I'd been through the wringer. I know that I'm a super wimp, but I felt like I had operated on adrenaline for over half the day. Henry was hurt, I had totally lost my cool with Patrick, I hit the neighbors car. So Brandon took Patrick to the store and I got my much needed shower and laid in bed for about a half hour.

We heard back on his thumb. Nothing is broken. We are so relieved and I hated to think about a break that could be serious. As the evening wore on Henry did better and better. His thumb is bruised, red, and really swollen, but he is doing just fine.

What a day. What was supposed to be a quiet, stay home, catch-up day turned into a fiasco. But, it made me realize these things rarely happen to us and it could have been so much worse. I am also so grateful for my parents who dropped everything to come to my aid and for a while I really needed it. It was so great to have their extra hands on board. I am so thankful for medical insurance. I am also thankful that we made it over four years before the boys had an injury significant enough to require medical care.

I'm glad the day is over.

The Master of Disaster

2011-10-08T10:50:00.000-06:00

Henry makes life a little crazy.

And by a little, I really mean A LOT.

He is into everything. EVERYTHING.

Somedays it's cute, but most days, if I can be honest, I just feel like crying. We can't keep him out of or away from anything. I also think he might be magical as he gets access to things set up high, like way out of reach high. I'm not sure how he does it. All I know is that I'm in for YEARS of trouble. Sweet, cute, and darling trouble, but trouble, nonetheless.

Mmmm...chocolate. Brandon was making caramel apples and this bowl of mini chocolate chips was on the table. In the middle, where he should not be able to reach. I cleaned up what I could save and went to vacuum up the rest. Henry was racing me to see if he could eat them before I got them cleaned up.

My purse is an endless source of entertainment for him. It makes me crazy.

On the brain

2011-10-05T14:05:00.002-06:00

If you read here regularly, you know we are working on raising support so we can move to Uganda as missionaries. In addition to working, being parents, and raising support, we have other responsibilities as well. One of those responsibilities is to read books specific to the location we will be moving to. Makes sense, right? Here's just the beginning of what we have to read. Every single time I look at that stack of books I wonder how quickly we can whip those out. And then I see the sheer volume of the one titled, The Fate of Africa and feel afraid. I guess reading around here will be anything but light for a while.

Patrick is going through something. Not sure what, but his behavior has been super challenging, and not in the typical Patrick way. He has refused to go to speech at school. This week he went for the first time and was off the wall. Apparently he yelled, screamed, threw toys, and attempted to break things. I am not only mortified, but am puzzled about this behavior. Hopefully he's just testing some limits and we'll get the behavior reigned in right away.

Egg Nog and Egg Nog flavored creamer has arrived in stores for the season. I am excited.

Patrick asks everyday about Africa. The latest conversations have revolved around what we'll take and how we'll pack it. He is pretty funny.

It's raining and cloudy today. Oh, and did I mention cool. The weather is FINALLY cooling off. I love it.

I'm tired.

I have the costumes bought for Halloween. Patrick is going to be Batman. Henry is going to be a giraffe. The giraffe costume is so cute.

I love Angry Birds.

We have discovered Mat Kearney and are in LOVE.

And that's what on my brain at this moment.

The Park

2011-10-04T21:43:00.006-06:00

Busted

2011-10-04T12:54:00.001-06:00

I got pulled over yesterday.

Last time that happened was 2004, in Denver at Wadsworth and Bowles. I was going home on my lunch break and driving a new (to us) car. I was unaccustomed to how that car felt. When the cop pulled me over he asked me if I knew the speed limit. I told him I didn't. Much to my dismay I had pulled over directly next to a speed limit sign. I got a ticket.

I have only been pulled over four times. And all four times I have not gotten off with a warning. What does that say about me?

Yesterday the exchange went some thing like this:

Officer: Are you in a hurry today?

Me: No, not particularly. (Give him a smile)

Officer: Well, I just wanted make sure I wasn't stopping you if you had a true medical emergency or something.

Me: No, I was just headed to an appointment.

Officer: Well, you were going a little (highly emphasized) fast.

Me: I'm sorry, this is a brand new car for us and I guess I'm not quite used to the feel of it yet.

Officer: Oh, it's new?

Me: yup.

(the policeman circles the van, scrutinizing it and then returns)

Officer: You had it a month now?

Me: No, six days.

Officer: Not a month, huh? Okay, license and registration please.

Me: Ha ha, I don't even know what the registration is or looks like. (he helps me fumble through my paperwork until we find it)

Officer: Why don't you have a front license plate?

Me: Because there is not place to attach one.

Officer: You need to have a back AND front license in the state of Utah. (acting a bit like I'd robbed a bank at gunpoint, and didn't I understand why that is wrong.)

(he then walks back to his motorcycle. He processes everything quickly as I ponder how fast I was going and realize I never asked him. I didn't feel like I was excessively speeding. Huh, I'm really going to have to watch it if I was really speeding. It just didn't feel like it. The officer returns to the car.)

Officer: Well, I'll tell you what I'm going to do. I am all about changing people's driving habits for the better, not dinging your wallet, so I am not giving you a speeding ticket.

Me: In my head (IS THIS IT???? AM I ACTUALLY GETTING OFF WITH A WARNING?)

Officer: I'm going to site you for not having a front plate, which is much cheaper than a speeding ticket.

Me: How fast was I going?

Officer: I clocked you at 45.

Me: In my head (Hmmm...I kinda thought that WAS the speed limit here.) Out loud: What is the speed limit here?

Officer: 40.

Me: In my head (ARE YOU KIDDING ME???? ARE YOU FREAKING KIDDING ME? I GOT PULLED OVER FOR GOING 5 OVER THE LIMIT?) Out loud: Huh, so what would a speeding ticket have cost me? Ha ha, not that I want one.

Officer: $105.

Me: In my head (okay, now this is all feeling totally ridiculous) Out loud: WOW!!! That's a lot for just 5 over the limit. I'm sure you clock people at that all the time.

Officer: Ha, yeah. So the citation for not having a front plate will cost somewhere between $35 and $50.

Me: So, what should I do if there is no place for a plate to be attached?

Officer: You should go ahead and make plans to remedy that situation.

Me: Okay. (wondering how my dad would take this if I just left out the speeding part of the ticket. I then chastise myself for even considering lying to my dad).

Officer: Although, it IS state law, we CAN'T just pull you over for not having proper plates. We would need to pull you over for some other reason in order for you to be cited for this again, so if I were you I wouldn't worry too much about it. You have a clean driving record and I assume you won't break the law again which means you won't be pulled over and we can't cite you, right?

Me: (Internally rolling my eyes and thinking, YEAH RIGHT. You know, I'm perfect, I'll NEVER speed again, EVER. HA HA.)

Officer: Have a great day.

Me: Thank you so much.

As I drove off, I really wondered what is wrong with me that I NEVER get off with a warning and if the officer isn't about dinging wallets why did he cite me for not having a plate, then tell me to remedy the situation and then tell me not to bother because I basically won't get in trouble for it? And why did he ask me if I was in hurry and had a medical emergency like I was driving 90, not 45??? GAH. AND REALLY, I got pulled over for being 5 OVER???

I guess that will teach me.

I can hope, right?

This and that

2011-09-30T23:48:00.001-06:00

(Yes, Henry's face is filthy. That's pretty normal.)

This is what we'll be doing again tomorrow. Henry will be sitting in his stroller as Patrick argues, bargains, fights, pleads, and begs not to actually have to get out on the soccer field and play. I actually believe it's normal as I've seen most of the other kids on his team do the same thing to one extent or another. I'm just not sure why we continue to torture ourselves with it. I think karate or something along those lines would be a much better fit for him. But, we have to buy into the hype and we actually want this experience for him, although, we certainly have not wanted it for us. Sitting on the field, getting sunburned as I yell, beg, and plead for him to play or not grab his team members or to get up off the ground or to stop asking me when it will be over or when it's time for snack, is certainly not my idea of great time. Ah well, we can at least say we tried. I'm not sure what we expect given the fact that neither Brandon or I have any athletic leaning or ability AT ALL. HA HA!

Anyway, it's been busy and hot around here. I keep waiting for fall and the temps keep getting higher, not lower. UGH.

Tonight Patrick prayed for the way away (far away) people in Africa. Is that not the sweetest thing ever. We continue to talk about our impending move to Uganda and he continues to have questions. Sometimes he is full of excitement and other times he is upset and tells us how much he hates it there. Hate is one of his favorite words right now, well, that and BORING. Everything is BORING. He is quite a guy. I went to school with him on Wednesday and discovered he is refusing to go to speech therapy because he doesn't want to leave class. I smiled, but also wondered why they never called to tell me he wasn't getting the services. We have had a few talks about him going with his therapist. I also discovered he can draw. When we ask him to color or draw or take his time to do anything he usually scribbles frantically and runs off. I saw some of his artwork. The kid ain't half bad. I wish he would do this stuff at home, but as long as he's doing it, we'll try not to complain.

Henry is hilarious. He can jump, like with both feet off the ground, JUMP. I know that's not a common thing with sixteen month olds. He makes me laugh so hard. He also refuses any food at all if he can't feed himself. And the boy knows what he wants. So, tonight he was loudly, strongly, and angrily grabbing for the yogurt in the fridge. We obliged him, and he promptly refused it because we wouldn't let him get it everywhere, including the walls and carpet, by completely letting him feed himself. We try to find a middle ground, like putting it on the spoon and then giving it to him, but he wants the entire container and free reign with the spoon. We gotta draw the line somewhere.

I'm struggling to find balance right now. We call Henry DESTRUCTOR BOY, and the title fits. It is almost impossible to get anything done at all when he is under foot. He is into everything. He climbs, he dumps, he empties. He has been known to dance on the table or play in the toilet. Usually you'll hear a horrified yelp out of me when I discover him in such circumstances. I absolute adore him at this age, I just wish there was a moment to breath, or cook dinner, or pee, or throw in a load of laundry, or pick up, or get a drink. I know I'll be sad when this phase is over, but man I am worn thin right now.

The biggest bonus right now is having a car. I LOVE having a car. It has already opened up lots of options that were not available to me before. This means we can get out of the house for a while if it's a particularly bad day. Distractions are awesome right now.

Anyway, hope you all had a fabulous week. I'm looking forward to the weekend.

Good Eats and Random Thoughts

2011-09-27T14:20:00.000-06:00

I did another menu plan.

Some sort of hideous illness took me down last Wednesday evening and I am, just today beginning to feel somewhat normal again, although I am still dealing with copious amounts of snot. Bet you wanted to hear that.

While being sick I still menu planned, grocery shopped, took Patrick to speech, took Patrick to soccer, took Patrick to school, canned salsa all day with my mom and sister, went to church and helped lead children's ministry, went to a regularly scheduled Monday morning meeting, wrote reports for WorldVenture, made some appointments, and just generally took care of my kids. I guess you never do get a break as a mom. HA!

At some point yesterday I had a mini-breakdown and decided I'd had it, all together had it. After getting Patrick to school and Henry down for a nap and cancelling a meeting we had scheduled for the evening I crawled into bed and didn't re-emerge until hours later. That must have done the trick as today I am feeling mildly human again. Although, after my brief and very abnormal trip into the bedroom to be alone, sleep, and generally rest, I discovered poor Hanky is sick as well. The only one not affected so far is Brandon. We'll see how he makes out.

In other news, we got the mini-van today. I am practically bursting with excitement. It needed some work after my parents bought it, so my dad and brother-in-law Jon spent many evenings and nerves working on the van. This makes it sound worse than it is, it is in fantastic mechanical condition and has been well maintained, but it did need new brakes, new tie-rods (??????), and a general tune up. After working on it themselves, they wound up having to take it to a mechanic for further work, but all is well and we have a great little mini-van on our hands. We are so grateful to my parents for making this possible, and we do promise to take good care of it. THANKS!!!

And finally, the menu. Because I was sick when putting it together, I attempted to do as simple as possible meals. Now that I am looking at it, I really succeeded.

Chicken Tacos: This is my own recipe. I simply throw some chicken breast in the crock-pot with a little water. I pour a package of taco seasoning on top of the chicken, scoop some garlic in on top of that (I love fresh garlic, but often use my go-to garlic as it is so much easier. It's just the minced garlic in a jar. You find it in the produce section) and throw in a small jar of salsa. I use mild as I feed this to my kids as well. Cook about six hours (on high if the chicken is frozen, low if it's thawed), shred, and serve with taco shells or tortillas, lettuce, tomatoes, cheese, sour cream, olives, guacamole (whatever your favorite toppings are).

Meatballs: Again, just an old standby recipe. I actually bought frozen meatballs. I like to make them, but knew given the week I felt I was having that I would appreciate having the frozen ready to go ones. I am glad. I throw in a jar of chili sauce, a jar of grape jelly, and cook on low until piping hot. We usually make this as an appetizer, but Patrick loves meatballs, so I thought he'd get a kick out of having them for dinner. I may serve with brown rice, but may just serve plain with a salad and fresh fruit on the side.

Falafel: Brandon loved it and requested it again.

Crock Pot Roast: Okay, there's a million and one ways to do this. Here's how I do mine. I brown the meat in a piping hot pan before placing in the crock-pot. Add a small amount of water. Top with a package of onion soup mix and a can of cream of mushroom or golden mushroom soup. Top with peeled, and cut potatoes and baby carrots. This way of cooking the roast has never failed me. It is super good every time. I serve it right out of the crock pot and the juices mixed with the soups make a good gravy. You could thicken it with some flour, but I don't bother.

Chicken Tortilla Soup: Looks really good.

Salsa

2011-09-24T19:05:00.001-06:00

We canned salsa today. When I say we I am referring to my mom (who actually did the brunt of the work, of course), my sister Katie, and me (Katie and I were in and out today with various activities). My childhood memories are full of my mom canning anything and everything, making fruit leather, and generally supplying our childhood with yummy food. It has been years (somewhere between 15-20) since I've helped my mom can, so we decided this was the year to experience the salsa of our childhood.

It did not disappoint.

We started last night with peeling the tomatoes. That requires bathing the tomatoes in boiling water and then submerging them in ice water. The peels come right off. We had a heaping bushel of tomatoes (25 pounds) and then some.

After the peeling we got to work on the chopping. Of course we took a short cut, and did minor chopping and let the food processor do the rest.

This afternoon we arrived at Mom's house to find the salsa simmering away. The smell brought back my childhood. After tweaking and simmering and taste testing for another few hours, the salsa was ready to be canned.

This particular batch made about 30 jars of salsa. The recipe actually makes 20-25 jars, but as I mentioned above, we had more tomatoes than just a half bushel.

I'm so glad we started the night before. It made today's activities much easier.

I am also very thankful for the food processor. It made all the chopping that would normally take hours, take about ten minutes.

I'm even more glad for my mom who was game for making salsa. She rocked it today. She works full-time and wasn't feeling well, and she still worked super hard and let us use her kitchen and all her canning equipment, which we don't have (and in reality, used it all herself as Katie and I are learning and did a lot of observing).

It worked out well to have three of us doing various activities.

I'm really excited to enjoy homemade salsa this winter. It was well worth the effort.

This is a great recipe.

Salsa:

½ bushel of tomatoes

5 onions (or to taste)

2 large stalks celery

7-10 green peppers (depending on size)

4 red peppers (the sweet type)

3 cloves of garlic (We added about 5)

¼ Cup (scant to start with) dried red hot peppers (this time we used fresh from Katie's garden. They were HOT)

1 small can jalapenos (we bought fresh, but didn't use them in this batch as the red peppers added enough spice)

½ Cup salt (or to taste)

1 ½ - 2 Cups vinegar (to taste)

1 TBS cumin (We used more than this, but adjust according to your own taste.)

Peel and cut tomatoes into sections. Place in large pot (like canning pot) andbring to a boil. Let it cook down untilthe consistency becomes thicker. Chopall other ingredients finely and add to tomatoes. Bring to a boil and let simmer. Taste test until desired consistency and flavor. Ladle into clean jars and add 1tsp. vinegar to the top of each jar. Process 20 minutes (25 in high altitude).

Before and After

2011-09-23T09:31:00.002-06:00

A typical morning

2011-09-21T15:13:00.000-06:00

Home

2011-09-19T15:47:00.001-06:00

I've been pondering our move to Uganda. A lot. I am excited, scared, nervous, anxious.

I think about what will be different. I wonder what my struggles will be. I wonder where I will find joy.

I am wondering if this year will be the end of this particular season of our life.

I don't really have any answers. I know God's timing isn't always my timing. I also know He sometimes chooses to honor what we plan for our own lives. Sometimes, he asks us to honor him even when we are full of questions and doubts.

It would be awesome if a year from now I was looking back at this post from a spot somewhere in my home in Uganda. I don't know if that will happen or not. We're making plans anyway, even with the unknown. We understand that life is full of those anything can happen moments. Regardless, we plod forward, not really knowing how NOT to plan.

What I think on most right now are the goodbyes. I don't dwell on them. I am not fearful of them. I just think about them a lot. I wonder how in the world we will say goodbye, to everyone and everything we've ever known. How will we ever find enough words, and the right one's, for that matter to say goodbye? I don't know. It's hard to think about.

What is a bit easier to think about it the environment we'll live in. Uganda is warm and humid. Palm trees grow in abundance. Tropical fruit is cheap and easy to come by. There is a rainy season. There is a dry season (maybe even two of each?). It gets dark between six and seven, every night. No exceptions. The days don't grow long, and longer, and then begin to get shorter again. The seasons don't change from hot summer, to cool fall, to cold winter, to warm spring. Leaves don't change color, trees don't fall asleep for a season. There will be no need for four seasons worth of clothing. We won't pack winter boots and snow pants.

Uganda has a beauty all it's own. We will enjoy it! We will love the temperate climate. We will enjoy playing outside in t-shirts in December. We will eat heartily of fresh bananas (the best in the world, and I mean that!), mangoes, pineapple, and avocodos (to name just a few). Sandal shopping now has new meaning for me.

It doesn't mean we won't miss seasons. I will miss them terribly. As we come into fall around here, I can't help but take in the beauty and wonder of changing seasons. I can't help but notice the crisp air at night, and the slow change of the trees. I can't help but smell the fall scent of wet grass and leaves mingled with cool air and wood burning fires. I marvel at the amazing and diverse world God has created. While enjoying a new home, I will miss this home. And as I think on that I notice the mountains not far off, the blue sky and puffy clouds, the quaint streets.

So here's a few quickly snapped photos (from my phone), of my home as it is now. I think I will be sharing more as I take them. I do want to be able to have these memories when I am fanning myself on a humid day in Kampala. Even as we discover a new home, one that will most likely be the HOME of my children's memories, we will remember from where we came.

Thanks for letting me share them with you.

Henry's Well Baby visit.

2011-09-14T21:12:00.001-06:00

Today, Henry had his fifteen month well-baby visit. Never mind that he's a week shy of being sixteen months.

Anyway, he got two shots. He handled them like a champ. He did manage to give the MA a pretty dirty look after all was said and done.

He weighs 23 pounds, which puts him in the 35%. (While he may be in that percentile, he feels very solid and heavy. My nephew by comparison, feels light.)

He is 31inches long, which puts him in the 40%.

His head remains large, in the 95%.

He has slowed down a bit, but it's normal and he isn't eating like he used to. We aren't worried. He still has an acceptable amount of cute baby chub. He was rewarded with a dum-dum sucker at the end. He really, really, really likes dum-dums.

They were out of the flu shot for him, so we'll either go back or get it in December at his 18 month well baby visit. I'm not overly concerned.

However, they did have Patrick's dose. I asked if they were doing flu shot clinics like they have in years past and she said he could do it now if we checked in and paid the co-pay. So, after telling Patrick all morning he wasn't getting shots, just Henry was, it looked like Patrick would be getting a shot.

The Doctor said he could have a sucker afterwards. Patrick doesn't really care about suckers. So, he asked the doc if he could get weighed. I said, "You wanna get weighed?" He said he did indeed. So I clarified. "If we weigh you on the scale then you'll be ready to get a shot?" Sure enough, he got weighed and took the flu shot. What an odd kid. By the way, he weighed in at 46 pounds. Not sure where that would put him, but he is solidly built. He has barely an ounce of fat on him, but feels like a ton bricks. I guess we just have solid kids.

Tonight, in the tub, I was telling him how brave he was. He said he wasn't brave because he cried. I told him lots of brave people cry. He asked if I was brave. I told him I sometimes am. He asked if I cried. I told him that I cry a lot. He seemed happy to know he was brave, even though he cried a little. It made me glad to remember that even the bravest people cry.

And the falafel? It was awesome!

The CROCK-POT! Falafel anyone?

2011-09-14T14:55:00.000-06:00

The other night my sister said, "What's for dinner, MOTHER?" I said, "Did you just call me MOTHER? Is this because I cook in the crock pot?" She said it was.

I am a mother. I do love my crock pot. I guess the title isn't so bad. I can think of worse names to be called than mother. And if you need to, feel free to go ahead and mock me. I can take it because at the end of the day my family is sitting down to a hot, home-cooked meal. That's more than I can say for many people.

Anyway. The point of this post is to let you know I made crock pot falafel today. I am excited about it, so I really hope it turns out. It was actually really easy to put together, and they have the right smell, so something must have gone right :) The perks of this recipe are endless. First, they aren't fried. Second, I am offering my family a taste of culture by cooking outside our "american" box. Third, they are vegetarian, and for me, that means cheap because I buy my groceries at WalMart, not Whole Foods.

For those of you who want to try it, you can visit the site where I got the recipe from by clicking RIGHT HERE

Or you can read below as I tweaked mine just a bit from the original recipe.

2 15oz can garbanzo beans (chick peas)

1 onion, chopped

2 T dried parsley

2-4 cloves minced garlic

2 eggs

2-3 tsp. kosher salt

4 tsp ground cumin

2 tsp ground coriander

¼ - ½ tsp cayennepepper

4-5 TBS lemon juice

1 – 1 ½ Cups bread crumbs

Olive oil (for the bottom of your crock)

Drain beans and mash. I used my magic bullet as they didn’t mash well with either a fork or a potato masher. So, I threw 'em in the bullet and didn't turn them into paste, but made sure they were well chopped. Set bowl aside.

Put the onion, parsley, garlic, eggs, salt, cumin,coriander, cayenne pepper, and lemon juice into food processor or magic bulletand blend until well mixed.

Pour over mashed garbanzo beans and stir.

Slowly add bread crumbs until the mixture is sticky wet, butforms easily into balls. I used about acup of bread crumbs.

Coat bottom and sides of crock pot with olive oil.

Yes, that is my counter space. It is the ONLY useable counter space in the entire kitchen. Gives me a lot to work with huh?

Make balls and smash ever so slightly. Roll in olive oil and place in crockpot. I layered mine as they didn’t allfit into the bottom. Cook on high 2-6hours. You’ll know they’re done whenthey turn golden brown.

Here is where you can do what you want, but I will be serving mine on 100 calorie sandwich thins with lettuce, tomatoes, and a mayo sauce. Typically they are served in pita bread. The store didn't have what I wanted, so I settled for the sandwich thins. I will also be serving some sort of fruit.

If you make this recipe, let me know how it turned out for you.

UPDATE:
As luck would have it, while I was at my parents house feeding their cats (they're out of town), a neighbor came by and gave me garden fresh tomatoes and cucumbers and corn. SO EXCITED.

So, I wound up making a mayo sauce that turned out DELISH. I just threw it together, but here's what I put it. The amounts should be adjusted to your tastes.

Mayo
Dill
Garlic
Lemon juice
Finely chopped cucumbers

I chopped the tomatoes and will also serve shredded lettuce. I tried the falafel. It's good. Dinner will be great tonight.

Sorry for the picture quality. It's from my phone, the camera battery died. But you can see how they're getting brown.

Just keep swimming

2011-09-12T14:27:00.000-06:00

Not that this is anything new, but we've had a crazy week around here.

We went to Sun Valley. It was fun. Patrick swam and rode his bike. A lot. We also took the gondola up the mountain and had lunch and got stuck in a parade. Patrick bowled for the first time. I took many pictures, but haven't felt like slogging through any of them. Here's a few more.

Patrick started back to preschool last week. He has an afternoon schedule. He is still a napper. We'll see how it all goes.

Patrick also started soccer last weekend. We were excited to find out that one of our friend's daughter will be on the same team. It was kind of mess, but I'm just glad we made it out the door that morning.

Because our schedule was extremely different last week and we had just returned from vacation, we had a great time dealing with some behavior Patrick was demonstrating. I have been working diligently on my patience, but last week he pushed every limit he could. Of particular note is the day when I very calmly stated, "Patrick. I am your mommy. You will obey me." To which he replied (at the top of his lungs while stomping his feet), "NO!!! NO!!! YOU OBEY ME!!!" or the day in which, while reprimanding him, I completely broke down crying mid sentence. I usually don't let him see the cracks. I had lost it. This week will be better. This week WILL be better.

Henry is just going along to get along. He's relatively easy going and does whatever. He's sleeping like a champ, moving him in with Patrick was the best move we could have made. I am no longer even sneaking in to re-binky him.

Brandon thinks he's got the figure on our new support package for Uganda. Pray for us. It feels huge, but we are confident God can do it.

Today I made Crock-pot Shepherd's Pie. I deviated far from the recipe I used, but it looks quite good. I think the family will be pleased.

It's been a super tough week. Patrick has challenged every mothering instinct and bit of training and every ounce of patience I have. I spent most evenings in tears and feeling like the biggest failure. But I know, and I pray that this too shall pass. I see amazed glimpses into Patrick as well, every day.

So that's the news from here. Not much exciting, but we just keep swimming.

At it again.

2011-09-07T16:58:00.000-06:00

Well, I am at it again.

I just finished the menu plan for the week. I think I may be obsessed with the crock pot. I cannot even begin to tell you how simplified life feels when dinner is cooking away by 2 in the afternoon. I have complained since Patrick was born about how I hate the hours between 5-8PM, because it's the time of day when everything needs to happen. Dinner needs to be made and served. Meetings need to be attended. Children need to be fed, bathed, and put to bed (not to mention that this is when Daddy arrives home and ample times needs to be spent playing, wrestling, and otherwise greeting the greatly missed head of the household). The kitchen needs cleaning. It's enough to make me scream. So, until I find some better way around those hours, I think the crock-pot is my new best friend. I feel like I can't sing it's praises enough. There are endless recipe possibilities as well.

So the next seven days will be full of crock-pot cooking. Here are my recipes, in no particular order. I usually don't plan that way. I like to decide the day of.

Chicken Pot Pie: I will be bulking it up with a few more veggies.

Chicken Marrakesh: It sounds so good!

Shepherd's Pie

Falafel: I will serve it on wheat pita's with lettuce, tomatoes, and some sort of sauce.

Chicken and Stuffing

With all these recipes, I will be using either fat-free or low fat options in the cooking. With the soups, I will buy them low-fat or fat free. I also won't be using butter wherever I can avoid it. I have found with crock-pot cooking, I haven't noticed when I've skimped on the full-fat stuff. See, yet another benefit.

And with my last recipe plan - I thought the chicken curry was outstanding, but I tweaked it like crazy. I didn't use cauliflower or raisins, and instead added carrots, celery, and green pepper. Every recipe was really good though and I found Brandon paying me many compliments. Tonight, I have the Spanish Rice recipe cooking away. Vacation got in the way of completing that menu plan until this evening.

Newsy news

2011-09-07T14:50:00.000-06:00

Patrick started his second year of preschool today. He was super excited and kept asking me the whole way there if we were there yet. When we got to his room, he yelled, "Yay!" and without a goodbye went to play. I love it. I am so glad we have this opportunity. I'll post pictures once I get them loaded onto the computer.

We have been offered the opportunity to have a second car. I won't go into details, but I am SO excited about having some freedom in my daily schedule and to not have to rely on my borrowing my parents car. I can't imagine what it will be like to just go to the grocery store or make afternoon plans without worrying about transportation. To you who offered us this opportunity, THANK YOU!!!! We love you!

Brandon gave notice at his second job this week. We were offered partial salary at WorldVenture. We are really looking forward to having more time to put towards finding our financial partners. We want to leave for Uganda next summer, so we have less than a year to get to 100%. His last day is next Friday, and that day can't come soon enough. We're still waiting on our new financial package from them.

We've been talking and praying a lot about what we're going to choose to do about educating our kids in Uganda. I've been really worried and have felt like this decision is incredibly hard to make. Do we home school? Do we send them to a private school? Do we look into home school co-ops? I think we've made our decision, and I feel confident in it. We are probably going to enroll Patrick in a private Christian school in Kampala. I really have no desire to home school and I don't think it would be the best or most natural choice for our family. In fact, I think it would be biting off way more than I can chew. I have thought through this so much and feel like Patrick is a kid who benefits greatly from being in a traditional school setting. We'll see, but I think that's the direction we're headed in. And to you who home school - I think home schooling is a great option. I give props to those of you who do it. It's just not for us.

I need a haircut. And a pedicure. I'm guessing neither will happen this week.

Sun Valley

2011-09-02T14:02:00.000-06:00

As I mentioned before, we are enjoying a basically free stay in Sun Valley, Idaho. We've already enjoyed swimming, biking (even Patrick got a bike), good food, and beautiful views! I think it's the perfect way to end summer.

Brandon, Henry, and Jon. Brandon looks like he's the one who's been drinking. Jon actually is drinking. Henry is enjoying a suck in lieu of real lunch. Apparently, he's given up actual eating.

Tommy makes every meal an event.

Henry faking us out with eating. He hopes by holding the fork we'll actually believe he's put something in his mouth. Don't let him fool you.

Tommy, enjoying every morsel.

Patrick, in an awesome picture for Grandma.

Katie and Jon attempting the clean up on Tommy. It's a two man job.

Brandon's $14 Croque Monsieur.

It's been fun already. We'll see what the rest of the time here brings.

Getting Crocky

2011-08-31T14:11:00.000-06:00

I made the best chicken curry in the crockpot yesterday. It was super good and about half the work as the other kind of curry I've made in the past. So, I am sharing here. And in a strange coincidence, it would appear the week I begin crock pot cooking and LOVING it, a new Facebook page and website pops up devoted entirely to crock pot cooking. I am THRILLED! Check out Crock Pot Girls on Facebook.

2-3 chicken breast cut into chunks
8 carrots
4 celery stalks
2 green peppers
1 large yellow onion

Cut everything up and throw it in the crock pot, salt generously.

Mix in a small bowl:
4 tsp. curry powder (but adjust depending on the kind of curry and how spicy you like things)
1 1/2 tsp turmeric
4 TBS cornstarch

Add to chicken and veggie mix and stir to coat. Add 2-2 1/2 Cups water and cook on low 8 hours or 4 hours on high.

Just before serving, add 1 1/2 C sour cream or plain yogurt and stir until well mixed.

Serve with brown rice.

In other news, we head out on a long weekend vacation tomorrow. We are super excited. It's actually a perk from Brandon's job because he's been there so long, so we get four days in Sun Valley, Idaho. Everything is paid for with the exception of liquor and tips. We're looking forward to bike riding, swimming, ice skating, bowling, golfing, free child care, and lots of good free food.

I'm sure I'll update from there, but who knows.

I'm off to look through more crock pot recipes in my attempt to get my menu for next week planned.

My Helpers

2011-08-30T11:12:00.000-06:00

Today, while preparing our crock-pot meal of Chicken Curry, I had two little boys chomping at the bit to help me. They did help in making a bigger mess, but Patrick actually ate a decent snack of carrots, celery, and green pepper under the guise of helping me. Henry just attempted to reach for my knife. But, they were SO cute doing it!

Calendar

2011-08-29T13:53:00.000-06:00

I filled in the calendar for September today.

There is something good about getting back to "routine" and there is something sad about ending what's been a fun and busy summer.

Not only is the calendar already seemingly very full, I know that as the month goes on those perfect little boxes will get filled even more.

Sometimes I wish life fit perfectly inside a little box. Instead, I sit here looking at the chaos that is my wonderful life. There's a random red shoe on the floor, a Ugandan drum laying on it's side, an empty water bottle on the table, laundry piled by the laundry room door, a batman cape on the other end of the couch.

As summer comes to a screeching halt, I am reflecting on the coming months. I wonder what God has in store for our next year. I know there will be many blessings. There will be surprises. There will be sorrow. There will be joy. As full as those boxes on the calendar become, I can count on the consistency of blessings, surprises, sorrows, and joy.

Henry Jon at 15 months old

2011-08-26T10:40:00.001-06:00

Henry turned 15 months old today.

What has he been up to? Well, he is a very busy guy, who is constantly trying to keep up with big brother. He is walking, running, and jumping (up off the ground with both feet).

In the last few weeks he's begun climbing, so no area is off limits for him. What I used to barricade him in the living room is now just another climbing toy.

He is sweet, but also stubborn.

He is tough, not much gets him down, and I mean not much. He is fairly regularly beat up by big brother and LOVES to play rough.

He is a dancer. This boy LOVES to dance, and he's actually got some moves. I keep trying to get it on video, but every single time I get out the camera he becomes stone still. I have tried again, and again, and again.

He is becoming fast friends with his BFF (or frenemy, given the day) Tommy. They are Mutt and Jeff and get into all kinds of trouble. They also fight endlessly over toys, with Henry usually giving up before Tommy does.

He has a few words, but not many. We hear Mama, Dada, dat (that), Hi!, bye, and snack. We aren't sure what's normal in this area.

He is a cuddler. He loves to just check in from time to time for hugs, kisses, and cuddles. But, he also really loves his independence.

He is sleeping solidly through the night in his shared bedroom with Patrick. He still takes a binky at bedtime, but not during the day. I worry too much about it interfering with speech. His comfort item is a small Winnie the Pooh bear. Not what I would have chosen, but it's not really my choice. :)

He still just has six teeth.

He has dropped off on eating. He used to be a big eater and now, we're lucky if he eats one solid meal a day. He also eats nothing consistently, but fruit. Some days he loves mac and cheese, other days he hates it. It's that way with everything, except fruit. The only fruit I've ever seen him reject is bananas. He doesn't like them at all, but ate his weight in them in Uganda.

He drinks whole milk throughout the day. He also usually has about a cup of juice a day (it's something I had to do to keep him regular. Patrick never drank juice.) I water it down to half juice, half water. He also drinks lots of water. His sippy cups of choice are the ones with straws. He is not fond of any other kind, but has been known to drink Tommy's juice. I think it's just because it's Tommy's juice.

He loves being sang to. His favorites at bedtime are Jesus Loves Me, and Twinkle, Twinkle. He likes If You're Happy and You Know It, during the day. He LOVES when Grandma does Patty Cake with him. He likes having music played in the car.

He is discovering the world of Peek-a-boo and hide and seek.

He loves the water, and continues to try to stick his head under. It makes for interesting baths as he can't submerge because of his tubes.

He quite regularly calls his Aunt Katie, Mama.

He LOVES playing outside at Grandpa's house.

He likes to be held. He is a total Daddy's boy and when Brandon is home he often can't catch a break from Henry. He also likes Grandpa and Grandma to hold him. He doesn't bother me much with it.

He is almost solidly in 18 month clothes, but still fits in twelve month sizes. He wears a size 5 shoe.

He is a pincher. He pinches me A LOT. It's not done maliciously, but I'm not sure why he does it.

I am sure many of these things I already posted at twelve months, but it's fun to be able to look back over how far he's come.

The plan

2011-08-24T14:36:00.000-06:00

This week, I've been thinking about organization. My life usually feels fairly disorganized (that's the ADD brain for you). But, the disorganization brings with it a host of things I don't like. One of those things is eating out. I actually love to eat out, but we've been doing it so much lately that all I ever want is a home-cooked meal. There are so many things wrong with this scenario. It is terrible on the wallet, it is terrible on the waist, and restaurants must pipe something into the air that makes kids go insane out of their mind. Last week we had two fairly terrible experiences eating out, and we spent way too much money on those terrible experiences.

By the way, if you live locally, NEVER go to the Centerville Chili's. We have had so many bad experiences there we will NEVER go back. I have really and truly never had such slow, poor, and shoddy service as we've had there. We kept going back thinking it may get better. It hasn't. Just a warning.

Anyway, after the events of last week I decided it was time to actually do some meal planning, you know, get organized. I committed to my family this week not to eat out, which means more work on my part, but the work is so worth it. Not only are we eating at a decent time so we have an evening left over before throwing the kids into bed, but we are enjoying a quiet meal as a family, AND, it is so much healthier.

So today I planned the menu for the next few nights. I planned out five meals. I figure it should last over a week with leftover evenings thrown in here and there. My one biggest issue of all is the size of my kitchen. We live in a tiny apartment, and the kitchen just couldn't be any smaller. In the summer, our apartment heats up like a sauna. By evening time it's more the uncomfortably warm, and that's with the air conditioners running. Cooking with the stove and oven on for extended periods of time makes it unbearable. So, I was on the hunt for grill and crock-pot recipes. This week we will be eating almost all crock-pot foods, and I couldn't be happier. Dinner will be ready whenever we are. Clean up will be a breeze. And, we don't have to sit in the blazing sun grilling up food. I am all about not sweating like a pig over dinner.

I found most of my recipes on allrecipes.com. I think it's a great site, and I LOVE reading the reviews on the recipes, so many helpful tips. It is so user friendly and there is a ton of diversity.

Wanna know what I'm making? Here are the recipes in no particular order. I usually tweak any recipe I make to fit my tastes and needs, I am not a huge by the book recipe follower. So, most of these will be tweaked to fit our tastes and to make them less fattening and more healthy (you know, we are still dieting).

Chicken Curry with brown rice and fruit. Sorry, no link here.

Chicken Cacciatore with whole grain pasta and a salad.

Sausage Spanish Rice (I am using turkey kielbasa. It isn't a favorite of mine, but Brandon and Patrick like it). I will serve it with fixings, like Baked Tostitos, FF sour cream, cheese, and olives. I will also serve fruit.

Pulled Pork Sandwiches with my own potato salad (tweaked to be low fat) and fruit. I bought these buns that are called Sandwich Thins (100 calories), that actually look pretty good.

Tacos (this is my go-to, easy as pie meal). We exclusively cook with ground turkey. They also have a great low-carb, low point tortilla out there, that doesn't taste like it. We use them a lot. I make mexican a lot.

So there you have it. We'll see if I keep this up. It's been kind of fun sharing with you.

We're still working on our weight loss. I'll give you an update on that soon.

Jesus and a Chapter Book

2011-08-21T20:51:00.001-06:00

Patrick was coloring today and asked me to write his name, so I did, in bubble letters. As I was drawing the t in his name, he said, "What's that, Mama?" I said, "What is it Patrick?" He said, "It's a cross." I said, "Well, yeah, it is a cross, but it's also a t." He said, "No Mama, it's a cross." I said, "What is a cross?" He said, "Jesus had to die on a cross!" At this point it dawned on me and my brain shouted, "He's getting it! He's getting it!" So, I questioned further, "Why did Jesus have to die on a cross?" He said, "For all the yucky sin."

Now, my child is well into being four years old. We pray often. We just read through his bible. He has no lack of being educated at home about our love for and belief in Jesus. But, he's also severely speech delayed and with that comes an understanding on our part that we don't always know what he's taking in and processing. We don't always hear about his day, what he did, what questions he may have. It's a fairly restricted way to live, especially for him, and for us too. So, hearing that tonight made me cry. Not only is my son understanding the most important thing that we could ever teach him, but he's actually getting to a place in his speech where we get to talk about it! This has been a THANK YOU, GOD! weekend, and this was the best ever way to end it!

He's also starting to tell us about what's happening when he isn't with us, like when he's in children's church or when he goes to Grandpa and Grandma's house. This is a brand new thing, and we LOVE to hear him verbally process his world. It's such an exciting time for us.

And tonight, after putting Henry down, I thought I might attempt to read a chapter book to Patrick. He has the attention span of a gnat, but I thought I'd give it a shot. I looked on the book shelf and attempted to make the decision between my Roald Dahl collection or the Chronicles of Narnia. What I wound up pulling off the shelf was Charlotte's Web. I figured it was going to be a bust anyway, so why even attempt to tackle an entire series or collection. I explained to him the book would only have a few pictures and delved in. After one chapter he was still sitting in the same position he began in. I closed the book. He asked for more! So, we read a second chapter. I closed the book. He asked for more. I told him it was bed time, and he wanted a reassurance that we could read more tomorrow. I assured him and then he asked if we could read some before bedtime, like in the morning.

So today was a good day, for all the above reasons. For the first time, and it's been long awaited, my son is speaking better than he ever has. He is understanding our basic lessons on Jesus. He is allowing us to read him more than brief board books. I love him, and tonight I thank God for all the little ways He has shown me His love today through Patrick!

A camping we will go! A camping we will go! Hi ho the derry-o, a camping we will go.

2011-08-19T22:51:00.000-06:00

No, we aren't avid campers. In fact it's been three years since we've dug out our camping gear. We decided this would be the year for our boys to experience camping for the first time. It was a success! This year we had a new tent that Brandon got for free last year. It's a NICE one. At least it's nice for us non-avid, very seldom campers. We all slept fine, enjoyed some lake swimming, sand castle building, and all things campy (like S'mores, hot dogs over the open fire, and hot chocolate). We just went for one night, but it went well enough, you may actually hear about more camping adventures.

Already filthy and sucking on a broom. Classy, right?

Patrick would dig holes in the dirt and Henry would back up and sit down in them.

You can see how Patrick feels about pictures.

My men. I LOVE THEM!

Who needs water???

Our little campsite. The lake was right down the path.

Patrick's Speech

2011-08-15T22:01:00.000-06:00

I have wanted to get Patrick's speech on video for a while now, but he NEVER performs when I want him to. He always gets weird or silly or just clams up. Tonight he was sitting on Brandon's lap telling him a story and I was able to set the camera on the table and talk to him. He didn't know the camera was rolling. Sorry for the funny angle.

By the way, he's only seen Spy Kids once and wasn't that enamored and he won't touch bananas, but claims they're a favorite of his. For that matter, he's never eaten bear either, but apparently they taste like pie.

Happy Anniversary

2011-08-15T20:57:00.000-06:00

Happy 13th Anniversary to my big sister, Katie and her hubby Jon!!! We love you guys!

Around here

2011-08-14T20:29:00.001-06:00

We've been busy. We are trying to take advantage of every free second we have as a family before Brandon heads back to his second job. We've had fun doing it too. There is certainly a plethora of pictures, but I know you all can handle them.

We spent an afternoon at the Children's Museum. The boys liked their first trip there, but the price is prohibitive as we have to pay for the adults to get in as well - ridiculous.

Patrick took two weeks of swim lessons. He did fairly well, as he is pretty afraid of water that is deeper than two inches.

This is not his teacher, but on the last day, when we were allowed to take pics, she was gone.

We've spent lots of time outside in the water. These baby boys are CRAZY!

Chaos is the name of the game whenever we get the cousins together.

Isn't our state beautiful?

We tell lots and lots and lots of stories lately.

Grief

2011-08-13T14:42:00.000-06:00

Yesterday, our family lost a dear sweet companion and best friend. My doggie nephew, Mario died very suddenly yesterday morning and we have been grieving over this loss for a day now. Mario was old, we didn't expect him to go on forever, but losing him has been harder than I thought it would be. He died peacefully at home. There was no drawn out lingering of life. This is such a blessing.

Mario didn't belong to me. I wasn't his owner. I didn't pay for his expenses or even take care of him in the way owners do, but, nonetheless, he was a beloved part of my family and a best friend. He was my first nephew, before any other human nephews existed. He felt like a nephew, not a dog. I loved him like one.

I think Mario was an incredibly unique soul.

So, this posting is for those of you who had the pleasure to know Mario. I am going to simply share some of my favorite memories of our dear sweet boy. We have had the pleasure over the last eleven years to dogsit him when his Mom and Dad went out of town. So we were quite familiar with his behaviors. This won't do him justice, but I'm not even going to try. A piece of my heart will always belong to this amazing little dog that none of us ever knew we needed until the day he arrived in our lives.

Mario loved cookies. He got rewarded for going outside and doing his business. I loved watching him dance around in anticipation of that cookie.
It was never a good idea to disturb Mario once he had found the perfect sleeping spot either on you or near you. He let you know of his great displeasure if you dared even blink an eye.
He loved sleeping in bed with us. We would often wake in the mornings to Mario between us under the covers. He slept lengthwise, so even in our California King bed, we would find ourselves perched on the very edge of the bed while he snoozed away comfortably in the middle.
Mario loved to touch you. He wanted to be on your lap, or near enough to always be available for a good pet.
Mario loved people food and ate it in abundance during his life.
Mario was smart. He did many tricks, including playing hide-and-seek with his Daddy. He always let you know of his displeasure of having to obey a command by talking back, but he always eventually did what you asked of him.
As my sister so eloquently put it yesterday, he was their baby when they couldn't have babies. He was a good one, and filled the role very nicely. He was a constant companion and it was nice feeling his presence when he was with you.
He LOVED to go on walks.
He never really understood why he had to be on the floor when the rest of us were on the couches or sitting at the table. Mario believed himself to be a real boy. He really did.
He chewed his nails. The first time I saw it, I thought it was the goofiest thing ever. It was such an endearing quality.
His breath was horrible. Katie and Jon worked to remedy it so many times. Nothing worked. But, he was just special enough that his breath, while stinking horribly, never cost him a snooze in your lap or a ride in your arms, or a snuggle in bed.
He loved being close to his people. He never felt close enough. He was often trying to get close, and climb higher on your body to just feel your love.
He often got treats at drive-thru windows.

Mario was my favorite. His death is the end of something wonderful and unique and amazing. Having him as a part of my life was truly a blessing, and if I had had the opportunity to say goodbye, I would have thanked him for filling a void in all our lives, but specifically for my sister, who often had long days and lonely nights while Jon worked. I would have thanked him for his companionship and never-ending and unfailing love. His little doggie soul will be forever missed! So, Jon and Katie, if you don't mind, I am going to think of Mario as belonging to me as well, I know I belonged to him.

"He is my other eyes that can see above the clouds; my other ears that hear above the winds. He is the part of me that can reach out into the sea. He has told me a thousand times over that I am his reason for being; by the way he rests against my leg; by the way he thumps his tail at my smallest smile; by the way he shows his hurt when I leave without taking him. (I think it makes him sick with worry when he is not along to care for me.) When I am wrong, he is delighted to forgive. When I am angry, he clowns to make me smile. When I am happy, he is joy unbounded. When I am a fool, he ignores it. When I succeed, he brags. Without him, I am only another man. With him, I am all-powerful. He is loyalty itself. He has taught me the meaning of devotion. With him, I know a secret comfort and a private peace. He has brought me understanding where before I was ignorant. His head on my knee can heal my human hurts. His presence by my side is protection against my fears of dark and unknown things. He has promised to wait for me... whenever... wherever - in case I need him. And I expect I will - as I always have. He is just my dog."

(Gene Hill)