I am having a great week! I have seen the power of God at work in my life this week and He is good. The last week of April, I was not feeling so great! But we live by faith not feelings, right? So, my back was achy and I had to keep going, ya know care for the family n stuff. Wednesday afternoon the kids were enjoying the slip-n-die (slide!) and after their play was over I had my eldest put the slip-n-slide on the fence to dry. After bringing him to Youth Group I noticed it was not "right" on the fence, so I take my aching back over to the fence to fix the slip-n-slide, raised my hand over my head and could.not.move! I was seized with a pain that can only be compared to back labor at 10cm minus the pain meds I tried to walk, nope, crawl, nope. Here I am in my FRONT yard in a crawling position, it hurt so bad I put my head down on the ground. Picture this - rear in the air, head on the grass, in oh so much pain. But still my vanity held up - I realized how ridiculous I must look so I slid my legs down (with mucho oucho) until I was laying down flat, I propped my head up with my hands and was so thankful that I had not landed in one of the dozens of ant hills in the yard (time for some bug killer...) Praise God I had my cell in my pocket, called Andre' who rushed home from work to rescue his damsel in distress. He had to pick me up from the ground and carry me (wailing and crying - it hurt so so bad) to the couch. We ended up in the ER - Thank God we have wonderful friends who came and spent the night with the kids. 5 hours later we were headed home, still in a bit of pain, but thankful for Loritab  and with a perscription for muscle relaxers, an anti inflamatory, and strict instructions to 'try and stay in bed tomorrow, just get up for *ahem* hygeine reasons!' Yeah right - I can't walk dude, I will be going nowhere tomorrow or maybe ever . I figured the kids could be on their own, eat whatever they can find and consume large amounts of Disney Channel and Nickelodeon while I stayed in bed with my muscle relaxers wishing I also had a catheter so I did not have to move at all! Sweet Andre' had to carry me to the facilities and back from Thursday until Saturday. My precious friend Julie came over Thursday, unannounced and oh so welcome, acted like a substitute teacher and had the kids complete their school work! I am so blessed to have such great friends. My sweet mommy went to the grocery for me and made sure the kids and I were well cared for after Julie went home to her family and Friday and Sat. so that Andre' could work. Sunday, glory to God, I was able to hobble to the couch and begin to get around. Monday I began seeing a chiropractor, oh how wonderful she is! She dx me as having a bulging disc and my rt hip is 1" higher than my left. We continued to pray for complete and speedy recovery and as of this Thursday, she says I am much straighter and my pain is now a 1-1.5 instead of an off the charts 10+! I can walk and move and pick up things off the floor without hurting. God is so good! I am content at home with my chickies and delighted to be able to serve my dear husband again. And oh goody, we will be finished with school in the next two weeks!!! Friends, if you are healthy, remember to thank God for your health. If you are not, I lift you up before the throne and ask for your healing, He is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that you can ask or think. He is faithful and He is good.

I have the greatest husband in the world. I know you may disagree, you think you have the prize mate, but alas, you are decieved - he married me!

I am so blessed to have such an amazing partner. Andre' will do anything for us. He works hard to provide for us, thankfully, he has a job he absoultely loves. But he puts in long hours to keep his clients up and running. At home he loves to hang out with us, he is helping Preston and the boys build a skateboard ramp - we are all very excited about it! Of course he is totally wrapped around Catherine's little finger! And the greatest testimony to what a great daddy he is  - the kids can't wait for their turn to spend a day at work with him. He is so kind and loving to them, and so much more patient than I am. I hit the jackpot!

There were some concerns though, mainly, what would I do without him? Last August Preston went into our room when Andre' was sleeping and came out very scared. "Mom, Dad stopped breathing for a few seconds when I was in there. Is he ok? Does that happen a lot?" Well, actually son, yes it does, several times a night. I was either awakened by his outrageously loud snoring, or by the silence, far more horrifying, of him not breathing. Do I nudge him and risk waking him up,? His sleep is so restless, I hate to disturb him. Will he wake up? Then the sharp realization that he was not breathing would alert his body and he would gasp for air and resume snoring. He slept late nearly every day. We blamed it on his work schedule or late nights chatting or playing computer games. But deep down, I knew differently and I was afraid. Worried he would develop diabetes that is so prevelant in his family, afraid one night I would not be awake to nudge him so he could take a breath and I would wake up a widow. Occasionally I would share my concerns, but mostly I pushed my fears aside and continued to sleep the sleep of a new parent. Not fully asleep, always just at the edge of consiousness, just in case I was needed.

Andre' and I celebrated 15 wonderful years of marriage last August. We were able to get away for a night and his incredible mom kept the kiddos. We drove for hours, just talking, reminiscing, renewing our promises to one another. In the course of our conversations I shared what Preston had witnessed just days before we left. It was as if a light clicked - he realized I was not making this up, and he had frightened his son. It was time to make some changes.

I am so proud of him! It has been a challenge to put aside our favorite junk foods and start feeding our family healthier - and we are not perfect, but I would say we have made a ton of progress! Congratulations Andre'! You did good babe!

Before - taken June 2007

After - Taken April 20, 2008

We both sleep easier now! His sleep apnea is completely gone. He does not snore! He wakes up refreshed and energetic, ready for a new day. And I am not afraid.

Andre', Thank you honey, for taking such good care of the man I love. Yours, Jes

The lady on the phone made me feel so important. My opinion was needed to provide better television programming - at least that is the gist of what I heard over the constant hum of noise that is ever present in the background of our home. I would watch a new sitcom "Rocky LaPorte" and fill out a questionnaire expressing my thoughts on the show. "Be sure to watch on Monday night and be available to answer some questions Tuesday afternoon when we call you."

OK, no biggie, watch a flick, answer some questions, chat on the phone a bit and win $100. Not exactly. Here is really what happened. The packet arrived Monday afternoon, I put aside schoolwork to look over the information. I was instructed to fill out a booklet noting my favorite brands of several different products before watching the show. Check - I filled it out and went about finishing school and beginning dinner.

After dinner the kids and I settled down to watch the program. It was mind-numingly bad. Kinda like your typical sitcom, dad is a dolt, mom is hard-working, teenage daughter has an attitude, young son is smart but looked down on and felt sorry for bc he is a geek. And there were the commercials. Which is REALLY what the survey was about. The show was a front to get me to watch the commercials -which could not be fast forwarded (we tried). I filled out the questionnaire about the show (one page - they were not interested in my answers!) I filled out the second packet of "Which product do you like most". Ah hah, I am on to you now Mr. Survey Taker Guy - I am no dummy, the second list was similar to the first, the products that stayed the same were the ones I just watched a commercial for. But guess what, your tricky ad shinanigins will not work on me - I know what I like. So far I have spent a little over an hour dealing with this survey.

Tuesday afternoon. We have been interrupted so many times by the phone (I know don't answer it - sigh - so tough for me!) and kids who did not want to cooperate and a 2yr old who did. not. want. to. nap. And now it was 3pm and the baby needs to get up from the nap she finally took, and the boys are running in and out of the house with their toy weapons shouting like banshees, and the girl needs help with her math, and the teenager does not understand his science questions. And I am on the phone with Mr. Survey Taker Guy. We have been chatting for 30mins. I have answered no less than 900 questions. 600 of the questions were dealing with a baked bean commercial (I am having a sneaky suspicion this guy works for the bean company). My blood pressure is rising. I ask Mr. Survey if we were going to chat about each of the commercials in equal depth. He assures me he does not know. I smile and tell him that is because noone will stay on the phone long enough for him to finish his job. I have the best of intentions, I really want to finish this, I like to complete things. So we continue - another 50 questions about baked beans - this is really getting old mister.

Chaos is swirling around me. I open my mouth to correct the children and remind them that "Mommy is on the phone darling - stop shouting and attacking your brother, no baby girl - do not go outside alone - hang on Cici I will be off in a bit...." But instead of the above I ask Mr. Survey "What is the most important thing?" He is silent. I continue, "My children are the most important thing right now, I hope your next call is to someone who has time to finish the survey and does not need to tend to a bunch of children. Have a great day." He stayed silent. I hung up.

And it felt so good! I will not be held hostage by other peoples demands on my time. My family is too important. Especially when the "prize" is actually a drawing for $100 in coupons and discounts on my 18 favorite products. And he never did ask me ONE question about Rocky LaPorte.

So what are you being distracted by? The phone, the latest curriculum catalog, Oprah or Dr. Phil, useless surveys? I am going to take care of what is the most important thing and let the other things go. How about you?

Our sweet Catherine, the beautiful ballerina, has been benched for the rest of the year. Turns out BOTH ankles are injured in the same way ~ weird huh, only one of mine could've managed that! The x-rays show there is a chip missing from the interior bone on both ankles. She is in a cast on the right foot and will wear that for 4 weeks. After the cast she has to wear a boot for several weeks as we watch and pray that the bone will grow back properly.

We are just watching the left ankle right now (couldn't very well cast em both!  she is having enough trouble getting around with just one, sweetie keeps kicking herself in the back of her left leg with the cast) Hopefully, now that she is not dancing both ankles will heal. Ya know no more 'grande-jetes' and 'pas de chats' or whatever else she did.... However she did tell me earlier tonight that the left ankle is bothering her like the right one was before she got her cast.

Meanwhile, she is having a great time getting all her friends to sign her cast and can't wait to go to dance to visit (and have them sign!)

So if you think of her, please remember her in your prayers. We are both pretty bummed about her not being in ballet anymore. Although, we are enjoying our free afternoons, she was dancing 3 days a week, and now at class time we are free ~ blessedly free! We are praying for the casting to work completely and for both ankle bones to grow back like they should ~ because if they don't she will be looking at surgery.

In other news, our Homeschool Co-op ends next week, which is always bittersweet. While we will miss meeting with our friends and going to such great classes each week, we will enjoy not having to rush out of the house right after lunch on Tuesday's.

 My week seems to be emptying of the rush it has been all school year. We were out of the house every afternoon for something or another, and now all but one of these activities has ended. Feels almost surreal. It really has been nice. I actually sat down and created a menu for the first time since about September! And I have been home to actually COOK - standard fare this year has been me standing in the kitchen with glazed eyes about 5 or 6ish wondering what I can throw together or worse, calling Andre' and asking him where he wants to eat!!!

I am beginning to feel like a HOMEschool mom again, and it is very sweet.

I saw this warning at the Sonlight Forums and had to pass it on to you dear ladies, be aware - this may have happened to you and you did not even realize it. Scary...

THEFT WARNING FOR WOMEN

Most of you have read the scare-mail about the person whose kidneys were stolen while he was passed out. Well, read on. While the kidney story was an urban legend, this one is not. It's happening every day.

My thighs were stolen from me during the night a few years ago. It was just that quick. I went to sleep in my body and woke up with someone else's thighs. The new ones had the texture of cooked oatmeal. Who would have done such a cruel thing to legs that had been mine for years? Whose thighs were these and what happened to mine? Hurt and angry, I resigned myself to living out my life in jeans and Sheer Energy pantyhose. Then, just when my guard was down, the thieves struck again. My butt was next. I knew it was the same gang, because they took pains to match my new rear end to the thighs they stuck me with earlier. I couldn't believe that my new butt was attached at least three inches lower than my original. Now, my rear complemented my legs, lump for lump. Frantic, I prayed that long skirts would stay in fashion.

It was two years ago when I realized my arms had been switched. One morning I was fixing my hair and I watched horrified but fascinated as the flesh of my upper arms swung to and fro with the motion of the hairbrush.

This was really getting scary. My body was being replaced one section at a time. How clever and fiendish. Age? Age had nothing to do with it. Age is supposed to creep up, unnoticed, something like maturity. NO, I was being attacked repeatedly and without warning. In despair, I gave up my T-shirts. What could they do to me next?

My poor neck suddenly disappeared faster than the Thanksgiving turkey it now resembled. That's why I decided to tell my story. I can't take on the medical profession by myself. Women of the world, WAKE UP AND SMELL THE COFFEE! That really isn't plastic that those surgeons are using. You KNOW where they are getting those replacement parts, don't you? The next time you suspect someone has had a face "lifted," look again. Was it lifted from you? I think I finally found my thighs, and I hope that Cindy Crawford paid a really good price for them!

This is not a hoax! This is happening to women in every town every night! WARN YOUR FRIENDS!

P.S. I must say that last year I thought someone had stolen my breasts. I was lying in bed and they were gone! As I jumped out of bed, I was relieved to see that they had just been hiding in my armpits as I slept. Now I keep them hidden in my waistband.

I lost a dear friend of the family a couple of weeks ago. She had been with me since our oldest was four. Sweet Mrs. Roper served our family daily for the last 12 years, making sure all of our whites were white and our colors were bright while her dear honey Mr. Roper dried everything to a fluffy softness. He passed away two years ago and nice old Ken More moved in to help out Mrs. Roper with the chores her honey used to take care of. But alas she has gone on also, although she is not too far away - she has been sitting in our back yard since her passing.

After Mrs. Roper moved to the backyard I decided to be creative. Surely her job was not that difficult. A little water, a little soap, agitate it, rinse and maybe rinse again, ring it out and send it on to Ken. Humph, she has been fooling me! I filled the tub with hot water and a little Sweet Pea bath soap, tossed in some socks and undies, added a couple of young boys to agitate the clothes (I figured they agitate me enough...) and left to fix dinner. Lets just say young boys do not do the same job as dear old Mrs. Roper!!! But on the up side, the bathroom floor got a well needed mopping! So I removed the boys, drained the clothes and rinsed them - FIVE times! I still had soap in em. And the socks were still grungy, so I ran the hot water again, added powdered bleach and detergent to the sock soup and tried to hand wash the suckers. Two hours and three busted knuckles later I gave up, rinsed everything one last time, called in the resident hero (aka dh Andre') and he wrung everything out. I tossed the wet things into the dryer (aka Ken More) and crossed my fingers. Another hour later and Ken delivered dingy dirty dry socks and undies. So much for nostalgia and the good ole days!

Ken More was delighted to meet Miss Roper and the two of them got right to work on Mt. Washmore which has invaded our home since Mrs. Roper passed away. Miss Roper welcomed the dingy socks and cup of bleach and sweetly delivered the whitest socks this house has seen in years! I will miss my dear friend, but her replacement is making the transition much easier!!

Guess what I got for Christmas? Aint she purty!

Sure beats last years gift...

 A radiator for my van (yep the van that kicked the royal bucket 4 months later...) I am sure Miss Roper will be with us much longer than that silly radiator was - and she was half the price!!

Enquiring minds asked to know, so here is the famous (at least in my family) Frog Story.

I am a firm believer that God has an incredible sense of humor - which is why He gave me four boys -the girl was an answer to prayer! And I do so love my boys, but they are so very different than me. They love all things creepy and crawly.

The Frog Story

I was a sweet young girl of nine tender years. Our family lived in a small rural town in south Louisiana on an acre of land. Back in those days I thought an entire acre was just about as much land as a family could hope to live on, ahh sweet youth.

Although I was throughly a girl my mother had been raised by a scientist and an artist. My scientist grandfather kept venemous snakes in the family basement, he milked them for the venom. I never got to meet this amazing man, as he went to be with the Lord when my mom was a girl herself. But mom remembered her daddy's snakes and raised us to enjoy the slippery serpants.

Which is why this girly girl at the tender age of nine, had a pet snake in her room. Yep, me, a real live pet snake. (No son you may not! You see I do not have my mothers affection for the creepy crawlies, maybe your grandma will let you keep one at her house )

I kept my snake in a ten gallon aquarium on my dresser and fed it little tree frogs that I would catch in our yard. For your information, if you are into hunting tree frogs, the best place to find them in the daytime is the inside of the top pole of the swing set (you know, where the plastic safety plug is supposed to go - ours was lost - or never put on - or maybe that is a trendy 21st century saftey device) whatever the case, it was the best spot to find a little frog to feed my snake.

Now any of you who are familiar with serpents will know they do not eat often. I had placed a frog in with the snake and they lived happily together for several days. Until that fateful night. At four or so in the morning I awakened to the most horrid scream I had ever heard. Someone was being murdered, in my room. Calling out to my parents from under the covers, I was so very afraid! I am sure I woke the entire house with my wailing. My parents ran to my rescue, flipped on the lights and we saw... the poor frog being eaten alive. The snake had grabbed him by his back leg and was happily munching (do snakes munch?) and the little guy was actually screaming bloody murder. A frog screaming is a most frightful thing for a sweet little girl to hear at four in the morning.

And to this day, I am afraid of frogs. I know it is the snake I should have a problem with, but HE did not wake me up screaming! I will jump and scream when I see a frog or toad and walk far out of the way so that we will not cross the same path. I cannot imagine the horror of having one touch me. I really am concerned that they all have it out for me and will jump on me if given the chance. I know this is silly, but its ok to be silly sometimes isn't it? And my boys know this story - and they love to tease me.

Btw, my pet snake was released to the wild the very next day - there was NO WAY I was ever going to catch another frog to feed him!

So now that you are laughing at how ridiculous I am, are you brave enough to share your silly fear?

I've been tagged for the first time in my blogging life by Icecastle.  I have to write seven weird things about myself.  Well, I have to come up with seven weird things about myself that I am willing to share.  That narrows it down quite a bit!

The rules are as follows:

Link to the person that tagged you, and post the rules on your blog.

Share 7 random and/or weird facts about yourself.

Tag 7 random people at the end of your post, and include links to their blogs.

Let each person know that they’ve been tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.

OK, here it goes.

1.  I grind my teeth when I sleep. My poor dh! (at least I don't snore too!!)

2.  I must have obnoxious amounts of cream and sugar in my coffee, no matter what kind of coffee I
     happen to be drinking. (me too Icecastle)

3.  I do not, EVER use onions in my kitchen. I have bought 3, by force, in my 15 yrs of marriage! Blech!

4.  I purchased my first coffee pot ever about a month ago. Now I am real grown up! (which I cannot use right now bc Cuyler broke it when he was supposed to be washing dishes and instead was trying to make coffee  thanks kid!)

5.  I hide chocolate chip cookies from my children so I can have them all.

6.  I have a rule that when travelling we may not eat at any place we can eat at near home.

7.  I have a very real fear of frogs and toads. There is a story....

Here are the people I am tagging:

mamaclsn

cahanbury

diamonds in the rough

pretzel family

teaching 2 sons

peaceandnoise4Him

camillaanderson

A friend sent this to me and I thought it was funny - *warning* this story is rated PG-13! Send the kids out before reading cuz they will wonder what is so funny!

I was able to purchase a deluxe model from the fifth floor - he has gotten much better as the years progress. I definately see this as a worthy investment with great returns!

The Husband Store

A store that sells new husbands has just opened in New York City, where a woman may go to choose a husband. Among the instructions at the entrance is a description of how the store operates:

You may visit this store ONLY ONCE! There are six floors and the value of the products increase as the shopper ascends the flights. The shopper may choose any item from a particular floor, or may choose to go up to the next floor, but you cannot go back down except to exit the building!

So, a woman goes to the Husband Store to find a husband. On the first floor the sign on the door reads:

Floor 1 - These men Have Jobs.

She is intrigued, but continues to the second floor, where the sign reads:

Floor 2 - These men Have Jobs and Love Kids.

"That's nice", she thinks, "but I want more."

So she continues upward. The third floor sign reads:

Floor 3 - These men Have Jobs, Love Kids, and are Extremely Good Looking.

"Wow," she thinks, but feels compelled to keep going.

She goes to the fourth floor and the sign reads:

Floor 4 - These men Have Jobs, Love Kids, are Drop-dead Good Looking and Help With Housework.

"Oh, mercy me!" she exclaims, "I can hardly stand it!"

Still, she goes to the fifth floor and the sign reads:

Floor 5 - These men Have Jobs, Love Kids, are Drop-dead Gorgeous, Help with Housework, and Have a Strong Romantic Streak.

She is so tempted to stay, but she goes to the sixth floor, where the sign reads:

Floor 6 - You are visitor 31,456,012 to this floor. There are no men on this floor. This floor exists solely as proof that some women are impossible to please. Thank you for shopping at the Husband Store.

PLEASE NOTE:

To avoid gender bias charges, the store's owner opened a New Wives store just across the street.

The first floor has wives that love *ahem* 'intimacy'.

The second floor has wives that love *ahem* 'intimacy' and have money.

The third, fourth, fifth and sixth floors have never been visited!

I did not write this - but it is my hearts cry! Enjoy.

Ever Feel Like This?

We got to take a little trip last weekend. Dre had to work in Meridian, MS Friday so we ditched school, packed our bags and headed off for a day of family fun! The kids and I hung out at the hotel watching the tube and swimming while Daddy was at work then we all went out to dinner. The kids begged for Waffle House - not my favorite which means we never eat there. There was a WH in the same parking lot as the hotel, so we walked over for our meal. It was typical WH fare - but the boys enjoyed their hot chocloate and the juke box was fun!

 We woke up Saturday morning, enjoyed the hotel breakfast and toured the city. On the way home we hit the mall (another rare excursion!) and stopped at the beach. It was dusk when we finally reached Biloxi and got to play in the sand. We had a great time racing eachother along the waters edge. Preston is really fast! Cade found some hermit crabs - they really had fun watching them. It was nice to take a break from the daily grind and run away - even if it was just for one day!

On July 17 our kitty 'Ash' gave birth to five little ones. The kids were so excited - 5 kittens hey we can each have one! Sorry guys, we already have two big cats. Thankfully our oldest son has found homes for three and they move out this week. I couldn't resist their big eyes, so 2 will get to live here!

The Kitten by Ogden Nash

The trouble with a kitten is

THAT

Eventually it becomes a

CAT.

But they sure are cute right now!

My incredible husband and I were highschool sweethearts and have been married for 15 years. We are the proud parents of five beautiful, intelligent and oh so normal children. Four sons age 15, 9, 7 and 5 and one princess who is 10 (and a half!)

Here we are this summer at Little River Canyon

We began our homeschool journey when our oldest was entering first grade. I did not know *anything* and had very little support. We used workbooks from Wallyworld and I think spent less than ten bucks on first grade! The next year we bought the packaged curriculum and cried our way through 2nd grade math - daily. I figured homeschooling was not for me and *definately* not for this child, so off to our local church's small private school he went - and off to work I went in order to pay for it! Four children, oldest in private school, the 3 babies in daycare and mom working full time did not a joyful family make!

Time for some changes, I quit my ministry job (at the local CPC) and came home to minister to the family God gave me. With the birth of baby 5 we moved back to our childhood hometown and once again endeavored to homeschool our children. We began the year with one in fifth grade, one in first grade, a 4 yr old, 2 yr old and a newborn. And it was GREAT! I found Sonlight curriculum and fell in love with the ability to teach to multi levels and the planning was all done for me! We had a wonderful year and have not looked back.

This year is our eighth year homeschooling and our children are now in 10th, 6th, 4th, 2nd and PreK. We are still using Sonlight, with some modifications. Except our highschooler, who bought his own books and chose Christian Liberty Press. Tomorrow we begin week 3 - so far so good.

Continuing the journey...