Prayers for the Sick

Please pray for my sister and her family..... My precious nieces are sick with the flu and so is my sister who is pregnant.

I will try to post updates as I learn them.

Thank You!

Love and Prayers
Crystal

More Happenings...(Imagine that at my house..lol)

I just thought I would do an update post. Mom is home(she came home last monday) and is doing so much better. About the only thing left is her back is really really sore. We got her some therma care heat pads to wear around and she said they helped alot. Papa said she was liable to start doing too much because she felt so good. But I know her, it is not like her to sit around and be waited on but she will take it easy...If nothing else, so she can play with grandbabies...(she is a wonderful granny by the way in addition to a wonderful mother..)

She also said thanks for all the prayers. They really worked.

I was going to post about a book that I was reading but Jack stole it from me and he is really enjoying it so I dont want to steal it back right now.

Alaina is doing so much better today. I ended up taking her to the doctor wednesday and she had n ear infection but not much else besides just allergies. Her amazing nurse practitioner gave her som antibiotic ear drops and she is feeling much better.

I have been falling behind so much on school stuff. The girls keep asking me if they can do school and I have to tell them no because I have to get supper going or the laundry needs put up. We also run around alot. Just doing errands and stuff. Alot of people think they inconvenience me when they ask me to do stuff or to keep their kids (they dont I love doing things for people and keeping kids...) I tried for a while to stay home and get my kids on a perfect schedule. It dont work. So I have decided to just try to do the best I can and kinda take schooling on the road...I mean we already do alot of school on the road..(ie..."what color is the grass, what color is the sky...how many white cars are in the parking lot, how many red shirts do you see in the office, what letter does that start with...what shape is that light...) But this week, i have a couple of appointments and I think I am going to take Kylies phonics book with us and take Alaina a library book. I have this fear of them playing with the toys in the doctors office and at the wic office and stuff in the stores. I am so afraid that they will get sick. But thank God and pray that it continues, we have not gotten the flu this year. I hope and pray that we dont end up with it.

We dont really have anything else going on around here, Just alot of cleaning for this weekend. Jason turns 1 and we are having a little party for him here at the house.

Love and Prayers
Crystal

The Homeschool Lounge

I was invited to join this place online. It is called The Homeschool Lounge. "The Homeschool Lounge is a FREE online community for Homeschool Moms, the very first of its kind! The vision of The Homeschool Lounge is to connect Homeschool Moms from all corners of the web! Get advice, give advice, share, learn and laugh with those who truly understand you. There is something for everyone inside the many pages of "

I am hoping to really get to know some new people through being a member of this lounge and to learn new stuff. Go on over and visit if you want. See what or who all is there.

Tiany is also having a give away. She is giving away two $25 dollar Amazon gift cards to whoever enters the contest. Go on over and see what you have to do to enter. http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/Tiany . I love her blog. She is such an inspiration to me. She has four little boys and still manages to get lots done. How does she do it... (grins).

Anyway, I will be back later today. I have a book that I want to post about.

Love and Prayers
Crystal

Things going on around here.

Thank You all for your prayers. We are doing much better. Mom is supposed to get to come home today and we are all thankful for that. The only side effect she is having is slurred speech but even that was drastically improved last night. She is getting in and out of bed by herself and really doing much better.

We had a baby shower yesterday at Church for Sammi Jo and Josh and their new little baby. It was fun. They got some really pretty outfits for Amy. I am still not sure how they spell it, I was preoccupied with Alaina yesterday. I think her tonsils are making her sick. She was really whiny yesterday and keeps telling me that her throat hurts. Course the doctors office is closed today and Since she is not running a high fever and we have had enough of the hospital this weekend, we are waiting till tommorow to see if she feels better.

I dont really have that much else to say except we slept in this morning and I just finished my coffee and my dryer stopped so I need to go switch clothes out and get moving on some other stuff.

Thanks again for your prayers!

Love and Prayers
Crystal

UPDATE ON MOM!

I just returned from the hospital a little bit ago (Paul watched the kids so I could go check on my momma..he went and then came home so I could go.) and Momma Darlene is doing better. She did have a small stroke but she is not having any paralisis (sp) from it. The only thing is her speech is a little slurred (she bit her tongue really bad) and her memory is really really short. She is still really disoriented and cant remember alot from minute to minute but other than that she is doing great. They are still going to keep her for a few days. My Brother in law is staying with her at night and then we are all taking turns during the day.

Thank You all for your prayers and keep them coming, we could really use them right now.

Love and prayers
Crystal

What a week!

This week around our house hold has been really crazy. Sunday Morning, right after church, we recieved a phone call to tell us that Paul grandfather had passed away early Sunday Morning. We were kinda expecting him to go because he had several health problems but it was hard none the less. Wednesday was his Rememberance Day. He was cremated and didnt want a funeral, so we had a rememberance day to remeber all the great things he did in life. He was a very hardworking loving man that will be missed by all of us.

Then last night Jason didnt sleep well at all, he was running a fever and rubbing his ears. I thought well, I will call his doctor in the morning and see if I can get him in because the emergency room in our town takes forever. So this morning, I called and they couldnt get him in today and I never could get ahold of his nurse, she was busy. Well, right about when I was fixing to call his ENT doctor, I got a phone call from Paul saying that his mom had been taken to the hospital by amulance because she was unresponsive. So Jack and I loaded up the kids...(really quick) and went about five minutes to the hospital. So far, all they know is that her sodium was really really low. Normal is like 137.... Hers was 116. They said they have never seen anyone with that low of sodium before. When it hits double digits, you are usually dead. But the low sodium, caused cerebal edema (swelling of the brain) which in turn caused a series of mini strokes. When we left the hospital tonight, she was starting to answer our questions and tell us what she needed. So she is doing some better but she still has an infection somewhere that they cant figure out because her white blood cell count was way up...

Please keep our family in your prayers as you can tell we need them right now. I just realized last week how old my parents are getting and really noticed what bad shape my father is in and knew that my mother in law (like my mom) is in bad shape but to see her tonight....well you know its not easy. I always heard horror stories about mother in laws and from watching my family's experiences with them I wasnt expecting good results out of my inlaws. But I was very very wrong. You couldnt ask for better people. She has seen me through so much over the last 5 years. Shes been my rock at times and sometimes she has just told me how the "cow eats the cabbage" (for you non southerners, that is how it is). I have had the privalege of having three moms in my lifetime (mine, Wilma (my moms best friend that died of cancer) and my darling mother in law) and all three of them have been super. We just lost Wilma three years ago, I am not ready to give up another one yet. Not Yet!

On a happier note though.....HAPPY BIRTHDAY CLAIRE! I am so sorry that I couldnt be there for your party. I miss you and love you though. Hope to see you soon!

Please pray and keep us in your thoughts.

Love and Prayers
Crystal

Giants

There is a lot of talk going around about a book called "Facing Your Giants" by Max Lucado. I have seen and heard about it and wanted to read it before but just never felt called to read it (or found the money to buy it). But then this past week, it seems like everywhere I turn this book keeps popping up. I read a post at Jenns about it and then my sister wrote a post about it. I am really really encouraged by these post and am going to buy it this weekend (Paul does not get paid until tommorow. )

I really feel like I need to read this book and see if it will help me gain some perspective on things. I keep trying to remember to give it all to God and he will carry it for me. My sone told me today that if I just let him he would carry me through my troubles. Like the footprints poem. So I am going to try to do that.

Anyway, I hope to buy the book and start reading it. I'll let you know how it goes. I also have been seeing a Goals list. 101 goals in 1001 days. I am hoping to do this. I just need to find the time to write a goals list. (grins).

Love and Prayers

Crystal

The spirit of a special girl lives on.

I have often wrote about when we moved to be closer to my parents. I have never wrote about the doctor that we found when we lived there. Dr. Susan Averitt. She was a gem. Kylie had always screamed when we went to the doctor. She hated doctors. The first time I took her to see Dr. Averitt, she didnt scream. On the contrary, she laughed and smiled and gave Dr. Averitt a hug. I knew we had found the perfect doctor for our kids.

Fast forward a few months. Dr. Averitt wasnt available for an appointment one day. She was out on personal leave. When I asked the doctor that we seen where Dr. Averitt was and when she would be back. The news I recieved back made my heart brake into a million pieces. (We lived 1 hr away from our doctor so we hadnt heard the news)

Dr. Averitts little girl, Cameron Averitt Bobbitt had been killed. She had been hit by a car in the crosswalk of her school. While her mom held onto her two sisters. I will not try to tell the whole story as I wasnt there, I dont know. I just know that that day, a very wonderful person had her world shattered.

When Dr. Averitt came back to work, she was very professional and still very good with the kids. I hated to tell her that we were moving back to Northern Oklahoma. She in turn told me that they were moving to Northwest Arkansas to be closer to her family. I wanted so badly to take the girls to here even after we moved. But unfortunately, I cant. (Insurance reasons) I still however wonder how she is doing and how they have coped.

I came across a website while looking for books for the girls. http://www.cameronsamazingbooks.com/

Go read it for yourself. I wish I could donate lots and lots but unfortunately I am not that rich. I however know that a few people read my blog and however few you are, you have people that read your blog and maybe if the word gets around enough then we can help these wonderful people in their memory of their daughter.

I pray that this gets around and anyone who can will help.

Love and Prayers
Crystal

Do we appreciate our spouse?

I had a revelation I guess you would call it this past week. See, I have been really really really grouchy (all right I have been H_l_ on wheels) the past couple of weeks. I finally figured out why last week. It is because I dont feel appreciated. I dont feel like anything I do matters or that it even gets noticed. I know that my kids notice, I get "Thank You Mommas" and "Momma I love you" and "ooohhhh momma its so pretty and clean" But the past few months I havent been getting , "Honey the house looks great" or "Honey that meal sure was good" or anything like that...

Yes I know I am not supposed to get mad over this, I know he goes to work everyday and works really really hard to support our family (and he doesnt have an easy job either. It is very physically and mentally demanding.) I know that he is supposed to have a clean house and a good meal on the table when he gets home. I know all this. But Like him and I talked (okay fought) about this weekend is how if he expects us to tell him how much we appreciate him going to work everyday and working as hard as he does then what is wrong with me expecting him to tell me that I did a good job? I know it is not supposed to work that way but you can only take so long of not ever being told that you are doing a good job.

It is only human nature to notice when something is wrong and not all the many days in a row that it is right. Like Paul said when we were talking. All he notices is when he comes home and there are toys out or I havent folded the last load of laundry that came out of the dryer. He cant remember the many days that he comes home and the house is clean and the laundry is put up.

Same goes for me. When he comes home and sits down instead of doing things I know needs done or on weekends when he does stuff that he wants to do instead of doing things that he has been supposed to do for the past three months. I get irritated and all I see are all the things he hasnt done instead of the things that he does.

So my question today is Do we really appreciate our spouse? Do we show or tell that we appreciate the way that they need to be told? I am a verbal person. I need to be told that I am doing a good job. And come to find out Paul is too. He said he hasnt been telling me when I do good because i havent been telling him. And in his word when he called me Monday morning to say he was sorry...." I am sorry I havent been telling you that I appreciate you. Its not right for me to expect to be told that I'm appreciated when I dont do it myself. I'll try to do better and maybe if youll help me I can get better at it. Cause I do Love you and Appreciate you!"

Lets just say that I am in a lot better mood now. I am more willing to make sure the house is clean and I havent grumbled today about having to do anything that requiers extra work because I know that I am appreciated. I know that the smile on his face when he comes home to a clean house and a happy wife will be worth it.

Just a little food for thought. Tell me what you think or what you do to show or tell your husband your appreciation.

Love and Prayers
Crystal