9:05 am

Carson's new favorite toy

When I got the stomach bug (cute pics)

Thanksgiving evening Carson woke up in bed and threw up. It wasn't pretty but David and I got it cleaned up quickly. I nursed him again. Bad idea, he threw up again. The poor tired guy slept the rest of the night just fine. 

Bad idea 2: feeding him a full breakfast with eggs the next morning, which ended up on the carpet. I took him to the pediatrician and turns out he has an ear infection, which probably developed from the cold he'd been fighting the last few days. The nurse practitioner didn't think he had the stomach bug, but was gagging on phelgm, but my suspicians were different. 

Well that night I woke up with it, though it was only as bad as Carson's, it still left me pretty weak and tired. So the next day, saturday, David and Judy and Glenn took care of Carson all day and I stayed in bed. If you get nauseous and dizzy every time you stood up you would too :(

Carson was of course hard on David that day, and there were both pooped. So when the fussing and noise and jingling of Carson playing with keys (the only thing that would pacify him) in the living room stopped, I wondered what was happening. So I hobbled out there to find this :

My boys fell asleep :)

Always sucking on those same two fingers!

It looks as if Carson fell asleep while he was playing with the keys. So cute!

This is the only time Carson has ever slept on the floor, but the pictures I've seen of friends' toddlers falling asleep while playing have always been so cute! He woke up as soon as David's parents got back from shopping.

Oh but it gets better! That night Judy, David's mom started up on the stomach bug too. That's 3 out of 5 so far! They ended up leaving today (sunday) a day earlier than planned. Nothing like the stomach bug to make Thanksgiving memorable, or to ruin the taste of good food as it comes back up... hahaha. 

Snapshots of Thanksgiving

This Thanksgiving was memorable to us in many ways! First of all, as always we can't travel because of David's supervisory role at UPS during 'peak season'. I missed my parents and bro, but luckily his parents came, and we invited a few orphaned family friends Thanksgiving day as well. 

Second, I went out of my cooking comfort zone! I made things from scratch that I haven't before, and the result was okay. 

I made this pie and crust from scratch

Stuffing getting ready to be dried in the oven 

veggies for stuffing

getting the table ready

My turkey with honey-herb glaze... had to get that shiny skin picture in somewhere!

No Thanksgiving dinner is complete without a begging animal, preferably a dog. He came with David's parents!

I almost went to the extra trouble of making some amazing sign from Pinterest, but then 8-year-old Maddie came with her own! Problem solved :)

Here are some of our honored guests!

Tessa being silly

The Jenkins', minus Josiah who is sleeping in the other room

Some of the Preston kids

hahaha... After I took this picture, Allison kindly asked if I warn her before I do that! Glenn is feeding Skipper, Logan is talking to Judy,  Maddie is telling it like it is

Lest you think our Thanksgiving was all peachy, stay tuned... the stomach bug made it's appearance that night! 

This week's highlights

Sunday was a blast, as always. We loved getting together the Operation Christmas Child shoeboxes. Carson, however, did a lot of screaming in the nursery the whole day. He is teething pretty bad, and also has separation anxiety. It's kind of hard on me, but luckily the nursery workers were willing to put up with some screaming... all of them veterans and moms :) That's one of the things I love about our church: all the other moms there who have been through all those crazy stages. They are always so reassuring and for that I'm so thankful!

Monday I did crazy catch-up housework, grocery shopping and cleaning. This was also to get ready to have some friends over for lunch Tuesday, all the way from Romania!!! 

On tuesday Kristie and Boing came, and as they arrived we had half a dozen cop cars on a nearby corner. Turns out they arrested a guy for a murder that happened in the ghetto apartment complex that is nearby. It may be close, but our neighborhood doesn't see much of the crime they have, and usually their crime is among themselves. Anyhoo, our time with the delightful couple was wonderful, as I wrote about in my other post. 

Wednesday was teaching piano like normal to Josh and Brianna. I love seeing Angela when I can!

Our fruit trees were delivered, which came bare and without dirt in one very long cardboard box. I wasn't sure what to do with it, and was busy so I left it on the porch for when David got home. 

Well, when he got home the box was gone! I knew I hadn't moved it so we immediately realized we had been robbed! (so we thought) I called the police to make a report and David walked around the outside of our house. Then we went knocking on our neighbor's doors to see if they saw anything. When we came to one neighbor's door who is particularly watchful and heads up the neighborhood watch, we found that they had taken the box inside for fear it would be stolen, lol. Phew!

I have dubbed this week, "CRIME WEEK". Murderers and thieves!

On thursday I woke up thinking about things that need to get done around the house, as in repairs and renovations. Some of them are small and easy, so I decided to take them on as Carson allows. At the same time I had to go hunting for a printer cartridge so print labels for our Operation Christmas Child boxes.

our church did 12 Operation Christmas Child boxes!

Then alas, our upstairs toilet broke, and the closet door.

~~~~

Answered prayer! We have prayed for a while that God would use our house and it's space for His glory and to serve others, especially in our church! We he answered that prayer this week by having some of our friends bring their kids over. I love having them over. 

Before going to bed thursday night I was shocked to see my friend Sara calling. Carl needed to go to the hospital so their kids slept at our place for the night. 

here we are, watching Sean the Sheep the next morning.

The next day we also had Caleb over for a little bit.

"No Carson, don't break my tower!"

Safe from the Carson monster

On Saturday I got to help the Jenkins' with their new condo, which is a pretty nice place! I can't wait for them to have us over :) haha

Carson's 11 month summary photo

A lot happens in a month! It's so fun to try and capture his silly personality in a few words. 

once again, this idea is taken from 52home, part of the girltalk blog

8:12 am

And the toilet paper bandit strikes again!

Missionary friends and Christian friends

Today we were so blessed to be visited by our friends Kristie and Boing (Cristian Boingeanu) who are in the States for a time. They do camp ministry in Romania. Boing is Romanian and Kristie is American! I knew Kristie as a close friend from my Moody days. 

When they pulled into our driveway I was pumped, and gave our baby in desperate need of a diaper change to my loving husband so that I could run toward Kristie and get a HUGE hug. We were so happy to see each other! 

Awesome mug and prayer card from them

Being with Kristie again instantly transported me back to the times I had at Moody - times of honesty, love and tears with close girlfriends who loved the Lord. We prayed for each other, spent life together, served others together, worshiped Christ together in chapel. I spent many hours in Kristie and Anne's room just hanging out and sometimes praying. 

I miss those days. Never have I lived in a community with such openness where I felt so safe to be myself. Granted, it took courage to participate in other's lives and share my heart. It takes a tremendous amount of courage to be vulnerable outside of environments like this. Or it takes a particularly painful trial to shock you out of selfishness. 

One or the other, vulnerability is hard to come by and seems to be rarely received with compassion out in the not-so-real "real world" that I apparently live in. I mean, it has been months since I have seem most of my neighbors. Months! I actually wonder if some of them have been away all that time. I even knocked on their doors for help with the aforementioned weed whacker (as some of my neighbors are pretty in to their weed whackers and their yards look amazing) and no one came to the door though their cars were there. It took guts for me to knock, and no one came. That doesn't make me want to try it again, but as Jesus would have it, I probably will. :)

Anyway, seeing Kristie again was bittersweet - I won't see her and Boing again for another year, I will miss their Romania wedding, and it opened up wounds I have now of missing seeking the Lord with those girls. It was sweet to laugh again with her, and see her glowing face with her fiance! 

Why is it that, even (or especially) in the seminary/church community, people's talk (especially busy moms like myself) is limited to small talk, to the same few subjects: work, kids, groceries, whatever...? Why is it so hard to say "God is teaching me this" or to say "Let's pray about this now"? Why don't we ever ask "How are you really doing?" Or "How is your marriage going?" Or to even confess our sins to one another as it says in James 5? I'm telling you, when we did this at Moody God's Spirit was free to move in our hearts and convict and change. But here I feel stagnant and like I'm becoming more like a Pharisee every day. It makes me discontent, but may that discontent be from the Lord and not from my own deceitful heart. May it cause change instead of cynicism. 

Will you join me in praying for revival? 

Our friends who are missionaries

I recently added a tab at the top of my blog to show the different ministries that our friends from Moody or Southern are doing overseas. Check it out! 

This week's highlights!

from despair.com

Sunday was great. It's our big church day, and I got to be in the nursery. It was recently remodeled and it is much bigger and better!

Monday was great when David gave me a 2.5 hr baby break. I went thrifting and to a coffee shop to read.
Tuesday was the election and we were on pins and needles! Then I woke up Wednesday morning disappointed. I didn't vote for the guy who spends money we don't have.

On wednesday I taught my two piano students like normal, and made this amazing crockpot country-style bbq rib recipe. 

But it burned, and the temperature dial cracked in half and fell off the crockpot. :(


Thursday night we discovered the best flea market I've ever been to, right in our hometown. Between that, Goodwill, and Once Upon a Child, I may never buy anything new again! I also watched the Prestons for a bit, which is always ALWAYS fun.

Carson had a lot of fun, and Tessa wasn't sure what to think of him.

Then on friday we got to watch Tessa so that the Jenkins' could close on their house :) That isn't the greatest picture, but if you want to see some great photography from Tessa's mom, one of the up-and-coming Louisville photographers, then click here: kara delaine photography 

That night we watched The Amazing Spiderman which I got for $.80 (score!) I call it "hipster spider man" and the movie was pretty good.

I loved listening to In the Market with Janet Parshall during this election week. Here's a link about it. She is an awesome and incredibly informed and experienced commentator. And she certainly has connections in "high places" while still remaining true to the Bible. 

One of the most frustrating things this week was trying to thred the trimming line in our weed wacker. The instruction booklet just didn't do the trick! Carson sure enjoyed crawling around the yard while I fiddled with that stupid contraption. 

One of the most exhilarating things this week was laughing and goofing off with my husband. 

HAPPY SATURDAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

My tuna salad

I have always loved tuna salad and have been perfecting my tuna salad recipe for at least 10 years! Probably more! 

my nasty condiment jars

What makes this recipe perfect (for me) is the amounts, which I haven't measured out. Sorry. So I'll guess!

Ingredients:

1 can chunk light tuna

miracle whip light 3 TB

sweet pickle relish 1-2 TB

lemon juice, 1 or 2 long squirts

onion powder, 3 or 4 shakes

garlic salt, 1 or 2 shakes

tabasco sauce, 3 drops (or more!) (You can barely taste it)

I just drain the tuna and add the ingredients in the order shown above! I like it most on crackers, like wheat ritz.

This was also the quick version. If I want it really good, I would add chopped apples or celery, or try it with hardboiled eggs. I've heard of people using curry powder, but I'm a cheapo and that stuff is way too expensive per ounce. 

How do you eat your tuna salad? 

I heart Moody Radio

My days are filled with repetitive housework, kid-loving and cooking. Instead of listening to my thoughts, spending more time online or watching netflix, I recently made the choice to use my Moody Radio app. 

It really improved my thought life and overall moods of the day to be listening to bible verses, good preaching, informative interviews, etc. They even have a station that is all sermons. Spending most of the day without other people around except Goo can get a little quiet, and I've not always filled the vacuum with the best things, but I think the radio station of my alma mater is the best choice yet :)

sleep talking

D (asleep): Good job!!!

B (awake, stifling a laugh): What did I do?

D: You scored a point!

B: ...at what?

D: You know... work!

This week's highlights

source: despair.com :)

On sunday I played piano with the worship band for the last time this year as I share with another pianist at church. I love playing worship music so much, and my heart always fills with joy. I wish everyone could know God and know how worthy of worship He really is, and know how not-self-righteous what I'm saying about worship really is! We had small group that night, which I also love, except Carson got screamy in the nursery and had to join us and was a huge distraction. :)

Monday is our catch-up day in many ways. David catches up on sleep to prepare for the work week, and he also worked on his paper. I don't really remember monday! Except that may have been the day I ended up on Twitter once again. In many ways I think its better than facebook. instead of typing "What's on  your mind?" You type "What's happening?". Also everything isn't all personal and dramatic, and it's a great news source. Sorta. My favorite is @Sockamillion the Cat. lol.

Tuesday was crunch-time with David's paper, and I help edit it. All of this stuff is also happening while I watch and care for Carson, cook and do other housework... That night was a concert of prayer facilitated by One Cry that I listened to live on Moody Radio. I miss the times of group prayer at Moody, especially with the Student Missions Fellowship on friday nights. Also, I miss worshiping with a thousand or so other students in chapel, or the 50 other girls in women's choir. It almost felt like heaven, worshiping in such large groups of like-minded Christians. We had no hindrances in terms of denomination or whether or not Jesus is Lord, you know? anyway, end of tangent.

Wednesday was Halloween, and we are not huge fans of that day, but when the cute princesses and ninjas came to our door, we gave them candy because they deserved it :) I finished editing David's paper for him that morning, and when he brought it to his morning class, he found it wasn't due until another week. Sometimes that is nice, but in David's case it meant a sleepless night wasted! We are glad his bronchitis is gone though, so losing sleep didn't hurt him as much as it would've last week.

Thursday was a mid-week catch-up day in both our occupations, and that night our church had a celebration for a lady in our church who is having a baby soon and moving away with her family. That night I connected with Jen and set a time for her to come over the next day with her kids!

Friday morning Jen and I got to hang out and she taught me a pretty awesome paper craft that I had forgotten from years ago. Carson loved seeing her kids, and my favorite part was them playing with not the toys but the toy tub. For some reason being shut in a box is super thrilling! This day and all other days this week I got my review of Veggie tales as well. That night when David got home we headed for Rural King, and ended up at the Preston's house. We hung out with them for a while. My favorite part of this was when Carson and Caroline, who suck their fingers the same way, started doing that and Allison's heart melted :)

Saturday is just wonderful for all of us. Before David awoke I went to visit the Porches and meet their twins. Carson didn't know what to think of babies. Once David is awake on this day, we have family time! That was half nap time for all of us, and half going out to Target (I GOT A MOCHA), Once Upon a Child, and trying to find a pawn/gun shop (fail). Speaking of that middle store, we bought a Christmas/Bday present for Carson. There is almost nothing funner than buying presents for your kids!!! And as I type this, it's saturday night and David is studying for an exam with a friend.

I love writing and blogging, and I don't mind that this isn't read that much, but if you do read it, I'd love some feedback and comments! Especially my family. You just click on the link below that says "No comments" I think. Love you!

Pretty fall day!

Playing in the yard for Carson mainly consists of trying to eat leaves. The angle of the sun was so pretty, I had to get a couple shots of my big boy. 

And then I pull it out of his hand or mouth, and repeat the cycle again. 

Big yard that he'll be running around in in no time! I can't believe he's almost 11 months old already. Feels like yesterday that I was learning how to nurse him, etc. 

His response when I sing a song :)