Friday, January 14, 2011

Hello out there...

It's been 300 years since I last posted. Well, maybe not 300 years, but pretty close I think. 8-) I'm just not a good blogger. I want to try again. I am going to try to revamp the blog. I am, however, not sure of my purpose here. I just like the idea of blogging as an outlet. It's like an online diary. Only anyone can get the key. Maybe I'll post my inner most secrets. Ok...here's the first one. I really miss the game show Super Market Sweep. It was an awesome game show that involved grocery shopping. I love grocery shopping! There, that was secret number two. 8-) Here's secret number three. I love pushing buttons. I think that in of itself is a reason to blog. I get more computer time to push buttons. I would rather push cash register buttons. I love cash register buttons. Some stay at moms plan on going back to school when their kids are older, but not me. I'm going to get a job at a retail store that has a cash register with good buttons. I went on a date the other night with my hubby and we stopped at the store on the way home. When no one was looking I stepped over to an empty register and pushed buttons. Then I ran. I love buttons.

Ok, enough for now. I'm pretty sure I'm blogging to myself. I hope I enjoy reading what I posted.

Tuesday, April 07, 2009

i don't want to

I am blogging to avoid cleaning the kitchen. I know it has to be done. I can't go to bed and leave it. I would regret it so much in the morning. 8-/ So it's been a long time since I blogged. I'm not sure if it's because I'm too busy or I just don't really have anything that interesting to say. I am too tired to be deep. Maybe you feel that way too and it's a relief to hear I feel the same way, or maybe I am the only one. I read other blogs and they are full of thoughts that I don't have the energy to comprehend...much less to come up with some of my own. 8-) Sorry for the blahness...it's been one of those weeks. There are many changes on the horizon for my life and that always gets me bumfuzzled (not a word I am aware), but you get the drift right.

On the funner side of things Easter is coming up this weekend. I love Easter. The meaning and reason, the colors, the gatherings of people 8-) I have a friend who wakes her children up on Easter morning by running through the house shouting in excitement, "He's alive! He's alive!". I think that's so awesome! Cheesy, yes, but totally awesome. 8-) It is exciting that He's alive! We should be elated and not be able to hide our excitement. We should be running through the streets Sunday morning shouting, "He's alive!". Maybe I will...I'll let you know how that goes. 8-)

Saturday, January 24, 2009

8-)

The smiley. Ok, so apparently I do the smiley more than any one person should. The question was recently posed to me...why. Well here is why just in case my smileys have been getting on your nerves.

In any form of communication where the "listening" party can't actually hear you or see your face i.e. texting, emailing, facebooking, blogging, or any other communication technology affords us today you don't necessarily know the emotion behind what people are expressing. I use the smiley to communicate emotion. You may notice that occasionally my comments will have a face that looks like this 8-/. I use this to communicate confusion, frazzledness(not a word I am aware), or frustration. 8-( That would be my sad face, obviously. 8-0 This is my shocked face. 8-) 8-P This is me sticking my tongue out at you. If I am sticking my tongue out at you in silliness then that face would usually be followed by a regular smiley. 8-) Just so you know I am kidding.

So there, the many typed faces of Whitney. Just in case you wanted to know. 8-)


In other news, I don't blog enough and neither do you. I have checked all the blogs and it seems as though we are all to busy to update. Which is fine for me, but you people are my entertainment so you are going to have to pick it up. Stop taking care of your children and doing your jobs. Get on the computer and tell me all about the fascinating things going on in your brains, K. I love you all! 8-)

Monday, December 29, 2008

O Christmas Tree...O Christmas Tree

how lovely were your branches! Well...it's over. Not over in the sense that we don't still celebrate the birth and life of our Savior...but all the festivities are put away until next Christmas season. I have the after Christmas blues. 8-( It was a wonderful Christmas. Lots of fun memories. Fun game nights with songs about worms and dirty Christian talk. Productive shopping date nights of picking out fun things to bestow upon our babies. Awesome sing alongs full of fun with new wonderful friends. A funtastical Christmas Eve night with fun new memories.

I must stop to tell you a funny story. We got home from Christmas Eve at my Nanny's house at about 10:00pm. We let the kids open one of their "presents" from Nanna (always pajamas because it is her tradition to give all the kids and grandbabies jammies for Christmas Eve). We read the Christmas story and put the kids to bed around 11. By 12:00am we started setting out presents and putting together the goods. At about 12:30 I heard the pitter patter of little feet coming down the hallway. It was my little Isaiah. Andrew was sitting in the floor assembling the Jumpoline we had gotten Isaiah. It is a very colorful, triangular shaped trampoline that plays music while you jump. Isaiah's eyes lit up and he was no longer interested in sleep. So, for the next couple of hours that little rascal jumped and played with all his Christmas. It was great. He finally crashed about 2:30. It was fun to have him up and get to see him all by himself enjoying Christmas. He was a little bit of a booger to wake up Christmas morning. The other kids were ready to go and he just wanted to stay asleep.

The babies are so much fun Christmas morning. I have to brag and say that I have been so incredibly proud of their respect of what Christmas really is all about. There hasn't been a prayer time when they didn't thank God for the birth of their Savior, and they have been very mindful of talking about Jesus and what He means to them. Well, Gabriel has had some interesting things to say. His answer to what Christmas is all about has been presents and God. So we have a little work to do. What are you gonna do, he's 5. We had a great Christmas day...very relaxing. We let the kids play all morning, and then that afternoon we walked and let the kids ride their bikes down to my moms for Christmas dinner. There we gorged ourselves with yummy goodness and played Wii for hours. Ahhh...I love the holidays.

Now all we have left in 2008 is New Years. I gotta be honest, New Years is just not my thing. We don't want to leave the kids that night, and there aren't a lot of places to take the kids on New Years Eve. So I'm not sure how we will ring in the new year. My goodness, am I the only person who cannot believe that it is 2009 already. My life is flying by so fast. It seems like just yesterday I was saying "I do" to the man of my dreams and thinking about what it would be like when we had so many babies. Now here we are, madly in love and four babies later. I pray all the time that God will just let me savor the moments. There are times when I look around and beg God to just let me remember this moment. Let is sink in deep within my memory so when I am 80 years old I will sit and think of what my babies looked like and smelled like at these precious moments. The way they sounded laughing and the hysterical things they say that make me just want to eat them up.

Well, now that I am crying, I will end. I love you all. Merry Christmas(just a few days late) and Happy New Year to all you people whom I love so dearly. I enjoy my family and friends so much. I thank God for blessing me with such and amazing family and sweet wonderful friends. I love you! 8-)

Wednesday, December 03, 2008

Feliz Navidad

Things have been so crazy in the last month. I feel like November didn't actually happen. 8-)

Mexico was awesome. I really had a very hard time leaving. The kids are precious and Johnny and Paulina (the parents of the home) were so incredible. They are such a tremendous example of what it really means to be the hands and feet of Jesus. I just wanted to stay there and serve them. Truly...that is what I wanted to do. I wanted to cook their meals and clean their houses so that all they had to do was continue loving on those kids. There were 19 children ranging in ages from 22 months to 18 years old. There were 3 elderly people and a 22 year old young man who grew up in the home and now works for Johnny so that he can still live there. In case you can't add let me help you out...that is 23 people that Johnny and Paulina have to keep living. They cook their meals, provide for their needs, and still manage to love on and play with them. Two of these children are almost 2 year old little girls. That in and of itself is a huge challenge, and it's not like these children don't come in with challenges to begin with. They come from homes that are unfit and quite often abusive in ways that most of us can't even stand to hear stories of. So there task in loving isn't often easy. It's hard to gain the trust of a child who has seen nothing but evil in their life, but that is what Johnny and Paulina do everyday. They gain the love and trust of sweet precious children by showing them the love of Jesus...even when that love is hard to give. We had the opportunity to witness patience, discipleship, the training of a child in the way they should go at it's finest. They are taking these children to church. They are praying with and over these children. They are speaking blessings into their lives daily. They are having regular Bible study with these kids. They are combating the enemy's desire to steal these precious babies lives that have not all been claimed. Please join with us in praying for this large 8-) amazing family. A large percentage of these kids will go back into abusive homes. The majority of them are not eligible for adoption. The ones that don't go back into the home they came from will spend their youth in children's homes. It is my prayer that if they can't be adopted into Christian homes that they would be able to remain with Johnny and Paulina. It is also our prayer that God would send someone to work along side them in taking care of this home. They are in need of assistance. The job is too big for two people. I am going to attempt to list all of the kids and adults by name in this post. It would be awesome if you could join with us in praying for the people of Casa Hogar. There is no doubt that God's hand is there. It is an amazing place.

The Family of Casa Hogar
Johnny and Paulina
Claudia 2
Brenda 6
Martin 7
Selena 2
Monse 5
Juan 11
Lizeth 12
Miguel 16
Karla 17
Juanita 18
Leslie 6
Cinthia 10
Jose 11
Ana 11
Kevin 9
Rogelio 14
Rafael 7
Jose Miguel 6
Cesar 18
Josue 22
Domingo really old 8-)
Magdalene really old 8-)
Ava really old 8-)

I would love to blog more about Casa Hogar. I want to tell you all about the place they live, their routines, their resources, and all about their unique personalities. There are so many cool things God is doing right now. It's exciting! For now we will celebrate Christmas and all the joy and hope that it brings. This truly is my favorite time of year. Jesus...just to say His name wells up something big inside of me. 8-) He is exciting!

Wednesday, November 05, 2008

heading for the border...

I know it's been forever since I last posted and I am so sorry. I know you've all been on the edge of your seat with anticipation for when I would post again. The truth is that I believe I may be the only one who reads this blog. I use it as a diary of sorts. 8-)

My heart is sad...my heart is sad for the choice that our country made on election day. If I felt they had made their choice out of some sort of conviction then the blow might be easier to bare, but I don't believe that is the case. I believe the majority of our nation voted for a man based on the color of his skin. Please...don't misunderstand, that fact that for the first time in history we have an African-American president is an exciting and amazing milestone for our nation. The problem lies in the character of the man...not in the color of his skin. There are plenty of amazing people (black and white) who would have been a thousand times better for this job. A man who's character is such that he can support the brutal murder of innocent unborn babies is not the man I want making decisions for my family. So where do we go from here...I'm just gonna pray. If God can change Paul's heart...Paul, a man who's life's work was killing and persecuting Christian's, then God is certainly capable of moving in the heart of Barack Obama. So if he is indeed going to be the president of the United States of America, then we will just unite together in praying that he surrenders and chooses to walk a path of righteousness. My God is big and He's mighty and He's faithful and He is ready to move when we call upon His name. My God is also a gentleman...He doesn't force Himself on any of us. He has given us a choice...and He says that we have not because we ask not. So will you all please join with me in fervently praying for the heart of our soon to be president and the heart of our nation.

Also...while we are on the subject of prayer 8-) My family (Andrew, me, Nathaniel, Madelyne, Gabriel, Isaiah, and my sister Abbey) and the Hager family (Bo, Holli, Shelton, Megan, Caroline, Garrett, and their unborn baby girl 8-) will be heading to a place called Morelos, Mexico. We will leave this Friday. The trip there should take around 22 hours. We will spend a week there at a house called Casa Hogar. It is a safe house for children who have been abandoned or removed from unfit homes. The children range in ages from infants to 18 years old. Our mission while we are there is for Andrew to set up computers in a school house that was recently completed there, Bo will be doing some building and plumbing projects, and Holli, myself, and the kids will be loving on the children and helping the house parents in any way we can. These children are desperate for the love of Jesus, and I want desperately for us to succeed in demonstrating that love next week. So will you please pray, and ask your friends to pray that God blesses this trip. Please pray that we are faithful in demonstrating His love. Please pray that God would break down the language barrier and that we are able to communicate with these children in ways only God can facilitate. Please pray that we are useful and productive in helping with their needs. And please pray for safe travel. We appreciate any and all prayers. I am excited!

Now that I have written a book I will let you all go...or let myself go. If you are reading this I want to you to know that I love you! 8-)

Tuesday, September 30, 2008

Oh where oh where has my sanity gone...

oh where oh where could it be? Since the beginning of this school year I have lost my mind. Having 3 kids to teach is a whole new ball game. Gabe says that he has decided he isn't going to do kindergarten. He's just going to go back to being 4. 4 is the most fun he says. If only we could stay 4 years old. Anyway, he has started kindergarten and challenges me every day as a mom and a teacher. I use the title "teacher" loosely. 8-) Isaiah, the baby, can't stand that the other kids are getting my attention during school hours so he has to be right in the middle of us all. My only hope is that some of the knowledge is seeping in and by the time he starts kindergarten he will already know everything and my job will be easier. 8-) That's assuming we all make it that far. Right now in this moment as Gabe is watching an "educational" dvd, Madelyne is dancing with the mop in the kitchen while reciting her spelling words, Isaiah is pulling every piece of tupperware we own out of the cabinet, and Nathaniel (bless his sweet heart) is sitting at the table diligently working on his language seatwork, I am just praying we make it through the day. 8-) No matter my sanity God is awesome, and I am so thankful to Him for my many, many, many, many blessings. Even if they are the wildest craziest blessings a mommy could have. 8-)