The Fitzgerald's

A leave of absent

2011-11-18T18:17:00.004-06:00

I feel like since about August I can't seem to get grip on anything. I am always behind, unprepared and when I do get around to something that's needs to be done I don't do it as well as I should or would like. This past week had been a whirlwind. I am been home very little which makes me sad because I am such a homebody and I love being home oriented.
Yesterday I had some time to do a little thinking about how to get our family where it use to be; laid back and uneventful. I have realized that every season of life will allow you to pick something up and let something go. We are now in a season change (and i don't mean fall to winter). I mean as in my monthly, weekly and daily focuses need an over haul. Not that they were wrong but with each new season come new focus. I want to be more focused on making sure our home is a home and not a house, making sure I am present when I am with Micaiah and being mentally, physically and emotionally ready for my husband when he needs me. I have a bad habit of being a busy body and when the end of the day rolls around I realize I have accomplished nothing. I, for whatever reason put pressure on myself to get EVERYTHING done EVERYDAY even things that are trivial. I need to have a few focuses each day that are planned, intentional and fruitful. So with that I am letting go of a few things that I feel like I should do and blogging is one of them. I am not signing off bloger completly but now that we are home schooling in the morning and I am working in the afternoons I have only a little time to do what NEEDS to be done and do it well. Basically this post is taking the pressure off myself to not have "blogging" on the to do list every other day. We will still be here and from time to time i'll update you on big happenings of our life but you won't be hear from me often. I want to make sure that as a stay at home mom and wife my main focuses are daily time with the Lord, investing and being present for my child and being a help mate and cheer leader for my husband. Beyond that, I am taking a leave of absent. :)

I don't know how they do it.....

2011-10-24T15:04:00.003-05:00

Back in Feb Clark had surgery and racked up a pretty hefty bill. Just before vacation I had to go to the ER with a back spasms and racked up another hefty bill. Then in late Aug (after several dr. Visits) we found out we had a miscarriage follow by several more dr. App. Then 2 weeks ago we found out we have to have our AC unit replaced. Needless to say the bills have pilled up. Technically we have funds in savings to some of these bills could be paid off and have we have money left over at the end of month to make payments on the rest but after restling with how to work each bill and blah blah I told Clark I didn't want to do either. That instead I wanted to get a part time job. That way we can continue to save but also pay these bills off. He said that was totally my decision and that there was no pressure for me to work and ask if I felt obligated to help. I of course said I didn't feel pressure and didn't feel obligated. I love that my hubby is thoughtful like that.
So several weeks ago I started the process of part time (or less than part time) hunting for a job. I knew I needed it to be flexible, little hours and it had to be something I could bring Micaiah to. So I went back to what I know, childcare. Either something in my home or working half days in some else's home. After putting the word out about a week later our preschool director approached me about a family who was looking for someone to come to their house Monday-Thursday from 230-6. After talking to both the mom and dad I felt like this was a good fit for me and Micaiah. I am in my 3rd week and have really enjoyed it. It's very laid back and fun for Micaiah.
I get here just before the kids get off the bus and then we hang out and play until one of the parents arrive. They have a 7 year old daughter who is spunky, inquisitive and ALL girl! Fun times for me! They also have a 4 (almost 5) year old little boy who is quiet and shy but will occasional come out of his shell and be crazy which is fun for Micaiah!!!
We had to make some changes in our very laid back, fly by the seat of our pants kind of schedule. I now get up at 6 every morning so that I can fit everything into our day by 2. Quiet time, breakfast, a few household to do's and then we are off to the gym and run errands. I typically try to get both of those done in 2- 2 1/2 hours. That's pushing it. Then it's back home to start lunch, shower and change, take care of several more house things (cleaning, laundry, bills, important phone calls, etc). At 1 I try to have Micaiah in quiet time so I can either prep dinner or make it in full and then walk out the door at 2. I basically have to have a full days to do list done by 2pm. By the time I walk by in the door after 6 I have just enough energy to finish dinner, eat and start Micaiah's bedtime routine. By the time he goes to bed I am pooped. I've been falling into bed around 9 and asleep before 10. Did I also mention that I have a cleaning job in the morning, a lunch buddy that I have to visit once a week (I'll eventually get around to blogging about this.), sub at New Vision Preschool occasionally AND a husband to spend time with.
I don't know how they do it! You know, the full time working mama's. They come home and still have a full days of house work to do in 3-4 hours, need to spend time with the kids and there husband. I think maybe they are super hero's!
Speaking of business, got go! Lot's to do

Oh, my sweet, fun friends!

2011-10-21T17:07:00.006-05:00

This past weekend Micaiah and I went to Louisville so Amber and I could keep our friends kids while they went on a fall retreat with their church. Thursday night before they left my sweet friends took me to my favorite place in Louisville to eat. Shogun Japanese steakhouse! YUM-ME! Afterwards, we (they) stopped for ice cream. Oh the fun times we have when the 4 us are together. I think our time in Louisville will always be some of my all time favorite times. These girls and I share so many fun memories and were there for each other during some hard times. I am so thankful that we still live so close! On saturday, Amber and I tool all the kids to Chick fill a and then to the park. The weather was perfect! Then saturday night, after all the parents got home Amber and I went and saw Footloose. Best remake ever. We really enjoyed it and I couldn't imagine seeing it with any one else!

Smores anyone?

2011-10-21T16:40:00.011-05:00

The past fews weeks it seems like once a week we've been around some type of fire with friends roasting marshmallows, making smores and creating fun memories!

A month ago we had some friends over for chili and smores! We had some good laughs that night and Clark had his man car taken away. He has since gotten back.

Then 2 weeks ago we went to a camp out (we didn't stay for the actually sleeping part just the food and games) but we still have a blast!

Then, tonight while my family from Florida was in town we roasted again! It was my nieces first time roasting smores. My sister has ben depriving her.
I think I have figured out the perfect smore. You start by roasting the marshmallow until it's about to fall off the stick, after place the marshmallow in the crackers and chocolate you then place the smote back by the fire for several minutes to melt the chocolate. Oh yeah baby, that way the whole thing is "ooy gooey"

Two of my favorite things....

2011-10-21T16:20:00.002-05:00

Several weeks ago I loaded up and headed to Louisville only to head out to Lexington. Something I've done before....all for the sake of 2 of my favorite things!
It's become a tradition for my best friend and I to go to 1 or 2 football games each year, together. My Uncle Daniel sends his extra Florida Gator tickets to us when they play, Vandy, UT or UK out of state. I have NO girl-friends who like football like I do or who are willing to go, EXCEPT AMBER! So every year that my uncle sends us tickets, I head her way or she heads my way for the games! The funny in this is that she is a UK fan and a UT fan so she always has to sit in the Gator section and she's always on the losing team. Ha! In Sept, UK played FL in Lexington so I drove up by myself for a weekend get away to enjoy 2 of my favorite things - Amber and the Gators!

Are you ok?

2011-10-06T21:54:00.007-05:00

Are you ok? How are you doing? If you need to talk.....

These are a couple of things we've been asked or have had said to us. Its been 1 month, 2 weeks and 6 days since we found out our baby, that we had tried so long for was no longer living so how am I doing? Well, Clark is doing well, which is normal for men. He has been very tender and patient with me. He is so wonderful! I, on the other hand have good days and bad. Today was a good day :)

I am over the initial heartbreak of the miscarriage and honestly I think I would be doing better but there is something very unique about the timing of our miscarriage that will make the healing process last a lot longer. The same day we announced our pregnancy to Clark's family, his brother and his wife announced they too were pregnant. After doing some math we determine we were no more than 2 weeks part.....

The first couple of weeks after the miscarriage, looking back, I was very numb to the whole process and then little by little I started breaking down and allowed myself, even though it was painful, to mourn. After talking with several people we have decided not to name our baby. After all, the Lord did not give the baby to us to name. After about a week and a half of some deep, hard emotions I was putting Micaiah to bed one night and it hit me. How amazingly beautiful the gift of Micaiah's life is. Not that I didn't know it before but it was so strong in that moment and my heart began to change from sad to grateful. I found in the coming days that the Lord used Micaiah to be my comfort. I couldn't hug or kiss him enough. I couldn't stop looking at him or get enough of his sweet voice. We have talked to Micaiah about what happened. We have been very open and honest with him. He has asked a couple of times about it but not in the last 2 weeks or so.

By late September things had started to feel a little normal around here. I started to feel ok again. Then one day I received an invitation in the mail to my nieces birthday party, my sister in laws little girl. Instantly I was very anxious. Almost a little panic-e. After feeling like i was getting a grip on things I realized I would come face to face with the physical reminder of our miscarriage. Something I knew I was not ready for. We live abbot 3 1/2 hours from my brother and sister in law and had not seen them since the announcement. For over a week I prayed and sought counsel because I was feeling so anxious. It would be like walking through the initial pain all over again. I don't want to go there Lord. I'm not ready In the times of praying I always thought "where are you Lord? why can't i feel you? why are you not calming my anxious heart" I was getting frustrated because he wasn't making this better. Later I would come to fond out he was working all along and telling me to wait when the only answer I was willing to hear was "okay I'll make every thing just dandy". Long story short, my sis in law came to visit my in laws (who live in Murfreesboro) kind of last minute exactly a week before my nieces party. Clark drug me to dinner kicking and screaming. After a really bad start to the night the ending was beautiful. It's what the Lord has been working on and preparing me for.

My sis in law called me into the back room and after a lengthy conversation (which shall remain mostly private) the Lord had calmed my anxious heart. You see, in that conservation my sis in law freed me from the burden of expectation. The expectation that I had to be present ...in HER presence. Something that is incredible painful for me right now. She told me to take as long as I needed to have space. I am so thank for her understanding and sympathy in our unique situation. Something I didn't even have to ask for but that she graciously gave. For even though her little one will always be a reminder of our miscarriage, one day the wound will be manageable. Something only the Lord can do with time and space.

The Lord has been my great comfort and strength in this time. He is teaching me things and doing things in me. Building character, refining me and increasing my dependence on HIM.....for that I am eternally grateful.

The God that gives and takes away......

2011-08-27T07:44:00.004-05:00

Monday August 22 my doctor confirmed that we were 7 weeks and 1 day pregnant. Monday August 29, after several events unfolded over the week my doctor confirmed we had miscarried over the weekend. Something we saw coming......

There are so many details to fill you in on (how things played out) and so many things my heart needs to say (what the Lord has done and what he is doing) but for right now this is all I can offer. Before our app. yesterday morning Clark and I fervently prayed for the Lord to breath life in our baby knowing the pregnancy had stopped progressing a couples weeks before but I also knew what my body was doing and had to face reality. We knew what to expect at the app. - no heartbeat.

This week has been a week of nothing but lows but for the first time in my walk with the Lord I experienced Philippians 4:7 - And THE PEACE of God that transcends all understanding, will guard your heart and your minds in Christ Jesus. - The Lord has been so good to me this week and allowing me to hurt and grieve (and be mad) but to also have an incredible peace that He is in control and will be our great comfort. -Psalm 119:50;76- Thursday I physically felt the Lord's presence and physically felt Him holding my heart and guarding my mind; preparing me for what lay ahead. The Lord has never been more real to me.

So many things we would covet your prayers on but for now, as we are spent. We ask that you would pray that the Lord would continue to hold our hearts and that we would seek where to go from here.

We are hopeful for the future.

Fried Green Tomatoes

2011-08-16T18:15:00.012-05:00

My all time favorite movie is Fried Green Tomatoes. Its hysterical, its dramatic and its eye opening. I have always thought at times I am very much like Iddgy and other times very much like Ruth. Before Micaiah, as I was doing things around the house I would pop the movie in and watch and listen i was going about getting stuff done. Other times, I plopped down on the couch and watch it through and through while reciting EVERY WORD! These days I don't get to watch it as often but from time to time I will and it always inspires me to make some fried green 'maters. Many of the places where the movie was film are actually places. ie: the Whistle Stop Cafe and Ruth's south Georgia home among several. Here is the actual recipe they used at the Whistle Stop.

The Whistle Stop Cafe - since 1927. My sister and I have always talked about taking a road trip here just to eat and be a part of this very cool piece of history.

Ingredients
4 large green tomatoes
2 eggs
1/2 cup milk
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup cornmeal
1/2 cup bread crumbs
2 teaspoons coarse kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
*****i also added 2 tsp of Lawry's seasoned salt*****
1 quart vegetable oil for frying

Directions
Slice tomatoes 1/2 inch thick. Discard the ends.

Whisk eggs and milk together in a medium-size bowl.

Scoop flour onto a plate. Mix cornmeal, bread crumbs and salt and pepper on another plate. Dip tomatoes into flour to coat. Then dip the tomatoes into milk and egg mixture. Dredge in breadcrumbs to completely coat.

In a large skillet, pour vegetable oil (enough so that there is 1/2 inch of oil in the pan) and heat over a medium heat. Place tomatoes into the frying pan in batches of 4 or 5, depending on the size of your skillet. Do not crowd the tomatoes, they should not touch each other. When the tomatoes are browned, flip and fry them on the other side. Drain them on paper towels.

Sweetly Broken

2011-08-12T09:57:00.003-05:00

I have said it several times before. Music moves me. The words to this song are so deep and so true.

Sweetly Broken - Jeremy Riddler
To the cross I look, to the cross I cling
Of its suffering I do drink
Of its work I do sing

For on it my Savior both bruised and crushed
Showed that God is love
And God is just

At the cross You beckon me
You draw me gently to my knees, and I am
Lost for words, so lost in love,
I'm sweetly broken, wholly surrendered
What a priceless gift, undeserved life
Have I been given
Through Christ crucified

You've called me out of death
You've called me into life
And I was under Your wrath
Now through the cross I'm reconciled

In awe of the cross I must confess
How wondrous Your redeeming love and
How great is Your faithfulness

St. Augustine family day

2011-08-11T18:09:00.011-05:00

Most of my memories growing up involve some kind of water. Every summer we went to St. Augustine Beach for vacation! I've been there and done so much there I feel like I grew up there! Where my lives, is only an hour from the beach and down town. Clark and I always say if we ever move back to Florida that's where we want to be! We love the atmosphere and I LOVE the water! We decided to take a family day (away from my billion siblings and parents) to the beach, then on to do some shopping and eating! It was such a sweet time for our family.

This is where we ate! We've eaten here before so we knew it was good. Just about anything you get there is great!

Our view from the table. Micaiah was excited to see the boats going by!

The blackened chicken sandwich smothered in mushrooms is something I've gotten before. Their fries are seasoned with oregano and parmesan cheese. YUMMY!

If you've ever been to St George St downtown you know Kilwins! After dinner we stopped in for a little treat.

Most of you that know me, know that I am not a sweet eater (i'm more of a pasta kind of girl). But the one sweet that I've always had a sweet tooth for is caramel apples! So yummy! I get one every time we go here!

Vacation

2011-08-11T17:02:00.012-05:00

We use to go to the beach every year but since we've had Micaiah and I've stopped working we've gone a little more low key. My dad lives on a lake so we've been staying with him - no charge! He also only lives an hour from St. Augustine beach so it's really a good fit for us right now. We did take a day, just for our little family, to get away for the day. That day will be in a later post. Once Micaiah is older and can do more things (and can start making memories) we will start splurging a little more on vacation! For now we enjoy low key and uneventful. I took a million, billion pictures but I'll on post a "few"! Enjoy!

Me and KK (my niece)

Micaiah tubing for the first time! He LOVED it!

Cain Pole fishin' at sunset! (Also a first for Micaiah)

My dad's house. So peaceful.

My dad lives in a military base and at the entrance they have replicas of military vehicles. Micaiah loves to play on them and in them!

American Idol

2011-08-11T16:02:00.005-05:00

A little over a month ago a "Facebook" friend of mine and I decided we really wanted to go to the American Idol Concert in Nashville! Leah and I had never meet. She is part of the crew that Clark knew from undergrad school at MTSU and seminary. All through the season of Idol we were commenting back and forth giving our 2 since worth. It was fun to have someone that LOVED idol as much as I did! I think if we lived in the same town we would be great friends. We have a lot on common and similar personalities.
It ended up being a super fun night. We started by going to The spaghetti factory on 2nd street. MADNESS! 2nd street is the hub of downtown Nashville. We originally thought we would have to wait an hour for a table but ended up sitting in the "lounge" area and got a table for 2 immediately! SCORE! After great food and great convo we walked 2 blocks to Bridgestone Arena!

**Funny side note. For the past several weeks leading up to the concert I was sure that we would be the only 2 grown women in a sea of screaming teenagers. When we got there. Not only was the place PACKED OUT but there were people there from every walk of life. Little girls and boys to senior citizens.

I am not really a concert person but this one was ROCKIN'! Everyone sounded good! There was dancing and the lights were going crazy! All in all it was super fun!! If the top 11 are great next year I will definitely be going back!!

Lauren and Scotty. So good! Although I will tell you the chemistry wasn't there like it was at the finally.

Ladies and Gentleman - JAMES DURBEN! I am not a rocker fan but I REALLY like him!!

God's promise....

2011-07-29T21:59:00.006-05:00

I have set my rainbow in the clouds, and it will be the sign of the covenant between me and the earth. Whenever I bring clouds over the earth and the rainbow appears in the clouds, I will remember my covenant between me and you and all living creatures of every kind. Never again will the waters become a flood to destroy all life. Whenever the rainbow appears in the clouds, I will see it and remember the everlasting covenant between God and all living creatures of every kind on the earth.” So God said to Noah, “This is the sign of the covenant I have established between me and all life on the earth.' Genesis 9:13-17

Micaiah loves rainbows and we love to tell him the story of the rainbow! This rainbow seemed to be so close to us. It appeared several weeks ago after 4 days a straight rain. Micaiah was so intrigued that we started reading the scripture about how the rainbow came to be and what it means. He ask us to tell it too him on a daily basis.

The Rices and 4th of July!

2011-07-24T07:42:00.004-05:00

This year we decided for 4th of July to lay low. Micaiah, for the first time, did not like the loudness of the fireworks so we didn't fireworks at all. We did, however, spend the 4th with some of our dearest friends, The Rice's.

We know the Rices back from Louisville. When Clark first moved to Louisville he was serving at a church where Dan was serving as the bi-vocational pastor. From that time on Dan and Alba took Clark under there wing, showed him hospitality and loved on him! When I moved there they took me right in! We spend a lot of time in there home with them and their 4 precious children!

In early '07 Dan took a Job in Idaho. They also planted a church while they were out there. In late '07 we moved to Murfreeesboro (3 hours south of Louisville). We kept in touch from '07-'10. Clark and I often reminisced about our fun times with the Rices and said on a regular basis how we wished they were closer. Then, in June of '10 Dan called Clark to say he had taken a job in Nashville! HELLO! Thats's only 30 minutes down the road! We secretly did a happy dance in our living room that night!

We see them several times a month now. Sometimes more than once a week! We take turns driving to each other homes! There 2nd oldest son Adam will be attending MTSU here in a fews weeks and we were HONORED when they ask us to host him a few days a week so he wouldn't have to commute daily from Nashville to The Boro for classes. He will be in the music program! We are excited to have him in our home. We wouldn't do this for just anyone. I can tell you on one hand people that we would allow in our home Adam is a rare breed in today's society. He is respectful, mature, VERY smart and LOVES the Lord!

Here are a few pics of our sweet friends on the 4th!

Play-doh Masterpieces

2011-07-24T07:30:00.004-05:00

Last Wednesday Clark was off and we had a family play date with play-doh! Micaiah and I play with play-doh all the time but things are always more fun with daddy. Clark's mind is way more creative than mine. These are two of his masterpieces from the day.

Amazing Nature

2011-07-22T16:30:00.004-05:00

The past 2 months or we've had some crazy weather. A lighting storm, a hail storm and the its been so hot that we've also had some super amazing sunsets! I am always amazed weather in general.
Thats a massive piece of ice.

Watching the hail storm.

Pioneer Women's Macaroni and Cheese

2011-06-17T11:03:00.010-05:00

This is the first patch of this mac and cheese I have made! It was super yummy! I didn't have elbow pasta but I had 4 boxes of spiral noodles so I used those instead. I made this the same day I made the Broccoli casserole. As I said with the broccoli casserole I was short on time and so I was short on time with this one too and therefore my pics are not as detailed as I would like them to be :(

You will need:
4 cups dry macaroni
1 egg beaten
1/4 cup (1/2 stick or 4 tablespoons) butter
1/4 cup all purpose flour
2 1/2 cups whole milk (I used skim and seemed to work and taste just fine)
2 heaping teaspoons of dry mustard (or more to taste)
1 lb grated cheddar cheese (or whatever cheese you desire)
1 teaspoon of salt
1/2 teaspoon seasoned salt
1 teaspoon ground pepper

1. Cook the noodles until firm. The noodles should be too firm to eat right out of the pot; drain

2. In a small bowl, beat the egg.
3. Preheat oven to 350 and butter large oval or rectangular baking dish.

4. In a large pot, melt butter and sprinkle in the flour.
5. Whisk it together over medium-low heat. Cook for 5 minutes, whisking constantly. Don't let it burn.
6. Pour in the milk.
7. Add the mustard and whisk until smooth. Cook for 5 minutes or until very thick, whisking constantly. Reduce the heat to low.

8. To temper the eggs, slowly our 1/4 cup of the sauce into the beaten egg whisking constantly avoid cooking the egg. Whisk until smooth.

9. Pour the egg mixture into the sauce, until smooth.
10. Add in all but 1/2 cup of the cheese and stir until melted.
11. Add the seasonings. Taste the sauce and add more salt and seasoned salt as needed. Do not undersalt or you will regret it for the rest of your life! (she actually says that in the cook book)

12. Pour into the cooked, drained, mac, and stir to combine.
13.Serve immediately or pour into baking dish and top with the remaining cheese.
14. Bake for 20-25 minutes.

15. Serve to hungry humans! (she actually says this is a step)

God knows....

2011-06-14T20:55:00.006-05:00

I start this blog fighting back tears, trying to type through a blur....

I was sitting on the front porch tonight enjoying the cool, after rain air and watching my sweet boys play baseball in the front yard. Really just enjoying a lazy, nice evening when I received a word that one of my dearest, sweetest friends had miscarriages her 3rd child. I just sat their and cried. Thankful for a comforting husband. I sobbed longer than I might normally have. You see, the past several weeks I have received word of sad news:

-3 weeks ago a dear friend of ours from seminary suddenly passed away. She was only 29 years old.....
-1 week ago we got a text that another one of our friends miscarried their 3rd child as well...
-less than a week ago I received an email from my mama Mel that my sweet Aaron had some test done on his heart (from cancer chemo) and there was some damage to the heart.....this being the biggest blow of all (I will blog about this when I feel emotionally ready)
-And then today, my sweet, sweet friend lost her baby.....

Right now I am very emotional and mourning all these things but I take comfort in knowing my beloved God knows how I feel. He GAVE his son over to this sinful world and watched him suffer a torture and a painful death ALL for these lives. I can come to his feet, sobbed, bare my heart and leave these burdens their knowing they will be taken care of. The hard part is being patient with HIS time. Beth said once, "Time does not heal all things. Only God heals. Only God restores"

"Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted" Matthew 5:4
In John 16:22 Jesus promises us that one day their will be no more mourning, only Joy and NO ONE CAN TAKE THAT JOY FROM US!

Oh for that day......

Broccoli Casserole

2011-06-13T18:11:00.004-05:00

This is so, so simple! A family I was working for while living in Louisville gave this recipe to me and it it AMAZING EVERY TIME!!!! I was in a time crunch to make this so I didn't get good, detailed pics :(

1 large head of broccoli: stems removed
1 can cream of chicken or mushroom soup
1 cup of mayo (I am going to substitute greek plain yogurt next time)
1/2 cup butter: softened (for cracker topping)
2 large eggs; beaten
1 small onion: diced
1 tsp salt
1 tsp black pepper
1 1/2 cups shredded sharp cheese
2 cups finely crushed Ritz crackers

Preheat oven 350
Steam and drain broccoli
Blend all ingredients except crackers. (only 1/2 cup of the cheese). Put mixture in pan; set aside.
In another bowl melt butter and add crushed crackers. Gentle blend well. Add toping to broccoli mixture.
Bake 30 minutes.
Remove, add left over cheese and bake until cheese is melted.
Set aside 20 minutes before serving. This is important for the texture to be right.

Random-ness!

2011-06-13T14:48:00.005-05:00

Phew! The first weeks of late Spring/early Summer have been the crazy 3 weeks we've had since Micaiah was born. We've had crazy weeks but not 3 in a row. Twice in May we traveled to Florida and Micaiah had his last day of preschool in May. The week after preschool ended we started 2 weeks of swim lessons at MTSU. This past week, our church had their VBS - Big Apple Adventure! Micaiah was indifferent to it. He is such a home body and we are so laid back that having to be up early, rush around and head out the door for 5 straight mornings in a row and be gone for 4 hours wasn't really his idea of fun. But it was a successful week for the church! Today started us on the path back to normal laid backness (if thats a word). We took our time getting up and enjoyed some time around the house, went to the gym and then spent a couple hours at the pool and now we are back home in out lazy clothes doing NOTHING. Speaking of the pool.......

Chlorine Allergy
As I mentioned before the last week of May and the first week of June Micaiah has swim lessons everyday in the afternoon. The first 2 days went really well and about the 3rd day, that morning when he woke up, his "allergies" were full blown. Swollen eyes, MAJOR runny nose and ALOT sneezing. I thought this kind of odd for 2 reasons. One, we had not been spending much time outside at all because Micaiah has a paralyzing fear of the cicadas. He refused to go out. Second, Micaiah is on a prescription allergy medication and has been for a while so I was really confused. As the week went on and the allergy symptoms did not go away, only got worse we noticed something else. He was going poo poo several times a day. Some days we couldn't make it to the potty in time. He also started to complain that his throat hurt and would take a really deep breath as if he couldn't seem to breath. By this time we were 2 days shy of being finished with swim lessons. I decided to take him to the dr. The dr originally said he had probably caught some type of bacteria from swallowing the pool water and so we took measures to get that corrected. Not really thinking the diarrhea had anything to do with the allegory symptoms I didn't mention that to him. So, we finished out swim lessons went through the weekend and all seemed to be on the mend. Until, monday (a week ago) we decided to get a membership to the MTSU pools for the summer. By tuesday, the allergy symptoms, breathing issues and diarrhea had returned. Clark and I started talking through things and raking our brains and we realized that all the symptoms started with swim lessons and subsided on the weekends when we weren't swimming and then flared back up after being the pool monday and tuesday. So I said jokingly, "he's probably allergic to chlorine." told clark I would make him an app to go back to the dr. and went to bed......Well what do you know, our son is allergic to chlorine. It is a rare allergy (only known to bother children). You can't treat it. But the children that do suffer from it USUALLY grow out of it. Side note: having body rashes is a symptom but we have not seen any on Micaiah. We can still go to chlorine pools but the time we stay needs to be short (2 hours max) and we probably shouldn't go back to back days. Just to play it safe we will wait 2-3 days in-between. We went today, wore goggles at all times, talked about NOT swallowing water and his symptoms have been mild. He did go poo poo and his nose was runny but no signs of breathing issues and no sneezing or irritated eyes. I guess this would explain why we've never has issues swimming in our friends saltwater pools.

In other news! I am keeping a little boy for the summer 3 days a week. He is about 5 months younger than MGF but they share a lot of the same interest and play well together, most of the time ;) He has been really good for Micaiah being that he doesn't have siblings. It's also been good for me. A little peek of what it may be like one day (Lord willing) we have more children. Its also a paid gigs so, SUPER PLUS!

We have also start praying about homeschool. Not much to mention here except that its something that has been on my heart but we've haven't made THE decision yet. I've had several homeschool mom friends encourage me to do a semester of homeschool preschool, see how that goes and then go from there. So that's what we will be doing come Sept. Nothing hardcore. The curriculum that I have on order is 3 days a week and from start to finish is 35 minute lessons. I am actually excited to get the material and review it. I'll update on this near the end of the summer!

We don't really have a lot on the agenda for the summer. Clark had started summer sports and he has to work every saturday until august except, the week of July 4th. We may travel to Fl that weekend. We will have to decided if its in the budget. Between the pool, Josh here, the library and a town full parks we should be covered for summer fun!

Happy Summer-ing Everyone!

Swim Lessons

2011-06-04T21:03:00.003-05:00

2 weeks ago Micaiah started swim lessons! This past friday he finished up! He loved them until 2 days before the end of the session. He was starting to get burned out but he did finish and I am so proud of him!

Canoe Trip

2011-06-04T19:46:00.009-05:00

A couples week ago my friend Rachel told me our families needed to go canoeing! She had been several times. I have never been and I don't think Clark had ever been. However, when I was high school my youth group took a white water rafting trip and so in my mind I thought it (might) be something like that....

All the pictures that I has concocted, us going really fast, the potential for us to flip over, getting stuck somewhere was not at all how it was! It was slow, peaceful, all the kids had fun and the adults got in a few laughs at other people who got stuck IN A TREE!!!! It was a very easy activity! There were several spots along the 5 mile route that we chose that you could pull the boat out of the water, play, eat or do whatever. It's something we will probably do a couple more times this summer!

Chocolate Milk

2011-04-20T13:50:00.003-05:00

I am always trying to find ways to eat healthy and I am always trying to find ways to makes some of the unhealthy stuff healthier. I have never been comfortable with Micaiah drinking sugary, processed powders or liquids for chocolate milk. So....i found a healthier chocolate milk. Silk dark coco almond milk. Micaiah will drink milk but when I put a little coco in it, he will guzzle it and I am big on him drinking an adequate amount of milk. :)

I usually add 4 tbs of almond milk to 8oz of 1% milk.

Blueberry Zucchini Bread

2011-04-19T17:24:00.009-05:00

You will need:
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup whole wheat pastry flour
1/4 cup light brown sugar
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 cup baking powder
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp coarse sea salt
3 eggs
3/4 cup canola oil
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 cups shredded zucchini (i thought this was too much. Next time i will use only 1 small zucchini)
1 cup blueberries (I did not use a cup because the berries were $4.99 a carton so I only use 6 oz. of berries)

1)Preheat oven to 350. Light coat the bottom of 4 mini 5 inch loaf pans or 1 9 inch pan with cooking spray : set aside
2)In a large bowl combine flowers, sugars, basking soda, baking powder, cinnamon and salt: set aside. In another bowl mixx eggs, oil and extract. Add to flower mixture and stir until combined. Gently stir in zucchini and then blueberries.
3)Spoon batter into prepared pans. Bake 40 minutes for mini pans or about 1 hour for 9 inch pan until golden brown and a toothpick inserted into the center of each comes out clean. Allow to cool in pan for 10 minutes before slicing. Each mini loaf makes 8 pieces while the large loaf has 12. Freeze extra mini loaves for up to 3 months.

This and That

2011-04-19T09:29:00.012-05:00

Last week both of our little neighbors were in the yard playing with Micaiah. I handed out (all natural) fruit popsicles (they were actually a big hit!) and came back inside to do something(?). When I came back out i rounded the corner of the house and they all three were digging large holes in a random part of the yard! EEEEEEEEK! I was a little "not okay with this" but they were having so much fun that I couldn't stop them! (The ended up playing here for almost an hour). Afterwards I made them fill the whole and ask them NOT to dig in random spots in the yard.

Not sure where this idea came from. Micaiah was in the kitchen cooking with me the other night and when I opened the lid drawer I think a little light bulb came on in his head! *ding* He said he was skating! NOTE: the floors - yeah we start having new floors laid in a little over 2 weeks ago and well........................we're still walking around on plywood (sp?)

We attended the grand opening of Foxx Pizza, a business that sponsors with Clark work, One Goal Sports last week. I knew they would be serving lunch so we tagged along! The mascot was out so we had Micaiah's picture taken with her!

I found this toothbrush at target a few weeks ago. We call "him" sticky feet! The other night after Micaiah was done brushing his teeth this is where I found Sticky Feet stuck! LOL

Micaiah likes to play doctor. The other night Clark got into full character. Eye and ear exam, ultra sound, boo boo repairs, shots - the whole nine yards!

Our church has a shuttle bus because the parking lot is so deep. So every sunday Clark will drop us off at the door and park as far out as he can so after church we can ride the bus! Micaiah looks forward to it every week!! Sometimes we will let the driver pass our car and make a second round so we can stay on longer!

Big Apple Adventure and Missions

2011-03-26T19:31:00.006-05:00

Our friends Freddy T and Susan Wyatt have been serving as church planters in NYC for a little over 2 years now and they need your help! Please visit their website (because i cant figure out how to repost the video) to see how you can help support the mission!

www.freddytandsusan.blogspot.com

My little helper

2011-03-25T18:39:00.001-05:00

This afternoon Micaiah said "Mommy, I wanna wash dishes." Well what kind of mommy would I be to deny him that request.

Painting "Lighting"

2011-03-25T18:26:00.003-05:00

It's rare for Micaiah to sit still very often. This morning he asked to paint and for 30 minutes he sat quietly and painted "lighting". It was sweet for me to just sit and watch him.

Soaking up the sun

2011-03-25T18:17:00.004-05:00

Saturday to tuesday of this week, we had amazing, beautiful weather! That weather has since left us and winter weather has returned. We were outside from sun up to sun down! Tuesday we meet up with friends at the park. Micaiah wasnt really in the mood for pics so I got what I could.

I brought Micaiah'S RED tricycle and RED scooter to play on but some how he spent ALOT of his time on one of the twins PINK one with a Hello Kitty helmet. *sigh*

As i said he wasn't up for taking pics but Micaiah is a big sand box fan

Quick trip to Louisville

2011-03-25T18:07:00.006-05:00

Last week, our former church held its annual women's conference. I knew it would be good and it was and I also it would be a good time to spend with my sweet girl friends and it was and I also knew it would be the last chance Clark would have to get up there for a while. I forgot the camera both days of conferance but I did manage to remember to get it out of the car hours before we left. After the Saturday session ended at 1 we went to my friends Kellie's house so Micaiah and I could have our hair done by "The Amber".

Me, Amber, and Kellie

Welcome to bed time

2011-03-25T17:52:00.003-05:00

Micaiah is quit the busy body and is always in a playful mood. The traits usually kick into high gear when you tell him it's "time to get ready for bed."
Last week, there was one night in particular that the kid was relentless in his goofiness and so I couldn't help but laugh and break out the camera. The pictures below are typically what happens several nights a week now because we are trying to teach Micaiah how to dress himself. From the pictures you would think we haven't gotten very far in our lessons but he really knows more than he lets on.

"A feast fit for a king...."

2011-03-07T13:28:00.012-06:00

...well at least that's what Clark said when he was done! That's a great compliment! I love serving him!

A pre marinaded pork lion
Corn on the cob
Asparagus
Parmesan, red potatoes: baked

Diced 3-4 red potaoes and pplaced them in baking dish with 1 1/2 cups of water
3 teaspoons of better (we're not going healthy here)
2 teaspoons of salt (again, not going healthy)
1/2 of parm cheese (NOT HEALTHY) :)
tightly place tin foil on top; place in oven
back at 450 for 1 hour

Saute Asparagus with garlic salt for about 5 minutes
Grilled Pork Loin. Don't ask me how to do this. This was Clarks part of the job but I think he just put them on the grill, closed the lid and turned them occasionally. I think it took about 20-30 minutes to cook!
My little helper! I always, with each meal, try to have Micaiah in the kitchen helping me cook in some way.

Happy Boy

2011-03-07T13:14:00.002-06:00

The other night as we were finishing up dinner, Clark got in crazy mood! He loves his boy more than I've ever seen a daddy love his son. It's still hard for Clark to be gone all and not see Micaiah. When we gets home around 5-5:30 and until bedtime at 8-8:30 those two play, play, play! Clark LOVES to make Micaiah giggle. I love that he loves to make him laugh, however, it bugs me from time to time that he does it at dinner. Micaiah is already the slowest eater in the world, I don't won't him trying to break his own record. I need him to stay focused on the task at hand: chew and swallow, chew and swallow......

This night however, it didn't bother me because I looked at my sweet boy and melted so I let it go and Clark had him going good! So thankful for a camera. These pics capture my sweet boys heart...

Pizza Makin' Fun

2011-02-17T09:53:00.015-06:00

My dear friend Rachel and I are back to cooking together!! We had to take a few weeks off dew the craziness in both of our lives! But we couldn't stand it any more and tuesday cooked easy yummy pizza for our boys! I did not get very good instructional pictures on this one so I will try to explain in words.

You will need (this makes 2 medium pizza's):

2 pizza crust. You can make your own or buy any brand you like. I used the...i forget the brand but it's thin crust.
1 cup shredded chedder cheese; split
Olive Oil

1 cup of Marinade. I use Barilla Roasted Garlic
1/2 cup of Honey BBQ Sauce

1 whole zucchini; diced
1/2 medium onion; diced
1/4 cup green bell pepper; diced
1/4 cup yellow pepper; diced
Can you tell I like the veggies :)

1 cup Fetta cheese; 1/2 cup per pizza

2 small chicken breast; diced
In saute pan place chicken with 1 cup of water (chicken should NOT BE SUBMERGED). Cook, covered on medium until only a small amount of water is left in pan. Uncover and add BBQ sauce. Do not recover. Cook on low and stir often until BBQ sauce has thickened (2-3 minutes). Turn off and cover until your ready to use.

Saute all your veggies together. Add 1 tsp of salt and 2 tsp of olive oil.
Only cook 2 minutes on medium, covered. Turn burner off and remove lid. You don't won't your veggies soggy.

A couple of things about the crust.
Starting from the outside, eyeball about an inche in and all around the "crust" cover in olive oil. There will be no sauce on this part and you don't won't it to burn. Poor rachel miss under stood this and cover the entire pizza with the olive oil. - LOL.
Pour on 1/2 cup of marinade and spread out evenly.

Once all the chicken and veggies have cooled sprinkle as much or as little on the pizza, sprinkle fetta cheese; 1/2 cup per pizza. Last add 1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese on top

Bake 350 for 15 minutes or until cheese is melted

Discovery Center Fun

2011-02-17T09:34:00.003-06:00

Several Weeks ago I took Micaiah to a birthday party at the Discovery Center. It's a fabulous (massive) mix of science and hands on fun! Micaiah always has fun! He jumps from station to station so quickly because he always wants to do everything at once.

Snow Days

2011-01-18T07:34:00.006-06:00

Last sunday night a week ago the snow started falling and didn't really stop until tuesday night. It also didn't warm up enough for it to melt until this past sunday night. Clark, of course loved it!! Micaiah, i think he likes it for a bit and then he's done. Me, i would be okay with never seeing it. However, the first morning of the winter wonderland we got all bundled up and headed out doors. Clark and Micaiah were out there over an hour. I was out there just long enough to get some pics! It was actually fun though but then again watching micaiah fall all over the place is always fun!

Spaghetti Chicken

2011-01-15T08:38:00.021-06:00

Well, it was a another hit with the hubby! Of course, I always cook to impress him! This is super simple and most of the ingredients are relatively cheap!

Ingredients
1 cut-up fryer chicken
1 lb thin spaghetti, pieces broken in half
One 4oz jar diced pimientos, drained
1 small onion
1/4 cup finely diced green bell pepper
2 cans of cream of mushroom
2 1/2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
1 teaspoon seasoned salt such as Lawry's
Freshly ground black pepper to taste
1/8 to 1/4 teasopoon cayenne to taste

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees
2. Add the chicken to a stock pot. Cover with water and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium and simmer until chicken is cooked, about 25 minutes.
3. Remove chicken from the water using tongs or a slotted spoon and set it aside on a plate to cool.
4. Remove 2 cups of broth and set aside.

5. Bring the remaining broth back to a boil and add the spaghetti. Cook it al dente.
6.Drain the cooked spaghetti and, discard the cooking liquid. Set aside.
With 2 forks (or your fingers) remove the chicken from the bone. Shred or cut the meat into bit sized chucnks.
Drain the pimientos.

7. Finely dice the onions
8. Cut the peppers into julienne strips....
9. Then slice the in the other direction to create a dice.
10. Place the cooked spaghetti in a large bow. Add the cream of mushroom soup. Add 2 cups of shredded cheese
11. Then add the onion, green pepper and pimiento
Add the seasoned salt, pepper, cayenne.
12. Then add the chicken and broth

13. Stir together well. Taste to check the seasoning.
14. Pour the mixture into a large baking pan.

15. Top with remaining cheese. Bake for 35-45 minutes, until bubbly.

ENJOY!

Super Man

2011-01-15T08:10:00.006-06:00

Micaiah has been active since he was two weeks old. His arms and legs goin', goin, goin and his head always bobbing around. When he started crawl he was lighting fast. If we were out in public and people saw him crawl they would laugh and say that is the faster crawl I have ever seen. It was very comical! Then when he finally decided he was going to walk he ran ALL the time! He loves a good physical challenge and loves to climb! It was no surprised when I came into the family room the other night and found micahah doing this......

....he had built a cushy pallet with all the cushions and blankets and was jumping off the arm rest of the couch. I would guess he did this for half an hour. Of course each jump he was trying to perfect "the move"

Bounce with me, bounce with me!

2011-01-14T19:08:00.006-06:00

I am a little late on this but that's okay. Micaiah turned 3 on Dec 29. THREE!! oh my goodness! We had a little family party while in Florida and it was fun but his "BIG" party was a blast! This is the first year we had a party outside of the house. Definitely not the cheaper route but it was easier and made more since with a wild 3 year old (+12 other 3 years olds).
We had the party at Jumpers Playhouse. It's exactly like Bounce you. An indoor bounce place. Only it's way cheaper and the set up at JP was more toddler friendly! They also do everything for you! They offer a cake, food, drinks, set up and clean up. All we had to do was show up, have fun and leave. I think fun was had by all! The dads played hard with all the kids and the mommies were able to stand around and chat it up! **not sure why the pictures are out of order**

The amazing fire truck cake and there little Dalmatians courtesy RACHEL WHEAT! She did his cake last year.

Micaiah's big gift, John Deer Gator!

Prayer for Clarks surgery

2011-01-14T13:23:00.002-06:00

A long story short....
On Jan 31 clark will be having surgery on his throat for some issues he's been having for years but in the past few months have become worse. I am not one to worry, stress or freak out but in this case I am very worried! Clark hasn't said so outright but he's definitely scared. Who wouldn't be....
The surgery it's self will last about an hour and will be VERY expensive. With having to put him under and on oxygen any number of things can go wrong. The recovery is long and painful. The only thing that can bring up comfort is knowing Gods people are covering us (mainly clark) in prayer. Here are a few things you can pray for:

1. from now until clark is home resting on the couch please pray that we would feel the peace and presences of Jesus.

2. the day of the surgery I will prob send Micaiah away for the day maybe even the night. He will be fine to stay away for the day. He will be with people he loves! He's never stayed the night away from us so please pray he would feel at home with our friends, rest well and not miss us.

3. for the doctors who will be performing the surgery. That the Lord would lead their hands and minds.

4. Clark has never gone under so we don't know how his body will react to this. Please pray that he is not allergic to the medication.

5. after the surgery please pray clark will sleep alot and his pain will be minimal. (the recovery period is 2 weeks) Other than pain, not being able to eat or move about, there are other daily, simple task he cant do for up to 2 weeks.

6. please pray for me as I will need help with micaiah (and other various things) so that i can help clark.

7. pray that Micaiah will adjust to [the] period of things being "different"

8. even with insurance this surgery will be expensive. we know that the Lord will provide. Please pray that we would NOT forget that and trust him.

Right now that's all I can think of although along the way there will be more. Thank you so much! We covet your prayers.

Chicken Pot Pie

2011-01-07T16:14:00.006-06:00

While in Florida for Christmas I was sitting at my Mama Mel's table flipping through a cookbook. When all of a sudden I was surround by several kids telling me about one of their favorite recipes their mom had made! So one of the kids made a copy, i brought it home, made it and Clark said it was so good and needed to be a regular! It's super easy and fairly inexpensive! Tonight was special because my dear dear friend, Rachel came over so we could cook together. Clark was going to be home late so I try to find fun things to do on friday nights to fill the time. We both love to cook and try new things so it was perfect for us to do it together. Her pot pies ended up looking very professional! They all taste great though! We had a blast!! Def on the books to do it again!

Pioneer Women Cookbook - Chicken Pot Pie

Ingredients
3 celery stalks
3 medium carrots, peeled (i buy the baby carrots in a bag and just dice them up)
1 large yellow onion
4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) butter (this seems like alot of butter and all you use it for is to saute veggies so I just used olive oil)
1/2 cup frozen peas
3 cups cooked chicken (I used 2 cans of tyson canned chicken.)
1/4 cup ll-purpose flour
2 cups low sodium chicken broth
1 chicken bouillon cube (i forgot this and it tasted great so....)
1/4 cup white wine (optional, i didn't use it)
1 cup heavy cream
1 teaspoon ground thyme
1 tsp kosher salt
black pepper to taste
1/2 recipe perfect pie crust

Intrustions
Dice the onions, celery and carrots.
Heat oil (or butter) in pan
Saute carrots for 4 minutes, then add other veggies: cook until tender
Add chicken & flour: stir lightly and cover for 2-3 minutes
Add chicken broth; stir then add cream (if you use wine and cube add them now)
Sauce will thicken as you cook it
After 4 minutes add thyme, salt and pepper.
remove from heat
Pour into deep dish pie crust. Place pie crust over mixture. Press the crust gently into the sides of the dish to seal.
Bake @ 400 for 30 minutes or until crust I brown!

Christmas in Florida

2010-12-27T08:06:00.018-06:00

This year we were in Florida for Christmas! Every other year we alternate between Clarks family and mine. When we go to Florida we usually go for the week so we have a "Christmas week" and it was full but I'll start with Christmas morning. We knew at some point we would want to start staying home christmas morning and I think that tradition will start next year! Looking forward to that! This year we experienced a few changes. First, my sister recently moved back to our home town (Live Oak) and she is renting a house 4 houses down from my mom. For my whole life we have had christmas in the house that I grew up in, in the same living room. This year my mom (who ain't as young as she use to be) decided that it would be easier on her to have christmas morning somewhere else (hosting a holiday get together is A LOT of work) so I understood, but it was still a little sad to make the change, but it was still a joyous occasion. Second, my dad spent Christmas with us! Not only christmas morning - he came in for Micaiah's family birthday party Christmas eve afternoon, joined us for the Christmas eve service, went and looked at Christmas lights, stayed the night, spent christmas morning with us and left after Christmas lunch! This is huge! I can't remember the last time I spent Christmas with my dad. Most Christmases we didn't see him. Not purposely but our family is so big and spread out its hard to make the logistics to work to get every one together. As you get older you start to realize you don't care about gifts or money that can be given (for whatever occasions), it's about making memories, being present, and in our families case making up lost time.

Christmas morning was the loudest, craziest christmas I think I have ever had. We had 7 adults and 3 children in my sisters small living room! It was great though! Someone said on FB the other day, "i wish someone would have told me Christmas is way more fun as an adult than it was as a kid." This year, that seems to have rung true and I think it will be that way from now on! Here are a "few shots" our Christmas morning. p.s. I've been working on this blog almost 2 weeks......

this was Clarks "big" gift to me. A necklace with Micaiah's name and birthstone on it! One of my favorite gifts in a long time. It's great because you can add to it as you have more children!

This was my big gift to Clark. He really enjoys playing football and Halo and his old xbox (the first generation) doesn't support any of the new games. I splurged a little on this because clark has no recreational life. He works all the time and then comes home and spends time with us, so I wanted to get him something fun! He was stocked!

Also, while in Florida we had a small family birthday celebration. This was the first time my family has been able to celebrate his birthday. It wasn't fancy or big but it was special (for clark and I) for my family to part of something big in Micaiah's life! Of course, the theme was something automobile related; Monster trucks!

His gift from maw maw, a huge monster truck!

Lots of time with family

****DO NOT READ THIS NEXT SECTION IF YOU LOVE BAMBI********
One last thing to fill you in on! We had the chance to go hunting on an afternoon hunting trip! I lived in a hunting town for 21 years and almost everyone I knew hunted but I had never been hunting. Well, clark and I went and it was fun. Mainly because I was able to spend time with my sweet Aaron. He has a little piece of my heart and because I SHOT A DEER!! Long story shot though, after searching for the thing almost 2 hours we decided the deer had raptured. I was very disappoint because I love vension and i thought this would be my chance to have a deep freezer full. All in all it was still a fun time with friends! I would do it again! We took pics of the blood trail we found but I'll spare you....

PANIC

2010-12-17T14:40:00.012-06:00

Today Micaiah and I were out running errands and our last one was to party city to buy birthday invitations. We got in the car and made it about 3 miles and Micaiah ask for "blue". After glancing around the car, I pulled over and did a deep search with no luck. "okay don't panic meghan. you had it at party city at the check out. Just call them back and ask them to hold it for you. It's there" I called them, the girl remembered me and "blue". She looked for it and said she didn't see it. I begged her to go outside and see if she could see it on the side walk. Nothing. I hung up with her and called Clark, headed back to the parking lot, crying. I was in major panic mode. This is just not any blanket. I am attached to it just as much as Micaiah. Its very sentimental. I want to have it framed one day with pictures of him with it. He came home from the hospital with it, plays with, sleeps with it, travels with it, eats with it, blue can dry any tears and heal boo boo's (and sometimes it wipes away snot).....getting the picture? As we head back to the parking lot, Micaiah is persistent in asking for "blue" and starts crying. We approach the store front of target, turn and PRAISE THE LORD! There laid blue! Where it was, was not wear it had probably fell. Someone had bawled it up and sat it back in a corner. I stopped traffic, jumped out and ran over to it! Micaiah and I both went home happy!!

Christmas Program

2010-12-15T08:07:00.003-06:00

Last night was Micaiah's Preschool Christmas program. Last year he stood there and looked cute. This year he was not so happy to be up there. He's hit that stage (haha, stage, no pun intended) where is wants to do anything but what he wants to do. Defiant! He still looked cute though! Afterwards we went to his classroom and visit with his classmates. We were also able to view (and bring home) his christmas projects!

Snap shots of the past few weeks

2010-12-10T15:24:00.006-06:00

I haven't really posted many pictures of our family lately mainly because we haven't done anything specific to update you on. I have been snapping shots though and theses are a few of my favorites over the past couple of weeks.

Rosemary- mustard pork tenderloin and peaches

2010-12-10T15:05:00.005-06:00

Forgot to post this a few weeks back. It was a hit!! I served it with brown rice. I was very surprised that Clark liked the rice! This is not a meal I will be able to make very often because it's a little pricey but sooooo good!

Ingredients
2 1-pound pork tenderloins, trimmed
Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper
Vegetable oil, for the grill
3 firm-ripe peaches, halved, pitted and cut into wedges
1/2 cup dry white wine
1/3 cup packed light brown sugar
1 lemon
2 teaspoons whole-grain mustard
1/4 teaspoon chopped fresh rosemary, plus 1 or 2 small sprigs
Directions
Preheat a grill to high. Pat the pork dry and season with salt and pepper. Lightly oil the grill, then grill the pork, turning, until marked, about 10 minutes.

Meanwhile, combine the peaches, wine, brown sugar, and 1/2 cup water in a saucepan. Remove strips of zest from the lemon with a vegetable peeler and add to the pan; squeeze in the lemon juice. Cover and cook over medium-high heat until the peaches are just tender, 5 to 7 minutes. Transfer to a bowl with a slotted spoon.

Add the mustard, 1/2 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper to the juices in the pan. Transfer 1/3 cup of the liquid to a small bowl and stir in the chopped rosemary; brush onto the pork and continue grilling until a thermometer inserted into the thickest part registers 145 degrees F, 10 to 15 more minutes. Transfer to a cutting board.

Meanwhile, simmer the remaining liquid in the saucepan until syrupy, about 3 minutes. Remove from the heat and season with salt. Return the peaches to the pan along with the rosemary sprigs. Slice the pork and serve with the peaches.

Per serving: Calories 376; Fat 8 g (Saturated 3 g); Cholesterol 147 mg; Sodium 181 mg; Carbohydrate 26 g; Fiber 1 g; Protein 49 g

What do Santa, The Fitzgerald's and Mark Driscoll have in common?

2010-12-10T14:09:00.005-06:00

Since clark and I got married and talked through different aspects of parenthood we talked about what to do when Easter and Christmas roll around. We've always known that Santa and the Easter bunny would be known to be fictional from the start. Always clarifying that these two holidays were NOT about fictional, nice characters but about the birth, death and resurrection of our savior. We've never done "gifts from santa" nor do we intend to start. We've never really talked much about santa in our home, taken Micaiah to sit on his lap or watched santa movie. Up until this year (he's a few weeks away from being 3) there's never been a reason to do any of that. I think at this point he's still has no idea who santa is. He's really into the 1964 version of "Ruff Off" and like snowmen. If I remember correctly twice in the past 2 weeks or so I think MGF has seen picture or seen him at the mall and has ask "who dat daddy" and clark will say Santa Clause but he's pretend or something to that effect but Micaiah forgets about it after 2 seconds. However, at some point, he will start asking questions and want to partake in the fun of the character of Santa and we are okay with that, to a certain degree.

I recently found an article by Mark Driscoll who Clark and I really really like! I told Clark once (maybe more than that) if the weather was not so cold and rainy in Washington I would move there to sit under his leadership! The other day he posted his article that he had written for the Washington Post about his family and santa clause. Leave it to Mark D. to help a brother (or sister) out! We feel how he feels only he said it much better than I said it in the above paragraph.

What we tell our kids about Santa
'Tis the season . . . for parents to decide if they will tell the truth about Santa.

When it comes to cultural issues like Santa, Christians have three options: (1) we can reject it, (2) we can receive it, or (3) we can redeem it.

Since Santa is so pervasive in our culture, it is nearly impossible to simply reject Santa as part of our annual cultural landscape. Still, as parents we don't feel we can simply receive the entire story of Santa because there is a lot of myth built on top of a true story.

Redeeming Santa
So, as the parents of five children, Grace and I have taken the third position to redeem Santa. We tell our kids that he was a real person who did live a long time ago. We also explain how people dress up as Santa and pretend to be him for fun, kind of like how young children like to dress up as pirates, princesses, superheroes, and a host of other people, real and imaginary. We explain how, in addition to the actual story of Santa, a lot of other stories have been added (e.g., flying reindeer, living in the North Pole, delivering presents to every child in one night) so that Santa is a combination of true and make-believe stories.
We do not, however, demonize Santa. Dressing up, having fun, and using the imagination God gave can be an act of holy worship and is something that, frankly, a lot of adults need to learn from children.
What we are concerned about, though, is lying to our children. We teach them that they can always trust us because we will tell them the truth and not lie to them. Conversely, we ask that they be honest with us and never lie. Since we also teach our children that Jesus is a real person who did perform real miracles, our fear is that if we teach them fanciful, make-believe stories as truth, it could erode confidence in our truthfulness where it really matters. So, we distinguish between lies, secrets, surprises, and pretend for our kids. We ask them not to tell lies or keep secrets, but do teach them that some surprises (like gift-giving) and pretending (like dressing up) can be fun and should be encouraged. We tell them the truth and encourage them to have fun watching Christmas shows on television and even sitting on Santa's lap for a holiday photo if they so desire. For parents of younger children wanting them to learn the real story of Santa Claus the Veggie Tales movie Saint Nicholas is a good choice.

The Truth about Santa Claus
The larger-than-life myths surrounding Santa Claus actually emanate from the very real person of Saint Nicholas. It is difficult to know the exact details of his life with certainty, as the ancient records are sparse, but the various pieces can be put together as a mosaic of his life.

A Gift-Giver
Nicholas was born in the third century in Patara, a village in what is now Turkey. He was born into an affluent family, but his parents died tragically when he was quite young. His parents had raised him to be a devout Christian, which led him to spend his great inheritance on helping the poor, especially children. He was known to frequently give gifts to children, sometimes even hanging socks filled with treats and presents. Perhaps his most famous act of kindness was helping three sisters. Because their family was too poor to pay for their wedding dowry, three young Christian women were facing a life of prostitution until Nicholas paid their dowry, thereby saving them from a horrible life of sexual slavery.

A Bishop and Saint
Nicholas grew to be a well-loved Christian leader and was eventually voted the Bishop of Myra, a port city that the apostle Paul had previously visited (Acts 27:5-6). Nicholas reportedly also traveled to the legendary Council of Nicaea, where he helped defend the deity of Jesus Christ in A.D. 325. Following his death on December 6, 343, he was canonized as a saint. The anniversary of his death became the St. Nicholas holiday when gifts were given in his memory. He remained a very popular saint among Catholic and Orthodox Christians, with some two thousand churches named after him. The holiday in his honor eventually merged with Christmas, since they were celebrated within weeks of one another.

Misnomer
During the Reformation, however, Nicholas fell out of favor with Protestants, who did not approve of canonizing certain people as saints and venerating them with holidays. His holiday was not celebrated in any Protestant country except Holland, where his legend as Sinterklass lived on. In Germany, Martin Luther replaced him with the Christ child as the object of holiday celebration, or, in German, Christkindl. Over time, the celebration of the Christ child was simply pronounced Kris Kringle and oddly became just another name for Santa Claus.

Folklore
The legends about Santa Claus are most likely a compilation of other folklore. For example, there was a myth in Nicholas' day that a demon was entering people's homes to terrorize children and that Nicholas cast it out of a home. This myth may explain why it was eventually believed that he came down people's chimneys. Also, there was a Siberian myth (near the North Pole) that a holy man, or shaman, entered people's homes through their chimneys to leave them mushrooms as gifts. According to the legend, he would hang them in front of the fire to dry. Reindeer would reportedly eat them and become intoxicated. This may have started the myth that the reindeer could fly, as it was believed that the shaman could also fly. This myth may have merged with the Santa Claus myth, and if so, explains him traveling from the North Pole to slide down chimneys and leave presents on fireplace mantles before flying away with reindeer. These stories of Santa Claus were first brought to America by Dutch immigrants. In the early twentieth century, stores began having Santa Claus present for children during the Christmas season. Children also began sending letters to the North Pole as the legends surrounding an otherwise simple Christian man grew.

In sum, Saint Nick was a wonderful man who loved and served Jesus faithfully. So, we gladly include him in our Christmas traditions to remind us of what it looks like for someone to live a life of devotion to Jesus as God. Our kids thank us for being both honest and fun, which we think is what Jesus wants.

Hard Pills to swallow

2010-12-06T16:18:00.002-06:00

Over the past several years I've come to realize things as an adult and as a parent ( parenting has definitely put things into perspective.) These things however have been really confirmed and never been louder than they have in the past day or two.

1. It's always hard when you realize something that you thought was a reality is not really a reality.
I sat myself up for this one. So in most (but not all) ways I have no one to blame but myself. I seem to have a history of putting feelings on people and thinking they feel/think a certain way that they don't really feel. Mainly because they tell you all these things and it seems good so you assume there heart is in a good frame of mind (toward you). The reality hits when you you ask that person to put those words into actions (and I'm not talking moving mountains). I am talking little things that are not ask of very often. Maybe once or twice a year.

2. At some point you have to stop pouring.
I am blessed that for several year at just the right point in my life I had some people (not family) pour into me and it was life changing. They are still a very HUGE part of my (and clark and micaiah's life). I try on a regular basis to let them know as best as I can how much I appreciate it or how much it means to me even though sometimes it's actually hard to put into words but I always want them to know and be reminded that all that what they poured into me (and now my family) did not go unnoticed or done in vain. Since Clark and I have been married and gone through different stage of our life together in 6 years we have tried to pour into friendship and family to show them we love them and care about their spiritual, emotional and physical conditions. Often times spending money we do not have and putting us in the red, taking time away from work that we really should not be taking off, driving long distances to spend a very short time with them and often times setting our own desires aside for the good of others. All to show them that we love them. We have done this all with a giving heart wanting to bless others never once thinking twice. However, recently Clark and I have come to realize that these things don't really seem to matter (and i start treading light here and try to be very clear) but there's no confirmation/ nothing given in return to show that us that all the pouring really matters. Now let me just stop here and say that I am not saying "i won't give unless I receive". That is NOT the case at all. I love giving and doing things for people never wanting anything in return. What I am saying is that we/I pour and pour (and sometimes that pouring that you're doing is very hard to do). For me I don't want some grand to do to know that all that pouring has been good for the soul. For me a simple note, a thank you, a small spoken word is very meaning to me. A very dear friend of mine who I met 2 year ago has been going threw a very difficult time of life and i have gladly walked through it with her often times being very blessed by the process even though it was hard at times. She has nothing of material or monetery value to show her appreciation but she wrote me the most endearing letter a few months back that has mean more to me than really any other act of kindness that anyone has done, just a simple note from the heart. I am at a point if my life where I cant pour into certain people or things anymore. It's doing serious emotional damage. Serious spiritual damage. For so long Ive been drowning myself to keep relationships alive and in a healthy condition and I've realized I am treading alone (and this brings me back to point one) you do all these things thinking it's blessing people and showing them your love for them when in reality they could care less. If you never did anything or said anything to them or for them their would be no type of relationship. Relationships are 2 sided, rather with family or friends. In our case, both....

...and thats a hard pill to swallow.

Where do I go from here? I really want to focus on praying that the Lord would show me where to put time and energy into so it's glorifying for Him. I already know part of this and they are Clark and Micaiah, what else? I'll have to wait on the Lord. I will so allow the Lord to heal my broken heart as I deal with the hard pills of life. Please be in prayer for Clark and I as we begin this new process of life.

Family Pics!

2010-11-18T15:37:00.004-06:00

Here are some of my favorite photos from this year! As always, great work by PJ Slowiak!

To see all the pictures head over to our facebook page - Clark N' Meg

Shutterfly Christmas Cards

2010-11-17T15:41:00.006-06:00

For the past 2 years in the fall we've had family photos done and both years they've turned out so well I wanted to use them for Christmas cards. The amount of money we paid for the pics I wanted to make sure the card quality was good so of course I went with shutterfly! I use shutterfly last and use them all year long for photo books (MGF's birthday, special occasions and vacation.) I have also used them to order coffee mugs and a calendar. They are also the site I use to store all our pictures. I know they will be safe there.

I think this will be the card we go with this year. I am so excited to see that they have cards aimed towards Christ this year!

These are some site address's I use to order some of my favorite products!
Holiday Cards http://www.shutterfly.com/cards-stationery/holiday-cards
Calendars http://www.shutterfly.com/calendars

Struggling.....

2010-11-13T20:39:00.000-06:00

I am struggling to get a grip and hang on. Before I start this blog I want to preface by saying what is a battle for some may not be a battle others. So please, do not leave a comment how "oh you think that's rough" or "you have it better than you think". That would be very bad..... This is MY struggle. Let me take you back.

For as long as I can remember I have needed at least 9 hours of sleep at night to be in. Good functioning condition the next day and I've never been an early bird. I can't explain it. I've tried to "get use to getting up early".

Fast forward to Micaiah coming home from the hospital. From the night he came home he slept 5-6 hours. I was having to get up 2-3 times a night to pump. When he was 4 months old we moved to our house and a couple weeks later MGF started waking up several times a night. By the time he was 6 months old he was sleep 5 hours in a 24 hour period and those were in 30ish minute stints. We took him to dr's and had test done and nothing showed up abnormal. We spent the next several weeks, frustrated, at each other throats and vowing that we were NOT having more kids. We tried EVERYTHING under the sun that we knew that we though might help. Changing food habits, sleep habits, stimulation activites, ect. Finally one night I reached my breaking point at about 2am. After having a few moments of insanity the Lord revealed himself to me through some scriptue. The whole next day I meditated on those scripture and that night when I went to bed I had come to terms that this was my lot and I needed to glorify God even though I was hating life. We'll what ya know... That night, just before his first birthday Micaiah slept though the night! PTL!

Fast forward to this past August. At this point Micaiah had been sleep VERY consistantlyfrom 8PM to 8-9am. He was very predictable. We went on vacation in early august and the night after we got back micaiah was up at 7. Ok, not too odd maybe he just needs a few days to adjust to back to central time zone. No the case. Every morning he was getting up earlier and earlier. Until after about 2 week he was getting up at 430am. After 2 months he was consistently getting up at 430am. Here we go again.

So, here we are mid November and Micaiah is sleeping a little later than 430. I can't really say what time he gets up. Usually some where between 5 and 645. See the problem? Either way (for someone who has always struggled to be an early bird) these times are EARLY and very inconsistent. Its been several weeks since I've had more than a 5 minute quiet time. The others were six minutes and I would find myself dozing off. Sitting still is NOT an option anymore.

My point? I am struggling to get a grip and hang on. Something that is impossible to do when you're not spending time with Jesus. I find myself very angry, frustrated, and impatient all the time. I struggle to find anytime in the day that I'm soooo tired. My request is for prayers. However, I find myself not knowing what to even pray. Do I come to terms that this is my lot again or do I pray that the Lord would please allow my child to sleep at least until 7 ( so selfish I know). Sometime I think if he would just pick a time and be consistent with it I would know what time I woould need to get up to have a decent quiet time. At this point I'm rambling cuz I should have been asleep an hoour ago. So with that I'll sign off. Hopefully the next blog will be chirpy!

I'm back!

2010-11-11T10:19:00.002-06:00

This post is going to be totally random. Alot of little odds and ends to catch you up on! Hopefully this is a start to getting back into regularly blogging! Oh, how I have missed it!

In late Sept. Micaiah and I took a trip to Louisville that lasted less than 24hrs. My sweet dear friend Kellie Whitford was having her baby shower for her 2nd child, a girl, Hannah June who has since been born!!

I just had to post these! We let Micaiah's hair be and shaggy and in return we always have smiles on our faces when he gets out of bed .....his bed head being the reason!

This is Micaiah's favorite toy! It is hands down the best $30 we ever spent. Going back through picks there is not one album that doesnt have a shot of this car. He had been playing outside one day and came in and was trying to tell me something but I could NOT figure it out. I finally said show me. So we outside and he pointed to our neighbor who was washing his truck and then started pretending to wash his car. I ask him if he wanted to wash his car and he said yes. So he spent the next 30 minutes washing his car, putting dirt on it and washing it again. The other pic is sweet because its rare for Micaiah to sit still but what do you know one the few times he does he's sitting with his favorite toy!

I celebrate my 27 birthday which a cake i bought for myself! :) Clark's birthday was 2 weeks later but I forgot to take pics.

I have a couple more blogs to post but right now I need to get my work out on and get the kid from preschool!

Catching up...

2010-10-07T07:53:00.006-05:00

It's been a month since my last post which is rare for me. It's either been one of two reasons: busy busy busy or no motovation to sit at the comp. and put my thought together. I have no much catching up to do it was daunting. This morning however, Micaiah is laying in the bed with clark watching cartoon and I fee like staying in my pj's a little longer, watching good morning america and drink coffee so it seems like a good time to blog. - side note, ON GMA a couple bought there house 34 years ago for $6,000 and Apple want the land that thier house was on and paid them 1.7 million it. WHAT?! Anyway....

Sleeping problems and potty training
As many of you may have seen on FB or maybe you haven't we've been having sleeping issues with MGF again. If you'll recall this is the not the first time we've had MAJOR sleeping issues. (i know that I could some how add a link in here that will take you back to that post but i dont know how to do it) Again I digress. The morning after we returned from vacation the second week in Aug. Micaiah woke up at 6am. I know that doesnt seem odd to some of you but for the past year and a half he has consistently gottten up at 8:30, some mornings he would sleep past 9. So 6 was odd for us. Didn't think too much of it until the next morning he did the same thing. Over the next week and a half each morning he was getting up earlier and earlier. After 5 days of him getting up at 4:30am we realized this was is need wake up time. So since mid aug he was getting up at 4:30. That made for very long days....
Then 4 days ago he slept until 7. 7 (THIS IS ME YELLING with excitement!!!!!) Long story short I had a convo with a friend a few days back totally separate from the sleeping incident. It was how she got her little boy potty trained during the night. MGF has been PT during the day since early summer so I thought maybe it was time for night time training. Well what do you know 4 days ago I start cutting liquids at 7, potty before bed, i get him up before i go to bed (btwn 10-11) then I set my alarm to get up at 2am and then 5am and what do you now he's sleeping until 7!! Lord thank you for that conversation with my friend! These past week have been rough for our family.

New toys
It's very very rare around our house that we buy Micaiah toys "just because". It's either for a MAJOR accomplishment or Christmas and birthday (which are 4 day apart for MGF.) However, in the past month and a half he's gotten 3 new out door toys which has been great for me!
The first one we bought was his new outdoor play set. There were a couple reasons we bought this. 1. our neighbors (2 doors down) have one and MGF wants to go there ALL the time! I don't have ALL the time to be over there with him but he would be on that thing for an hour at a time and have so much. Clark and started talking about buying one of our own. It was right around the time Micaiah was getting better with staying in his big boy bed. So this was his reward. His rewards are NEVER quit this big but we knew it would be good for mommy and micaiah and it has!!

2 days ago we were at walmart to buy Micaiah his first tricycle for not having an accident (potty wise) in two weeks! He also has a couple of "chores and responsibilities" that he has been very consistent in doing without complaint. I knew he loved the tricycle but he kept asking for the scooter so we got both. I can't keep him off the scooter. He's so so so cute one it. LIke a big kid and he learned it very quickly!

GO GATORS!
The past 2 years my Uncle has sent me tickets to gators game that he cant go to. This year he sent me tickets to the TN vs FL game and tickets to the Vandy vs. FL game! The TN/Fl game (in knoxville) was a few weeks ago and it was AWESOME! Clark couldn't go (again this year) because he works on saturdays so I take my very dear friend Amber (who i also took last year) who loves football and knows football (not sure I have any other girl friends who care anything about football). We meet my cousin, his girl friend and her family there.

1st day back to preschool

2010-09-10T15:36:00.003-05:00

Body Paint

2010-09-10T11:55:00.004-05:00

Yesterday was Micaiah's first day of preschool and when we got there, the teacher had a table activity for them to do while the parents hung around for a few. A little warm up to the new class time. She had them do painting. I've never done painting with MGF at home because I was pretty sure it would be a DISASTER! But after seeing him LOVE doing it at preschool I thought this morning we would give it a go. There is a blank spot in his room that needs a personal touch from Micaiah. I didn't want to use boring paper so I dug out 3 pieces of scrap wood that were all the same size. He did well on the first two only getting paint here and there and then some how by the time he made it to the last piece he had more paint on his body than the wood. It was actually very funny and fun! Amazingly enough he kept it all on his body and none got on the floor so it made for an easy clean up! The tub got a little messy though. I don't think we'll body paint every time but this sure makes for sweet memories!

Once these are dry I want to paint the edges white and hand them on the wall with white ribbon. I'll post the finish project later.

Cursed? You decide

2010-09-09T11:37:00.003-05:00

In the past 6 months: Our computer crashed, our stove, microwave and dvd just gave out. Our AC/Heat unit has had repair work on it 3 times and our camera just decided that it no longer wanted to take good pics. It's still works but the pics are funky. Had to replace the tires on BOTH cars. The grill gave out.

3 Weeks ago: We were told we needed to have a new roof. After May's floods we ended up with 3 leaks.

2 Weeks ago: Our AC went out for the 3rd time in 6 months. We are able to temporally fix it but the guy said it wouldnt make it through the fall. Did some research and THEY ARE SO EXPENSIVE. Not sure how we're going to pay for it.

1 week ago: Something broke on the mower. Clark is usually good at figuring out what's wrong with the mower and fixing it but not this time.

Yesterday: the electrical wires for the front lights stopped working.

TODAY ALONE: My car wouldn't start after we took MGF to school so I had to go have the battery replaced along with a busted tail light. The washer spin cycle stopped working, the vacuum cleaner is making a funny noise and won't suck AND the dishwasher started acting up. The little door to let the soap out won't open and it's not even lunch time.

I am sure there are some things that I am missing but you get the idea.

MTSU sunday

2010-08-31T10:52:00.005-05:00

This past weekend was all about MTSU ( Middle Tennessee State University). Our church has a large college program called Alpha Omega. They also have a ministry once a year called WE-HAUL. The friday and saturday before school starts the students who live on campus move in! We-haul is there to help and offer free food! Then on sundays our church celebrates the Returning students and in coming students (who may be visiting the church). We all wear our MTSU blue. You can't see but Micaiah's shirt has an MT logo on it. I thought we were cute!

incase you can't tell micaiah has to be this way when taking picks. Putting us in headlocks.

Rock City Gardens

2010-08-26T15:13:00.006-05:00

This past saturday Clark and I headed up to Chattanooga to go to Lookout Mt. It was a much needed refreshing time away. It was also quit the surprise. I have always known about "Lookout Mt" but I never knew it was a city with in a city. I thought it was where you walked (or rode) to the top of the Mt and be hold there would be an amazing display of 7 states and a pretty water fall. Nope that's not what it is at all. The Mt it's self is an entire town with schools, churches, subdivisions, a college, restaurants ect. It also contains Ruby Falls and Rock City Gardens. I always wondered what Rock City was and why it would be one of the biggest tourist attractions. I mean, what could be so great about rocks. Well well....I learned what was so great and beautiful about rocks! It's a walking trail through massive boulders (some with really tight spots) and beautiful trees and as you get higher on the mt. there are breaks in the trees and you can see for miles and miles! It's took us about an hour and a half to walk the entire trail. Here's a few pics (and I mean few because I think we took 200) from our day! Our intention was to do Rock City and Ruby Falls that day but once we realized the vastness of Rock City and the length of time it took but ended up only doing Rock City!

Homemade Granola - Yummy!!

2010-08-19T21:05:00.004-05:00

Got this recipe from my sister who has a friend that is a "HEALTH FANATIC so I'M told.

2 cups oats
2 cups grape nuts (the cereal)
3/4 cup honey
1 whole (small) jar of NATURAL peanut butter - creamy ( I used Smuckers)
Your option of chocolate chips, raisins, cranberries ect. - 1 cup each - I used 1 cup choc chips and 1 cup cranberries. I may only use 3/4 cup or 1/2 cup of choc. chips and add more cranberries next time.

Mix dry ingredients

Microwave honey and peanut better (separately for 1 minute)
Mix WELL with dry ingredients using a spatula.

Press flat into 9x13 dish of any kind.

Refrigerate for 30 minutes.
Serve!

Sweet Friends

2010-08-04T08:07:00.002-05:00

The past few weeks Micaiah has had several plate dates with his favorite friends KATE AND CARLY and he will have another one today! Here are a few, great shots that Alicia got!

Splash Pad

2010-07-28T13:29:00.003-05:00

Clark was off today and so was our friend Cameron. He was home with his girls for the day while Alicia worked. So, we all decided to get the kids out of the house and go to the splash pad. It's free and it's not far from us! Micaiah loves Kate and Carly!

New recipe (that has no name)

2010-07-28T08:35:00.003-05:00

Need:
1 box Rice-A-Roni; wild rice
2 squash and 2 zucchini (I felt like this was a lot but you can add or take away as much as you want)
Kilbasa sausage; 1 lb
minced onion; 2 tsp - I did 4 because we like onion
Oregano; 1/4 tsp
garlic salt; 1/2 tsp (I used minced garlic. i didn't have garlic salt)
1/2 tsp of pepper

Brown sausage in one pan
Saute veggies and spices in another pan with 1/3 cup water
Cook rice according to directions on the box

After veggies and meat are cooked; mix.

You can either serve the veggie and meat over the rice OR you can mix veggie, meat and rice all in once pan, stir and cook for 2-3 minutes. I did the later. I served it with corn on the cob and mozzarella balls.

Recipe courtesy of my friend Alicia

Fun in the fire hydrant

2010-07-24T20:44:00.002-05:00

Each summer, on the last day of summer sports for One goal the fire department will come out and turn on the fire hydrant. This year it was much need being that the high was 105. Last year Micaiah wasn't really into it but there year was a different story....

Proactive

2010-07-13T16:21:00.004-05:00

Product Recommendation

I've never been one to deal with acne. Maybe a minor blemish during "that time" but that was all. So I was very surprised when at 26 I developed acne. Not severe but enough to make me very insecure. Note: My body changed in a lot ways after being pregnant.
I have heard about proactive for years but never had the need to research it or use it. 5 months ago, that time came. Within the first few days I already saw a different in the blemishes that were already there. After 2 weeks all old blemishes were gone and no new ones had appeared. Now, months later I can say I can't remember the last time I had acne and the over all appearance of my skin looks healthy!

I HIGHLY recommend this product!

Micaiah's 1st dentist visit

2010-07-13T15:58:00.007-05:00

Today Micaiah went to the dentist for the first time today. I didn't think he would freak out but thought he would need to be bribed to sit still. Not the case. Our sweet boy IMPRESSED the hygienist and dentist. He laid right back and opened wide. The only time we had to tell him to open was when he was laughing. He did so amazing! We are so proud of him!

All the women in the office were very nice! They talked to and played with Micaiah to make him very comfortable. At one point he had them cackling.

Picking out his prize for being so good!

Sausage balls

2010-07-13T15:24:00.005-05:00

Clark has been making sausage balls since we got married. I think his mom use to make them when he was young. It's one of our favorite snacks. This time, Micaiah decided he wanted to help him. I thought it was super sweet. Although Micaiah ate more cheese then he did actually helping. Clark has always made them from memory when his mom made them. This time we wanted to make sure we had some of the amounts correct. Paula Deen's is the closet. However, after we ate them we realized they were to doughy so I would reccomend you use 2 not 3 cups of Bisquick.

Matthew 12:34-37

2010-07-07T09:39:00.002-05:00

"You brood of vipers, how can you who are evil say anything good? For out of the overflow of the heart the mouth speaks. 35The good man brings good things out of the good stored up in him, and the evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in him. 36But I tell you that men will have to give account on the day of judgment for every careless word they have spoken. 37For by your words you will be acquitted, and by your words you will be condemned."

Will our careless words cost us?
Words are important because they reveal the inner attitudes of our hearts. Just as saying faith must be confessed with boldness and truth, careless words bring tragic consequences because they spring from a faithless heart.

9"Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen."
Ephesians 4:29

"A gentle answer turns away wrath but a harsh word stirs up anger"
Proverbs 15:1

"To fear the LORD is to hate evil; I hate pride and arrogance, evil behavior and perverse speech. Proverbs 8:13

If you have ugliness in your heart about something or someone, GIVE IT TO GOD! The longer is sits in your heart and festers the darker your heart will become and the less of a light in the this dark and depraved world. People will hurt you but the Lord will hold YOU accountable for your careless words and actions. (2 Corinthians 4:10)

"FOR BY YOUR WORDS YOU WILL BE ACQUITTED AND BY YOUR WORDS YOU WILL BE CONDEMNED" Matthew 12:37

A friend told me the other day "make sure your words are said in LOVE and seasons with GRACE"

Sweet Treat

2010-07-06T18:38:00.003-05:00

It's only on special occasions that Micaiah gets candy, ice cream or any kind of "junk food". The other day he got to eat his first ice cream cone. I realized very quickly that is was a good idea to take off the white shirt he had on.

Psalm 119:57

2010-07-05T09:20:00.005-05:00

"You are my portion, Oh Lord.."

What does a portion refer to?
What one possesses. Other may have money or land but the writer is delighted that he has the Lord. Having a vital relationship with God is more valuable than anything else.

Makes me think of Paul in Philippians 3:7-11 but specifically vs. 8
7But whatever was to my profit I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. 8What is more, I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ 9and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ—the righteousness that comes from God and is by faith. 10I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, 11and so, somehow, to attain to the resurrection from the dead.

You are my potion Oh Lord. You are all I need. He is all anyone needs.

Back to jail ya go...

2010-06-28T21:13:00.004-05:00

Micaiah has been in his big boy bed for about 2 week now and has done great with sleeping and staying in the bed. HOWEVER, the past 2 mornings we make up to MGF in our bed, in our faces, saying "ake up". VERY ANNOYING considering he normally doesn't get up until 8 and even then he will stay in his bed. Not sure what is getting him up so early (he's been sick with allergies) for a few days so I am hoping that is what is waking him but we have out smarted him. If he wakes up he's trapped. I will keep him in the pack n play until he's 18 if I have to. Note to self: leave your next child in the crib until he/she doesn't fit. MEGHAN FITZGERALD DOESN'T DO EARLY! hahahaha!

Busy Body....

2010-06-28T20:55:00.003-05:00

I was very productive today. Did ALOT of craft projects mostly trying to finish the last touches on Micaiah's room. However I did do one project in the kitchen. I random found a blanket that doesn't go with anything in our house EXCEPT the kitchen so that's the fabric that I used to cover the chairs! The colors matches and it didn't cost a thing (the blanket was a wedding gift) so literally the cost was NOTHING!

New table

2010-06-28T11:54:00.005-05:00

I found this table at a yard sale a while back for $2. I had time to paint it this morning! LOVE IT!

Mister Mechanic

2010-06-27T19:30:00.004-05:00

The other night I was cooking and out of the blue Micaiah told me he wanted to bring his "trucks" outside riding toys inside. I was like "ok". As I went to get them he disappeared and came back with the draw that all his tools are in. This is how it played out. I laughed and took a video for clark cause I knew he would think it was great! He worked on his cars for almost a half hour.

This was the backs of the shirts for VBS this year. Thought it was a good shot!

All purpose cleaner

2010-06-27T18:43:00.004-05:00

For a 24 oz spray bottle:
1/2 cup rubbing alcohol
1/2 ammonia
the rest with water

Works like a charm! You can use this for counter tops, stove tops, sinks, toilets, tubs & floors.

For a 24 oz spray bottle

Corn Casserole

2010-06-27T18:20:00.004-05:00

Tonight I made my first corn casserole. It was a hit!!

8 tbsp Butter Softened
1 cup sour cream
1 egg
1 (16oz) corn drained
2 (16oz) cream corn
1 (9oz) corn muffin mix
I halved the recipe. But still used 1 egg.

The GREAT thing about this casserole is that you probably already have all of these ingredients and the corn muffin mix was only .44 at kroger. Super easy. Super cheap.

Catching up....again.

2010-06-23T21:57:00.004-05:00

Things have been really busy around here so blogging has been on the back burner.

We finish Micaiahs bed a while back but after it was finish I decided I wanted the head board to be even with the foot board so it would be a day bed. I love that we built it a little higher so I can use the underneath for cute storage containers. Then, I didn't have the nerve to take down Micaiah's crib so the bed sat in the garage for weeks. A couple weekends ago MGF and I went to Florida and when we got back clark had painted the bedroom, and put up Micaiah's bed. I was so sad. I mean I was glad I didn't have to do any of the hard work but I was def. not ready to not have his crib. So basically the nursery is no more and it's big boy time! I have a few more accents that I need to do to the room to bring it all together but this pic is to show you his bed.

Books Slings
A week or so ago my friend made a couple book slings and they turned out great so I thought I would try it even though I know NOTHING about sewing. After a little instruction from my neighbors mother (thank goodness she was visiting that day). I did a practice round and after about an hour I was finish. I am so excited about this! As you can see from the pics I will be make 2-3 more because Micaiah has so many books!! These are great because the don't take up floor space and we have plenty of wall space to fill.

We are in the middle of VBS this week so I'll post on that at some point next week.

Ring for Sale

2010-06-15T13:49:00.005-05:00

I bought this as a surprise gift for Clark, it didn't fit and I forgot to return it before the 90 day return period.

It's $200, originally $350
Never been worn. The tag is still on it. I still have the case and box it came in and I can ship it like that.
Stainless steel
Size 8.5 (mens)
GORGEOUS!

Congrats Bubba Do!

2010-06-14T22:38:00.003-05:00

This weekend Micaiah and I loaded up and headed to Florida for my brothers graduation from high school. He's the youngest with 5 girls ahead of him. Not too much to blog about but a couple of cute pics! His name is Taylor but his family calls him bubba do!

Pinic Party

2010-06-06T08:35:00.003-05:00

Yesterday (saturday) we headed to Mt. Juliet for our friends, The Mitchells, little girls 2nd birthday party. It was a great time! Love those sweet girls!

Our sweet Neighbor

2010-05-31T21:44:00.002-05:00

We love our neighbors. When we talk about all the things that we love about living where we live is great neighbors! Our neighbors right next to us have an 8 year old daughter, Cierra, who is so sweet! She loves to play with Micaiah and Micaiah loves loves her! She is a little mama! When they are outside playing I never feel like I have to check on them because she constantly stays with him and is not affraid to tell him he is not allowed to do something. Tonight was a sweet time. She decided that she wanted to eat dinner with us and I was making tacos and dip. She was cooking in the kicthen with me. I think she really enjoyed it!

Memorial Day weekend Fun!

2010-05-31T09:26:00.015-05:00

Micaiah is finally at the age where we can do a lot of stuff and the whole family can enjoy it. One thing in particular I've wanted to do since he was born was go to the water park. Going up in FLORIDA and now living in a land locked area my soul CRAVES for the water and the sunshine. Enter NASHVILLE SHORES! THANK YOU JESUS!

Up until this point if we did anything it was either for me or clark and so we never really did anything or went anywhere but Micaiah is walk (really running) all the time and is at an age where he can take everything in and isn't so dependent on us so we are a little freer. When I saw that the water park's tickets were $40 off we jumped at it! Not to mention they have add several attractions. It's placed on a large lake where there is a beach front area. You can take boat ride, rent wave runners and play Putt Putt.

We went for the first time this past saturday. We ALL had a great time. We decided at the beginning that this would be a trial and error visit. A "get to know the place" kid of thing. The only thing we did this trip was play in the kiddy pool but we had a chance to walk around and see where all the slides were, what different kinds of pools they had, etc. Clark and I have already decided that there will be time when we go minus Micaiah.

Before we headed to the water park we meet some of my girl friends in nashville for lunch. They were coming through from Chattanooga headed back to Lou! Not sure why the pics have white around them.

Sunday we grilled out for lunch with clarks parents and then that night we grilled out with our sunday school class. 40+ adults, 32+kids = chaos but fun! No pics though. Sorry!

How deep the Fathers love for us.

2010-05-27T08:36:00.002-05:00

Here I am again finding another song to get lost in

How deep the Fathers Love for us Phillips, Craigs & Dean
How deep the Father's love for us,
How vast beyond all measure
That He should give His only Son
To make a wretch His treasure

How great the pain of searing loss,
The Father turns His face away
As wounds which mar the chosen One,
Bring many sons to glory

Behold the Man upon a cross,
My sin upon His shoulders
Ashamed I hear my mocing voice,
Call out among the scoffers

It was my sin that helf Him there
Until it was accomplished
His dying breath has brought me life
I knoww that it is finished

I will not boast in anything
No gifts, no power, no wisdom
But I will boast inJesus Christ
His death and resurrection

Why should I gain from His reward?
I cannot give an answer
But this I know with all my heart
His wounds have paid my ransom

Playing catch up

2010-05-26T09:36:00.008-05:00

The month of May has been very busy and several things have gone on so let me catch you up.

*Clarks mom is slowly on the up and up. She has started a 5 week treatment that is 1 once a week for 5 hours.
*Micaiah's last day of his first year of preschool was the 2nd week of May. I was dreading this a little but it's been really good to
have home. He's at that age where we can go and do a lot of activities. It's such a joy to see him happy! He's a very happy child.

A favorite place for both of us to go is The Discovery Center. There are two floors of al kinds of things to do for kids of all ages. I like it because it's inside and air-conditioned. There is also a picnic area, an outdoor playground and a nature walk area.

I celebrated my 3rd Mothers Day!!! The dress and earrings that I have on were picked out the day before by my wonderful hubby!! Such a sweet surprise.

Soccer season is coming to a close with One Goal and Micaiah loves to be at the fields with Clark. He's getting realy good at kicking the ball. Clark works with him constantly. This past saturday was the last day of games and they had a consession stand with blow pops. It's very RARE that Micaiah gets candy especially a sucker because it's so messy. As you can see from the picture.

Clark and I accomplished our first building project, Micaiah's bed! It's finished, however we are waiting on a bracket that we ordered to connect the frame to the headboard and foodboard. We are about to start a farmhouse kitchen table! There was a some wood that we had to have cut (28 small pieces) and Lowes did an awful job so we bought a saw and new wood and cut them ourselves. The scrap pieces didn't go to waste though. Micaiah will take 1 or 2 at a time and color them. He uses them for al kinds of entertainment.

We were able to celebrate our friend's graduation with a pool party and a cook out! Micaiah loves the pool. Mainly the steps. Congrats Kinsey Bivins! The pic with the hat was just cute. He loves wearing it around!

Chatty Kathy

2010-05-26T08:27:00.002-05:00

Before Micaiah could talk he would communicate with us through sign language. He's kind of a late talker. Which from what we hear we talks way more for other people when we are not around. However, in the past month he's really start saying more words and putting 2 &3 words togethers. I wanted to document some of them because they are so cute. The blog is the best place to do it because it will always be around. As I type this Micaiah is sittign on the couch watching Little Einstein and singing to the opening song. Most of it doesnt make sense but there are a few words I can understand here and there! SO CUTE!!!

no=NO! (we are working on saying no thank you)
yes=yis or yeah
stop=cop
fries=ice
elmo= emoo
daddy=da'dee
mommy=ma'mee
rock=wok
football=bupball
outside=side
light=ight
chip=cheet
truck=kuck
plane=pane
moon=moo with a little hint of an "n")
starts=stas
popcorn=pop
look=wuk
what's that=wus sat (he ask this ALL day long)
corn=cone
bar=bone (as in the nutrigrain bar that he some times eats for breakfast)
blues clues=koos koos
the "clean up" song=he just repeats "kneen nup, kneen nup"
play=some times it comes out as "pay" and other times "pie"
come=comb
juice=he says this right but referes to anything liquid as juice
Little Einstein=eye nine (his favorite show)
chairs=chews
blue (as in blue blankie, his favorite)=boo
tv=tt
ding dong=ning nong (this is when we wants to play with the door bell)
keys=keys
phone=pone
cars=carz (we hear this all day long because he is obsessed with cars) race car= re car
thank you=dank doo
please=peas
i want=i won
Pee pee, poo poo= pee pot, poo pot (i think it's safe to say he's OFFICIALLY potty trained!)
he can say anything we ask him to say but most of the time it sounds nothing like the actual word.

He's really good at identifying what belongs to who in the house. EX. clarks shorts were laying on the floor in the bathroom and he says "daddy" or he sees my shoes or jacket and says mommy. Anything that is his or he "wants" to be his he yells "MINE." This is a word that we try to refrain from using because he is at that age where sharing is not acceptable but he's getting better with the concept.

Nana
Pop
Maw Maw
Paw Paw
keykey= which is really KK, his cousin on my side.
Anytime he stays with one of my friends or a sitter and he doesn't know their name he says "HEY" or calls them mommy to get their attention.

I know he's saying so much more but this is what is coming to mind in the short time I have.

This is a video of him singing while we were watching American Idol.

Becky Fitzgerald

2010-05-15T08:22:00.003-05:00

For as long as Clark can remember his mom has battled some kind of health problem. When she was in her early 30's (I believe) she was diagnosed with a rare auto immune disorder called Sjogrens (showgrins is how you pronoun it). A disease that is incurable. Right after clark and I married in '05 she was diagnosed with breast cancer. 2 months ago she was diagnosed with another rare AI disorder (can't ever remember what its called. It deals with the blood.) Long story short and so not to confuse anyone it medical info the bottom line is that after several IVI treatments they were unable to keep her platelets up. Most peoples platelets after 400,000 and above. Hers are 50,000 and most of the time lower. Thats hymridging (sp?) level. This past tuesday they did an operation that they had hoped would solve the problem but it didn't. The drs are now scratching there heads and running more test. If they can't figure out what's wrong, this order coupled with Sjogrens will eventually end her life. In the mean time she will be limited in what she can do.

I had reservation about putting this info out there mainly because I had not ask Becky if she was comfortable with it but I knew why I wanted to fill everyone in. SHE NEEDS YOUR PRAYER. The whole family needs your prayer. I believe in the power of prayer. I believe the Lord hears his children when they call out. I've seen the miracle of healing because a countless number of people prayed relentlessly. Someone very special told me one time, "Jesus promises us healing. He never promised that it would happen on earth. It may happen on earth or he may take them to heaven to heal them. Either way, he kept his promise" These words were spoken to me by a mother who was watching her child go threw cancer.

There was one of time in my life were I just simply didn't know what to pray. It was while watching that same child go threw cancer. Here I am again saying Lord, I don't know what to say. I don't know what to pray. But I'm here before you saying Beckys name and asking your will be done. Asking for nothing more than you be brought glory in this situation.

I'm asking you all, to pray for Becky but also prayer for Phillip (her husband) Clark & Stuart (her children) and me and Angie (her daughter in laws). I can only speak for certain for Clark that this is very difficult. It's weighting heavy on him. We are both very tired and emotional. (Did i mention that through all this that they are moving to Murfreesboro so they can be closer to her doctors at vandy) so yeah, ALOT going on. Once she comes home from the hospital she will be on bed rest for a month and will need plenty of help as my father in law will have to finish out the month at work.

I will try and update you all in the coming week with things that you can specifically pray for. I know all who read our blog love us and are special to us and we know that you will be prayer for Becky and us and we take GREAT comfort in that.

New Website!

2010-05-12T13:41:00.008-05:00

My friend (the same one that told me about knockoffword.com) found another great site. i've added the book sling to my project list. We re redoing MGF'S bedroom next week and this sling will be a great feature. We'll build his sunday! Super excited!

http://pennycarnival.typepad.com/penny_carnival/2009/02/tutorial-hanging-book-display.html

For the penny pinchers...

2010-04-26T21:30:00.002-05:00

Cheap homemade laundry detergent. - This is form Michelle Duggars Blog (19 kids and Counting)

"This laundry detergent saves a huge amount of money. We buy its three ingredients for less than five dollars, and the resulting concentrate lasts our large family two to three months! It's a watery gel that produces low suds inside the washer. The ingredients are usually available in the laundry-products aisle of the supermarket — or order online. (Check recipes on the Internet; there's also a dry version of this laundry soap that's good for top-loading machines.)

Ingredients:
1 Fels Naptha soap bar, grated
1 cup washing soda
1/2 cup borax

Instructions:
Grate the soap bar into a small saucepan. Cover with hot water. Cook over medium-low heat, stirring continually, until the soap completely dissolves.
Put washing soda and borax in a 5-gallon bucket. Pour in the hot, melted soap mixture. Stir well, until all the powder is dissolved. Fill the bucket to the top with more hot tap water. Stir, cover securely, and let set overnight. The next morning, stir the mixture. Mix equal amounts of soap concentrate and water in a smaller laundry-detergent dispenser or container. Shake before using.

For top-loading machines: Use 1 cup of the soap mixture per load.
For front-loading machines: Use 1/2 cup per load.

www.knock-offwood.blogspot.com
I recently had a friend talk about this website on her blog. I was AMAZED.
This is what she said on her site "I found this blog, Knock Off Wood, a few months ago. This girl who lives in Alaska finds furniture in stores like Pottery Barn, Crate and Barrel, Restoration Hardware, etc, that would cost a lot of money and draws up plans for the furniture for people to build on their own. Not only does it save money, but there is great satisfaction in making it on your own." - Susan W.

I was was very impressed with her the end results of her 1st building project that I had to go to the site and see for myself. An hour or so later I was printing off directions and a material list to take to the hardware store TOMORROW! Clark and I have been looking for a while, for a "big boy bed" for Micaiah but we always have 2 problems: we can't find one we like and the ones we do like are REALLY expsenive. This site has solved our problem. Contrustion will start very soon. That will be in a post in coming weeks!

Enjoy being a penny pincher!

Spring Art Show

2010-04-13T21:27:00.003-05:00

Micaiah has been working on special art work all year. Tonight he sang in a musical and we were able to see all he had done! His teachers had these little shirts made for them. In the one pic he is standing in front of the wall with all his art work!

What's Buggin' You?

2010-04-13T21:18:00.002-05:00

Micaiah's latest obsession....BUGS! I think it's so cute that's he curious! In these pics, we had opened the door and a bug flew in. Micaiah was all over it...

More play time with playmates!

2010-04-12T11:50:00.002-05:00

Another great day of playing with friends!! We love the warm time of the year. It's not hot yet, but the pools are so small the water warms up fast so really it balances things out!! I am sure we will have MANY more of these days to come.

At the Cross

2010-04-08T15:56:00.002-05:00

Nothing left for me to say. This song says it all......

Oh Lord You've searched me
You know my ways
Even when I fail You
I know You love me

Your holy presence
Surrounding me
In every season
I know You love me
I know You love me

Chorus
At the cross I bow my knee
Where Your blood was shed for me
There's no greater love than this
You have overcome the grave
Your Glory fills the highest place
What can separate me now?

You go before me
You shield my way
Your hand upholds me
I know You love me

Chorus
At the cross I bow my knee
Where Your blood was shed for me
There's no greater love than this
You have overcome the grave
Your Glory fills the highest place
What can separate me now

You tore the veil
You made a way
When You said that it is done

And when the earth fades
falls from my eyes
You stand before me
I know You love me
I know You love me

Chorus
At the cross I bow my knee
Where Your blood was shed for me
There's no greater love than this
You have overcome the grave
Glory fills the highest place
What can separate me now

You tore the veil
You made a way
When You said that it is done

Muddin'

2010-04-04T20:48:00.004-05:00

Today, Easter Sunday, after a great worship, lunch and naps, our family spent time outside playing and doing yard work! We love to be outside!! Clark was washing off the mower and it formed a puddle. Micaiah has never played in a mud puddle before but he saw this one, studied it for a moment, dipped his toe in and the rest is history! It was fun watching him! Mommy got in on the action but we didn't get pics!

Play Mates!

2010-04-04T20:33:00.004-05:00

On Wednesdays Micaiah and I go to my friends Alicia house to keep her twin girls. This is great for everyone involved!! The girls are PRECIOUS and Micaiah has fun. I always laugh because each week Micaiah and Carly fight brother and sister and Kate takes the smart road and stays out of it. Here are a couple shots from last week!

Quick, short trip but totally worth it!

2010-03-29T21:07:00.012-05:00

Last tuesday Clark and I decided to make a trip to Florida to see my family being this would be the last time he would be able to go until Aug. Here are some shots from the visit.

My Aunt Emily, Aunt Aileen and My uncle Daniel.

I love this picture of my dad and Caiah.

My mom *check out the lady in the background* LOL

My sister Tarra and Buzz Light year

We need to have a talk with Micaiah about the people he chooses to ride with. They need to be safe and it aint looking good...

Cousin Cayden

Sticker Face=Enjoyable dinner

2010-03-22T14:57:00.007-05:00

When we go eat we usually take some type of craft/Activity for Micaiah to play with. With summer coming up we bought him one of those cheap, flimsy, rubbery visors and some stickers to decorate it with. Well, he did decorate the visor and then thought it would be great to peel the stickers off and decorate himself. It kept him very entertained and very quiet which means we really enjoyed out dinner out! Not to mention our waitress was my very best friend!! These pics were taken on 2 different nights and he got more creative the next night.

Family Time

2010-03-14T12:50:00.002-05:00

It had been a few weeks since we had set aside time for the 3 of us to spend time together. We had a gift card so we went out to eat and then some play time at the mall. It's always interesting to take MGF to a sit down restaurant because he is so BUSY! but he did good!!

Hopeful...

2010-03-14T10:33:00.004-05:00

For a few days 2 weeks (or so) ago we had the best weather of the season. It made me very hopeful that spring is just around the corner. We had all the windows and doors open for 3 days and I think one day Micaiah stay outside form 9:30-3:30. We skipped a nap that day because I was afraid this might be the only day hey gets to stay out. Thankfully we had 2 more great days!

Odd....

2010-03-08T22:43:00.006-06:00

Last tuesday I opened the door to find a package on our door step. I thought it would be some cosmetic items I had order (that hasn't come in) but when I opened it this is what I found inside. A Colts back pack (a very nice one!) It was addressed to me but I have no idea who sent it and there was no return address label. I called a list of people but no one knew anything about it. The odd thing is, is that we are Colts fan. I think that something got mixed up with a shipping label (all though I can't remember the last time I ordered something that would have my info on file from a company that sales NFL gear.) Clark thinks that someone we know sent it. So if you are reading this and you sent it, Thank you! It has come in handy with Micaiah. *Notice the dirty wall behind it. This is usually where Micaiah's highchair sits*

Pica????

2010-03-08T15:18:00.002-06:00

If your child eats paper, he/she may have pica. Pica is an eating disorder characterized by continual ingestion of nonnutritive substances such as plaster, paint, paper, dirt, string, wood, crayons, and clothes, etc. (Anwsers.com)

Micaiah was in his playroom the other night and when I went in to bring him to dinner I found him eating one of Clark's work brochures. I don't think he has "Pica" because this is only the second time i've seem him eat paper, or any other substances other than food. He did try dirt the other day but I think that is because I gave him a spoon to play with and when he saw a spoon with dirt on it I guess he thought it would be a good idea. He quickly decided it was not! :)

You are my God

2010-03-08T14:01:00.004-06:00

The summer that I met Clark at Mission Fuge we were given a worship cd that I use to listen to ALL the time. It's been 3-4 years since I've heard it. Got misplaced. There are so many great songs on here but thise one makes me want to raise my hands in worship every time. It very moving, not only are the lyrics great but the music is great as well. I tried to find the song and download it so you could enjoy it but it's no where to be found.

YOU ARE MY GOD

As long as the rivers flow
As long as the wind blow,
my heart belongs to you
As long as the seasons change
As long as the farmer needs the rain,
my heart belongs to you
And Lord I know I don't deserve the grace you give
So I will give my heart to you that I might live

You are my God early in the morning will I
rise to meet you, ride to meet you
And you are my Lord early in morning will I
rise to meet you, rise to meet you

As long as babies cry
As long as flowers die
My heart belongs to you
As long as winter brings the cold
As long as summers come and go
my heart belongs to you
And Lord I know I don't deserve the grace you give
So I will give my heart to you that I might live

You are my God early in the morning will I
rise to meet you, ride to meet you
And you are my Lord early in morning will I
rise to meet you, rise to meet you
You are my God early in the morning will I
rise to meet you, ride to meet you
And you are my Lord early in morning will I
rise to meet you, rise to meet you