Brown Christmas Greetings!!!!

So, I have some great news, but I need prayers too!

After several weeks of feeling "odd", I decided to take a pregnancy test last Saturday morning. To my surprise it was a +!!!!! I ran upstairs to share the news with David, yes he knew I had ran to the store to pick one up. We hugged and kissed, I jumped up and down etc... It was fun telling our family! They were very surprised, as were we.

I am considered one of those fertility puzzlements. Irregular everything, if you get my drift. Needed help to conceive Davis, and it took 5 years to conceive Sophie! That required help as well. So, this has all occurred with God's blessing and intervention, at least most of it. Smile.

So since learning this information I have had a long week. Went to the Dr. on Monday to learn I was 10 weeks. Not by ultrasound. I was ecstatic! Then on Tuesday continued to experience spotting and some cramping, that has been occurring for the past several weeks. Went in on Wednesday to confirm DD, saw the heartbeat, and learned I am only 6-7 weeks. I also learned I have a UTI and very low progesterone levels. So I started Prometrium. Learned today that my HcG levels are rising like they should. I loved hearing that. The spotting is continuing, which is very scary. I understand it is common with low progesterone, but it is very difficult to not think of miscarriage.

I would like prayers for this little baby to stay strong and I pray that we will have a full term pregnancy. If you have had a similar experience with the low progesterone levels, I could use some encouragement! Thank you friends!

Texas Thanksgiving

Finally getting a chance to write since the last time. We had a nice Thanksgiving holiday with Aunt Joy in Abilene. It flew by as usual. She was so kind to make a GF bread and pumpkin pie for me! Yumo! We were also able to help her some around the house and rake her leaves. Kids you were a huge help! Who would have thought hauling bags to the alley would be fun for you? You never cease to amaze me!

We departed early to see Case and Brad play in the semi-final FB game in Aledo Texas, Graham vs. Bridgeport, Graham won-YAY!. Friday night lights in Texas is always an unforgettable experience! It was also great to see the rest of the McCoy's. To our surprise we also saw Scott and Bryce (2 of dads friends from HS who also played for Brad in Lovington). Crazy!

Upon returning home I dove right in to painting the dining and living room. It is finally finished, and I'm very pleased. It was sooooo needed.

Sophie I just have to mention that you are obsessed with a little boy 5 years your senior. Daniel. Really? This is already starting? You carry his picture. You look for him where ever we go. You even talk about him with your BF. Dad and I are already praying :)

Tomorrow starts another basketball season for you, first game at 1pm. Go Davis, post up!

So this is a short and sweet post because I am currently watching the Horns and the Huskers... please Texas pull through! Go COLT!

My camera is no where to be found!

Therefore I can't post any pics! I've been wanting to post a few from the CR retreat we attended over Halloween weekend. I have a great pic of Colt as Colt McCoy and Daniel as Sam Bradford, it's adorable. FYI: Colt and Sam, you know you have arrived when little boys are dressing up as you for Halloween :) Just in case you ever read my blog! Amy maybe you can tell Colt :)

So, my kiddos. This last week flew by. Only one to go then a short week and we will be celebrating Thanksgiving! It will be nice to see Aunt Joy after not seeing her for several months. Today we are going to enjoy a nice dinner w/ Nana to celebrate Thanksgiving with her. Then to the info meeting for LTC. Davis, I'm excited for this event again this year! I praise you for making the commitment.

Our weekend consisted of me feeling under the weather most of the time, some sinus/cold junk :( Davis, as usual I loved cheering you on at your FB game Saturday! loved watching you catch those passes! I also greatly appreciated your help with all of the leaf raking. You were so thoughtful to make a pile for Sophie to jump in, since she had talked about it several times. Who would have known she would have taking a nap for over 3 hours. She was thrilled to jump in to them today, even though they were wet. That girl! Oh, and the cutest thing you did this weekend Sophie... you wanted to find the current Bible story you are studying Mary, Joseph, and Baby Jesus, in both of your Bible's, then you so carefully marked the pages and had them ready to take to church. You were so prepared and proud... then they were accidently left right on my bed :(

Can't believe the weekend is coming to a close. BIack to the grind tomorrow.

A fast week

So kids it has been a pretty good week. Sophie I hate that you were sick on Monday with a high fever, however, it was short lived and you were better by Tuesday afternoon. Davis you can't seem to get enough of this new xbox of yours. Thankfully you respect the limits we have set. Not to mention you are so responsible with your school work. We don't ever have to push you to do your homework or nightly reading of 20 minutes, thank you for that!

Sophie, tonight you were whisked away by your aunt Moni for a sleep-over. You'll be back early in the morn. So, we'll have our "girl's night" next week :) I'm sure more than once, even if you decide to invite the boys like you usually do. Your so considerate of others.

So Davis, this weekend we get to watch you catch a few at your FB game. You did great last weekend and I'm sure you will again. It is so fun to watch you! You have no idea! Not to mention your sportsmanship you have always showed.

Well guys, I'm sure I'll write more this weekend,
Love you
Mom

New Approach

Since starting this blog I have gone back and forth as to what I should put on it. For the most part it has been very random, with several stretches of not blogging. So today while driving, I reflected on the purpose of my blog. I came to the conclusion that my original purpose was to create something like a journal/"baby book" for my kids. That being said I am going to try and do just that.

So here goes...

Davis and Sophie,
Today was an eventful day. We picked Davis up from a sleepover and headed to his 8am FB game. Davis you played GREAT! The fact that you are about 5'4 is such an advantage for you. You caught several passes. I couldn't help but notice your sweet cousin apologizing to you on the sideline for stealing one of your TD's. You two have such a great relationship, you get along so well. My prayer is that the two of you will grow as Christian's and cheer each other on through MS and HS.

Sophie you and I went to a few yard sales after the game, Davis opted out... We bought a very annoying squaking rubber chicken, some hybiscus pods, a Veggie tales CD, and a scale... that I plan to decopauge. We returned home for you to take a nap before we ventured out to see Where the Wild things Are and Davis you went to see A Christmas Carol with your Nana. Sophie you barely made it through the movie, but not because it was scary... you actually got bored, which has been the case in most movies we have been to. We may wait to attend one for awhile.

We returned home for some fun adventures on the trampoline while we waited for Davis to get home... in hopes that he would join us. Instead our dog Jack did... no surprise, he loves the tramp. We also discovered a random watermelon growing in the middle of the backyard and a sharp piece of iron sticking through the fence. This may be the cause of Jacks injury??? We'll fix it tomorrow.

Dinner was fried rice... again! Thank you Sophie for helping prepare the veggies. I'm sorry you burned your hand on the skillet when you put them in. You did such a great job eating it too, for some reason you weren't picky tonight, you ate all the veggies! Davis I don't think the PB and J that you opted for will hold you through the night!

Davis I'm sitting here writing as I listen to you snoring. You crashed at 9:30 tonight while we were watching OU lose to Nebraska. It's 10:10 pm with 9:33 left in the game the score is 3/10... them, I'm prayerful for a TD to make dads trip to Nebraska worth it. I take that back it was worth it, he got to see cousin Roger and spend time w/ uncle Anson.

Night Night

Random Thoughts I don't Want to forget

Here is my patient son Davis... he really is so sweet with the little ones!
Meet Lesley, our new student from China. This our first time to host a student from China. She is very kind and sweet with Sophie!
This is our Jack! About 2 weeks ago we came home to find him with an enormous laceration on his back hip, about 6 inches long and very jagged! It was horrible. After rushing him to the vet he ended up having surgery and had to wear this cone for 10 days. He also had to be indoors for 10 days! a challenge for an outdoor dog. Well, all has healed well and he is back to normal.

Parkhurst

Over Fall Break we had the opportunity to go to the Pumpkin Patch with our dear friends Jillian and Kenley!!!

It's been so long...

since I last posted... except for the post I just did a few minutes ago. I was looking at all of my previous posts and there are very few pics, so I wanted to include a few of my kiddos. They are growing up too fast!!!

Some of my favorite people...

Since getting involved in Celebrate Recovery over 3 years ago, I have developed some cherished relationships. I love these people. I love spending time with them! They are REAL!!! Thanks guys!

Colt McCoy is "carrying the candle" to his teammates!

Since becoming a star QB for Texas I know Colt has had his fair share of challenges. I can't even imagine how difficult it would be to walk a Christian walk in the position he is in. Word has it that Colt is doing just that. I spoke with my aunt in Abilene today and she shared with me that he had been studying with some of his teammates and baptized 5 of them this past week. It brought tears to my eyes! I know this must have been very difficult to spark interest in the hearts of these young men and I am so encouraged and uplifted to know that he is "carrying the candle" to the Longhorn players.

The story and connection behind the McCoy family is such an interesting one. My mother and Colt's grandmother are first cousins. Therefore Colt is my 4th cousin. In addition to that Colt's father, Brad, took his first coaching job under my father-in-law in New Mexico. Colt was born in Hobbs while they were living there. Following their stint in NM they moved on to Texas. I first met my McCoy cousins when I was about 14, they had recently moved from NM... little did I know they were already friends with the Brown family, in which I would marry in to some years later. When I began dating David I mentioned that the closest relatives I had to Oklahoma were in Abilene, the McCoy's. We eventually realized the connection. That Thanksgiving of my freshman year in college I spent it in Abilene with the McCoy's. David dropped me off on his way to NM. They already knew him... perhaps better than I. Brad had nothing but great things to say about David; that was comforting. That same Thanksgiving I remember throwing the football with Colt on many occasion. I remember thinking "he sure is good for a little guy..." Little did we know what God had planned for him.

Since coming to Oklahoma I have had many more opportunities to spend time with the McCoy's. From family reunions to frequent visits to the Abilene area. They are an amazing family who has been a wonderful example to me in more ways than one!

If you want to be frugal try these! A.K.A. "Save a Buck Sunday"

One of my favorite books is the Tightwad Gazette. If you don't own it and you are striving to be frugal you must own this book. It is awesome! One suggestion that it has is using TVP (Textured Vegetable Protein) as a meat substitute. I have wanted to try it for some time but have not had the courage to do so, until tonight! My SIL was over and we were trying the Millet I had made and then I brought out the TVP. We soaked it and then she so bravely tasted it first, it was not bad at all! We both agreed that it could easily serve as a meat sub in many dishes. Not that I am against using meat, I'm just always looking for ways to save a buck. It is about a dollar a pound and it is much healthier than actual meat. Less fat more fiber etc... I must add that she has texture issues and still liked it! We were trying it with a little seasonings etc... I think it will be much better in an actual recipe. If anyone would like to share your experiences I'd love to hear!


Now on to the Millet. This is a grain that is similar to wheat, yet is gluten free! Yipee! It reminds me of cous cous. It is prepared like you would prepare rice. Tonight I tried it with butter. Thats as far as I got. I am going to look for some good recipes to use it in. Once again very cheap. One bag cost $.99 at Cao Nguyen (Asian food store off Classen). I know it is possible to make a flat bread with it so I will be researching that. I'm starting to get tired of corn tortillas! I have yet to make a good gluten-free bread, even though I have a great recipe for one. I have a strange fear of making bread for some reason???

By the way, I have an idea of starting a "Save a Buck Sunday" post. Basically you would post a frugal idea that you have and use, on Sundays. Similar to the "Random Thoughts Thursday", "Flashback Friday", etc... join in if you'd like!

So blessed

Today was a great day! It all started with me actually being on time and leaving the house to be on time to church. We had a wonderful lesson focusing on reaching out to others. Oh, how I need to do this more. I often have great intentions of reaching out but do not always follow through... fear of rejection I presume. One more thing to add to my prayer list.

The service ended with my 10 year old nephew going forward to be baptized. What a special day for this Brown family. It seems like only yesterday he was born...just five days after my own son.

The afternoon was spent doing a few household chores and a nap of course. Following dinner we played several rounds of Apples to Apples with the family. Then welcomed David's family over for some Wii/Guitar Hero action. David did not get up from those drums for a couple of hours. He can really rock out! We keep telling him to join a band and relive his glory days :) Anyone needing a drummer let me know...

As I sit here yawning I am feeling so blessed to have such a wonderful family. Good night.

They say , "There is a special place in heaven for the mother of three boys"

But what about the mother of one boy? I have to assume that there will be a special place for me too. ;) My little boy can sure give me a run for my money to say the least. But God never fails me. As I reflected on the the challenges that can come with parenting, I picked up a kids devo book sitting next to me and opened to the page "When you face a trial".

You will face all kinds of trouble. When you do, think of it as pure joy. Your faith will be put to the test. You know that when that happens it will produce in you the strength to continue.~James 1:2-3.

This scripture came at the perfect time. After a few rough days I needed this encouragement.

Although he can be a challenge at times he can also be a blessing in sooooo many ways. This little guy, getting bigger by the day, is very quick witted when least expected. He loves his little sister dearly and often calls her "honey", while trying to help her with something. He still likes to be "put to bed" with a prayer and a late night "talk". He does his chores. He loves to go to Bible class and school. Not to mention he has done very well academically. He has patience beyond measure, like his dad. :) He is honest and reliable. We love him very much!!!!

One other exciting tidbit that we are so thrilled about is his ability to mow the grass :). I know dad was elated that this day arrived so I included a pic of him in action! We love you Davis!

Schools Out for Summer

Oh how I have longed for this day!!! I had a pretty good year at Crooked Oak, but it was short lived. I will be teaching in Mustang next year. Turns out Crooked Oak did not have it in the budget to keep a few Sped teachers, so... last hired first to go. I am so grateful to have a position in Mustang. Once again God never fails me.

I have been away from blogging for the last month or so. I'm looking forward to catching up. I've enjoyed reading blogs just haven't had much time to do my own writing.

I am looking forward to spending much needed time with my kids this summer. We are also hosting a new student from Japan. So far she is great! No big trips planned, except a few camps and camping trips. Oh and we will be preparing our house to sell sometime this summer, more on that later...

Random Thoughts thursday, almost missed it!

I coached MS Cheer this year, we are having try-outs tomorrow ... it will be a long day, I can barely watch some of them.

I hate that I have zero time to plan or actually cook something gluten-free, I can't wait for summer!

On that note my job was eliminated, looking for a new position... who ever heard of special education jobs being cut???

There are at least 3 piles of CLEAN clothes I need to re-fold and put up, why am I on here??? Maybe because I was at work for 10 hours today...

I've been listening to the neighbor boy do tricks on his skateboard for the last hour, not far from my bedroom window

I have a hard time being random...

What a boring post

I have a new appreciation for the OKC Memorial Marathon

Although I did NOT run a marathon or even a half marathon this weekend, I feel as if I have been running all weekend.

Friday consisted of attending CR at our church and then a late night at SB with a few friends.

Saturday started out w/ 2 bball games for my son then on to the OKC Arts Festival. I always enjoy attending this event for the food, atmosphere, music, and of course the art! My favorite artist is the woman who "paints" using an ink pad and her fingerprints to create beautiful paintings.

On to the Hartman's for a wonderful dinner. Their backyard is amazing! and the weather was perfect.

I was not sure what to expect when I agreed to sign up to attend the OKC Memorial Kid's Marathon this morning, at 7am. It was so much better than I ever expected! After finishing that, my son and I headed over to the finish line. We were able to watch numerous runners finish the 1/2 marathon. I saw several faces I knew, and had fun embarrassing Davis as I cheered on a few friends who finished. We also had the privilege of seeing several of the 26.2 er's! I actually fought back tears watching all of these runners. It takes such hard work and dedication to accomplish a race, no matter what distance it is. I know, I used to be a runner back in the day... just finishing was all I cared about. I was so inspired... enough to train in the next year?... perhaps. Davis is interested too, so we shall see.

I encourage anyone who knows someone racing or who just wants to have a fun and memorable experience, go to a race and watch, better yet volunteer! It is so much fun!

A memorable Saturday

Today started out as many Saturday's do for us. My son had 2 basketball games this morning. Following the games we ate lunch with our family. That is always enjoyable. We are very open around each other which makes for a wild and crazy time. Sometimes we get some looks, but we just chuckle.

Following lunch we headed home. I was dreading doing the laundry that has piled up since our dryer is not working (getting fixed Monday). I had already loaded 4 baskets of clothes in to my van, in hopes that I would make it to the laundromat sometime today. Sophie and David fell asleep on the couch and Davis and I headed to Walmart. After that stop I mentioned we would be going to do the laundry... he wanted to be taken home. I offered to get some ice cream if he would come to help. Little did he know we would be there over three hours.

I grew up going to the laundromat, nothing new to me. For him,however, it was all new. He ended up loading washers, loading dryers, checking for damp clothes, transferring damp clothes, folding, and loading the HEAVY baskets back in to the van. I was sooooo impressed. It was a very creative way for us to bond, even though it took a little bribing. It would have been much harder without him. At the end when I was sorting and matching socks I encouraged him to sit down and rest. He was kind enough to say " you haven't taken a break so I shouldn't take a break". If you know my little son he is typically dry and matter of fact, this was one of the sweetest things he has said to me in a long time. I never anticipated what I felt or experienced today. It was a very special time.

It is so amazing what happens when people work together side by side for a common goal. It provides so many different opportunities to grow closer. As touched as I was I am not sure I will ever be able to get him to go again :)

Tomorrow we have the chore of putting all those clothes away, work never ends....

Random thoughts thursday, almost missed it!

We are off to LTC (Leadership Training for Christ) tomorrow, the Anatole is an awesome place to stay

Ikea I will see you on Saturday!!!

I had no idea what fires could do so quickly until today... devastating! Midwest City of Ember, I am praying for you tonight :(

I scored a 60% on a "Could I survive poverty" evaluation yesterday, very interesting to say the least. Most of the teachers did not score that high, i wonder what you would score?

Purcell is Quarter Horse country?

Today I could not cut out a full circle for my students, they died laughing... my creation looked like a very fluffy bottom in my words, they used a different term of course

You need to make a huge effort to attend Celebrate Recovery @ MRCC on June 5th, it will be AMAZING!

I love KFOR4, great coverage! I like Chellie too :)

I paid for $5.00 of gas today with all coins, don't ask!

Why am I always in a hurry?

What happened while I was 34...

I guess there were some things that did occur over the last year of my life, so here is a random list...

I decided I love to end thoughts with a "..."

I became more interested in FB and the blog world

Hosted a student from Taiiwan, Panama, and now Saudi Arabia

Got a teaching position at Crooked Oak

Became female Ministry Leader for CR

prepared more meals at home than ever before

lost a beautiful member of our extended family, Connor Deal

grew to love my children and husband more each day

made 2 new friends whom I cherish

owned more dogs in a year than ever before, currently have 2

diagnosed with Celiac disease

threw up more times than any previous year of my life

learned how to eat gluten free

received my first speeding ticket


Oh, I'm sure there more, but there is list to start :)

Random Thoughts...

Not as good as last week.

I discussed a student of mine today with the Speech Pathologist, I mentioned my concern for some of his issues, she told me that was called "okieism" speech, not actually a disorder, but very common. She actually put Oklahoma in the dialect box of his speech evaluation! I actually think she is not the first person to do this.

My little Sophie did not want her hair fixed today because people might call her "cute" .

I really like Archie on ER, sad to see it is the end of the season.

I get great satisfaction cleaning the bathrooms, I did that tonight.

We have a student from Saudi Arabia living in our home. First time to have a male. We have had 6 girl's, none from Saudi. We are learning a lot about culture. So far we know that he loves white bread, and sliced cheese very much. He is not fond of fruits or veggies. He is used to eating with his hands and sitting on the floor. Sophie walked in to his room last night unannounced, sorry Hasaan.

My 10 year old still likes me to "put him to bed". So I better honor his request, it is way past his bed time.

"Random Thoughts Thursday"

I have a few blogger buddies that post "Random Thought Thursdays, I'm jumping on the band wagon!!!!

Left from Ruidoso this morn and stopped at the McDonald's... it has been remodeled to look like a UFO! Random.




Ventured on to Amarillo, got pulled over and received my first speeding ticket... ever!
NOT!!!!




Then we arrived at our MOTEL!!!! THE BIG TEXAN!!!! Yes, we are staying here!!! Cowprint bedspreads and all! This should be fun! And NO I will not be attempting to eat the 72 oz. steak just to get something free.

We are staying in the "Brown Door Room".

While on vacation

We left last Friday evening to drive to New Mexico to visit my mom, brother and his wife. The plan was to drive the 4 hours to Amarillo and spend the night. To my surprise we hit a snowstorm around Shamrock, TX. Luckily my SIL Moni called to warn me that the weather was pretty ugly between Shamrock and Amarillo. I quickly pulled in to the nearest hotel. The desk clerk was so helpful and helped me cancel the reservation I had in Amarillo, due to the bad weather. We had nice room, however, I was starving!!! As many of you know my family has the goal of NOT eating out the month of March... well I caved that Friday evening. Due to my diet restrictions there are not very many simple foods I can grab and go... like a PB&J for instance. So, I ran to get a grilled chicken salad at McD's to end my growling stomach. Davis was very unhappy w/ me! He refused to get anything. I was a little guilty, however, realized that we did pick a bad month to not eat out, with a vacation planned and all...

So we got up early and headed to our final destination, Ruidoso. The trip was smooth. We did stop one more time for food out of necessity, and perhaps poor planning on my part. Since we have been here we have not eaten out once. We plan to stay comitted to NOT eating out when we return home.

As for the vacation. We are mostly relaxing and spending time with the fam. We did venture to the zoo and White Sands on Sunday afternoon. Mostly i am just enjoying doing nothing!!! and being surrounded by family, and tall trees!

Our new canines

So last summer we got a new dog named Sally. Well she was an escape artist, and eventually did not return after scaling the neighbors fence and then some.

About a month after she got out our neighbor down the street was giving away dogs that had been rescued. We decided to try one of them for the weekend. She was a black pomeranian, adorable! Needless to say she was very aggressive and we decided to return her. In doing so we were introduced to many other dogs when we drove out to the property in Guthrie.

Davis really wanted a bigger dog and Sophie just had to have one too. We thought it would be better to have 2 so they could keep each other company. We came home that evening back in February with 2 large breed pups. Luxa, named after a character in Gregor and the Overlander, is a Catahoula mix that belongs to Davis. Sophie's dog is Jack Jack and he is a Siberian Husky/Pyrenees mix a.k.a. Sibernees. They are both doing great! So far not too destructive and they play together all the time!

Jack


Luxa

When Sophie falls asleep

I often take the opportunity to blog... read blogs, etc... Here she is with her mounds of hair all over her face while sucking her thumb and twirling her hair in to tangles impossible to get out. She is home sick today. She had a fever all weekend but I think she is on the mend. She has been cranky and tired but only running a 99 this morning. I'm prayerful it does not creep up as the day progresses, like it did last night. I hope you can make out the photo. There is a precious little face under all that hair. You can see my arm as we are lying on my bed :)

Do you want to be amazed???

then click on my link for the Anonymous Truths blog on my sidebar. If you have not read this it is worth taking a look... usually.

March Money Madness Progress...

So far so good! Our family has not eaten out since the last day of February! It was a little challenging at first... I really wanted to get something at McD's for lunch this last week, I resisted! Today was a challenge today too, Sophie has been sick this weekend and I just wanted to run and get some tacos... once again I resisted. We DID eat at home. I have estimated that we have saved at least $75.00 since the first of the month. We usually eat out on Sunday's at $25.00 a pop... and that's actually on the low end.

Once again this is most difficult for me. I have been amused by my son and his comments. He is actually supportive of the whole thing. He tends to like things that are different and a challenge. Unless it involves sports... that's a different story.

Until next time!

March Money Madness

Praise God I believe Davis is over the virus that hung on for 2 1/2 weeks. Thank you for praying and for all of the encouraging comments!

On to the title of my post. As many of you know I strive to be frugal... and at times I fail. I have an obsession with learning ways to be a"tightwad", "miserly mom", whatever you want to call it. I call it smart. Anyways, after looking at the budget I had the grand idea of NOT eating out for the whole month of March...David said we will call it March Money Madness, in efforts to save money of course. As I have written previously we spend waaaaaay to much eating out. I am too afraid to add it up to be honest... it will depress me. Even since being diagnosed with Celiac I have found some things that I can tolerate, and I have indulged. I haven't been taking my lunch to work as often and McD's has gotten the best of me....I can actually have their fries, so I have taken it upon myself to have them a couple of times per week. Ugh!

So starting today we are not eating out for 31 days! Oh my! What will I do over Spring Break? I guess we will pack an ice chest when we travel....hmmm... haven't thought of this one yet. Some of you may be thinking that this is crazy and it would be a cinch for your family... I am so proud of you! Some of you may agree you eat out too much. Feel free to leave your comments. I'd love to hear your thoughts and encouragement!

Today was tough on the kids, we always eat out on Sunday w/ family... today we declined. The kids threw fits, but they were short lived thank goodness. In all honesty this challenge will be most difficult for me.

I must go, the lasagna needs to be taken out of the oven!

* A good friend questioned why I didn't do it for February since there is only 28 days... good point! To late now.

Strange Friday

So I am sitting in my bed at 7:46 pm on a Friday night. Who does that? Who GETS to do that? Apparently I do tonight, and I'm not even sick!

Today I was home with Davis again. He felt much better this morning and was not running a fever. By lunch time he was feeling terrible, but no fever. He did not wan to eat either. We went to pick up Sophie at 1pm at school to take her to her renal ultra sound/VCUG appt. This is a follow up to the kidney infection she had about 4 weeks ago. This was a traumatic experience to say the least. She did well during the ultrasound, however, the VCUG is a test that involves catheratization and lying still then urinating to get accurate test results while still cathed...ugh...terrible for a 3 year old. I will probably never get her to willingly go to the Dr. again after today. The good news is everything is working properly! Davis is also feeling better than he did for the majority of the afternoon and still no fever.

So we came home about 4:30, ate nachos, and Sophie crashed about 5:30pm. She is still asleep! I even transferred her from the couch to her bed. The guys are playing some game, soooo I got in bed with my laptop and here I am.

So much for an eventful Friday evening. Our usual Friday night consists of attending Celebrate Recovery at our church. As for tonight I think I will be able to catch up on some much needed sleep, that is if I don't wander off in to blog land!

Update on Davis

As of today Davis has had a temp. of at least 99 up to 103(the first week) for 16 days straight. Today has been one of his better days. He woke up with a temp. of 101. By 10:30 is was 99...he has actually felt pretty good, not as tired and weak. I am praying that this crazy virus is on it's way out the door, although that's what I thought last week too...

We are waiting for lab results of a mono test. I am anxiously awaiting the doctors phone call. Not that there is much you can do for mono except rest,rest,rest. It will just be nice to know why he has felt so bad for so long.

It has been a roller coaster having a sick 10 year old boy. As soon as he starts feeling better he wants to go back to school or to an activity... even though an hour before feeling better he was curled up in a ball on my bed with a high temp. He has cried and been angry several times, mostly with me. He gets mad that I kept him home and furious that he had to have blood drawn... "WHY DID YOU HAVE TO BRING ME TO THE DOCTOR!", he kept telling me.

I know that God will take care of us. I know that things will get better. Please continue praying. Please pray for the mothers who have gone through or currently have a sick child on a much grander scale. I can't even imagine...

We are going for the record...

of illnesses around here. I feel like I have written about this all too much. First me having Celiac and now Davis has been sick for almost 2 weeks.

Davis started running a fever about 2 weeks ago. He has been very lethargic,weak, and has not had an appetite. Originally he was diagnosed with the flu. Of course the kind that is not covered by the flu vaccine. His fever lasted 6 days, then he started feeling better. He went to school all but Monday of last week. He started to feel crummy again Friday evening. Saturday he played in a bball game and then we ventured to the Shrine Circus. By lunch he was feeling terrible and he didn't want to eat. When we got home he was glued to the couch for the remainder of the day. Sunday was the same, fever off and on and extreme exhaustion. So today we went to the Dr. He had his blood drawn to check for a number of things...I'm praying it is just another virus, which is most likely what is going on. It's just taking it's time to get out of his system.

Please pray that he will feel better soon. He has been down in the dumps because he has missed out on several things that any 10 year old boy would be mad about. Such as VDay party, 4th grade school program, bball championship...which by the way his team won! And today a rootbeer float party for meeting his reading goal. Poor guy :(

Thanks for the prayers once again!

I asked for prayers...

for Connor, David's cousin. With deepest regrets I am asking for prayers for his parents and brothers; Connor passed away on Tuesday evening. Ron,Nan, Brennan, and Brayden, as well as his extended family are in deep sorrow over the loss of this beautiful young man, who is now singing with Jesus.

If you would like to read more about what happened with Connor I suggest reading the Caring Bridge site for Connor.

Please continue to pray for Ron, Nan, Brennan, and Brayden.

God Bless.

Would you please pray...

Last night I mentioned Connor in my post. Connor is the son of Ron Deal, David's cousin. If you know Lloyd and Barbara Deal; It is their 12 year old grandson.

Well, as of today he has not improved. He was still not doing good this morning. They are currently in Amarillo. Yesterday Connor was diagnosed with MRSA staff bilateral pneumonia. Not a good diagnosis.

So please join us in praying for Connor! This sweet boy needs all of our prayers!

Thank you sooooo much!

At the Brown House

There are many things to post, yet I haven't had the time or desire. This has been a long and unfortunate week.

To start things off Sophie began the week on Sunday with a high fever that lasted until Wednesday morning. Then it was Davis' turn and he started running a fever Tuesday evening and is still running one as I write. I will be taking him in to the doc tomorrow if it hasn't let up. He is miserable. Then David returned home from ever making it to basketball and was in bed by 9pm tonight, Davis quickly followed. I'm also not feeling so great. No fever yet.

The tornadoes on Tuesday afternoon wreaked havoc on this area as well. We drove through the north part of Edmond this afternoon and it brought tears to my eyes. As does any other tornado damage that I have seen. It just hurts my heart for the families enduring this natural disaster.

Tuesday we also got word that David's cousin's 12 year old son Connor was admitted to the hospital for pneumonia. By yesterday he was in ICU and on a vent. As of now all we know is that he did start improving some this morning. He was not moved from Amarillo to Dallas Children's. We are praying that he continues to improve;please join us.

To finish out today we have added two canines to the Brown family. Yes, we did have a dog that we got last summer. She was an amazing escape artist. She would jump fences at the drop of the hat. She got out a few months ago and was never found. Last Friday we decided to take in a small black pom... she was not fond of children or men, very aggressive, and nipped a few times. Today we returned her to the rescue and decided to try two of her other dogs that she had. One is a Sibernees (cross between Pyrenees and Husky) and a Calahoula mix. I am hoping they will be great additions to our family. So far so good... they are sleeping soundly outside in the same dog house.

So that's a brief update on my family. Sorry it was a bit of a downer. I will post more about our new pups, who are adorable by the way! Please pray for Connor!

Beauty school drop-out

So we've been hit with ice again. Not as bad as last year. So far all trees are standing. To pass time today Davis and I added a little highlights! Davis even helped pull my hair through the cap! Fun fun...Sophie had fun just brushing through the stringy strands of hair. She finally crashed on my bed at 3pm! I'm off to check the damage.

Simple Entertainment

This morning at church I had the privilege of hearing a wonderful sermon by Jeff McMillon. One of the highlights of his lesson focused on our emphasis put on entertainment. These days we are not easily entertained and often seek out the most extravagant forms of entertainment. I so agreed with his examples. I can't say I have not fallen in to this way of thinking but I do have strong opinions about overspending on lavish excursions over and over...Part of my opinions are based on frugal ways of thinking. Don't misunderstand me; I do think it is good and important to vacation with family. I just think that all to often over indulgence is taking place.

So my intentions of this post is to hear what others are doing for entertainment with their families. What do you do that is simple and memorable with your loved ones?

As for our family we have done many "simple" things to have fun! Here is a small list.
1.Read together
2.Sleep overs
3.Karaoke
4.Make desserts
5.Camp outs (my son has done this the last 2 years for b-day, it was less than $50, and very memorable)
6.Slept out on trampoline
7.drive out to Pops
8.visit Oklahoma attractions (we love Roman Nose State Park)
9.Go to the dog park
10. Visit a family who has farm animals (this has included gathering eggs, and holding baby kids (goats :))
11. Attended concerts in the park
12. Volunteered at outdoor theatre and received free tickets for admission (Summerstock in Edmond during summer)
13. Block parties
14. attended several county fairs and went to 4-H competitions

There are many more but 14 is our family number so I'll stop there.

Eating out is overrated...

How many of you agree with this? Probably not many :) I love to eat out, or shall I say loved eating out. I actually struggled with this at one time...wanting to always eat out that is. mainly because I thought it was faster and easier, I'm starting to realize I was wrong. Not only has eating out been hard on the budget but I'm sure it's been hard on our bodies.

Since finding out I have Celiac I can only eat limited things if we do eat out. Salad...with my own dressing. How fun is that? Maybe a few more items, but not many. There are a few places that have GF items but they are pricey restaraunts like PF Chang (only for Krista's b-day) and Outback. After my most recent episode/flare up last Thursday I'm terrified to eat anything I did not prepare. I'm sure I'll get over that eventually.

I'm proud to say I have eaten all my meals at home for the last 7 days. That is really good for me.Although, I have had a couple of half price medium Coke's from Sonic :) I have made some really good meals this week, and very healthy too! My favorite was a pasta bake w/ GF noodles and salad w/ a huge avocado from Crest. Yum yum! Oh, and I cooked a chicken in the crockpot after pulling all the skin off, that was a chore but very yummy! ( I have made chicken this way many times but never w/o the skin, it is so much better)

To make the week worse...then better

Following my difficult 2 days Sophie developed a kidney infection. She has had a fever for 2 days with abdominal pain and painful urination. it is heartbreaking. To top it off it has been almost impossible to get her to take her medicine. We are trying one last attempt of putting it with chocolate ice cream...that was recommended by the on call nurse, otherwise she will need to get a shot. Monday we will try to get in to the Dr.

In addition to that news we welcomed our new student Karine from Panama! She is only 16! She will only be here 6 weeks. Most of our other students have stayed for 4 months or more. As far as I can tell I think she is going to be a delight to have in our home.

Well I am off to attempt a GF dessert!

Well I was right...

Yesterday morning as I wrote I was predicting that I was not going to feel well. I attempted to go back to sleep with no luck. I managed to drag myself out of bed, shower,and get ready for work. While driving Davis to school I continued to feel worse to no avail. I turned the van around and came home. Within 20 minutes I was thankful I did! I was sicker yesterday than I have ever been...I experienced all the symptoms listed for about 8 hours straight. You could compare it to a terrible stomach virus. My conclusion was...I must be eating gluten.

Around 5pm or so I had a little energy to read and discovered my conclusion was correct. I learned that gluten is in malt, which is in candy bars,which I ate on Wednesday. I know I had other things too, like salad dressing. This is such a learning process. My life will be consumed w/ reading labels for awhile. So when you see people reading labels...
perhaps they have Celiac??

I am feeling better today, not 100%, but MUCH better. I am so glad I went to CR tonight, because I considered not going. It was very uplifting and rejuvenating. Thank you to all of you and your kind words of concern and encouragement!

P.S. For those of you who asked, yes my kids are getting tested next week. That shall be interesting. Just a blood draw...a first for Sophie and Davis vomits at the sight of blood... we shall see :)

I'm struggling... with this Celiac

Since recently being diagnosed with celiac my life has been altered/turned upside down just a bit. Not only have I started the gluten-free diet, which by the way is very difficult to get used to, but I have also been experiencing other things that have been unexpected.

For one, this diet, which is the only cure for Celiac, takes time to get used to and to learn. I know I have made some mistakes along the way; it is difficult learning all the foods that contain gluten, so I know I have accidently ingested some. Not on purpose or to cheat believe me, I am praying for relief from the symptoms I have been experiencing for several years, I am willing to do what ever it takes to reverse the effects this has taken on my body and mind.

When you have Celiac your small intestine has been damaged and needs time to repair itself,therefore, relief is not immediate... at least not in my case. I have continued to have some symptoms over the past week. I am still experiencing fatigue,stomach problems,inability to concentrate/remember, and the skin issues. Over time this can certainly become a bit of a burden and even depressing. I have to say I have experienced some of this.

To add to the mix I went back to work full-time in August.. .this condition has not worked well with my job. I have missed several days of school because of it. This has only added to the frustration. I am guilt ridden for missing so much, and I'm not sure how much more I will need to miss while I am waiting to start feeling better, it is a vicious cycle. I am supposed to meet with my Principal today to discuss all of this,however, as I type this I am not feeling so hot and my stomach is churning...which is usually an indicator that the day ahead will not be so great...

Blogging has been an outlet for me at times, this would be one of those times. It helps to just write things out . The positive side of things is that I will most likely lose a little weight and there is relief in sight, or so I'm told :) I have faith that there is, really I do. I know that God will do wonders. My prayer is that those wonders will come soon.

Thank you for letting me get that off my chest. I know I could write even more but it's 5am and I going to attempt to gain one more hour of sleep, if possible. Until next time.

Milk Tea is a love of mine ! I was introduced to it by our student Lily. Currently I am living off of the stash she supplied me with that is directly from Taiwan. I'm not sure what I will do when I run out. Perhaps I will have to make a special order. This tea has such a unique flavor I have never tasted before.

The Red Cup is one of my favorite places to go in OKC...when I get the chance. Now that I am on a gluten-free diet I will not be able to frequent the Red Cup as often as I would like :( The atmosphere is great and on some nights they have live music. Check them out if you get a chance...they are located off Classen.

Looking forward to 2009

May all my blogging friends be blessed in the year to come. I am anxious to see what this year will bring. With a new President and economic troubles it shall be interesting. I am prayerful and have faith that the Lord has a grand plan.

Looking at the past year I am thankful for some things that are behind us. From David being laid off in February from Dell to my mom moving back to NM in May. As always the Lord blessed us in more ways than one. David quickly found a temporary job and was then hired at his current job that he really enjoys! I reluctantly went back to teaching. Sophie is able to go to school with me and that is yet another blessing to add to the list. Davis continues to be a great student and is developing a love of reading...and a love of computer games.(We will have to keep tabs on that one) Our student Lily moved out to live with her brother here in Edmond. We loved having her in our home for almost a year. We have missed her. We were able to visit Dallas in the Spring where Davis participated in Leadership Training for Christ, he brought home several medals. We were able to visit NM to spend time with my brother and sister-in-law and my mom, in the beautiful town of Ruidoso. Finishing out the summer we attended a family reunion on my side in Abilene. The fall has been a whirlwind as I have adjusted to working outside the home again. After battling several bouts of stomach problems I was diagnosed with Celiac the end of December. Another blessing is that this disease can be controlled by a gluten-free diet, no meds or surgery etc... We made another trip to Abilene to be with my Aunt Joy for Christmas. That brings me to the end of the year. I am looking forward to 2009 and what the Lord has in store for our family.

Goals for 2009...

1. Focus more on strengthening my marriage (15 years in March)
2. Grow in patience with my children
3. Have a simple vegetable garden
4. Eat out less (will be easier w/ this gluten-free diet)
5. Get rid of belongings that have not ben used in last 6 months
6. Do something for a neighbor
7. Finish establishing our emergency fund
8. Post on my blog at least 3 times per week