First trip to Shriner Hospital

Kalysa and I made our first trip to Shreveport for an appointment at the Shriner hospital. We left Okc about 8 in the morning on Wednesday in a Shriner van. About an hour away we stopped and picked up two more patients that also had appointments. The shriners let Kalysa check out a portable DVD player and a movie.

She spent most of the ride watching "Chitty Chitty Bang Bang." It took us about 7 hours so we are all VERY thankful that the DVD player had head phones:) ! We stopped for lunch at a Mcdonalds and then the driver also stopped at a Russel Stovers store and bought all three kids a big bag of jelly beans. After we got to town, we checked into the motel that the Shriners had set up for us. After settling in a little, we all went to supper at CiCi's pizza. The entire community seems to have embraced the Shriners and the children they help. We got supper for free and there are a few other restaurants that apparently do the same thing for the Shriner patients. After supper, we had a free evening at the motel.

Kalysa wanted to go to the pool but I did not bring any suits so I told her she could just play on the steps. I was not planning on getting wet myself until Kalysa stepped off the bottom step and could not touch bottom so I ended up jumping in with my clothes on to grab her. After that she was done with swimming. We headed back to the room for baths and a little relaxing.

Keslee had called me 3 times and was really missing her mama. She wanted to know EVERYTHING about the trip and our room..."Are there 2 beds or one? Is there a tv? Is it a big screen? Do they give you soap? What color is the soap? It is white, I thought it would be blue. Do you have a sink? Is there a bathroom? You have a Dr. Pepper, where did you get it? How do you get ice? Is there any chairs by the pool?...." Kalysa and I went around and took pictures of everything from the toilet to the pop machines to the tv to the pool to the ice machine so that Keslee could see it all when we got home.

Here is Kalysa standing beside the van that we rode down on.

And here is the Shriner that drove the van.

The next morning we had to be up at 6 am. We had breakfast at the motel and then checked out and headed to the hospital by 7am. We all checked in and waited for our appointments. The hospital is completely geared toward the children so the entire lobby is full of fun things for the kids to do. Normally the kids are expected to sit in the waiting room and be quiet but here they had toys and rocking horses and tricycles and games. Kalysa instantly met up with another little boy about 3 years old and they raced all around on the bikes. When it was finally her turn, we went into the gait lab and she had to walk back and forth on a little path while being video taped. Next they did lots of measurements and stretches to verify and note her range of movement and her strength. Then she was taped up with little silver balls at each of her joints and electrodes taped to her muscles and she had to walk the path again. There were special cameras mounted all around the room that picked up the little balls and made a digital image of her on the computer. We got to watch her little digital robot walking on the screen. It was kinda like watching a "the making of..." for a digital cartoon movie.

The balls were not actually lit up but the flash from the camera reflected off of them resulting in "Kalysa the Christmas tree". She TOTALLY did not want to wear the little bikini top and kept trying to cover up but it was necessary for all the electrodes to be seen by the cameras. The 2 lab techs that were doing the tests were ladies and they assured her they would not let any boys in while she had it on. The tests took about 2 hours to complete. The doctor will now go over all the information collected (I was told it will take him about 4 hours to process it all) and customize a plan for her surgery specific to her needs. After we finished, we found our party, both other boys were finished with their appointments, and headed home. We stopped at a little buffet for lunch and everyone got to eat for $2.50 each. One of the cooks came out and gave our driver a wad of cash to give the Shriners to help with travel expenses. We got home about 6:30 pm. The trip was pleasant and it was really great to see the support of the community for the Shriner kids. I feel much more at ease now that I have been to the hospital and seen the environment. Kalysa took it all in as one big adventure and she did great. It is now about a month until our next trip for surgery. I am praying that the Shriners will allow Monty and I both to ride the van then. I was told it is possible if the van is not full with other patients and because she will be staying for surgery. My mom will be on vacation that week and will keep Kenyon and Keslee. She is planning on making the trip down when Kalysa has surgery and we are praying for her to have the finances to do so. If you would pray with us on these things, it would be greatly appreciated-and of course for the doctors and Kalysa's safety during surgery.

Progress in the kitchen

I have completed my cooking for the day-well, except for supper for today - and thought i would share some photos.



Garlic pull apart bread for supper (spaghetti) tonight. It is VERY good.



Chicken and Noodles for Monty, Kenyon, and Keslee to have for supper tomorrow while I am away. They love this stuff so much, I just hope I made enough.

Cinnamon rolls for breakfast for the next 2 days. This is the first time I have tried this recipe and it is DELICIOUS-so I had a little taste test. These are BY FAR the best cinnamon rolls that I have ever made!

Well now that I have been standing at the stove for about 6 hours, I think I'll take a break before supper.

all recipe links are in previous post.

Order returns

I am finally feeling like myself again and am really starting to accomplish some things. I just wonder where all this energy has been hiding?!? Just goes to show how bad things can get when you ignore the gifts God gives and try to go it alone! I am still amazed when I realize how denying one little God given gift completely threw off every other aspect of my life. It is one of those hindsight is 20/20 things. I could not see how far from my normal self I really was until I finally returned. The entire atmosphere of this house is different. God gave me the task of being the keeper of a home and the helpmeet to my husband and the mother to my children and he gave me specific tools to use to accomplish each of these things. By setting one of those tools down, I had been able to accomplish none of them; but now, in the past week I have accomplished more than I can even express (if you have no idea what I am talking about, please read previous post). Here is a partial list of some of our biggest accomplishments....

1.the girls bedroom cleaned top to bottom-clean closet, clean under the bed, cleaned out the toy box and given everything a place

2.consistently having them re-clean-up every night so they go to bed with a clean room

3.all of the clean laundry folded and put away(I still have hang up clothes waiting in a basket)

4.got the living room clean-dusted-dvds organized-under couch and chairs clean-behind entertainment center clean

5.consistently having all 3 kids re-clean-up living room every night

6.filled 1 trash bag with clothes to donate-I imagine about 5 or 6 bags will follow.

7.helped Kenyon learn what really clean means in regaurds to his room-it took a few days and some kicking and screaming but he finally understood and got it done and he is so much happier in his freshly clean room.

8.made homemade laundry soap-it doesn't seem to be thickining like it should so I may have to work with it some more.

9. lots more that I can't really think of specifically right now!!

10.growing more and more in the Lord daily and becoming more and more thankful for His will and His perfect plan and the fact that He does reveal it to us when we are ready to accept it.

It has been sooooo nice to feel order back in our home. The only thing better than goint to bed knowing that the house is all clean is waking up to a clean house. I still have lots of laundry to do but a large part of it is going to be leaving our home. We have way too much!! I also still have the bathrooms to deep clean.

Kalysa and I will be leaving for her tests with the shriners so I am spending today making sure Monty and the other 2 will have everything they need while I am gone. I have cinnamon rolls rising (for their breakfast) and chicken boiling (for a big pot of chicken and noodles). I figure if I make sure there is plenty of homemade goodness here while I am gone they won't miss me as bad but will want me to hurry back:) I also have pull apart garlic bread cooking for supper tonight. links provided for each recipe


Boy, it is so good to be back!!

I am now ready to be the keeper of my home

Ok, I have to admit it, I AM NOT A KEEPER OF MY HOME. At least I haven't been so far. I thought I was. I mean I am here everyday and I cook and straighten up and even keep the dishes caught up and everyone in clean clothes but really I AM BAD. I have not been using the spiritual gifts God gave me in my own home. I have done the spiritual gift test and it revealed what I can now see is so obvious. I am an administrator. I love to make things work, I do great under pressure, I like things done a certain way-MY way. This is an explanation of someone with the gift of administration....

"You don't often admit to mistakes (I mean, I WOULD if I made one) and do not like to take time to explain why you are doing things (Isn't BECAUSE I SAID SO! an explanation?); you just expect the job to get done.(OH YEA! That is ME!) If things in the church, office, club, etc. become fragmented, you can harmonize the whole program if given a chance. You are a person with a dream and are not afraid to attempt the impossible(Really?! Is anything REALLY impossible?!). You are goal-oriented, well-disciplined, and work best under heavy pressure.(pressure is good, I need a little pressure) You are often a good motivator(most often, I can get people busy) and not a procrastinator(ok, I do have a tendency to procrastinate but only until the pressure rises to the level I need to GET ER DONE). You are serious minded, highly motivated, intense(so I have been accused a time or two), and have an accurate self-image. You tend to be more interested in the welfare of the group than your own desire. You are probably a perfectionist and want things done your way now(I cant call myself a perfectionist because I am a perfectionist that cant ever get things perfected so I refuse to use the term perfectionist until I live up to it which is impossible so I must not be a perfectionist BUT I want it done MY way and NOW because my way is most often to most perfect way possible to get things done-know what I mean?). Although to others you appear to be organized, you usually aren't(some may think it but I am sooo not most of the time). Be careful that you do not make decisions just based on logic rather than Scripture. Work on your willingness to
admit to making a mistake (yea, I'll get on that part!)and on being more sensitive to "little" people(this most likely means my family, most often). Try to be a little more tolerant of other people's mistakes(if they would have done it my way there wouldn't have been mista....oh yea...tolerant...I'll try harder). Beware of Satan's attack on your gift. He can cause pride(UT-OH) because of your leadership role, selfishness (OH-ME!) because of success (not sharing glory with those under you), blame-shifting when things go wrong(BUT THEY...BUT...BU...OH ALRIGHT!), discouragement and
frustration when goals are not met(I have been living here), anger and mistreatment (yep, ashamed to say, that's my address) of those who disagree with your plans, lack of concern for people, lack of spiritual growth, and wrong motives."

Well that pretty much sums it up! I have been in the "Satan attacking" stage for awhile but the Lord has been working and growing me all along. It all started a while back when I wanted to be the perfect submissive wife so I tried to force my husband to lead in areas he is not made for (doesn't submissive mean force others to do stuff?). He is not an administrator in the least bit. I looked at my spiritual gift as a leadership role and pride stepped in and I felt like I was the head honcho of this whole operation and my husband became one of the "little" people in my eyes. I knew that was not a biblical way to live so I decided my husband had to take on all things I had previously been in charge of and I would just then submit to him and do none of the things I was best at. That led me straight into the discouragement and frustration because things were not getting done. It wasn't that he did not try, man, he gave it his best shot. He is just not wired the same as me. His strengths are not my strengths. His gifts are not my gifts. Oh thank the Lord because if there were 2 administrators trying to administrate the same home it could get really messy! So while my poor husband is doing his best to fill the role God created me to fill as well as filling his own role, he is feeling more and more like a failure because things are getting worse and I am getting more and more frustrated because I know I could get things fixed and back in order but I have to be submissive so I let him struggle and I move in to the anger phase and nothing is right with the universe. Because I have forced some of my role upon my husband, the rest of my role has been adversely affected. I have felt useless and unmotivated. I just can't seem to get anything done because if I can't get it all done the way it needs to be what is the purpose of doing part of it but I can't do all of it because I am to busy being submissive and forcing my husband to do half of it. We have no schedule, there is NO organization, my house is almost condemnable, my children are running amuck and I don't know how to submissively take charge and make things right! Finally-we talk! The Lord has been growing my wonderful husband as well this whole time we have been wandering through our own wilderness. Monty realized (and said-which I give him total props for. It takes a BIG man to admit these things) he is not made to fill the role he has been trying to fill. It is my role and he knows it and I know it and if we just put things back the way God intended it, all could once again become right in our universe. HALLELUJAH!!! I feel like myself again. I have purpose. I am back where God made me to be. My husband is happy because a weight he was not meant to carry is off of his shoulders. He has complete confidence we will be coming out of this wilderness because he knows I have been given the map that can lead us out and he had no way of reading it, God gave it to me and not to him. My home is already looking more "kept" now that the keeper is back. Our kids have been warned that changes are a comin and they are preparing. And I am depending on the Lord to keep me in check when it comes to submitting to my husband. I am learning that being made to take control in certain areas of raising a family and keeping a home does not equal me being the leader of my family. Monty is our leader and he has put me in a position of leadership in some areas, the same areas God gave me the ability to control. So SATAN, GET BEHIND ME! and take your pride and selfishness and frustration and discouragement with you! We won't be needing them anymore.

Braiding class anyone?

Keslee, the little mama of the house, is always trying to "mother" her little sister. She loves to brush Kalysa's hair and try out different styles which usually means rubber bands tangled throughout and tons of every kind of barrette that she could find. The other day I heard the water running in the kitchen and went to check it out. I found Kalysa laying on the counter as Keslee washed her hair in the sink. This is something they both love for me to do but not something that we do often. After Keslee finished washing Kalysa's hair, she had her in the bathroom and was starting her styling session. I intervened and taught Keslee how to part the hair to avoid a tangled mess. That was ALL the help that she would allow from me and I was promptly sent out of the room when the part was complete. When she finally finished, Kalysa emerged looking normal(for lack of a better word) and Keslee was grinning ear to ear with her best grown up grin as we all ooohhhed and aaahhhed at her accomplishment.

I asked Keslee how she knew how to braid and she just said "you showed me mom". Thinking back, I have shown them both how to do it. I have shown them as they watch me do their sister's hair and many times I have helped fix a baby doll's hair but, although I often talk them through the tasks that they are watching me do, I have never set down and given them step by step direction in the how to's of braiding hair. I have never purposely had a hair braiding class with the intention of teaching. As far as I have ever seen, this is Keslee's first attempt to actually do it and I was amazed. This is another perfect example of why I believe homeschooling is soooo important. My girls will only learn to be a mother and a wife by seeing me do it. If they were at school all day while I was at work all day, how much mothery/wifey kinda stuff would they see? Not much in the 2-3 hours after work before bedtime that we would actually be able to spend together! Have I ever mentioned before that I LOVE HOMESCHOOLING!?!?

In LOVE with a bookcase

At church we have a guy, Brother David, that does great wood work. He built the sets for the Christmas program last year and has done most of the trim work in our new building. I half jokingly said something to him about building me a bookcase for my homeschool stuff and he quite seriously asked for a sketch and said he would love to do it. I did not have any particular design in mind but knew I wanted a 4 foot by 4 foot square and about 14-16 inches deep. Building is his passion and so I left any other design details up to him and this is what he came up with....

Isn't it beautiful!!??!! He had an extra sheet of maple wood left over from a previous job and within a week of us discussing it, I had a gorgeous new handmade homeschool bookshelf to the tune of $15. Yep, you heard that right, $15. That was his cost for the piece of wood and that is all he would charge me. I am totally in love with this piece of art and have plans running through my head on other projects I would love Brother David's help with.

I had to polyurethane it myself so it has been sitting empty for quite some time but I finally got it done last week. This week I have spent time cleaning, organizing, and purging my homeschool stuff. I got rid of our old barely staying together, walmart particle board, 15 year old bookcase and now all of our school stuff is nice and neat and all in one place. We normally "do school" at the kitchen table and this shelf is in a corner of the kitchen as well. Very convenient. The shelves look pretty full right now but I have things laid out and spread out for easy access but we actually have tons of space still available if I were to arrange things differently. The file cabinet will be used for storing the kids' notebooks, past and present. On top of the file cabinet is an over head projector that actually belongs to the church. Come to think of it, I really need to take it back. I used it for some drawings I made for the missions conference and keep forgetting it is here. I really wish I had one of my own, I could use it for soooo much. Under the projector is my box of scrapbooking and crafting supplies. It has been tucked away and forgotten in the laundry room so maybe now that it is more accessible we will use it more. The green basket barely visible in the bottom corner is our book basket for library books. Now that things are neat and organized I guess we better start thinking about starting some school.

STILL THINK THEY AREN'T LYING TO US?!?

Haven't the president and speaker of the house and others been reassuring us that the life ending, healthcare rationing talks that those crazy. Nazi, kkk member, conservatives have been talking about is nothing but fear mongering and hatred and there is no truth to these rumors? How, then, do they explain this www.cbsnews.com story?

(AP) Key senators are excluding a provision on end-of-life care from
health overhaul legislation after language in a House bill caused a furor.
Senator Chuck Grassley of Iowa, top Republican on the Senate Finance Committee,
said in a statement Thursday that the provision had been dropped from
consideration because it could be misinterpreted or implemented incorrectly. A
health care bill passed by three House committees allows Medicare to reimburse
doctors for voluntary counseling sessions about end-of-life decisions. But
critics have claimed the provision could lead to death panels and euthanasia for
seniors. The Senate Finance Committee is still working to complete a bill.

Kinda hard to take something out if it was never there to begin with!

STILL THINK THE PEOPLE TRYING TO PUSH THIS BILL THROUGH ARE TELLING US THE WHOLE TRUTH???!!!??? TIME TO WAKE UP AMERICA!