The girls and I have just had a long week of evening vaction bible school. I worked in the baby nursery and had my youngest with me while my four year old got to do other things with kids her own age. They seemed to have fun and have been worn out every night this week. I have been also and I think that I am catching a cold one of the little ones had. I don't seem to have the imune system I used to when I worked out side my home. Naomi and I spent the day together cleaning around her house and getting kids ready. I think I will take tomorrow off and collapse onto the couch in front of cartoons with the girls. I might not though. I might feel like supermom tomorrow and really work hard on laundry, and child training....who can tell? My husband was a kid again (or still?) at the VBS when he could attend. He danced, hooted, hollered, and got the kids really rilled up and the pastors also. It was fun to see him enjoy himself. Well, that is all I can think of for now.

As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for you O' God My soul thirst for God for the living God. When can I go and meet with God? My tears have been my food day and night, while men say to me all day long. "where is your God?' These things I remember as I pour out my soul, how I used to go with the multitude leading the procession to the house of God. With shouts of joy and thanksgiving among the festive throng.

Why are you so downcast O my soul? Why so disquieted within me? Put your hope in God for I will yet praise him, my savior and my God.  My soul is downcast within me therefore I will remember you from the land of the jordan, to the heights of Hermon from mount Mizar Deep calls to deep in the roar of your waterfalls all your waves and breakers have swept over me.

 By day the Lord directs his love at night his song is with me. A prayer to the God of my life. I say to God my rock, "why have you forgotten me? Why must I go about mourning oppressed by the enemy?" My bones suffer mortal agony as my foes taunt me saying to me all day long "where is your God?" Why are you so downcast O my soul? why so disturbed with in me? Put your Hope in God for I will yet praise him, my savior and my God.

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I love the Psalm I am feeling down and a little out of sorts but this is a great reminder that the obvious circustance still belongs to God. the good and the bad are HIS and I will yet praise him.

Jabin, playing in a basket

Jabin and I

Jorri's smile

sisters having fun together

Not my marriage, but my one year for having lived here in NY. I moved here Aug 17, 2007. I can't say that it has been easy but it is good. I can't believe it has been that long. I have not changed my lisence over yet either...oops. Well My family life is much better than it was and my kids are happier. I like the summer time really well but the winter is a different story. I can live with it though. It really isn't that much longer than it was in MO. I have friends and a church. We have the cutest apartment and have been looking into real estate though we are not anywhere near ready to buy. I hope that everyone is having a good cup of coffee, tea, or whatever you enjoy...I am! It is a good day.

I am having a cup of coffee. I love coffee, I really love easy mornings that are quiet. I am glad that I got so much done yesterday I can take my time getting the other things done that need to be taken care of. My husband will be home early today and we will run some errands togethter. I really enjoy that. First we will pay some bills and go grocery shopping. Then to the post office and back home to make dinner and get the kids to bed. I look forward to having my usual coffee creamer, today my coffee is black. I still like it.

My fav specialty coffee is a cafe mocha but my every day morning cup is wonderful.

Each Monday I have my friends over and we have an educational meeting on nutrician. Our friend from church, Connie is a specialist and I really like today's recipe and decided to post it here. I know it is nothing special it is really simple and I think that is the best part or maybe the best-est part was that all the kids (7 total) LOVED it!

Your choice canned, fresh, or fresh frozen fruit or berries.

Mushed up grahm crackers (kids can help with this)

vanillia flavored yogurt (light or frozen will do)

cinniamon to sprinkel on top

layer each in a cup, grahm cracker, fruit/berries, yogurt then top with the cinnamon repeat until cup is full and you can set them into individual cups with lids and freeze for later! Kids can smush the cracker in a zip lock bag and help choose their fav fruits or berries and then layer it in their cups. This was really fun. It went over really well with nearly everyone.

We also had a great time chatting about our pregnancy experiences and birth stories with Shannon who is expecting her 4th. She is absolutely a-glow! she is 7 1/2 weeks and beginning to feel the nausea and fatigue...ahhh those were...not fun days! The expectation is the really fabulous part the knowing that a little person is being formed and growing. Shannon is praying for a girl. I hope that she has the daughter she is wanting. She will then have two girls and two boys. My friend in MO is having baby 6 and she has the most creative names. I love pregnancy, even when it is not my own!! It has been a great day...blessings

choo- choo

water ride with a big splash- "I don't want to do that again daddy"

the Train

Weeeee!

swing!

Jabin did good! she stayed in the boat!

This is Jorri's first rollercoater ride...she liked this one

Jabin and I enjoying the day.

too silly!

"Look I am flying!"

  I don't want to go!

Fish hatchery we fed the fish

 Jabin wanted to swim

 A very good day with dad!

We all had tons of fun doing these things. Tim took us to look at that wild tower that he climbed blind folded so that we could see it up close and personal...it was very intimidating! It was in the same park as the hatchery.  Jabin slept on the way home but Jorri was a buzz the whole time the whole way about all she had done and seen. I really love when Tim is involved with the girls like this. It makes for a lot of fun and a tired couple of girls...I sort of get a break and a change of pace. We are headed to the Zoo today weather premitting. Oh it was like 70 - ish degrees and overcast most of the weekend here in NY

I have to say congrats to a few of my lady friends....

My friends, Kaleesha, Galidee, and Shannon are all pregnant and due fairly close together! I am so happy for everyone that God has blessed with little ones. I know that you will all be such good mothers...It is Kaleesha's sixth child, Shannon's fourth child, and Galidee is having her very first baby! I will be praying for all of you to have easy pregnancies and births. (it has to be possible to have an easy delivery!) My friend Naomi and I are planning a baby shower for Shannon, but Kaleesha and Gal are my friends from MO. So I will just have to pray others bless them highly. I wish that I could hug all of you! (big smile) I am so happy for you all!!

jabin and her daddy. she looks like him don't you think?

me a while ago

jabin in a box...why do they love boxes so?

a Jorri in a box...

this is the best daddy ever!! He is so fun!

One of my favorite things to do since I was a child is to keep journals or diaries. I bought this one for myself this weekend. I have dozens of them written in and drawn in. Iove to select a new blank book. It is one of my favorite things to shop for. It is one of my favorite ways to spend time alone writting and thinking. I take notes, I draw, sometimes I put scrap book items in.  My goal is to fill this one up with out leaving any blank pages. It is very thick and I write  in between lines because they are so widely spaced. It is possible for this one to last more than one year. It is really something that has always been just my thing...I am always happy to encourage others to begin doing this and because I love to keep these books so well I often buy them as gifts for other people. My way of really caring I suppose. LOL. These books are even more valuable to me now that I am a parent. My motivation for starting them was that I did ot know my mother, This is a way for me to be known even if I were not here...It is like a history of me, and now a history of my family. It is something that really brings me a lot of joy. I would encourage everyone to do this sort of thing just because it is so rewarding.

It is raining today, It is gray outside and the children and I are just sitting indoors. We are really ready to have daddy home.  He is working 60 hrs these next few weeks, each week. He said that he is missing us and wants to be home more.  We ended up selling his motorcycle, it was neccessary though he really did not want to do it. It does rain a lot here in the summer. There is always next year also. So either way it was a blessing and made life a little easier. I don't know what the rest of the day holds but I am needing to get house work done, and my friend Naomi will be visiting again today. She brought bannana splits and I served the healthy mac and cheese we made at my nurtrician meeting yesterday. It is good the second day too. Not bad for a rainy day.

So there is more to the day than I thought. My friend Shannon came over and we all went blueberry picking. I did not bring my camera...maybe next time I will think of it.  Jabin had the most fun I think. It was a huge field with rows and rows of different blueberries. Jabin could run and did her fair share of picking even under ripe ones..she ate bunches to. She just liked them all. Jorri spent her time with Shannons kids picking and playing. It was a really nice treat and fun for me. I had never done any thing like that before. Jabin fell in a puddle first thing and about an hour and a half later came to me and said "home" she is learning new words each day. I asked her "do you want to go home?"  and she responeded "ya" Iove baby conversations. It was nice to have Shannon over and to do something so new to us It turned out to be better than just a rainy day!

Smart cookies...yes that is definitely what they are! My girls Jorri age four, and Jabin age 18 months are smart. I did not realize that they were so capable until lately! I had lost track of what a reward it is to spend time training them and playing with them. They have each been helpful making beds, cleaning tables and "helping" with dishes. It is a game to them right now, but it is also a time spent learning responsiblity. I am also getting back to training them in obedience and wow, what a difference it can be! Jorri has always had a bad habbit of complaining. We are working on that by encouraging her to see the brighter side of things and I am learning that too. Being quiet can be its own blessing so we are not letting her just bable our ears off either.  We are doing so crafts together too. We made telescopes yesterday. Very simple but it has entertained them for half the day. I used a paper roll and let them each color on it. It also makes a great pretend trumpet! "toot toot" Jabin says and laughs. Jorri can read a few words and we are still working on name writting. 

Today we went to the town festival. It is like a craft fair their is food and noise and sunshine everywhere. we saw Llamas (popular for wool around here) and petted them. There was a horse drawn buggy. Very neat to see animals with "work to do" Jorri had no idea, people used to require them for travel. She wanted to pet one but we explained the horses were busy. LOL. I think it must be really fun to be four years old! The girls have balloons and we walked back home.

I have some goals set for us for the summer. Teaching Jorri to read is top on the list. Regular visits to the library just two blocks away is another. Reading the Bible as a family and for myself alone is the other with prayer included. I don't feel that there is a lot to be gained at my church, I spend the time mostly in the nursery anyway. I will still attend, my husband plays drums in the worship group. I have mostly given up on sitting in the service. Keeping home is always on the priority list. We all appreciate a tidy living space! Jabin mostly is learning house rules and managing some emotion, attitudes and things like that.

Hope everyone has lots of fun we are!!            

Jorri and Jabin cleaning up messes together  :)

Jorri loves to help out, so I let her mash the "smashed potatoes"

I am sitting with my friend shannon and Jabin looking at baby pics of my kids

cleaning is fun

Daddy's girls Jorri with her stuffed frog and Jabin wearing a diaper cover as a hat...she is silly!!

I just had a visit from my friend Deb. She lives in MO. We had a good time, The weather and the area is so beautiful here. We went out to eat, and walked down town for fun. Today she has gone home. I am sure that it will feel good to be home, just as it is nice to have things back to normal here. My youngest seems to have some stanger anxiety. I didn't have an issue like that with my oldest EVER and still don't. So Jabin was fussy and clingy. I think that some of it was teething too.

This is a pic so lorri ( my big sis) can see and compare, I think in this pic I look like our mother. Our mother passed away shortly after giving birth to me, my sister and triplet brother. I did not know her at all. I am so happy to have my older sister as a friend and encouragement. I don't know my birth mother, but knowing Lorri is very good. She is my life story teller and new dear friend. Thanks Lorri

This is a really high off the ground tower...I don't know how high this is but I would be nervous... My husband would not be happy unless I bragged a little on him. He lives for this sort of thing. This was a teamwork work shop that he was required to attend for his job. He is the sort of man who is fearless, up for any challenge and would absolutely fight for what he believes in...and here is another pic of his er...ahem "bravery"

yes for fun he climbed it blindfolded!!! WOW that's my man!!

There is my Jabin, she is going to be just fine. All it took were some antiacids to calm her stomach the irritation is caused by the vomiting (that was caused oriigonally by a virus) that resulted in over -production of acids causing her tummy to stay upset. She is on the bannana, rice, applesause, toast, yougurt diet pasta and french fires, potatoes and milk with out lactose is fine. I am so relieved! It has been so long! I don't really understand why the ER doctors did not let us know this? They stopped her nausea/vomiting and saw her twice and I gave them the same story and they did not tell us about the acid build up. Maybe that was not their job? Well anyway I am happy that she is on the mend fo sure now.

Here is a happier post, this is the motorcycle that Tim is buying from a friend of ours. He is really happy to have something to tinker with and well the pics will speak for themselves....

Jabin, my one and a half year old, has learned to say "I sick" and she is right. She is really good and sick. I had her back in the ER last night she vomitted every 20 - 30 minutes for several hours. Her Daddy took her this time and though she was not dehydrated this time she was medicated and came home to rest finally. They decided that it is gastrointeritis. That is a fancy word for stomach flu or stomach virus and they also said that if it lasts for six weeks then they will admit her to the hospital. It has been nearly three...I think? I am really starting to feel helpless. The medication that they give to babies now for the vomitting cost us 110$ for only 10 tablets. We paid it because nothing else has worked. OUCH for our bank account. Jabin saw the little desovable pill and readily opened her mouth. She is smart knowing that it makes her better. She then began to beg for something to eat shortly after the dose. She also began to drink water and play a bit. Her father and I are worn out with this and I just don't have a way to make it better. Jorri's fever was 102 today but it is less of a worry for me because it is easy to bring down, and she is eating and drinking really well with not other symptoms. I have called my Sister in Law and let her know that we are still really contageous and really sick. I wish we were not. I can't see leting my little nephew come back and get sick. I wish they had not ever brought the virus to us but we are getting through a little here and there. I thought that we were on the mend yesterday but it was not so. I will be more careful to watch what she eats and drinks. I am even willing to force a few teaspoons of water into her when she refuses. I am sort of scared for her but right now she is fine. Dehydration is the biggest threat but I think if we are careful we will be able to get over this with the 10 tabs we purchased today. If anyone has ever had this or has some helpful advise...I am so ready to hear it!!

one tired mom..

You know the day is in trouble when you have run out of coffee and have forgotten to get more.

That is haw yesterday began...only it has not ended yet. I have been up all night with my sick baby. Jabin has been sick on and off again for a length of time, like was ill for about six days and then seemed to get over it only to start again with vomitting two days ago.  I began to worry when she did not eat or keep water down. I took her to the ER last night. I am not a mom that runs to a doctor every sniffle but I think days of illness and her very young age made this a good choice. She was dehydrated. She was not cooperative either with the nurses who put the IV in her little hand. It took the three of us to hold her. They commented that she was a really tough little one. I think she gets that from her dad.  :)

Today Jabin has eaten saltines, had 3 cups of water and some oatmeal. She seems to be feeling well now, and she has not vomitted again. I am hoping that this will be the end of the nasty virus. Jorri is feeling lousy again too so I am insisting she have lots of water I would hate to have to repeat last night with her too.  I have not had such an issue with a virus until we moved to NY it seems like this year we have been sick all year long.  Golly I am tired and really thankful that I have coffee and my babies are home with me safe. If anyone has any good disinfection ideas I am up for the suggestions thoough I feel like I have done quite a lot I just don't know how else to help my little ones.  I hope all is well with everyone else in blog world that is what is going on here in NY.