loose tooth, pink eye, ear infection, and a broken finger

so that was my day in a nutshell!
The day started kinda full on plans. Mostly, Amy and I wanted the kids to have a fun day full of mommy time and playing before we got busy with all the Christmas festivities. Before the play came the shopping for people who needed food. Then after Walmart we took the kids to a play place for some grub and fun. While we were there, Caleb complained about his mouth hurting. So I checked his teeth and a front one was loose and slightly bloody. I would like to say that this was a natural phenominon, but I would be lying. Yesterday he was jumping off of the couch when he fell and bloodied his lip. I soothed him and washed him and sent him on his way. Little did I know that he had loosened the tooth. So I made an appointment to see the dentist this afternoon. But first I had to run groceries to Carol. Then I took the other two to Amy's and off to the dentist we went.
Good news! Caleb's tooth was already just being held in by tissue, so no damage done. Just wiggly until it decides to come out.
Then when we got back to Amy's she said that Julia;s eye was looking really bad and she thought I should take her to the doctor. She was totally right, so I made an appointment. We left Draden and Caleb with Amy. I said something along the lines of "Don't let Draden break a bone or I will be three for three."
I had barely made the highway when I got a call from Amy. Draden had gotten his hand smashed in the door. He was screaming and was having a hard time moving his fingers. I told her to meet me at the doctor's office.
First the doctor looked at Julia. Yep, she has an ear infection and the pink eye to go with it. None of my kids have ever had either of these ailments, but there you have it.
Then she looked at Draden's hand. She told us to go over to the hospital and get it x-rayed.
Draden got to look at his pictures when he was done, and sure enough, he has a fractured index finger!
I was three for three!
When I went to Walgreens to get all the meds and first aid gear I needed, I also picked up "good patient" gifts for each of my children. The likelyhood of us having another day like this anytime soon is slim. The surprise made putting the splint on his finger worth it for Draden. And the splint actually helped it feel better. Julia is just a mess, but the eye drops shoul dhelp quickly and of course there are the antibiotics for the infection. Caleb, well, Caleb is just a boy and the dentist almost seemed proud of him for knocking his tooth loose. Seems our dentist did that when he was 8 by jumping off the coffee table.
Quite an eventful day! But the best part is that we still had time to serve another family in the midst of our chaos. And as Draden told Amy today at Walmart, "You are giving a present to Jesus when you give Christmas to a family who wouldn't get one if you didn't help."

Hooray!

I found my writing about Carol! Just thought I would share!!!!!!

frustrated and gross!

I had a really good start on my story about Carol saved to my computer. Now I can't find it! Just a little frustrated about that!!!!!!!

Gross! Megan dissected a shark today for marine biology. It smelled bad and was disgusting. But also very very cool!!! Of course I wasn't the one who had to touch it with my bare hands. Kuddos to Megan who did it with only one glove! :)

Is he six?!?!?!

This week we celebrated 6 years with our firstborn. I am so amazed by this child every day. He loves to read and learn new things. He likes to create. He has an opinion of his own about a lot of things. (this can be tiresome at times, but most of the time it is pretty cool and often funny!) He has a heart for people who have nothing and he wants to share what he has with them. Though he will be quick to tell you that he doesn't want to give his money to the government because they already have more than enough! :)

Being his mommy has brought challenges, but mostly great joy. God has used this child to connect me with Him in more ways than I can even describe. I am forever grateful that we are so blessed to be called his mommy and daddy.

My prayer for him is that he may grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ!
I love you Draden!!!


Blowing out the candles!
With Beth and Hallie

Bryan and Mindi rock, Dude!

Austin, Colton, Madison, and Draden, a motley crew!

Draden and his best friend, Madison!

Draden and Colton

(after this picture was taken they wrestled eachother to the ground!)

Crazy moms! Amy and Debra!

Mindi and Beth

Colton, Austin and Draden

Austin and Draden

We had so much fun celebrating with all of you!

Calling in the battle troops!

Dear friends,

Recently I went on a day mission with my church, LifeChurch, and several other churches. We did a "Block Party" downtown for the homeless and poverty stricken people who live downtown. I serve weekly at the City Rescue Mission, so on the way downtown I did some praying. I asked God to stretch me, and boy did He. Without going into all the details of the last 3 weeks of our journey I will tell you that we have hit a little road block.

The lives that God chose to intertwine with ours is a woman named Carol and her three children (ages 2, 1, and 2 weeks!) The baby was born after I met her. They are now off the streets and living with a friend. My extended family has supplied a place for her to live with her children. She has filled out the section 8 forms. She wants to get her life going and I intend to see her though it all. She is my friend.

This is where you come in.

We have a move-in date set for next Sunday. We want to have her whole house furnished and supplied when she moves in. This includes everything from dishes to picture frames to clothes in the closets hanging on hangers. We are also searching for a car so she can get to a job and take her kids to day care.

I am asking you to think big and give big. If you are a Life Churcher too, think of this as your chance to practice what you learned this past weekend.

What we need:

pretty much everything that will make a house a home!

sizes

Carol: size 8-9 shoes

size 12-14 clothing

2 year old girl:

She wears 4t clothing

I am not sure about shoes but somewhere between a 9 and 11

1 year old boy:

18-24 month clothing

size 4 diapers

infant girl:

infant clothing

size 1 diapers

If you have the next size up for any of the kids that would help in the long run for them.

If you have any questions or want to help with decorating or if you have a truck and some time or can assist in any way please email me and/or give me a call. Thank you in advance for giving BIG!!!!

Trusting that God is who He says He is,
cissa

Lord, you establish peace for us; all that we have accomplished you have done for us. Isaiah 26:12

60 miles in 3 days

So I am now in day two of my recovery from my recent walk. I am actually in great shape. My feet don't want to fit into tennis shoes, but other than that I am great! The walk was much prettier and I think easier than last year. I plan on signing up for next year soon. I am so proud of the girls that I took down there with me. Each walked what they could and made a huge difference in the lives of people they will never meet. I love you girls!

$5 or $100?

So our new sermon series at church comes at an interesting time in my family's life. Last Wednesday we took in two little ones (1 and 2) that live at the City Rescue Mission with their mommy. This was to be until mommy had the new baby. Which she did yesterday! Yea! A beautiful little girl!!!!! That to say that I think that God is testing to see if I have a $5 faith or $100. Will I be obedient with all my life or do I hold back?

You came for me?

I spent Saturday with a woman named Carol. Then I went back downtown to take her pictures on Sunday. Well this woman without a home probably thought that was the last she would see of me. Until I showed up on Monday just to check on her. I took my kids down to the mission to see if she had been able to get into the program. When I found her (still on the emergency side) she asked what I was doing down there. When I told her I was there checking in on her she was a bit stunned. Carol is not a girl that cries when people are looking, and I saw the tears in her eyes when she said, "You came for me?"

I guess it was pretty powerful that I cared enough about her to go check on her.

This is a woman I want to get to know. I don't want to fix her. I want to be her friend and do what any friend would do.

God, where is this one going?

The block party

Yesterday was the second annual Oklahoma City Block Party. I wasn't able to make it last year, but this year it was a priority to me. I have been volunteering down at the City Rescue Mission for just over a year now, and those are my peeps!

When signing up for the mission, I asked that I be put on a team that would be allowed to wander, because I didn't think that I would do my job well unless my job was to love on the people. They put me on the prayer team which gave me permission to go where I was led when I was led there and didn't have to ask for permission to do anything.

So the morning started with me wandering through the City Rescue Mission with my friend Kelle (who is a graduate of the program at the City Rescue Mission) to find out why and for how long a man had been barred from the mission. At least this was my intention. The guys at the desk had never heard of this man before. So when we came out the doors and around the corner of California and Shartel I met the real reason why I had come down to the block party.

Her name was Carol, and she had two babies (ages 1 and 2) and another on the way. She is due in two weeks! She was there with her brother Anthony and a friend they had met while on the streets, Christina. Anthony and Carol had been on the streets since last Wednesday.

Her story is long and complicated, as stories usually are. There came a point when I asked to pray with them and then when most people would have moved on to the next homeless person...I stayed with them. I felt drawn to Carol. I spent the whole day with this group just talking and mostly listening. She needed to get off the streets ASAP. She was in danger of having her kids taken away. She felt completely hopeless. She didn't know what to do and even if there was anything she could do to keep her kids.

Her brother had already been looking into getting into the program but wasn't going to do anything until he knew his sister was safe. So I had him by my side pouring into her the benefits of the program at the City Rescue Mission.

By the end of the day she started to really consider the program as an option. And I started to see her as a friend. I told her I would come back Sunday to take pictures of her with her kids minus tomato sauce stains.

Sunday I showed up and she was a little surprised. My goal in taking the pictures was to show her that I was a girl of my word. I wanted her to trust me, so I started little. And the pictures are so cute!

I cannot wait to see what God has in store for this relationship. I want Carol to trust Him, so I want her to trust me so she will begin to believe what I say about Him.

My delicate flower

This picture is small because I took it with my phone at the doctor's office. Yesterday Julia had a run-in with our brick house, and the house won! She was riding her tricycle. Our very own Evil Conevil. (or however you spell it...you get my meaning!)
She basically burned off the top layer of her skin. Funny thing was that the thing that made her the most mad was that we had to remove the Sponge Bob band aide that her daddy had put on it last night. She kept crying, "Daddy, Sponge Bob, Owie!"
The doctor said that if we treat it twice a day there should be little to no scarring. Poor thing! She is quite a sight.

Local News

Okay, I am not a fan of local news. So many times I see "stories" that aren't news, but more like gossip. It is a silly waste of my time. HOWEVER...now I know which station I will watch when I do think about turning it on. Channel 9. And my reason may seem silly to some, but it is my reason. Here is the story.
I go to a chiropractor who just happens to be my neighbor. Matt Yost. (He is really great by the way. doesn't rip you limb from limb to adjust you:) ) Robin Marsh (from news 9) also goes to see Matt. I have seen her there before all done up. It looked like she had just done the news, but for all I knew she looks like that all the time. She is very pretty! Then we saw her again today. Only today she looked like a normal everyday mom. No make-up. comfy clothes. like someone you would be friends with. Once again, she is very pretty. So today I walked in with my three crazies...I mean kids...and she was on the roller table. (this is a contraption that rolls up and down your back while a pad under you vibrates. It is AWESOME!!!!) she saw Draden and Caleb and asked if they were twins. Then when she got off the table and I got on it she started up a conversation with Draden. She asked how old he was and then asked where he went to school. He said he was home-schooled and she said, "Well, you must be pretty smart then." Then they went into this whole dialog that I did not hear much of. The point is that she talked to him like a person and not like a little kid. She earned my respect by her character in how she treated a five year old boy.

This woman, Robin Marsh, showed her true character in a simple conversation with my son that made me smile. I know they talked about what he had been learning in the Bible among other topics. Draden liked her and thought she was fun to talk to.

So there you have it. My reason for choosing channel 9 should I choose to watch the local news. You may think it is silly, but out of the overflow of the heart comes our words, and she had such kind and thoughtful words with my son.

Some Celebs

Just a couple of the people I met on our vacation...

We got hitched!!!

In Vegas Baby! That's right after nine years, 4 months, and some odd days we thought it would be fun to say "I do" again in Vegas. We didn't pay the obscene amount to have Elvis sing at our wedding (though I was tempted) but I did get a picture with him after the ceremony.

Russ and I had a great time during our long weekend in Las Vegas. It was a good romantic time away that took basically no pre-planning and was just a blast!

On our gondola ride
Which vacation was this?
The Fountains at the Bellagio
At night!
My surprise show....it's Bette!
Russ waiting to see the Beatles' show, Love

Pumpkin Patch

Today was our first visit to the pumpkin patch. We had a ton of fun and Amy even worked us a deal where we can get a season pass. Never been done before, so all we have to do is figure out what he needs to do this for all of his customers and then we get in the rest of this year free. Pretty cool. I am glad I asked and then really glad that she followed up and followed through! I took no for an answer, and Amy tried again. Good deal, since we will both get our families in for free if we work it out together! Okay, so her good business sense aside....here is what you all want to see. Some great pics of some even greater kids! enjoy! (oh and I need to point out...Draden is 5 and therefore cannot take a picture without making a face. I had to catch him by surprise to get a normal pic. It is in his very nature to make faces!)


The Newberry Kids!
and one with their mommies
Weston and Alex...we love these kids!
Draden and Madison. Their 5th year to visit this patch!
Me and my baby girl!
Sweet Julia!
Julia and Caleb watching the ducks.
Draden jumping off the haystack

Caleb jumping off the haystack...he actually did it first!

Not to be outdone by her brothers!

Draden and Alex
Draden picking his pumpkin
A Julia sized pumpkin!
And one for Caleb
What's gonna work? Teamwork!

What a fun day with all the cousins!

Ponder this

The question posed by my 5 year old today:
"If I want to make good choices, why do I make bad choices? I don't want to make bad choices, but I make bad choices when I want to make good ones."

Seriously....a quote from his lips.

Exploding Coke!

Today we had Cousin Madison and Cousin Jonathan over for a little science experiment. We watched and did some hands on experimenting with the differences between physical reactions and chemical reactions. There was some great excitement and a lot of curiosity during the afternoon. Thanks to Deleise for this awesome idea! Now for some pictures!

What reaction does the Coke have to Salt?

What reaction does the Coke have to shaking it?

What reaction does the Coke have to Smartees?

HMMMM...What is in there?
What will the Coke do when you put in 7 Mentos? Wow!
These "formal"experiments were followed by some of the best kind of experiments. The kid kind! Nothing exploded, but they sure had fun!

Madison ready to experiment!
Madison adding a little exercise to her experimentation!
Draden trying a little (read a lot!) of salt!
Caleb, Julia and Jonathan checking out Draden's experiment.
Even Caleb was able to give this one a try!
We had such a great afternoon! I love home education!!!!!

Shoes for Orphan's Souls

Hey Guys! Have you ever wanted to change someone’s life with the simple click of a mouse? Here you go…

Lifechurch is teaming up with http://www.shoesfororphansouls.org/ to supply shoes to needy children. All you have to do is go to this website and choose the pair (or pairs) you would like to donate. Then mark “ship to registry address”. That’s it! You just blessed a child. Help me make a difference and send a child a pair of shoes today!

Seriously… the OKC Campus goal is 6,500 pairs of shoes for kids. That’s a lofty goal for our campus. But nothing if we get the word out. Help me make a dent in this number. Help us exceed it in ways we can’t imagine. Post the paragraph above on your blog. Give others the opportunity to join this cause.

(this was from my friend Gina's blog. I assume she will not prosecute me for copy write! :) Help put some shoes on some feet y'all!)

update on victory

So it has been a full three weeks since I declared Victory in God's name over my rising temper with my kiddos. And you know what I have found? A new frustration. It seems that God still doesn't want just a part of me. I have fully given over my relationship with my oldest son so that God can show His might where I am at my weakest. This is a complete victory in Him...and it happened overnight! I give Him the glory for it every day because it is not something that I could do on my own. But now what?!?! I have found that I am still dealing with my middle child on my own strength. Apparently this was one I could handle on my own because the other needed so much help. But now I find my frustration rising with him when it never really had before. I can still claim that I have not raised my voice in anger or frustration since the retreat, but it has gotten close. Starting tomorrow morning I need to hand my sweet four year old over to God as well. And for good measure I should add my two year old to the list because I am sure I can't do her on my own either. Why am I so slow to learn sometimes? Satan wants to attack and my weakest border is my parenting. Why would I think I could do any of it on my own?

I have been so excited about the changes in our entire family dynamic. I love to be with my kiddos and even my husband has commented on the changes. Sure there is still the craziness of living in a world with kids, but when I don't try and do it all in my power, then I have more than enough of God's power to live as He always planned for me to live.

I am so thankful that God gave me the children He gave me so that I could learn to rest entirely in Him!

Trust, Depend, Obey

Cheryl Lange is such an amazing teacher. This past weekend at the retreat she allowed God's word to just pour from her in such a way as to lead me right to where I need to be. I kind of felt like she was just talking to me. The best part was that she didn't just give it all to me at once. She delivered bite sized amounts of wisdom that when pieced together culminated in how to deal with my life's greatest challenge. Being a mommy.

For years I have struggled with my lack of patience. I could lose it quite quickly and then my voice would raise. Before I knew it, I was yelling at my kids. They are kids. Little ones. But God has been doing such a work in my heart to prepare me for the retreat.

I think it started with the trip to San Antonio to see Beth Moore. God started to pull my oldest boy to the forefront of my mind. Then throughout the weeks between that trip and the retreat I just felt more and more pull toward trying to figure out how to be a better mom. Like I could make the change on my own! HA!

But then I walked into the retreat (which I actually tried to avoid going to) and God turned my world upside down. Just the way He likes it!

Night one: Colossians 1:9-12 key word:power....comes from weakness and brokenness and humbleness(2 Cor. 12:9) The purpose of power is for endurance and patience. The amount of power? According to His glorious might. The RESULT? JOY!

This was when I became broken. See...I don't have a very hard time doing most things in life. My marriage comes pretty easy. (How could it not with a husband like my Russell?) I have the utmost patience and mercy and grace with most everyone. Except my oldest child. I saw that first night that God wanted to do a great work in me, but I wasn't allowing it. I was doing everything on my own. I saw then that what He wanted was to draw me to Him and He gave me my son so I would do just that.

There was a lot of release that first night, but I still didn't quite know what to do with it. Then came

Saturday morning: My identity in Christ: holy, blameless, and above reproach (Colossians 1:22) I need to stop living out of what I act like and begin to live out of who I am. When I rest in Jesus He empowers me to do anything He calls me to do. (v. 29)

So I walked away from this teaching trying to figure out the practicality of it all. How was I supposed to do this? How was I supposed to just let Him have the power and be that person that He says I am?

Moving on to Saturday night! Two things stood out for me during this night's teaching. The first was from Colossians 2:6. Therefore, as you recieved Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him.
We hear the phrase "walk the talk", but how exactly do we do that walk? Cheryl explained it in three steps. 1.Trust 2.Depend 3.Obey. We have to trust Him and that He is who He says He is. We have to depend on Him, that He will do what He says He will do. And We have to obey Him. We have to do the things that He tells us to do. When we try to meddle in steps one and two, we always mess things up. Then we choose not to do step three and we blame God or other people. All we have to do is walk those three steps.
The second thing that popped really huge in me was how Satan deceives us. (verse 8) He takes us captive in his lies so that we cannot let ourselves be filled with the power of God. There is also a 3 step battle plan for this. 1.Know who Jesus is. 2.Know what Jesus has done. 3.Know who I am in Him.

What He did can be so powerfully found in Colossians 2:13-15. And you, who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with Him, having forgiven all our trespasses, by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross. He disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame, by triumphing over them.

What I need to do when I doubt who I am in Him is draw my line in the sand. What was my line when Satan attacked and told me I am not a good mom and never would be? That I would always lose my patience and always yell? This was when the practical kicked in. I needed to figure out my line in the sand. I left that night's teaching with thoughts racing, but no idea how to confront my enemy when he popped up. (which is several times a day.)

Then I had the most amazing conversation with my cabin mates. Only 5 of us remained for the last night and we talked until 3 in the morning. At around 1 or so I found my line.

I am the Mommy that God chose from the beginning of time for my three children. God does not make mistakes.


Not only did I have my line, but I had hope! Because I knew that I would fail at some point, but there is such a beauty to what Jesus did for us. See, He knew from the beginning of time that I would fail. He also forgave me for it the moment I came to Him and believed and asked Him to be the savior and Lord of my life! So there is no condemnation.

So I have my line, my defense against my enemy. And I have my hope.

And then came Sunday morning. The how. How am I going to be able to draw the line when I need to. See I have already established that this was too big for me. Even with the right tools I can't do it on my own. And the answer came in the form a a verse. (as good answers always do!)
Colossians 4:2 Continue steadfastly in prayer, being watchful in it with thanksgiving.

I pray every morning (and all day if needed). I recognize that victory comes from God and not from me. I ask God to help me draw my line when I need to. And I am THANKFUL! I am thankful that in Him I have victory. I am Thankful that He gave me my son so that I would have to draw near to Him. I am Thankful that I cannot do it on my own. Because if I could do it, it wouldn't get to bring God all the Glory that it will.

Philippians 4:6-7 sums it up nicely.
Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with Thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

Got it all together

So when you look at the moms around you do you shrink inside because you think they have it all together? Do you think you could never be really real with them because they might think you a bit strange because you don't have it all together? Okay, I answer yes to these questions all the time. Then I volunteered to do the registration and room assignments (among other things...I really need to learn to say "no" more...or just quit volunteering when my plate is full...) for the Lodestar Fall Retreat. I decided to put myself in a cabin with people I thought had it all together. Maybe I could learn something from them. And I did! I learned that maybe it wasn't so strange that I didn't have complete calm in my house all the time. It was pretty "normal" that I felt alone sometimes. It was pretty "normal" to be a lot of things that I am and thought no one else was. What was said in that cabin will never leave that cabin, but it was good to be so deeply real with other women.

didn't like it

If you look closely, her little belly did not like the stickers. We took them off hours ago, but her belly has perfect little red marks. It freaked my poor husband out when he undressed her for her bath. When I showed him the before picture he laughed. Look closely and you can see an igloo, a cross, a fish. What else can you see? oh and you can't cheat by looking at the sticker picture. Those stickers came off and a new canvas went on a little later. But the same sort of stickers were used. That is all the hints you get!

the perfect canvas!

Who needs paper when you are born with the perfect canvas for foamy stickers?!?!?!? (and it made for a good fine motor skills activity :) which is why there were sticker backs all over my kitchen floor. I love it when they give my mess a really good excuse!) Notice the chocolate chip muffin leftovers on her face. Isn't she a miracle!

Music

Music is made of two things. Sound and Rhythm. At least that is what I told my little class today. My class is made up of my 3 nieces and my oldest son. We are going to do a 2 hour music/speech and drama class every other week. It should be fun! The group pic is Beth, Draden, Hallie, and Madison showing the world their rhythm makers. The other picture is how my son works best. Do you really want to know any more?

The face smash

How a four year old looks at 6 pm if he has played hard all day and not taken any sort of rest. I love him!!!!

slow down!

I am having trouble slowing down at night lately. Just check out the time of this post. Yes I do take a sleeping pill, but I seem to not be able to make the brain stop. I think this is a sign that I am trying to do too much.



Here is my man Dre with one missing tooth on top. This was two Thursday's ago.



Then the very next night he was missing both! Now we are just hoping it stays this way until Christmas. Sing with me...."All I want for Christmas is my _____ _____ _____!"