I want to go back in the store

Well, just in case you don't believe me that I have strong-willed children and that one of them is now experience his terrible two's, here's a video. It's like the terrible two's with Rowan came in like a lamb and are going out like a lion!

This was the other day at Office Depot. By the register they had strategically placed die cast cars. Don't they always do that...if not toys, it's candy. In fact, candy is always the big perpetrator. We can have wonderful kids through the whole store and then you hit the check out and BAM! Candy warps their minds...they begin to act like a bunch of crack addicts looking for their next score, for the sweet release of sugar.

This day was a day much like any other day, except instead of candy, it was a random car in a stinking computer/office supply store. What the heck was a car doing in Office Depot? Christmas. That's what. Which of course, Rowan vividly remembers occuring just a few days previous. He begged, he pleaded. "But it's Christmas, I want it for Christmas!" "I want the yellow car, it's mine, it's for me, for Christmas."

This is what ensued upon arrival to the car and when he realized that we WERE leaving the store without the yellow car, it in fact wasn't his for Christmas. You are going to have to pause the music at the bottom. You won't want to miss a second of this.

Forgive me, father for I have sinned!

After growing up on movies like Loverboy and Can't Buy Me Love, one has to ask how Patrick Dempsey, a once nerdy looking kid turns into one of the hottest guys to hit the big screen (not to mention prime time), playing romantic roles so good that names like Brad Pitt and Matthew McConaughey seem to just melt away and become names of forgotten guys from high school.

In his first movies of years ago, Patrick was great, however, it was always the dork gets the girl plot and you were happy because justice was served and the underdog prevailed! Never once did you leave the theater or turn off the TV and think, "wow, I wish my boyfriend looked like that."

Now, you just know when one his movies start that he is getting the girl!

Maybe it's just poetic justice! Because Patrick Dempsey has become one of those guys. You know, one of those guys who can play any role, who can be rough and tumble, or smooth and sexy, and heck all around he's just sexy! He's one of those guys that after one of his movies, like Lucky 7, or even Enchanted, you can't help but dream about him! If you can even sleep at all!

Only my favorites

OK - so I've decided that from this point on, unless it is something really important, I am only going to share my favorite pictures from my trip to Europe on here. Today, I worked on Slovenia and more Scotland. Here are the pics I got done today from Slovenia.

It is so hard to pick my favorites. Every moment there was awesome and I loved cataloguing it all. It's just very time consuming. So maybe I'll save and share at other times too! Or maybe I'll throw this whole idea of only my favorites out and you'll just have to suffer through all the pictures! :)

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Warmth in the Cold

Make a Smilebox postcard

One of the benefits of having veterans in the family is my children being members at the American Legion. Grandma McQueary (and Grandpa Jack) have always bought life membership for the grandkids to the Legion Auxillary. Jourdyn is gone with Katie today, so Nadine, Rob, Rowan and I headed over to the Post to help make blankets for homeless teens in Columbus. Some of our nieces were also there: Amy, Kelly and Chayce and Grandma and Aunt Sue too!

We made five No-Sew fleece blankets! The Legioneers will be taking them to Columbus for their big meeting and they will be given to a shelter there for teens. The kids had fun! I also love having them do things like this because they are learning at a young age how to give of themselves and serve others!

Laughter

The most wasted of all days

is one without laughter.

~e.e. cummings

It sounds so cliche, but laughter really is the best medicine! There is something about having a good laugh that can make you forget about the world around you. It can make you feel as if nothing else matters except the fact that your stomach aches from using muscles you didn't even know existed or keeping just enough composure so as not to pee your pants in mid-laughter. This is how I felt this evening!

My sister gave Rob and I tickets to Fat Fish Blue in Perrysburg. For years, Toledo's only comedy club was Connextions done on Heatherdowns. And down that club was....down the toilet! In more ways than one! So about once a year we'd venture out with friends to see an act. It's a very exciting thing, to have a new comedy club and apparently I'm not the only one who thinks so because this evening it was standing room only at FFB. And it's Sunday night! Rob and I will more certainly be out to FFB's more than once a year. We were actually trying to plan our next trip on our way home!

And by coincidence, Rob and I had just been seated and were getting cozy when Keith Bechtel, an old acquaintance walked in and was seated right next to us. That made for a fun night! Comedy and laughter is always better with friends!

"A good, real, unrestrained, hearty laugh is a sort of glorified

internal massage, performed rapidly and automatically.

It manipulates and revitalizes corners and unexplored crannies

of the system that are unresponsive to most other exercise methods. "

~Author unknown, from an editorial in New York Tribune, quoted in Quotations for Special Occasions by Maud van Buren

While at FFB, they made lots of announcements (sidenote: they make announcements at clubs because they know signs/ads aren't effective, people need to hear what's going on). One of those announcements: an upcoming Stand-up/improve class. It's how to do stand-up or as Chili described "how to better know yourself" and be able to laugh at yourself. I really want to take it. Hear me out! This course would be beneficial to me in many ways but here are just a couple: 1) When the audience that I'm giving a message to starts to fade away, I could bust out some one liners and actually pull it off. Or I could just plan for them, make the whole thing a lot more interesting and no one would be fading away anyways.

2) I could be traveling now doing speaking engagements and sharing the gospel, however, I don't. Why? Because I feel I have nothing really special to share...and there are many things I'm just not ready to share...why? because I find it hard to laugh at myself! But imagine if I could do stand-up effectively and then on top of that share my testimony! What a new way I never thought of to fulfil my calling!

3) I don't know...but I think I'm pretty funny! Not all the time...but when I am funny...I'm funny! I can come up with some off-the-wall one liners and just some funny stuff! I think this course would help me find that inside myself and I think it would help me to get more comfortable because people wouldn't just stare at me blindly as I speak, they would be laughing!

So now I just have to come up with $199.00 to take the course!

More Italy

Our trip to Italy/Slovenia was only possible because of Valentina, my long time friend. We were high school pen pals. You'll see her and her friend, Jernej in many of the pictures. These are more from Venice and also Trieste Italy.

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Venice Italy Set #1

So this scanner takes a while! And I've discovered that the negatives do come out a little grainy. I could set the resolution higher but than it takes even longer. Most of the pics are pretty good in low resolution so I have left them alone.

These are some pics of Venice Italy. I have more. I'm just giving up for the night. So this is what I have so far. We only spent the day in Venice. It is beautiful and it is amazing to be surrounded by such antiquity, however, the city does have a certain odor about it. I would go back in a heartbeat though! It was truly magnificent!

Make a Smilebox slideshow

First batch of European Vacation 2001

In March/April 2001, Rob, Jourdyn and I had the opportunity to travel to Europe. Jourdyn adn I spent 31 days there and Rob two weeks. I am going to post some of my pics from the trip on here as I digitize them from their negatives. They will not be in any particular order. I am going to try to keep countries with countries and stuff like that. So you won't have Scotland mixed with Italy. But the order was Spain, Slovenia, Italy, Croatia, Scotland. These are pictures of part of our trip in Scotland. Really only about two days of the trip. There are tons more to come.

It was in Scotland that we met up with Jack and Maryann (Rob's parents) for the MacQuarrie Family Reunion on the Isle of Mull. We were in Scotland for a total of 12 days.

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Global warming?????

December 27th, 2008...two days after Christmas in OHIO!!!

11 years and still counting...

Today, Rob and I celebrated our 11th wedding anniversary! He was given a gift card from work for a safety bonus and we decided to use it to buy a scanner that has the capability of scanning negatives and slides. We went to Office Depot and purchased it. Brought it home and I had all intentions of scanning in everyone of my wedding photo negatives. However, I have been tearing my house apart because they are not in the boxes with my photo negatives. :( But I have scanned in a couple to share with you! And if I can't find the negatives, I am going to have to just scan all the pics in one by one. Not today though!

We also went out to lunch with our Chili's gift card that our awesome friends gave us for Christmas! Keep watching though I will be posting pics that I get digitized! I am going to try to do my European Vacation soon! And I'll get them all on here for you to see.

Make a Smilebox postcard

Christmas Shoes

It's so hard to pick my favorite Christmas gift besides the presence of my family and friends! I'm not sure that I really have a favorite tangible gift item. But here's my most colorful!! They are from my fabulous hubby! I'm very excited to put my feet inside of them. Hopefully tomorrow!!!! You know how I love shoes!!! I was asked on Sunday how many pairs of shoes I have because I always have cute shoes and I usually sacrifice comfort for cuteness. I hadn't counted in a while. So I decided to count! And as far as I can tell as of today I have 24 pairs of shoes provided that none are in Jourdyn's closet or under a bed. However, some of those are work shoes, some are 7 years old and a couple that have surely seen their day and I just can't bear to part with yet. And believe me, it's a far cry from the well over 100 pairs that I owned at one point in my life (pre-children!)


I was also given a gift card to Bath & Body Works and I ordered some exclusive online purses that they have! They should arrive sometime next week, which is absolutely fantastical! They are colorful too! I'll share pics when they arrive!

An afternoon with family...

Christmas tradition is to always eat first, clean up and then open presents. It was started with Grandma Krempa, how many ever years ago and we continue to this day. Dad, Julie and Bro all arrived around 1 pm. The keilbasa, pierogies, ham and green beans were already cooking. Of course, the keilbasa was nothing like Uncle Harry's homemade keilbasa back in the day, but Lee Williams House of Meats always does a great job. Since John and Barb moved away, Christmas is the holiday that we always have lots of leftovers! B.W. always gives Rob a huge holiday ham. This year we didn't even put a dent in it during the meal. So all of us had care packages that should last at least a week. The keilbasa however was pretty much gone! And there were for sure no more pierogies! Not now that my little man likes them and eats them.

Christmas was perhaps a little different for Bro this year. This was his first "adult" Christmas. He turned 18 in September and Grandma been around (his great grandma) he would have probably gotten some sweaters at the very most it would have been clothes. However, we don't stick that rule. And truth is, Grandma didn't so much either. :) But he did get some gift cards and some electronics stuff.

The little ones got, not tons of stuff, but the stuff that they really wanted! More Cars for Rowan, and heavy equipment and fire trucks. Nadine, princesses, of course! And Jourdyn, webkinz and clothes and other tweenie stuff!

For the past couple of years, dad has been buying Rob Ohio State stuff. This is funny, since dad is a Michigan fan. Rob says he must be a closet Buckeye fan...he needs to buy the stuff but has to have the excuse of giving it to Rob! Of course, Rob appreciates it and is always looking for an opportunity for a wisecrack!

Jules and I got some gas cards, candles, and other little stuff! She gave me a little plaque that says "This is the day that the Lord has made...Don't mess it up!" Isn't that cute???

My brother, John always sends back gift cards for the kids. It's too expensive to send gifts. Well, dad and I took them and went shopping yesterday. Uncle John and Aunt Barb got Rowan a remote control bobcat, Nadine a crayola art set and carrying case, and Jourdyn a Littlest Pet shop game and a Battleship game! Thanks!!!

I have to say that my family is so blessed! God has given us not only the gift of his Son, Jesus Christ, but he has also blessed us with fabulous people to call our family and friends!

After all the gift opening was done - we broke out some games. First, a little Disney Pictionary with the whole family! and then some Scene it! (Julie won - of course! She's the movie guru!!!) The kids were dead-tired again! And were both asleep by 7:30.

Thank you to everyone who blessed my family with gifts this year. It is so appreciate! And thank you to all of you for just being our dearest friends and family - that's the best gift! Merry Christmas to each and everyone of you! I love you all! And I am so blessed to have each of you in my life!

Visit www.moblyng.com to make your own!

Christmas Morning

Well, Rob arrived home at 8:30. Rowan and I were still sleeping or at least trying to because Nadine had been up for an hour and Jourdyn for a few minutes. We got out of bed, made a pot of coffee and opened Christmas presents. We weren't able to do much this year, but I did catch some great sales and clearances. So our kids all received things that they liked and will find joy in. Jourdyn received some Camp Rock t-shirts and scrapbooking stuff. Nadine got playdough and some much needed snow boots. Rowan got die cast Cars characters, like hot wheels but a little bigger. Jourdyn also used some of her own money and went shopping with Grandpa to buy things for everyone. She gave me some scrapbooking stuff, her daddy some underarmour shirts for running and hunting, Nadine a backyardigan's memory game and Rowan a little truck.

Rowan did so well. He waited patiently for his turn. He opened the gifts so cautiously. After the first couple cars he was ready for action. It was a fun morning. The two little ones played all morning with playdough and cars. Jourdyn, Rob and I cleaned everything up and got ready for lunch with Grandpa, Aunt Julie and Brodie.

Rudolph is coming....

for sure...since we were sure to feed him and guide his way in with Reindeer food (Oatmeal and glitter!)

Christmas Eve

On the eve of Christmas Eve, our family headed out to Cedar Creek Church with Melissa, Tom, Amy and Jason and their families to enjoy their Christmas show. It was nice. However, it was different than years before. It wasn't as much show and lights. It was very much like any service at Cedar Creek. The message was about the gift of our Savior. It was great to celebrate Christmas there with friends!

One of the best Christmas presents we were given this year is the ability for Rob to work through Christmas on midnights! If you'll remember we were told that he would have a shut down for the holidays. And they did shut down many of the shops. Rob was able to work through it though. We aren't sure what the New Year will bring but thankful that God made provision to get us through Christmas.

So it made Christmas different this year. And we decided to make it definitively different. Instead of our usual, going to the McQueary's and then to candlelight service, we decided to spend Christmas Eve with the Rook's. They live close to Brush Wellman and so we headed out earlier, had dinner, watch a movie and then Rob went to work and the kids and I came home.

Visit www.moblyng.com to make your own!

Chuck and Char have been pretty much some of our best friends. Definitely those friends that have made it to our might-as-well-be-family list. The kids always have a ball with their kids. In fact, we didn't see Rowan and Nadine at all until the end of the night when they were pooped and ready to go to sleep. They were both out like lights before I hit the main road. Overall, the night was relaxed and fun. We watched the Dark Knight. First time we saw it...and we aren't sure if we like it better than the original or not. For sure, there were better graphics and stuff but I think we like them both.

We played some Wii! And I WON!!!! I bowled a 172, a 188 and a 180. I have never bowled over a 72 in real life!

It was great to be with friends and great to know that each person there really cared about each other. There is nothing like knowing who, when times are rough, will have your back! who will always be there and who can help you through anything!

Today, Christmas...I get to spend with my dad, my sister and my nephew, Brodie. More people that are always there for us! I'm excited!

Snow + Cold + Ice =

NO SCHOOL!!!

Jourdyn's Christmas break was supposed to be from December 23 to January 6th. However, the winter mayhem that has struck Ohio has given her an extended vacation. Friday school was cancelled, yesterday (Monday) school was cancelled, and for some unknown reason today they had a two hour delay. Well, Rob and I just decided to keep her home because today was to be just a free day of movies, dancing and games at school. So today, she is home and going Christmas shopping with Grandpa instead.

I was doing some research about my next class and I was completely excited to find out that I need not to purchase any textbooks. Everything is provided and online! Yeah! You know though, just Sunday I was harassed about how I don't have a full-time job, like this person does and yet they can make time to see friends and family, so I must be just ignoring them. So I started to list all the things that I do. A part-time job, a mom of three kids, a wife running a home, a full-time unpaid ministry position (it really does consume between 30-40 hours or more of my time, especially during the times we have upcoming events) and I go to school full-time. It was when I got to this one that she said, "Yeah, but that's just online!" PET PEEVE ALARM!!!!! Rob's eyes said it all...to that person he was like "you're in trouble now!" He looked at me with one of those "don't say it, be nice" looks.

Hey I love to blog. I love to facebook. In fact, it's one way that I am able to keep up with people that I am unable to see because of my busy-ness and theirs. But I have to tell you that my online courses are more than a full-time job. In the majority of my classes, I spend 8 to 12 hours a day, 7 days a week either reading or discussing or writing papers. Northwest Nazarene University is not a fly-by-night operation...it is by far one of the most advance and demanding online programs that I have seen. Bowling Green's and Owens' were jokes. But NNU is an established private college, that isn't messing around with offering joke degrees online. Even a professor friend of mine was shocked by the amount of time, energy and requirements that NNU is asking of their students. I guarantee that I do more work online than I would do if I was in the classroom. I find myself having to "prove" myself more in my classes than I would if I were in a classroom face-to-face. And let's not forget that I'm a woman - the only woman - in a cohort of 12 to 13 men, who are great. But yet given my vocation, I am left feeling that I have to somehow demonstrate the veracity of my calling, of my intellect, and of my aptitude to hold the position that I will some day fill.

So, just a word of caution, you're treading on thin ice with me when it comes to wanting to tell me how I just go to school online.

An exciting moment for daddy...

Daddy shoots with Jourdyn. He's teaching her how to hunt. However, I think there is going to be something different about shooting with this one....

Remembering...

Yesterday...was the third anniversary of Jack's death (my father-in-law). I can't believe it's been three years already. It seems like just yesterday that we saw him. St. Thomas had a memorial mass for Jack, and probably others yesterday. I took my girls with me to church at our church and Rob took Rowan and went to St. Thomas with his mom and family. I had previous commitments that I had to attend to at church. However, I think it was good for Rob and Rowan to go together. Rowan is not yet three but he was around when Jack passed away just never got to meet him on the outside. And I know, even though Rob would never say it, that it hurts for him to have children, especially a son, that never was able to meet his grandfather. Jack was truly a special guy and I can say that even after all we went through in the beginning. I'm sure that he's looking down. In fact, maybe he's Rowan's guardian angel now! Cause we all know he needs one!

After our services were done the girls and I headed over to Maryann's for lunch with the family. We had french toast and sausage, one of Jack's favorites.

Rob has been wanting to go to Bass Pro for the past couple of weeks. So we took this opportunity to head over so the kids could see Santa. I don't have a scanner so I can't scan the pics in for you! But I even sat on santa's lap. The kids really wanted to know what I asked him for! I asked him for the list that Nadine had just given him. But in case Rob is reading: I really like those boots at Elder-Beermans (size 6 1/2) and I really would love to have one of those slide/negative digital readers so I can put all my 35 mm negatives on the computer to share with everyone! Of course for him to buy something I'd have to give him the checkbook so it wouldn't be much of a surprise would it!

Back to remembering....I had thought that Christmas would get easier and easier without Grandma year after year...but the reality is that it's not. I thought perhaps my memories of Christmas' with her would be filled with new memories with my children. However, each year it seems that my memories of Grandma grow stronger and stronger, and with each year I miss her more.

What's it to me?

I would love to be able to ask that question and come up with an answer of "nothing, it's nothing to me." Unfortunately, I wasn't made that way. I was crafted in a way that has given me a heart that cares way too much. And more often than not, I am one to when things really aren't anything to me personally, I still take them to heart and they still affect me. I believe it is in many ways a blessing. It is a character trait that resembles being a shepherd. A shepherd cares for his sheep, he knows their pain and he protects them. I believe this trait plays a large role in my vocation. But, honestly there are days that I wish I could just not care, just not take things to heart, to just brush things off and walk away. To my understanding, this scenario I discussed a few days ago has been dealt with through the powers that be. But what hurts me about it, isn't those particular actions by those particular persons. I've gotten over them. And if met on the street would be completely cordial. What hurts me is how their actions are hurting the "family."

I could really care less if someone knocks on this perpetrators door to tell him/her they are wrong. What I'm looking for is someone to repair the damage that has been done inside the "family." Someone to at least begin to start talking openly and begin the healing process. Because right now, it feels as if we are all just going through the motions of life, with our heads held as high as we can, when inside our hearts are low and crushed. The hope is missing in many hearts and not talking about it is only prolonging the grieving process, in fact it's holding it back. The grieving process can't even begin because it's yet just another thing we sweep under the rug and pretend as if never happened.

On another note, I got a B+ in my last class. My first B in a really long time, and the first ever during my master's work. And to this, I can truly say, "I don't care!" Well, I care...but when asked "What's it to me?" ------ All that matters is I passed and its over!!! My next class begins January 26th. It is Philosophical Foundations of Ministry. It should be interesting.

Last night, I was asked about 101 questions about my schooling and my brain froze. I believe it actually staged a protest to discussions about schooling during my nearly two month break.

Praise God, from whom all blessings flow

Jourdyn had her Christmas piano recital today! She did fantastic! She kept her songs a secret from us. She played Praise God, from whom all blessings flow and the First Noel. She was a little angry because I made her wear a dress, but oh well.

This afternoon she has gone out Christmas Caroling with Katie & Miss Dawn for Caravans!

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Count it all Joy

I tend to be the type to trust, to give people a chance, well probably many chances (and some would say many undeserved chances)...each person has to be dealt with as an individual so I will continue to trust people. Love is all about seeing the best in people. It does hurt, it stings right done to the tiniest bone in your body, when those you felt the most trustworthy, aren't. However, I'm not sure that trust is the right word in this scenario...I mean, I don't know if the word trustworthy is right...did they ever prove themselves trustworthy, in some ways, but over the years there are far more many ways they haven't been trustworthy. I (and others) have just placed them on this platter of trustworthiness because of who they are and the position they filled. All too often we forget that we are for the most part all alike. That no matter our status, we are still human. We still breath, sleep, eat, hurt, and feel. No matter our position we still suffer the same faults, illnesses and the same sin. I guess bottom line is that people are human, none better than the other, we are all just trying to make it somewhere and hopefully that somewhere relies on reaching for Christ and letting Him pull us through.

In any walk of life there are times of distress. There are times of brokenness. For Christians, they are bittersweet moments because the reality of them is so heartbreaking, yet ultimately they must draw us nearer to the brokenness of Christ's cross and the healing that flows from His wounds. In the book Resurrecting Excellence, Jones and Armstrong say it this way: "Patterning our lives in the life, death, and resurrection of Christ invites us to discover intersections that we often otherwise turn into false alternatives - youth and age, strength and weakness, joy and suffering, abundance and sacrifice, tragedy and hope, community and solitude, church and world. Churches (Christians) that live in these intersections are likely to manifest a commitment to resurrecting excellence precisely by being shaped by the gospel of Jesus Christ...The letter to the Ephesians describes resurrecting excellence in this way: 'I pray that you may have the power to comprehend, with all the saints, what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, so that you may be filled with all the fullness of God' (3:18-19)."

What they are talking about here is realizing that my life as a Christian, and if you are one, your life as a Christian is about living a life of spirit-filled joy that comes from the gospel of Jesus Christ, that comes from His cross, yet never forgetting the brokenness of humanity. This brokenness is not exclusive, it is humanity. Which is why we must follow that brokenness to the cross of Christ and find the joy that comes from His resurrection. It is in these intersections, that we find that joy...it is comprehending that love of Christ surpasses all knowledge and it is through Him that we will find peace and understanding in the most difficult times of our lives. It is through Him and Him alone that I can count these moments of heartbreak and brokenness as all joy!

Spiteful or just ignorant???

That's the question I have been pondering lately and today I believe I have begun to answer it. And sadly, it's on the spiteful side.

It's amazing how someone can choose to walk away from let's say a "family" and do so in a very discouraging and outright questionable way. And yet, continue to manipulate and control that "family" from the outside looking in through spreading lies, rumors, communicating manipulative messages in the disguise of prayer requests and today, sending Christmas cards through the "family" Christmas card exchange, as if they were still part of the "family" they chose to not only leave but also throw in the street and run over as the exit was made . As if to say, don't forget about me, the person you forced out - when the truth is - no one was forced anywhere, it was a choice on this family members part to walk away and to do it with no class at all.

It is quite disheartening to realize that so much hatred, manipulation and spite exists in a once cherished "family" member. It's as if throwing salt on a wound some how amuses them or knowing that even though they have left the "family" they still maintain some type of control over it.

I know someone who was thankfully separated from a controlling, emotionally and physically abusive man and that separation was a God-send. However, that man for many years exerted control over this friend, through sending cards and notes. Through checking up on the friend through people that she knows.

I see what's going on in the first scenario of the "family" as very similar to what my friend went through. It's heartbreaking to watch it and I'm left really with no course of action to stop it. And I'm frustrated that the "family" isn't doing anything to stop it, to tell this previous "family" member to walk away, he/she made their choice, live with it and move on. Because all they are doing is tearing down the "family." They are being spiteful, manipulative. Every action that is taken is not out of ignorance, it is well though out and planned. It is executed with great care and worded with even greater expectancy for what their actions will do to the "family," what reactions they will evoke.

Please pray for this situation. It is extremely discouraging to watch this go on.

Ped's ICU

Yesterday, Rowan and Nadine wanted to watch TV in my bed so I let them. I went to go start making some lunch and Rowan dumped out my laundry, turned the basket upside down in front of the bathroom sink, put a paint can on top of it and climb up to the top shelf of the medicine cabinet. While there he ate the remainder of a bottle of children's chewable tylenol. When they were sick before, we ran out of tylenol and had bought a new bottle. They used maybe 5 or 6 of them and the others were left. It was a bottle of 30. I immediately called our doctor and he said take him to the ER immediately. So I did.

We went to St. Charles, it was packed, however, they took him back immediately. He had a tube stuck down his nose and his stomach pumped through it. They also tried to put charcoal in his stomach through that tube, but it just exploded all over everything and everyone in the room. It wouldn't go down the tube. So they amazingly got Rowan to drink it inside chocolate milk. Rowan was bussed to Toledo Hospital Pediatric ICU. They had to wait until the 4 hour mark to do more blood work. At that point his tylenol levels were low and there was no need for further treatment just observation. So he and I stayed the night.

The Doctor's there do not think that he ate as much as we know he did. However, they also think that since we got him to the hospital immediately and within an hour of taking it, his stomach had been pumped and the charcoal put in, so those things may have kept the tylenol from getting into his system in a toxic dose. Regardless, God protected him!

Standard procedure with any accidental overdose is to call in a social worker. So before he could be released we had to see one. They come in and ask questions and then give advice. Now that we know Rowan will climb specifically to get medicine, I believe we are going to put it out in the garage in daddy's gun safe.

One other thing happened while at the hospital, 3 times during the night Rowan set off the apnea alarms. He was connected to all the life-stat monitors the whole time he was there. The nurse attributed it to him moving around and them loosing the signal. However, he wasn't moving around. I explained what we had gone through before with him and our suspicions of sleep apnea and she said to definitely talk to our primary care and have a sleep study done. We had experienced this before and our doctor said to just watch him. And if it happened again to call 911. Well, he doesn't always sleep with us and it's possible that he's not doing it every night. I am going to call our doctor tomorrow and see what he says.

Brush Christmas Parties

Not only did Rob run yesterday but we also had both the children's and the adult Brush Christmas party to go to. The kids were in the morning before the Jingle Bell run and the adults was at night.

Brush always gives their employees children under 12 gifts for Christmas. They have santa come, cookies, punch, a craft. It's quite fun! This year Jourdyn received twenty bucks (they don't shop for the 11 and 12 year olds...just cash!) Rowan received a jumbo front loader and Nadine a Wow Wow Wubbzy!

Yesterday evening, dad came over and watched the two little ones. Jourdyn went to play with Sally at Char's house and Rob and I headed over to Ole Zim's for the adult Christmas party. The food was okay (chicken, roast beef and ham, mashers, corn and noodles.) We hung out with the guys and their wives. It's always nice to see the other wives. We had lots of fun!

Jingle Bell Run/Walk for Arthritis

Rob has not been running lately, we have just been too stinkin' busy. But that didn't stop him for lacing up and pinning on some bells to run in the Jingle Bell Run/Walk for Arthritis in Fremont, Ohio today.

This race was a little different. It was cold! well, freezing! And there weren't as many racers! Basically, it was mostly the hard core racers there. Jeff & Darlene joined us for the run. They all placed and won medals. Jeff took 3rd place in his age group. Darlene 2nd in hers and Rob 2nd in his. YEAH!!! Congrats you guys you did a wonderful job and braved the cold!

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Another Visitor

Not one animal touches that bird feeder in about a year and a half and now we have not only birds but also squirrels. And of course, this is supposed to be a squirrel proof feeder! Guess not! He was very cute though, definitely fat, but cute! And he knew we were watching him. This little booger was hanging by his hind toes.

I enjoy the squirrels though. Out on Woodside we never had squirrels. We had a huge forest on the property but no trees near the house so we had no squirrels. I like watching them. And Tate, my dog loves to chase them. I almost love watching him chase them as much as I love just watching them do acrobats on the wires and tree. This little squirrel though did eat half of my suet. So I'll have to be making a trip to Tractor supply soon!

Tonight, me, Amy, Lin, and Evelyn made up 75 individual Brownie Trifle Parfaits for our Christmas party tomorrow night. Our linens arrived on time (a day early actually!) and they look wonderful! Everything is pretty much ready! Just the food and some last minute stuff!

Matching Doggies

My brother, John and his wife Barb have an Airdale Terrior, Abbey. Just a few weeks ago, well, maybe a couple of months ago now. They got a Welsh Terrior. I'm sharing because I think it is complete adorable that the dogs match. Abbey is nearly full grown and the puppy will not get much bigger. They have Abbey and a Mini-Abbey. If we could speak dog talk, she probably calls him "Mini-Me!"

Holiday Happenings

We have been in our current home for about a year and a half. It seems as if we have been here much longer, but that's it. When we first moved in, I had Rob hang a bird feeder right outside my living room window so we could see the birds from the couch. They never came. This summer I had Rob move that bird feeder to the tree outside my kitchen window and again they never came. We have thousands of birds in our backyard and they never touched the feeder. The other morning I was in the kitchen and I happen to glance out at the brisk weather and lo, and behold, I had a bird. It was a woodpecker. He hung around in the hard winds just blowing and eating. All around him on the branches and on the ground, waiting to feast on his scraps were purple martins. I was quite excited! So here's a picture.

Last night, Jourdyn had her 6th grade band concert. Dad came over and watched the two little ones for me and I headed out to watch Jourdyn play her heart out. Rob is on second shift so he missed it. There are three saxophones in her band. Her and two boys. But, gee, did they make a beautiful sound. She was awesome. The only bad part is that the saxophones are in the very back near the percussion. So I didn't get to watch her just the entire band. They all did a fantastic job and like I said, I could definitely hear her.

Make a Smilebox greeting

Thursday night is my women's ministries Christmas Extravanganza. I am very excited. And it's a lot of work. My friend had surgery today so I was up at 7 am baking all the cookies. I went to the hospital for the surgery and returned at almost 2 o'clock. I spent the afternoon frosting all of the candy cane cookies. Here's the result.

Tomorrow night, I will making 75 other individual desserts for my ladies. I've already rolled 75 sets of silverware and made 75 party favors and much much more. So I have been happily very busy over the past several days.

Breakfast with Santa

I thought that maybe today would be the day that I would get my trees up - no such luck! This morning our church had Breakfast with Santa. The kids are given a cereal, donut and fruit breakfast, Santa comes and reads a story about the true meaning of Christmas, then the kids make some crafts and get to sit on Santa's lap.

There were a lot of people there. This year it was made open to the public. They advertised in the Press, so there were a lot of faces that we didn't necessarily know. Which was fantastic! Santa was also fantastic this year! A little thin, but fantastic! I believe everyone will be leaving extra cookies for Santa this year. Of course, it may just be a sign of the times. Maybe the economic situation has hit the Claus' family too!

Rowan didn't want anything to do with Santa this time. He had bigger and better things to do, like investigate, play with umbrella's and ping-pong balls. But Nadine went up and saw Santa and she did very well.

Melissa, Tom and Izzie, Erin, Tom, Sandi and Mia all sat at our table. And all of our young ones didn't really want Santa near them. Izzie, Mia and Rowan are all months apart. It's definitely an age thing.

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Intro to Biblical Studies - Check

Last night at about midnight, I finished up my Intro to biblical studies course. I had to write a 2000-3000 word paper about Mark 8:22-26. It's done and turned in! And I now have almost a two month break. School does not start up again until January 26th. I am so excited!

My last class I finally received my grade. It was an A-. My GPA is 3.8. However, it will slip a little after this courses grades are recorded. Before the paper, I have a B. But that's okay. I'll live with it.

I am very excited to work all this weekend! Tonight on the floor, tomorrow on a party and Sunday on a party. I don't usually work Sunday's so my boss must have really needed me.

Well, not much is new otherwise. I am just heading out to do some Christmas decorating clean-up at church. Maybe tomorrow I'll get my house decorated finally. If not, I'll do it next week sometime.

The In-Between

Well, the questions have begun. "Where are you?" "What's wrong?" "Have you been too busy to blog?" So I'm responding! I'm here. Nothing's wrong. And I just haven't had much to blog about.

My Intro to Biblical Studies is over in two days. Well, it's over for me tomorrow because I have to work on Friday. Tomorrow I will be spending the day at the library writing my final paper.

This week we have working on some of the difficult books of the Bible. I say difficult because they aren't necessarily shoved into a nice box. They have their own genre of writing prescribed to them: Psalms and Revelation. One author that we read this week spoke about the Psalms. Here's what he said (Dennis Bratcher in "Biblical Realism as Faith"):

We are used to seeing the Bible in terms of instructions from God thundered from Mount Sinai, the words of God through the prophets, the word of God pronouncing judgment on sin, or the promise of God's presence and grace in times of national calamity. We are not used to hearing the Bible much in its more human dimension, where the deep questions of human existence burst to the surface and explode to be hurled in the face of God. We too often assume that the entire Bible is either about proper piety, promises of hope, or judgment on sin.

And yet, most of us, in fact most of God's people throughout biblical times and through the ages, live in the "between" times, in the ordinary times where great events are long in the past or anticipated in the future. While much of the Bible recounts those high or low points of God's peoples' journey, most of their actual living was in the "between" times when ordinary day-to-day living had to be done. And in those ordinary times, life still happened. There were all the ups and downs of human existence, both joys and triumphs along with the tragedies and pain that accompany all human existence.

And so there were questions from God's people. They were the screamed questions of "why?" and "how long?" They were the reflective questions of "why do the wicked prosper?" They were the more deeply pious questions arising out of the darkness of human experience: "O Lord, why do you cast me off? Why do you hide your face from me?" (Psa 88:14). And they were the questions that could not even be framed as questions but hurled forth as curses, as the psalmist cried out the deepest of his own emotions: "May his memory be cut off from the earth. For he did not remember to show kindness, but pursued the poor and needy and the brokenhearted to their death. He loved to curse; let curses come on him" (Psa 109:16-17).

Most of us live in the "between" times. When nothing extraordinary is happening and nothing horrible is happening either. Just the everyday routine of living. And because of those expectations we find ourselves longing for something more. Or we interpret those times as God not being near. What I love about my God is that He created me to be a thinker with free will. He created me to ask questions, even of Him. He created me to continuously search Him out and sometimes that means that I am able to scream out to Him much like the Psalmters did. He created all of us this way.

It is not bad to question God. What's bad is not asking those questions that are burning in our hearts and instead walking away from Him because we don't understand and we aren't seeking to understand. God is revealing Himself to us everyday. Are we listening? Are we searching? Are we seeing? Or are we blindfolding ourselves, waiting for His opinions in hardest of times or in the best of times. It's in the in-between times that we have to be faithful, that we should be seeking Him out, asking the tough questions and leaning on Him for the answers.

What has our world come to?

On Friday, a man in New York State was trampled to death because 2000 people had to push their way to the sales at Wal-mart. The doors of the Wal-mart were pretty much torn off the hinges as this crowd pushed their way through not caring that they were climbing over a man.

Okay, now if you don't see what's wrong with this picture then you have a serious issue - I would suggest intense psycho-therapy or perhaps just shooting yourself. Is there really anything in a Walmart (or any store for that matter) that is worth pushing and shoving for, let alone trampling someone to death over?

I haven't watched the news all weekend and this is the story that I woke up to. What are people thinking? Have we completely become a society where we only care about ourselves? A society in which a big screen tv is more important than someone's life? I'm gonna refer you back to my previous posts about Christmas but there has got to be a point that we all say enough's enough.

Here's another one: 2 shot dead at California Toys R us Now this one they aren't saying if it was over a toy or just a gang-related incident. Hello? They were shopping on Friday at a Toys R us. I'm sure they didn't head out that morning with the intent of having a gun fight at the toy store.

I just really do not get it. I do not understand the mentality of many that claim to be part of humankind these days. Maybe that's just it...maybe we've taken ourselves so far off the deep end that parts of us just aren't human anymore. Maybe we've become programmed little machines that resort to violence and hatred to get what we want.

Neon Black Date Night

Last night, Rob and I went out with Chuck, Charlene, Amy & Jason to see Neon Black. They are friends of Jason's, a really cool cover band. They did stuff like Poison, Skid Row, Guns N Roses, Motley Crue, etc. And they did it well. It was a fun time. Amy, Char and I did some dancing and mostly just some all around goofyness!

There was this one guy though. He was dressed like he was straight out of the movie Grease. His hair pomped up and his jeans rolled with black shoes and a black leather jacket. I couldn't help but stare. And then he was up dancing with us and Amy and I were doing some of the Grease dances. It was quite funny and you really just need to see the dances we were doing. And it must be a new fad or something because I was in Sandusky tonight at the Toys R Us and saw someone dressed the same way. Rob and I started dancing through the parking lot.

This evening we went out to dinner on Brush Wellman. Rob is on the Recreation committee. And we had to Christmas shop for all the employee kids tonight. So we went to eat at Brown Derby Roadhouse, pretty much just like Texas Roadhouse, then to Toys R us to spend five grand. That was fun! Especially since it's not my money!
Well Here are some pics from last night! Charlene has a bunch and so does Amy but I don't have those yet. I'll post them later.

Visit www.moblyng.com to make your own!

Black Friday

Well, I worked Thanksgiving from 10:30 am to 7:30 pm. I didn't do much better than a normal Friday or Saturday night. Our reservations were down by 100 from last year. But money is money! So I'm glad I was able to work!

Evalee and I usually wake up and are out shopping at 4 am. However, this year we decided not to. She called at 7:30 and picked me up at 8 and we headed over to Franklin Park Mall, which wasn't all that busy when we arrived. We hit Aeropostle, Bath & Body Works, Dillards, Hot Topic, Wet Seal and that's about it. Then we went to Elder Beerman at Woodville mall. At Franklin Park, I only bought soaps for the bathrooms at church. At Elder Beerman, I found Rowan a little remote control car for 5 bucks. We just gave it to him now. He's in love! I also found a new coat for me. It's purple. Mine was shot and this one was marked down to $25 from $80. So I got it.

Dad came over in the afternoon and we took the kids to Children's Wonderland. Rowan and Nadine are into Santa this year. I've told Nadine that he is just make believe. But I don't think she believes me. We've watched movies and I've let her know they are just make believe, but seeing Santa yesterday - her eyes lit up like firecrackers! And when Rowan saw Santa walk by him to take a break he said, "Hey, I need to ask him. I need to ask him for something."

Make a Smilebox slideshow