Proud Mommy Moment

On Wednesday last week, as we were leaving church, my oldest asked if he could invite his best friend (we'll call him J) for Christmas Eve and Christmas Day to spend with our family. Of course I said yes. Christan then explained the reasons why and I don't want to air J's "dirty laundry" but I'll just say he's never really had a Christmas and it's not because of a "religious thing". Christian babysat a lot last week and so had quite a bit of money. He went Thursday after he was done babysitting and spent ALL his money on J. Of course I gave him money and told him to pick out something J would like from me and Brice. The next day (Friday) I went and got his stocking stuffers (one of which was a Bible). At an age when Christian could have saved his money for a car, car insurance, or just simply spent it on himself, he instead chose to provide a little joy for J. Christmas is not about the materialism that is often so present today. It is about God's love sent down from heaven in the form of Christ so we could have eternal life. I think Christian did a good job of showing love on Christmas morning.







Merry Merry Christmas J!

Heavy Heart

My heart is so heavy right now.

Four kids have died this week.

Three of them in less than two days.

Two of them with heart problems.

One of them with the same problem Eli walks around with right now.

I have no words.

I know those babies/kids are in heaven in the loving arms of Jesus.

Those mommies arms are empty. Those mommies now have the heavy burden of walking around without their child while grief follows them everywhere. No more smiles. No more laughs. No more crying. No more anything.

Proverbs 3:5-6 "Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths."

People who don't have a child with a heart problem don't understand that just because they do surgery doesn't mean the journey is over.

Do You Hear What I Hear?

If you're not a parent of a child with Congenital Heart Defects and Disease, the chances are not.

You don't hear the complete silence as the cardiologist listens intently to your childs heart.

You don't hear the intense beating of your own heart in anticipation of what that cardiologist has to say.

You don't hear the cardiologist telling me "be thankful for every time his subaortic stenosis hasn't returned" because it has such a HIGH rate of reoccurance. Or any number of things that are a reality for a child with CHD.

You don't hear your child cough and have the task of determining whether that cough is allergies, a cold or his valve leaking more.

You don't hear people tell you not to worry, only you're NOT worried. You are being cautious, but they would NOT understand the difference.

You don't hear of the other kiddos with heart problems similar to Eli and wonder is God trying to prepare me for what is next or am I crazy.

You don't hear God telling me things will be okay if I lean on Him.

You don't hear the peace that also comes from knowing God is in control. Knowing that when my worries and fears take hold I can put them in His loving hands and know I will get through this.

Things My Kids Say

My kids are the sweetest people I've ever had the pleasure of knowing. It comes out in the things not only that they do, but the things they say.

"God made everybody."

"My heart! Jesus is in there." (This can be concerning when said child has a heart problem and pauses inbetween the word heart and Jesus.)

"It's okay Eli, Jesus IS healing your heart."

"I made this for God."

"God lives up there (points to sky) and God lives in our hearts too."

"I want Jesus to fix my heart." (Also is concerning when said child has a heart problem and says this in a very sad way.)

I love my kids and listening to them talk about God.

How Can You Help?

In the world of blogging people often have give aways and prizes to win. I don't participate often for no real reason. Well I have a blog I follow. This mother has a daughter with special needs. Look at her blog here and post a comment. For every comment left Milk-Bone® will donate $1 to Canine Assistants. A very special cause for those who need it. Let's start the Christmas season early.

Too Much Fun

I think Faith is having too much fun after nap time. What do you think?



(I'm really glad she didn't dump the white powder, which is cornstarch, all over the floor.)



In my defense my boys ALWAYS knocked on the door when they were ready to get up.

Elk Camp

A couple weeks ago the kids and I went for the opening day of elk hunting with Brice. Although it is NOT my thing, the kids LOVE it. So I go so they can enjoy the time with daddy and grandpa. Here are a couple of pictures.

Dakota helping stack wood.


Eli helping stack wood.


Faith being Faith


All three little ones.


How did I not get a picture of Christian?