Sniffle, Sniffle

They cough, they sniffle, they snuffle, they sneeze, and they blow their noses 30 times a day. This is my family. They all have colds.

The poor things are so sick. :( I feel sorry for them. Having a cold is NO fun. This morning Jadyn said, "I am not happy with my cold." I don't blame her. She is on cold #2 this month.

Here's the cycle: Jadyn gets a cold. Bryan gets a cold. Dad gets a cold. Jadyn gets another cold. After Jadyn's cold had been around for 11 or 12 days, I told her that her cold was about done. Yesterday morning, I noticed that she must have a new one coming on. She'd caught the family cold. I didn't have the heart to tell her, and I hoped she wouldn't notice. She did notice. She said, "Mom, if I'm not sick, why is my nose running so much?" Poor little one.

So here I am, in the midst of all of this sneezing, sniffling, snuffling and coughing. Coughing! Did I mention coughing? Last night I said, "If I have to listen to just one more person sneeze or cough....." Don't get me wrong. I DO feel sorry for them. I also know full well that I could be next.

Did I mention they cough?? The little one coughs incessantly. It's her thing when she gets a cold. Oh.my.word. It's enough to drive me batty. :)

By the way, yes of course snuffle is a word. Haven't you heard of it? It's that sound that a person with a cold makes. :)

On to something more positive - We did some fun things over last weekend.

We took Jadyn to an Easter egg hunt which was put on by our local FCC group. There was so much Chinese cuteness going on there. So many adorable children. Here are some pictures.

On Sunday, we had the joy of spending time with friends from our China travel group. Greg, Kim, and their children are vacationing in our area this week. They came over for a visit and it was so much fun to see them again. The kids played together like crazy, and it was almost as if they'd known each other all their lives. Good times.

Agnes, Jadyn, and Drew

Thankful Thursday - Of A Different Sort

I was downright cranky this morning. I have no idea why. It just came out of the blue. I'm glad it came out of the blue. Heaven knows I wouldn't want to admit it came from Me.

I didn't like the idea of having to do chores around the house, which included everything from laundry to cleaning the fish tank.

I'm not sure why I felt frustrated at having to be the one who does most of the cleaning up around the house. It doesn't happen too often, thank goodness. I don't like to have a pity party about such things. I don't even want to be in my own skin when I get so cranky.

I decided the best thing to do was turn it around and be THANKFUL for my situation.

• Thank goodness I have a home and a family to take care of! There are so many in the world who live alone and are so terribly lonely.

• My favorite plant was broken today. A number of pieces were broken off by a ball that someone accidentally hit it with. I was sad about it. The good part is this - I have a beautiful child who lives with ME. I'm thankful for her.

• Jadyn and I decided to eat pizza for lunch today. I opened the freezer and my preferred kind wasn't there. There was only 1 pizza left for us. WHERE were all of the pizzas that it seems I just bought? -- I'm thankful for the hungry young man who is our son. Before I can blink, he'll be living on his own and I won't need to buy so much pizza.

• Jadyn asked me to come to her tea party this morning. It was in the middle of my really cranky mood. While I really just wished I could have my space, I went to her tea party. I'm thankful for my little girl who loves to have tea parties a couple of times a week. Some day she won't want to do this anymore. She won't even prefer me at her parties. LOL.

• Thankful for a smile...

Last week, I shared some items from our newspaper. What kids want to be when they grow up. There were more in today's paper. I can't resist sharing just one more of them. It made me smile.

Here it is: Mary said- I want to be a doctor. I'll need a "shot-er", a stethoscope, heart beat thinger, knee tapper, some toys, and potty pads in case they go potty.

How on earth did her teacher keep a straight face? Maybe she didn't. :)

Thanks for reading, friends. Blessings to you today.

Tuesday's Rambling Thoughts

Raise your hand if you're loving the spring-like weather we've been having. Isn't it wonderful? Beautiful days, full of sunshine are D-lightful! Here in Minnesota, we are over-the-moon excited about what seems to be an early spring.

The past few days have been busy for us. Time with friends and family always tops my list. On Friday we had Playgroup friends over. That night, Jadyn and I attended an event at our church for ladies and girls of all ages. We were to wear a recycled prom dress, bridesmaids dress, etc. I wore a recycled prom dress, and Jadyn wore last year's Easter dress. It was a fun event and I'm glad we went. I'll include a picture at the end of the post.

On Saturday, Lauryn and I went to an all-day scrapbooking event. It was a fundraiser for my friend Sue and her family. They are bringing home a 5th daughter from China. We had a good time scrapbooking, learning new techniques and visiting with friends. Go here to see Sue's blog, her lovely family and ongoing fundraisers.

Let the scrapbooking continue! I recently completed 2 scrapbooks, which I worked on over the last several months. They're 12X12 albums and they are quite full. I began a new album on Saturday. Soon I'll be moving on into the 2007 photos. Yep, 2007. :) Do you do scrapbooking?

So...I recently shared that I'll be having surgery next month. I felt sort of weird at the time, because I didn't know how some would view it, if I shared something so personal. As it turned out, a number of ladies wrote to me both publicly and privately, or spoke to me in person. Many deal with similar issues now, or have in the past.

I so appreciate the sisterhood of women. I'm so glad for friends and family to talk with about issues of all kinds.

This morning when I was getting dressed and looking at my makeup-less self in the mirror, I was thinking. Thinking about the the pre-surgery info. given to me by my doctor's office. If you've had surgery before or work in the medical field, you know the drill. -- The list sort of reads like a What Not to Wear. What not to wear on the day of surgery. No jewelry of any kind (including all of those hidden piercings I have.) Just kidding. :) No nail polish. No makeup. NO makeup?? Now how will I, "Mascara Girl" deal with this? LOL! That's my silly thought for the morning.

Here's the photo from Friday night. Take note that my dress was poofy. That is poofiness of the dress and not my body. Right......

Photos were taken at the event too. We had our photo taken with Lauryn. Maybe I'll be able to share those eventually too.

For A Smile

Our local newspaper has been publishing these little gems for a couple of weeks. Kindergarten children have listed what they'd like to be when they grow up and what they'll need to accomplish it. I just love this sort of thing, so I'm sharing some of the cute and funny ones.

I've changed all names.

Billy: Doctor. Have other doctors show me.

Lily: Princess. Move to a castle.

Joey: Police officer. Have a whistle.

Sara: Veterinarian. Love animals, even cats.

Tommy: Soldier. Practice with my toy sword.

Amy: Firefighter. Learn to spray water.

Scott: Zoo Keeper. Get zoo keeper clothes.

Anna: Olympic Swimmer. Swim a lot.

Charles: Baseball Player. Play T-ball, Little League, Go to a baseball stadium.

Matt: Soldier. Shoot targets.

Mary: Princess. Get a crown.

Josh: Veterinarian. Take good care of my frog.

Karen: Doctor. Learn how to make people feel better.

Gracie: A Principal. I'll need to learn how to get people to come to me. :)

Hannah: A Princess. I'll need to marry a prince. :)

David: Baseball Player. I'll need to learn to catch a ball.

Katie: Dentist. I'll need to learn to pull out teeth.

Timothy: Baker. I'll have to learn to cook things, pour things, bake toast and banana bread.

Keith: Chef. I'll need to learn to cook lobster.

Jeffrey: Scientist. Experiment, study in Africa.

John: Basketball player. I'll have to sign up.

Jake: Fireman. Learn to use a hose, a walkie-talkie, drive a fire truck, have a fire chief and ladder, and be very smart.

Austin: Jedi. I will need a real lightsaber.

Sherri: Scientist. I will need lots of dinosaur bones.

Ellie: Teacher. I will need to go to school and know all the grades.

Tessa: Be a regular mom and on Sundays I'm going to be a choir teacher. I will need to learn from my mom to be a regular mom and have to make up lots of songs.

Aurora: Dancer. But no jazz dance because it's too fast. I will need a ballerina dress.

Janie: I want to be a Pooh bear. I will need to learn to sleep a lot. ((LOL. I think this is the best.))

Evan: Lego Designer. Learn how to speak all kinds of languages. I will need bricks and an apron, and a boss for me.

Michael: Scientist. I will need to ask God to help me. :)

Cara: Police Officer. I will need driving lessons.

Donald: Police Officer. I will need to learn how to arrest people.

Faith: I want to be a dog groomer, but I don't have a dog.

Chelsie: I want to be a haircut girl. I need to practice cutting stuff. (( Yes, but just don't start on the hair yet.))

Luke: Be a boss. Need a place to sit, desk, and a couple of dollars.

Susan: Teacher. Need supplies to make a room look fun.

Abby: Grocery Shopper. I'll need to buy people stuff.

Gavin: Policeman. I'll need to practice really hard putting people in jail.

Nathan: Pirate. I'll need to practice riding on a boat.

Alexa: Veterinarian. Go to school and train with stuffed animals.

Darryl: Cowboy. I'll need to learn to ride a horse, I'll need cowboy pants and a cowboy shirt.

Grateful

Today, I'm feeling grateful for a number of things. First and foremost as always, I'm grateful for all that God blesses me with. Every single day, His blessings are apparent.

I'm thankful for time with family and friends. What a joy it is anytime we can be together .

We're celebrating our family's March birthdays right now. My husband had a big milestone birthday last Thursday, and our son, will be 18 tomorrow. He's the youngest of our big kids. How on earth could he be 18 already?

Here is Alan, celebrating his big birthday.

I'm thankful for a sweet husband, who is always supportive and kind to me. Also, here he is playing with Jadyn. I'm thankful for a daddy who will play with his little girl.
I'm very grateful that relief is in sight for me. (My apologies to male readers.) I've been having some serious physical problems each month with my cycle. I've always had some issues with pain each month, but over the last several years it has just become ridiculous. After so many years, I sort of thought that this is just how things were for me.

Last month, I had a lot of pain. It was my birthday, and we'd made plans for the day. Due to having pain for several hours, we did not get to go out to the zoo as planned. I decided that I was totally done and ready to see a gynecologist. It was my birthday for Pete's sake. Come on!

So I visited the doctor last week, and I was so relieved that we were on the same page about my issues. We've scheduled surgery for next month. I will be having a hysterectomy and also a 2nd procedure, to give support to my bladder. There are issues there too. :(

Please pardon the graphic talk here, but I feel it's important to share and be honest. The main reason I want to share is so you can be in prayer for me on that day and on the days following. It's April 19th, that's the big day. I'll be sure to remind you and ask for prayer then. :)

I've talked to and know so many women who have had a hysterectomy. Most say to do it and don't look back, and that I'll be so glad I made the choice. I also wanted to share, because there may be others out there who can benefit from knowing and may be in need of seeing a doctor too. You never know.

I'm experiencing a lot of pain this month too. Non-stop pain for over 24 hours on Sun. and Mon. Just take me to surgery now, please! Just give me narcotics and no one will get hurt.

Relief is in sight, and I am so glad. I know it will be a bit of a bumpy road for a few weeks, but things will be better soon.

Thanks for listening.

Black and White Wednesday

A sister is a gift to the heart, a friend to the spirit, a golden thread to the meaning of life.

Isadora James

Here is a picture of Lauryn and Jadyn that I treasure. Jadyn had been home for just 8 months. Lauryn was reading a book to her in the church nursery. Jadyn would have nothing to do with the nursery at the time, unless a family member was with her. Lauryn was giving Mom and Dad a break on this day. A friend took this photo of the two of them.

Favorite Foto Friday

Lauryn and Jadyn

Here is a picture of our oldest and youngest daughters. This was taken at lunch on a Sunday recently. Jadyn was dressed and ready to attend a Chinese New Year festival.

Sorry that I haven't been bubbling over with news on the blog lately. My mom has always said that "no news is good news".

I think we've reached that time of winter which could be called Blah. We try to get out of the house on most days so that we stay sane. Preschool, playdates, lunches, errands, and church. Now you know what we've been up to. Exciting isn't it? :)

Wordless Wednesday - My Little Snowman