December 22, 2006

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to you all!

Adia Faith arrived at the beginning of this year and what a blessing she is. After a lot of walking and some wheelchair lifting, she arrived 2 weeks earlier than her due date. Sometimes I think we should have named this little girl JOY because she’s full of it and she’s brought so much of it into our lives. We were voting for a boy but when I saw the ultra sound, I immediately fell in love with her. God has sure been good to us.

Hope turned 4 earlier this month and has she ever grown up since Landis started school. She’s becoming a big helper, making her and Grace’s beds, putting her folded clothes away and putting clean silverware away. She’s a hearty eater and has been very, very healthy. Hope is our most affectionate child and although she doesn’t know it, she’s teaching me about unrestrained and unreserved love and affection.

Landis is a handsome and clever 6-year-old. He’s busy reading, writing, adding and subtracting and he loves school. Landis helps me the most at this point and I’m so grateful for him. He puts dishes away, moves Grace, vacuums, dusts, makes his bed and folds his own clothes. He’ll make some little girl a very handy husband some day. Just kidding and don’t worry, he’s very good at running around outdoors through the grass, mud and stones, climbing trees, catching bugs and toads, fishing, pounding nails and jumping from high elevations…he’s all boy!

Grace is doing very well in school. That wasn’t the case in October and November. She was getting very frustrated because the communication techniques she was learning at Vanderbilt were a little different from what they were practicing at school. So Grace and I, the Special Ed teacher, and the speech therapist from school, all went to Vandy for an appointment with the speech therapist there so that everyone could get on the same page. Grace has been happy about going to school ever since. She's getting good grades again and is cooperative. As a matter of fact, following the Vandy appointment, the teacher warned me that Grace’s spelling words for the week were very difficult. Grace also had a Social Studies test that same week. She scored 90% on both tests AND she frequently scores 100% in math. That’s my girl!

Bobby is still working for Three Rivers Contracting and is looking ahead to a good year for singing, his passion. As much as Bobby has been gone from home with singing, activities at church and his day job, God has always made sure he was home for the birth of the children. He impressed me so when Faith was born. As labor intensified, he methodically gathered the things we needed as if he’d done it 100 times. He joked about knowing exactly what he was doing. I thank God for this man He brought me to. He’s the most patient, gentle and kind man I’ve ever known and I’m slowly but surely learning how to love him.

I had a hard time getting started with this letter. After reading all of the wonderful letters coming in the mailbox and email inbox about how wonderful everyone’s lives are and how it sounds like they have it all together, I thought, "Nobody wants to read my letter. Besides, it’s not that interesting." But once I got started I found myself sitting up straighter and getting excited about what I was writing. Unfortunately, I can’t tell you everything or I’d be up all night writing and that would make me a lousy mom the next day. And, fortunately, for you, I’ve condensed everything to one page. We’re very grateful and when you stop to think about your life and what God has done, you realize no person and no event is insignificant. I’m always amazed at how He weaves our lives together causing our paths to cross at the appointed time in order to bless and encourage each other. God’s goodness and mercy follows hard after me every day and I haven’t even begun to fathom just how blessed I really am to know Him!

My hearts’ desire for 2007 is to walk closer to the Father in order to be a better friend, mother and wife. But most of all to be a better witness of the love of Jesus. I’ll be praying this next year for you and me that our passion for the lost would become fervent, that our hunger for the things of God would abound and that our faith would rise to a new level so that we would expect to see His miracle-working power manifested in our lives.

When I don't write very often, it's difficult to determine what I should write ABOUT. There are many subjects. Grace had a canker sore that only gave us problems (REAL problems) for about a week. She has suffered with them for as long as 6 weeks. She caught a cold and because of the sinus drainage, her tongue was much more active and she bit it...who knows how many times. Big old sore on the tip of her tongue. We prayed over her, anointed her with oil and gave her colloidal silver (for the cold - but it I think it helped with healing the sore more quickly too).

Speaking of Grace, we've had some trouble with her at school. She chooses to holler out in class and make a fuss. Her second grade teacher asked parents to send a morning snack for the kids this year so I did but we've since eliminated Grace's 9:00 snack. It was a SNACK and when that tiny meal ran out she'd scream and fuss. She's doing much better now that we've taken that opportunity for her to scream out of the schedule.

Last week the teacher mentioned twice that the spelling words for last week were going to be much more difficult. They were to be tested on words like "weather" and "leather". Grace also had a social studies test last week but she got 90% on BOTH tests! I was so proud of her.

Oh and one other thing about Grace at school. Her second grade teacher called me a couple of weeks ago (can't remember why) and in our conversation she mentioned that Grace likes boys. I knew Grace preferred men in her company but I didn't know she liked the shorter, younger version already. The teacher and aide seat Grace between students and Grace prefers to sit next to boys, particularly one named Joseph. Even with her tantrums and drooling, she still seems to maintain a level of popularity at school. Just last night we went to see Hope sing with her PDO class at Bethel Baptist and a student walked by Grace to say hi and told me he was in her class at school. My dad has taken Grace to Wal Mart before and a couple of girls walked by her slowly and told Dad Grace went to school with them. That doesn't make her popular but they don't have to acknowledge they know her or go out of their way to say hello.

When Grace was in Atlanta for therapy her classmates were instructed to write letters to Grace to send to her telling her they missed her and what they thought about her, etc. The one I liked best went like this:

Dear Grace,
I have been missing you. I can't wait until you come back. I wish that you didn't even leave. Since you left I'm really sad. Hope you get to do different things.
Your dude,
Eli

Isn't that great? There were more cute ones and they talked about the thrill of making her laugh and how her laugh makes them laugh.

Well, I've got about 37 loads of laundry to do and I promised Grace we'd get those Christmas decorations out. We're busy at church for the next 2 weeks and it's real easy to get behind here at home. Once in a while I can get the next days' lunches prepared, clothes laid out, coffee and breakfast made and notes to teachers written early in the day and then I'm not up until 10:30 doing those things. That feels good but I don't get to enjoy that feeling very often. That's why I don't sit here and post blogs very much. I don't think it's a waste of time...it's just not a priority. Wish it were because I enjoy writing them and reading them later. I'd like to post several times over Christmas vacation. We'll see.

We're back in Atlanta for therapy for Grace. We arrived Monday, Oct. 2 and will be going back to Nashville each weekend, finishing up with therapy on Friday, the 20th. I'll be glad when we're done...this hotel room wreaks of must and smoke.

Life has been anything but boring. Landis spent the 15th of September in the hospital. On Wednesday night, the 13th he was wheezing after church. That was nothing new. It has happened a lot. But it gradually got worse. I had to get him from school on Thursday morning and at 3:00 a.m. Friday I took him to the ER in Springfield. This was our 4th trip to the ER in the last 3 years so I figured it would be like any other time. He'd get his breathing treatment and some steriods and we'd go home about 2 hours later. Not this time. The Indian doctor told me he wanted Landis to go upstairs because he wasn't responding to treatment as they wanted him to. Tell me. I had given him several puffs at home and it wasn't phasing him. So we rolled upstairs and quickly we began to change our plans for the day. Bobby was home getting Grace ready for school when I realized he couldn't put Grace on the bus because I had the van with the wheelchair in the back. I had to leave Landis in the hospital room alone while I drove home and swapped vehicles. I sternly told Landis not to let anyone take him anywhere out of the room for ANYTHING! Of course the nurse knew what was going on. I hurried back and we settled in for the day.

It was a long day to say the least. Pastor Glenda had met us in the ER early that morning (oh I didn't want to call her but I've been scolded before because I didn't call) . Pastor Joe drove up to see Landis that afternoon and Aunt Mary and the cousins, Owen & Ivan stopped in with an activity/coloring book and a box of crayons. Cool. Bobby left for the Quartet Convention and Mary was still there when I left to go get Grace from school. She couldn't stay with Landis as long as I'd be gone but again I told the nurse what I was doing. Came back 45 minutes later and we found Landis with crayon in hand, sitting up in bed but fast asleep. Hope and I whispered and I fed Grace and Faith while Landis continued sleeping. He slept for an hour and a half after we got back to the room!

When the doctor came in that evening she looked at her watch and mentioned we probably didn't want to go home at such a late hour (8:00). I quickly expressed my desire to go home, PLEEEEAAAAAASE!!!! She gave the ok with the exception that I would get a nebulizer and go the pharmacy to fill a couple of prescriptions that night. I agreed and we slept so well in our own beds.

One funny Landis quote: About 6:00 a.m. he pulled the oxygen tube out of his nose again and said, "This thing is suckin' all my bugars out!" Pastor Glenda and I had a good laugh.

Landis went for his Kindergarten testing yesterday morning. He did very well, as I expected. :) However, he didn't know where his "heel" was, nor did he recognize the numbers 9 and 19, for whatever reason. He knew how to spell his first name (Bobby) and was able to tell the teacher his address, phone number and birthday. He was so excited about being tested he asked if he could stay and continue with more. "Sorry," I said, "there are others coming to be tested and we have to get out of their way."

Bobby left yesterday morning for work and said he'd spend the night out where they are working (around the Dale Hollow area) and wouldn't come home until Wednesday night after church. However, he called this evening and said he was on his way home because they had been called to work around Paducah...northwest of Nashville instead of east. He was also called to a meeting at the church this morning with Pastor Sarah and so he needed to be home for that.
A couple of weeks ago, Pastor Davis preached about going through different seasons in our lives. One of the things he said was that we need to embrace the season we are in. It made me think about Grace and the "season" of Cerebral Palsy. I wondered, "how do I embrace the season of CP without accepting it as if it were God's will for her life?"

Yesterday morning in Sunday School in the Beth Moore video we were watching, she said something about seasons and then the word servant was mentioned. That's all I remember and then right after that the thought came to me, "You embrace the season of Cerebral Palsy by serving your daughter."

Link to the photo album of the vacation in Michigan:

http://www.kodakgallery.com/Slideshow.jsp?mode=fromshare&conn_speed=1&Uc=2snii9ox.bhr7o0k9&Uy=-otbd8x&Ux=0

We had a great time in Michigan in July. Our week-long stay was so pleasant at my cousin, Roxanne's house. It was so big and spacious (and air conditioned) that you hardly noticed there were 11 children in the house. The Stevens family pictured from left to right are: Isaiah, David, Esther, Jeff, Jeffrey, Roxanne, Ashley, Autumn and Andrew. We are very grateful for such a comfortable place to lay our heads and for the good fellowship and food.

It was so good to see Timothy and Kristy and the boys again. It had been 6 months since we last saw them here in Nashville. You can keep up with all they are doing in Slovenia by going to Kristy's blog. We plan to see them again next summer.

We ended the week with a nice evening at the Elks Lodge in Sturgis celebrating Dad's retirement.

Hi-lights of our vacation were: Reubmommy (my Grandma Troyer) sending a couple of more quilts she had made home with us, getting to see and visit with so many relatives that we rarely see, swimming in the river on a hot afternoon, discovering the coffee shop in Sturgis that Kris and Mary told us about, Grace taking showers in Jeffrey's big walk-in shower and bath seat, eating over-sized ice cream cones on the deck by the lake, and fresh blueberries and a free quart of honey - "thanks Roxie!"

Link to a photo album in next entry.

What a busy day! I mowed, raked, pulled weeds, sprayed weeds, packed clothes for the road trip, dug into Timothy & Kristy's shed and pulled the amount of boxes I thought I could squeeze into our van, washed and dried a load of laundry, folded wash clothes and towels from yesterday, cut Landis' hair, made breakfast for Saturday and Sunday, made lunch and dinner, made granola and cornbread, packed Sunday bags, turned my mattress, changed my bedding, sorted through Faith's clothes, bathed the kids, read to them and put them to bed! So, why am I still up? Well, I'm waiting for nail polish to dry, of course. I don't know what the deal is...my nails aren't breaking off. I'm sure they'll do so just any day now. It's so unusual that I have to take advantage of the situation and paint them, even if it means staying up later.

I forgot to mention that I took time to feed this little sweetie pie a few times today. She's been soooo spoiled with being in Arkansas in early June and then Hollie was here for 2 weeks. Not that Hollie spoiled her but she was picked up sooner than if it had just been me here. For the past 2 1/2 days she has really done some crying. By the middle of the day today she was doing better...as you can see.

I got so inspired that I decided to make another entry - so quickly.

Bobby has been home so little. He's just completed another album with Heritage Road and it sounds great. They did a remake of one of their tunes from several years ago called, "Across The Miles," this time featuring Sonya Isaacs. He's been so busy with music that his regular job with Three Rivers Contracting has taken a back seat. He left for Western Canada Thursday morning, June 29 and today is in British Columbia on Pacific Time. He is tired from singing daily and traveling 300-500 miles between dates but he's doing well.

We're looking forward to our trip to MI. We leave on Monday morning and travel with Kris & Mary and their boys. We will stay with my cousin Roxie, her husband, Jeff and their 7 children. She's about to give birth to baby number 8. She called a few minutes ago and I told her it sounded like a cafeteria in the background. Today was mopping day and she was supervising the task at hand.

The photo above is my mother-in-law, Tena Bowen. She is pictured here with her older brother, Harold and the resemblance between her and her granddaughter, Hope is remarkable. Tena is 3 years old in this picture, the same age as Hope is right now. What a shame if I had missed this opportunity to snap a quick picture. I had thought of doing this several weeks ago but realized if I don't take the time to do it, it won't just happen on it's own. For me, it's one of those projects that, when you do it, you feel like you're wasting precious time. Nonsense. It does take time to do it and it's worth it - for generations to come.

So, I took a sabatical over the month of June and didn't write in my blog that I'm so committed to. Tonight I decided I needed to pay closer attention. I called my sister Mary to see if there was some slight possibility that she knew how to get in touch with our youngest sister, Kristy who is in North Dakota for the week with her mother-in-law's family. I really doubted Mary would know anything but yes, she had called Kristy this morning. I wanted to know how she knew how to get in touch with her. Very matter of factly she told me that Kristy had posted her hotel phone number on her blog. Oh. Of course. If I read blogs I'd know that. It's not that I've had nothing else to do.

There's so many things to write about - just not enough time. Shame on me for not keeping up, hence feeling the need to catch up. Don't worry, I won't try. I'll post a few pics from our trip to Arkansas, June 8-13, for my mother and father-in-law's 50th wedding anniversary.

God is good and faithful. I don't need to say any more than that after a week with the kids all home, no van, very costly repairs and a leaking sink.

Look at me! He's ONLY graduating from Mother's Day Out and I have to snap pictures as if this is one of the major milestones of his life! Oh, it's so fun! Walking down the aisle with his best buddy, Noah, and in the middle pic he was showing everyone how he learned to tie shoes and the intimidating clenched fist. I had taken a few pictures and he busted into that pose without warning.

Most all of us have parasites but Landis is loaded with them. I had him go through a screening at Orbit Health Food Store and it named the 6 worst parasites in his body. I brought the list home and Googled them. When I looked up the first, also the worst, it said that there have been only 27 reported cases in humans in the U.S. As I moved on down the list I read that there have only been 4 reported cases in humans in the U.S. of another one of these parasites. Another one of the parasites in him can cause wheezing and breathing troubles. Sounds like asthma to me - yes he has that. Also, one of the parasites he has is a "buski" (pr. boosh' - ky) which is a parasite that eventually "turns into", "instigates", I'm not sure - but it's connected with cancer. We don't want him in there. So I've been working and working with him for the past several weeks to rid his body of these varmints. He asked me how the worms got in his body. I wasn't sure but we found out the main ways he got them was through tap water and dogs and cats. I thought I was keeping my children healthy by giving them water to drink instead of juices and cokes but as it turns out, even though we have a simple filter on our tap it's not getting the bacteria out - just changing the taste. It all sounds pretty gross, I know. But the fact is, as I stated earlier, most of us have parasites to some degree. What's in YOUR body?!

Friday, May the 5th, Bobby came home early from work to cut the grass in time to attend Landis' Mother's Day Out graduation. I got a good shot of the "pulling of the wagon."

The Tuesday before I met with Grace's teacher and therapists for the annual IEP, Individualized Education Plan. We discuss the goals that have been met or not yet been met and the new goals for the coming school year. I am pleased with Watauga and feel very blessed to be in a school zone such as this one. The principle, Mrs. Lisa Cobb, still uses a paddle! I couldn't believe it when I heard that. I told everyone at the IEP that I would like to keep Grace home for the summer instead of sending her to summer school like I did last year. I want to work with her for a couple of hours every day and if, at the beginning of the next school year the therapists feel like she's regressed in any way, I'll send her to school next summer. I won't know which is the better way to do it until I've tried both ways. I KNOW that me working with her at home for a couple of hours a day is far better than sending her to summer school. But it's that actual "work" part that determines her welfare. If I can't seem to get to Grace because of other children and housework, then maybe summer school would be better. I'm going to give it my best shot. I worked on a schedule today - school is out in less than 2 weeks.

Kevin & Mary Calderhead drove the kids home in our van yesterday and Bobby and I took the Calderhead's car and went out for lunch for Mother's Day. I know, as Mary mentioned in her blog that I'm not Bobby's mother. However, neither of us have a mother nearby and it's whole lot of work for the whole family to go out for lunch, AND we look for opportunities to go out for a couple of hours. So, Bobby and I go to lunch every Mother's Day ALONE. Some day our children will go along for Mother's Day lunch and it will be great. I had lunch ready and the table set yesterday morning when we left the house at 6:40. Hopefully Mary and Kevin found everything fairly simple concerning getting everyone and everything in the house and getting everyone fed. Bobby and I had a nice leisure lunch and then took a Mother's Day card to Ms. Terrie Weeks at the nursing home in Hendersonville. We visited with her for about 10 minutes and then hurried home to relieve the Calderheads.

Nearly 2 weeks since my last post. Sometimes it seems that I can't get anything done but the most necessary and I still don't get enough sleep. I stopped for a moment to read Mary's blog and see the pics of our couin's son, Levi. Pretty boy. He looks a lot like our other cousin, Devon's son, Mason, who looks a little like Landis. Ha ha. Speaking of Landis...he and I were gone somewhere in Bobby's car several days ago now and as he reached down between his seat and the door I heard him say, "Ah, the breastplate of righteousness!" I looked to see what that looked like only to see him holding up one of my nursing pads. I can't write any more than that. I've gotta get some sleep. Mary is coming to keep Landis and Hope while I take Grace (and Faith) to Shriners in Lexington. NOT looking forward to this trip.

We soon will have the money to go so we've scheduled Grace to go back to Sunshine Therapy in October! It works out wonderfully because Grace will only miss 2 weeks of school during her 3-week therapy session. Her first week of therapy is during Robertson County's Fall Break (which lasts 1 week) Yippeeee! That means that Landis will be out of school as well. So...do I want to attempt to take all 4 children to Atlanta for just one week? Maybe. It wouldn't be a big deal. It's not like I've never been anywhere with all 4 of them afterall. Maybe, just maybe I can somehow interest Papaw & Mamaw to come stay at our house for those remaining 2 weeks to tend to Landis and Hope while Grace, Faith and I are away Sunday afternoon through Friday morning for 2 weeks. MAYBE! I won't hold my breath. :) I'll be praying about how to ask them, for sure!

Cattapillars or "Pattakillers", as Hope calls them are the rave here at our house right now. Landis and Hope are collecting them left and right. Here they are picking them off the trees. Yuck. Landis has been asking me, "Mom, is it still Spring?" When I tell him it is he groans and expresses his frustration. I asked him one day why he doesn't like Spring. He told me he'd rather play in the snow. Go figure.

Bobby left this morning at 7:30 to record 12 tracks in Shane's studio in Madison. He called just before 10 this evening and they had 3 more songs to go. I'll be surprised and amazed if they actually finish up before shutting down. I don't know which of the 3 guys will actually feel like driving anywhere. They will be singing in Morehead, Kentucky tomorrow night and Wallace, Indiana on Sunday.

The kids and I will be doing the 5K walk tomorrow morning at Cedar Hill Park in Madison. Mr. Pat will be pushing Grace, Landis will ride his bike, Hope will walk some and when she grows weary I will pull her in a wagon and Faith will ride, facing out, in the front pack carrier thing I have. I know we're gonna be good and tired when it's over. The event is called SoulWalk and it benefits missions.

I've been soaking my nasty big toe in epson salts and the water is cooling off so I will go to bed!

How 'bout those tornados on the 7th? Bobby was in Erin, Tennessee of course. I had gone to pick up Grace at Woodall, the school she attended last year. She had gone to visit for an hour or so because the principal there had asked her p.m. bus drivers if they'd make plans to go get her at Watauga one day and bring her to Woodall to visit with everyone. I had just arrived home when I decided to turn the news on and look at the radar. One look and I scooped Grace up off the floor again and went back out to the van. I won't go into all the details of how many times I was in and out of the house but I'll say that we went over to the neighbors who have told us more than once to come to their basement anytime we want...the door is always unlocked. Well, on the 7th of April, it wasn't. :) The Lord protected us and our home and we were quite alright. Gallatin was hit pretty hard though and 12 people lost their lives that day. We stopped on the way to church on the following Sunday morning and took these pictures. Metro Baptist Church had 30+ children in their daycare when the storm hit and there wasn't a scratch on anyone.

I found out when I got to church that morning that the storm did some extensive damage to the home of a couple in the choir. They will have to live with his parents for about 6 weeks. No one was home when the storm hit. She has been wanting to stay at home with their 3 boys and he made her go to work just 1 more week. I know she's thankful she was working that day.
The storm hit one of the nicest subdivisions in Gallatin. Nearly all of the homes in the subdivision, Woodhaven, were destroyed. I don't know which subdivision I took a picture of. There are several right together. Our business administrator, Pastor Dana and his wife Julia live in Woodhaven and their home was one of just a small handful that had no significant damage. Actually, I heard that it WAS the only one or one of two houses left standing. I'm not certain that's true as I didn't speak to Dana or Julia myself. I zoomed in with my amazing camera as far as I could but this was as close as we could get as the National Guard kept traffic moving along. There were cars lined up and down the street here as people were trying to get a glimpse of the damage.

Wow. Two weeks since I posted. I don't like to wait that long but I can't help it. It's just been a very busy time with Easter and all.

Grace is complaining every morning when I get her ready for school. She reminds me of myself when I was her age. I used to tell my mom I didn't feel good because I wanted to stay home with her. Mom made me go, of course, and many mornings I got on the bus in tears. Once I was there I was fine and Grace's daily notes from the teacher tell me she's the same way.

Landis' attention span is short most of the time. However, he's a great helper with so many things. He puts the dishes away from the dishwasher, he vacuums, he can bathe himself (but I often help because he's slow to get started), he puts his clean folded clothes away, he can quiet the baby - as well as make the baby cry, he's been starting the van for me for several months now. It was so nice of him to start it up in the winter months and turn the heat on.

Hope can't seem to keep her thumb out of her mouth and her finger out of her nose. She's my "bag lady". She carries 2 dolls and 3 purses around and still finds a way to get her thumb in her mouth. She and Landis can play so well together as well as do a pretty good job of fighting. The other day I heard Landis doing his usual manipulative move on her when he didn't get his way immediately. I've heard this so much lately I told him to cut it out! He says, "I'm going to my room and I'm not gonna play with you anymore!!!" Instead of her usual pandering after him and telling him he could do things his way she said very calmly, "Ok, Landis. Shut your [bedroom] door." She's still into mess-making too. I still have to keep a close eye on her. Yesterday she was supposed to wash her hands and come out to the kitchen. About 3 minutes had gone by and I could still hear water running so I hollered, "Hope are you making a mess?!" Her reply was, "No. I'm cleaning up a mess."

Faith is just as sweet as can be. We are all enjoying her very much. 13 lbs and talking a lot. She's not bald like the she appears in the picture. I guess it's the light behind her.

Whew! I just got back from a rehearsal with the worship team and there's just nothing more relaxing to me. I was nonstop and on the go from 6:00 this morning until 7:00 tonight when I sat down to sing with 9 others. Nonstop with the exception of sitting down and feeding Faith and one of those feedings was in the van.

Groceries. It takes my entire "mother's day out" time to get groceries, with driving to Franklin, KY, getting the oil changed (but in Kentucky it's an "earl change") stopping to feed a baby and buying a month's worth of groceries - yeah, it takes the entire 5 hour time slot.

The photo taken above was taken a couple of weeks ago. It cracked me up to turn and see Hope, my thumb-sucker, getting her fix while showing Faith how she could get her own fix with the passy. Hey when you've got something good going on you want to share it with others, right?

Something that blessed me today: nice people. I approached the little stand to give the guy my keys and information on my van in order to get the earl change. He said, "It's a beautiful day the Lord has blessed us with, isn't it?" Then he ran ahead and opened two doors for me. I went in to look at fabrics and the two ladies waiting on me were so friendly and very gracious. I was about to enter a space between two checkout lanes and a middle-aged man came from the opposite direction at the same time. He stopped short and motioned for me to come through and said, "You come first, you have priority." He said that because I was pushing a baby. I left Wal Mart feeling so blessed. It reminded me of what I can do for others by just treating them with kindness and giving them a smile.

My midwife called me when I got home and said she was in the area and instead of coming tomorrow at 1:00 like we had planned, she asked if she could swing by now? Sure. It was so nice to see her. I hadn't seen her since Faith was born (9 weeks ago today). Faith weighs an even 12 pounds today and is a healthy baby. I enjoy visiting with Kathy and was trying to think of more questions to ask her to keep her there just a little longer. But I knew she was tired and had one more appointment to make before she was finished for the day.

The rest of my afternoon consisted of putting groceries away, making dinner, bathing children, feeding Grace, hanging sheets on the line, supervising outdoor play (neighbor children came over). I apologized to Bobby for having such a messy house when he arrived home this evening but there was just nothing I could have done. He told me not to worry about it and things were tidied up considerably when I got home.

Let's see how far I get with this post. It's 1:30 in the afternoon, not an opportune time to be blogging. However, our pc is on the blink and so I got the laptop out and set it on the kitchen counter, this is where we seem to get the best reception. Our new next door neighbors have high speed so we can use high speed too, as long as they're on line, that is. Hee hee. I saw the yellow light on at the bottom of the computer screen so I'm grabbing a couple of minutes to check mail and write down some thoughts.

The school called me this morning saying Grace had a temp. Don't we all? Well, Grace's temp was 100 so I had to go get her. We have the Women's Seminar tonight and I'm doing a monologue. I feel pretty confident but I need to keep practicing when I get the chance this afternoon. Bobby will be on his way home in an hour. He'll get home around 4 and I'm ordering pizza for dinner at that time. I've got my third load of laundry in and have just spent the last hour and a half feeding ALL of the kids.

Faith has slept in her own bed every night this week. And that's not all! She has gone to sleep between 9:00 and 10:00 every night! No more night owl junk! And that's not all! She has slept until the sun came up (never before 5:30) every night! Isn't that great?

I've gotta run. They'll probably shut me down next door any minute.

I welcome Mondays. I love the weekend but I don't dread Monday like I used to when I was in school or when I had a job. Monday morning means it time to sort the laundry and get a load in, empty out all the backpacks, diaper bags and purses from the weekend and start thinking about Wednesday night and what bags we'll need and what food needs to be prepared for the week.

Landis had a great time with his Daddy on the road this past weekend. Of course he played with Jason's son, Kade and THAT was fun! I'm happy to report that he did not have Pink Eye. My dad had taken him to get a hair cut on Wednesday and remembered him rubbing his eye and he even mentioned something about getting a hair in his eye. I called Bobby on Friday morning to check on Landis' eye and Bobby said his eye was perfectly normal! It was on Saturday morning after speaking with my dad on the phone that I put it all together and realized the problem was a hair and not an illness. You know I'll enjoy telling the Mother's Day Out director tomorrow that she was wrong with her diagnosis of Pink Eye. :)

The guys got home yesterday afternoon and after he had a nap I asked Bobby when we might see him again. He mentioned possibly Wednesday but later said he had been thinking about coming home on Tuesday. GOOD! I know it shaves off a couple of hours of work when he comes home but we really would like to see him more than just a few minutes on Wednesday night and then a little here and there on the weekend.

This weekend we'll all be at the church for the Women's Seminar. I'm doing a skit, and of course I'd like to attend the different classes offered and Bobby is running sound. The kids will be hanging out in the nursery.

Grace went to Speech Therapy at Vanderbilt again today, second visit. Last week I took her alone because Dad was here to keep the other children at the house. That was pretty nice. Today we all went down there and it really wasn't too bad. The therapist said she thought Landis and Hope's presence was good because of the stimulation it gives Grace. The therapist had a boom box hooked up to a big button that Grace activated fairly easily. When Grace turned the music on, Landis & Hope danced. When she turned the music off, they froze. Of course she was giggling and really enjoyed her "power" over them. She also used a head switch to work a computer. She did great with that.

Part of me hates to resort to all these artificial means of communication. It's called SPEECH therapy and I'd really like to see them working with her mouth. But I know there are statistics out there and the therapist is trained to believe them and work accordingly. She knows that at 7 years of age, if Grace hasn't spoken by now the odds are not in her favor to begin now. I don't know what the statistics are and I'm not asking. I just know that I'm supposed to "call those things that be not as though they were" and it will be counted to me for righteousness. So tonight when I prayed with the kids I kicked the devil in the teeth by speaking the Word over Grace. I spoke Psalm 107:20, Isaiah 53:5, Jer. 29:11 and Jer. 30:17. And then declared Grace IS a walking, talking testimony of God's goodness, and then Landis, Hope and I listed all the things we call Grace doing...riding a horse, swimming, riding a bike, dancing, etc.

God is faithful.

The house is quiet except for the occasional "coo" coming from the swing. Faith can be so difficult to keep awake in the evening hours but the later it gets, the wider her eyes get. She's not collicky, just ALERT. I sat down to feed her at 9:00 and she ate a little and started to doze off. I held her for a bit and then laid her in her crib. That was her wake-up call. I let her cry for a while until I knew she was good and sweaty. Now she's swinging. I'm not speaking to her - I'm ignoring her. She's got to learn this is not social hour. At least this gives me opportunity to blog. I just felt someone staring at me. I turned around and she's glaring, expressionless, at my backside.

Grace & Hope are sleeping. Landis is probably sleeping too but I can't see him. He's in Cincinnati with Bobby for the weekend. Landis often asks Bobby if he can go along and it seems there's never a perfect time but Jason was taking his family along this time and I thought it would be fun for Kade and Landis to have a reunion. I also thought it would be fun for Becky to not have to deal with Landis and Hope tattling on each other all weekend. Of course the week we leave town (Michigan trip) would be the week that Bobby for various reasons ended up sleeping at home every night instead of his hotel room in Waverly. And, of course, this week when we're back home, he was back in the hotel room this week. He slept here Wednesday night but didn't get home from church until 10:00 because of a sound check he had to stay for. He spent just a few minutes with the kids before we all went to bed. He worked a half day today, came home to shower and pack and was off by 5:15 to meet Jason and his family. He'll be back Sunday afternoon. What I'm trying to say is, the kids and I haven't seen much of him the past few weeks since he's working out of town coupled with the fact that he sings on the weekend every now and then. So I'm really glad Landis got to go with his Daddy.

Landis stayed home today because his right eye was red. We still don't know if it's pink eye or an allergy. However, knowing Landis like I do, I strongly believe it's allergic. He wasn't touching it all day so that helped in my decision to let him go with Bobby. If it WERE Pink Eye he'd be giving it to everyone because of rubbing his eye. Besides, he's taking a natural antibiotic for it just to be safe.

Grace lost her 4th tooth! Her two bottom teeth are growing in very nicely but there's still no teeth to be seen on the top. I teased her about not being able to bite me now. She got a kick out of that.

I realized this morning that it's only a little over 4 months until Landis gets on the school bus for the first time. Wow. I know he's ready but we have a little fine tuning to do yet.

Our trip to Michigan was a good one. We stopped in Louisville on the way up to visit our old friend, Nelson Martin, son of Landis Martin, my pastor when I was growing up. Yes, it's who my son is named after. Nelson lost his wife one year ago and we were pleased to hear that he is marrying a lovely lady, Margaret, on April 8th. They are excited. Needless to say with the stop in L'ville and having 4 kids in the van, it took us nearly 10 hours to get to our destination. But I shudder to think of how long it would have taken me if Dad hadn't been with me.

We visited my grandmother, Reubmommy, a couple of times and came home with 2 small quilts she had made.

We enjoyed an "afternoon tea" at my cousin, Roxie's. Roxie is pregnant with her 8th child, due in August and I don't have to say that with her 7 children, Gina's 2 boys and my 4 there was a lot of action and fun in the house. My sister, Kathy was there as well as my mother's sisters, Esther and Ony. Two more aunts, Sandy and Marilyn were there as well as Sandy's daughter-in-law, Erin. We had a really nice time sitting around Roxie's oversized kitchen island in her grand new house. With 8 kids, one of whom is in a power-wheelchair, a grand house is needed. Roxie called me before I drove to her house and invited Grace to bring extra clothes so she could try out Jeffery's shower. The shower is used by all the children but they probably wouldn't have had such a large walk-in shower put in when they had their house built had Jeffery not needed it. We laid Grace on the raised bath seat and rolled her into the shower. She loved it. I only got a little wet as I went in also and scrubbed her down. It was pretty handy to bathe her that way and then use a large built-in changing table just outside the shower.

When we left, Roxie invited us to come back this summer and stay at their home. She has done this before and she always encourages me to leave my kids with them so that Bobby and I can go out alone. Not that Bobby goes to go Michigan with me very often but when he does it IS nice to be able to go out 1 evening. At first I told Roxie she was crazy for thinking she wanted my kids to stay there with her 7. But last Tuesday it was fun watching the kids as they all played together and entertained one another. They're already used to loving on their brother Jeffery so to have Grace is just another gift. And they have a hamster!!! Oh, Landis and Hope fussed and fussed over (and nearly killed) that hamster.

There was a great snapshot taken of all 11 kids, mine and Roxie's but do you think I thought to get a copy of that pic? Of course not. Some other day. I will include some pics from the benefit Friday night. Grace is pictured with her favorite person in the world, Mr. Pat. His wife, Mary is hiding on the other side of him. The second photo shows our singers, l-r, Bobby, Jimmy Fortune, Kent Humphrey and Jason Humphrey.

Seems like there's never really a GOOD time to write in a blog. The oldest and the youngest are both crying as soon I clicked on "create a new post". Grace is just mad about...something and Faith is feeling a little lonesome now that everyone left the kitchen. Landis and Hope just finished emptying all the trash cans and went outside to play. There's been a lot of action in the kitchen for the past couple of hours and all of a sudden it's quiet...well, not quiet. Faith is getting louder. (pause while I go and tend to children) Now then. I changed Grace's diaper and am balancing Faith on my lap. Checked on Landis' bathroom habits while I was up too. He did everything like he's supposed to. He came in to use the bathroom and I stuck my head in there to make sure everything was happening as it was supposed to. He often times will try imitating the sound of running water before coming out of the bathroom. It's not that I'm really listening but that sound suddenly gets my attention and I know right away what he's doing. He thinks he can fool me into thinking that he's washing his hands when he's actually just standing there making that sound. Why bother? Why not just wash your hands? He's done it so much that as I was getting a clean diaper from Grace's room, I heard him make that sound and I stopped and watched for him to walk out. Then I saw the light go back on and heard the water actually running from the tap. Yea! He changed his mind and did the right thing.

I watch Landis and Hope out in the back yard trying to sneak up on robins and yellow butterflies. He tiptoes and she tiptoes in step right behind him. He runs another direction and she runs in his footsteps. It's quite cute as far as I'm concerned. I want so badly for Grace to get outside more than she does. As soon as Bobby gets back from his errands he's going to play ball with the kids and I'll suggest that he get Grace out in her wheelchair so she can get some Vitamin D action.

We had a fun time last night at the benefit concert for Grace that Bobby and Brad Smith put on. Somewhere around $3000 was raised for Grace to have more therapy. Bobby's group, Heritage Road along with Three Bridges sang and we had a surprise guest. Former tenor with the Statler Brothers, Jimmy Fortune sang a few songs. What a voice! I remember watching the Statler Brother's show as a little girl and I clearly remember thinking when Jimmy Fortune joined the group, "that sounds better." Well, he sounds even better now. He sang "Elizabeth" and boy, the higher he goes, the prettier it sounds. What a clear smooth voice. He briefly shared his own personal story of one of his 7 children (yes, 7 - he used to say, "I'm gonna go broke making Fortunes") being born with Spina Bifida. They were told he wouldn't live more than a couple of days as it was the worst case they had ever seen. His son is now 33 years old and doing well. I introduced myself to Jimmy afterward and thanked him. He said he had known the Lord since he was a child but hadn't really committed himself wholly to God until 1993. He was so genuine as he squeezed my hand and told me if we ever need anything to please call him.

The whole "benefit" thing really makes me uncomfortable. I don't know if it's ok to feel that way but I do. That's why I didn't take part in any of the planning. I just showed up for the concert. It wasn't that I was upset about it, it just made me uncomfortable to plan it or talk to people about it. It isn't just the fact that you're asking people to give you money, but it's the fact that you're believing in a healing that you don't see yet but you're asking people to give you money to go after something that isn't her healing. It will help her, though, so that's why I go along.

I'll post about my trip to Michigan next time.

It has been a very emotional week. It's like I just had a baby or something. By Wednesday I was wondering if perhaps I'm experiencing the ever-popular "post-partum depression". Bobby's been gone so much. He's been working in Waverly (90 miles west of us) so he stays in a hotel out there Monday, Tuesday and Thursday nights. So the kids say goodbye to him on Sunday evening and don't see him until Wednesday evening at church. It's a little rough but we're gonna make it. He should be finished in another month to 6 weeks...hopefully.

Today, I'm getting ready to go to Michigan. There's always soooo much to do to pack when you have kids yes, but Grace requires more packing as well. After 7 years I'm still packing bibs for her and her own food. I got smart and purchased a little $10 food chopper and left one at Dad's house and a second one at my in-laws in Arkansas. So that's one bulky thing I don't have to pack anymore. I know people wonder why I would put myself through the riggors of driving these 4 little ones alone all the way to Michigan but I had it planned where I would stop in Louisville and Bluffton, IN where I have friends, to make my pit stops. When Faith gets older it won't be a big deal. However, Dad decided to drive to TN in his van today, park it here, ride back with us in our van to MI tomorrow. He'll have his little car to get around up there and then he'll ride back to TN with us next Thursday and drive home in his van a few days later. It's a rather round-a-bout way to do it but it helps me with a second driver to speed the trip up and all.

Landis has been making up songs about driving to MI. He's so excited. It was July that we drove up there last.

There were 2 lines of thunderstorms last evening and it was very, very windy all day yesterday. I wasn't looking forward to the storms coming with Bobby gone. He left yesterday afternoon with Jason to sing in PA this weekend. They flew from Louisville to Baltimore and rented a vehicle from there. I thought about the possibility of having to get all the kids over to the neighbor's basement if need be. We had a tornado warning here in November and I carried Grace to the van while the other 2 ran (to the van) and we drove to the neighbor's basement to wait out the storm. Bobby joined us there when he got home from work. Now, with Faith here, I have to make 2 trips to the van carrying children. I figured surely the power would go out with all the wind and it would slow me down with laundry, etc. I want you to know the Lord is so good. It didn't storm at our house last night! It rained and blew a little and that's it! I was so GLAD.

It's a beautiful pre-spring day today.

I was going to take Grace (and Faith) to Lexington, KY today to the Shriner's Hospital for Children but because of a stupid cold (me) and not being able to sleep last night I opted to stay home today and just reschedule. Oh, so many things wrong with this but the one right thing is that Mary had agreed to watch my other two kids and it's her birthday. She didn't know until Sunday afternoon that Kris was planning a surprise for her by not going in to work and taking her and the boys to the zoo in Louisville. They really like zoos. When I called Mary at 6:00 this morning she was pretty glad to be able to go to the zoo with Kris and the boys afterall.

When I called the school to ask if it was ok for Grace to come to school (they weren't planning on her and were going to be a little understaffed) I apologized to Mrs. Mary, Grace's special ed. teacher, because it was an inconvenience that I threw on her the last minute. Her reply was, "That's ok. We can't control these things." Oh, that remark hit me like a slap in the face. My thought was, "Yes, we can. We can CHOOSE to be sick or we can CHOOSE to be healed." Shame on me for walking under the curse. Shame on me for bowing down to sickness. I had a sinus infection 4 years ago, the first that I know of, and I fought it with the Word. I could barely hold my head up and I really didn't know what was wrong with me. With everything in me I declared the Word over and over. I'd get tired and lay my head down and then I'd lift my head and declare the Word again. That sinus infection lasted 1 day. I've been messing around with this nonsense for 2 weeks. It's time to straighten up and fly right. By the way, I learned that I had a sinus infection because the next day I had a reflexology appointment and the reflexologist told me what it was because the relexes to my sinuses were still tender.

I have been keeping Faith awake in the evenings (pretty difficult) and she's been settling down much earlier for me. Yea!

No, this isn't the same picture as the last post.

Happy birthday today to Mary and Tisra!

My baby is still sleeping after putting her to bed 8 hours ago. That's great, but I'm not pleased. I'm not pleased because she didn't go to sleep until midnight. I guess it's really no different than my other babies did but what's different is I have to get up so much earlier to get Grace ready for the school bus.

Speaking of Grace, her notes from the teacher said that she worked harder Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday this week than she's worked all year. I love to get notes like that! Matter of fact, on Tuesday the teacher wrote that she did better holding her head up than she's ever seen her do.

Speaking of Tuesday, Bobby took me out to dinner for my birthday because Mr. Pat and his wife, Mary offered to keep the children. We even left Faith at home. When we got home, I had a gift waiting from the kids (and Mr. Pat.) He had several little video clips of them singing Happy Birthday and then put it on a disc for me to keep. There were solos as well as group singing. He had them all sign the disc to label it and then he also put snapshots on a second disc. How thoughtful was that? He and Mary said they'd watch the kids every now and then for us.

Well, I've got to get busy. I ordered an Oreck to try out for 30 days. They were offering a Verilux reading lamp to keep if you tried the vacuum. I took them up on that offer. My 30 day trial is half over and I haven't started the spring cleaning I promised myself I'd do.

Please welcome Adia Faith Bowen. Her debut was January 31, 2006 at 12:22 a.m. She weighed in at a whopping 8 lbs and 15 oz. She was 21 1/2 inches long. She has her daddy's legs...lucky girl. She was delivered by her daddy at home with the assistance of our lovely midwife. She was welcomed by her mama and daddy and her excited older siblings. She came quickly and relatively easily, and with her eyes wide open and her arms spread, she screamed at us, "HERE I AM! ARE YOU HAPPY NOW?!!"

Faith, as we call her, is looking forward to meeting all of you soon. At the present we are planning to drive to Michigan on Saturday, March 11 and stay until the following Thursday morning. Grace has Spring Break that week and Bobby will be out of town...(singing at Chet's on the 10th and 11th, by the way).

Mary and Kristy have blogs and I think they're a nice way to see what's going in someone else's life. I was messing around trying to get y'all an announcement in the mail. Bah! This is easier and less expensive...and I can send more than one picture. Don't worry, I won't be sending you emails every time I post in my blog. If you're nosy and you want to see what someone's been up to, you put their blog address into your "favorites" and then you can click on it at your leisure.

Kristy's blog spot is http://thehallconnection.blogspot.com/

Kris and Mary both have blogs and they're both pretty interesting. Shoot, they have a family website which is where you go first and then you can choose a blog to read. Their web address is www.kelsofamily.net

My blog spot is http://thebowenarrows.blogspot.com/

I made my first post a week ago. My intentions were to post 3 or 4 times per week and maybe even daily depending on what's going on. I'm posting on Sunday morning because I'm home with Hope (and Faith). Hope has a fever this morning. We both hate that. She had a fever of 103 and was up and following me around as I got Grace and Landis ready for church telling me she could get herself dressed and gathering her clothes around herself in an attempt to "get dvessed." After Bobby and the two oldest left, she cried and said she wanted to go too. I understood because I wanted to go. I absolutely HATE staying home from church. As I sat feeding Faith I asked Hope if she wanted to pray and then maybe we could still get ready to go. She agreed. We prayed and she went to sleep. :) Very little has kept us home. I once was so brave as to say that "we never stay home from church because of sickness; sickness is of the Devil and of course he doesn't want us to go to church. If we're sick then the altar is where we need to be anyway." I know that even though there is truth in all of that, there comes a time when a mother needs to keep her children safely at home wrapped up in bed. And I guess this morning I just didn't have the desire to fight it because I'm so tired. The thought of lying on the couch and napping sounded just oh so good. Lately Faith, even though she sleeps 5 hours at a time, doesn't seem to want to close her big eyes after 10:00 pm. After she gets her little belly filled, she's just as bright-eyed and bushy-tailed as can be. Not cranky, just AWAKE. I think she needs a spanking. :)

I read this earlier in the week and was reminded of it again this morning:

"Is this not the fast that I have chosen: To loose the bonds of wickedness, to undo the heavy burdens, to let the oppressed go free, and that you break every yoke? Is it not to share your bread with the hungry, and that you bring to your house the poor who are cast out; when you see the naked, that you cover him, and not hide yourself from your own flesh? Then your light shall break forth like the morning, your healing shall spring forth speedily, and your righteousness shall go before you; the glory of the LORD shall be your rear guard. Then you shall call, and the LORD will answer; you shall cry and He will say, 'Here I am.'

If you take away the yoke from your midst, the pointing of the finger, and speaking wickedness, if you extend your soul to the hungry and satisfy the afflicted soul, then your light shall dawn in the darkness, and your darkness shall be as the noonday. The LORD will guide you continually, and satisfy your soul in drought, and strengthen your bones; (your immune system is in your bones) you shall be like a watered garden, and like a spring of water whose waters do not fail. Those from among you shall build the old waste places; you shall raise up the foundations of many generations; and you shall be called the Repairer of the Breach, The Restorer of Streets to Dwell In.

If you turn away your foot from the Sabbath, from doing your pleasure on My holy day, and call the Sabbath a delight, the holy day of the LORD honorable, and shall honor Him, not doing your own ways, nor finding your own pleasure, nor speaking your own words, then you shall delight yourself in the LORD; and I will cause you to ride on the high hills of the earth, and feed you with the heritage of Jacob your father.

The mouth of the LORD has spoken."
Isaiah 58:6-14

Lord help me to always honor Your Sabbath... I guess that means I need to step away from the computer and go honor the LORD.

It's Sunday evening, the kids have just been put to bed and the baby is stirring. Feeding time is in 30 minutes. (Bobby just looked over my shoulder and said, "stirring what?") This is MY time. Time to send an email, or better yet, start a blog. I actually hesitated in starting a blog right now because I really need to be spending my time with Bobby. He'll leave for Waverly again in the morning and be gone until Wednesday night. But Bobby said to go ahead and start my blog in case I had any questions, then he'd be here to help me. What a guy!

None the less, I'll keep this short. I decided at the end of last year that I should probably start a blog since I don't keep a journal or diary. I've always said that I keep my emails and those serve as a sort of diary. True, but this will probably be easier. Two of my sisters keep blogs and several friends - it's time to join in the fun.

I'd better keep my promise about keeping this short. Looking forward to a blogging future!

Oh, let's include a picture of the latest addition to our family.