Look Who's Coming!!!

MY BEST FRIEND IN THE WHOLE WORLD IS COMING TO VISIT TODAY!

I AM SO EXCITED TO SEE HER, HANG OUT WITH HER, AND JUST SPEND TIME TALKING WITH HER. SINCE WE WERE 4 YEARS OLD WE HAVE BEEN THE BEST OF FRIENDS. I LOVE HER SO MUCH AND THANK GOD FOR HER FRIENDSHIP. SO, WOOHOO FOR FRIENDS...AND MEET MARY ANN, EVERYONE! oh, and this is why i was cleaning house : )

New Work Out

Last night I discovered a new work out that was amazing! It worked my arms, abs, and even shoulders...all in 10 minutes! This was not some video or training session. This workout has a catchy name, "Kneading." I looked in the bread box after dinner and saw no bread. The husband had come home for lunch, and I am guessing that is where it went. He worked hard in the yard some yesterday, and I love it when he comes home for lunch. But the bread was gone, and Makenna needed lunch for today at school. For a while I have wanted to bake bread. I think it is economical and so much better for you. But I was scared to death. The lovely flatlands that we call home have pretty much 0% humidity, and somehow my rolls, breads, etc. have never risen here. So at 8pm, which I would later realize is entirely tooooo late to begin this process, I , well, began the process. In the beginning it was going great...mix this in, heat this up, add as needed, stir this in....then it got a little more difficult. Stirring in an extra 5 cups of flour to an already very hard to stir blob of dough was tough. So i only got about 4 cups in and stopped. I believed it was physically impossible to add anymore. The next step is to roll into a ball and let rise for one hour...which is a huge red flag out here that usually turns into 3 hours. So I was off to clean the house...more on that later. After 1 1/2 hours, it had actually risen! Not actually doubled in size, but close. I decided to read the rest of the recipe. The next step was to knead. Cool, I can do that. But what? "Knead for 10 minutes until smooth and elastic." Hmmmm, 10 sounds like a long time to me...AND IT WAS! That was a very long 10 minutes, especially when you are shorter in stature and have to stick your shoulders up just to get ahold of the brick-like blob of dough. It was the best workout ever! Even this morning I can feel my arm muscles...woohooo, heaven knows they needed it. I was pouring sweat and the husband was trying not to laugh at my struggles. They had to rise for another hour in the loaf pans, so I said a prayer of desperation over them and set the timer for another hour. Don't even try to figure out how late it was then. When the timer went off , and I saw picture #2. They rose!!! Then they had to bake for another 45 minutes, but they came out great!!!! So all of you who are scared of bread, go for it! I am going to bake more when we eat all this....and when I can move my arms again.

We miss you, pool!

Here are some pictures of us at or going to the pool. We love the pool and wait for it ALL YEAR long! Lubbock was cool and rainy mid-summer, which is sooo weird, and we did not get to go as much as we usually do. Now both kids are waking up asking if we can go to the pool! Ummm, hello, school, anyone? I would skip if we could....or if the pool was still open. So on this cloudy day, I just wanted to say...We Miss You, Pool!!!

Update on the girl

Just to let all of you know, Makenna's day improved...so thank you for praying for her. Her friend from church saw her in the assembly, and he left his class to go and make her feel better. Thank you, God! And thank you, Gabriel, for showing love to my girl yesterday. Thanks to all of you for praying for her. Keep it up! : )

Supposed to...

Today is the day. I have been thinking about it and dreading it for awhile. Today I am supposed to be having a baby. Today I am supposed to be in the hospital. Today I am supposed to be figuring out how to do this again. Today I am supposed to be seeing the brand new face of a little one...supposed to.
Really, supposed to is all wrong. I know that deep in my heart. I am just supposed to be loving God, loving my family, and doing what He has called me to do today. That is it. God has perfect and proserous plans for me, and believing that I am supposed to be having a baby today is showing unbelief in him, and I believe Him...so instead of supposed to be, I just was going to have a baby sometime around today, and now I am not. Still in his plans, still believing God. That is where I am today, and I hope to be all my days ahead. Believing God. I love Him the same today as I did on December 27th when one of my closest friends from 7th grade on, who also happens to be a doctor now, had to call me and say, "Melissa Lee (that is what he has always called me), I need to tell you things do not look good." He believes just as I do that life begins at conception, and knew just what to say. I could not have asked for anyone better to have to tell me the news. (Thanks, my sweet David S!) So today is still a day to be celebrated because God has given it to me. I love Him for it, and I believe Him with my life...and the lives of all of my children.
Supposed to....no, not today.

My Sweet, Brave First Grader

Well...today was the day for school again. I can't believe she is really in first grade! We have been talking it up at home because this year Makenna is going to a different school. It is so much closer to our house, but new is hard. She woke up with, as Junie B. Jones says, "Flutterflies in her stomach." Everything was going great, no worries, but on the way she started saying she is nervous. I know, a normal thing to say...but not so normal for us. Mak suffers from anxiety, and I don't mean the normal, kid in a new school type. She has struggled with this for a few years now, and sometimes it takes over. Take last year when a little kid threw up in her classroom a few weeks into the school year. Instead of saying, "Eww, gross!" like the other kids, Makenna decides that the germs from his throw up have travelled through the air to her, and that she will now be throwing up, if not that same day, but some day soon after. She also decides to obsessively check expiration dates on EVERY SINGLE FOOD she might eat for weeks. She also decides that if she does not eat, there will be nothing to throw up, so that stops, too. Makenna lost about 7 pounds in two weeks last year. She started school at 37 pounds and by her 6 yr. check up at the end of September, she had dropped to right at 30 pounds. It has taken many sessions with at play therapist, endless discussions, fervent prayers, and 9 months to get back where we were at this time last year. So today, as she was going into her classroom, I was mentally and spiritually fighting as she said those words, "But I'm just getting nervous." This is why it is not just normal for us. To top it off, her teacher is out for a few weeks because of surgery/illness, and someone else is starting the class. I know God has orchestrated all of this, and I am confident in Him. So why do I still worry and wonder and second-guess myself? Her last words as I was leaving were," Mom, I am sure in a few minutes I will make a new friend," as the tears poured down her sweet little face. So brave...unimaginably courageous for a girl who fights this battle over and over. But we will not let it win! I told her how she could pray right at school, and that God would give her strength all day. She asked if she could say her verses, so I hope she will. That is all I can leave her with, and it is so much more than enough to comfort and empower. She loves that song...I have no idea who sings it, that says, "You make me brave, brave..." Make her brave sweet Jesus. Pray for my girl!

First post

First post...and I am already having issues...shocker!!