Catch-Up

As it has probably been no surprise to the 3 of you who read this, I haven't been blogging.  I decided to take a much needed hiatus.  So here is what we've been up to the last 6 weeks.  I will add in multiple posts since I choose not to pay to expand my blog.

Halloween 2009

The boys had a Halloween Carnival at school.  I think this is such a great idea.  The kids get use of their costumes for more than just a few hours. Here they are on the morning of their party. The Conroe Fire Department gave us some hats to use and sticker badges. You can't see the badges in the picture, but they are on their backs and chest of their shirt. We wore the CFD hats to school and our "real" ones on Halloween night. Aren't they the cutest firefighters you've ever seen?

On Halloween night, we went to the Fall Festival at West Conroe Baptist Church.  This was such a great event.  It sent me back 20 years to when I used to go to my church's festival.  There was a REAL fire truck and firemen there, too!  The boys were super excited about getting to sit in the truck and hang out with the big firemen. 

Deacon and Cousin Boston, aka Aladdin

This fireman was so good with the boys. We went back by about 6 more times and by the end of the night, the boys would actually give him high-five. 

On an old-fashioned hay ride.

Prayerful Mondays

What are Prayerful Mondays...I need to be more purposeful in my prayers for others. I am WAY too good at praying for myself. I have decided to designate Mondays for pray requests. Each Monday I will share with you some of my prayer requests. Some are for blog friends, some best friends, and yes, some will be for myself (or my family). Please join with me in praying for each other. Oh...and if you have something specific or not so specific in mind for me to pray about, leave me a comment. Here we go...

1. Our friends, Cassie and Carrie's granddad has been diagnosed with a terminal illness. Please pray for healing and for peace for the Wood Family. 
2. Last week I mentioned Jenn Colley having baby Crew on Wednesday. Well, it's a week later and she's still pregnant. The plan is for her to have the c-section tomorrow evening. Pray for Jenn and Colby. Pray for their little one Camren as he has been sick this week. Pray for their doctor and for the nurses as well. Such an exciting time for them! God is so good.
3. This weekend we found out that a student at Ryan's former school, Trinity Christian, killed himself. Ryan did not know the student. He was a new transfer this year, but our hearts break for our Trinity family who is hurting. Please keep the staff and students in your prayers this week as they prepare to move on from this tragedy. Pray for the student's family as they find themselves in the middle of a nightmare. 
4. Pray this week for your children's (or future children) salvation. Hug your children and DAILY tell them you love them. Introduce them to Jesus, the one who is your lover, comfort, and best friend during EVERY season. Show them the LOVE of the Father and that they never HAVE to be alone.  
5. Little Rhett is sick again. This time he's been throwing up. Please pray for him. He wants to feel better and tries but just can't do it yet. It's so sad to watch.
6. October is Breast Cancer Awareness month. All of us, I'm sure, have been touched by this disease in one way or another. Pray for a cure. 

I hope you all have a great week!

Weekend Wrap-up

What an eventful weekend, but alas, NO PICTURES. I'm so bad at it. What can I say, except, Sorry! 

Rhett was sick on Friday, well on Saturday, and now sick again on Sunday. What's a mother to do?

Our dear friends, Cassie and Brandi can to visit us. We had fun just hanging around and spending time together. I am such a Quality Time person. I loved having them here.

We might have finally found a church! More to come on that later.

Um, that's all I got. Hopefully I will have more time to post this with pictures. Have a blessed week!

Prayerful Mondays

What are Prayerful Mondays...I need to be more purposeful in my prayers for others. I am WAY too good at praying for myself. I have decided to designate Mondays for pray requests. Each Monday I will share with you some of my prayer requests. Some are for blog friends, some best friends, and yes, some will be for myself (or my family). Please join with me in praying for each other. Oh...and if you have something specific or not so specific in mind for me to pray about, leave me a comment. Here we go...

1. Our cousins, Angie and Graham, just announced they are expecting baby #2. Please pray for a healthy pregnancy for mommy and baby. We're excited for Jackson to be a big brother.
2. Speaking of babies, Jenn Colley is due with baby Crew this week. Pray for God's protection during the delivery and for some much need R&R before Crew makes his arrival. Crew will be welcomed home by mommy and daddy and big Brother Camren who just turned ONE! That's right, they'll be about 13 months apart. Congrats, Jenn, Colby and Camren!
3. Humm, let's see. More baby news. Our old Small Groups, Matt and Heather Hanzelka, are expecting their first little one in May. 
4. Our cousin Carol just had the swine flu. Please pray her family doesn't get it, too. Carol and Lance have two little ones at home and boy it wouldn't be fun for the boys to be sick again. Oh and Carol is fine. The swine flu is just the flu. No hysteria. It stinks, but it's still just the flu.
5. Our good friends, The Dukes should be closing on two houses soon (the one they're selling and the one they're buying). This is the second contract they've had on their current house. Please pray for everything to go smoothly, for all the finances to be in place and for God above all, to be glorified through them in the waiting process. 

That's all for now. If you have any prayer requests, please let me know. I'd love to pray for you!

How Can It Be...

Our Little Crue is Three?!?

Today our nephew, Crue turns three.  To say we wish we could have been in Midland at his party is an understatement.  But with the boys sick this week and missing work, it just didn't work out.  Anyway, Happy Birthday, Crue!  We hope you had a great day and we'll see you soon!

Petechia

petechia: (pronounced /pɨˈtiːkiə/, plural petechiae /pɨˈtiːkɪ.iː/) is a small (1-2mm) red or purple spot on the body, caused by a minor hemorrhage (broken capillary blood vessels).

I know it hard to see in this picture, but focus on the center of the circle and you can see a red dot.

Last Thursday I noticed these little tiny red spots on Rhett's neck and behind his ears.  I didn't think much about them - dismissing it as a heat rash.  Well, come Sunday evening the spots were still there and he had a fever.  I looked online and researched petechia.  Come to find out, they are usually symptoms of severe crying, coughing, or a virus.  They can also be indicators of potentially serious blood disorders.  I decided it was probably best to go get him checked out.

Before the torture.

 

This morning we went to the doctor.  Our appointment was at 10:40 am and they got us to the back area pretty quickly.  Then came the rough part.  The WAITING!  We waited for 45 minutes before the doctor came in to see him.  She spent about 5 minuted looking at all his "orifices" and found nothing.  But this part of was a walk in the park compared to what was to come.  Dr. E then checked out the petechiae.  She said we need to do a blood test to make sure his platelet levels are normal and it is just a virus.  I said, "Sure."  I mean I'd rather catch something serious earlier than later, ya know?

Well, we waited another 5 minutes for a sweet, well-meaning nurse to walk in.  Little did I realize the trauma that would take place in the next 15 minutes.  First the nurse had to prick Rhett's right, ring finger.  Rhett proceeded to scream.  Then, I had to hold him down as the nurse squeezed droplets of blood into a small vial.  After 5-7 minutes of trying to squeeze blood out of my kicking and screaming 2 year-old, she stopped and went to get help.  You see, they had to FILL the vial in order to get enough blood to test.

We wait for about 2 minutes and in walks in a cold, NON-well-meaning nursing.  She has me and the other nurse hold down Rhett as she proceeds to prick his LEFT, right finger and squeezed blood out of it.  Meanwhile, Rhett is screaming/crying even louder saying, "NO, STOP, PLEASE! STOP PLEASE!" over and over again.  After hearing this and looking into his terrified eyes, I proceed to start crying.  I mean NO ONE should have to hear their baby cry like that. 

Finally they stopped and were able to squeeze enough blood out of my child.  His blood counts were normal and it turns out he has just a virus.  It was miserable, but I'm still glad I did it.  I would hate to it have been something more serious and not get it checked out.  Note to parents, if your child has signs of petechiae, you should get it looked at by your doctor, just in case!

Mommy and Rhett post crying.

After lunch at "Sweet Tomatoes."  He's still holding the "Thomas the Tank Engine" sticker the sweet receptionist gave him.

Prayerful Mondays

What are Prayerful Mondays...I need to be more purposeful in my prayers for others. I am WAY too good at praying for myself. I have decided to designate Mondays for pray requests. Each Monday I will share with you some of my prayer requests. Some are for blog friends, some best friends, and yes, some will be for myself (or my family). Please join with me in praying for each other. Oh...and if you have something specific or not so specific in mind for me to pray about, leave me a comment. Here we go...

1. Our little Rhett is sick. I'm gonna take him to the doctor later today. Please pray he gets well soon. I hate it when our guys are sick. It makes me sad.
2. Pray for the Thomson family as they mourn the loss of their matriarch, Mary Ann. Her funeral is Sunday. Pray that arrangements go smoothly. They have a long journey ahead of them, please pray they feel the Lord's comfort every step of the way.
3. My old college BSM friend, Jeanna has a job interview today. Pray for her to do well and for discernment and wisdom from the Lord for Jeanna and her possible new boss.
4. Lots of sickness still spreading around school. Last week they had 34 senior out. That's half the senior class. The football team had to cancel their game on Friday because they didn't have enough players to play. We could really use a break from it all. I know the flu/swine flu is not just hitting us. Pray for a blanket of protection for all our friends out there. No one can afford to be sick these days.