The Dentist

Indy's been having work done on some of his teeth the last few weeks. He's down to only one more appointment, which won't be until June...whew! But, he's had to have the nitrous oxide to help calm him before they give him the Novocain. Personally, I didn't think that nitrous oxide really made all that difference, but what can you do? It didn't seem to bother him, so I guess it can't hurt, except that my insurance didn't cover it so I had to pay for it each time, out of my pocket...argh. Anyway, they let him pick the color of his mask, and as long as we brought it back each time, we didn't have to pay for another mask.

Here Indy is ready to begin, with his "clown nose" mask on. I thought the red mask he picked looked like a clown nose. lol

Here he's got his sunglasses on, to keep the bright light out of his eyes. I think that's a great idea! And, since it's a pediatric dentist, it's very kid-friendly there. There's even a tv with a video running, on the ceiling right over his head, so while he's laying in the chair, he can watch a movie. Man, I think adult dentists should have that too, right?? lol

He wanted to show off his crown. This one was from the last week's appt. Actually, it's the upper, which is two crowns side by side and is from the visit two weeks ago. He inherited his dad's bad teeth, thus he's had to have a lot of work done. I'm sooo glad it's finally over...well, almost anyway. And, he did great! I was so proud of him. He really hated going, but had a good attitude each time and was so brave. I just hope Levi does as well when he starts going. He's got the same bad teeth, so we start on him in another week or so. THAT should be fun!! lol

This is a tree in the parking lot of my grocery store. These trees are all over the place here, and right now they're blooming up a storm! Some are pinkish/purple and some are the sunniest yellow you've ever seen. If I can manage to remember, I'll get a picture of a yellow one. I don't really like yellow very much, but on these trees, it's beautiful! I even like it better than the purple one! Imagine that!! lol Anyway, these trees are sooo pretty now with all their flowers. The whole tree is flowers. It's amazing!

Lori, you can tell Emily that I'll always think of her when I see this tree in bloom. Why? Because last year, before you guys moved, we went to Publix and she was with us, and we were all talking about how pretty this very tree was with all the flowers. For some reason, when it bloomed this year, she came to my mind. I guess she always will when I see this tree. :-)
Here's another one using his imagination.... Levi set up the race track in a straight line, then used it as a golf line. Too funny!!
Last week, Savannah and Juan walked over to a nearby school field to take some pictures. The first one, they set the timer for and took it themselves. I thought that was pretty cool. The second one is an awesome picture Juan took of Savannah. I think it was an accident, but it came out sooo good.

Just wanted to share some recent pictures. Have a great week! We're having a great time in Jerusalem....Wish you were here!! :-)

A Praise

Last November, the a/c in my car went out. This was a bummer, but not miserable since the weather was starting to "cool down" anyway. I decided to wait til we got the tax check to fix this. Then, early in March I had to get my brakes done, so while I was there, I had them check out the a/c and tell me how much it would cost. Can I just say, "Argh!"

They did a diagnostic, which cost me, then they decided my blower motor needed to be replaced. The part was about $8o, but with the labor, it would cost about $250. Can you believe that?? I was so upset. Plus, if it's not the blower, it would be something major and would cost a LOT more. Oh well...gotta do it....summer's coming. So, I spoke to Nicky and yesterday, I finally took it in. I've been praying and praying that it was only the blower and not something major like the compressor or something.

They ordered the part from a dealer, since they didn't have it in stock, but it was the wrong part...of course. So, after 3 1/2 hours, they hadn't even started and were waiting for the right part to come in. When they got it, they put the blower in and it didn't work. This means it was something else. Oh, man! They called me and said they needed to do another diagnostic to see if it was a switch in the system somewhere that had blown out. I ok'd it and they got to work. Finally they called me back to say it was ready, about 2 hours later. It turned out to be a switch, and not my blower at all, which was cheaper. Whoo hoo!! And, since they had already taken the car apart and put the new blower in, they just left it in even though mine was working ok, and they didn't even charge me for that!! Now, my car is about 5 years old, so the blower was gonna go sometime anyway, so this is a great thing. Once it was all said and done, and they applied the $10 off coupon I had, my total was about $206.... $4o cheaper than first quoted!! Yay!!

I was sooo happy to ride in the car with the windows up and the a/c on yesterday, mostly because it was sooo quiet inside the car!! Plus, even though it's been in the 70's yesterday and today, I'm sure this is winter's last hurrah, and after the high of 95 degrees we had Monday...yes 95 degrees (!), it will be nice to have the air working as the weather warms. Whew!

God was merciful and not only let the car get fixed with nothing major, but it was even cheaper than originally expected. How cool is that? Don't you just love when he "winks" at you like that?? Thanks, God! :-)

In Cognito

Can you see him? He's camoflaged! A couple weeks ago, Indy was outside with Levi, playing Army guys. He decided he needed a camo helmet so he got one of my tupperware bowls (without my knowledge, I must say) and covered it with grass to make his helmet.

I think he first tried glue.....

I guess it didn't work as well as he envisioned, so he decided to go with scotch tape, which seemed to work a little bit better. You can see a vertical strip of tape right smack in the middle of the helmet.

Personally, I thought this was pretty creative. I just love to see the kids using their imaginations! "Yes, sir! Heading back to camp, Sir!"

Well, we'll be in Jerusalem this week, so I probably won't have time to post too much. What's that, you say? You didn't know we were going to Jerusalem? Well, we are....sort of. Our church is doing a VBS type thing this week for spring break and the theme is Jerusalem Marketplace and it's going to be amazing!

It's a whole new spin on VBS. First, instead of dividing up the kids into age groups, they're dividing families up into tribes. For example, I'm a tribe leader...the Tribe of Levi (you had to have guessed that one! lol)....and in my tribe will be me and my children and at least 2 other families, parents and all kids together. All the workers and many participants will be dressing in Bible times costumes. We'll be meeting in the field outside on a blanket near a "well" that will house our water (in gallon jugs), which I have to send someone to get each day. Outside we'll have traditional Hebrew-type music and dancing and then meet in our groups for our daily lesson. After about half an hour, we go inside to the marketplace (our gym), which has been completely transformed into an amazing atmosphere with about 9 or 10 booths, in which the families can do activities like carpentry, basket weaving, baking, candy making, jewelry making, pottery, etc. This will last about half an hour, then when the shofar blows, we go, with our tribe to Hebrew school (which is in our sanctuary), where the families will learn some Hebrew letters and other things while listening to a "rabbi" who's not too sure about this Jesus guy who's been disrupting the whole town. :-) After that, we go to the games area where the families will learn traditional games like discus throwing, relays, and dreidles. They even have a petting farm with donkeys, chickens, and other animals. In the center of the marketplace, there is another "well" where there will sporadically happen some dramas about things happening the week before Jesus' crucifixion. After all the activities, we will again head to our home base outside and discuss the day's events. Each day, I'll have to send someone to bake our "daily bread" (when we start the day) and while we're gone it will be delivered to our base. So while closing, we'll have water from the well and bread someone in our group made. All the workers are in character, some don't even like Jesus! It's gonna be awesome! Now, can you see why I'll be a little busy? It only goes til Wednesday, so I'll be back to normal on Thursday, but in the meantime, I'll be in Jerusalem. Wish you could come!! :-)

Now, without further ado, here's this week's menu:

Sunday- Creamy Chicken Alfredo

Monday- Tater Tot Casserole

Tuesday- Noodle Dish, Green Bean Casserole

Wednesday- Santa Fe Chicken

Thursday- Lasagna Rolls

Friday- Meat Loaf

Saturday- Frozen dinner

Tater Tot Casserole

1 1/2 lb. ground beef

32 oz. tater tots

1/2 tsp. salt

1/4 tsp. pepper

1 can cream of mushroom soup

1/4 onion

1/4 c. milk

1 cup frozen corn

1/2 - 1 cup shredded cheddar

Brown ground beef and drain. Line crock pot with tater tots. Combine all other ingredients (except cheese) and pour mixture over the tater tots. Top with shredded cheddar cheese. Cover. Cook on high 3 hours.

**Everyone in the family likes this one! It's always amazing when I find something everyone likes!! lol

Is This Us, or What?!?

Thanks to Jessica over at Farm Fresh for letting me steal this cute Facebook Flair from her. Love ya, Jessica!! :-)

Thankful Thursday

I think I participated in this once, but it's been awhile. It's not that I'm not thankful, as a matter of fact, I'm a very thankful person, I think, but I know I would sound monotonous writing the same things week after week. So, I don't usually post a Thankful Thursday, but I am this week. Why? Well, I think I've had some specific things to be thankful for this week that I wanted to write about, so I decided to just post them under this.

First, I'm thankful for our bodies. I know that sounds like a weird thing to say, but I was praying for someone I can't remember right now and they had had a bad time physically. This got me to thinking about our bodies and how much trauma and abuse we heap on them and how they sustain us through a lot of that until they just can't take it anymore. It's amazing how resilient our bodies are. I know our bad choices like smoking, poor eating habits, lack of exercise, lack of sleep, and other abuses we heap upon our bodies cause negative consequences, but most times these consequences don't show up for awhile and sometimes not at all. That's amazing, isn't it? I was just thanking God for our bodies and for the fantastic construction that makes up our bodies.

Second, at the fair, I was so thankful that the boys had each other and that I had them.

Third, I have been so thankful for trees for some reason. It's never cool enough here in the fall to get the trees to lose their leaves. But, come January, it gets really cool, which shocks the trees into "fall" mode. This lasts with different trees for a couple months and right now there are trees right and left losing their leaves. It's amazing how many bald trees we have right now. As I walk in the mornings, I see trees all over losing leaves and it's so beautiful. I only wish it was actually fall when they lost their leaves. Oh well, you can't have it all. But, I have noticed these trees so much lately and have been very thankful for them.

Fourth, after the nice long visit I recently had with my mom and grandmother, and with so many of my friends' parents in declining health, I've really been so grateful recently for the length of time I've had to enjoy my mom, grandmother, and even Nicky's parents. I've been so grateful that basically all their health is doing well and sustaining them and that we've been blessed to enjoy time with them that so many others miss. Of course this makes me miss my Dad, but I'm even grateful for the time I had with him and that he got to see 3 of my kids.

Fifth, I've been really grateful for Nicky's job. Jobs seem to be getting more scarce by the day, but thankfully, Nicky's job is still there supporting us. He's in construction, which is a very unreliable career, but he's been at the power plant for so long that it's been wonderful not to have to worry about when the next job will come up and when we'll get a paycheck again. See, we used to live that way. Before Hurricane Andrew, in 1992, there was literally no work....none...zip....nada. It was bad. He actually worked only about 3 weeks during a 5 month period one year. We lived on my measly preschool teacher paycheck and his unemployment. He even applied at Home Depot, but he was "over qualified". Ha! He could have swept the floors, we didn't care. I am sooo thankful we didn't have children then because that was a very difficult time. Even after we had kids, he would get laid off from a job when it was complete and have to find a new job. That's stressful not knowing when the next job will be, so him being at the plant for so long has been wonderful....BUT.... It's still a construction job and he could still get laid off at any time. We hope that won't happen, but there's no guarantee, so we try to keep mentally and financially prepared for such a possibility. In the meantime, I'm so grateful for his job.

Sixth, and final, I think. As I was walking and praying for my two girls, ages 14 and 16, I was lamenting to God how this has been such a difficult few years for me. My heart was overflowing with love for them as I lifted them and their futures and all that entails in prayer and the Lord just gave me a glimpse of the awesomeness of the responsibility and gift to me it is that I have been given. That He has allowed me, out of the goodness of His heart, to be the steward of these young people, helping them and guiding them through such a difficult and treacherous time is just amazing....and such a gift. It was such a sweet revelation that I almost cried. Yes, it's hard and not always fun. Yes, it's stretching me in ways I never even knew possible. Yes, it can be wonderful and heartbreaking at the same time, but it's a gift that the Lord has given to me and I am so grateful for that. (Did that just confuse you?? I hope not.)

Anyway, that's my Thankful Thursday post. To see other Thankful Thursday posts, hop on over to Laurie at Women Taking a Stand.