Tuesday, October 30, 2007

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!



HE STILL KNOWS WHAT YOU DID LAST SUMMER!!!!!!!!!

Update on Joshua

Thank you everyone for your thoughts and any prayers you may have shot up, they are so greatly appreciated! Thought that I would update on the situation.

No more croupy cough. Thank God for that! But Joshua has had high fevers the last couple nights while he is sleeping and will crawl in with me and say how he feels so hot. Last night I gave him Motrin before bed to try to make his sleep more comfy. He woke this morning with the fever back and I had to tell him he couldn't go to school. Devistation was in the house! He was so sad, but quickly understood because he wouldn't want to get his friends sick and he was coughing a lot. So, I made a doc appointment with the on call. Got there at 11am and got right in. He checked Joshua over and boy waas I glad I had taken him. In 2 days he went from having a virus, croup, to having an eye infection, ear infection, nose and throat infection, infected tonsils, and a chest infection. We got the antibiotics, no question there was a need and started him on them. Amoxo for everything except the eyes and eye drop for the eyes. OKay, he was happy to have banana medicine and had more motrin. He loves them!

I did his eye drops and it was horrific, the screaming! You have to understand that Joshua has never been one to fight medicine. He understands it will make him better and even when it is uncomfortable, no problem, as long as it is not painful. But even his shots for school, he didn't even flinch because he knew it was good for him. He has had eye drops before and been okay but this was unblievable. He was screaming that it hurt so bad and was crying. I felt so bad. After all was done I put a movie on, time for a nap. He and I curled up together and had a little sleep. He had about 3 hours, me about one. So, when he was up it was time to give the eye drops again. They said every 4 hours. So, again with the screaming. Then I noticed his eye lids swelling and red and he was saying his eyes were so sore and itchy. Yup you guessed it, I checked the cautions, these were the- contact doc ASAP if- symptoms. So I called the pharmacist to confirm and it is indeed an alergic reaction. Off to the hospital. Discontinue use I am told. I got a new prescription, one with a drug to counter the reaction. Got home after picking up a snack and some pop for Joshua and the fear was through the roof! He was so scared I had to pull open his lids and finally I got the drops in. The drama was not too bad once they were in. I suppose the pain was minimal in comparisson with the first drops. Then shortly after he said that his eyes weren't so sore. Thank the Lord again!

Off to bed but the worst part of the day was having to tell Joshua that Doc says he can't go to school till Friday. Tomorrow it, rainbow day (they dress in as much colour as possible), hot lunch (only once a week, pre paid, pre ordered), library (he missed last week because of the environmental week), Gym (also missed last week), and the teacher has his words ready for him to go over ( so exciting after he has practiced for almost 2 weeks. What a let down. Also, because of the chest infection, we can't take the kids to the hotsprings for Halloween night like we do every year. So, as consulation we will make sugar cookies shaped like pumpkins, carve our pumpkin, and hand out candy. Should be a great day/ night anyway.

The great things, Joel and Annabelle were like little angels. No fighting and so happy. And I got a call from a friend. I was on the phone with Adam saying that I would go to town when he got home and see if I could find a pumpkin anywhere around town for the carving. We are a little broke so this was a strain. A friend of mine called about 2 minutes later and said, Char, do you need a pumpkin? I was a little shocked but of course said, yeah I do. She said that she had 9 extras in her garden and was praying about who to give them to and God told her to call me! God is so faithful! Even on the tough days, there is a ray of sunshine. So she brought over 2 pumpkins one of which is the most beautiful pumkin for carving that I have ever seen!

Keep praying when you have a chance, all! God bless you and goodnight.

Hopefully I will have pics to put up of halloween when all is said and done.

Sunday, October 28, 2007

Croupy croup boy

Well, Joshua got croup last night. His throat was soar and he was coughing so bad he couldn't catch his breath and then was gagging up phlegm and still couldn't take real breaths. Adam was very concerned and so was I so my ma and I took him to the hospital. Of course the symptoms got quite a bit better when we got outside, that is typical of croup as the cold air helps relieve the inflammation in the throat. So, got him there and the doc confirmed that it was croup and that he was okay and no longer in respiratory distress. I could tell as he was sleeping soundly on me by then. Doc says that he will grow out of this probably this year because the airways get bigger around 5-6 years old and then the inflammation is not a problem like it is in little kids. The doctor and nurses were the nicest ever, even though they were having a CRAZY night. Thank God Joshua was okay. He is having a little trouble talking today but his throat is not sore anymore.

The doctor said that we could give him the dose of steroid and that it would help so we wouldn't have to come back in again through the night but I decided to go with the natural method and leave a window cracked for fresh cool air as he slept. All was fine but I did end up missing church because he still has such a bad cough. So... there is it. He has had it before so once I knew that that was all it was, I was pretty relaxed. We were at the hospital for about an hour and a half as there were a lot of very serious things that had to push us further along. No big deal as I had my mom to keep me company. Scary stuff though when it started, I don't like to see my kids not be able to get breath, not fun at all. Hope tonight goes much better but really, for being sick, it went about as smoothly as possible. God bless you all!

From Kids Health
The term croup does not refer to a single illness, but rather a group of conditions involving inflammation of the upper airway that leads to a cough that sounds like a bark, particularly when a child is crying.
Most croup is caused by viruses, but similar symptoms may occasionally be caused by bacteria or an allergic reaction. The viruses most commonly involved are parainfluenza virus (accounting for most cases), adenovirus,
respiratory syncytial virus, influenza, and measles.
Most children with viral croup are between the ages of 3 months and 5 years old. Croup is most likely to occur during the winter months and early spring, and symptoms are most severe in children younger than 3 years of age.
Most croup due to viruses is mild and can be treated at home, though rarely viral croup can be severe and even life-threatening. Some children are more prone to developing croup, especially those who were born
prematurely or with narrowed upper airways.

Saturday, October 27, 2007

And on goes life

On it goes. Joshua just finished a week of environmental stuff... how to care for God's creation and how to be good stewards of it. I have to admit, I felt a bit convicted. But I am sure trying, it is just a hard change over for me. I want to see less garbage leaving my house in a garbage bag and more leaving in recycling bins... I will be talking to my good friend Gwen about how best to make these things happen in the near future. Get ready Gwen!

The reading is going more than exceptional. Joshua has already learned all but about 5 of his words and he is able to get them right every time we do the cards. He amazes me! And so, I thought about the things I did with my little man as he was growing in the early years and the things that I wanted so bad for him.
1. I wanted him to love school, what better way to love something than by being good at it. (I really don't hate many things that I am good at doing)
2. I wanted him to have passion for learning that will hopefully carry him through his life.
3. I wanted him to know what it is to be pushed and then to love it, to know it is for his good and to feel that success of stretching himself and succeeding.
4. I wanted him to know that I took the time with him because I really truly care.
5. I wanted, even on a busy day for us to have quality time together.

So, I did puzzles with him, like you wouldn't believe. He was doing 100 piece puzzles by the time he was 2. We wrote together, he got his first library card when he was 3, all he needed was to be able to write his own name so guess what? He pushed himself, no I didn't do any pushing, just encouraging and you should have seen the contentment he had when he borrowed his first books from the public library... pure bliss for a 3 year old! I read to him all the time from 3 months old on. I sang to him, the alphabet, Jesus loves me, Twinkle twinkle, Splish Splash, and so on and so on... for fun you know, just so he would know my voice and that I was very often happy. I did so much with him. Today I was specifically thinking, man, I remember doing alphabet and number flashcards with him all the time.

Now, Annabelle and Joel are a different matter. With them, I read. I definitely wrestle. I snuggle. I chat. I watch movies. I bake with. I take out. But one thing is for sure, I have hardly done the things above. Why? I am busier. I am still working with Joshua, and they have never been so interested like Joshua was.

As Joshua is now in school, guess what it leaves time for... more fellowship with people which I have been thoroughly enjoying but most of all, time with my 2 little monkeys. Now, I have been mostly concerned for getting Annabelle set and ready for school. I am so excited for her. There are 2 big things happening. First, this winter she has a surgery. It is pretty hard for me to even think about right now. It is a day surgery but she is very scared and she will be put completely under for it. So I pray over her and I pray... period, a lot lately about this. The second thing, of course, is my princess will start kindergarten next fall. So, tonight I remembered the flash cards. I put them away about 3 years ago when Joshua knew it all. ha ha. He knew all his letters and most of their sounds. Hauled them out tonight. And we went for it. She knows about 5 letters. That is a great start, and she has a great memory and is extremely smart. She memorizes songs so easy and can say the alphabet and count to at least 20. She can add and subtract some... especially when she is eating Mandarin oranges, you know. I have 5 oranges mom... I'm going to eat 2 and look mom, there are 3 left. That kind of thing. Or, I had 2 cars mom and then Joshua gave me 8 cars and now I have 10! So, I know it really is just that I have not introduced the letters in a way that she could relate the alphabet to actual images. I will fill you all in as she progresses. It is also great that Joel sits along side and wants to learn so hopefully both will learn together as Joel goes in to school in 2009 and it would be great if he is more than ready as well!

Adam and I watched Apocalypto last night. It was horrific to me. Adam watched the whole thing and said it wasn't that great. I had heard it was so good but I just couldn't handle that much and that kind of violence so I would have to say, not the kind of movie I would recommend.

Went to a great little ladies get together at the E free church today where Org Junkie herself was there to talk about organizing our homes. Very informative and enjoyable and on a great side note there was babysitting for the kids there so I was able to really concentrate and get some cool tips. Had no idea she was semi local either so that was great to meet her after checking he blog and loving it for such a long time. Awesome little study on our high calling as woman also in caring for our homes. I loved it. Sometimes I loose touch with the fact that I am doing it all as worship unto the Lord, not just for me and my hubby to be more comfy. I love it and it is a real passion of mine to clean and organize.

I got a few things wrapped up that I needed to do for my bro-in-law, Andrew. I can tell you one thing... that is a HUGE load off. I just needed to get it done. Nothing major, just sending out a document for him.

This is kind of just a quick update about little snippets of life. Sorry if I have bored you all to sleep! I shall hit the hay myself now since it is rounding the bend to an insane hour to be up.

I am not proof reading so, forgive bad grammar, punctuation, spelling, etc. and have a great day, or night! May God bless you all!

Monday, October 22, 2007

Reading

Well, as it goes in private school, I am again surprised at the amount of one-on-one time going on. I am so glad for it! Joshua is a bit ahead and has finished all his letters and sounds and so the assistant sent home some words for Joshua to look at. She will quiz him on the tomorrow and then find the first 5 he has trouble with and they will be like a spelling list. I was so excited to get to do a little "homework" with him over the weekend. So, here is something that would be great... can you all look at these words and tell me some easy or hard sentences I can use for Joshua's reading practise. We went over these words and he can read, easily about half of them and another quarter he can get after a little sounding out time. The other ones are still pretty tough but I am just so excited, he is reading a little already! He is so much better at it now than he was last year.

a
and
away
big
blue
can
come
down
find
for
funny
go
help
here
I
in
is
it
jump
little
look
make
me
my
not
one
play
red
run
said
see
the
three
to
two
up
we
where
yellow
you


So, he has the most trouble with... my, look, is, blue, come, one, and the.

The rest are pretty straight forward for him, and some he has just memorized from our reading time.

Hope all are having a great night, I had a bit of a day to say the least! But tomorrow I get the privilege of visiting a great friend... so, God bless you all!

Thursday, October 18, 2007

Sunday, October 14, 2007

Yippee... I'm so proud!

Dating

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Saturday, October 13, 2007

She loves God

Well, as Adam and I were looking into this site, She loves God, we realized that the people who are overseeing the site and the belief system backing the site is actually Mormon. Although I have absolutely loved some of what is written on this site and have been encouraged by much of it, we are removing the link from out side bar. It is a tough decision for me but it is very true that their beliefs and doctrine are not only different than our but in many case actually contradict. Just thought that I would fill all in who have followed my link. I suppose I should have checked it out more fully to start as there are many great godly christian woman sites out there. Have a great night and God bless you all.

Wednesday, October 10, 2007

Thanksgiving with the Browns

The ladies, hard at work, getting supper ready. So nice to see our niece Caitlin there with the family. It always is so far between visits with her. So, supper is almost done and ready!
Here is Joel... just actually got a pic of him looking at the camera so I thought that I would post it.
Annabelle, Stephanie and Lindsay just before supper.
The guys watching wrestling before supper
And the first plate is ready, look at that, Mark got all dressed up for the occasion!
Dishing up, YUMMY!!!
The kids enjoying their supper thoroughly.
The ladies, cleaning up after dinner.

Adam, reaming out Jarred for shutting off his scans on the computer before they were done :) Jarred looks really concerned.
Scott, Mark, Joel (sharing the love), and Aaron watching wrestling.
Joel having some much needed Uncle Marky time.
Steph and Lindsay getting ready to head out to supper at Lindsays house.
Although our kiddos are on a very long break from video games because of some obsessive behaviour we have been noticing, we gave them a repreave this night and let them play. As you can tell Annabelle was quite happy just to watch, she is not really the one with the obsessive behaviour.

Pumpkin pie for me
And Lemon meringue
After lunch nap with Oliver
And Mark having his nap with Tia
What a great supper and a great day! Thanking God for family is so easy as we are blessed with wonderful families! I love days like this. Lunch was served at 1pm and was yummy turkey meal. Than we headed over to my mom's house for another turkey dinner for supper time. Hope you all had a great Thanksgiving day and so many things to be thankful to God for!



Thanksgiving with my mama

Well, first of all, I love Thanksgiving! My mom made a good point which I think is a big reason why I like this holiday. It is hardly commercialized as far as holiday's go. You get you fall decorations and Halloween big deal but not a whole lot about Thanksgiving, so we can celebrate as we see fit. So, we read some stories about Thanksgiving, that was lovely. The kids seem to really 'get it'. At church they did a Thanksgiving paper that says "I thank God for everything" then they were able put what they were personally thankful for. Joshua put monkey bars, monkeys and cows. Great! And Annabelle put shapes, colors, and people. What sweeties!

Joshua did a Thanksgiving paper at school, too. He put 4 things he is thankful for. The first said, Grandpa, so I asked him which Grandpa. He said, "my Grumpy who took me in the boat". That was Adam's dad. He said that he is so thankful because he took him in the boat and because he was a chef and now Joshua wants to be a chef. So sweet. What I think is the greatest is that in the 3 years Joshua knew his Grumpy, he only has great little memories and wants to be just like him. Joshua also was thankful for God and colours, pets, and the sun. And drew pictures of each.

Joel just kind of copied whatever the other 2 would say, but he is learning how to be thankful, too.

So here is our Thanksgiving celebration at my mom's house. Joshua learned about the cornucopia in school and asked if we could have one, so my ma bought on and I got some stuff to put in it. After supper the kids insisted on eating the stuff from the cornucopia, so they did, the stuff they could anyway, apples, oranges, carrots. So neat for them.

Cornucopia. Joel was a little tired after the turkey we had for lunch!
Joshua and the cornucopia
The kids having thier supper. See that tomato beside Joshua? See the rest near there on the table? By the time he was done his supper, he was also done all the tomatos, he ate them like apples. And he ate so many brussel sprouts. They are his favourite!
Yummy food and my Unc, dishing up.
So nice to share Thanksgiving dinner with my mom, 2 uncles, and my grandpa. It was DELICIOUS!!!
Yummy!
Turkey
Stuffing and gravy
Pies and icecream for dessert.
Annabelle's happiness!
What a great night. My mom sent home a bunch of left overs so I made turkey soup yeasterday for supper with biscuits. Thanks so much Mom for the great night!

Dog and Fish

Well, I took our little pup in to get fixed. Poor little guy, as soon as we got him home he wouldn't stop licking and chewing so we had to bring him straight back to get him a cone. Fabulous! Now he wears this for 2 weeks! Very annoying, but one night we took it off so he could sleep better and he popped a stitch so he will have to wear it till the end. The kids laughed and laughed at him. Poor dog. Here is Annabelle posing with him.

And a couple days ago Adam took Joshua out fishing. They only caught a humpy but they had a great time after Joshua made his very own jig. So cute.
So that is that and now I am on to the Thnanksgiving posting. God bless you all!

Tuesday, October 09, 2007

Starla and Lawrence

Well, I have started the phoning around for meals for Starla and Lawrence and family and it seems there are a lot of people out of town or busy. I am just asking, does anyone want to or know anyone who wants to do a meal for this family to bless them with their new little one? Just comment, phone or email and I will get back to you ASAP. Star also said that they did not have turkey dinner or anything thanksgiving like so if anyone has left overs then they would be happy to help eat them up! Thanks all!

Saturday, October 06, 2007

Joshua's First Jig



"The wife" (aka Charlene) was out celebrating the mother-in-law, Shirley and our friend Karie's birthdays. While she was out Joshua made his first jig. Annabelle and Joel seemed to love learning how to do it too. Later in the evening Joel told me he wants to make an orange one. Well hopefully Joshua will get his first Coho when we go jigging soon. I asked him how he'll feel catching a fish on a jig he made himself. He smiled the biggest smile I've seen from him and said good. Indeed!!!

Friday, October 05, 2007

HAPPY FALL!!!

It is looking like officailly Autumn. I love it. I love the rain, I love the cold, love the leaves and colors, love school, love mittens, loves early nights sitting with popcorn watching movies, and I love every other thing about winter on it's way. So, I took the kiddos out for a walk last night. It was great! We went to the library and got some Thansgiving books and some movies and then went to Dairy Queen. We shared some fries and a slushy and then ordered a Pumpkin Pie Blizzard. Yum! The kids loved it too! We walked from there to the park and picked up leaves the whole way. The kids played and then we picked up more leaves and sticks. Now, this was a beautiful night, sun shining and the air was crisp. About the best night ever NOT to forget the camera. But I did. Probably made it more fun anyway, not thinking of having to take pics.

Today was time to do our craft. This is what I had planned. I am aware that it is hard to see the words and I will work on making that more visible but the kids LOVED doing this. I love days like this! So HAPPY FALL!!!
The kids are very proud of this...
Adam took this pic of me reading to the kiddos last night before bed. One of my very favourite times of every day.
Now all we need is Thanksgiving dinner! YUMMY!!!

Comments and memories

Did you all see my memories post??? Because I had no comments and I just thought that it was the cutest thing ever! heh heh heh... if I do say so myself. Just kidding all. Have a great day!

Freedom at last...


We are free from many things and are thankful to God for each and every one of them.


Adam and I made a big change this past couple weeks. We decided to be debt free besides our mortgage. Yes, I know that that is not officially debt free but feels so freeing that it may as well be! We had a substantial MasterCard bill sitting there for the last couple years and today was the day... the refinancing went through and I made the very large payment to pay off that looming MasterCard once and for all. I can say, I haven't felt this good about a payment in a long time!!! And now, it will be one debt... Thank you God for this opportunity!


This may not seem big to some as, Yes we do still have to pay the money back, but to have one payment, oh it is glorious and totally manageable. So, although there is still debt... I feel FREE!!!


I have it all worked out, just a quick call to MasterCard we will decease out limit immensely and still have the card for booking hotels and such. I know a few of you who knew what was going on for us were praying for us and I thank you all. What a day!

Thursday, October 04, 2007

Happy Birthday Momma!!!

It is one day late but I wanted to make sure I got this on here.
Happy birthday to my mom who is a model of love and beauty for me. She taught me how to be a woman and a mom. I am greatful to her for so many of the good things I have had in my life. She has lifted me and my family up in prayer in all troubles and good times in our lives. I am thankful for the grandmother that she is and that she will be the same great example to my kids that she was to me. I love you Mom! Many more birthdays to come! I look forward to sharing them with you!


Memories

Since Adam has been putting the pictures of his fish, I wanted to show off Joshua's first fish. For some reason the picture when posted is just a grey box. What a downer. So anyway, here is Joshua fishing at 2 years old and he came proudly home with a little cut throat trout. He was so proud. I hope he catches more next year! He hasn't really caught any fish since beside helping Adam reel in a couple pinks that had to be tossed back.
So, with Lily, Star's baby, nearly ready to come out and greet the world it made me think of my little princess when she was born. 5 lbs 14 ounces at birth, she was tiny and beautiful! When we left the hospital she was 5 lbs 8 ounces I think. So sweet. She was the easiest, most content baby I ever could have imagined. Here she is having her first nap with her big bro. Joshua was exactly 18 months old when she was born, still on a bottle and in diapers. I can hardly believe it because it is so hard to remember even that far back! What beauties.
Annabelle on our way out the hospital, 1 day old. I don't know that the car seat would have really done any good if we had had an accident. Thank God that he protected us. I remember bringing her out to the van and fastening her in and Adam looking back and saying with a bit of a nervous sigh... so the van is full hey? He couldn't believe that we actually had 2. He got used to it really quick because he took paternity leave from work for 6 weeks and changed a lot of diapers in that time! hahaha He was great and loved her to bits.
And then exactly 3 months later she was a wopping 12lbs some odd ounces, not so tiny anymore but boy was she fun. Still content and wonderful. Joshua loved her.
Thanks for joining me down memory lane. Hope all is well and you all have a great day!!!

Monday, October 01, 2007

Humble Pie

Well it seems as usual it pays to check out all the facts. I watched this very interesting film which puts both videos I had just posted to shame. So 1.5 hours for both first two movies and this new one is 3 hours long. So at the end of this long goose chase I am now over my 9/11 conspiracy fever. I enjoyed the ride however and am reminded to check out all the facts in our quest for truth.

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-3214024953129565561&hl=en-CA