It's a Wonderful Life (Story to go with Christmas Day 2008 Slideshow)

We had the best Christmas we have had in a long time. My slide show below shows all the pictures and I will try to do my best to explain some of them. First it starts with what our tree looked like with just the presents that we were able to get. As you can see it was not much. We did well with what we had and the boys were happy! My favorite moment was when Alex opened the Kingdom Hearts 2 Playstation 2 game that Lloyd got him. He was so excited that he hugged Lloyd! I definitely captured that moment! Nathan got Luke a piggy bank which we had him open first. If I could go back and change anything, I would have had that present be the last thing Luke opened. Once he opened that gift he did not want to open anything else!

I kept the thought that there was not much until all the gifts we had got were open. Then I explained to them that we were very blessed this season, not only with food baskets and financial blessings, but also with more gifts. Their eyes light up; as I explained that when you are faithful to God he is faithful back. I explained to them that God whispered our names in someones ear and that person was able to plant a seed that God blessed. I then brought out the rest of the gifts. This was another favorite moment because as soon as Luke saw the gifts he went and grabbed a gift bag, put it on his arm and started to walk away. The funny thing was the bag he grabbed was his! I did as I was asked and gathered them around to pray and thank God for our blessings. There is one picture of us praying where we are all in a circle and I am holding Luke and he has a bag on his arm! Lloyd took the picture, but did not participate in the prayer. (God is still softening his heart to this).


The boys were so excited and enjoyed all the gifts that they received. Alex kept saying, "Thank you God." Once we were done opening all the gifts and cleaning up, Nathan and Alex immediately went outside to play the new Nerf Tag game that they got. They played this game several times through the day! Then we all went to my mom and dad's for dinner and a few more gifts. The picture in the slide show of Luke with a scratch on his face happened at my mom and dad's. I just thought it was kind of funny that we could not make it through the day without an accident! Over all we had a Wonderful Christmas and are so thankful for all the blessings that we received!

Christmas Day Slideshow

Luke's Santa Picture

Let me start by saying that I am not happy with this photo at all! It was taken by one of my bosses at an event we hosted at my work. Although it was free and Luke was crying, I still feel she could have gotten a better picture. It is one thing to have a crying picture of your baby on Santa's lap, but to have half my child's face cut off that is ridiculous! Now she took three photos of Luke and I really did not get a chance to pick out the best one, so this very well may have been it, but I don't know. I was also told that she took like fifty photos of her own son sitting on Santa's lap and can almost guarantee you she got at least one good one. This was not the only bad photo experience with her as the photographer either. She has been taking pictures of the children to put on their cubbies and a majority of them have turned out crappy. For example, one picture she took of this little boy in our infant room; he had a rash all over his face and was just feeling all around icky the day she took his photo, but she used that picture on his cubby. I would be so mad if I was his parent. Ok enough venting. The top picture is without the frame it came in and the bottom picture is with the frame. With the frame I have a great photo of Santa, without the frame half my son's face is missing!

The Blessings Continue

Once again my family was blessed today! At the beginning of church one of my friends came up to me and asked me to see her after church; she said she had something for me. So I found her after church and she informed me that her family had received a huge blessing from their local Rotary Club; a food basket. Only this was not just a food basket it was enough food to feed a family of five for two weeks. They did not need all the food, so they wanted to share the blessing. She gave us a box of food for Christmas, but it will be enough for Christmas and some! This is a huge blessing considering I was just talking to my mom during the church service about how we were going to have food for Christmas dinner. My mom was talking about calling a church and ordering a food basket; now we will not have to do that. I cannot even express how much Christmas Spirit has been radiating around my family. The most amazing part is that I am seeing blessings happening not only in my family but other families as well! God is so good.

Story to go with Slideshow

Of quite the surprise Lloyd actually suggested that we go look at Christmas lights this year. Normally this is not something he enjoys due to the crowds, so of course I jumped on the offer. It turned out to be the perfect night to go out. It was not to cold and we had a few surprises along the way. One was that when we got to Dovewood Court it was not to crowded, then as we were getting ready to leave a Fire Truck came down the street with a load of Santa Helpers including Santa himself. A couple of Firefighters got off and were handing out candy canes! It was great. Also the local church was putting on a live production of the Nativity Story. Although we choose not to stay to see the show; on the way home Lloyd mentioned possibly going later this weekend since the show runs until Sunday. He does not know it yet, but God is working in his life right now and it is awesome to see! Well after Dovewood Court we headed to Rocklin to another neighborhood on Pebble Creek Dr. This is a much bigger neighborhood and there were a little more people. You have to park in the shopping center nearby to walk along the street, unless you are brave enough to drive through. We choose to walk; luckily a local business in the shopping center was handing out free hot chocolate! Like I said this neighborhood is a lot bigger, so we did end up cutting it short; all of us were getting tired and unfortunately Lloyd got a work call as we were heading out there, so we knew we did not have much time. Luke did great and although he tried to fall asleep a couple of times on the way to both locations, we were able to keep him awake long enough to see both neighborhoods. Then as soon as we were done he was out! Nathan and Alex did good too and I think they actually enjoyed the time out as a family. After our light viewing we dropped Nathan and Alex off at their dad's for some much needed time with him! Now Lloyd is off to work and I am going to head to bed myself. Tomorrow we are going to try to get some Christmas shopping done and attempt to clean the kids' rooms and the rest of the house! Enjoy the pictures and Merry Christmas!

Christmas Light Viewing

Just For Grandma Pat

This post is just for Grandma Pat. Here are some pictures of your boys! LOL!

Christmas Spirit

Let me start by saying that ever since I went through my divorce with my first husband Christmas has been rough for me. We started having troubles three days after Christmas in 1999. I tried hard to stay strong for the kids, but one year I did not decorate including putting up the tree until Christmas Eve. Every year since then I try to make sure to decorate at least a week before Christmas. We have our traditions and I try to keep up with them. One of our traditions is that every year at Alex's counseling we make Gingerbread houses. This is Alex's:




And Here is mine:


Usually Nathan makes one too, but he did not come with us this year. Luke helped by eating the graham crackers, Cheerios and chocolate chips! We made the houses this Thursday. Last night we put up the Christmas tree. This was interesting because Luke was only 5 months old last Christmas so it was a lot easier to keep him away from the tree then it is this year. Last night he was taking ornaments off the tree, but after a few times of telling him no he seems to have learned to leave it alone now. He loves the lights and when I turn them on he points at them and gets a big smile! We are probably going to take him to Dovewood Court before Christmas to see the lights. Dovewood Court is a popular street where every house decorates. We took Nathan and Alex a couple of years ago and I really think Luke would like it. I will post picture of that when we do!

If you read my Random Acts of Kindness post you will see another reason why I am in the Christmas Spirit a lot sooner this year then normal. Another fun thing we are doing this year is a family gift exchange. We put all five of our names in a stocking a drew names whoevers name you drew is who you buy for Christmas. I got Lloyd, Lloyd got Alex, Alex got me, Nathan got Luke and Luke got Nathan. Of course we will help Luke, and Lloyd may still get me a little something, but that is what we are going to do this year. I am excited for Christmas day to come because as of right now Nathan and Alex still have no idea how much they are getting. They think things are tight, which they are, but because we were blessed they are going to have a wonderful Christmas!

Week 16 day 5 pregnancy update

My doctors appointment was quick and painless! The ultrasound showed that everything is just fine and the baby is growing normally! Everyone (including myself) is going to have to wait another 4 weeks before we will be able to find out the sex. The doctor did say that all he saw between the baby's legs was umbilical cord, so there is still hopes that it is a girl! We are still not sure if we want to find out, but it is looking more like we will! As for symptoms, I am still not able to eat much of anything. I just eat when I can and what I can. I have not gained any weight and I am having a hard time getting a good belly picture. Stephanie was so good to me during my pregnancy with Luke and took all the pictures! I MISS YOU! Well next time I promise that I will get someone to take a picture of my belly. Until then enjoy the latest ultrasound picture. It is not a great one this time, but you can see the baby's back and head and a hand up by the head. The doctor reassured me it was a hand and not a deformity!

Just a quick update

Well pretty much since I found out that we are expecting again, I have been trying to wean Luke from breastfeeding. He was already down to about three sessions a day and then I was able to get it down to two. Then we went back up to three again. It has been an emotional roller coaster for both of us. He does not understand why his "momma" is getting limited. Well this weekend we worked really hard and now we are two days down of only one nursing session! We are on our way to weaning. I just need to be consistent. We were at this point once and I started offering the morning nursing session again. Now I know we can do it and we are both ok.

On a side note I have been sick since, well honestly this whole pregnancy, but Thursday I got a stomach bug. I have not been able to eat much, pretty much living off water and toast, the occasional soup or broth, but mainly I feel like I have not had anything to eat. If I do eat it causes me to have a major stomach ache or get nausea. I tried to eat some plain noodles tonight and could not even stomach the smell. It has been terrible and I am so ready to be able to eat. I am not sure if it is still pregnancy related or if I really did have a stomach bug. At least the vomiting and diarrhea was only short lived. (Sorry TMI!)

I hope everyone is doing well and preparing for a wonderful Christmas. I need to get our tree up and decorate. Was suppose to do that this weekend, but sickness took over! Hopefully before Thursday I will have at least the tree up!

I will be posting a pregnancy update with possibly the sex of the baby on Wednesday. I think we are just going to find out. ( I have not discussed this with Lloyd yet). I just know that I cannot stand the suspense any longer!! I know I am a wimp. I would not have survived in the days before ultrasound.

Well more to come on Wednesday!

To Know or Not to Know that is the Question

At our next doctors appointment there is a big possibility that we will be able to find out the sex. Even though we have the poll on this site and a majority says we should find out; I am still not sure. I keep going back and forth. I want it to be a surprise since it is our last, but at the same time the suspense is killing me. I think it is a girl and I want to know if I am right. Lloyd thinks it is a girl, his mom thinks it is a girl and one of my friends thinks it is a girl! I just don't know if we should find out or not. I did not want to find out with Luke, but Lloyd convinced me saying we needed to know so we could plan. I found out with Nathan and Alex and it was never a question. This time, it is really a big question and I am really not sure what to do! Our appointment is on Wednesday and if the doctor can tell the sex and ask if we want to know, I am not sure what we are going to do. AHHH! I thought the hard decisions did not come until after the baby was born!

PS: You still have time to vote if you haven't already.

Random Acts of Kindness

Earlier this month I received a myspace message from a friend asking me question about what size clothes my kids wore and things they like, etc. I knew she was up to something, but had no idea to what extent. Well today I got my answer! This is the message I received today:

Sarah,

As you have probably gathered from my last few emails, there is something going on.
Now I would like to share with you what it is. You have shown me that your faith is amazing. Just by your blogs, and emails, and comments to me, I have seen you grow tremendously in the Lord.
Have you been praying how you were going to do Christmas this year? Now you don't have to worry.
The Lord have provided me with a way to make sure that you have more than enough presents under you Christmas tree for you children this year. The Lord have provided 10 gifts each for them to find on Christmas morning. They will be wrapped and ready to go.
You see, when you are faithful to the Lord, He is faithful back to you. He gets all the credit and I am so blessed that He has chosen me to carry out His works. I have seen the Lord move in my life. You are a wonderful mother and God sees that you are doing your best. I would like to drop these gifts off to you not this coming week but the next. You let me know when and where and if you don't want your boys to know then we can do it while they are at school.
All I ask is that on Christmas morning, before presents are open, that you would gather your family and say a prayer with them. Explain to them that when you are faithful to God, He is faithful in return! God is good ALL THE TIME! And that with God ALL THINGS ARE POSSIBLE.
Please give me your new cell phone number. I wanted to call you and I thought I had it. But I'm lame and I don't.
My prayer is that you and your husband would excpt these gift as a gift from God and nothing else!

Ashley

Ashley is the most Godly person I know. She is an amazing mother, wife and friend! I cannot even begin to explain how much this means to my family. Just days before this I was driving with the boys and telling them that I really did not know if we were going to have Christmas presents this year. Although they took it well; it broke my heart. Now through her kindness, I will be able to give my kids a nice Christmas. I truly do believe that God chose the best person to carry out this random act of kindness. My prayer is that someday I will be able to pay it forward!

To Ashley and her family:
No words will ever be able to describe how grateful we are to have been blessed by your Godliness! God has used you in a way that is truly the meaning of Christmas. You have brought back the spirit of Christmas that I lost a long time ago; the spirit that I thought I would never have again! Thank you and God bless!

I am not a drama momma

So yesterday was an event full day for us! I had my doctors appointment and had to go get blood work done. Then I had to take my mom out to run some erruns. Then Alex had counseling. Which I was really looking forward to because he has not been in about 3 weeks and needs to go! Well we get to counseling just Alex, myself and the baby. and check in. Luke likes to look out the windows so I asked Alex to lift the blinds up so Luke could see out the window. I was filling out a yearly survey! Anyway, Alex decided to continue to pull on the blinds and they fell. Luke started to cry, so I went over to him thinking he was just scared. When I picked him up I realized his finger was bleeding, so I took him into the bathroom to rinse it off. There was a big gash in his pinkie finger! I wrapped it with paper towel and told the receptionist we had to go! Now I don't do trauma; I freak out! I do not think straight! We just got new medical insurance and my first thought was where can I take him. The closes hospital is Kaiser, but I don't know if that hospital is in our network. Okay, I really do not care my baby is screaming and I am taking him there!I call my husband and he cannot understand a word I am saying because I am upset. I get across that I am taking the baby to the hospital and I will call him back. Well, then I have the insurance card to try and call to see if I can take him there and the card falls under my center console of my car and I cannot get it. At this point I am really starting to feel like I cannot handle this stress! So I call my mom and see if she can get online to find what hospital I can take him to. By the time she gets online I am already int he Kaiser parking lot, so I just tell her I have to go! I get him into the ER and within 15 minutes we are triaged. The nurse says she thinks they will be able to just glue him up and he will be fine, he can be seen in what they call the Medical Treatment Unit and does not need to stay in the Er. So she takes us to the MTU and we wait about 30 more minutes. Meanwhile I am trying to keep his finger from bleeding all over the place. I already have blood on my shirt, pants and arms, he has it on his face and clothes, Alex has it on him; we were all a mess! He gets called to the back and the doctor comes and looks at his finger. He says it is pretty superficial and he thinks he could put a couple stitches in, but that would be very invasive and not make Luke happy. He thinks butterflies or glue would be better. He decides on butterflies. It takes about three to wrap around his finger and then they taped his pinky finger to his ring finger. Luke is fine now and his finger should be healed up in about 3-5 days. The hardest part is keeping it dry and clean! He is a trooper and has not been messing with it. He is still able to play and use his hand, so he does not seem to mind. The picture is the after effect with it all wrapped up!

We have a Thumb Sucker

As of today I am 13 weeks and I am finally feeling good! The last few weeks were rough. I was feeling sick 90% of the time and it was terrible. Ok lets see! We had an appointment yesterday and the baby looks great. It measured at 12 weeks 3 days and I should have been 12 weeks 6 days, so that is good! The ultrasound picture the doctor captured is of the baby sucking it's thumb! SO cute! The doctor said this is probably the youngest thumb sucker he has ever seen! I was a thumb sucker, so we will see what happens!



As for pictures of my belly there really is still not much to see, so I think I am going to hold off on that for a little longer! I really have not gained any weight and have not lost any weight. I am finally feeling like I want to eat, so I think we will have a nice belly shot next time! We still have not decided if we are going to find out the sex or not. At my next appointment is on Dec. 10th; I should be far enough along where they could tell, so we have until then to make our decision. We both think it is a girl and a lot of my friends think that too? If you have not voted yet on my poll to find out the sex please do!

I think that is it for now! Next update will be around Dec. 10th!

Luke Signing

Luke loves to "read!" He will look at books and magazines. He has his favorites that we read over and over and over! The one he is reading in the video is a Fun with Letters book. Some of the letters are flaps that when you lift up there are pictures underneath of something that starts with that letter. As for signing, this is something we have been doing with him since he was born. He started picking it up at about 6 months. As of date, he knows at least 25 signs. Some are made up signs that I made up or he made up. In the video you cannot see it very well, but he signs dog, ice cream and balloon as well as elephant and ape/monkey. Then he goes into showing us that he knows where everyones eyes are. This is something else he is learning right now along with colors! He is a little sponge of learning right now and we are loving every minute of it!

Luke Signing

Trick or Treat

Unfortately, I did not get any pictures of all of us in costume. Here is some of just Luke having fun at our breastfeeding group's Halloween Party and one of him right before we went out Trick or Treating. This was really his first Halloween, since he was only 3 months old last year. He loved his costume and his little trick or treat basket. He carried it and would not let it go! He only lasted about an hour into trick or treating before he fell asleep, but it was enough! We braved the rain and went to a few houses in our neighborhood and then a few houses in my parent's neighborhood. Enjoy the pictures.

The Pumpkin Farm (Cont.)

This year I surprised the boys with a trip to the pumpkin patch. It was a Thursday and normally we go to Alex's counseling appointment, but I had a change of plans. They had no idea where we were going; it was great! This was Luke's first time to a pumpkin patch and he had a blast. He loved the animals and was so excited that he could feed them! We picked out a pumpkin, but have not decided what we are going to do with it. We are either going to carve it or make pumpkin pie or maybe both? My mom came with us which was a little difficult trying to push her around the pumpkin patch, but we managed as always! She had a lot of fun with us and I am glad she came. Enjoy a slide show of our trip to The Pumpkin Farm!

The Pumpkin Farm

Pregnancy Update

I am 10 weeks and 5 days now and I am finally feeling better. The nausea has pretty much resided! I will start to take pictures of my belly when there is something to take a picture of. It is getting there. Most likely at my next appointment update I will have pictures to go with it! Lets see, Luke is still nursing we are at 1-2 sessions a day which is great. The hardest times are when I am home all day with him; he seems to ask for it more, but I just use redirection and offer him other things. I am tired A LOT!!!! I seem to be the most tired around 3-4pm in the afternoon. This is hard because Luke only takes one nap and it is not during that time! So, I find myself dozing off on the couch while he plays with his brothers. Other then that not mmuch has changed. We are gearing up for Halloween and will be dressing up as 101 Dalmation Characters. Luke is a dalmation, I am Cruella De Vil (if I can get the costume) and Nathan and Alex are going to be my henchmen. As for Lloyd I am not sure if he will participate in the dress up. He will be coming out trick or treating with us though! I will be posting after Halloween with pictures of our costumes!

Back to Basics

I attended a small group on Tuesday night that really brought me back to the basics. Small groups are something my church does to get the members connected. I have attended 2-3 of the groups at any given time. One is a Praying Wife's Group where we focused on Stormie Omartian's book " The Power of a Praying Wife." The other group was "Walking Focused" and the "New members group". Out of all three the Praying Wife group and Walking Focused have become my favorites. The praying wife group is taking a break for the holidays right now, so I was asked to come back to the Walking Focused. I had stopped going to both because it was just too much. Anyway, the leader of the Walking Focused group invited me to attend on Tuesday because it was going to be a really good topic. Well she was right. The Walking Focused group is based on Joyce Meyer's teachings and this weeks teaching was on spending time with God. Well let me tell you this really brought me back to the basics! By this I mean praying and spending time with God. DUH! I had been doing that and it was working, so why did I stop well my bad habits got the best of me and I got lazy. So, since Tuesday night I am back to the basics and it is already changing my life. I feel great, I am more energetic, my morning sickness has gotten a lot better, and I am just happier. All I am doing is every morning I am giving God 5 minutes of my time before I do anything else, I sit down and write a letter/prayer to God. It does not sound like a lot, but it is a start! I encourage you all to go back to the basics and start spending time with God; if you give him 5 minutes he will give you so much more!

First Dr. Appointment

Well all is well is baby land. There is only one baby and it is healthy! According to the ultrasound we are 7weeks and 2 days, but according to my due date and last cycle we are 8 weeks and 5 days. I like the latter of the two. As far as how I am feeling...still having nausea and now everything I eat leaves a nasty taste in my mouth! Not much else has changed. Luke is still nursing 2-3 times a day which my OBGYN Said is fine. He seems to think my milk will dry up and I am not sure about how that works. I am still trying to wean him and hoping to get down to 2 times a day and then eventually none! I will be updating on our progress with that! Here is a picture of the ultrasound where you can see the little blob!

Tiredness and nausea

Well we made it to the 8 week mark and I must say I am exhausted. The bouts of nausea come and go throughout the day. Why they call it morning sickness I don't know! Its more like all day at any given time for no apparent reason. If I eat, if I don't eat, what I eat it don't matter the waves just come. I have my first doctors appointment on Thursday so I will be trying to post pictures because we should get an ultrasound. We will no know the sex until closer to Christmas and we may decide to not find out. We have decided that this will be our last, so I have a lot of ideas of things I want to try or do differently. Like not knowing the sex, maybe having a home birth/water birth at a birthing center, getting professional belly pictures taken and possibly a belly casting. I would like to do a baby moon with my hubby since the baby is due right after our 4 year anniversary. This will all depend on money of course and how I feel. Hopefully the tiredness and nausea will be residing soon and I can start enjoying being pregnant.

God's Kind of Love in Marriage

God's Kind Of Love In Marriage
By Andrew Wommack

There are very few things in our world today that were ever a part of God's perfect plan for mankind. The elaborate government systems, with all their checks and balances and laws, would not be necessary if it were not for the corruption that sin produced. The monetary system, with all the buying and selling, would not be necessary in a sinless world that did unto others as they would have others do unto them. And many other things that we consider institutions in our society were never intended by God, but simply are ways of trying to cope with and control the perversion that entered the world through sin.

But one thing that God established while man was still in a sinless condition and said that it was not good for man to do without was marriage. Genesis 2:18 says, "It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him an help meet [or sufficient] for him." A perfect man who had none of the pressures or problems that we know of today still was not complete without a mate. And it was not Adam who approached God about the situation and asked for a companion. Adam didn't know what he was missing! It was God who initiated the whole thing because that was His perfect plan. This all emphasizes the high priority that marriage should have in our lives. However, it has not usually held that position.

Even we Christians today have put very little effort into our marriages, and therefore, we have gotten very little out of them. We have had our vision of what a blessing God intended marriage to be, dulled by the sorry examples of marriage we see around us today. Second Corinthians 10:12 says, "But they measuring themselves by themselves, and comparing themselves among themselves, are not wise." This is what has happened over the years. Most couples have no idea of what God intended marriage to be, so they settle for the same substandard relations that they see others experiencing. They think conflict is just a part of marriage; and a couple that simply coexists without outward battles is considered to be an ideal couple, although that couple may have a cold war raging. After all, everybody is having trouble with their marriages today.

Well, I am pleased to announce that not everybody is having trouble with their marriages today! The Lord is moving mightily in this area, and regardless of what the rest of the world experiences, Christians can have God's best in their homes. God instituted marriage, so He certainly knows how to make it work properly. The only reason two out of three marriages in America end up in divorce is because the people involved don't follow the instructions God gave concerning marriage. It is that simple. The solution is not easy, but it is that simple.

What does God say about marriage? From Ephesians 5:22-33, we get quite a bit of instruction. This article doesn't allow us enough space to deal with everything these scriptures minister concerning marriage, but certainly one principle that is interwoven throughout them all is love: God's kind of love. It is important that you realize that God's institution of marriage will only work with God's kind of love.

In counseling hundreds of couples, I have found that many Christians, even those baptized with the Holy Ghost, are still operating toward each other with the same carnal love they had before they were Christians. In many cases, they have started trying to apply God's love to their brothers and sisters in the body and have developed a "burden for the lost," but are virtually the same in their relationships with their mates. God's kind of love has to be applied to our marriages too.

One of the most striking differences to me between the world's love and God's kind of love is that you can teach yourself to operate in God's love. Titus 2:4 says that the older women are to teach the younger women "to love their husbands, to love their children." Carnal love is completely motivated by the emotions or senses, but God's love comes from the heart, and although the feelings are definitely affected, they don't motivate or deter God's love.

Carnal love is characterized by a naked, little, fat boy who goes around shooting people with arrows to cause them to "fall" in love or to "fall" out of love. That simply is not true love. God's love is the same yesterday, today, and forever. That is the way God is (Heb. 13:8) and God is love (1 John 4:8). People who love one minute and then their mood changes and they act the opposite way the next minute, simply don't operate in God's love. You may feel like reacting in anger, but you can choose to operate in love.

Many people are confused about this and think, I can't act like I love them when I don't feel it. Oh, yes you can! God's Word tells us to even love our enemies (Matt. 5:44). It is a command. He didn't say to do it if you felt like it. If you will choose to do what God tells you to, your feelings will follow. You can teach yourself to love with God's kind of love.

A person who is truly born again desires to do what God says but doesn't always feel like it. Our feelings have been corrupted by our old lives before we came to Christ. Now that we are in Christ, we have His promise that our spirits have been totally changed (2 Cor. 5:17) and have become like Him. Galatians 5:22 says that love is a part of the fruit of the Spirit. This is specifically speaking of the Holy Spirit; but our new man was born of the Spirit, so it has to be true that God's love has been shed abroad in our spirits too. We do have God's love in our new man. Our feelings are not automatically changed, however. Our feelings will continue to act like they were taught to act until we subdue them and bring them under the control of our spirit man. It is not hypocritical to act in love when you don't feel it. It is actually hypocritical to act on what you feel instead of who you really are in Christ Jesus.

God's kind of love is a choice that you make on the basis of what God said, and then act on it in faith until it becomes a reality in your spirit, soul, and body.

If you can receive this basic truth about God's love, then you can begin to be consistent in your love to your mate because your love is based on a choice that you have made, not on the way they act. This is the root cause of nearly all strife in marriage. Everything is fine until one partner does something wrong to the other, and then the feathers fly. Aren't you glad that God doesn't treat us that way? Romans 5:8 says, "God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us." Praise God! God's love wasn't based upon what we had done for Him or what we deserved but upon His choice to love us. That is all! We didn't do anything to merit God's love. He just chose to give it. We can choose to receive that kind of love and then give it to others in the same way.

Another way to say this is that God's love is unconditional. Jesus didn't wait until we were worth it or had repented before He gave Himself for our sins. He gave Himself for us while we were yet sinners and living a life of rebellion against Him (Rom. 5:8). His love was extended toward Hitler just as much as it was toward us. The difference is our acceptance or rejection of it not His offer of love. God's love is unconditional.

We have to put this unconditional love of God to work in our marriages. If you live with a person for any length of time at all, you are going to find fault with them. If your love isn't unconditional, then you will begin to give them what they deserve, which is trouble. And you can rest assured that when you make a mistake, you will reap what you have sown.

I used to work in a dark room in a photography studio. We had a joke about these ladies who would come in to see their proofs and just throw a fit about how bad their pictures looked. They would say, "This picture doesn't do me justice!" Our answer would be, "Lady, you don't need justice, you need mercy." That's the way it is in marriage. Our mates, who see us at our worst, have to give us mercy, not justice. Failure in this area is the root of most marriage problems. Many couples actually use their conditional love as a weapon to try and motivate their mates to do things. That will destroy a marriage. If the thing that keeps your mate in line is a fear of your exploding if they mess up, then you are tormenting them. That's what 1 John 4:18 says, "Fear hath torment." You may see some results through that method, but it's a fact that you are building resentment and rejection in them, and sooner or later, it will explode. God's love is unconditional.

What motherhood has done to me

Okay don't get me wrong I love being a mom, but let me tell you this past year of having an infant and raising teenagers is taking its toll on me. And now we are going to have another on...I MUST BE CRAZY! Is the loony bin on its way? Maybe it is just my hormones raging out of control, but the thought of me having four children is becoming quite scary. I love all my children, even though there are days when I wish they (Mainly the teens) would disappear; those days are far and few between. For the most part I could not imagine my life without them. Yet, I sit here and wonder what motherhood has done to me! I use to be able to go out and have a good time, I use to drink with the best of them and party with the best of them. Now my drink of choice has turned to water and my idea of a party usually consist of bounce houses or Chuckie Cheese! Oh and going out lets just say. "What is that?" In the mist of it all, I know that I have know other choice! To me there is no other options. Being a mom is one of my jobs; the most important job! The sad part here is that I do not always take it seriously. There are times when I feel that I am neglecting my motherhood duties and there are other times when I feel that I do to much as a mom. This weekend was one of the latter times. I spent this whole weekend doing things for my children and spending as much time with them as possible. I think the thing that makes me feel like I am neglectful is that I do not get anything in return for this sacrifice. Yeah, I get a thank you mom, but do you think that I get anything else; NO! Now I am not asking for materialistic things, all I would like is a little help now and then. As I sit here and type this, there is a sink full of dishes, there are toys all over the living room floor, the bathrooms need a desperate cleaning, the kitchen floor is a mess, should I continue because the list goes on and on and on! Mind you that we have company due to be here on Thursday and I have to get everything ready for that. Yes, Lloyd may help a little with dishes, but that will probably be the only thing he does. Yes, he will watch the boys on Monday night while I go to my Praying Wife group, but that will be all he does. When I get home I will still have a list of things that need to be done. It must have been nice for him to get to lay on the living room floor tonight and watch a movie while I cooked dinner, took care of the baby, put clothes away, gave the baby a bath, got the other two ready for bed, and now the only time I get is to sit here and type about what motherhood has done to me. I don't want Lloyd to sound like a bad guy, because he is not. He works very hard and provides very well for our family. All I am asking for here is for the other members of my household to step up and take some responsibility! There is going to have to be some changes with the new baby coming and the boys may not like it, but I cannot continue to do it all. Yes, motherhood is one of my jobs, but fortunately it is one that allows me to delegate! So, to answer my own question,this is what motherhood has done to me; I am never satisfied, overly happy, busy beyond belief, sometimes lazy, a little (ok a lot) neurotic, multitasking, always tired, OCD, crazy, disorganized, constantly worried, and just plain old boring, yet there is always something going on. That is my life!

A plee that may or may not be heard

I have been struggling with a heavy heart on a situation that has been going on for sometime. It has to do with Nathan and Alex's half sister. yes, they have a half sister who they love very much. However, do to the broken relationship between their father and her mother my boys have not seen their sister for close to two years. This is tearing them up inside and I have a feeling it is one of the roots to Alex's behavior issues. I recently had the chance to see their sister, unfortunately Nathan and Alex were not with me. Her mom pretended like we were long lost friends and said that after Easter (yes that is how long ago it was), she would call me and we would get the boys and their sister together. Well that never happened. This has been very hard on me because I don't know what to do. I have thought of legal action requesting visitation for my children to see their sister, but I do not know if there is such a right? I cannot afford to hire an attorney or private investigator to find her, so I resorted to the Internet. I had forgot about a website similar to Myspace called Bebo, and happen to stumble upon it tonight. It just so happens I have her as a friend, so I sent her a letter. Here is what I wrote:


I am not sure if you will get this or not because I had forgotten all about this site. I have tried really hard to stay nice and not cause a problem, but my boys are being hurt in the long run and I cannot do it anymore. They really miss their sister and it is tearing them up inside to the point that it is causing behavior issues. Alex lashes out at my husband because he is afraid that he is going to leave and take their baby brother away. He even voiced his concern to us that if we ever have a little girl he did not want another sister that he was not going to get to see. Now I can understand that you do not want anything to do with Greg, and I respect that more then you know. If it was not for the fact that I was married to him and my boys were older when we divorced I may have made the same decision, but unfortunately that is not an option for us anymore. My boys love their father for what ever reason, and I have to allow then to have the little bit of a relationship that they do have with him. I would really like to see them reunited with their sister. Please Joanne I am pleading with you mother to mother! Let’s, try to get them together! We can meet at a public place, your sister’s house, my house, anywhere that you feel comfortable. This has nothing to do with Greg, so please do not take out the anger and resentment you have towards him on my children. They miss her with all of their hearts and talk of her often. Please contact me at home as I am getting a new cell phone soon. My home number is (916) 729-5486. PLEASE leave a message if I do not answer leave your contact information and I will call you back. Or if you would rather email me at teacheroftwos@yahoo.com that is fine as well. Just please please please contact us, so that my boys can see their sister again!

I hope that she will hear my plee and that my children will be reunited with their little sister who they love and miss ohhh sooo much!

New Addition

Well, now that almost everyone in our family knows; I can post here! Lloyd and I found out on Sept. 14th that we are expecting again! Our new little one is due on May 22nd and although we are still in shock, we are happy. Everyone is saying maybe it will be a girl this time, but in all honesty I am not sure I want a girl. Of course I will be happy with whatever the Lord gives us! I just pray for a healthy stong baby! I will be posting a lot of update on how I am feeling and of course belly pictures as I get bigger! Please be praying for this new addition to our family!

Laundering Luke

Luke Loves to play in his laundry. He dumps the dirty ones out of his basket, he pulls the clean ones out of his drawer and he has even covered the cat with his laundry! He thinks it is the greatest thing to do. The great part about it is that when he is all done he will pick up after himself, so I guess I cannot complain!

Groucho Marks

Luke has developed quite the personality. He has a great sense of humor and will pretty much let us do whatever we want to him. Well that being said, we had a fake nose with a mustache so we put it on his face! Here are some pictures and one of Groucho Marks if you do not know who he is!

For granted Friendships

I want to take this time to thank two very dear friends of mine for coming through in my time of need! I, at times, take their friendship for granted because we do not get to hang out much. Despite that fact, we do keep in touch through text messages and Internet; ahhh the delights of modern technology! These two ladies have been such an inspiration to me in my Christian walk and have always been there for me in my time of need. I will never forget the time I asked one of them for pray for a situation; she stopped right in the middle of our work place, placed her arms around me and said a quick but powerful prayer! I had never experienced something like that before or ever again. Not to leave one out, the other has always been there for me as well. Sending her daughter to help me, calling me, texting me, always lifting me up. These women are very strong women of God and I know that they are and will continue to be blessed in there walk! I love you both!

You are Invited: To my Pity Party!

I am feeling like such a failure tonight. A failure as a mom, as a wife, as a friend! Alex has been having serious behavior issues for about two weeks now. This is a new challenge for us because we took a leap of faith and have had him off medication for over a month. I do not want to put him back on medication, but I am at a loss for what to do with him. It is getting to the point that I don't even want to be around him. It takes every ounce of my being for me to even admit that I love him. I know this all sounds horrible, but it is hard to love someone that treats you with such disrespect and hate. I am praying for this situation more then ever and have even been praying with him every morning. I don't know what else to do! The household responsibilities are getting done slowly but surely. I have to choose one section of the house each day and work on it. I have been focusing on the Kitchen, but the bathrooms need to be done too! I just cannot do it all. I am so overwhelmed with everything! I want to work more to provide for our family but I cannot see it happening. I have to be home for the boys! We cannot afford to put them in any kind of after school program and Alex would probably get kicked out anyway. All my friends have left me except one, but she is busy with her life so we do not get to talk or hang out much. I MISS EVERYONE!! I am depressed and lonely. Yes, I have my husband and we are good. We just don't get a lot of time either with his work schedule. I try as hard as I can to be a good mom, a good wife and a good friend, but I feel like I am failing.

Health care or Health Scare

I have never seen Michael Moore's movies let alone the one called "Sicko", but I am a little familiar with his concept. After my experience last night, I am tempted to become a fan! I spent five hours waiting in an emergency room just to get my son a cast. Now I know this is nothing compared to the 10+ hours some of the other patience had been there, but all we needed was a cast! To top it all off, we had been in the emergency room just the night before do to my son breaking his wrist and instead of giving him a cast then they splinted him up and sent us on our way with a referral for an Orthopedic Surgeon. Since when do they not put cast on in all emergency rooms? Now I would have never gone back to the emergency room just for a cast if I could have found an Orthopedic Surgeon that would have excepted our insurances. You see we have straight medical and Western Health Advantage through my boys' father. Now these insurances are fine with the PCP we see, but I could not find a specialist that took both insurances and could not afford to just use one. So I called my PCP and asked them if they could get me a referral; they had to wait for the emergency room to send them the xrays before they could do that and this is where the royal run around started. Finally, they informed me that my best bet would be to go to UCD Emergency room to get the cast. This was fine until we got there and I saw how the health care system in California works. There were people there that had been waiting 10+ hours to see a doctor! You had to wait in line to be triaged and then wait again for registration and then wait again to see a doctor and then wait again to get xrays (Again, we had already done this at during our first emergency room visit and yes I had the copies, but they were not good enough!) As if all the waiting was not long enough, it was all being done while my son and I were both hungry and thirsty, but my son was told he could not eat until he saw a doctor. I made a pack with him; if he could not eat or drink then I could not eat or drink. Well after about 3 hours of waiting we broke the rules and got a drink and then about an hour later got some peanuts. When low and behold our name was finally called to go in the back! Now usually you get a room, but we did not we were instructed to sit on a bed in a hallway. After he saw the doctor, I asked if he could please eat; we thought we were going to get to, but just as they placed the tray in my son's lap they took it away and said he had to you guess it WAIT! Well finally after a 5 hour wait my son got his cast and he was able to eat! Oh and did I mention I had to pay $6 to park! What is the deal with our health care system.

De Ja Vu

Last October on about the 25th, his birthday weekend, Alex fell out of the tree and broke both his wrist. The left one was put into a cast and the right one was left in a brace. Well as you can tell by the photos I used as my background he was in a cast well after Christmas. I believe he got the cast of right around the new year. Well it has been almost a year and unfortunately history decided to repeat itself. Although this time he did not fall out of a tree and thankfully it is not both wrist; he did break his left wrist again! This happened on Wednesday when he was practicing for football. We were checking it out because one of his friends plays and both Nathan and Alex have wanted to play now. So we go and honestly I was a little concerned. All the boys are like twice Nathan and Alex's size, and it is tackle football! Well I put my concerns aside because they really want to play. Neither one of them have been cleared to play by the doctor; they are suppose to have physicals! So honestly they should not have been playing, but it is just practice right. Well Alex's coach decided to put him in as a Defensive Back to block this kid that was twice his size. Mind you Alex is in street clothes and this other kid is in his full uniform! So, he pushes Alex around pretty good a couple of times knocking him on his butt pretty hard. Alex was a trooper and kept getting back up and kept trying to block this kid. Well on about the third knock down Alex fell on his wrist and was hurt. We ended up going home and I iced him up and gave him motrin. I kept an eye on it and put him in his brace for school on Thursday; the whole time debating on whether to take him in to have it Xrayed! Well finally on Friday after talking with the coach, I decided we better get it looked at. Sure enough he has a buckle fracture of his left wrist and will be getting another cast! It should take about 6-8 weeks to heal which will put him right around his birthday!

Life from Behind

Life seems to like to sneaks up on us from behind and says, "Here I am!" We always think wow where did the time go, where did this month go, where did this year go; anyone who has kids especially understands this. They just grow so fast right before our eyes and before we know it we are asking where did it all go! I have been experiencing this from day one with Luke. He is just growing up so fast.
One day he is so little and we are holding him then in a blink of an eye it seems he is running out the door just like his big brothers! He loves to be outside and anytime someone is going out he is right on their heels ready to go! Every Friday we go to the park and he just loves to exlore and check everything out! It is so fun to watch him and wonder where does it all go. Time flies when you are having fun and we are always having fun with Luke!

Thirty Something

Turning thirty-two this year was one of my best birthdays to date. I had a hard time with turning thirty mainly because at the same time my son was turning twelve! Now, I am over the age thing! I had a great birthday this year and I know there are going to be more to come. Well my birthday started off on Wednesday with my work having a brunch for me and my boss giving me a gift! On my actual birthday which was Thursday August 21st, my girlfriends from church all treated me to dinner/dessert at the Cheesecake Factory. They surprised me when the waiter and waiteress brought out our desserts with the picture above and a serende of Happy Birthday! Friday I recieved many birthday wishes from the ladies at my Breastfeeding group and then on Saturday evening my husband treated me to a wonderful dinner! We went to a Japanese resturant in Roseville where they cook the food right at your table! It was a lot of fun and really good food! After dinner we went miniture golfing! I had a great birthday and I want to thank everyone that made it special. Especially my mom for watching Luke for us while we went out! My husband for watching Luke and the boys while I went out with my girlfriends and of course all my girlfriends for treating me to the best Cheesecake ever!!!!

Stuffed Duck

For his birthday Luke got a duck that he could stuff all by himself! I was not sure if he could do it or would even be interested, but he was! So we sat down and made his duck. He put the stuffing in and got to put a little star inside of the duck
that he was suppose to make a wish on and then we filled out the birth certificate! Since he knows that ducks say Quack Quack that is what we named his duck!
He was very proud of it when it was all done! I know this won't be the last duck he gets even though I know my husband wishes it was, but I am hoping it will be the end of the duck phase. We are ready to move on to big boy things!

Brush Your Teeth

Luke loves to brush his teeth. We have made this a routine and he even knows where to put his tooth brush when he is all done. He is so smart! He is getting to where he will walk to the changing table when he needs to be changed, he will walk to his crib when he is ready for bed and he walks to his high chair when he is ready to eat! Here are some pictures of him brushing his teeth!

Our Futrue Rock Star

Luke is quite the music lover. Everything that has music he will listen to and bop his little head to. He likes all kinds of music, rock, Christian, Country and of course lullabies! So yesterday my husband was listening to music on the computer and Nathan brought out his guitar to play along to the music; next thing we know Luke is wanting to play on the guitar too! I had Nathan let him hold it to see what he would do! I had put his hair up in a mohawk before all this, so it was quite fitting!

Summer Ends

Well tomorrow the boys go back to school. It has been a long summer and although they say they are not ready; I know that I am! They are starting to fight more with each other too, so that tells me that they are ready. So ready or not tomorrow Alex starts 6th grade and Nathan starts 8th. I feel a little bad because I cannot afford to send them to school with new clothes and school supplies. We are going to make do with what we have for now. This is going to be an interesting school year for Alex because over the summer we took him off the medication that he has been on for "ADHD"

and with complete Faith and belief in our Lord Jesus we are believing that he is healed and does not need this medication! He is going to be able to stay focused and concentrate because he has the power of a praying mommy on his side and more importantly he has Jesus in his heart and that is all he needs! On that note, we will be keeping everyone up to date on how it goes and I will close with some pictures of their last day of swimming lessons which was last week!

A Life Changing Event

It was about this time fourteen years ago, that my life changed forever. I started feeling labor pains and 18 hours later I became a mom for the first time. Nathan Christopher Campbell is what we named him, meaning Gift of God. That is just what he was too, a gift. I was not planning on becoming a mommy at such an early age, but God had another plan for me. I was only 17 when I had Nathan and he helped me learn so much. I truly believe that he saved me from a world of hurt. You see before I got pregnant I was not attending school regularly, I was into drugs and just heading down a very scary path. Once I found out I was pregnant, that all changed. I went back to school and graduated on time. I stopped using all the drugs and tried very hard to change my life for the better. It was also during my pregnancy that I found Jesus. We met a couple during our Lamaze class that invited us to their church. This was the beginning of my Christian walk. Nathan was a good baby and ohhhh sooo cute. We could not go anywhere without being stopped by someone to tell us how cute he was! Nathan has always been a little shy and reserved, but he is really starting to bloom. I cannot believe that he is going to be in 8th grade this year. He should be a freshman, but because he has an early birthday he had to repeat Kindergarten. Nathan has always been a little on the lazy side when it comes to his academics. He is super smart he just does not apply himself very well. All and All he is just a normal kid that would rather play or doodle then do his work! I am very proud of him though because he is a super good kid and hardly ever gets into trouble.He has always been a good big brother and that trait continues even today. He watches out for his little brothers! He does have a bit of a temper, but if he keeps it under control there is no telling where he may end up someday. He has great ambition to be an astronaut, so I keep encouraging him to apply himself and I always remind him that he can do anything he sets his mind too! Happy Birthday Nathan Christopher Campbell!

Saying Goodbye

We have had a great week. My mother in law, who lives in Virginia, and grandmother in law, who lives in Texas, came to visit to celebrate Luke's first birthday with us. Well tonight was their last night with us, so we all went out to dinner at the Outback. Since Nathan's 14th birthday is also in a couple of days and they will not be here for that, we had the waiter sing Happy Birthday to Nathan and Luke. They both got a birthday icecream and of course we had to order one for Alex too! Luke loved his and even used a spoon to feed himself for the first time! He did a pretty good job considering it was a big spoon! He was using the wrong end then the right end and then he just decided to use his hands. I wish I would have brought my camera, but of course I forgot it! We did get a few pictures with Grandma's camera phone, so I will share those. As for grandma's leaving we are all very sad that they have to go especially Great Grandma. We did not get to spend much time with her because she went to Redding while she was here so she could see her son. Hopefully, next time we will be able to spend more time with her. Their flight leaves at 6am tomorrow morning, so this dinner was our way of saying goodbye and celebrating birthdays and also the fact that my husband got hired on as a permanent employee at his job! We have a lot to be thankful for and I have to say that I have the best family ever!