catching up

This week has been a little insane.

The big news... My bff Lori had her baby. A girl. Baby Abigail. Born on Tuesday the 27th. Sweet, huh? I'll post a pic as soon as I get one! :)

We had some hospital calls to make on Tuesday, and since we were in downtown Houston anyway, Rob and I decided that a visit to Santa might be in order. We went to the Galleria and really enjoyed the evening. Sarah wouldn't have anything to do with Santa last year, but was enthralled with him this year. Unfortunately, we didn't buy any pictures, since they were TWENTY DOLLARS each!! crazy, huh?? But they both sat on his lap (together, of course) and spoke with him extensively about the big day and us for some reason. It was so cute. I took mental pictures! :)

I've been plugging away in the blue room this week, it's looking good, but it needs much more work than I can dedicate to it. I go back tomorrow, but then next week the tile gets laid, so I'll have a little break. That's a good thing. My house needs a thorough scrubbing and the christmas baking isn't going to do itself!

Saturday we are going to trade photo favors with our friends Ryan and Jodi and I'm pretty psyched about it. I can't wait to see our first 'christmas' photos in several years, and our first proffesional photo since we added Sarah to our family! We had a bad run-in with Olan Mills about 2 years ago, but no one has seen that photo because it was so awful!! We've got Cribz this friday and life groups on Sunday, so I have a little cleaning to do between now and then! Oh, and I'm shooting another family Saturday afternoon, so that will be fun! Our little skit is Sunday morning too, and Rob and I have been practicing, we are pretty excited about it!

Digging Out

It's funny how after a week's vacation how much there is to do! I think I did a really good job (for me) of putting my feet up and relaxing last week. But so the downside of that is that now there is a TON to do! Also, I'm spending the week at church with Rob. We are going to finish up some things on the youth room and I'm going to help with the room 'formerly known as the blue room'. But today we have a funeral. It's so sad, we've had so many lately. And Rob might actually be officiating today's service. Pastor and Linda are going to be in Houston this am and may not make it back in time. So if you think of us this morning, maybe give a little shout out to God on Rob's behalf, he's probably a teensy bit nervous, it being his first one solo and all.

VaKay Recap

Well, it's over. Rob and I are settling in for the evening with 3 loads of laundry to fold and "We Are Marshall". Tomorrow we start up again.

So overall, we spent a lot of time at the doctors this week and tons of time snuggling on the couch as a family. Lots of tickling and roughhousing - both kids have knots to prove it. Lots of card making. Oh, and a lot of good food. We had fettuccine tonight. yum.

It's been a weird week and in a way I'm glad it's over. I got some really good sleep last night and felt a lot better today. Because of that I was able complete a lot of cards today, I think I'm up to 92 now! I'd love to post some pictures, but it was too gloomy to try to photograph them today. Maybe I'll try the scanner, but now it's movie time.

photo shoot

Wow, this has been a tough week for me. First of all, everything with Eli. unreal. and then Sarah fell and hit her head this afternoon, she's got a nasty knot and cut on her forehead. Then I came down with the flu or something this morning - it was crazy! I wasn't even sure how I'd get through my shoot this morning without running to the bathroom! But God is good and I managed to make it through. It was pretty cold for Texas - 47 degrees - and it definitely showed on everyone's faces. I felt like it went ok, considering the temperature and the fact I was barely upright. I do think if it had been warmer and if I'd been feeling better they would have turned out a little more wow, but we only worked for 40 minutes and I only took 100 shots, compared to my usual 300. So that makes it tough. I'm still having some trouble with this location and I think I'm going to abandon it for a bit. Baytown has plenty more to offer. I'd really like to focus on working with couples, that seems to be my specialty. It's easier to capture two people in love than a family with everyone having different agendas and responsibilities and a different amount invested in the process, kwim? But I did have fun this morning, despite being sick. I didn't even tell this family, because their kids were from out of town and today was our only chance!
I'm thinking maybe I'm just too hard on myself. I always feel this way after a photo shoot, a little let down by my failures (missing power lines or a prop in the background) but it seems like my subjects are always thrilled with the end result, so I need to ease up a bit, right??

Eden

Strange title for a post, I know. But it's me, so I'm sure you are used to it by now. If not, you may want to find another blog to read... (might not be as entertaining as mine)

I was singing in the shower this morning with a cd that I made Rob for our eighth anniversary. Our song "Garden for Two" came on. The lyrics talk about monogamy, and life long love and returning to Eden within God's best relationship for you. Rob sang it to me on our wedding day, but that certainly wasn't the first time. Anyway, I was remembering the wonder of our wedding, and his singing, and the lyrics. I thought about all that we've lived since then - almost ten years our own little family now. And today, having Thanksgiving in our home with our kids doing our traditions, how we've created our own sort of "Garden of Eden". Of course, it's a little fallen; complete with yelling and door slamming occasionally, but for the most part we have such a happy existence. I imagined for a moment, if I could have seen a flash forward of our lives in those moments when we said "I do." When I just think about what that really means, what it looks like. Wow.

I had a moment.

Right there in the shower.

It was awesome and God is good. Wow, God is really good.

So we did the Turkey thing and I remembered that I was creating memories and we had a wonderful meal as a family. We are kicking back and relaxing now and then in a while we'll have dessert, and then make some ornaments for our tree. What a great day, really.

for Lori

these are the stickers I found today at HL. I thought they would make such a neat mural in Sare's room. Especially the sweet little bird and the castle.

Update on Eli

He's still got a nasty scabby looking deal on the back of his head. His eye looks better, but is still red and pussing. His nose looks almost normal again, just a rough dry patch where he had been so badly broken out. His ear is still scabby, but again, better than before.
The newest drama though, he and Sarah were playing on his bed and somehow he fell off and walloped himself in the head. He's got an egg sized lump just behind his left ear and it's all red and skinned looking. I'm just praying that he doesn't break out in staph in this new location. The dr had scheduled an additional shot for him tomorrow if he wasn't "99% better" and if I wasn't thinking we'd take it before, I definitely think after this new injury he needs to! If we were to have a third bout with this infection... that would be really terrifying. I did some online research and this MRSA strand is really serious, very antibiotic resistant, which I think we've already proven that his is pretty undaunted by antibiotics.
I say all this to ask you again to please pray for my little boy. It's so hard as a mom to watch him go through this. After he hit his head he said "I just feel like my head is exploding all over the place". I think he meant just having so many injuries/wounds on his poor little head. He seems really overwhelmed by all this. Me too. :)
As for Thanksgiving, we were planning on going to Pastor's but with all this sickness I guess we are staying home. Thanksgiving just the four of us is kind of depressing, but I'm going to do everything in my power to make it special. We are all kind of run down here and overwhelmed. I'm trying hard to keep up morale, but it's tough. We could all use some cheering up.

On a happier note, Eli found me making Christmas cards this afternoon and wanted to join in the fun. We worked for an hour together. He made two cards - he's totally my son like that - and we had a blast together. I'm hoping we can squeeze in some more time tomorrow. We are hoping to set up the tree and decorate the house while Sare's at school, it's just easier that way!

Lemons and a Red Frame

I probably have issues. But I think my gaudy gold frame turned red is the coolest thing ever. I can't wait to do a photo shoot with it. Eli took this photo of me and Rob earlier today, and Rob took the one of me and then the one of me and the kiddos.

And then there are these lemons. Suddenly our greatly debated citrus tree is heavy with beautiful yellow lemons and I'm trying to figure out what to do with them all. The lemonade is wonderful and it turns out I can freeze the juice so I have visions of lemon bars, lemon bread, lemon marinade, lemon jelly cookies and lemon meringue pie. It should be an interesting addition to my usual holiday fare!

update

Eli does still have a staph infection. The dr also believed he had pink eye, but Rob and I both think it's a stye - a staph infection in his eye - since he has staph all over the rest of his head, that makes more sense. They gave him a shot of a broad spectrum antibiotic, antibiotic eye drops, continuing the cream, started on a decongestant, and a prescription for oral antibiotics. I guess going in with both guns blazing gets something done, eh? If he's not 99% better by Wednesday, we go back for a second shot and a revisit with a new plan. So please continue to keep him in your prayers. His eye looks a lot better since the drops, but now he's running a pretty good fever from the shot.

Will You Pray??

Our Eli has had some trouble with staph infection lately. About two weeks ago he started having some bumps under his nose, instead of getting better the kept getting larger and looking more infected. I took him to the dr and they said he had staph infection and to put some cream on it. We did. The bumps went away completely it seemed. Last friday Rob did the majority of getting the kids out the door to school because I had been so sick and was trying to get ready for youth convention, so I said goodbye to Eli and noted his eye being a little pink, but didn't seem worrisome. He's always had trouble with his eyes (blocked tear ducts, allergies, etc) so them being a little red is not a big deal in my book. We picked him up on Saturday night and his eye was looking pretty bad. Rob was pretty sure it was pink eye, so we stayed home from church yesterday. I put warm compresses on it and called the dr, but they wouldn't give a script until they see him. So last night, before bed I noticed he now has a sore in his left ear as well, and the original site is looking irritated again. While we were doing prayers I was scratching his head and ran my finger over a raisin sized puss-scab on the base of his neck. I did some research online, applied the ointment on all wounds except his eye, prayed with him and sent him to bed. I think the staph is in his blood system. This is concerning to me because I've heard in several online communities about this horrible tough strain of staph this year. So please be praying for my baby, will you? He's really concerned too, his eye was bright red and he came into our room crying - he had looked at it and was concerned he would lose his sight! Poor thing. He's studying his bible this morning and we prayed with him again. It's just scary for a little guy. I'm praying for Sarah too, that she doesn't get it. Thanks everyone, I'll keep you updated.

sick days...

Sometimes I actually don't mind them. I really could have used one last week, when I was feeling so awful, but I'm on the upswing now. But Eli got up this morning with a very pink eye, so we stayed home from church. (much to my disappointment, it was Baptism Sunday and one of our students was taking the plunge!) So Sarah, Eli and I enjoyed our morning. We played video games, we layed around in their jammies (I was all ready for church before they got up), and just generally enjoyed each other's company. Oh, and we will eat not one but two homemade meals today - a huge rarity for this family lately. We had baked mac and cheese for lunch and chili with caramel rolls for suppe Yum. I'm feeling so domestic again! I cleared a space for our christmas tree, so we'll be dragging that out this week and that's going to feel good. I am more than a little tempted to paint my living room, just because it really needs it, but I think resting a bit might be more important in the long run. Besides, I haven't even picked a color yet!

Youth Convention Recap

Well, it was definitely a fun weekend. It wound up being me and Rob and four of our high school guys. I was bummed that no girls went, but I certainly got an education on guys the past two days. It was really fun though. San Antonio is an amazing city and I'm glad I got to explore it the time we were there before because we didn't really have any time to check out anything. We drove there, attended the conference and drove home. But still, good speakers, United was incredible and Shawn Henessey, was, well, Shawn Henessey. Every time I hear the guy speak I am more convinced that he has a major calling on his life. Turns out he sings too, crazy good like. wow.
Ok, so a photo recap - lots of randomness hanging out with the guys. There are a couple photos of the view from our room - one at night and one during the day. There's a great photo of a typical Texas sunset - I'm telling you, the sky is bigger here than anywhere else I've ever been! There's also a shot of us eating at Denny's yesterday morning, Rob and I split a meal but we both walked away stuffed. Oh, and we stopped at Buckee's - a famous gas station that only caters to travelers, not truck drivers. Nicest bathrooms ever! It was great! Overall it was a fantastic trip and we had a great time, learned alot and worshipped like crazy!!

maybe the best video ever

Eli and I watched this video this morning together. It's amazing! I bought the song on iTunes, but the video is seriously tempting. I've never bought a video for my iPod before. :) I love her facial expressions, her raspy voice, the color and how it's all colorful and retro! I also love when her feet dance when they have her up in the air. I love her blue sequins and how everyone disappears at the end. I even love how she skips 7 and 8 like they are totally ambivalent numbers. It's just so happy. I could really go for happy today!! Happy Sunday everyone!

christmas cards

well, I'm getting started on them. I think I've done 32 so far. I'll probably do 100 in the long run. I just haven't had any good chunks of time to work on them, so that makes it hard. Hopefully next week during vaycay I'll get a lot done and maybe even work on addressing them, filling them out!!