When "The Good News and the Bad News" Becomes "The Bad News and the Really Bad News"

I've known for a long time that there was something different about Eli. At first, I knew it was because I was such a horrible mother. That I had failed in the most basic of all mothering skills. It's why I wasn't allowed to have more children for so long and why I couldn't have as many as I wanted. Then I began to realize that maybe it wasn't all my fault. That he was different than other children and no amount of bad parenting could rectify that. Then things seemed to mellow out a bit when he started school, but I started noticing that he wasn't catching on to the whole reading thing as fast as I knew he should. Call it a mother's bias, but I knew he was smart. Smart enough to be able to read and spell better than he was. I began to think that maybe there was something going on in his brain that was twisting the words around, making it impossible to get ahead. I started looking at other dyslexic children and he showed similar characteristics. The idea didn't thrill me, but I knew there were so many successful, wonderful people that overcame dyslexia to lead amazing lives. The interventions and the accommodations were out there, I just needed to find out the exact break-down in the learning process.

Enter Scottish Rite. Their assessments are extensive and thorough and your family leaves with specific ways to help your child succeed. So off we went. Eli was excited to get two extra days of Thanksgiving vacation and I was excited (to some extent) to find answers. We went back yesterday morning to find out the results of the tests.


He doesn't have dyslexia.


He has ADD or ADHD (further testing which tell us which one).


Who knew that not having dyslexia wouldn't be the good news one might think it would be? That not having dyslexia was actually bad news and having ADD/ADHD would be the really bad news?


My stomach dropped and I struggled not to cry in front of a diagnostician and my son. I didn't want him to see how upset I was and make him feel like he was broken and it broke my heart. I've been a teacher. I know how hard it is for these children. They become "those" children. The ones in your class who just can't quite get it together. The ones who struggle with everything...the routines, the work, the friendships. The ones who have to take medication and practice coping strategies. The ones you wonder where and how they'll end up as adults. And now Eli is one of "those".

To begin to describe the heartache I feel is an overwhelming task. There are a hundred facets to this and I can't seem to find my way out of the hopelessness. I've cried more in the last two days than in the last six months all put together. I cry when I think about him taking medication. The meds come with side effects and I know what's it's like to live with side effects to a medication that you have to take to function and live. I cry when I think about the social implications. People with ADD or ADHD don't pick up on social cues and spend their lives struggling through the few relationships they have. I cry when I think about how this will mean a thousand pediatrician and psychologist appointments. I cry when I think of my stupidity for not seeing this sooner. I'm a former teacher and his mom. I should have been the first to see it and seek help.

I'm worse than a leaky faucet right now. Brad is even intentionally picking fights since he knows it's probably the only thing that will distract me. He's good like that.

I'm even afraid to post this. By putting this out there, the world will now see him as an ADD/ADHD child. Just as everyone gets a certain similar image in their head when they hear the word "tree", they will now get an image of Eli with ADD. A one dimensional image of who he is. We hear "tree" and see a brown trunk and green leaves. We don't think to look deeper to find the beautiful knots in the wood, the individual branches, the blossoms that adorn them. We just see a tree. I'm afraid when people see Eli, they will only see the social awkwardness, the incompetence, the disorganization. No amount of meds or strategies is going to change that. But I need to write this out. To organize my own thoughts and feelings and in doing so give hope or get hope from those that read it.

I've taken the first steps in an actual diagnosis and started the journey toward treatment. We have an appointment scheduled with his pediatrician next week. I don't know how long the process will take, but I'm trying to focus on the fact that it will be process-driven and not product-driven. It may be years before we see any identifiable difference. There will not be an easy fix and he will not be cured. I feel like the Israelites did standing at the edge of the wilderness, about to take that first step toward Canaan, but knowing the wild and woolly wilderness will have to be dealt with first. I want to just go to sleep for a few years and wake up when it's all worked out. It's kind of like that ESSAY about having a child with a disability. I'm headed to Holland when I really wanted to go to Italy. Italy would be sooo much better. I love pasta! I'm still spending my prayer time asking God why my baby had to be Holland. Why couldn't we have had Italy like everyone else? Where will I find other people who understand Dutch when I don't even want to become fluent myself? Italian is a much more beautiful language. Who the heck cares about windmills and tulips when there is art and architecture?

But those questions are futile. I will never find the answer and dwelling on them will only make me miserable. It's time to put on my big girl panties and move forward. There are things to be done. And as my sister said when I told her the really bad news, "We still love him." Matter-of-fact and at the root of all my fears. God love her, she said it when I needed it the most and it's the truest truth I know. This does not change my love for him.

If nothing else, I wish I could take his face in my hands and tell him in the wise words of Abileene from THE HELP, “You is kind. You is smart. You is important,” and know that it will sink in to his very core and provide some measure of hope when the tunnel seems long and dark ahead and the world only sees something very different.

I HATE Waiting...

**I wrote this yesterday while in Dallas. My parents' Internet was down and the hospital didn't have guest Internet access. (Boo!) I had to wait till I drove all the way home before I could post it. Hope you can forgive me for such a long interlude between posts!


I detest waiting rooms. In my experience, there's nothing good that comes from a waiting room. Oh, things may turn out all right in the end, but there's always something kind of yucky before you get to the part where it all works out. Mostly because most waiting rooms are attached to doctors' offices and that's where most of my problems seem to lie.

So today I find myself sitting in another waiting room. And this time is unlike any other time I've ever experienced. I'm sitting in the waiting room at the LUKE WAITES CENTER FOR DYSLEXIA at the Scottish Rite Hospital in Dallas. It's an alright waiting room. Semi-comfy chairs. Mostly up-to-date magazines. A big saltwater fish tank. Enough distractions to make you almost forget why you're there. Almost.

Eli's trouble with school isn't a new topic on this blog. He's always struggled with reading and spelling and after talking with several moms whose children experience mild dyslexia, I decided it was something we needed to look into. Not that I was excited about the prospect, but I'd like to be aware if there is a problem and work on a solution. Back last summer, we started the application process. It's a long one, to be sure. You have to get a referral from a pediatrician, fill out 432 forms and send them in to be accepted. Then you have to wait several weeks for an acceptance letter. Then you wait a few more months for an assessment appointment. Then you and your child's teacher fill out 684 more forms and bring them with you to the 3-4 hour assessment appointment. All the while worried that your son might have dyslexia, or even worse, that he might not.

That's the crux of the matter. Will your child be diagnosed with something that will ultimately become a label and influence all educational decisions from now on? Will he be one of those children who have to have "special accommodations" for tests and reading? Will he always have to work so hard at learning? Or will it be something unidentifiable? Will you continue to work and struggle with him as he tries and tries and becomes more and more frustrated without any help or hope on the horizon?

That's why I'm sitting in this waiting room, I guess, while Eli is off reading and decoding and spelling and using his brain in all kinds of ways. We have an appointment tomorrow morning to discuss all the results of the assessments and questionnaires. It'll be interesting, to say the least, and I hope it will give us some insight in how to move forward and find a way to unlock the learning I know he is capable of.

But right now it seems like a long time until tomorrow morning. Maybe we'll help pass the time with a trip to Sonic and a riveting game of Chickenfoot with grandparents. It's sure to be a combination that can't be beat!

Quilt Pattern Winner!

I'm sorry this is posted so late. I spent the day Christmas shopping and I'm happy to report that I only have 2 more presents to buy! Please don't be too jealous. Then I had some Internet problems, but everything is working now and I did the giveaway drawing a little while ago.

I had a very festive assistant. The official Christmas clothes wearing season has begun and we have lots of red and green to wear!

First she added all the names to the bowl.

Then she stirred...while being cheesy.

Then she drew. I'm telling you all this so you can marvel at my high-tech drawing process and so you'll know it wasn't rigged in any way. :)

And the winner is...

LORI!!

Yay, Lori! You'll have to send me your address on Facebook (because, yeah, she's my friend on Facebook) and I'll mail it off ASAP!

This was great fun and I'd love to see any quilts you made from this pattern. I spent a crazy amount of time yesterday looking at fabric on the Internet for Eli's quilt. Didn't you spend your Thanksgiving doing just the same thing?

Thanks for playing!

Giveaway Drawing Postponed

*I'm postponing the drawing for the QUILT PATTERN until this afternoon. There are Black Friday Deals to be taken of first! Happy Black Friday!

Out Of The Mouths Of Babes

As we were cuddling on the couch this morning (no school mornings are great!), asked them what they were five things they were thankful for. Here's what they said.

Eli:
*Mom

*Dad

*Phoebe

*My house

*That Cowboy isn't dead. (That's his beta fish he got for his birthday. I'm a little surprised it's not dead myself!)

Phoebe:
*My family

*Going to Grandma's house for Thanksgiving

*That Dad had surgery to help him feel better (Brad had hernia surgery yesterday. He's recovering nicely, in case you wondered.)

*Christmas

*Snow

I hope everyone has a joyful, wonderful Thanksgiving. And if your Thanksgiving is going to be neither of those things, then I pray that you find some level of comfort and peace.

Happy Thanksgiving!


* I'll be drawing for the QUILT PATTERN giveaway on Friday morning. Be sure to comment if you haven't already!

I'm One of "Those"

My Christmas is already out and completely put up. I even have wrapped presents under the tree and only 3 more gifts to buy! To some this seems to be sacrilegious to put up Christmas before Thanksgiving, and to others it's a great idea. Both sides feel pretty strongly about their opinions, too.

Here's the way I see it. I love the holiday season. I love everything about it. I love the decorations and how home-y they make your house feel. I love the present buying. (I'm a gift-giver so this holiday is right up my alley. Every gift is a way to tell someone how much you love and appreciate them.) I love the baking and the cooking. I love the parties. I love wrapping gifts so it inspires the recipient to anticipate what's inside. I love the anticipation and the surprise. My mom used let me wrap my own gifts that were already boxed because I loved it so much and she knew I wouldn't peek and ruin the surprise. I love the feelings of goodwill towards all people. I love the little traditions that connect us to each other and generations past. I love the family time. I love the way the season is full of magic so it makes my children's eyes sparkle. I love the way Brad laughs at CHRISTMAS VACATION like it's the first time he's ever seen it.

I feel like Thanksgiving is a part of all that. We are called to be grateful everyday and it seems during the holiday season, we all remember that a little more. Just because we don't exchange gifts doesn't mean that most of what the Christmas season is about isn't there at Thanksgiving as well. It seems natural to me to put up the Christmas tree and all the decorations "early" because it's all just one big holiday season. Plus, I like Christmas colors better than Thanksgiving colors. They go with my house decor better.

I would be okay if the stores got all the Christmas stuff out before Halloween. I'm not a huge fan of the the Halloween holiday. Sure, we dress up and do the trick or treating thing, but the decorations are so morbid and even if you focus on the pumpkin aspect, it's still all orange and brown...not my favorite colors. I know I'm probably alone in this aspect, but I told you, I *love* the holidays.

Which side of the fence do you fall on in this issue? Are you a staunch "No-Christmas-Until-After-Thanksgiving" kind of person? Or a "Let's-Get-Christmas-Up-As-Soon-As-Possible" kind of person?

My Very First Giveaway. (I'm So Excited!)

I've never done a giveaway before. At least, I don't think I have. I'm too lazy right now to go back through and look at all my posts, but I don't think I have. Feel free to correct me if I'm wrong. It's a little embarrassing how exciting this is for me. It just shows the level of boring my life has become.

My giveaway today is brand new quilt pattern! My friend, WENDY (you know the amazingly creative one with endless drive?), has started an ETSY site along with her regular BLOG. To promote that sight and "get it out there" she offered to put one pattern up for a giveaway. Y'all will not be disappointed!

I absolutely adore this pattern! I love the squares. I love the "grout". I love that the construction is fairly simple. I love everything about it. I'm going to use it to make two quilts for Eli's bunk beds after Christmas when we re-do his room. (He's been asking for a while now so it seems like a good time.) Not sure what fabric I'll be using, but it will awesome.

To enter the giveaway, just leave me a comment. The drawing will be sometime towards the end of the week. (I'd like to give you an exact day and time, but with the Thanksgiving holidays coming up, I'm not sure what my week will look like.) I'll give you a heads-up on the end time as it gets closer.

Seriously, you will not be disappointed.


*I've added a new recipe to EATING AT THE TAJ MCCALL.  It's a good one so be sure to check it out!

20 Reasons You Should Get to Know Brad OR A Very Belated Birthday Post

On Monday, Brad turned 35.

For the next six months, I get to be A LOT younger than he is. Think of it. He can no longer say he's in his early thirties. He's halfway to 40. He's only 15 years away from 50. It's a staggering thought, I know.

Despite all of this, he had a pretty good birthday. It seems like his birthday always gets a little forgotten since it's so close to Thanksgiving. But I'm trying to make up for that. Here's a list of 35 reasons you should get to know Brad.

1. He's very witty. It's a dry, sarcastic kind of humor, but funny nonetheless.

2. He knows a lot about meat. He did FFA meat judging in high school and was required to memorize 483 cuts of meat. It comes it quite handy actually.

3. He can talk the barn doors off. Brad is rather friendly...with everyone. He can out-visit almost anyone I know.

4. He's a Phillies fan. Kind of rare here in Texas, but the story alone is a good one.

5. He could work at Best Buy. He feels he sort of missed his calling by not helping people with all their technological needs. It's nice to something you can fall back on, I guess.

6. He doesn't know anything about Comic Books characters, Star Trek, or Star Wars. It's a little embarrassing to tout my own knowledge of such things because I know so much more. I'm pretty sure there's something wrong with that picture.

7. He likes to shop. Brad can out browse me any day. When he and my mom shop together, you might as well find a nice bench and snack because you'll be there awhile.

8. He has the best sense of direction ever. It's like having your very own, real live GPS system.

9. He does not eat fruit. At all. Oh, about once a year he'll have one apple, but that's it. It's a good thing he'll eat any vegetable.

10. He's very patient. With Eli. With me. With Phoebe. With everybody.

11. He's generous. What more is there to say?

12. His hobbies are cycling, backpacking, and fly fishing. He can talk to you about any of them for hours.

13. He's a hard worker. At his actual job, of course, but also around the house. He always needs a project or something to do. We make a good pair in that way.

14. He's a good dad. Both of my children think they are the favorite and he is both of their favorites.

15. His birthday is exactly nine months from Valentine's Day. Just saying'.

16. He doesn't like to read. He is able to, of course, but he doesn't lose himself in a book like I do.

17. He loves rice. Any kind. I think it's why he loves Asian food so much...it has a lot of rice.

18. He loves to sleep. I think God finds it funny to put a sleeper and a not-sleeper together for life.

19. He has an almost complete set of John Grisham books. Despite #16, there was a time when he thought it would be nice to own them all in hardback. We've missed the last few, but we have all the early ones.

20. He can't carry a tune to save his life.

I really tried to think of 35 reasons for his 35th birthday, but I just couldn't and I've been working on this post for 2 days! Not that I don't love him to pieces, I'm just out of words. If you think I've given up too soon, you try to think of 35 things you love about the one you love. It's harder than it looks!

So happy 35th, babe. I loved spending it with you.

I Promise I Haven't Dropped Off The Face of the Earth

Really.

It may have seemed like I did because I haven't posted since Saturday, but Brad and I have been out of town. By ourselves. It was great. Brad attended a conference in Dallas at the GAYLORD TEXAN and I just tagged along. We were even given a complimentary upgrade to an executive suite. Whoo Hoo! While Brad spent his days listening to vitally important information (I'm sure), I did a boatload of Christmas shopping and ate at places like La Madeline. We had to stuff an extra duffle bag in the bottom of one of our suitcases so we could carry all our loot home. I had every intention in updating the blog, but I was just too busy. On the flip side, I'm at least halfway finished with my Christmas shopping. Surely you'll forgive me for that, right?

We celebrated Brad's birthday while we were there. (A post about that coming soon!) This was the only photo we took the entire trip and it was on Brad's phone!

It was so nice to get away, but it's even nicer to come home. Well, it's nicer after all the unpacking is done. :)

I Guess The Cat Is Out of the Bag

If you didn't know it already, Brad and I are big dorks.

You can probably tell by our use of "dorks" if nothing else.

I love to cook and Brad loves to eat. I am forever asking him what he wants for dinner. For the longest time he wanted to make a spreadsheet of all the recipes I made and rate them so he could review them and choose when I asked such a question. I thought a spreadsheet was too much work for not enough result. So Brad thought we should start another blog. One where we posted every recipe I made and rated what we each thought of it. That way, at some point, we could turn it into a blog recipe book for our children. He even went as far as to set one up for me.

I'm enough of a control freak to keep it up to date.

Summer before last, we had a sweet intern, Holley, living with us. She keeps up with my blog while she wastes time at work and stumbled upon my recipe blog through my profile. (Who looks at those things?) Then she proceeded to post about it on Facebook telling me how awesome it was. She didn't know it was kind of a secret.

I guess it isn't a secret any longer.

Dear Readers, I'd like to introduce you to....

(drum roll, please)

EATING AT THE TAJ MCCALL

Like I said, we're big dorks. We think this is kind of cool. We also call our house The Taj McCall. Kind of play on words since the Taj Mahal was built by a king for his wife and Brad "built" this house for me. (I told you we were dorks.) At first the blog was another thing Brad had dreamed up for me to do, but now I like it even better than he does! I'd like to get someone to do a blog re-design for me, but the gal who did mine isn't doing blogs anymore. Any references would be welcome!

And let me know what you think of my new blog. Real, honest opinions. Thanks so much! Y'all are the best.

Ten on Ten: November 2011

Ack! It's already the 10th of November!

It's time for TEN ON TEN again. A day, once a month on the tenth, to take a photo an hour for ten consecutive hours. Finding much life and beauty among the ordinary things of our day!

November was fun. I was super busy, but without kiddos so it was pretty quiet while I was running around like a chicken with my head cut off. Kind of nice for a change.

My Ten on Ten.

Take a look at some of the other participants HERE. I try to look at as many as I can, but I can never get to them all! If you've come from there, thanks for stopping by! If you're a regular reader, thanks for all the support!

Grateful

As with most things, I have this great idea that I forget about until the last minute (or later) and wind up not doing it because of lack of prep. It's somewhat frustrating. Such was the case with the Facebook phenomenon of thankfulness. You know, where you post one thing you're thankful for everyday in the month of November. I soooooo meant to participate after seeing everyone's gratefulness last year. But then it was November 1st and then it was the 3rd, and now it's the 9th and I still haven't posted anything. Maybe next year. But it doesn't mean I'm not grateful. I look around at all that I am and all that I have and I can't help but be grateful. So I'm going to post 31 things I'm thankful for. We can all pretend I wrote them daily on Facebook. :)

* I am grateful for Brad. When we got married, I'm not sure he really knew what life held for us in terms of the "worse" and the "sickness". He has held me and helped me and loved me and taken care of me far more than either of us ever imagined. And I still love hanging out with him!

* I am grateful for my dad. He is wise and funny and godly and generous. My life would be a confusing, dim place without his guidance and presence. He loves my children and they love him and it shows in every exchange they have.

* I am grateful for my mom. She is strong and loyal and godly and creative. Her quiet belief in me and God gave me the strength to get through so much. She has become the most amazing grandmother and my children are blessed by her.

* I am grateful for Eli. He pushes me to limits I didn't even know existed and then breaks my heart with his sweetness the next. I have cried more over him than anything else the last 8 years and loved him like I never imagined. He teaches me about grace and love and humor and resiliency.

* I am grateful for Phoebe. She is everything I had ever hoped for in a daughter. She brings silliness and sparkle and song into our family everyday.

* I am grateful to be a stay-at-home mom. I'm grateful that Brad sees the joy and benefits our family receives from this amazing blessing and supports me in that.

* I am grateful for my house. It brings me such joy and contentment to have a warm, safe house to nest in. I love cleaning it and caring for it and filling it with things I love and think are beautiful.

* I am grateful for my Tuesday morning Bible study. It has brought me closer to a group of gals who I admire as mothers and wives and fellow sisters in Christ. It's helping restore my faith in God and His Kingdom at a time when my cynicism and mistrust made God seem far away and disinterested.

* I am grateful for my siblings and their spouses. We all enjoy being together laughing and playing and they have made my life richer just by being who they are.

* I am grateful for the teachers in my children's lives. Each and every one of them loves and nurtures them in ways I can't.

* I am grateful for my friends. All of them. The old friends. The new friends. The friends who've been there through thick and thin and the ones who will always be there no matter what separates us.

* I am grateful for my church. Through times of deep community and times of playing "church", it has been a refuge. A place to bring my children to connect them to something greater than themselves.

* I am grateful for the sunrises and sunsets here in the Panhandle. We may have lots and lots of wind and dirt and not enough trees, but every morning and evening I am given a glimpse of the God who created everything around me just to be beautiful and praise Him.

* I am grateful for the food in my pantry. I love to eat. I love to cook. I am so thankful that at any time I can go to my pantry or fridge or the store and make whatever I've got a hankering for.

* I am grateful for my Huddle. We were given amazing co-leaders who stand by us and help us grow and (another) awesome group of students who want to live life with us and walk together on this journey to becoming better disciples.

* I am grateful for modern medicine. My life (and the fact that I have one) is a testament to what God has given the smart people in the medical field.

* I am grateful for all the beautiful colors in the world. My fabric and all my old stuff is full of color and light and I am thankful for what they bring to my days.

* I am grateful for my chores. The laundry means I have clothes to wear. The dishes mean I have food to eat and serve to my babies. The endless picking up and cleaning give me a chance to serve my family.

* I am grateful for family. All of them. The extended family that wove together to create the family that Brad and I have today. It's where we come from and I've been blessed by the stories they live.

* I am grateful for the little family that Brad and I have. I spent so many years mourning the fact that we would only have a few children that I think I missed so much joy. I love where we are and how each of my children completes me as a mother. I couldn't ask for more. Our family is complete.



* I am grateful for my children's friends. They have been blessed with some good ones!

* I am grateful for Sonic Diet Cokes with lime.

* I am grateful for my sewing. It's a creative outlet I'm not sure I could live without now. It's a stress reliever and a gift and I love it when something comes together.

* I am grateful for old things. My house is full of them and they each tell a story. Some of them I know and some of them I don't, but each connects them and me to a bigger past.

* I am grateful for the Internet. I know it sounds silly and there's lots of bad stuff on there, but it's made our world a whole lot smaller. I have found friends and encouragement and laughter and the best PUMPKIN PANCAKE recipe because of it!

* I am grateful for seasons. I live in a part of Texas that actually has them and each brings a different array of feelings and I love them all. The laziness of Summer. The brilliancy of Fall. The coziness of Winter. The renewal of Spring.

* I am grateful for people who love my children. They are surrounded by people who give them a place and a purpose in this world beyond just family and I hope that they can always remember this...even when they feel they're unloveable.

* I am grateful for the diversity God created. In humans and the world and every single thing in it. I'm in awe of the differences around me and amazed at their number and astounded at how they can be so different and yet create something so cohesive.

* I am grateful that His mercies are new every morning.

* I am grateful that it didn't take me very long to think of this list. What a full and beautiful life I lead!


What are you grateful for today?

10 ON 10 is tomorrow! Just in case you were thinking about participating. :)

Brad's New Ride

Brad has a new car.

Well, technically, it's an old car. And I mean, really old. But it's new to him. It's a 1985 300d Turbo Diesel Mercedes. This means absolutely nothing to me (except for the fact that it does not have heated seats), but it might to a few of you out there so I thought I'd throw it in. It originally belonged to Brad's GRANDAD and he wanted Brad to have it after he passed away because he remembered a three-year-old Brad riding around on the console when they'd come to visit, telling them how to get to church or school or wherever. Yes, his sense of direction is just that good. It came to live at our house some time this summer.

It had spent the last several years in the barn, where the rats and mice had a field day among the wires and tubes. Brad had to bring it home on a trailer and it spent some time at a mechanic shop. Now he drives it everywhere! To church, to work, to run errands (as he was doing last Saturday with the kids when the photo was taken from his phone), everywhere. Eli and the neighbor kids have been begging him to take them to school in the car so I'm hoping he'll offer one of these days.

It makes Brad pretty happy to drive this car around...despite the fact that it makes him look like an old man. He thinks it would make his grandparents smile to know he was enjoying it so much.

And you know what? It probably would.

Pirates of the Canyon OR The Morning We Got Up Waaaayy Too Early

I think I've sorta kinda figured out how to edit and save the photos from my camera to my new Mac. Now I just need to do some organizing so everything is in the same place. :)

I've been wanting to post the photos from our trip to the CANYON last weekend with a few of our Huddle students. It was an annual event called THE PIRATES OF THE CANYON and it's like our very own mini-hot air balloon show. Our friends (and co-Huddle leaders) have been out to see the balloons a few years and had a very special spot to watch the balloons high on the ridge of the canyon. We'd get to look down on the balloons and experience the amazing sunrise all at the same time. I was very excited.

Well, I was a little less excited at 4:00am when we were getting up. We had to leave our house at 4:30 to meet the group at 5:00 to be at the gate by 5:30ish so we wouldn't be waiting in a very long line of cars trying to get in the state park gate. It was a good idea and we got to our "special spot" before the sun rose.

Unfortunately, the balloons did not go up due to the high winds that morning. (Shocking, I know, for this area.) But we enjoyed some awesome (and very cold) time together just hanging out, trying to stay warm, praying together as the sun came up, and, of course, taking lots of photos.

Here we are, bundled up within an inch of our life, waiting for the morning. I promise you there are people under all those jackets and blankets!

Westin and Ellie

Kirstie and Bailee

Bryan and D'Lynn

Bryan, D'Lynn, Eli, Phoebe, and Me

Westin swears this was the warmest he was the whole morning.

A family photo. When we were first tossing around this idea, Brad wondered if we'd send our children to church with some neighbors. I thought about it for half a second because I knew they would love doing this so much. I was right. They were able to experience community with some older, awesome, students who love on them and set an amazing example and see our God in a new and beautiful light. Sure, they were a bit tired and cranky come noon and they missed Sunday School, but it was totally worth it.

The students. We're going to get more of them out here next year!

The whole group. I couldn't find a spot to place my camera that didn't involve a rock jutting into the photo. Oh well.

Super Westin

I worried a little bit about my klutzy girl. (Seriously, she falls down the stairs once a week!) We were very high up on a cliff with a major drop to the ground below. We were all very careful to make sure Phoebe was near an adult at all times...and away from the edge. Guess who spent most of his time giving his mama a heart attack.

This was about as brave as she got, thank heavens.

Toboggan Twins

You can see how far up we were in this photo. It was amazing...even if the balloons couldn't launch.

When the sun was fully up, and we were all getting a little hungry after our 5:00am muffins and coffee in the car, we headed back to the car and on to McDonald's.

I instituted Mandatory Nap Time when we finally got back to the house at 10:30. It was a bit surreal to wake up a little after noon and realize that you'd already lived a full day and had most of the day left, as well. Our youth minister remarked later that it was an awesome thing to do that those students will never forget and imagine the impact it had made on them. I can't vouch for that, but I do know that I was blessed and encouraged more than I could have imagined. It's a tradition I plan to continue even if I'm the only one getting anything out of it!

What We Did For Halloween

I know Halloween was several days ago, but I'm running behind. What else is new? Additionally, Brad bought me a MacPro (after trying to get to convert to a Mac for about a year) and I'm still learning. I've heard from everybody that's it's so easy and awesome that I'll love it. And I kind of do. Right now, I'm having issues with my photos. They don't upload to my computer the same way and I can never figure out where the computer is putting them. It takes me forever to find them! I downloaded Adobe Photoshop Elements and I cannot, for the life of me, figure out how to get photos to Photoshop. I've been using iPhoto, but it's not as good and won't save my original photo. Very frustrating. I'm hoping at Christmas my brother will give me some tutorials because Im tired of being frustrated. It's got to be easier than this. Everyone says so!

Anywhoo, back to Halloween. It passed pretty uneventfully this year. We had our church's Fall Festival the Wednesday before Halloween. That's when I took my Halloween PHOTOS. I didn't get too many photos because the lighting is always bad and there's just not too much I want to capture. I don't see the point of catching my children playing 50 carnival games...no matter how much fun they are!

Eli, Dayton, and Corbin

Phoebe, Dacie, and Ellie

My kiddos with Bailee (she's in our Huddle and we love her!)

They had a photo booth set up and we had a little fun with that.

On Halloween night, we headed over to some friends' house who are in our small group. A few years ago, we all got together and trick-or-treated and we've been doing it ever since. It's such a fun tradition. I didn't catch 4 of the children who trick-or-treated with us because they met us on the way. They had a big boy with a gun (he's in middle school so I'm not sure he had an actual costume), a batgirl, Wonder Woman, and that Elvis guy from the Rangers. Just in case anyone was wondering.

Instead of doing a separate Show and Tell post, I just decided to lump all this Halloween stuff together. I made these jars for my children's teachers. I bought the cheap cracker jars at Wal-Mart and painted a square on the front with chalkboard pain. I made THIS mix and it was super yummy. Just so you know, one batch will fill three of these jars. I was told it was addicting. :) Then I tied some Halloween ribbon around the top. Easy-peasy. Just my kind of project.

That was our Halloween in a nutshell. Hope you enjoyed my photos. I know the grandparents did!

Look What I Did Today

Actually, I did it a few days ago, but just now blogging about it. If you're not on PINTREST, you should be. There are the best ideas there for everything. House stuff. Kid stuff. Food stuff. Style stuff. Organizational stuff.

That's where I found THIS idea. I thought it was great and my snack bucket in our pantry needed some desperate help.

My Children's Big Idea

We have been blessed with the world's greatest neighbors. They carpool with me. They host block parties. They bring me cookies every Sunday afternoon (the wife makes them for church and sends me the leftovers because she knows I l-o-v-e cookies). They forgave my son for breaking their beautiful (and $700) window with a BB gun. But the very best part? My two children and their two children play together almost every Saturday. Sometimes at our house. Sometimes at their house. And sometimes outside, if the weather is nice.

And the weather has been beautiful the last few weekends. Thus prompting these children to come up with a really big idea.

They are in the process of digging a cave, with several rooms and secret passages, out of our "mountain" of kaliche in the backyard.

They use any instrument they can get their hands on. Since we only have two hammers, they have to employ screwdrivers and the ends of baseball bats. These kids are great problem solvers. There are times when I wish we had made a landscaping plan while we were building our house and put some hardscape in while all the other construction was going on. But the last few weekends I have been so glad we didn't. It inspires them to think up wild ideas and get to work on them.

The neighbor boy asked me if they got the tunnels dug, did I think Brad would spring for some dynamite to make the rooms. I told him he had to ask Mr. Brad. He said no.

But he did agree to run electricity out there when they got it finished.

I told him he was going to be awfully sorry in a few weeks when those determined children actually got some rooms built and he had to pay for his promise. :)

Show and Tell: Basket Case Quilt

I adore this quilt.

I love the pattern (I used THIS one) and I love the colors and I love how it exceeded my expectations and everything about it makes me happy.

However, I did not love cutting out and sewing 270 2 1/2 inch squares.

It was worth it, though.

This is the best photo I got of the backing. The one I took of the whole thing was super fuzzy and I'm too lazy to re-take it. Just imagine a wide floral blue piece in the middle, with a smaller piece of the red dot fabric at the top and bottom. This might be my favorite way to do a backing.

I used the scraps to make a scrappy binding. I was supposed to keep the leftovers from the jellyroll to use as the binding, but I forgot and used them for other projects so my binding was a lot "scrappier" than intended. Another one of those mistakes that turned out okay. Lesson Learned: Finish a project before you start another one and use what you think might be just scraps.

This was the other quilt WENDY quilted for me. She did a random loopy pattern and I like how it softened all the squares in the quilt.

Now it's hanging out on the back of my couch. Just in time for snuggling under a pretty quilt with a fire blazing while the cold wind blows around outside. Sigh.