Post #191

I really have nothing to say, I just felt like "talking" and there are only so many Twitters I can tweet...

Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday evenings are a blur around here. Either Mark or I are gone and it gets kinda annoying. Tonight, Mark has some people using the hangar and a flight lesson. On Monday nights, I pray with two other ladies and Wednesday night is Bible Study.

I love praying for our husbands with these two ladies. It's really cool to see the difference it's making, especially in my attitude!

Ryan spilled apple juice across the counter that's between the stove and fridge. It's really gross back there. When was the last time you cleaned it? Me? 9 months.

I've been doing a Beth Moore Bible study on the book of Daniel and it's amazing! Today two things really struck me - I'll share more in it's own post. I'm still thinking about it!

How can such huge turds come out of such little people? Ok, I know. Gross. But I also know you have said the same thing before!!

Ryan is on stitches number - unknown. This time we didn't get a teddy bear. I wonder if they ran out because of all the bears they have given to us in the past.

Zach's teacher sent home a note about how much he loves his little brother. I read it during a smack-down over the loss of Wii privlidges.

I really have to get over this misery over not having "normal" kids. I'm in that poor-me cycle. Bad, bad, bad.

My Indiana Hoosiers are winning more football games than losing. Go Hoosiers!

I really love Neil Diamond - especially "Sweet Caroline" and "Song Sung Blue". I'm 37 - does that make me a goober?

A bunch of 6th grade girls were fawning all over this high school football player and she started crying when he hugged her. Then later, my 6th graders asked me if I thought he was hot. Ummm... Can't say that I look at teens and decide if they are hot or not. Two seconds after that, another girls says she is jealous of her sister because she wraps his ankles. Funny!

Why do I let my mind jump ahead and worry about stuff that may not even happen?

My hamstring hurts - it's where the hamstring meets the butt. Ouch.

Ok, that's it for now!

Disney for a Princess

Don't even stop and read this. Click here

http://helpfoundationinc.wordpress.com/2010/10/20/help-a-princess-go-to-disney-world/

and read about a little girl who is important to me. Help send a Princess to Disney.

Colts vs. Chiefs Game

I am not a major NFL fan, but I love football (does that make any sense?) As a way to get some good friends over for fun, I had a Colts vs. Chiefs party planned. I made chili and invited everyone over for the 1 pm kick off. I checked the Colt's website and saw that the game was on at 1 pm.

Back when I mentioned the game with Travis and she asked, "Are you sure the game is on?" My confident reply... "Of course! The website says it is."

At 12:55, I turned on the TV and found out that the Ravens game was on in our area! I freaked out... So we tried to find it on the internet. I was unsuccessful, but we were able to watch the arrows move on ESPN and listened on the radio. So for most of the game, we were gathered around my lap top.

I invited several Colts fans... but they stood me up. I was grossly out numbered by the Chiefs... but it goes to show it's not the number of fans...

SPOILER: (Because some people are watching the taped version a little later)

Here's the looks on the Chiefs fans when the "fat lady started singing".


The kids also gathered around the computer... but to watch Sesame Street rather than football.

Alaina has a pretty impressive shot with that Nerf gun! Although with three older brothers, she has no choice but to hold her own...

We didn't see much of Sam, Ben and Zach... they spent their time in the toy room.

Not everybody was into the game...

Sundays are made for naps...

Despite the non-chilly chili weather and not having the game on TV, I had a great time and I hope the Prachars and Handers did too!

The Silver Lining

I spend way too much of my life feeling sorry for myself. Mourning the fact that my children will never be "normal". Bummed out that my children won't go to college, probably won't get married, or read a great book. But I can't live my life like that because no one would want to be my friend if I cried all the time that is not how God wants us to live.

So... this week, I've started a list of the silver linings that come with having children with intellectual disabilities:

1. If they are in eighth grade and don't know that 8x3=24 (without a calculator) no one will care!
2. I will never have to struggle through long division with them.
3. They probably won't go to parties in high school and get drunk and/or take random pharmaceutical drugs.
4. I don't have to pay for a college education. (Never mind that at the rate of our potty training... I'll spend the equivalent in diapers)
5. When they are hysterical and crying, I can usually fix what is wrong.
6. My boys don't understand that the advertisements on TV are meant to sell you a toy. They don't beg for certain toys because they saw it on TV.
7. Likewise, when we go to Target and they see a toy they want, they are happy just to carry it around and they actually put it down when we get to the check out line.
8. I probably won't have to spend tons of money on the name brand clothing when they are in middle school/high school. They probably would be freaked out by a Hollister store (I know, I know... many people are - but for different reasons!)
9. When I let them pick out a coin for helping me with a chore, they are just as happy with a penny as they are with a quarter.
10. At age 9, Zach is still happier with the box than the huge toy that came in it. So I should just give him empty boxes for his birthday.

And the biggest reason...
11. They don't repeat what I say!

Inferiority

I'm going to start my rambling thoughts with this quote from the Beth Moore Bible Study on the Book of Daniel: "You've been chosen, Dear One, by the God of all creation for a life worth living. And you feel inferior?"

Can you say, "Bucket of tears running down my face?"

I often feel like a crappy mom or an inferior mom because my children don't measure up in society's eyes. Because people pity me because my children are intellectually disabled. It's an ugly thing for me to feel this way, but you know that pity is out there. But what's even uglier is that I fall for it!

But fortunately God keeps whispering to me that He created my boys for a purpose. A divine purpose that only they can fulfill. And while this is true of all children, it's especially true for my boys. He made them this way so He could use them in ways that go beyond "normal" children.

So tonight I'm sobbing, but not because I feel inferior, but because I'm so grateful that God whispers these truths to me when the world shouts that our children must be smarter, faster, and better looking than the others.

And I need to remember that my family is chosen by the God of the Universe. And you know what... Your family is chosen too - but for a different purpose! How cool is this?

Randomness

I have blogged in, oh, about a million years. It's not that I haven't had much going on, it's quite the opposite - I just haven't taken the time to get my thoughts on the screen!

School is going absolutely, positively, wonderfully well. I LOVE my 6th graders and it is so much fun to spend an hour with them each day. I would like to say that my lessons are super planned and I'm never feeling stressed about what we are going to be doing that week... But, the kids are the bestest! I also LOVE being in the library all day. We have a ton of kids coming through and checking out books. I would love to say that I don't get annoyed saying the same thing a 100 times (like where to return books) but, ya know...

Oak Park has been phenomenal for my kids and they are doing so well at their new school. I got a worksheet from Zach the other day and he actually drew a bird - that looked like a bird! And, he answered questions about birds. He's finally in "big boy" school and seems to be thriving! Ryan is learning how to write with a really cool program called "Handwritting without Tears".

So everything is perfect right? No... I'm struggling with being nice - especially when I come home to a disaster of a house. I feel like I'm putting in my all at work and then again at home. I'm tired and unfortunately, Mark gets the brunt of it...

And then, there's my on-going struggle. Jealousy. I keep forgetting that God gave me Zach and Ryan because He has something incredible to do through them - just the way He created them. And I need to get over the fact that they aren't normal and I can't be jealous of people who shouldn't have "normal" children, but do. How awful and ugly is that jealousy???? Can't believe I even said that aloud...

Ok, time to continue my scrapbooking binge...

Another song I love!

Never Been Unloved by Michael W. Smith

I have been unfaithful
I have been unworthy
I have been unrighteous
And I have been unmerciful

I have been unreachable
I have been unteachable
I have been unwilling
And I've been undesireable

And sometimes I have been unwise
I've been undone by what I'm unsure of
But because of you
And all that you went through
I know that I have never been unloved

I have been unbroken
I have been unmended
I have been unesy
And I've been unapproachable

I've been unemotional
I've been unexceptional
I've been undecided
And I have been unqualified

Unaware - I have been unfair
I've been unfit for blessings from above
But eve I can see
The sacrifice You made for me
To show that I have never been unloved

It's because of you
And all that you went through
I know that I have never been unloved

- - - -
Have you ever felt that way?