Wednesday, April 29

Update...

Well, we're alive still. Our new computer will be delivered on Saturday at Payton's birthday party by my wonderful loving brother. We won't get around to hooking it up until Sunday night, but I should be back online by Monday!!!

The boys are well. Crazy and ready to play outside everyday, but well. Matt has a great job opprotunity starting on the 5th. If you see him, be sure to ask him about the details! I'm so proud of him.

Payton's birthday party is this coming weekend in Ohio. I have a ton to do still. I hope I have enough time to get everything together!

Enjoy the happy, sunny, springtime weather!!

Monday, April 27

GORGEOUS weekend, and computer issues

What an AMAZING weekend! The weather was great (minus a few downpours) and we enjoyed it as much as we could. We did bubbles, played with sidewalk chalk, went for a few walks and visited a local park! We got caught in the rain twice, but being soaking wet was actually kind of fun.

Our network card (or something like that) on our computer died and we can't get back online. I am currently at Payton's school typing this. If you need me for anything, just call or text me. I'm not sure when we'll be back online.

Friday, April 24

Payton's Big Week

This has been a HUGE week for my big guy. And it just reminds me how fast time moves when you think you have plenty of time to enjoy all the little things.

Monday, he passed to the "eel" level of his swimming tests. He's pretty close to swimming independently and we enrolled him in one more 7 week session to ensure he's comfortable with it all.

Tuesday, he received the Principal's Award at school. It's the highest honor any student can get at the school. It's for the well rounded student who exhibits all the moral focuses of the school, focuses on academics and exhibits a good attitude. His teacher, Mrs. McCoy, said Payton is a "great role model for his classmates". I tell ya', noting makes a momma bear more proud!

Wednesday, Payton lost his first tooth. I thought it'd be gone over a week ago as long as it's been lose, but it finally came out while he was eating corn on the cob. We looked all over for it and couldn't find it. All we can conclude is he swallowed it. No surprise really. He wrote a very nice letter to the tooth fairy explaining what happened and she left him 3 gold $1 coins.

And then today, the big man turned 6! I can't believe it. It seems like just yesterday he was born. We had some great events happen today for his birthday; being sung to by the whole school, Matt took him lunch from McDonald's and ate with him, he had two recesses at school, he got to provide snack for his whole class (apples and caramel dip), we went to dinner at his restaurant of choice (what other kid picks Bob Evans??) and then we went to Toys R Us and let him pick a gift (spy gear).

It's been a GREAT week. He's been blessed by many great gifts, friends and events. And I've been blessed by an amazing little man.

Payton, thank you for teaching me to slow down. To look around and enjoy all the world God has given us. I'm so grateful to have you in my life and you've made me a better person. I love you with all my heart. ~Momma




Sunday, April 19

i love my husband.

Last night, even though Matt was in Ohio, I attended a couples event at our church hosted by the Mr & Mrs ministry. It looks like I've found my ministry and I'm excited to be working with Ron & Kelly hosting couples "date nights" once a month.

Last night was our first event and we hosted a viewing of Fireproof Your Marriage. We had a great turnout! I've seen it before with Matt. Even so, I saw new things when I watched it.

Matt and I are lucky we've survived this long. We've been through a lot in the last year and we've finally learned to lean on each other instead of other people or things for the support we need.

I love you, Matt. I promise to take you as you are, not make you into something you're not or something I wish you'd become. I promise to work with you, not against you. I promise to love you at the hardest moments and the easiest. I look forward to growing even more with you in our marriage; learning more about each other and ourselves. I look forward to growing old with you. I love you more today than yesterday, but not as much as tomorrow. And I will proudly tell the whole world you are my husband.



Saturday, April 18

Education BEFORE Immunization

I spent the morning, with a dear friend of mine, at a seminar with speaker Mary Tocco, an expert on the truth behind vaccinations. The seminar was an amazing and eye-opening event that shook me to my core. I can't possible share all the information and statistics that I learned this morning, but I will share the key things and a few resources to check out for more information.

If you really want to know what's in your vaccinations, get a copy of your child's vaccination record and go to novaccine.com to see what's in the vaccinations your child's been given. Some of the ingredients in vaccinations are:
* Penol (poison)
* Formaldehyde
* Aluminum Phosphate (toxin previously used in deodorants; stagnates lymph nodes)
* Alum (a preservative that was forbidden to be tested on humans)
* Acetone (like in finger nail polish remover)
* Glycerin (toxic to the liver, kidney and causes lung damage)
* Monosodium Glutamate - MSG
* Plus other toxic metals, lead, cadmium, aluminum & mercury (thimerosol)

Russia, Denmark, Australia, Japan & Great Britain have all banned the use of thimerosol in their vaccinations and it's been removed from horse vaccinations because of the damage done to multi-million dollar race horses.

The "toxic dose" of aluminum according to the FDA is 25 mcg. The Hepatitis B vaccination, given on the FIRST DAY of a child's life, contains 250 mcg of aluminum. By the age of 2 months, a child on "traditional" vaccination schedules would have 1,875 mcg of aluminum in their system.

There has NEVER been a study done to see what happens when you give an infant a variety of shots in a ten minute period, yet that's what we do to children at birth, 2 months, 4 months, 6 months, a year, 18 months, 2 years and on! No vaccinations have long-term studies done on them. No "combination shots" are intended to be given together as each separate vaccine is only trial-ed in an individual dose. What happens in your body when you put them all together?

According to a leading researcher, Dr. Todd Elsner, in his new book, What the Pharmaceutical Companies Don't Want You To Know About Vaccines..., abortion clinics are aborting babies LIVE and "harvesting" their organs (aka human diploid tissue) so they can be purchased, according to a sales list, to be used in the development of vaccinations. This includes, but is certainly not limited to, the flu shot.

Mercury was to have been removed from all vaccinations in the 1950's after the Blue Ribbon Panel Congressional Committee was formed and investigated the use of toxic levels of mercury in vaccinations. In 1956 the CDC showed reports of the toxic levels of thimerosol. Yet as late as 2003 into 2004, many vaccinations still contained toxic levels. Mercury, along with many other metals, stay in our system for life. They affect our children and then when combined with more metals, our grandchildren.

In the 1950's, children were given three vaccinations by the age of 5 years old. In 1983, a child was given ten vaccinations by the time they were 5 years old. In 2009, by age six, a child is given 37 vaccinations for 18 diseases. That's 81 injected bacterial or viral components. Yet many of these diseases were eradicated by the improvements in sanitation, healthy drinking water and healthier food storage.

Time lines and research shows that cases of disease and illness usually drops over time and then when a vaccination is introduced into the population the occurrences increase. When there is an "outbreak" of a inoculated disease, such as measles, 75-90% of the affected population is the vaccinated population, NOT the unvaccinated population.

A vaccination shot is given directly into the body where it is then processed through the muscle, tissue and blood stream. Yet many vaccinations say "Do not enter into the blood system". How can that be possible? And when we get a virus the "normal" way, by acquiring it naturally, it doesn't enter our blood stream, therefore avoiding the brain and many organs that are affected by the immunization.

Matt and I have chosen to delay the vaccinations of our children. There may come a time when they get them...there may not. But I can't, with a clear conscious, give my boys large doses of things that don't belong in little, developing bodies. They just can't handle it. Do you think you'd be "ok" after having many strains of diseases injected into your body all at once? I don't. I wouldn't do it willingly myself. How can their little bodies learn to fight off everything when there are so many things going on in their bodies?

I don't fault anyone who does vaccinate. Goodness knows MUCH more of the US does than doesn't. But, I do wish people would do research and investigate what they're agreeing to put in their bodies before the time came. Educate Before You Vaccinate! Please, for your children and your grandchildren. What you do after that is your choice; and we've made ours.

For more information:
General Vaccination Information; "Are Vaccines Safe?" and biblical support for not vaccinating and to schedule Mary Tocco for your conference. www.childhoodshots.com

World Association of Vaccine Education (WAVE) novaccine.com

Michigan Opposing Mandatory Vaccines (waiver forms) momvaccines.org

National Vaccine Information Center - State laws and general vaccine information, assist with vaccine injury and find vaccine attorneys 909shot.com

General Vaccine Information vaccinetruth.com

Vaccine Books & Natural Health thinktwice.com

Recommended Books:
How to Raise a Healthy Child... In Spite of Your Doctor by Robert S. Mendelsohn, MD

Vaccines, Autism, and Childhood Disorders by Neil Z. Miller

Evidence of Harm (Exposes the Vaccine Mercury cover up) by David Kirby

Vaccine Safety Manual for Concerned Families & Health Practitioners by Neil Z. Miller

Friday, April 17

Real Grown-up Fun!

It's been great!! Matt and I dropped the kiddos off at my in-laws Thursday evening and after a very nice dinner with them, we returned home. At least that was our plan. Until we got into Canton, MI...and I saw IKEA. Would you believe I've never been to an IKEA? Really. I haven't. I swear. But on Thursday I finally made it! I made Matt take a picture of me to prove it:


We spent an hour there drooling over all the fun and cool things they had. Ok. I was drooling and begging. Matt was refusing me all my wants. But that's his job and I'm ok with it. We left with just two items; a flower pot and a gift, so I can't tell you about it. On the way home, we stopped at Astoria in Royal Oak and had a great dessert, then headed home.

We finally got our lazy butts out of bed today around 11am. We had the rest of the desserts for breakfast (who says baklava can't be a breakfast food?) and then did some running around. We had a good lunch and spent a lot of time just the two of us.

We met our "mentor couple", Ron & Kelly, for dinner tonight (HI, KELLY!) and truely enjoyed their company. I shared my internet secrets with Kelly and she needs links, so you all get them too:

naughtycodes.com That's a GREAT website to go to when you're buying anything online. Go there, go through the pull down menu and find where you're shopping and then click. It'll bring up another window with all the coupon codes available for that site. Maybe free shipping, 15% off, etc. We use it a lot for my second secret:

restaurant.com A fun and cheap way to try local restaurants! We check here a lot when we want to try something new. And with the codes from naughtycodes.com we can usually get a $10 gift card for less than $2. You just pay for it, they sent it to your email and then you print it and take it to the restaurant and it works just like a gift card (with stipulations). Matt and I used two this weekend!

And my final secret for all you Michigan drivers; michigan.gov/drive It's the season of the orange barrel!! Check out this site for all the local closings and to see real time video feed of the freeway before you leave the house! Also any major accidents or slow downs are reported here.

To finish of my evening, I joined two great friends for dinner at Taco Loco. It's been two days of pure grown up fun! And I'm so excited that I have two more days to go!!!

Wednesday, April 15

Rainy Day Fun

Why is it always raining on the days you have fun things planned? I had hoped to take the boys to do fun things over spring break, but it doesn't look like we'll get much done.

Yesterday was rainy and I was sick, so I let the boys basically destroy the house. I even set up the easel in the laundry room (the key is the tile floor!) and let them get dirty. They did a good job. We now have new artwork for the house. ;)







Easter Photos!

Matt went out and found a card reader today. I was desperate. I hate having good pictures and not being able to post them. ENJOY!!











Tuesday, April 14

Busy, Busy, Busy

Seems that we've been moving non-stop since Thursday when Payton had his last day of school. The kids have been getting to bed late every night until Monday when they finally got to bed at 7pm as usual. I apologize for no pictures in the next few posts. I have some great ones too, but our card reader died Sunday. Soon I hope to have a new one and we can upload what we have.

Friday was a lot of fun, spending time with friends and then we went to the Good Friday service at church. They did an amazing painting during the service of the face of Jesus. The canvas started out blank, moved to words and pictures and then became this....all painted from the back side of the screen. The entire service was moving and enjoyable. Payton sat with us the whole time and enjoyed himself too.

Saturday, I spent the day prepping eggs and a few other dishes for Easter Sunday. We colored eggs in the afternoon and made cookies too. Sunday, we went to the early service and then drove to Toledo to spend the day with Matt's side of the family. Unfortunately, Matt had to work, so it was just me and the boys.

Easter Day with the Kobylak family is always a lot of fun. They hid 81 eggs in the back yard this year and the boys (and older cousins) had a great time finding them. I think there are still a few missing though. The rest of the day was spent eating and enjoying time together. I have some good pictures I'll upload when I get the card reader back.

Monday, we came home and I started to feel sick again. I'm not sure what's going on...I seem to get better and then 2 days later I'm sick again. I have a lot of pain, chills, and general soreness and I don't want to eat anything. Hopefully it'll pass soon!

I hope you all had a great Easter and I'll try to update with our fun Spring Break plans. But for now...we're staying home today. Momma needs a nap!!

Wednesday, April 8

Blooming

I'm just as confused as the last time I thought spring was here. Turns out I was wrong last time. I hope not this time. After 48 hours of snow, we ended up with probably 3" that melted off and on throughout those 2 days. All that remains is thin layers in the shade of the neighbor's trees. Matt and I covered our flowers from the snow and when I uncovered them today, there were a few little surprise blooms waiting for me.

In regards to the post last week about my confession, I've come to a new point in my thought process. I'm working to be happier in my skin and my mind. But I also am starting to see that what matters isn't what society thinks of me, but what my loved ones, my friends and God think of me. It's a slow process, I know, but I'm starting to bloom a little more myself a little I think.



P.S. Click on that photo to make it bigger. It's of the blooms out front. Not a bad picture if I say so myself.

Tuesday, April 7

A Day of Unexpected Events

Today was a weird day full of events that we not expected, but were mostly great!

The littlest of these was our dog's event. I was putting shoes on myself and Max to go get Payton from school and when I put our coats on, she disappeared. Usually that means she's laying in bed hoping I forget to crate her before we leave the house. But she wasn't in her bed. Nope, she had already crated herself!! She popped the door open with her nose and went right in and laid down. THAT ROCKS!!! She's such a smart dog.

Another surprise, the not so good one of the day, is that Maxwell has dual ear infections. He's had fevers off and on for about 10 days but he hasn't complained (more than usual anyway)or pulled on his ears or anything. The only thing that may have been a sign is that he asked for a hat when we were outside. But he's usually like that...so who knows. He's on antibiotics for 10 days. Better I found out now than the end of the week when we're leaving for the holiday weekend.

Other good news; Payton is losing his first tooth. It's pretty loose right now. I imagine it will be gone by Easter or over Spring Break. He wrote a cute story about it at school this morning. First, I'll type his sentence for you, than the "real" sentence.

Win I wint to swiming lesins I brot sum sareel and a appl.
When I went to swimming lessons I brought some cereal and a apple.
One time win I bit into the appl I flt a loos toof!
One time when I bit into the apple I felt a loose tooth!
I tld my Daddy and my swiming lesin techers.
I told my Daddy and my swimming lesson teachers.
I wus so icsidid!
I was so excited!
Then I wint to swiming lesins. It wint so quic.
Then I went to swimming lessons. It went so quick.
I got to go in the deep end!
He got that one right!!

The tooth, the story, the spelling and the writing are such examples of how my little boy is becoming a big six-year-old very quickly.

In not-so-sappy but equally exciting news, I was messaging my brother-in-law this afternoon about a new camera he's buying. He takes some AMAZING pictures and is looking for a new camera. I jokingly asked him to give us his old one and he said yes!! I seriously got teary eyed and was bouncing in my seat. I can't believe it! I've wanted a digital SLR camera for so long and he has a great one that's a few years old. And it's going to be MINE very very soon!! TEE HEE! TEEHEE!!!

I'm the happiest girl alive right now!!

Easter Events

This past Sunday, we went to a FREE event at a local community college for a great Easter Event. The kids did crafts, went down bouncy slides, Max rode the train and they planted seeds. There was even a dog agility course and we watched all the dogs try to make it through the course. It was really a lot of fun. I think we'll look for it again next year.



This week, we don't have a lot planned really. Friday starts Payton's spring break. And we'll go to the Good Friday service at church where (without Max) we'll have family communion time. Then Sunday, we'll go to the 9am Easter Service at church. Matt has to head to work after that and the boys and I will drive to Toledo to be with the Kobylak Family. Easter is a big event on that side of our family.

Next week, watch for lots of updates. I hope to have lots of things going on to keep the kids busy and out of each other's hair. WISH ME LUCK!!!

Sunday, April 5

Family Letterboxing Day

Last Year, during the first weekend of April, we went on our very first letterboxing adventure. This year, we chose the same weekend to do it again. And we had a day FULL of letterboxing.

We decided to head to what seems to be the hub of letterboxing in our area, Ann Arbor & Ypsilanti, Michigan. We plotted 15 boxes to find. Starting with, The Brave Little Buckeye and moving to the Makidada Series, finishing up with a the Ypsi Kiss and Freaky Frog before heading back to the Detroit Zoo for The Peacock. In the end, we found 11 of our 14 we attempted and we were too late to try for the one at the zoo. We searched high and low from 10am until 5pm.

Payton's favorite was in the Makidada Series where the final location was a dam. The boys got to see the water rushing through the dam and we got to explain how it works. For Matt and I, our favorite was Freaky Frog, which was a bit of a rough trail that led to an amazing opportunity to walk through a nature preserve on a floating bridge through the marsh. Maxwell's favorite was that four of the letterboxes were planted near playgrounds and we let him play on all of them. The final box in the Makidada series was at an amazing playground in Ypsilanti that he loved! He could have stayed all day.

Overall, it was a day of fun, adventure, clues and seeking. We all had a great time, worked well together and accomplished our goal for the day. I'm sure our future holds many more years of letterboxing!!