re-molding

Yep. That's what I'm doing.

Over the last 18 months, I have been convicted, revamped and made for the better. By friends. By love. By God. Mostly, by God.

I've lived my life many kinds of ways. I like this one the best.

Another Max Event

I was just heading outside to play with the boys when I remembered to grab my camera. But where was that memory card.....oh! There. Grabbed it, put it in the camera and out the door.

"Maxwell! Come back, honey! That's too far."

Here he comes, running back to me, waving his arms wildly and talking something about a stick and a bug. "Hold on, Max. I can't hear you."

As I walked down the sidewalk, I see it all happen in slow motion. He trips. Apparently on his imagination, because there's nothing there. And down he goes. Oh crap! I thought. He can't catch himself. And then it happened. His face hit the sidewalk and he started screaming.

I ran and grabbed him, held his face against my shoulder and walked (calmly) inside. I set him on the counter in the kitchen, grabbed a towel (thank GOODNESS I have red towels) and held it to his face waiting for the blood to slow so I could figure out where the issues were.

Ok. His lip is scratched and swollen. That's expected. His nose too. No biggie, it'll heal in a few days. His chin. Ok. We're fine. Then were is all this blood coming from!! Considering our previous ER visit, I was worried he'd bit through his lip or something again. But no...the blood was inside.

Then I saw it. His front tooth. It was gone. Not broken and part stuck in there, no. Clean out. GONE. Then Payton comes in from outside. It felt like 15 minutes had passed, but I realized it'd only been 3 minutes.

Payton was carrying the tooth. The tooth with the full root still attached. Who knew that baby teeth had roots SOOO long!?!?!

In the end, Maxwell was fine. Minus one tooth, but fine. When he was all cleaned up and the rush of bleeding had stopped we even went outside to play. That's when I took this picture. No the picture I had hoped for to represent our first few days of nice weather.

Dr. Prush just called back (gotta love a dentist who returns calls at 9:30pm) and said there's nothing to do. So we just wait. Another 5 years until his adult tooth comes into that place.

I'm finally coming down off the adrenaline rush and able to calm myself. *sigh* He WILL be the death of me. Crazy Kid. Just another example of how everything with Maxwell is "to the max".

Beautiful Spring

It's been a great week!

I made it to the gym by 5:30am Monday, Tuesday & Wednesday this week. Today was my day off, but I'll be back tomorrow morning! I'm enjoying the soreness and discomfort. I know it means I'm being stretched and pushing myself. I can handle it if it means I'm moving towards my goal.

The weather has been beautiful too! We started a new dismissal procedure at school and I was lucky enough to be appointed an semi-outdoor position. I open up an outside door to let parents in and can I tell you, it's been great this week. I stand at the door, great parents, say my hellos and enjoy the bright sunshine and warmth. Now next week, when it's snowing and raining, I'll be standing in the gym to say my hellos! ;)

Because the weather has been so amazing, my tulips, hyacinth and other mysterious spring plants are coming out of the ground. I have about 2-5 inches of greens up already! My neighbor has daffodils that are almost in bloom!! I already have my sunflower seeds purchased and some from last year that we saved. That doesn't count what's already in the ground. A few more weeks and I'll plant those so they can start right away again this year. I'm hoping to have some BIG ones like last year and then plant another round in June that will be in bloom through September like 2 years ago.

Tomorrow is a half-day of school for us. Payton is going to Matt's parents for the weekend. Matt has military. That leaves Max and me alone for the weekend. I'm not sure what we'll do yet, but I'm bound to find something fun for the boy to do!

Off to enjoy the weather...while it lasts!!

I have a date!

I started my new gym this week. I have a date. A sticking date. I will uphold my date. 5:30am 4 days a week. Me and my gym will meet.

Today, I got in some great time on the elliptical and put all the arm machines in the circuit to use. I showered and headed to work. It was a great day, enjoyed dinner with my family and then when the boys were home with Matt, I headed back to the gym for 30 more minutes on the treadmill.

The things I'm MOST excited about:
1) The gym is only 5 minutes from our house. Perfect for me to just run there for 30-45 minutes if I can fit it in.
2) The gym is between the house and school. Great for me to head directly to school when needed.
3) There is free tanning. I'm not much of a tanner, but once in awhile, I think I'll use it. Especially in the winter.
4) I'm going to lose weight. Again. I lost a good amount about 1.5 years ago, but then when my gym membership ended because my Y closed, I didn't go back. I gained back all I had lost.

The things I'm NOT excited about:
1) 5:30am is my only time that I can consistently make it to the gym without worrying about the boys or someone else's schedule.
2) The soreness. I'm already feeling it as I've increased my home exercise over the last week.
3) The bill. $40 a month. It's not necessarily a lot, but I'm in a one year contract. That scares me.
4) 5:30am. I like my sleep.

Think of me. Pray for me.

running on empty

It's been that kind of week. Nothing terribly "wrong" or "hard" or "awful" happened. It's just a lot of little things. I have a pile of things that need done and won't get done by next week when they need to be. My brain hurts from keeping track of what I need to do and what I've done and what I'm currently doing.

Yawn. I'm not sure what would help more; a stiff drink, screaming or a REALLY LONG SLEEP. Oh! And a personal assistant who works for free.

God has us where he wants us

For a long time, I wondered why we moved to Michigan almost 6 years ago. For awhile, I thought it was the friends. I have made some AMAZING friends and I often wonder if I would be a good mom without them. They have been such a crucial part of my parenting and life.

And while I know I've been blessed by friends, it's just part of the reason we're away from our families. I thought maybe it was the jobs. Matt has a secure job in the ER at the hospital he works in. He loves the field and the adrenaline rush. He enjoys his time with the company and has a lot of opportunities to do teaching he wouldn't be able to do elsewhere. And I've been blessed this year with a great job at Payton's school you all know about too.

But that can't be it entirely it either. This week, while sitting in church, listening to the mission statement I've heard 1,000 times, it hit me. THIS is why we're in Michigan. Because what our church believes is what we believe. What we want for our faith and our walk is what our church is growing people to become.

Love God
Love People
Serve Our World

These are the things we've been teaching our children their whole lives. The things we try to embody ourselves. The morals, values and beliefs I want our boys to pass on to their children. God first, people second, then serve the world. All belongings and possessions fall well below those three.

Our church has nearly secured a HUGE building where we will begin a new ministry; Hope Center. It will be the largest food pantry in the county. They will offer amazing services and assistant to SO many people. The church has been blessed by Meijer who supplied us with the materials and the food items to get started. I'm so excited about this project I can barely contain myself. Some of the families who will be assisted by this program are "MY" kids...the ones I teach all day long.

We will be volunteering as a family at the shelter once a month (or more). I want out boys to know that the best way to show God's love isn't to blab about it or to act like your better than others in some way. It's to show people that you love God by showing people that you love others. And to serve the world in ways that show His love.

I'm so excited about where we're going, what we're doing and what's in store for our little family and our BIG church family. God has us where he wants us. That has been proven to us many time...this was just one more.