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Yikes.  I am REALLY bad at this, arn't I?  Oh, sure, I have tons of excuses. Which one do you want to hear first?  We were out of town for the entire month of July with little to no internet access.  August was just crazy starting homeschooling all three boys for the first time.  In September I got to go to Puerto Rico for 9 days, and came back sick, which I stayed for almost a month.  There, do you feel sorry for me?

Well, The last several weeks have been tough, but I must say the weight loss is nothing to complain about!  Here's the story.  On the plane trip home from Puerto Rico I, out of nowhere, had an anxiety attack.  No, I don't like flying, but I really had felt fine.  All of a sudden I started feeling panicky, and hot.  For me I get hot and tingly, starting in my chest then radiating through my whole body.  Following I tend to have short-lived tummy issues.  Well, when your anxiety attack basically never subsides, the tummy issues don't either, so for two solid weeks I ate very little.  Food in general just turned my stomach.  We thought maybe these were spurred on by some medication I was taking for my recently diagnosed Eosiniphilic Esophagitis.  Well, after a week of feeling great, it all came back.  During this time I had had some tests run to see if I might have picked up a parasite in PR, and also blood tests to make sure all my organs were working right.  I ended up having two red blood cell counts come back high.  My doc mentioned that this combined with the tummy issues might indicate a blood disease, and advised me to come back and have another blood test run in about a month.  When the parasite test came back negative, my mind started running away again, so I went in early to have the 2nd test run.  This time the numbers were normal.  But as the nurse was taking the blood my doc decided to run an iron count.  My B12 came back low.  He gave me a B12 shot which has made me feel tons better.  When I got home I researched what low B12 can do, and was shocked to see the list included the major things I'd been dealing with for weeks, as well as minor things I'd dismissed for years! 

I had such a tremendous month with God.  As hard as the physical stuff was, and the emotional, it really was a great month spiritually.  Every morning the most serene place I found was on my front porch, feeling the breeze, hearing the birds, and spenging time in my bible.  God really ministered to me during this time.  He showed me promises in His word that no matter what I was going through, He was still working, and oh how much He loved me.  It got me through.  I pray that just because I feel better, these times dont stop. 

Has it really been since EASTER that I last wrote?  And I was trying so hard to post at least once a week!  Big big oops!  I will tell you I have shyed a bit from blogging simply because those of you who really know me know that I am opinionated, passionate, and can be a bit of a soapbox ranter.  And I really dont want to put you through that!  So forgive me! 

What's been going on here lately?  Well, if you receive our newsletter (OR you can look online here on this site) our June letter is going to give you a brief update of March, April, and May.  As I sit here this second I am hearing Wii Tanks in the background while we wait for our oldest to get his room cleaned up because tonight is FREE ROOTBEER FLOATS at Sonic!  Can't pass up a free treat, can you?  My biggest worry was that they weren't taking orders for other things, but just found out from a friend from her phone that they are!  :o)  Not always fun to watch everyone else have a treat you really wish you could  have!  But, really, the allergies/restrictions are getting much easier to deal with.  It's been almost a year!  It'll be a year in August since I was taken off all dairy, lettuce, and wheat/gluten.  And also as i sit and type I smell the awesome smell of baking bread!  And it's bread I will get to enjoy!  Woo hoo!  Bob's Red Mill makes some amazing gluten free mixes, the best of which being Homemade Wonderful Bread Mix!  The absolute closest thing to fresh REAL bread!  You can bet I'm going to hoard it from the crowd!  Maybe they'll get a tiny piece!  hee hee. 

This is our first full week of summer!  Benjamen and Jacob finished public school last friday.  Yep, done with public school for the near future!  That's hard to believe!  Everything seems to be coming together to begin homeschooling in the fall.  No, we havn't purchased all the curriculum yet, but are still working on that.  It's tough starting out a homeschool home with 3 kids already into school and not beginning learning.  When you start one at a time you can slowly build your library and supplies.  That part is indeed overwhelming but I am sure that God will supply everything we truly need.  Bryan still has about a week left of his 8th grade curriculum.  Then full-out summer!  We were blessed to be able to have season passes to the local water park (which around here is less than memberships to most of the pools!), so we'll be having fun there, sending Bryan off on a mission trip to Slidell, LA, sending Jacob to an evening day-camp for Cub Scouts, helping our church put on a VBS for the Boys and Girls Club of Bryant, and then spending almost the entire month of July in Texas! 

It's going to be fun! 

That past few weeks have been a whirlwind.  I think the last time I "talked" to you was just after we got back from Minneapolis.  It seems it takes a long time to re-settle after being gone.  So much laundry to do, resting from your vacation (arn't trips and vacations often supposed to mean rest?? so how come it seems you always come back way more tired?), getting back into the routine. 

Hmm, what have I/we been up to since then?  Well, we celebrated Easter since then.

It was a rainy rainy day, but we enjoyed a day as a family, with a massive Easter Egg hunt inside the house.  Yep, a little crazy, but thankfully nothing got broken!!

Then, the boys hid the eggs for Peter and I (of course, they were EMPTY by this time!!)

We've also made a pretty big decision since then!  Jacob and Benjamen will be joining Bryan at home this next year for homeschool!  Ya know, I never thought I'd be a homeschooling mom.  Well, I take that back.  Before Bryan was ready for school, I thought I would.  But at that time, I never had a real peace about it.  So my boys went off to public school.  I think it was what we were supposed to do for that time.  And it may be again someday.  But we know right now that for THIS time, they need to be home. We've found a co-op program that they will attend one day a week for classroom time, including opportunities to give reports, do group bible study, etc. . .There are alot of FamilyLife kids that will be a part of this, as well, which will be exciting for the boys.  They havn't really had the opportunity to get to know many other FL kids their age since we live down south.  They know a few, but they are younger.   We are looking forward to opportunities to strengthen our children from the inside out.  To teach them about history, science, math, and language from God's perspective.  To helping them learn to get along with each other, with Godly principals, and building their character.  And also to learning on the road by getting to travel more often with Peter as a family.  Yep, I'm a little nervous and overwhelmed, but at the same time, at such peace! We appreciate your prayers for us during this time!

Well, that's it for the update for  now.  It's been long, huh?  I will ask you to pray for two final things.  In the last week we've had a few sobering occasions.  I'll fill you in in more detail later, but please pray for our neighbor, Donna, whose husband, Vernon, passed away last week.  And also for Peter's cousin Ryan's son, Jackson.  He was bitten by a baby rattlesnake Saturday evening.  He is improving, but still needs prayers! 

Following on the tails of illness and more around here came about 10 days of crazy family travel!  Last weekend was the Tulsa Weekend To Remember.  Peter, Benjamen, Jacob, and myself left for Tulsa Thursday, March 19.  With my parents living there, we stayed thursday and sunday night with them, and the boys hung out with Grammers and Grampers that weekend while I helped Peter (at least I TRIED to) at the WTR.  There were 484 people in attendance, with 9 salvations and many lives and marriages changed! 

Now, you may have noticed I didn't say that Bryan went with us.  Well, last week was Spring Break.  His youth group was going on a ski trip that left Sunday evening before we would be able to get back from Tulsa, so he stayed with a good friend who was able to get him to church.  We headed back Monday afternoon after visiting a bit with my folks.  Tuesday and Wednesday were spent having a little fun around town, but also washing and repacking, because Thursday Peter and I headed to Minneapolis, Minnesota for his last WTR for this fiscal year.  This time Benjamen and Jacob headed to another good friend's.  Bryan was supposed to join them friday, but his ski trip adventure was extended when the youth group was snowed in and didn't arrive home until 4 a.m. Sunday morning.  I know our friends' didn't sign up for THAT pick-up! 

Minneapolis was alot of fun, with, of course, a trip to Mall of America for me on friday while Peter got details finalized.  But, as much of a shopper as I am, I was so overhwhelmed with the place, I just got this t-shirt!

The conference was amazing.  Here they had 1197 people in attendance and a whopping 158 salvations!  I had an amazing experience of standing next to Peter while folks left the conference.  I was moved to tears to see the people leaving with hope that they didn't come with, holding hands with their spouses, shaking hands with Peter and telling him thanks, seeing the deep appreciation in their eyes for helping make this weekend possible.  I feel so blessed to be a part of FamilyLife!!!

It's been a tough week here in Little Rock.  Actually, it's been a busy couple of weeks.  I think last time I updated you, we had sick little boys.  Just a few days after getting the last one back to school, Peter gets sick.  He was sick 5 days, missing three days of work.  During this time Benjamen gets a relapse, and misses another two days of school . It was crazy.  Then 2 days after Peter returned to work, he was awakened in the middle of the night with the old familiar pains in his back, and was soon overtaken by the pains of kidney stones.  For five days he dealth with the pain at home, taking pain meds to keep it under control, until we were able to get an appointment with a urologist.  There they confirmed through x-ray that he did indeed have a 6 mm stone.  After telling us they usually give it 2-3 weeks to see if the stone will pass on it's own with the help of another med, and us filling the doctor in on Peter's upcoming travel schedule (we go to Tulsa for the WTR next thur-mon, then to Minneapolis 3 days later Thur-Mon), they went ahead and scheduled him for a procedure to remove the stone next wednesday.  However, yesterday evening around 9, I hear Peter announce "It's a girl!"  It took me a minute, but then I realized what he was saying!  I think everyone's prayers prayed it out! 

   But I think any mom/wife will tell you, as much as you love your husband and love spending time with them, it can be hard to have your home schedule and routine for so long.  Selfish, I know.  Today he returned to work feeling great.  But it was a tough day at the ministry.  FamilyLife had to have another layoff today, so the mood was quite somber.  We also had coworkers and friends lose their daughter 2 days ago in a car accident.  It's been a tough week.  Please pray for us up here, and for all our friends and coworkers.  It really is a big family and this family is hurting. . .

  Ever have one of those weeks you just don't know where it went, yet you didn't really every go anywhere?  Last week was just that for us.  Monday was a holiday for the boys to celebrate President's Day.  Benjamen wasn't feeling 100%, and although we couldn't find a thermometer (we hardly ever have to use them in our family, rarely being sick), he most likely had a temperature.  Tuesday we had found one and he had  about 102.  We took him to the doctor and found out he had a double whammy.  Both a bacterial and a viral infection.  Wednesday morning, Bryan had joined him, and Thursday we added Jacob, all having what we were told was a "fever virus".  By Friday, Benjamen was back at school, and Bryan was feeling tons better.  The little guy, though, has hung on to his fever.  I think finally today we are on the tail end, and may even see him back at school tomorrow, but of course with lots of make-up work to do.  I think this is the longest any of my children have been sick, and missed more than 1 or 2 days of school. 

  In the midst of all this, we had a family birthday.  On Sunday, Peter had a birthday.  We got up early and off to church by 7 because Peter and I were both participating in Praise and Worship.  For lunch we had Peter's favorite:  STEAK!!  After gifts, Peter challenged all of us to Wii games.  Peter and I were even treated to a date by a gift certificate sent by some loving friends.  It was a really special day. 

Tomorrow is Bryan's birthday.  He'll be 14.  I can't believe it. I'll tell you all about it next time!

Tomorrow is Valentine's Day.  Yes, I know it all started from a not-so-pleasant event, but it's fun now, and most people don't even know about the "old days".  Peter and I were just talking today about how you either love or hate this day.  For me, I think we should definatly let those we love know how much they mean to us all year long, do special things for them for no real reason, no holiday obligation.  But, really, how many are good at that?  Having a holiday just for telling those you love how special they are makes sure you actually DO it!  I've got special things planned for the boys tomorrow, including chocolate chip pancakes and strawberry syrup, little gifts, and their favorite dinner, fettucini alfredo for their dinner. 

I have no idea if Peter and I are going to GO do anything special, but we will do our best to spend the day together and have fun! We are new students of Dave Ramsey's Financial Peace University and hadn't yet set aside an "envelope" for holidays and such.   Of course, I'll wear pink or red, and probably encourage the men in my house to do the same.  I'll tell all 4 of my boys how blessed I am to have them in my life.  The last thing I plan is to make sure I wake up Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, etc.  . .and do the same thing then!

Hope you have a very special Valentine's Day!

When we moved north, we all thought we'd see a bit more of the white stuff!  I realize it isn't that much farther north, but, hey, north enough, right?  Today the temperature is hovering around the freezing point.  Almost every school in Arkansas is out.  FamilyLife is even closed today. (FamilyLife is about 30 miles north of our house, and on the way up in elevation, so it is usually about 3 degrees colder.  Just enough to have ice.)  BUT our boys are in school!  When you drive around, you can see why.  Here, it's raining, water standing everywhere, with some icicles on signs, windshields frozen over, some bridges, but that's it.  However, this could totally be a different story tonight when the cold is reinforced, and the temperature drops even a little.  I keep hearing stories from "back home" in the Dallas area about ice and snow.  We had one ice day last month, but frankly it wasn't much of anything down here.  The northern parts of Arkansas, that are also more in the mountains, got alot more ice and snow.  Peter and I both love the cold.  We prefer mountains to beach anyday!  Give us some snow!!!  I enjoy being out in it, proven this morning when we dropped the boys off at school, went and had coffee together and ran a few shopping errands for the ever-growing boys in their high-water jeans!!  Then it's wonderful to come home to a fire!  Warm up some and get ready to go play some more!  But, so far, nothing to play in. 

Maybe tomorrow???

Today is a big day for our country.  No matter how you voted, you know that to be true.  Our nation has been through so much in it's entire existence.  The whole premise that our country was founded on was freedom.  Yet, not everyone had freedom here!  Now look!  I charge you to pray with me for our nation, for our new President.  I will admit, that is a challenge for me, but I am committing to you that I will pray for him.  And I will honor and respect him as our nation's leader, and do recognize the amazing things that he has accomplished.

Tomorrow is a big day for our family.  Our "baby" will turn 9 years old.  It's hard to believe.  I am thankful he is his mama's boy, and still loves to sit in my lap, loves hugs and kisses, and still needs me.  But he's growing up!  And I can't stop it!  I remember bring that precious baby home.  We lived with Peter's parents at the time.  The boys, who were barely 3 and almost 5 at the time, loved their new brother.  They were loving and helpful.  Now he's a  big 3rd grader, enjoying learning and reading, and loving his first year in Cubscouts.  He shot his first deer this fall.  He's learning cursive, multiplication, and is making some great new friends.  He is a sweet boy, and a real joy to have in our family. 

Happy Birthday, Buddy!

Can you believe I've written two blogs in one week? It's friday and tonight several couples will be arriving in Little Rock to begin training for the support-raising phase of the call the Lord has made on their life.  It seems like yesterday this was us.  I remember being nervous and excited, and completely overwhelmed.  Was I going to be able to do what was asked of me?  Even when we left Little Rock to head back home, I still wasn't sure.  The only thing I was sure of was that God had called Peter and I to come to FamilyLife.  That, honestly, was the only thing I needed to be sure of!  He provided, and continues to provide, in ways only He can!  I used to be a worrier, but God showed me there is no reason to ever worry.  Yes, tough times come our way, and often we don't see how things could happen in our own way of thinking, but I am so thankful my way isn't His.  Right now we find ourselves down to one car.  But in all honesty, it doesn't really phase me.  I've seen God provide for us and others and know He already knows how this will be taken care of.  Peter's already had several offers for carpooling, which is awesome!  That is already God providing.