Fun in St. Louis

We had such a great time on our week-long vacation in St. Louis...it was very hard to leave! Ryan got to take Lauren on a date to the Arch and out to lunch one day, we got to go caroling and look at Christmas lights around town, I got to get a 2-hour massage (heavenly) and go shopping on Black Friday...and, most importantly, Ryan got to go shooting for a day and test out the rifle he has been working on. We played games almost every night and we both gained weight from all the fudge, stuffing and pie! So, pretty much, the best vacation EVER!!

Here are some pictures from our trip (the bear you see Lauren holding in the pictures is "Mr. Beary" - he is the class bear and is given to kids who display good behavior. They usually only get him for the weekend, but Lauren was allowed to take him for the week - we have to complete a journal for him with pictures of all the places she took him.):














All set to leave for the airport


















Lauren at the Arch














Mr. Personality














Watching football with Mr. Mader














Lauren & Nolan's "fort"

Thanksgiving Break

We won't be posting a blog for a while because we will be going to St. Louis for a week for Thanksgiving! My sister-in-law's parents must have decided we didn't do too much damage last year because they have graciously invited us back. :) We are very excited to get away and to not be by ourselves for the holiday...and I get to have my husband with me for a whole week! (Minus one day that he will be shooting, of course.)

We had so much fun there last year and this time will be even better now that Nolan is older - last year we had to work around his nursing schedule and he got an ear infection on Thanksgiving Day!! :( Please pray for safety for us as we travel and good health while on our vacation! I'm sure there will be lots of stories and pictures to post when we get back, so stay tuned...and Happy Thanksgiving!!

First Report Card

This week Lauren was sent home with her very first report card! We have our Parent/Teacher conference tomorrow night, so I knew we would get it before then. I was so anxious to see what her teacher had said so I peeked while we were sitting at a red light...I couldn't wait until we got home!

It made me so proud as I scanned the paper to see all the E's & M's (they don't get "real" grades yet - E means exceeds expectations and M means meets expectations). Of course, her E's were in the places I knew they would be: Bible, PE, Reading, Music/Drama. And, the poor girl is going to take after her mother and struggle with math (that was the only place she had a P...which means progressing towards expectations).

But, grades aside, the part that really made me want to brag on her was the comments her teacher wrote at the end: "Lauren brings wonderful thoughts and interest into the classroom. She has a vast knowledge of facts in science and the Bible. She is an amazing addition to our class."

I couldn't have been prouder at that moment. Yes, it is great that she has good grades, but nothing beats hearing that your child knows her Bible!! :)

More Updates

I heard back from the surgeon today who, after looking at the films from my CT-scan, confirmed that I do have a small abdominal hernia. Because it is a mild hernia and not causing me extreme amounts of pain, I asked him if we could postpone the surgery until after the holidays. (The last thing I want is to be recovering from surgery while we are on one of our trips - St. Louis for Thanksgiving and Oregon for Christmas.) Thankfully, he agreed...with the understanding that I will take it really easy and lay low for the next couple of months so as not to aggravate it or make it worse. And, of course, if it does suddenly worsen, we will schedule the surgery right away. But, I am hoping for the best and I am going to try my heardest to stay down and follow the doctors orders. Assuming I can and all goes well, I will have my surgery the 2nd week in January. Nothing like starting off the New Year with a bang!! :)

Oh, and for those of you who are wondering, we finally finished getting Nolan's room repaired today - the carpet installers came this morning and laid the new carpet and we spent the remainder of the day, and part of the night, moving furniture back and rebuilding his crib. He was so excited to be sleeping in his room again and back in his crib (I think he was a little cramped in the pack & play in our room). And we are glad to be sleeping back in our bed tonight, too!

The Good Shepherd

I have another "short" story to add to this whole oil spill situation. After a trip to Lowe's to pick up some degreaser, Ryan went back into Nolan's room to try and clean the oil that had sprayed onto the baseboards and the side of his crib. When he got down there and began cleaning, he looked and saw that the oil had sprayed halfway up the wall on the side of his room where his crib was. Which means that he could have been covered with the oil, burnt by it or even ingested some of it, depending on where he was sleeping in his crib at the time of the accident.

Then, Ryan turned and saw the picture we have hanging in his room of Jesus holding a little lamb. It was as if the Lord was saying, "I was watching over him the whole time. I protected him from what could have been a life-threatening situation." How many times in our lives (and the lives of our children) does God protect us from harm that we don't even know about? There we were, sleeping peacefully through the night while oil was spraying all over Nolan's room...and we had no idea. How grateful we are for His provision for us!

"He tends His flock like a shepherd; He gathers the lambs in His arms and carries them close to His heart."
~ Isaiah 40:11 ~

The Oil Fiasco

Ryan went to get Nolan out of bed this morning and as soon as he opened the door to his room, was hit with an eye-watering smell. He said he knew instantly what it was. We have a free-standing plug-in oil space heater in his room because he gets cold at night. We usually keep it on a low setting and have had it since Lauren was a baby and used it in her room when she was little. Well, it decided to "die" on us last night (or this morning - we aren't sure when it happened). But, instead of just not working, it leaked/sprayed oil all over the carpet, the wall, the side of his crib, etc.

My first reaction was panic that he had been breathing those awful oil fumes all night. So, we did searches on the internet and called the fire department. But, thankfully, he wasn't displaying any of the warning signs for chemical poison/inhalation. Once we determined that he was okay, we had to move on to figure out what to do with the carpet and everything in his room that smelled like oil. (Keep in mind that our house is up for sale and we could have a showing at any moment...)

We called cleaning services that deal with hazardous spills, carpet installation companies and heating specialists for their expert opinions. What we decided to do was move everything out of his room, wash all his clothing, bedding and stuffed animals that absorbed the fumes and remove the part of the carpet that was soaked with oil. We opened windows and turned on fans to try to help it air out. But, even then, all I can smell as I walk through the house is oil - yuck!! We had to set up the pack & play in our bedroom for him to sleep in until we fix his room.

Ryan scheduled for a cleaning company to come out tomorrow - they said they could get the oil up out of the floor board beneath the carpet. Once that is done, we have to go to Lowe's to find a match to our current carpet and have them come install new carpet in his room. Of course, we are trying to do this as quickly as we can because 1) until then, Nolan has no room to sleep in and 2) our house is for sale and this will delay any showings.

Despite the stress that a crisis like this brings, Ryan and I were able to laugh about it and display one of our strongest suits, which is teamwork. It is funny how ever since we listed our house for sale, it seems that we have had one problem after another. I guess that is Murphy's Law for you! Here are some pictures from our adventure this morning: