What's new with the Dells'...

2010-04-15T20:36:00.001-04:00

randombecky.wordpress.com

2010-04-14T09:28:00.001-04:00

I have moved! Come check out my new site Random Becky over here:

http://randombecky.wordpress.com/

THANKS!

Looking you in the eyes and speaking the truth

2010-04-11T14:20:00.004-04:00

Today I am going to look you in the eye and share the truth about what I am going through. Some of it will be obvious, some hard, some hum-drum, some encouraging, and some disposable. Here it is.

The truth is...

*This morning I woke up tired, not because I went to bed late, but because the pain was bad last night. I didn't rest much. It was a long night.

*About 6:30, Collin came into our bed for morning cuddle time. Aaron and I have encouraged this from the start with the boys. We love cuddling with them. We soak it up. We long for it. We treasure it. Today, when he came in he snuggled up to Aaron and went back to sleep. Around 7:15 I woke up rolled over and looked at my beautiful (ALMOST 4 year old!!) boy sleeping. No worries, no concern, no pain... just rest. This gave me great joy and peace and I finally felt rested.

*Aaron & Noah beat me downstairs. By the time I joined them in the kitchen, coffee had been brewed and they were getting ready to make breakfast! I settled in on the couch with a nice comfy blanket and listened to Aaron and Noah as they started the process of making french toast to the sizzling/popping soundtrack of bacon cooking on the griddle behind them. Noah asked the typical gazillion questions. Aaron gave the answers. It was all music to my heart!! The batter was completed and the bread was being dipped and griddled to perfection. YUM!

*We went to church. Sunday school was wonderful. I love the teaching style of my girlfriend Lisa and the topic, I am sure, was picked just for my benefit. Okay, I know that isn't the case, but man did it ring true and speak to me.

*The church service was difficult. My back became more and more angry, so I excused myself and found an empty classroom and laid on the floor for a while. When I regained my strength, I went back to church only to hear the end of the sermon. I didn't retain much.

*After church we came home. I helped Aaron get lunch together. We ate and I asked the boys if they would walk on my legs. Noah smiled and said,"Mommy, are you going to play with us?". I told him I was going to lay on the floor and would like it if they would walk on my legs to help them feel better. He shrunk down, lowered his head and said, "nevermind". That broke my heart.

*God affirmed our decision to have back surgery 2 times today.

*Tonight I am going to church and will be annointed w/ oil and prayed for. I love our church family!

*Tonight we will have communion at church tonight.

*I do not know how I will get through this week, but I know God is faithful and will do what he says he will do!

*Tuesday and Wednesday I will have thyroid scans. I am honestly not worried about it. I know this is all part of God's plan for my life. I know God is good all the time! I know he has given me great peace about all that is going on in my body.

*I am focusing on his goodness. The pain I am currently going through is intense and horrible, but I praise him for all that he is teaching me through this struggle. He is so gracious. Praise God!

Happy Easter!!

2010-04-06T11:39:00.003-04:00

Living and Learning

2010-04-02T08:57:00.005-04:00

Fact : I love my boys. I would die for my boys. No question.

Fact : God loved his son. He loved him enough to offer Him as a sacrifice for me. He sent his son as payment for my sins. WOW! What amazing love.

On December 19th last year, while on our way home from a family Christmas party, Noah prayed to ask Jesus in his heart. It was an amazing, humbling, precious, loving, deeply touching, life-changing moment in the life of our family. To see God grab ahold of Noah's heart at the young age of 4 changed my life too. By God calling Noah, he awakened part of me that had been asleep for quite some time. It renewed my desire to really get into his word and SEEK Him with purpose and intent. Before then, I would read the Bible and study the word, but it often felt like homework. Ya know? I desired to learn more about God, but I don't think I had a burning desire to do so. Now, don't get me wrong, I daily struggle with the desire to sit and read, but I think the part that has changed the most is my desire to understand what he means. Nothing in life, past/present/future, happens by accident. NOTHING. There are NO coincidences. NONE!

As I reflect on Easter this year, my heart is in a different place. It is as if God has flipped the switch to "on" and I need to know more of him. He has changed my desires. As I let go of some of the control issues I so DEARLY cling to, I feel free - not scared. Not afraid. Not alone. I don't feel like the world is going to end. I don't feel like it won't get done. I feel fulfilled. I feel at peace. I feel calm.

A few weeks ago the boys got a playset for the backyard as a combined birthday gift from my parents and sister. I told the boys when friends come over to play it is important to show them God's love while they are playing. I explained that many of our neighbors do not know Jesus, encouraging them to share Jesus with their friends and how important that was. Well, Noah took my instruction and has made it a point, on his own, to ask each friend if they know who God is. Most of the time they have either changed the subject or acted irritated. The other day, this happened:

Noah: Do you know God?

Friend: No.

N: Did you know NO ONE IS BIGGER THAN God?

F: I am bigger than God.

N: No you are NOT!

F: Yes I am!

N: *tears* Mommy, F said she is bigger than God! Can you tell her she is not. She needs to know how much God loves her.

Me : F, come up here and sit with me on the porch for a minute.

F: *Joining me on the porch* What?

M: Noah is right, No one is bigger than God.

F: Nu-Uh! I am bigger than God.

M: Did you make the tree's?

F: No.

M: God did. Did you make the sky, ground, birds or flowers?

F: No.

M: God did. HE made everything and he made you. HE loves you!

Then F changed the subject. I dropped it and explained to Noah how important it is for us to share God's love with our friends, but he is the one who will make them understand. That is not up to us.

It has been so convicting to watch Noah talk to his friends about God. He has no fear. He has a pure, childlike faith. It is beautiful.

During this time of pain in my life, I feel so blessed. I wish the pain would end and I could be more active and get back to living like a 31 year old instead of an 80 year old. I wish I could get back to completing my weightloss goals, but that is not what God wants for me right now. The pain and restrictions have taught me a great deal about God. About His love. Pain brings many gifts. He has made me more aware of suffering. More aware of those hurting. More aware of HIS work. It is as if He has visibly taken me out of the equation. It is ALL him. It is All His work with in me. It is a blessing. I pray, when the suffering is over, I will NEVER forget what he is teaching me.

Happy Easter.

Update

2010-03-31T08:17:00.003-04:00

Alright, here is the scoop.....

It looks like I need surgery. I have an extremely herniated disc in my low back and it is compressing nerves affecting both of my legs. I am in a great deal of pain most days and in moderate pain the rest of the time. I have scheduled surgery on May 20th. In the mean time I will seek a second opinion, just to make sure I have no other option. The surgery will not be an easy one.

Here's the skinny:

*4 hours

*Remove the disc.

*Replace it with a spacer.

*Fuse it all together.

*Place 4 screws.

I feel like I will be a giant erector set!

Recovery:

*Approx. 3 days in the hospital.

*Month 1 "Nothing of value" (per doctor). Only walking.

*Month 2 Start driving!! Start doing daily activities.

*Month 3 Begin their exercise program where they will "beat me up" (doctor again) and strengthen my back. The doc assured me this would be very painful, but the results would be good.

So there you have it. The long and short of it.

In other news... I will go back for a second ultrasound of the 2 nodules on my thyroid tomorrow afternoon. I will post more when I have new info!

I wanted to leave you with this sweet little gem! So sweet! God's generous blessing to me that keeps me going on the days when I hurt the most. I am richly blessed!

The Circus is COMING to Dayton!!

2010-03-26T09:28:00.004-04:00

Come experience the all-new

Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey presents ZING ZANG ZOOM

Playing at the Nutter Center

with your family!

Once again, I am partnering with momcentral.com and hosting a give away! One lucky winner will win a family 4 pack of tickets to opening night, April 29 at the Nutter Center!

If you aren't the winner, I will have a special offer for you!

Purchase a 4-pack of tickets for weekday shows for only $44,

or receive $4 off any weekend ticket by logging onto HYPERLINK "http://www.ticketmaster.com"www.ticketmaster.com and entering the coupon code:MOM.**

Dayton Show Dates:

Thursday April 29: 7:o0pm

Friday April 30: 7:00 pm

Saturday May 1: 11:00am, 3:00pm, 7:00pm

Sunday May 2: 12:00pm, 4:00pm

To enter, all you need to do is leave a comment with your e-mail address or Twitter handle so I can give you the news if you win. I will also post the winner after on April 16th by 9 a.m. here on my bloggity blog!

*Contest ends April 15 at 9 p.m.

*Please note - any comments I make to this post will be deleted before the winner is determined through random.org.

Noah turns 5!!

2010-03-23T21:24:00.009-04:00

Noah turned 5 on March 9. It was a beautiful day so we went to the park and played!! It was wonderful.

On Saturday, we celebrated with the family and had a couple of friends over to spend the night. My mom made the Pirate cake and it was perfect!!:)
James, such a cutie!
Noah, Peter and Ryan. 3 buddies getting ready for a FUN night!
Noah modeling his pirate bandana.
Peter giving his best Pirate, ARRRGGGG!
Ryan was a calm Pirate, at this point in the evening. He is such a sweet boy.
Pirate Collin, trying to look tough.
Time for a craft.
Peter and Noah working on their Pirate ornaments.
All of our party Pirates showing their telescopes and swords.
After crafts, bingo, pin the tail on the donkey and dinner, we settled in for a movie.
Lights out!
Sunday morning was fun too! We all go to church together, so they were able to play together until we got to church.
There were some highly competitive games of ring around the rosie going on!
A few more minutes of extreme cuteness.
The next day, Grandpa Jim started to assemble the gift from my parents and sister for Noah and Collin's combined birthday present. So much fun!!
They love it!! The best part is that we are constantly entertaining our neighbor kids. I spoke with Noah and Collin last week about how important it is to tell our friends about Jesus. Noah started witnessing to his little friends the first day they came over. What a blessing and a challenge to this mommy.
Happy birthday. I love you so much Noah. You are an amazing boy.

2010-02-25T22:11:00.002-05:00

The winner is.... Lucky Number 13!! Jen your family is going to the circus!! I will contact you to tell you how to claim your prize! Thank you to everyone who entered my very first giveaway! Check back, in the near future I will be hosting another circus giveaway! :)

Wishing I could freeze time

2010-02-19T10:43:00.004-05:00

Today is one of those morning when I wish I could freeze time. Let me show you what I mean...

First Collin...

Noah...

I am truly blessed to stay at home with my boys and experience these precious moments. Precious moments.

The Circus is COMING to town!

2010-02-10T14:07:00.004-05:00

Know how I am pushing away the winter blues?? I am hosting a give away!!

The Circus is coming to town!!! I am happy to partner with MomCentral and host a give away for tickets to the upcoming Ringling Bros. & Barnum and Bailey "Zing Zang Zoom" Circus. The tickets are for the opening night show in Cincinnati, Ohio March 10. Not only will one of my lucky readers win a family 4 pack of tickets, the "All Access Pre-Show" is FREE for all ticket holders and begins an hour before showtime. If you aren't the winner of the give away, here is a coupon code for you! Go to www.ticketmaster.com and enter the coupon code: MOM. The code is valid for four tickets for $44 for Monday-Friday matinee shows (any additional tickets are still priced at $11), and $4 off Friday night and all weekend shows.

Cincinnati Show Dates: (US Bank Arena)

Wednesday March 10: 7:00pm

Thursday March 11: 7:00pm

Friday March 12: 7:00 pm

Saturday March 13: 11:00am, 3:00pm,

7:00pm

Sunday March 14: 11:00am, 3:00pm,

7:00pm

To enter simply leave a comment on this post! The drawing will be held Feb 25, 2010 at 10pm.

*You may enter once a day if you'd like!

*Please include your e-mail address so I can notify you of your win. OR check back here on 2/26 to see if you are the lucky winner.

Where have I been??

2010-02-05T09:26:00.004-05:00

Why the Debbie Downer Face?
Well, honestly I haven't been hiding, just processing. I will fill you in, but try to be brief.

Where to begin?? Perhaps a brief summary will do the trick.

For the last (almost) 10 years I have dealt with some pretty extensive back problems. The truth is, I am in pain everyday, but it is part of me and doesn't warrant discussion. In December my back went out. When I say went out, I mean I couldn't walk. I went to the doc, got an script for prednisone (steroid), vicoden, and a shot in the butt of cortisone (steroid). This worked wonderfully at first. In fact I felt better than I had in a long time and enjoyed an amazing Christmas holiday and New Year's Eve. However, that was a gift from God and a couple of weeks ago the pain came back. My leg started hurting terribly and I began to experience numbness and tingling. YIKES! I will not try to explain this pain to you because unless you have personally experienced it, you cannot fully grasp the immense pain that it brings. Last week an MRI revealed a pinched nerve and a worsening of my degenerative disc disease all. My problems are in L4,L5 and S1. I have 2 bulging discs and one herniated and the disc disease is all over that area. So on Wed next week I will meet with a surgeon (again). I have not seen a neurosurgeon since 2002 so I am interested in what he has to say.

So I don't get comments about how this is the LAST resort, I will state what I have done for treatment over the last 9 + years since the onset of my back problems...

*Cortisone Epidural Injections - 2 times, each is a series of 3 injections - under x-ray - with a GIANT needle of cortisone into the epidural space.

*Physical Therapy - 4 different series of PT appt's over the 9+yrs.

*Chiropractics - 4 different docs with different approaches, multiple sessons (all resulting in worsening my symptoms).

*Many massages

*Steroids

*More steroids

*Pain management drugs

*Anti-inflammatory meds

*Muscle Relaxers

*Anti-spasmodic meds

*Yoga

*Pilates

*Weight training

I didn't want to jump into surgery, but honestly I have tried so many things, I am weary. I want to have a healthy back and if that means that I need to have surgical intervention, I am ready. Mentally, emotionally, physically and financially. I will let you know what the surgeon says. I am also prepared for him to say there may be something else he recommends. I covet your prayers and support as we venture into a new phase of this journey. Thanks!!

2010-01-27T19:46:00.002-05:00

How yummy does this look?

Okay, I am a terrible food photographer. In fact, you may be saying, "what the heck am I looking at anyway???". Well, as some of you already know, I am out of commission. My back has gone out and I am waiting to hear back from the people who schedule MRI's to get the test that will direct us one way or another. As for now, I am left in a lot of pain. Crawling, shuffling and trying to function throughout my day. Yes I said crawling. back pain is not for weaklings. So, today Noah made dinner. The above pic is the Chicken-Broccoli-Cauliflower-Cheddar Casserole that Noah made for dinner tonight. When I say Noah made it, I mean NOAH MADE IT. He put the chicken in the bakeware, added a bag of frozen broccoli and cauliflower and Campbell's Cheddar Broccoli condensed soup. Then he dumped a sleeve of Ritz crackers into a large Ziplock bag and beat them to a crumb with his fist. Then he melted a couple of TBSP of marg and added it to the cracker crumbles and dumped it onto the chicken mix. Then he evenly spread the crackers out with a spoon. Here is what the chef thought:
He said it was DELICIOUS! He couldn't wait to tell Daddy that he did this all by himself. I am so thankful for my little chef. Seriously people, he did the whole thing, only leaving the putting in the oven and taking it out.
Little brother doesn't look to thrilled!:) I assure you, he loved it and ate most of what you see on his plate!

Before...

2010-01-27T14:59:00.003-05:00

So I recently came across a few old pics. I thought I would share them with you. Enjoy and please be kind...

This pic was taken on Nov 19, 2006. 7 days later I started making big change for a healthier lifestyle.

2004 in Disney World! Outside of MGM!!!
Happy New Years in 2003 at the Magic Kingdom!
Goofy at Epcot!
Gatlinburg 2002.
Also in Gatlinburg, with my cousin Michael and his wonderful wife Rebecca.

I hope you enjoy! It really feels like a lifetime ago!

Bondign Through Bakng

2010-01-22T22:11:00.002-05:00

A couple of nights ago, Julia, Aka Aaron's cousin and flower girl in my wedding. Julie mentioned that she wanted to make a pretty cake. Well, I jumped at the chance to work with her on that project.

Noah took this picture for us!:)
We mixed our icing, baked our cake and the crumb coat was being applied.
Julie and Collin play with the icing tips.
Noah show Julie how much he already knows.
Julie is a natural! She did a fantastic job spreading the icing smooth as can be!
She came up with a really cute design.
Adorable!
We were so proud!
YUMMY! It was a delicious lemon cake with beautiful citrus colored icing. So refreshing on this cold winter day.:)

Thanks Julie!! It was a great night.

I HEART the Air Force Museum

2010-01-19T10:20:00.006-05:00

We are blessed to live within 15 minutes of the Air Force Museum. It is a very cool place with a lot to see! It is also completely free. You can pay for the IMAX theater or the flight simulator, but the actual museum is free. It is a favorite pass time for us in the winter because it takes us about 2 1/2 hours to walk through it and it gets us out of the house. Yesterday, my husbands parents and Grandpa joined us.
How sweet is my little Collin in this pic. Hands folded neatly together as he looks at one of the scale sized blimps.
Grandma Rosie explains to Noah what he is looking at. It seems the boys have more questions each time we make a visit here. It is a great place to nurture their minds.
Many of the window are kid height. This is so wonderful! It is hard on this Mama's back to lift a 32 lbs kid and a 44 lbs kid up every couple of minutes to look at something for 21/2 hours.
These boots caught my eye. They are from 1918 and they would totally be in style if they were worn today. The trends just keep cycling. Albeit these served as functional footwear over fashion, it is still interesting.

Collin the Astronaut!

Noah the Astronaut! How cool is this??? LOVE IT!

Here is Noah controlling an aircraft.
There are 2 different jets that the kids (or grown-ups) can sit in and explore. VERY fun!
They have removed all of the dangerous stuff, but the kids could have played in here for days. So fun.
Here is an exhibit that realy confused Noah.

N:"Why is there a woman standing on that car?"

M:"She is celebrating freedom." * I continuing to explain the tearing down of the Berlin Wall.*

He didn't understand it, but some really great seeds were planted.

Just beyond that exhibit, the brightly colored exhibit, is an actual part of the Berlin Wall.

I didn't get pictures of it, but there are some new exhibits dedicated to our brave men and women who are currently battling for our freedom oversea's. It is both humbling and surreal to see our current events displayed in a museum. I was reminded of the sacrifice our brave service men and women are giving right now. I am so grateful for those who serve to keep our GREAT country free. May God bless America. To all who serve, have served or who plan on serving , THANK YOU FOR ALL THAT YOU GIVE! We are blessed beyond measure to have you. God bless.

Feeling like a grown-up

2010-01-18T09:53:00.005-05:00

I now feel connected to my home. I don't mean to say that I felt like a stranger here before, but I now feel like my home is reflecting me. When Aaron and I were married for about 1 1/2 years, some friends gave us this dining room table...

it has been a wonderful table. We have shared many meals and fun evenings around this table. However, it was falling apart. LITERALLY! The arm chair on the end is pushed under the table because the table will fall down if it is not there. (Please excuse the clutter in the background. All of that "stuff" = Christmas presents that didn't yet have a place to call home in our overly toy stuffed home.) So, after much deliberation, Hubs finally agreed that it was time to buy our own table. I was so excited because we got to pick what we liked!! :) This is what we picked...

Ahhh, that is better! I also bought some sheer panel window coverings and new valances. This truly reflects part of my personality and makes me feel relaxed and at home!

Now onto the carpet! OY!! I am not a person who struggles with not being content, however, I do like things to be clean. I am happy in my home, happy in my neighborhood and do not desire to live in a big house in a fancy schmancy neighborhood. I also do not think it is wrong to want those things, it is just not me. We moved into our house 7 1/2 years ago. Immediately I wanted to replace the carpet, but financially I knew that was not going to happen. Last December we started setting money aside for the purchase and 12 months later we went from this...

to this...

Now I feel like my living room is much more relaxing and clean. The new carpet breathed new life into the room. It is amazing how a couple of changes can really calm your mind and reflect who you are. I have to say buying new carpet made me really feel like a grown up. I am excited to have people over again and that is so refreshing during the winter time. Home sweet home, AHHH now I know what that means. :)

Winter wonderland

2010-01-16T08:53:00.004-05:00

The other day it snowed. Not toooooo much snow, but enough to build a snowman or go sledding. The problem was, it was all powder. The boys were so bummed! Thankfully it eventually turned into packing snow. SO, we dressed for the occasion and made ourselves a snowman!

Noah and Collin we each able to roll the snowballs by themselves this year. :)
Noah posed after we put the snowman's belly in place.
I love this pic! Collin needed a break!
Collin and Mommy put on the head.
All done and well dressed!!!!!:)

*A big thanks to my dad for dropping by just in time to take pics for me. :)

$5 Dinner Menu Plan Day #6

2010-01-13T15:44:00.006-05:00

What's for dinner tonight?

Asian Chicken Wraps

page 90

Chicken Breast $3.00

Teriyaki Sauce $.15

Soy Sauce $.05 (Erin's Math)

Carrots $.30 (Erin's Math)

Romaine $.10 (Erin's Math)

Peanuts $.06

Tortilla's $.84

Applesauce $.68

Total: $5.48

This was another easy recipe. You can marinade the chicken in the same skillet you cook it in.
In the book Erin recommends serving the wraps with snow pea's, but I wanted applesauce. It was a nice compliment to the teriyaki flavor.
Here are our left overs, lunch tomorrow.

While the chicken was flavorful, tender and moist, this meal felt more like an appetizer than an entire meal. We pulled out a couple of left over sweet and sour sauce packs from a previous McDonald's visit and dipped our wraps in them. It was really good with the sauce.

$5 Dinner Menu Plan Day #5

2010-01-12T14:01:00.005-05:00

What's for dinner tonight?

Garlic Pork Chops

page 173

Pork $3.25 (OUCH! I used slightly more than the recipe called for.)

olive oil $.20 (again, I used Erin's math)

garlic cloves $.10

Potatoes $.39 (I used Russet.)

milk $.15 (Erin's math)

Margarine $.22

Green Beans $.89

Total : $5.20

I had no pork stockpiled in my freezer so I shopped for a manager's special and was blessed to find one! :)
In this recipe, Erin has you marinade the meat in olive oil and garlic in the fridge and then cook it in the same pan. I am all for simplifying. :)
The finished product. Delicious! I had the mashed potatoes in my freezer from a couple weeks ago when I made a double batch. I usually do that when I get potatoes on sale for a good price. All I did was pull them out of the freezer last night and let them thaw in the fridge. I then reheated them on the stove.

Well, I need to go, I am headed to Erin's book signing! I can't wait to see so many of my friends, bloggy and otherwise that I know are going to be there. SO, if you aren't doing anything and you are in or near Dayton, head over to Books & Co at The Greene from 7-8 . Hope to see you there!

$5 Dinner Menu Plan Day #4

2010-01-11T15:21:00.008-05:00

What's for dinner tonight??

Tex Mex Chili

Ground Beef $1.78

Onion $.50

Garlic $ .05

Black Olives $ 1.25

Tomatoes $.77

Kidney Beans $.67

Chili Powder $.05

Cumin $. 10

Potatoes $ .30 (Erin used different sides in her book, but I wanted baked potatoes instead.)

Cheese $.24

Total : $5.71 (Erin did it for almost a $1 less in her book. If I would have used dry kidney beans I could have saved $.50 alone. I generally use canned beans, but maybe I should reconsider...)

** I should mention that we have enough chili left over for lunch tomorrow! Yea!!

Browning the beef, onion and garlic.
Beans, tomatoes and spices.
Black olives. So, here is my tip!! Years ago Aaron wanted to add black olives to something. We only had whole olives and he needed them sliced. Well, he doesn't like tedious prep work so he pulled out our hard boiled egg slicer and sliced it. It worked like a charm, so that is how I slice olives. :)

The finished product. Disclaimer : if you make it as directed in the book your Tex Mex chili it will not look like this. If you read my ingredient price breakdown, you will notice that I used canned kidney beans instead of dry beans. Well, what I didn't say mention that I forgot to take that in to account when I added the 3 cups of water. So, when the soup should have been done and ready to serve it was really watery. I didn't know how to fix it so I took a minute and thought about the ingredients and ran to my pantry in search of something thick and tomatoey. I grabbed 2 - 6oz - cans of tomato paste and threw them in. (This added about $.60) to the mix. IT WORKED!!

I decided to smother my baked potato with the chili. It was my favorite way to eat it!! SOOOO good!

Noah's Stitches

2010-01-11T15:03:00.003-05:00

On Sat, Jan 2 Noah and Collin were chasing each other in the house when Noah slipped and hit his head on the dining room table. Of course I had just told them to stop running in the house when this happened. BIG shock, I know. Anyhow, he ended up with 11 stitches outside and some inside too.One of the ER nurses brought him this army helmet. God bless her, she looked for a cowboy hat for him, but couldn't find one.
He was very brave during the stitching and didn't even cry!
Today we were able to go to the pediatrician and get them removed. He said he was "a lot of nervous!", but once again he was really brave. We went to our new pediatrician and the kids loved him!! He let both boys try on his magnifying lighted headband. He even let Collin sit on the exam table by Noah's head and watch him take the stitches out. The entire time, Collin kept telling Noah how brave he was being and that it would be over soon! The boys are very loving and sweet to each other today. They were perfectly behaved while we were at the doc's and even gave each other an unprompted hug and kiss after Noah was all done! I feel so blessed to have sons that really enjoy each other. I pray God will guard their relationship and keep them close!

Way to go Noah!! I am so proud of you! (You too Collin.)

Movie Night

2010-01-10T00:07:00.004-05:00

Family Movie Night!!

Last night I was blessed to spend the entire evening with my guys. We had a movie night!

The above pic was taken Christmas Eve morning at my parents house.

We cuddled up on the couch under a soft, much-loved-fleece blanket, enjoyed popcorn and candy while watched "Cloudy With A Chance of Meatballs". Check out this review:
http://www.pluggedin.com/videos/2010/q1/cloudywithachanceofmeatballs.aspx

(photo from pluggedin.com)

We loved it so much that we have added it to our shopping list. It appealed to the kids, naturally, but also to the parents. I could count on one hand the things that could be offensive about the movie and even the token love story in the film was kid friendly. It is only on a rare occasion that I will put myself out there and recommend a movie, especially one that is for the kids, but this gets 2 thumbs up from this Mama! This morning I asked the boys and Aaron what their favorite parts were and we all like something different. You really should rent it or make an event of it and catch it at the cheap seats while you can. It is so much fun and leaves you feeling happy, satisfied and a tad bit hungry.

I think one of the things I liked best is that it was age appropriate for my 3 and 4 year old. I didn't have to fast forward over anything and I didn't have to sensor any of the language....SO refreshing! It was a wonderful night.

So, if you are looking for a great movie for the entire family go get "Cloudy With A Chance of Meatballs". If you do, let me know what you think!!!! :)

$5 Dinner Menu Plan Day #3

2010-01-08T17:17:00.005-05:00

What's for dinner tonight??

Autumn Chicken!

Page 91

Apple Juice $.30

Chicken Thighs ( I bought boneless/skinless, instead of bone-in) $3.42

Onion $.30

Apples (I bought granny smith instead of Macintosh) $.50

Lemon Juice $.15

Cinnamon $.05

Rice $.20

Broccoli (I am using frozen mixed veggies) $1

Total: $5.92 ( I could have saved a lot if I would have bought the recommended Bone-in thighs.) Not $5, but a great value nonetheless!

Everything just gets thrown into the crockpot! You do have to toss the apple slices in some cinnamon and lemon juice, but that is no biggie. So easy and it sure was nice to have the fragrance of this meal filling the house while we were snowed in today!

8 hours later, all done! The chicken was moist and full of flavor. It fell apart.

This was my plate! I think the thing I like best about Erin's book so far is that you never are over full! You know what I mean? The meals are well balanced and portioned just right for a family like mine. Of course, last night we could have over eaten, but the flavors are so alive in her recipes that I walk away feeling satisfied, not stuffed to the gills! Another winner!

My $5 dinner cookbook menu plan, day 2

2010-01-07T18:16:00.004-05:00

What is on the menu tonight?

Mexican Rice Casserole

page 156

Here is the run down...

Tomato Sauce $.39

Ground Beef $1.78 ( I used 1lbs instead of 3/4 lbs)

Chili Powder $.10 ( I go by Erin's math for the cost breakdown of the spices. )

Ground Cumin $.10

Garlic Powder $.05

Onion Powder $.05

Salt & Pepper

White Rice $.20 (I used Jasmine Rice left over from a previous meal)

Cheese $.24 ( I used 1/4 cup of cheddar instead of 1 cup mont jack cheese. It was great!)

1 can Black Beans $1.00

1/2 can corn $.35

1/2 Avocado $.33

Total $4.59

The spices, ready to go!
The beef is browned and the spices and tomato sauce have been added.
I used black beans for a side instead of eating this with Watermelon because it wasn't in season.
I didn't want to pay what Kroger was charging for corn on the cob, (Erin suggested serving with corn on the cob), so I added 1/2 a can of corn to the casserole. You can see that 1/4 cup of cheddar got the job done!
Served with avocado ( I only mixed it w/ a tiny bit of garlic powder, salt and pepper) and black beans.

It was delicious!! Another winner. Overall, we liked this better than the turkey burgers. The best part

is, we will we have about 1/3 left! I can't wait for lunch tomorrow. YUMMY!

My $5 dinner cookbook menu plan

2010-01-06T19:01:00.004-05:00

Okay so you have heard me brag on my friend, Erin, and her brand new cookbook!! Well, here I am striking a pose with the book! And yes, I did try to mimic her pose on the cover. ;) In honor of her book release, I will be cooking recipes found within the book for the next 2 weeks or so. I will not make a new recipe every night, but I will post the meals I do make.

Tonight I made Italian Turkey Burgers. YUMMY!
My meal cost a whopping $5.03. I did make a list of how much all of the ingredients cost me, but somehow I lost it between this afternoon and evening.

As suggested in the book, I served it with carrot sticks and oven fries. This is a pic of my plate, yes I did start eating before I remembered to take a pic. It is delish! Noah, my 4.5 year old, ate 1 1/2. The burger may be remade in my kitchen as meatballs in the future. It is full of flavor and really moist.

If you want to attempt this meal, it is on pages 111-112 in the $5 Dinner Mom Cookbook.

Happy cooking!

Picture post!!

2010-01-05T13:44:00.005-05:00

Christmas 2009...

I hope your Christmas was as Merry as ours!!

A bloggers dream

2009-12-31T08:49:00.003-05:00

So, I really want to go to Blissdom 10, had even planned on it. Well, it is not happening this year, we just can't afford it. That being said, I think my subconscious still holds out hope that Aaron will drop the needed amount of money on my lap and send me on my way. Anyway, here is the dream I had last night.

It was a beautiful day and I was walking through Nashville, ( the Nashville in my mind is beautiful. I have never actually been there.) I was walking through the parking lot of a busines office where Blissdom was being held. ( I know it is at an amazing hotel, but this was my dream people, so that is where it was.) So, I was just walking by an old truck and lying in the back were 2 little girls, I would say about 6 & 8. I asked what they were doing there, in their sleeping bags, and they explained that their mom was a blogger and just HAD to go to Blissdom, but had no one to watch them so she brought them along. They continued to tell me that they had been there the entire time and that their mom would bring them food, so I didn't need to worry. Well, I scooped them out of the truck and we went to the nearest police dept. The mom was arrested and I was given a free pass to Blissdom 10. I was so happy! Nevermind the fact that those girls were completely neglected, minor detail. LOL!!

Oh Blissdom, why must you cost so much! :(

To all of my bloggy friends, may you have safe travel and a wonderful time at Blissdom! I will be there in spirit. Keep an eye out for me in a parking lot near the hotel. AND please leave your children in the care of someone you trust, not in the back of your truck. ;)

My new favorite cookbook!!!

2009-12-21T16:12:00.005-05:00

I just got home from a very exciting run to the local Books & Co. Why was it so exciting? BECAUSE I bought a very special cookbook written by one of my dearest friends! When I got to the bookstore I quickly scanned the aisles looking for the newest cookbook on the shelves. I couldn't find it! GRRR!! I went the cookbook section, and there it was!! Beautiful. Crisp. Happy. AND mine. I scooped it up and ran to the nearest register. I quickly read the first couple pages and had to stop. I was all teared up. Ya see, I have been blessed to know the wonderful author of this book. I have seen her ride the waves of the journey that has produced such a great resource for families who strive to be good stewards of their money. Thank you, Erin, for sharing your journey with me. I pray that as you continue to discover where God is leading you never lose sight of him. May God continue to bless you and your family on this amazing adventure. I love you!!

No, get off the computer and GO BUY YOUR OWN COPY!!

The best gift of this Christmas....

2009-12-20T14:43:00.002-05:00

Lately Noah has been asking me a lot of questions about death. It has been quite unusual and very intense. He has cried and asked very pointed questions. Well, last night while on the way home from a Christmas party, he once again asked me what would happen when I died. Aaron and I talked with Noah and the most beautiful, unexpected thing happened... Noah asked Jesus to come into his heart. At 4 3/4 years old, God has opened Noah's eyes and prompted his heart. Praise God! Merry Christmas to my sweet Noah and new brother in Christ. What a special blessing to be able to share this amazing moment with my husband and oldest son.

A year in review!

2009-12-11T23:01:00.004-05:00

We are nearing the end of another year. How the crap did that happen? I have no idea. This year has flown by so fast and as I reflect on 2009 a few things come to mind. SO... I will reflect for you here and now...

In October we almost lost our dear, precious Collin. As many of you know, he was in the hospital for 6 days with pneumonia. I thank God every day for healing him. The night we decided to take Collin to the hospital was difficult. We kept calling our pediatrician, "ask a nurse", Children's hospital and other doctors. All of them said his breathing was rapid because of his fever. I knew, in my heart, that something else was going on. When we arrived at the hospital and they swept us off to a room, I got scared. I believe that if we hadn't made the decision to take him in that night, he would have died. Thank God he didn't. Thank God for giving us wonderful care at Dayton Children's. Thank God for saving our boy!

In August, I began homeschooling Noah. It has been something we wanted to do since we began discussing having kids. The journey has been amazing. I think the greatest gift of homeschooling will be learning how Noah and Collin learn. When we started school, Noah could hardly draw a stick figure. As of this week, he was able to write several words and draw several things. It is so great to watch him learn and to see the lightbulbs go off. What a blessing!

In October, Aaron and I celebrated our 9th wedding anniversary. It is hard to believe we have been married almost an entire decade. He is a wonderful husband. He loves his family and works so hard to provide for us so I can stay at home with the boys. He was promoted to supervisor and is thriving at work. I am so proud of him.

Currently I am dealing with some pretty intense back pain. I am thankful for the prayer and support I have received. It is frustrating to be in chronic pain, but thankfully, I am optimistic. It seems this year has brought a lot of depression in my life. I have prayed that God would take that and I really feel like he lifted that weight off my shoulders. Praise God!

This year has also brought the gift of new friends. Last May I attended a Moms Night Out event. It was a lot of fun and I met some really nice mama's! (Love you ladies!!)

In the upcoming year I look forward to launching 2 new blogs (stay tuned) as I continue to discover new parts of myself.

I want to thank you for reading my blog and sharing in our journey!

Here's MARLEY!!!

2009-12-07T18:37:00.002-05:00

While looking on Craigslist last night for a dog to adopt an ad grabbed my attention about a pug that needed a home ASAP! So.... we adopted Marley. Really we adopted Harley, but we quickly changed that to Marley. He hasn't even noticed. Here are Roxi (9) and Marley (11mos or so). Poor Roxi didn't even get dinner first before Marley had his way with her. :( She was not happy. Needless to say, Mr. Marley will be getting the old snipperoo as soon as we schedule the appt. hoping this week though.
Noah is SO happy!
Collin is so silly! Happy, but silly!
Both boys are CA-UTE!!

We are so happy to have another pug. He is a great addition to the family and he is even house broken. We are dealing with some territory marking, but other than that all is well. Except of course for poor Roxi, she could use a break, or maybe a smoke. ;)

SOOO Cute

2009-12-02T18:48:00.002-05:00

Since Collin's stay in the hospital in October, Noah and Collin have been in LOVE with each other.
They love to wrestle and play with each other.

My favorite is...
when they love on each other.

What a tremendous blessing to be the mother to such beautiful boys.

Thanksgiving

2009-11-27T14:07:00.003-05:00

I am so thankful this year for my family! God is good. He is gracious! He is faithful! He is my everything!

Praise God from whom all blessings flow.

Happy Thanksgiving! Have a wonderful time gearing up for the Christmas season, but make sure not to get too busy to reflect on the reason we celebrate!!

A thankful moment

2009-11-15T23:54:00.003-05:00

How beautiful!
My beautiful boys! These pics were taken when we were on a hike in the Smoky Mountains.
Noah called this a "secret passage way".
My parents and boys! We had a wonderful time! I am truly blessed to have such great parents who love their grandkids!

I can't go to bed tonight without writing about how thankful I am for my wonderful boys! I am so thankful God has richly blessed me with a husband and two beautiful boys. I am thankful for a wonderful family and an amazing group of friends.

I was thinking about Collin and how almost an entire month has already passes since his hospitalization. WOW! Unbelievable. Last week my parents and I took the kids to Tennessee for a quick 5 day vacation. My, once close to death, sweet Collin was able to hike, run, play, splash in the waterpark. There was no sign of his recent pneumonia. NO SIGN! Praise God!

Halloween 2009 part 3

2009-11-05T08:07:00.004-05:00

Here is the last post on Halloween 2009.This is the only pic I have of the 4 of us from the night. Collin is a cute, I mean, "scary" spider. Noah I a pirate. They looked adorable! At this point they were eyeballing our street to see who was outside with candy. Collin was not allowed to be outside to long, so we decided to only go a couple of blocks.
This is our neighbor's house. He told the boys to take as much as they wanted and that the best candy was at the bottom of the bowl. Noah and Collin took his offer and each snagged several handfuls.
ARRRGGGG Matey!
The itsy bitsy spider.
Noah and Daddy ready to hand out the last of the candy.
The Mickey Mouse pumpkin Collin and I carved.

The cakes. You get to decide which one I made and which one Collin made.
My homemade carmel corn!! This is my mom's recipe, but now it is MINE! A new tradition for sure. YUMMY!
Brain! Okay really it is a Pampered Chef recipe from the 90's for steamed cauliflower.

After we trick-or-treated, we enjoyed dinner and games with my parents, Uncle Josh, and Aunt Megan. It was a wonderful evening.

Halloween 2009 part 2

2009-11-04T16:49:00.002-05:00

PUMPKIN TIME!

A wonderful time! We had a great time!

Halloween 2009 part 1

2009-11-01T14:53:00.004-05:00

We decided to kick off the weekend with a little one-on-one time with the boys. Aaron took Noah to the garage to service our van for our upcoming Tennessee trip next weekend. This picture was supposed to show just how dirty their hands got during the work, but it doesn't show much. Trust me, Noah's hands have never been more dirty.
Aaron and Noah told Collin and I all about their experience. Checking the brake pads and changing the oil. Noah's favorite part was getting to go underneath the van.

Meanwhile, Collin and Mommy were inside the house getting ready for the party. We each decorated a pumpkin cake. We thought it would be best if I made "devils food" cake. ;)

Collin loved using the piping bag!! So fun!! He did a fantastic job!

SPRINKLES!

SO proud!

More to come keep checking!

I was just thinking...

2009-10-29T08:24:00.002-04:00

I am sitting in my living room. The boys are watching a Mickey Mouse Clubhouse DVD. I am tired, but rested. (Is that possible?) Roxi the Pug is on the floor vent for our heater, the most coveted spot in our entire home when it is cold out. My mind is racing from one thing to the next and I am struck by how much of my time is spent thinking about stuff that doesn't matter. I am constantly re-working situations in my mind. You know, the "what if I would have", "I should have", "I can't believe I" thoughts that are not used for learning, but for tearing oneself down. I am stuck in this rut, again, of feeling like an utter failure. I am not saying that for pity, but because this is my blog and I can say whatever I want to get off my mind. I think with each passing year I am getting more and more discouraged with some area's of my life. I feel so emotional at times, much like the CRAZYirrationalhormoneinducedemotional rollercoaster I rode during my junior high school years. It is so strange. I remember times of discouragement in my youth. Times of feeling like no matter what I did, no matter what my intention or how hard I tried, things seemed to fall flat. I don't know how to explain it exactly. I am just frustrated I guess. I feel selfish for these thoughts and feeling this way. I am so richly blessed. I have a devoted, hard working fhusband. Two wonderful, healthy and amazing boys, pretty much everything but the white picket fence. Why should I feel unsatisfied? Why? I have more than I ever wanted, yet I feel sad a lot of the time. I know a lot of these feelings have to do with knowing winter is fast approaching and I will be stuck inside for 5 months and that is very difficult for me. Also, Saturday is the 5th anniversary of my due date for our first child. It will be a difficult day. A day where the rest of the world moves along at a normal pace, but my world comes to a stop throughout the day when I think about this precious child I never got to hold.

I know I need to rest in God, I am trying, but it is a struggle. So, if you are like me and you need to find peace search for answers in the Bible. Seek his wisdom and comfort. Rest in Him. I know I am going to try to.

A normal day

2009-10-28T08:34:00.003-04:00

So, life is one again running on schedule. So far anyway. I haven't talked too much about last week yet because I am so tired still and my mind is not in a healthy place about it. All of the mommy guilt is killing me. Some of the thoughts are rational: why didn't I listen to my instinct on Friday instead of waiting until Sunday night? answer: because I was listening to those who I thought know a lot more about this stuff than I did and I am a hypochondriac. Other thoughts are very dark and I won't share them with you yet. It is too painful. I have analyzed the entire week and continue to come to the same conclusion.

(In my sinful mind) The truth is...

I am sad.

I am angry.

I am fearful.

I am worried.

I am waiting for all of the blessing in my life get up and leave once they realize who they are stuck with.

In reality...

I believe that God is sovereign.

I believe he has complete control over our lives.

I believe God has Collin's life set in stone since the beginning of time.

Nothing that happens is out of God's plan or control. This brings great comfort, but reminds me I have no control. I love control, hate not having control and constantly sin in this area of my life. What will it take for me to actually let go of things and rest in the beauty of my precious Father. He has it all figured out. I am not here for myself, but for His perfect plan. My prayer right now is that I will daily give that control up and become more like Him and less like me.

Collin Update Saturday

2009-10-24T08:50:00.003-04:00

Collin is going home TODAY!!! IV has been removed, regular clothes have been put on and I am packing up our belongings! Praise God!

Some pics and a movie

2009-10-23T18:15:00.003-04:00

This is what Collin looked like before we got him to the hospital.

Here he is on Monday! It was the first day in almost a week that he tried to play with anything.
Later that day he received a Build A Bear from Aunti Jen!
This is an adorable pic from a couple of days ago! You can see he is starting to come to life.
*note there are no pics of me for a reason!
Here he is w/ Grandpa getting ready for a walk. So cute!
Finally some rest! (For only a short while, but he looks so sweet!)

Here is a video I took today so you could see the improvement. Thank you so much for your support and prayer.

AAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

2009-10-23T06:17:00.003-04:00

I just want to scream! AAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH!! It helps, but it isn't the same to write a scream. I am weary this morning. I am sad. I am tired. I feel torn. This is the first time I have had to be away from Noah when he is sick. My heart is breaking. I know he is in great hands! (Thank you Mom and Dad!) I know he is not feeling that bad, but I also know he is missing his mommy and brother a lot right now! Collin misses Noah too. A LOT! Yesterday, Collin started crying, "I miss my Noah! I want my Noah. I miss my brother." It hurts them to be apart especially because they don't understand why or what is going on. Last night is was so precious to listen to them talk over the phone. When the boys were done talking, I took the phone and told Noah how much I love him and I that I wanted to take him out for ice cream when Collin is all better and we come home. Collin said he wanted to go too! I told him that I think it should just be Noah and Mommy and he could do something with just Daddy. Noah told me, " Oh, it's okay Mom! My brother can come too and my Dad!" So, when this hellish reality of hospitals and separation is over, you'll find us on a famiy date! I cannot wait!!!
So if you're reading this and you have all your kids at home give them a big hug in honor of my lonely heart!

Collin Update Thursday

2009-10-22T21:28:00.002-04:00

Wednesday night brought us the beautiful gift of sleep! Praise the Lord! Aaron, Collin and I all slept through the night with only a few awakenings. I didn't realize how much I needed it. Today was very calm at the hospital. Not so at my parents house! The morning started early when Noah, our oldest, woke them up with a high fever (102+) and terrible shivering. That is exactly how Collin started his illness last week. Aaron took Noah to the doc and he had crackling in his lungs. He is on a breathing medication to open his airway and an antibiotic. His should clear up quickly because we caught it early and he was properly examined and diagnosed. The doctor didn't mess around because he knows what is going on with Collin.
Alright, on to Collin. Today went fast! He napped twice. I napped once. He ate. I ate. That is not the best part though! The best part is that he has been off of oxygen since mid afternoon! He is holding his own! He is doing well! He still has a lot of stuff in his lungs, but he is getting much better! The discontinued one of his antibiotics because they still have not grown anything on his culture and Noah has the exact same thing now(= it was probably spread by Collin). Therefore, it is looking more viral at this point and the med they discontinued fought bacterial pneumonia. He is responding well to walking and loves playing! It is so great! I don't know when we will be released, but I hope it is SOON! I will let you know!
Thanks again for your prayers!!

Collin Update Wednesday

2009-10-21T22:39:00.003-04:00

Today was wonderful. Well, as wonderful as it can be when you have a child in the hospital. The morning started with a happy Collin. He had a great attitude with his doctor's and nurses, for the most part and love the new "games" resp. therapy has him doing to open his airways. What kid wouldn't love being told he has to blow into one of those party favors that unrolls or blow bubbles inside(!) or go on a walk to see a fish tank. Oh I can't forget how he also love his pinwheel!! The doctors and nurses still continue to bless our family with the love and care they pour over our family daily. Collin's room feels warm and homey with cards from his friends, Jacob and Ellie, Noah and even a card made and given to him secretly by a child he has never met. He loves his flowers from Daddy and the Chase family. He loves his balloons. He loves having MANY gifts given to him several times a day. He loves the picture of he and Noah and the one of Daddy and Roxi that Daddy brought from home. It has made a big difference in my mood too! Everywhere I look in his room shows promise, love and support. It has been crucial to our survival.
Today while I was giving him one of his massages, (yeah, there are some perks to having a mom that is a massage therapist), he looked at his flowers and said, "God made those flowers mom." We spent the next several minutes talking about many things that God has made. It was so nice. We talked about:
Mommy: Collin, where are you?
Collin: At the doctor's.
M: Why are you here?
C: The doctors are making my boo-boo's all better.
I found such comfort in this. He does kind of understand what is going on. This brings great peace to both of us.
We consulted with a Pulmonologist today and he suggested a few new things we are trying. He had another chest xray, which we have yet to talk to a doctor about. I spoke with one of Collin's resp therapist's and she said she only read the report and when she compared the new and old reports there was not much change. I am slightly discouraged by this, but only slightly because he is showing great improvement. He got to go on 2 walks today!! He walks from his room to the waiting room to look at the fish tank. A big surprise today was that my BFF was here visiting me when I got the call to come back to help him w/ his walk. It takes Aaron and I to do one of his walks, we have an IV pole and O2 tank to tote along with us. Well, when he saw Aunt Stephy he lit up like a spot light and grinned ear to ear. She got some great big hugs and it made his day. He seems to be doing much better and we have even successfully brought his O2 down from 2 liters to 1.5 liters. Soon they plan on lowering it another 1/2 liter. I pray it holds!
This morning Aaron arrived and we traded "posts"! I got Noah and he got Collin. It was so great to see my big boy!! We went to Bob Evan's for breakfast. We ordered and the server was about to walk away when Noah told her "My brother is in the hospital, yeah he's sick". It was all I could do NOT to cry. I was missing Collin. I was feeling guilty for missing him when I hadn't spent any time with Noah since our 15 min playdate 2 days ago. I knew Collin would be having a blood draw while I was away and I wouldn't be able to be there to hold him. After we ate, I made it as far as the cash stand before the tears started pouring out of my eyes. We got to the van, I was somewhat composed, when Noah told me he wanted to hug me for a long time. I L.O.S.T. it! I sobbed into his tiny shoulder and tried to assure him they were happy tears because I missed him so much and now that we were together I was so happy I couldn't help myself. He just said,"come on Mom, stop crying." I cried until we got to Walmart where I bought him a gift and passed him off to grandpa then headed back to the hospital. I am stacking up the mommy guilt, I will try to refrain from my (mostly tainted) thinking. Let's just say I feel pretty guilty right now. While at Wally world I snagged some cough syrup for me and some chapstick for Collin. I returned to the hospital to find a snuggling Daddy and Collin. It was beautiful. It warmed my heart as does looking up from my lappy to see the same picture in living color right in front of me.
I am so thankful Aaron is here tonight. Last night was almost more than I could take! I hope sleeping in shifts will help, but right now I am not even tired. I know it is impossible that I could be anything less than wiped out, but I am running on adrenaline right now. Crazy, ADD type adrenaline. My mind is rushing!
I should probably call it a night! More to come tomorrow! Thank you again for your love, support and encouragement! It means a lot!

Collin Update Tuesday

2009-10-20T21:17:00.002-04:00

Today had high points and low points. I am in awe of the peace that has come over my mind. Collin spent most of the day in his bed resting. The highest point of my day was watching Collin play with playdough, smile, talk and even laugh. The highest high point was hearing him say,"I love you Mom" when I thought he was sleeping. I went over to his bed and kissed his sweet head. He smiled. My heart warmed.
As far as his condition, he remains mostly unchanged. His right lung has no change at all, but his left lung sounded "slightly improved". I will count this as a high and low point, but I will also count this as a blessing. He showws some improvement! He didn't get worse! Those are good things. I find I am strangely calm and optimistic and that is because God is taking care of my baby and I believe he is. He loves Collin more than me. He cares for Aaron and I. He has a plan for Collin. He has a plan for this whole horrible situation.
Collin is still scared of the doc's and nurses for the most part. I am thankful he has been deemed "not contagious" so no one has to wear a mask anymore which is a lot less scary. That is a high point.
I will only dwell briefly on the low points and simply state them as fact w/o commentary.
~He isn't able to maintain enough oxygen on his own.
~They have tried 2 times to lower the amount of O2, but it did not work, so he was put back on a higher dose.
~We aren't going home anytime soon. Maybe Friday. Maybe.
~Collin is still very sick.
~Collin may still end up in the PICU.
~He is still having nightmares.
Okay there are more, but I just can't dwell on it any more tonight.
We have a wonderful support system and friends have even brought food to our hospital room so we don't go broke eating cafeteria food. (Almost $30 in 1 1/2 days! That is like 25% of our grocery bill for 2 weeks of food.)
Another HIGH point was getting to see and spend time with Noah! Praise God the hospital has a beautiful courtyard and we got to play. It was wonderful.
I need to go, hope to write more tomorrow. Thank you for your continued prayers!

Anything I can do to help??

2009-10-19T23:25:00.003-04:00

There are so many wonderful people offering to help our family I don't know where to start the thank you's. Right now, we are living minute by minute and I don't know what we will need. The control freak inside of me has lost hold and I am resting in God's promise that he is sovereign and has already written the book of my Collin's life.
I am writing this post to the drip-drip-bubble-bubble that sounds like a mix between a dog lapping water and a bath tub filling with water. The sound is actually the water that is moistening the oxygen that is piping into Collin's 3 (and almost1/2) year old body. 1.5 liters, whatever that means. I am sitting on the hard couch in his room while Aaron is coaxing Collin into leaving the cannula (oxygen tube thing) in his sore little nose. Every few minutes the DING DING DING of his monitor breaks the rhythm of the O2 gizmo and I get jerked out of the "happy place" I am trying to create in my mind. Those of you who know Collin know he HATES bandaids. He always has. As you can imagine, having his little arm on a flat board from wrist to elbow is a hot button issue for him. Now he has discovered he can bang the back of the board on his bedrail and make a loud noise. Yay! (sarcasm intended). Every 1/2 hour my baby awakes. He has had terrible nightmares since arriving here about 24 hours ago. He is tiny and frail. He has lost 5 lbs since last Thursday and is now only 31lbs. As a massage therapist, his physique helps me guide along the muscles, as a mama it make me cry. Literally. Let me just say, crying while you are already losing your voice and occasionally coughing is a recipe for frustration. I can't help it. I am sad. I want to lay down on my bed and let it out. i can't. My baby needs me. He wants me. He must have me. I went to dinner tonight with Aaron to the hospital cafeteria while my mom watched Collin. I got a call about 7 minutes later from her saying I should go back. So I did. I ran through the hallway's and got to my baby just in time to hold him down for bloodwork. Did I mention he hates bandaids?? Imagine how much he LOVES needles. He fights, kicks, screams, scratches, swings and arches through every procedure. He has finally stopped screaming and shaking when a doctor walks in the room, so that is a blessing.
He is scared. Terrified. Sick. Tired. Longing for his home. I am too.
Today we saw hope. We saw him attempt to play with a balloon. He played with a car. He smiled a weak halfway smile. He said I love you. He laughed, almost. It was beautiful. It was priceless. It was Collin.
I know morning is coming soon for us. I know I am running on 1 hour of sleep and a 1/2 hour nap. I know the last week was Hell for us. I know I need to rest, but I can't right now. Rest will come for me, I know it will.
So, to answer the question, "is there anything I can do to help?" Only Grandparents and parents are allowed to come in to see us so you can't physically sit with us. I think the only thing that helps right now is knowing you are praying for our boy and the encouragement you are sending via e-mail, phone calls and facebook. For that I am eternally grateful. For now, I need to go, it is almost nightmare time. He is tossing and turning.

Edited Update

2009-10-19T23:22:00.001-04:00

I will just fill in the blanks and edit my sister's previous post about Collin.
Corrections:
Aaron took Collin to the doctor.
I spoke w/ a doc on Friday night. Explained Collin's breathing and voiced several concerns and questions.
Sat night, Aaron spoke with our pediatrician and ask a nurse regarding our concerns.
These are minor errors, but I thought I would make a few corrections.

Update on Collin

2009-10-19T22:42:00.003-04:00

Collin's story(by Aunt Jen)

(Here is the story to the best of my understanding.) Last week Collin got very sick. Becky and Aaron consulted the doctor who said it sounded like H1N1. Since everyone is advising people to quarantine themselves with H1N1 and stay out of the dr office unless things get really bad, they did. By Thursday, Collin was on his 3rd day 0f a 102+ temp and was not himself at all. He wasn't eating, sleeping or doing anything but moaning and trying to breathe. So, Becky took him in to the doc. The doctor assured her that it was H1N1 and that they did not need to do any further testing. Things kept getting worse and by Friday night Becky's "mommy-radar" was blaring loudly that something was off. On Saturday they called the doctor to explain that Collin's color was way off and he was really struggling to breathe and his temp was still very high. They were advised to wait until Monday to do anything. By Sunday night, Becky's mommy radar was too loud to deny and she did what she and Aaron thought was best, despite the doctor's advice. They took Collin to Children's because he was really struggling to breathe. They assessed him and became very concerned (Becky only learned the severity of this concern after the fact). Testing showed that Collin did not have H1N1 or any other flus but had pneumonia. Due to the fact that this was misdiagnosed, his pneumonia festered in his little chest and he was admitted to the hospital. He is currently on very strong IV antibiotics and oxygen. His respiration is starting to get better and his temp is back down under 100 after a slight jump earlier tonight. Please keep Collin and his family in your prayers. He will be in the hospital at least through Wednesday.

Painting the sidewalk

2009-10-14T08:01:00.003-04:00

Yesterday we needed a little bit of outside fun and I had promised the boys that they could paint. My friend Lisa, about a week ago, suggested painting on the sidewalk and washing it off. So....that is what we did. I decided to leave it instead of washing it off because I think the boys would have been heartbroken if Daddy didn't get to see what they did. They thought it was so silly to paint the sidewalk. Collin is yelling "PAINTING" for the camera. ( It sounded more appropriate a command than "cheese".) He just looks angry.LOL!
I think it is interesting how they claimed their paint plate immediately. I was encouraging them to mix colors and use all three colors too, but they were pretty loyal to the initial color they had chosen.
Noah did go for some purple, blue and yellow. Collin eventually added yellow to his red. They were so proud of their work and couldn't wait to show Daddy. FYI Tempra paint came off the Crocs with hot soapy water and a tiny bit of elbow grease!:)

An Ohio blogger's weekend: Part 2

2009-10-13T14:27:00.004-04:00

Sunday afternoon Aaron and I took the boys to a Weight Watcher's event hosted by Amy of AmyInOhio.com and Emily of MomminItUp.com . The event was held at Tom's Corn Maze in Germantown, OH. It was so much fun!

Noah is enjoying his s'more.
There was some serious marshmallow roasting going on here. MMMM MMMM Good!

Collin love being in the woods. There was so much for a little boy to explore! So fun.

Collin, Noah, Ryan and Charlie are sitting on top of an old fire engine that is now a pumpkin launcher. It was really cool!
Before you enter the maze, you hear a tutorial from a nice worker from Tom's farm.

We walked through the maze with Katie from DomesticDebacle.com (her hubs and kiddo) and Erin from 5dollardinners.com (and her hubs and kids). It was so fun for the kids (grown-up's too) to have some friends to go through the maze with us! They liked hiding in the cornstalks and steeling corn.

It was a great afternoon!! A good time was had by all!

An Ohio blogger's weekend: Part 1

2009-10-12T08:52:00.007-04:00

This was a great weekend to be a blogger in Dayton! SO much to do and so many great ladies to meet and spend time with. Saturday night Hubs and my dad took Noah and Collin to a cider making event at a farm in Xenia, OH. It is an annual event hosted by the wonderfully generous Beam family! I try to make the event every year and I think this is only the 4th or5th one I have
missed since I was in Jr. high. So sad I didn't get to visit with the wonderful folks there.. Hubs said it was a blast and the kids had a wonderful time throwing apples into the apple washing machine. They brought home a 1/2 gal of the amazing cider!

Yes, I made them do this, but look how cute they are!
The boys made these SCARY (insert spooky voice) Jack-O-Lantern's last weekend w/ my parents.
Notice the resemblance between Collin and his friend?
So, while the men in my life played farmer, my BFF and Mom headed to the onceamonth.com tweet-up at Forge Enterprises in the Historic Oregon District. It was so much fun. We got to eat yummy food, watch cooking demo's, visit with some amazing women and make new friends! I think the icing on the cake was that we (Stephany, Mom and I) all won a prize! Very cool!
I won this (minus cover) amazing Longaberger large market basket.

(photo : Longaberger.com)
AND this 9x11 stone baking dish in cranberry.

(photo :Longaberger.com)

It was a beautiful night! The weather was cool, but warm enough to check out the view from the roof.

It was really a nice treat to be out of the house spending time talking, eating and learning.

This is the only pic I got of the actual event! I know, I am sooooo lame! This is Tricia. She is the author and creator of Onceamonthmom.com. It is a wonderful concept and I hope to give it a try SOON! (Come on mom! Let's do it!) http://onceamonthmom.com/ If you like the idea of cooking for the entire month in one day, than go to her site now and learn how! She is really organized and has many wonderful idea's!

Overall, it was a great night!!

9 and counting...

2009-10-07T18:41:00.002-04:00

Here are a few pics of how we celebrated our 9th wedding anniversary.

This is what 9 years of marriage will do to a couple.

Ahhh, this is better.

Noah liked the lining. Check out Collin in the chair behind Noah. Our wedding video has this affect on people.

The bride and groom.

Noah really wanted me to wear my "married clothes".

Wedded Bliss

2009-10-07T08:16:00.002-04:00

9 years ago, today, I married my best friend. Aaron has been a constant support and I am so thankful to have him as my partner in life. I love the life God has blessed us with. Happy anniversary hubby! I love you!

Update...

2009-10-05T17:06:00.004-04:00

Happy to report that my dad came through the heart cath great! The doc found a 70% blockage so he did an angioplasty and inserted a stent. All is well. Praying for a quick recovery. Thanks for all your support!

When did my dad become an old fart?

2009-09-30T22:32:00.002-04:00

I just wanted to ask for prayer for my dad. A couple of weeks ago, he went to the doctor to get checked out do to some unusual symptoms. It turns out, he has some blockages to his heart and parts of his heart aren't getting enough blood. SO... on Monday, 10/4, he will have a heart cath. Thee doc will go into one of his arteries via his wrist. They will scope out the situation and take it from there. The doc suspects this to be a routine. There are many things that they could find once he is actually looking at the arteries, but some are a bit to overwhelming for me to discuss here. So, please pray for my Dad. I greatly appreciate it!

Poor Collin

2009-09-25T16:25:00.003-04:00

Poor Collin!! He was dancing and fell face first on a really hard floor. His open mouth hit the ground before his feet returned to the ground. OUCH!! The stuff around his lips is dried blood. It was a pretty bloody scene. The dentist seems to think that if the teeth don't fall out, he will be okay. If he does lose a tooth (or 2), because he is only 3, he will probably have to have a spacer put in. I pray that he won't have to deal with that.

Here you can (kinda) see how puffy his little lip is.
Poor Baby!

Disney On Ice

2009-09-24T08:40:00.011-04:00

On Sept 23rd, my Mom, the boys and I made the drive to Cincinnati to see Disney on Ice, 100 Years of Magic! It was amazing. We were invited, by the wonderful folks at Mom Central to a meet and greet before the show. It was so great! The boys immediately scoped out the wonderful Disney gifts they were given!

The loved their Mickey ears Crown! The event had just started and they were having a blast! Then...

Minnie and Mickey came into the room and their excitement reached a whole new level!

They were in Heaven!

Noah was trying to make Mickey wave at the camera.
Collin had to do EXACTLY what Noah was doing, of course.

Here we are waiting for the show to begin. The seats were amazing and I felt so blessed to be there.
Noah took a pic of me in his Mouse Ears Crown.

It's too bad Grandma and Collin weren't excited. (Daddy was originally going to go with us, but h was on call. Thankfully Grandma was happy to step in.)

Show time!

Goofy, Donald Duck, Minnie, Mickey, Chip and Dale all started the show!

Pure joy! Priceless.

Beauty and the Beast.

This is when Noah and Collin's heads exploded from the excitement of being in the room with their FAVORITE movie characters! If you have ever met Noah, you already know he is a cowboy and he loves Woody and Collin proudly declares his LOVE for "BiteYear" (Buzz Lightyear) all the time! This part of the show was one of my favorites. SO well done!

BUZZZZZ and WOODYYYYYYY!!! AAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH!

They were so great!

AND JESSIE from Toy Story 2!! Can I get a Woot Woot?!?!?! It was so amazing to watch these talented skaters glide, jump and spin around the rink w/ such grace and ease. Beautiful.

Awe.
This was an amazing part of the show. They recreated "It's a small world". I didn't have many pics turn out well from this part of the show. It was really wonderful and so much fun. Leave it to Disney to bring the light parade to us! It was so cool!

This was the end of the show. Collin was waving goodbye to Buzz. This is the most he moved during the entire show! He was so shocked that he was seeing what he was seeing that he was almost frozen!
Buzz, Woody and Jessie take one last spin around the ice. All of the characters came out at the end.
The Incredible's.
A great time was had by all!

When we left the US Bank Arena, two mounted Cinci Police officer's were outside. They were kind enough to let us get a pic!

The evening was a complete blast. A great family activity! If you want to go, you still have time! You can still purchase tickets and use the coupon code found here :
http://beckydell.blogspot.com/2009/08/disney-on-ice-anyone.html
Thank you so much MOMCENTRAL for making this night possible for my family! Thank you Disney for always making me feel like a little girl, no matter how old I am!

Clean bill of health

2009-09-16T20:15:00.002-04:00

I am happy to announce that I am officially healed from kidney surgery. I cannot begin to put into words all that I have learned this year. Oh who am I kidding, I am a blogger so I will try! There are many things that come to mind as I reflect on the last year. I have often spoken of the things I learned on this here bloggity blog, but the biggest thing I have learned is how God is exactly who he says he is. He is strong when I am weak. He is comfort when I am sad. He sustained me. He loved me. He never left, even when I gave up. I was in able to handle the entire ordeal, ONLY by his grace, and I survived. I thrived. I suffered. I faultered. I got angry. I was disappointed. I am healed. If I really evaluate the entire situation, I think my heart healed more than my kidney. I will always have my 12 - 14 inch incision to remind me of the surgery that saved my life. I will never forget the amazing love and support I had from my hubby, parents, sister, BFF and many others. Please know I thank you all, FROM THE BOTTOM OF MY HEART, for helping my family through this year. I really believe I would not be here if it weren't for the prayer and support from so many of you. Thank you! I love you all.

2009-09-11T23:26:00.002-04:00

I just wanted to take a minute to let you know that I LOVE LOVE LOVE teaching my boys in a school setting. It has made such a difference in their learning and mine. I love to watch them "get it". I love when Noah taps Collin on the shoulder to say, "Look Brother, look what I did!". I love when Collin holds up a piece of construction paper, cut to smitherines, and proudly exclaims," Look Noan ( not a typo, it is how he says his name) I did it! I did it!" . It is amazing and I am so thankful for the opportunity to stay at home with the boys and daily go on this journey with them! Praise the Lord!

Disney on Ice

2009-09-01T23:24:00.001-04:00

As a child I wanted, more than anything, to see "Disney on Ice"!! I was never able to go, but soon I will be able to cross it off my list! This month we are going to see "Disney On Ice, 100 Years of Magic"! I cannot begin to tell you how excited I am!! Last month I was approached by Momcentral.com to share this incredible deal with you, my loyal readers! To get in on a great deal for the tickets, click on the link to ticketmaster and enter the coupon code : MOM.** and receive a family 4-pack of tickets for the low price of $44 for weekday shows or $4 off weekend tickets! I originally posted this in August, so to find the ticket link click here:
http://beckydell.blogspot.com/2009/08/disney-on-ice-anyone.html
I hope you take advantage of this wonderful evening of fun!! We cannot wait to go!

First day of Homeschooling!

2009-08-31T21:24:00.004-04:00

My eager students!! Collin wanted to wear his cowboy shirt and the hat that Aunt Megan gave him for his birthday. Noah wanted to wear his orange shirt, it is one of his favorite colors!

Aaron read this book about going to preschool before the boys went to bed last night and Collin wanted to hold it in his picture.

Noah looks so old to me in this picture. He is getting so big!

I think I look more excited to start school than he does! :)

We started the day with the story of Daniel in the lion's den. After I read the story to them, we talked about it and then I asked the boys to share any prayer requests. Noah wanted to pray for his balls, toys, the firefighter's and police men in a book he could see on the shelf. Collin wanted us to pray that Grandpa would not get sick again. (My dad had a stomach bug last week.)

Next we worked on the letter A. The boys are working on making their "A is for Alligator" puppet.

Our next activity was to practice cutting. Noah worked on cutting long lines, zigzag's and wavy lines. Collin just practiced holding the scissor's and making them work. I decided it would be fun to paste the snips to the onto a flower.

The boys did a beautiful job and now the flowers are hanging in my kitchen windows.

"Seriously, Mom!! Stop taking pictures!"

Noah working on number 1.

We had an amazing first day!! I am so proud of my boys!!

CVS!!

2009-08-26T23:08:00.002-04:00

Last week I went to CVS and bought all of the above for $.81 + $1 ECB + $2 rebates!! Woo-hoo!!

Homeschool room!!

2009-08-26T22:54:00.003-04:00

These pictures make me giddy! I cannot tell you how excited I am to begin our homeschooling adventure next Monday. I know this is going to be one of the most difficult things I am going to do in my life, but I also feel confident that God wants me to. I am sure this will be the first of many homeschooling posts. Here we go!

Kings Island

2009-08-23T14:55:00.003-04:00

Last Monday we packed the kids in the van for a big surprise!!! Kings Island! If you have spent time with Noah this summer you have probably heard him talking about K I. He even talks about pretending to go there to "fix" roller coaster's with daddy. Well, we surprised them with the fun filled day and my, oh my, was it fun. The boys LOVED, LOVED, LOVED every minute of their time there. My dad joined us for the day and it sure was nice to have an extra set of grown-up hands around. Aaron rode Diamond Back and said it was most likely the smoothest coaster he had ever been on. We spent most of the time in Kiddie land, of course, but we went to Boomerang Bay (the waterpark) for a while and took the elevator to the top of the tower. I forgot how beautiful it was up there. One of the best times of the day for me was riding the Scrambler with the boys. They cracked up the whole time. Noah is quite the dare devil and rode all of the coasters in kiddie land. He even road the "Beastie" (now has a new name, but will always be the Beastie to me!) 3 times. There were no lines to speak of that day, so it worked out well. Collin loved the little cars the most. He got to ride them 2 times while Noah road the Beastie. He didn't seem to mind that he wasn't tall enough to ride everything Noah could. I think he will be able to ride everything next year. It was a wonderful day!!

Disney On Ice Anyone?

2009-08-21T20:25:00.008-04:00

Collin, so sweet!

2009-08-07T14:45:00.003-04:00

So, the kids and I were in the van today and I was dealing with a grumpy Noah. I told him that he needed to make the decision to change his behavior and he asked me to change it for him. I told him that only he could do it. He said that God could do it. I confirmed that he was right and that he should ask God to help him. He said he didn't want to pray, but asked if I would pray for him. I did and then I heard this from my sweet Collin!
"Dear Jesus, thank you for Noah. Help Noah's heart. Thank you for God. Thank you for my dog. Thank you for Mommy. (YAY I made it in there, even if it was after our dog!) Amen."
From the mouths of babes! Thank you God for my beautiful children.

Camping at Cowan Lake

2009-08-05T21:28:00.005-04:00

The boys enjoyed the lake.
Putt putt is always a hit!!
Noah actually made a HOLE IN ONE!! on the first hole. Dad's pointers must have helped.
Th most exciting part of our camping trip was... COLLIN LEARNED HOW TO PEDAL HIS BIKE!

I can't wait to get back out there and do it again! It was so great.

Missing part of my heart

2009-07-29T00:00:00.002-04:00

Tonight I am up late, a seemingly new normal to me. Tonight I am missing my first child. I don't know why. I just know I am. "She", (I will never know if the baby was male or female, but I have always felt like this baby was a girl), would have been 5 this fall and her short life is still so deeply intertwined with mine that I often miss her. I miss her in silence, but I miss her deeply and constantly.
When I think of her:
~ I remember the smell of garlic. I remember being in church, being distracted by the smell of garlic and asking Aaron if he smelled it too. When he said "no" I immediately jumped to the idea of being pregnant.
~ I remember feeling like I was constipated.
~ I remember telling Aaron he was going to be a father.
~ I remember telling our parents, siblings, extended families and our closest friends.
~ I remember my OB telling me to "hold off" telling people until 13 weeks that I was pregnant.
~ I remember understanding the wisdom in that statement after the fact.
~ I remember going to a baby sale with my mom, a girlfriend and her mom and purchasing a lot of baby stuff.
~ I remember the joy, the excitement and daydreaming about my new baby and watching her grow up.
~ I remember waiting for my 8 week ultrasound in the waiting room with my mom, restless because I "had a terrible feeling that the baby was not okay".
~ I remember begging the doctor to keep looking for the baby.
~ I remember catching a glimpse of myself in the mirror next to the exam bed and seeing spots cover my face, neck and arms as I broke out in hives.
~ I remember going to another doctor's office waiting for the confirmation that my baby was gone.
~ I remember coming home with an empty uterus to a table full of freshly laundered baby clothes.
~ I remember telling Aaron that we lost the baby.
~ I remember falling down on the floor and wanting to die.
~ I remember not wanting to sleep in the bed where she was conceived and sleeping in a weeping puddle on the floor for many nights.
~ I remember wanting to drink copious amounts of alcohol.
~ I remember rock bottom.
~ I remember sitting on the front porch drinking a cup of coffee, while Aaron was gone wishing God would take me too.
~ I remember pulling "my" file out of the filing cabinet while looking for some paperwork and stumbling upon the ultrasound picture and falling onto the floor and sobbing.
~ I remember all of these things often.
At different times in my life I think about her differently. Sometimes I think of the joy, the AMAZING joy she brought. I think about the amazing impact she has had on my life. I think about the love I still have for her. Tonight, however, I think about how much I miss her. How I hurt deeply for the opportunity to sneak into her bedroom and steal a kiss like I do every night from her brothers. I think about stroking the hair out of her eyes and how I long to hold her tight. Tonight, I miss her. I miss her so much. I miss her so deeply. Goodnight sweet first baby, I will always love you. YOU will forever be the baby that opened my heart to a mother's love and will forever reside in my heart and in my life.

update

2009-07-28T21:29:00.003-04:00

I love this pic of Mamaw and Collin! We went on a picnic with Mamaw and Poppie after visiting Sunwatch Indian Village.
This is such a sweet pic of the boys! Not only are they hugging, Collin is also kissing Noah! LOVE!!
Collin love this!
Noah was fascinated with the miniature displays in the Sunwatch Museum.

Well many things have been going on and I apologize for neglecting my blog and leaving you hanging for so long.
Here is a quick update!
Jenny came home for a brief visit to celebrate her 32nd birthday. It was a great visit and we had a lot of fun!!
I said goodbye to a dear friend Susan, her hubs and her 3 beautiful kids as they were relocated to "stupid"Alaska. I miss her deeply and I wish she were still here, but trust God has a bigger plan for her, so I will rest in that.
For a while now, I have had the desire to start a new blog. Well my sister has agreed to partner with me and we will soon LAUNCH our new blog! I am really excited about this new adventure and work together on this project.
I hate how impersonal this post is, but I wanted to catch you up on the last couple weeks.
I will post more pics soon!

HMM??

2009-07-13T16:56:00.002-04:00

Have you ever wondered what other people think about you? I have been thinking about this a lot lately. I would love to hear your thoughts!! I will elaborate more in a future post.

An update in pictures!

2009-07-06T19:48:00.002-04:00

A couple weeks ago Aaron and my Dad took the boys to their very first Dayton Dragon's game!
Noah and Collin showin Gem some love.
Daddy and his little men!
Noah has been touching his teeth recently in pictures to "make sure his teeth are touching". Here they are in front of the stadium.
Collin showing off his new cowboy boots!
Collin LOVES Roxi!
Roxi tolerates Collin!
Collin took this pic.
Noah took this pic. I think he did a really great job!

July!

2009-07-01T09:26:00.004-04:00

Friday night, Aaron and I went to Thai night with Josh and Megan. (Aaron's brother and his wife.)

We were walking around the Oregon District after our DELISH dinner and I thought I should pose for a pic in my "pin-up" outfit. The story is, I wore this to church a few weeks ago and I got several comments on my outfit choice. Everything from Rizzo from Grease to Minnie Mouse, but mostly people said I looked like a 50's pin-up girl. UMM okay. So, a pic had to be taken! Other shots are a little to riskay for this here blog, so I will post the most innocent. ;) wink wink;)

Here is my fav pic of the evening! I love me some Megan!!
Crazy part of the night, Josh was window shopping *read I sent him away so Megan could take some more pics of me!* at one of the antique stores and the owner of the shop came over to try to make a sale. Well, along with him came 2 other men, one of them was Aaron and Joshua's cousin Damon... small world. We ended up spending the rest of the evening at the Trolley Stop sharing drinks and great convo with Damon and his girlfriend, Jen. It was wonderful!

Collin shows his new dance moves!

2009-06-30T08:08:00.004-04:00

You're welcome! I say that because I am sure this is going to make your day!!

I HEART AARON DELL

2009-06-21T22:45:00.003-04:00

So, today I thought I would take a minute to write about my wonderful hubby! Happy Father's Day Aaron! You are a wonderful Daddy to Noah and Collin! Thank you so much for working so hard so I can stay at home with our handsome boys. There are so many things I could say about you to let people know how amazing you are, but I don't know where to start.
I prayed specifically for a few things as a young girl regarding the man I would some day marry.
1 ~ That he would love God above all!
2 ~ That he would be an amazing father.
3 ~ That he would have a good financial head on his shoulder's.
Well, you are even more than all that I prayed for. You are an amazing Daddy and I love you very much. Thank you for all you do! I am so thankful for you.
Always and Forever!!
Becky

3 year pics

2009-06-11T18:15:00.003-04:00

Here are Collin's 3 year pics. Some of both boys too!
GO:
https://www.smilesbywire.com/home.asp?AC=LTPP0628105901JCP
User name : Becky Dell

Warning : you are about to see extreme sweetness... View at your own risk!

2009-06-11T08:42:00.007-04:00

Collin showing off the hat Aunti Megan gave him for his birthday! He loves to wear it a he is Soo cute in it, don't ya think?

Here is a video of Noah singing one of his many songs. He loves to write songs while we are driving around and we had the camera and caught this one. Enjoy!

Swagbucks anyone?

2009-06-09T15:59:00.006-04:00

Okay, so I have officially joined "Swagbucks"! I started hearing about Swagbucks a while ago and recently, Andrea, over at Mommysnacks.net redeemed her swagbucks for a NEW Iphone! It is a great program where you search the web, using their browser and earn swagbucks and you can redeem your swagbucks for 'stuff'!! Go to http://swagbucks.com/refer/beckydell or click on the link at the top of this post to get started!! Have fun! I will post more as I figure out how this thing works, but I am looking forward to making a little extra $$.

Noah, says the funniest things

2009-06-06T08:56:00.003-04:00

Here are a few funny Noah stories for your reading pleasure...

While I was putting the boys down for a nap:

Mommy (M) ~ Noah, close your eyes and GO to sleep.
Noah (N) ~ I can't.
M~ Yes you can and YOU WILL.
N~ God didn't make me to be able to close my eyes.
M~ Yes he did. GO TO SLEEP!
N~ No, watch (*closes his eyes tightly and pops them open*)
M~ Nice try...
He fell asleep soon after.

Grandpa (G-pa) and Grandma (Weller) took the boys to Youngs last night and in the car, Grandpa coughed:
N~ God bless you.
G-pa~Thank you, how is your cold?
N~ Fine, I never cough anymore.
Gpa~ Never?
N~ *cough*
Gpa~ I thought you never coughed anymore.
N~ It's okay, it's the weekend and everyone coughs on the weekend.

More to come!

Family Fun Film Festival! It's BAAAAAAAAKKK!!

2009-06-02T21:14:00.004-04:00

SUMMERTIME = FREE MOVIES!! Here is a list the schedule for this summer! Hope to see you there! Hollywood Stadium 20 2651 Fairfield Commons Beavercreek ,OH 45431 937-431-9418 Movie all start at 10 a.m.
06/09/2009-06/10 /2009	March Of The Penguins (G)
	Igor (PG)
06/16/2009-06/17/2009	Kit Kittredge: American Girl (G)
	Star Wars: Clone Wars (PG)
06/23/2009-06/24/2009	Everyone's Hero (G)
	Inkheart (PG)
06/30/2009-07/01/2009	Space Chimps (G)
	Kung Fu Panda (PG)
07/07/2009-07/08/2009	Charlotte's Web (G)
	Journey To The Center Of The Earth (PG)
07/14/2009-07/15/2009	Horton Hears A Who (G)
	Firehouse Dog (PG)
07/21/2009-07/22/2009	Wallace And Gromit (G)
	Evan Almighty (PG)
07/28/2009-07/29/2009	Pirates Who Don't Do Anything: Veggie Tale Movie (G)
	Alvin And The Chipmunks (PG)
08/04/2009-08/05/2009	Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium (G)
Check for regular Movies and Showtimes

North Myrtle Beach Vacation!!

2009-06-01T08:10:00.009-04:00

This is how we looked after about 7 hours in the van! Thankfully Mom and Dad drove in their own car so the boys were able to ride with them too. It was really fun to surprise them with this trip. Thank you Mom and Dad for making it possible!
Mommy and Noah are ready for bed! Unfortunately, Noah was up almost all night with a really yucky cough. I think I slept in every chair in that hotel room that night with him. Poor guy. Thankfully that was the only night his sleep was interrupted for the entire trip.

Day 2. Back in the van, we drove for a couple of hours and then surprised them again when we met up with Aunt Jenny at a gas station.
Collin is really excited to see the ocean!
The water tower announcing we finally reached our destination!
At the condo, they have a "check~in" area for the kids. They were given gift bags with candy, bouncy balls, tattoo's and a few other goodies.
First time in the sand. We took the boys to Daytona Beach when they were 2 and almost 1, but they don't remember that trip. They loved the sand. The weather was perfect and we were able to play in the ocean and on the beach for hours.
Daddy couldn't wait to cover Noah up with sand! :)
Collin had to do it too! He didn't want his arms to e covered up.
Jenny and Noah hard at work.
Collin loved this giant hole someone had dug out earlier. He couldn't wait to get in.
Aaron, Jenny, Noah and Collin worked hard on creating a giant alligator. I think it was about 6' long.
We went to Broadway at the Beach in Myrtle Beach. It was a great place! Here is Collin on the Viking ship.
Noah rode in the last seat. He loved it!
Then the boys got to ride the boat ride. This was really fun!
Noah picked a blue boat of course!

The teacups. The boys also rode on the motorcycle ride.
Next we went to the Ripley's Aquarium.
This was a creepy shark that we went under on the moving sidewalk in the room where you are surrounded by water. Not my favorite part! Hello didn't anyone else see that scene in Jaws when the glass broke!! YIKES!
(*Insert Jaws theme song!*)
When we were deciding what to do while in Myrtle Beach, we were flipping through brochure's. I asked Noah if he wanted to go to the Ripley's aquarium, he looked at the brochure and saw this mascot shark. He said "I wanna see that guy!". He got his wish!
Jelly Fish!
Noah in front of the sting ray window.

The boys loved this fish slide.
The giant stuffed black bear.
The world's fasted merry go round.
On Thursday, we went to Brookgreen Gardens! It was amazing! They had a zoo, statue gardens, flower gardens and over 300 acres to explore! It was really neat. Here is Collin on teh bear statue.
This was a really neat statue of 6 children saying the Pledge of Allegiance" and one child raising the flag. Noah and Collin got involved.
Both boys and the Bear.
Collin wasn't so sure about this one!
The water was "dyed" black because of one of the plants.
Here is the video of when we told the boys we were going on vacation!! The big surprise revealed!

We had a wonderful time and I can't wait for our next vacation! A special thanks to Phil and Rosie for keeping Roxi for us and Megan for checking our house, getting the mail and watering the garden! Thanks Jenny, Mom and Dad for watching the kids so Aaron and I could go on a date! Also for taking the boys on dates!

The Beach!

2009-05-25T13:15:00.002-04:00

Hey, Jenny posted some pics to her facebook account and tagged me in them. Feel free to check out our trip. Well, gotta go... the ocean beckons!

Free Crocs!

2009-05-22T15:13:00.004-04:00

Here are the boys modeling my new Malindi's.

Here are the boys modeling my new Malindi's.

Noah tried to take a pic of me in my new shoes!

Here is the story. Earlier this month I went with my friend Erin (5dollardinners.com) to a mom's night out (MNO). Jenny (MomminItUp) and Andrea (Mommysnacks) hosted this shin dig! There was delicious food!! Pizza Hut and Subway as well as hostess 100 calorie lemon cakes. We got swag bags from Kroger and other wonderful sponsors like Palmer's Cocoa Butter products and we had a Mary Kay satin hands (YUMMM!) demo from LuAnn. The evening was broadcasted live via the internet and George from Crocs sent out a tweet to all of the MNO parties to send out a shout out to Crocs. WE WON!! The prize ANY pair of Crocs off their site, excluding "YOU". Um, I am a Crocs virgin, so when I went to the site, I was shocked by all of the styles they offer. Here is my first impression, I HEART Crocs! I am totally hooked. They are seriously the most comfy shoe I have ever tried on and I want more. They have a ton of colors to choose from and you really need to check out their site. They have something for everyone. Good times!

Tomorrow Collin will be 3!! sigh How did that happen?

2009-05-21T17:21:00.005-04:00

As I sit down to type this post I can hear his sweet voice narrating the scene he is developing using a various smattering of random toys. He picks up his Sesame Street CD player and pushes the button to get to his favorite tune, whatever it is at that moment! :) He has given up and not decides to change the disc. Frustration is mounting! Will he ask for help? No, not this independent little man. Down goes the cd player on comes the phone. Since it was given to him on Saturday at his birthday party, Collin has been carrying around a singing card featuring "Biteyear" aka Buzz Lightyear and Woody on the front with the song "You've got a friend in me". I have always liked that song and for some reason I still do even after hearing it every day now for nearly a week. Collin is the curious kind of kid and he will win your heart with just on look from the corner of his eye while smiling his crooked little grin with dimples present under his nose. He is so cute! (if I don't say so myself.)
Collin was a big surprise to us! He showed up on a pregnancy test when Noah was just shy of 7 months old. It was Oct 5, 2005. We were 2 days shy of our 5th anniversary. It occurred to me one night after dinner out with a few girlfriends and razzing my BFF Steph about how she might be preggers. (Steph has a son 5 days older than Noah.) Well, on the way home from dinner I realized I was the one who was late... so the "test" was purchased. I kept going back and forth about it, but I knew I was pregnant. So, on the 5th, we put Noah down for the night and turned on Law and Order... I snuck upstairs to pee on a stick that I was sure would put my heart to rest. Well, something happened when that test was activated. My bathroom turned into the strip in Las Vegas, as the test lite up the bathroom with a big FAT 'Yep, your pregnant lady'! I composed myself, went downstairs to my poor unsuspecting hubby and said, turn that off we need to talk. He kindly said something to the effect of dude, seriously just let me watch my show. Until I held up the "reason" we needed to talk. His eyes lit up and he was immediately thrilled. I was too, don't get me wrong, I was just in shock. I had just had a baby, before that a miss carriage and I was still recovering from Noah's stay in the NICU! I was overwhelmed with so many emotions I just wanted to sit down and catch my breath. This lasted about 5 minutes and then I was on the phone calling everyone on our "nearest/dearest" list sharing our good news! :) I didn't look back. I was so excited to have this new little life growing inside of me. My water broke at 36 weeks and Collin was born at 7:31 am. He had to stay in the NICU for 5 days, then he came home to meet his brother and Pug.
Nothing about Collin has been predictable. Maybe that will be his Mantra in life? He started rolling, as if on cue when I got out the video camera to film him when he was under 2 weeks old. He sat early, too. When he was 10 months old he broke his arm, while sleeping in his crib one night. This is a crazy story, but I will save it for another time. The broken arm didn't slow down this little determined monkey for long. He never once let it keep him from doing what he wanted to do. He army crawled in his tiny blue cast.
Now he is a busy little builder who loves dinosaurs, Buzz Lightyear, singing and dancing... just to name a few of his fav's. He is a joy! I love him more than I could ever say!! Happy Birthday my sweet Collin!! I love you!

Collin's 3rd Birthday party!

2009-05-17T16:44:00.007-04:00

Here are some pics from Collin's birthday party and the rodeo! Enjoy!

Hello, my name is Becky and I wear a size 14

2009-05-13T20:47:00.007-04:00

Here it is... When I began my "journey to a healthy lifestyle" I was a size 22. I was teetering on size 24 and God grabbed a hold of my heart and led me down a road of self discovery.

This pic was taken on Nov 19, 2006. I had a 2 1/2 year old, a 6 month old, acid reflux, a poor body image and I was broken. I turned 28 the day before this pic was taken and I was no where near the mother or wife I wanted to be. I was limited by my self-loathing and fear pretty much controlled my every move. So, I started counting calories, but MOST importantly I gave a lot of the issues that kept me in that "fatsuit" over to God. I say "most" because I still have a long way to go.
Fast forward to a 61lbs weightloss and a new lease on life. Then I hit a wall, well, almost died acutally. In short I lost January 2008 - about a week ago to a smattering of health problems. Those of you who are new to this blog should check out my entries from last Aug - Sept to catch up.
Anyway, I have gained a little of my weight back, but not even a quarter of what I lost. I am frustrated, but diligent in looking for a way I can work out while still giving my body time to heal. Today I went shopping for jeans. A gig many women hate! I have a newfound appreciation for finding jeans pre kidney surgery. Now I have to hide my muffin top while making sure the waistline of my pants doesn't rub or put pressure on my still healing incision. GRR! Well, I was convinced I was going to have cave in and get a size 16 or 18, I was SSOOO happy to get 2 new beautiful pair of size 14 jeans, 1 -Gap 1 -Old Navy. I was in a size 12 or 14 when I had surgery. So I am well aware I am still dealing with what I see in the mirror vs what is reality. Someday I will hit my goal and when that day comes, I am having a HUGE PARTAY!! And you are all invited!! WOOT WOOT! (PS I did tremble when I posted my sixes, but I am trying to realize that it is a size NOT my identity!!)

So,

2009-05-09T09:08:00.003-04:00

It is mother's day weekend and I just want to say how thankful I am for a wonderful hubby and 2 amazing sons! I want to thank God for the child we lost 5 years ago last month. I am thankful to have been able to carry that baby in my womb for the short 8 weeks he/she inhabited that space and for keeping that child close to my heart for the rest of my life. I am indeed richly blessed by the family God has generously given me.
I am also very thankful for my Mom who I was able to spend the evening with last night. Thank you Mom for teaching me so much through the years and loving me for being me! I love you!

Goodbye cabin fever... hello summer love!

2009-05-03T20:10:00.013-04:00

This evening after a eating a delicious dinner, we headed out to the backyard for some fun in the sandbox. Please note Collin's amazing style. He is wearing the shirt he wore to church this morning and a pair of Noah's pajama shorts that he decided to wear at nap time today. Oh, of course he finished the outfit with the ever present froggy boots.

Then, we got out the bigwheel and Noah's "big bike with the big horn" and headed for the sidewalk in front of our house.

Collin can't reach the pedal's, but he sure likes to pretend.

Noah can really make the bike go fast now. He even does a great job steering.

One more thing, we have new neighbor's and they have a little girl, Reagan, and a baby on the way. Noah was talking to her tonight and gave her a flower from our yard. When he came inside, he said "Mom I want to play with that girl over there. She is really pretty and I want to kiss her". OH BOY!

More on Martial Arts...

2009-04-24T07:51:00.006-04:00

Here are some new pics from last week's martial arts class. Mr. Nathan is an extremely patient teacher and said Collin could participate if he wanted to. Enjoy!

Pretty Emmaline!

Noah and Collin stretching.

The workout begins!

Noah!!

2009-04-16T23:09:00.002-04:00

Noah took this pic all by himself.

Noah, about 5 minutes after being removed from Chick Fa La for an altercation with another child, said to me,"Mommy I am really glad God 'teached' me a lesson tonight. I asked him what he learned. He said "ya know, how to be a really good dolphin". And I thought he was going to have a moment of deep spiritual clarity.;)

Tag...

2009-04-14T22:36:00.003-04:00

My friend Jen, tagged me to post the 4th picture from my 4th blog post. These pics wouldn't separate for some reason, so here are 3. They are from spring 2007. Good memories.
So, now I have to tag 4 friends. Erin Johnson, Erin Chase, Erika Lindsey and Susan Galvin, it's your turn!! Have fun!

life

2009-04-08T09:29:00.002-04:00

I am just sitting here, watching the boys play together. Currently, Collin is the patient and Noah is the doctor. Noah sporting a hospital green lab coat, doctor's kit in hand, and Collin covered in a warm fleece. The boys love their doctor's kit. The love to switch roles back and forth. They love to diagnose and treat the various made up ailments they suffer from. I lovingly watch them with a thankful heart, humbled by the thought that less than 8 months ago I almost died. I know if I would have died, I would now be resting in my Savior's loving arms, not longing for things of this earth, but my precious children would face a MUCH harsher reality... life without Mommy. I can't help but think about it. I am surprised at how often that thought creeps into my brain. I know full well that if that had been God's plan for my life, their life, it would have been made perfect, but it still weighs heavy on my heart.
I have been working so hard at not letting the tears fall I am exhausted. I am still trying to come to terms with the fact that I almost died. Last night I was experiencing pain in my urerter. Yes, I know where my urerter is and can identify when pain comes from there. Trust me it is as much fun as it sounds. It seems I am constantly reminded of the pain of the last year: physical, emotional and spiritual. I wonder if I have really even started healing. I don't know why I can't deal with it, but I really feel like I can't right now. Does that even make sense?
So, for today, I sit in the beauty of all that God has given me. All of the joy and all of the pain. All of the easy times and the times of amazing trials. I think about how healthy my boys are. I am thankful they are both healthy! SO VERY THANKFUL! No special dietary needs, no "special" education needs. Normal development, normal health, so often taken for granted, so underappreciated.

A new experience for me...

2009-04-01T08:00:00.004-04:00

So I thought I would take a minute to share my new experience with you. For a while, as long as I have known him, Aaron has wanted to go to the shooting range and, well, shoot guns of course. Well, that's just what we did last night. I can sum up the whole experience in one word, TERRIFYING! I thought I would go in there, face my fear of holding a gun and then move on to the part where it gets exciting. I was terrified. When you walk into the place, you are surrounded by guns, holster's, ammo and even some knives. I kept thinking, 'oh crap! I wonder if anyone would notice if I left'. Let me set the scene. First you go and give your ID to the woman that gives you paperwork to fill out. Scratch that, first, I went to the bathroom. I thought I was going to pee my pants. ;) Then, you sign a paper about "what the heck you do with a gun so you don't kill or harm anyone" and then another paper with a lot of words. You go to the counter, purchase your targets, ammo and borrow ear protectors and safety goggles. So yes, you look amazing! :) The first time I heard one of the guns fire I wanted to hit the deck and it wasn't even in the same room as we were in. Thankfully our friends, J and L know about guns and they were kind enough to go with us (Aaron, his brother Joshua and myself), bring their gun(s) and show us the ropes. J took care of teaching Aaron and Joshua, so I had one-on-one instruction from a VERY patient L. I think I shot 4 different types of guns, maybe 5. It was shocking to me that each gun felt so different. I thought I would go in there, shoot a couple shots and then feel better about it and become my normal competitive self. WRONG! Dude, you could kill someone with this thing. That never left my mind. I was shaking after every bullet left the chamber. I found it strangely fun to load the bullets, but that kind of hurt. I think if you do it a lot you would develop callouses on both of your thumbs. When it was over, I was relieved. I was happy to have had the experience, but I really don't want to EVER do that again.
I do want to say something on the whole issue of guns, I have a great respect for people who go through the training and learn to use the guns safely and wisely. There is so much that goes with shooting, I had no idea. If you think you are going to walk into a shooting range, hold the gun with one hand, on it's side - gangsta style, let me tell you, YOU ARE SO WRONG. It is hard to remember all of the things you have to do while holding and loading a gun it is crazy. I did hit the target a few times, but it wasn't "exciting" like I thought it would be.
In closing, I want to encourage you to find something new, that you may be slightly afraid of and try it. It is good to try new things at every age. Who knows, you may find a new hobby. I didn't find my new hobby, but I did find out that I can face fears and learn from them which causes growth and helps you deal with some things. So overall, I am glad I did it.

The Ultimate Blog Party

2009-03-27T00:06:00.001-04:00

I am part of the Ultimate Blog Party 2009! I have no idea what it means, but I have had a lot of fun blog hopping tonight! If you are here visiting my site because you found me on the UBP site, welcome. Leave a comment and I will check out your site too. Thanks,
Becky

A great loss

2009-03-24T16:44:00.003-04:00

I am asking for prayer for the Tipps family from our church. Yesterday, while traveling to Georgia from Ohio, Sarah, their daughter, was killed in a car accident. Sarah would have celebrated her 20th birthday tomorrow. This is a terribly difficult time. She was a daughter, sister and friend. Her sweet smile and tender spirit will be greatly missed. I rest in knowing she is know with our Lord. Please pray for the family as they are conducting services in Georgia this week. Thank you.

Rodeo

2009-03-22T20:35:00.005-04:00

Saturday night, Grandma, Poppie, Aaron, the boys and I went to the rodeo. It was so FUN!! I thought I would share some of the video we captured and some fun pics. I hope you enjoy Noah and Collin's line dancing moves. I totally recommend this as a fun family activity. It is right in Springboro and they have the rodeo every Saturday night. Oh, I can't forget to mention the free pony rides and the real cowboys! It was a great night and we will be going back!

Noah in Martial Arts...

2009-03-15T22:11:00.005-04:00

Here is a video clip of Noah at his first taste of an athletic program. A friend of ours is teaching a class for kids ages 4-14 teaching everything from self-defense to different movements from martial arts. Noah LOVED it!!! I can't tell you how wonderful it was to see my son so excited about learning something new. He was so happy when we left the class and he couldn't wait to get home to "teach Daddy and Collin how to do the 'crabwalk'". Enjoy the video!!

Go fly a kite!!

2009-03-15T17:03:00.004-04:00

On Noah's actual birthday, Daddy got off work early!! We packed up the kids and headed to the park to fly kites! It was perfect weather for kite flying. It was slightly cool, but the wind was steady and strong. As soon as the kites were assembled, they shot right up in the air. Noah was great and remembered it from last year. Collin really surprised me by his ability to hold the string and he even tugged on it so it would not fall to the ground. It was a wonderful memory!!

Noah is 4!!!!!!!!

2009-03-08T22:17:00.008-04:00

On March 9, 2005 my life changed forever!! Noah Isaac Dell was born and I cannot believe he is 4 years old already! I thought I would post a few pics of our first born here to show you our big boy! I am so blessed to be Mommy to such an amazing, smart, funny, sweet, kind... boy! Happy Birthday Noah! I love you sooooo much!
ENJOY!

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The Lake House

2009-03-02T23:20:00.005-05:00

Last weekend I had the privilege of joining some of the women from my Bible Study down at Norris Lake in Tenn. The entire weekend was a blessing and I feel so blessed to have been able to go! Thank you all for the wonderful weekend!

Thank you to my wonderful Hubby and my parents for taking care of the kiddo's!!