Consume Me, O Lord

Consume me, O Lord,
Flood my soul with your Son.
Leave nothing uncovered,
Leave nothing undone.

Set me on fire,
Consume all my dross.
Make beauty from ashes
And gain from my loss.

Consume me, O Lord,
Be the life in my bones.
Put your head in my marrow
Till Jesus alone.

Can set me aflame
With Your holy fire
Unquenchable passion
Exquisite desire.

Thrill all my senses
With sacred romance;
Consume me, O Lord,
Come bid me to dance.

Down streets paved in gold
A pure virgin bride
Nothing to run from
Nothing to hide.

Consume me, O Lord.

Taken from the book Further Still. By Beth Moore

Wednesday Hero

Marine Lance Cpl. Nicholas R. Anderson
21 years old from Sauk City, Wisconsin
1st Battalion, 3rd Marine Regiment, 3rd Marine Division, III Marine Expeditionary Force
March 13, 2006


Lance Cpl. Nicholas Anderson lost his life after the Humvee he was riding in rolled over as a group of Marines pursued a suspicious vehicle near Jalalabad, Afghanistan. He suffered head injuries in the crash and died as he was being transported to a hospital.

Nicholas Anderson joined the Marines in January 2005 and began a six-month tour of Afghanistan two months ago with the 3rd Marines Weapons Platoon, his father, James Anderson said.

"I just know that he died fighting for what he believed in," he said. "He wanted to be a Marine and even though it was a major risk he just wanted to go."

James Anderson said his son, a 2003 Sauk Prairie High School graduate, enjoyed riding his motorcycle, lifting weights, going fishing and hanging out with friends.

He joined the Wisconsin Army National Guard when he was 18, but an injured shoulder forced him to drop out. He then enlisted in the Marines.

"I was very nervous when he first joined the Marines because two words jumped into my head: Afghanistan and Iraq," his father said. "I just supported him and prayed that it would end before he had to go over."

These brave men and women sacrifice so much in their lives so that others may enjoy the freedoms we get to enjoy everyday. For that, I am proud to call them Hero.
We Should Not Only Mourn These Men And Women Who Died, We Should Also Thank God That Such People Lived

This post is part of the Wednesday Hero Blogroll. For more information about Wednesday Hero, or if you would like to post it on your blog, you can go here.

Prayer Needs

I hesitated posting this. The necessity of prayer overrides my hesitation. I know you do not know either of these families, but they are in need of prayer.

The first family is the one with the little 5 year old boy John L. who had colon surgery. He is doing fine but he is still struggling to maintain his progress while adding school to his day. He was having great bowel movements and now, since returning to school, he has gone back to waking 4 or more times each night with diahr... Needless to say he is very tired and having trouble keeping his spirits up. His mom is trying to keep his world normal, while being compassionate to his needs. This time of getting back to their new normal is wearing on the entire family. Pray for her and her son. Pray for wisdom in knowing when to give John L. a break and when to push him to the next level. Pray for her to not live in fear of what is to come and that the whole family (including their younger son) would grow together during this time. That there would be no resentment of feeling left out by the younger son. Pray they(mom and dad) will see his needs too and not overlook him when he really needs to be seen.

The second request literally makes my heart sick! My mind cannot fathom the pain of this mother. A lady in my small group at church has lost her daughter. As far as I know today, the daughter was 23 years old and died from a drug overdose. There were several KEY conversations in our small group, that were off topic and a little awkward for us all, that now we can see God directed. He had those conversations just for the mom, Lisa. The conversations were in reference to not being able to make our kids choose the plans we had for them. When we had these conversations none of us knew the struggle Lisa had at home. She is a mother of 4 and from what I gather 2 of the 4 were fighting drug addiction. A third was desiring to follow their footsteps. Now one is dead.

Needless to say her grief is heavy. Pray for her mind. Pray that she will not torment herself with all the what ifs and that she will not carry the burden of this is my fault. We can all imagine where our minds would go if this were our child. Pray for her remaining kids to be drawn to God as a result of this tragedy. Pray that God will bring good out of this painful time. Pray for Lisa however God leads you to pray!

Thank you all for taking the time to lift these two weary ladies to our Father God. They are so tired and need carrying right now! Blessings to you all!!

I'm sewing again....

My friend Aimee', aka Sew Sensible, recently released her first e-pattern on You Can Make This. She asked me to give her pattern a go and I did. It was an easy pattern to follow, I haven't sewn in several months so it was a good choice to get my feet wet again. I only learned to sew a year ago. I have been wanting to get going again and this was just the kick-start I needed!

Here is HC modeling the one I made. I think I chose the wrong size for her. We may be passing this one on to a friend and making her another one her size. It should be a little longer on her (you can see how long it should be in the picture above). Live and learn.

Here she is with her arms down. You know how literal kids are. I told her to put her arms to her side and she looked like a robot. So I told her to relax her arms.
Since I was working on the romper, it motivated me to try making a pillowcase dress. We've bought a few of these and I KNOW they are super easy to make. (If you are in the market for this style of dress but do not know how to sew, On Tip Toes is an excellent source of pillowcase dresses.) So finally I decided to give it a go. I tell you - HC LOVES this dress. She was thrilled to wear it to church Sunday morning. She couldn't wait to show it off to her friends at church. I began both projects Saturday night and I hustled on the dress since HC wanted to wear the dress Sunday. HC wouldn't put Missy down so we had to set up a pose. HC was beyond thrilled that I accomodated her desire to keep Missy IN the photo.

HC and JB ready for church.
A closer picture, I wanted pink ribbon for her dress but only found pink with white polka dots. I know it doesn't match her hair bow but..... who cares! :) We like it anyway. So that is what I did this weekend. Ok, that is some of what I did this weekend. More on that later!

HC and JB are officially fine!

So we went to the doctor! I am not a mom who takes the kids to the doctor at every sniffle. I let things go a little before I am concerned. My kids have had the occasional runny nose but nothing major in years. Here we were last Saturday night, the LSU game was just beginning when... HC began her v*miting episode. After a few goes of it, she went to bed and awoke the next morning seeming fine. The only problem was we didn't feel we should try food quite yet. She woke once in the night to v*mit and we wanted to be sure her stomach was strong enough to eat. After a few hours she was finally able to keep food and drink down. We were out of the woods.

Then the next day she had a fever around 4 or 5 pm. I didn't find reason to worry. By Thursday, when she was having a fever almost every afternoon, I thought we better check for ear infecti*ns or such (although she had no runny nose or other symptoms what so ever, except being lethargic and cranky - very unlike her). So we scheduled a doctor's appointment.

Thursday night JB woke up and v*mited twice. I was not in the mood to play tag with a virus so I called and had an appointment made for him too. He has had a runny nose since Sunday or Monday. Since his major symptoms (v*miting) were so recent, he was my concern. The doctor was not worried about JB at all after she examined him. She felt HC had swollen glands and wanted to test her for Strep.

So we went to the lab and HC was a trooper. They swabbed her mouth and pricked her finger. The lab tech was surprised by HC's brave behavior. She didn't flinch a bit! We got her band-aid and headed back to our room to wait for the results.
Here is HC sporting her band-aid from the lab tech.
JB tired, hungry, tired, hungry and ready to go. He was playing with the zipper on his jacket.

HC waiting. We found out that she did NOT have strep and the doctor doesn't know what is causing the fever but there are fever viruses going around. ALTHOUGH, HC's white blood count is normal and NOT registering a viral infection. So... I don't know what is up.

JB hasn't felt up to eating yet but he is still playing hard. HC had her fever again but she is her fun-loving self too. I believe they are both well now and after much prayer and daily doses of Probiotics we are recovering quickly once again! So, thank you all for your well wishes and most of all thank you for your prayers!!

Today was very tiring but we made it through, at least it is beginning to be cool outside. JB was begging me for his big boy pants so he could 'stay dry' again today, but his first attempt left a bad experience. Diar.... you get the picture. So we promised him we would 'stay dry' again when his belly is all better. He agreed to that! I am just thrilled that he still wants to try (he almost broke down when I put his diaper on this afternoon)!

You should never (**updated**)

You should never come home, after a few hours to yourself and expect things to go right on schedule. Because your kids will wake up from their naps hungry (they chose not to eat before they took the nap) and fussy.

You should never let your son decide to p*tty train, on an off afternoon, when his sister is unusually fussy. If she is whiny and wanting to be held at every moment, p*tty training can be tricky. (I am more than thrilled to begin this milestone, we have been waiting anxiously to begin the process. I am glad JB felt like trying and did great!! One accident in 4 hours time. He went to the potty a total of 4 times, once he began using the p*tty. I actually ALMOST offered him a diaper because I was so not in the mood to do this now! But I fought the urge and we ended the night with a win. We are eager and ready to start the process again today.)

You should never expect to sit down while p*tty training a 2.5 year old and dragging a 4 year old behind you. Your son (2.5 year old) will need constant supervision to make sure he remains dry in between trips to the p*tty. Your daughter (4 year old) will just drive you crazy at some point while this event is under way. You will want ear plugs - but not have them. You will want water proof undies (without the irritating plastic pants) but you will need to chase the toddler around like a shadow in hopes he stays dry.

You should never try to figure out how to fix a few email/blog kinks while trying to feed your kids and get them settled for bed. The phone will ring, your son will need to try to go p*tty and your daughter will cry that she isn't hungry. Once the meal is over your daughter will then cry because "she is even MORE hungry". You will be forced to demand her to put on her PJ's and get ready for bed, when you really want to comfort her. You will then realize your daughter MAY need to see the Pediatrician since you cannot figure out what all the whining is about.

You should never think this will not happen to you, because..... it might! :) All this happening while your hubby is at a meeting. LIFE happens when you least expect it, but that is what makes it fun! Right??

UPDATE

You should never think that was the end of the story. I posted this last night for today and the story did not end there. HC has had an on again off again fever all week - so yes - pediatrician appt today. She had a virus Saturday - Sunday for 24 hours. Now, back to last night!

You should never think you are out of the clear because the kids are asleep. JB woke vomiting twice. Can you believe he tried to p*tty train feeling sick??? I am amazed. So, since we are going to the pediatrician already... JB will be seen too! It is the worst not feeding your kids when they are hungry but you are not sure if their tummy is ready or not!

On our way away from diapers!!!!

(This was our re-enactment.)

YIPPEEE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! HOOOORAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! IT IS TIME TO CELEBRATE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

My 2.5 year old son has had NO interest in potty training AT. ALL!! Until about 2 weeks ago. JB revealed to me that he felt he would fall into the big potty so we finally went to the storage unit and dug out the little potty AGAIN! We had tried potty training about 6 months ago and he did ok but was clueless really.

So once we brought the potty home, he sat on it for about 15 minutes without getting up once. He was thrilled we had it. That was the end of potty time. He could care less again. This morning he told my husband that he wanted to p*op on the potty and so he sat for awhile. HC sat on a stool near him for encouragement and advise. Nothing happened.

(This was taken immediately after he p*oped. Notice the thrilled expression.)
So just a few minutes ago, I smelled p*op and began to change his diaper. I realized that I caught it at the beginning stage and that he wasn't finished. I cleaned him up and let him sit on the potty with his truck. A few minutes later WE HAD P*OP IN THE POTTY AND A PROUD LITTLE MAN!!!!!!! What a big day! I hope this is the beginning of our breakthrough and I hope he keeps going in the potty and doesn't lose his focus. We are beyond ready for him to be done with diapers. His diapers are beginning to make scratch marks on his legs. He is really too big. So today we celebrate!! HOORAY HOORAY!! (Oh, and he called his p*op a turtle! haha)

Bug Killer Alternatives

Shortly after HC was born we had a problem pop up. We began to find wasps and/or dirt daubers flying around the house. We could not find out how they were getting inside and I did NOT want to spray bug poison IN my home.

My first born was weeks/days old. What new mother would spray bug spray?? I decided to try a few household items and see if I could rid the bugs without spraying toxins indoors. Some may argue that my remedies are in fact toxic smells too, but I felt a little better spraying them rather than pure bug poison. So what did I find?? I found spraying a bug with hairspray or Lysol (or such products) kills those little guys every time.

We later found the source of our dirt daubers was via our air vents. When HC was 2 months old we had our vents cleaned. Once we fixed the problem - no more bugs!! Yay! The other day I was reminded of this discovery as I sat staring at an icky spider!! I thought maybe some of you Moms out there may like to know there are other remedies to ridding your home of pests indoors!

Wednesday Hero

This Week's Hero Was Suggested By Cindy

Lt. Michael P. Murphy
29 years old from Patchogue, New York
SEAL Delivery Vehicle Team 1
June 28, 2005


On Monday, Lt. Michael P. Murphy was posthumously awarded the Medal Of Honor. His father was the one who accepted the award. Lt. Murphy will receive the award for his extraordinary, selfless heroism and steadfast courage while leading a four-man, special reconnaissance mission deep behind enemy lines east of Asadabad in the Hindu Kush of Afghanistan June 27 to 28, 2005

"We are thrilled by the President's announcement today, especially because there is now a public recognition of what we knew all along about Michael's loyalty, devotion and sacrifice to his friends, family, country, and especially his SEAL teammates," the Murphy family said in a statement released earlier in the month. "The honor is not just about Michael, it is about his teammates and those who lost their lives that same day."

Murphy was the officer-in-charge of the SEAL element, which was tasked with locating a high- level Taliban militia leader to provide intelligence for a follow-on mission to capture or destroy the local leadership and disrupt enemy activity. Taliban sympathizers discovered the SEAL unit and immediately revealed their position to Taliban fighters. The element was besieged on a mountaintop by scores of enemy fighters. The firefight that ensued pushed the element farther into enemy territory and left all four SEALs wounded. The SEALs fought with everything they had. despite being at a tactical disadvantage and outnumbered more than four to one. Understanding the gravity of the situation and his responsibility to his men, Murphy, already wounded, deliberately and unhesitatingly moved from cover into the open where he took and returned fire while transmitting a call for help for his beleaguered teammates. Shot through the back while radioing for help, Murphy completed his transmission while returning fire. The call ultimately led to the rescue of one severely wounded team member, Hospital Corpsman 2nd Class Marcus Luttrell, and the recovery of the remains of Murphy and Gunner’s Mate 2nd Class (SEAL) Danny Dietz and Sonar Technician 2nd Class (SEAL) Matthew Axelson.

Eight more SEALs and eight Army "Nightstalker" special operations personnel comprising the initial reinforcement also lost their lives when their helicopter was shot down before they could engage the enemy.

Murphy was also inducted into the Hall of Heroes at the Pentagon during a ceremony yesterday. His name was engraved beside the names of some 3,400 other service members who have also been awarded the nation’s highest honor.

These brave men and women sacrifice so much in their lives so that others may enjoy the freedoms we get to enjoy everyday. For that, I am proud to call them Hero.
We Should Not Only Mourn These Men And Women Who Died, We Should Also Thank God That Such People Lived

This post is part of the Wednesday Hero Blogroll. For more information about Wednesday Hero, or if you would like to post it on your blog, you can go here.

Open Wide like an Alligator

First we met Mrs. Candy, the hygienist. Then Mrs. Candy let HC feel the 'tooth counter' on her finger.
HC looked in the handy dandy mirror.
Then Mrs. Candy counted those toothies!

She polished them.
Mr. Thirsty took the yuckies out of HC's mouth.
JB watching to make sure all was well as Mrs. Candy put the vitamins on her teeth.
HC showing us her sparkly clear teeth. She has been very concerned that they not get dirty now.

A tooth sticker - Wowy Kazowy!
Her tooth care kit (along with a googly eye ring she chose out of the treasure chest.).
Later in the day I found HC using her floss. She is an eager student. Once she learns the importance of things she gives her all to it!
This was the story of HC's first trip to the dentist. Hopefully all will go as smooth when JB is due his check-up!

Staying Out of the Way

As a Mother, I think one of the hardest lessons to learn is to get out of God's way with our kids. He has a plan for their lives and He knows the necessary experiences to prepare them for that call. My kids are 2.5 and 4 years old. We have had minor experience with this lesson and I am hoping that I will learn to comply with this before I really make a mess of things.

I find myself trying to keep them connected with kids they no longer see. The ones I think are worth keeping. Even though it is a struggle to get together I am 'striving' to make this happen. I mean, isn't that what I am supposed to do?? Connect them properly?

I am finding this task is more difficult than I thought. I have already had 2 experiences where I tried to 'make a connection' for HC and God showed me that if I had left my hands off of the matter - He had full control. My effort to interfere caused HC to miss out on the time with her friend. I was trying to get her into the right class on Sunday morning, and if I let her go to the class she would have been in all along, she would have been with the teacher she liked and the friends I was working on connecting her with.

I believe He was showing me that He doesn't need my help in HC's, or JB's, connections away from me. He has it all under control. My job is to prepare them in the way to go. To teach them the ways of God and to prepare them to be good citizens in this world. I cannot guard them against mean friends. I cannot arrange the perfect connections. I mean really, the friends I am working so hard on keeping around - HE brought them into our lives to begin with.

I just feel such a responsibility to my kids. I feel like I should do so much that I forget God has had his hand in our life all along. He goes before us. He even goes before us at their Sunday school class at church. (Imagine that!) I can rest in knowing HE is able to guard them when I am not around. HE knows the kids who will be good for them. His ways are higher and He knows exactly how to keep my kids. I mean really, who am I to think I can even raise them properly. I mess up every day. I do not keep my cool when they exasperate me. I shout when I should listen. How in the world do I think I can handle this?? My job is to focus on training them in the way they should go and HIS job is to draw them to Him. I have a small part in the process but it is a major part too. I do influence them and I should do all I can to influence them properly but I cannot do it all. I must trust God to do His part.

Yes, I know - my kids are still young. I know I have miles to go before I sleep. But I pray I take this lesson in and I pray I will be strong enough to trust God to handle His part. Trust Him to keep His word. Trust that HE loves my kids more than I can even imagine loving them. Hard to believe that is possible, but it is true!

I noticed on our outing, to the P*mpkin Patch, on Friday HC was spreading her brave wings a bit. She usually stays near me and helps with JB. She did do that but she asked if she could sit near an older girl and from then on HC was her shadow. I must admit, the girl she chose was a good one to choose. She was stepping away from me a tiny bit and I know there is so much more for me to learn as she continues to grow. I pray I will stay out of the way. I pray I can step into the next phase of parenting without suffocating my kids. The phase where they become independent of me. She is taking baby steps in that direction now but soon she will be ready to let go more and more. She is 4 years old and I must learn to step out of the way at the right time while remaining right there. Whew. What a tough phase I have ahead of me.

Another Win

We beat Auburn!!!!! WooHOOOO! Great game!!! :)

GEAUX TIGERS!!! LSU TIGERS that is.

Step away from the camera

We had an appointment, at the Botanical Gardens, with a photographer on Tuesday (for school pictures). I had never been before so we arrived a little early. Of course, I was in the market for a new blog header and went to this appointment with camera in hand. Here are the pictures I took before we had the professional step in. There was a bumble bee looming near JB and he would not take his eyes off of it.
By the time my camera snapped this one, they were both going opposite directions. I just love this picture. I had a hard time choosing between this one and the header you see above. This one is just so precious to me.
I had to take a picture of the photographer and her assistant in action. There is a blog to consider here people!! The photographer mentioned how well the kids responded to her and how well they stayed in place and smiled. I told her I am always taking pics of them, but I didn't tell her about my blog addiction. Some things are better left unsaid!

In search of the Great P*mpkin

I will start this by saying, this is a long one. Not due to my wordiness but due to the volume of pictures. I took 80 shots of a 2 hour event, I have a problem I think. haha My kids are just too photogenic. :) Well, we started our outing with a picnic with our Home School crew. The kids ran around and explored the surroundings. My kids were so excited to see the Pumpkins they were jumping and running with anticipation. Here is a shot I took of us. I told the kids to look at the camera and get their heads in the screen. I think they did an excellent job considering those screens are SOOO hard to see when in the sunlight. I wish I knew HC's head was so hidden. Oh well. Here we are waiting for our turn in the Petting Farm. JB is distracted by a Bumble Bee flying near him.
Here is HC laughing due to the Rooster crowing. JB is still thrilled looking at the last animal he just saw.
JB - "Can I hold the bunny?" Ask and you shall receive! :)
Notice the sign labeled Donkey, last time I checked that big brown thing is a cow!

A hay bail maze! Thanks to a big helper as their guide. The kids loved the maze.
A portion of our Home School group.
Here is a pic of us on the hay ride. We are off to see the GREAT P*mpkin Charlie Br*wn!
HC found a white pumpkin that was a MUST have! She was so proud of her find. She is getting so big!

Here they are with their finds!
We finished our adventure with a lesson on the cotton fields. We even picked some cotton for a local project (like a quilt or something). They let us take a boll of cotton home. What an adventure.
HC said, "This was the best field trip ever. I had so much fun." We stopped for a milkshake on our way home. Their reward for being such troopers!!
Obviously JB was worn out. They started the day at 5:30 am and I think he was past tired! He fell asleep 3 times while drinking his milkshake. We had to call his name so that he didn't drop it. I hated startling him, but I would have hated MILKshake on my floorboard more!

Great family fun!! This week was jam packed with activity. I will catch you up on our adventures next week!