Helping Out

Let me start out this post by telling my amazing hubby "HAPPY 14TH ANNIVERSARY!!!" Yes, he has survived 14 years so far married to me, only the strongest and toughest man could do that! He says it's actually our 23rd anniversary b/c that's the year he started stalking...I mean, LIKING me. I love you, T!!!

Many of you may already know that on Dec. 23rd, our town and a few others, were hit by tornadoes. No, our home wasn't in the path, in fact I was driving home from Wally World just 15 min. before it hit, which was 9:45pm, but many homes were. It was devastating, homes destroyed, trees broken, businesses demolished, large pieces of metal all over the place. I have never seen this amount of damage from a tornado up close. On Christmas Eve, after running a last minute gift errand, I drove down of the streets that had reported damage and I was overwhelmed at what this amazing force of nature could do. I witnessed a family going through their home, which no longer had a roof, windows or door, trying to salvage what they could before more rain hit. I had tears in my eyes as I pulled back up to my own home, where my boys were safe and sound, waiting for Santa and ready to head to Christmas Eve service at church. It was a reality check of the highest order, especially on Christmas.

This morning, J & I spent a very short 2 hours helping individuals and families choose blankets, dishes, clothes, anything they might be in need of, at the Civic Center. I wish we could have stayed all day. I am so proud of my town, the amount of items that was still coming in this morning to the center was overwhelming to say the least. You name it...from microwaves to toys, pet supplies, dishes, clothes galore. I am thankful to know there are a lot of caring individuals in this area, whether donors, volunteers, or Red Cross staff members.

Here are a few pics...the first 2 are from the center this morning, the others are tornado damage. I hope J, T & I make the effort to step out and volunteer more often...because you never know when we or any of us could be the ones waiting in line for blankets and clothes.

There were 2 more lines of tables to the left and behind my camera...then across the building, that whole side was filled with clothes.

This huge piece of twisted metal is on the side of the loop, has been since Dec. 23rd. Just SO thankful no one on the loop was hit that night!

Here we go a'caroling!

Our friends, the Foremans, have held a caroling hayride/party for 3 years. We missed the first 2 due to sickness and company visiting. This year, however, we were able to make it :) We had such a great time! Mr. D drove us all around the neighborhood to look at lights, while Ms. C & the kids lead the group in some great Christmas carols. Ok...well...the 12 days of Christmas ended up as "blah, blah, blah, blah...5 Golden Rings...blah, blah, blah, blah...and a Partridge in a Pear Tree". They were so funny!

My boys...although J & I had to ask T to quiet his singing...ha! Our worship leader was sitting across from us w/his kids and T told him he wanted to try out for the worship team in January...got a good laugh :) I love my boys, so handsome!!

Ms. C, the best caroling party hostess around!

The older girls all hung out on the back of the trailer...the "cool" spot, ya know...I remember those days :)

When we arrived back at the Foreman household, Santa & Mrs. Claus were there!!! And J was on his third chocolate chip cookie...that was his dinner...such good parents we are!

Gatesville

Most of you know or have heard me mention my "kindred spirit" of a friend (yea, I'm a huge Anne of Green Gables fan, I always thought it would be wonderful having a friend I could call a kindred spirit...course it's goofy sounding, but I don't care!), Batgirl. Well, on Friday, J & I hopped in the car to Gatesville so we could spend the night w/Batgirl and her family, just cuz we missed them :) (Ok...and to deliver some goodies for Christmas, but really that was just our excuse for T, lol!) T had to stay home to cut firewood, but he was close to going w/us.

We had a wonderful, relaxing time as always and didn't want to head home so quickly. Even though Batgirl and I talk on the phone often (ok, more than often according to our hubbies), we still are so much happier when we're together in person. I'm so so so thankful for her friendship and that our hubbies get along so well (he's one of the brave Wyoming hunters mentioned in previous posts!) and our kids have fun together. Her kids are growing so quickly and J laughed pretty much continually the whole 24 hours we were there.

I love this one...Batgirl & I stayed up watching a movie and found these 2 out like lights!

Just a great way to start off our Christmas holidays :)

Trimmin' the Terry Tree :)

We have been buying our trees from the local 4H group since we moved here, they work hard and are extremely helpful.

J helps put his ornaments on each year now. We get an ornament for every birthday to go along with whatever theme/character he chose for the party.

The final product :)

We are not a matchy-matchy kind of family, as you probably can figure out if you knows us in real life! I treasure the ornaments on our tree. Many of them are from my growing up years, some hand-me-downs from my grandmother's tree, lots of handmade ornaments, and of course, several TCU Horned Frog ornaments...lol!

And poor Bullet was just worn clean out!

(yea, he's on the couch!)

Oh Rats!

Meet Malcolm and Norman (named for Malcolm from Malcolm in the Middle and Norman for Norman Osborne...aka...the Green Goblin).

After a fantastic Super Mario Bros. themed birthday campfire, complete with hot dogs, smores and great friends...

and a little Wii-ing with the stragglers of the group :)...(New Super Mario Bros. game courtesy of Grandma & Grandad)...

and after we all finally crashed in bed for the night...we woke up Saturday ready to head out to Petsmart for J's new pets :) He has been researching for over a year, reading magazines, visiting the pet stores and finally decided this year he was ready for the committment.

He & T were quite serious about purchasing all the right toys and equipment and getting it all placed just right in the rat "condo" as J called it.

And now J has 2 new roommates and he couldn't be more thrilled! Bullet, our indoor dog, is not so sure about them. Thankfully...he's more scared of them then they are of him so far, so we're fairly sure he'll leave them alone. So now we have, let's see, 5 dogs, 4 outdoor cats and 2 rats...well, atleast those are the animals we know about, ha!

My boy

11 years ago today, I was in an ambulance...shaking all over not necessarily from the cold but also from fear. I was being taken to Houston from Beaumont to have my baby...3 months early. I had HELLP Syndrome. I was actually more scared at the time of dying, not as worried about the baby b/c I didn't know him yet. I did know my husband and family and was scared I wouldn't see them any longer. And they were thinking the same thing I was. I know...it's hard to know I thought that way, but I did.

1 month later...I'm better (still can't see well b/c of the swelling that had occured in my head/face) but this time I'm positive J is dying. I found my Fighting Mom Mode for the first time that day and fought the young resident doctor through tears to get his blood checked. His blood levels were lower than the nurses had seen in a preemie in years and he was so gray, I just knew it was a bad day for him. I had also just seen 2 babies die that day in the NICU and one little baby that was "worked on" as they called it for 45 minutes, so I was feeling defeated. I heard God tell me to BE STILL while I was out in the hall waiting for the nurses to do their work and call me back in. I had never actually heard Him in my head like that before, I knew it was Him and I knew J would be ok.

2 months later (and just 2 days shy of what was to be his ACTUAL birthdate)...we were driving J home in the car for the first time! All 5lbs of him, complete with an oxygen tank and an apnea monitor, in a car seat that had been waiting for him for months. Oh, what proud but fearful parents we were! Here we were with not only a baby, but a smaller than usual one, and lots of extra equipment. The beeps & alarms I had become so accustomed to in the NICU, I didn't think I could raise him without them! Not to mention the nurses. How could I do this without a nurse?

3 months later...the apnea monitor and oxygen tank were gone. I will admit, I kept the monitor on him an extra week b/c I was so nervous to not have those beeps when he was sleeping! But such a happy baby he was, always laughing and was open-eyed and curious from the moment he was able.

Over the next few years, we became good friends with the pediatrician, local therapists, orthotic professionals, doctors in Houston and the pediatric eye doctor. See, J was diagnosed with cerebral palsy...which I think I knew back in my brain, it just didn't come out as a "duh" moment until we were told professionally. And my sweet camp friends (we had all worked at a summer camp for kids with physical disabilities for years while in college) who could tell the minute they saw him as a baby that he had CP kept it from me also b/c they didn't think I knew yet :) It's quite different when it's your own child, I guess. I would have probably recognized it much sooner if he hadn't been my own because I had been around it for so many summers. T & I learned to not sweat the small stuff so much. I mean, J had already beaten the preemie odds by living. He was behind physically in everything and we would all have to work a little harder on things that come naturally for others, but he was healthy, alive and absolutely ADORABLE!

2007...I finally received a copy of his baby footprints from the hospital...yea...it only took 9 years for them to finally "find" them! One little footprint is the size of his big toe now, ha :)

Flash forward back to the present day...my boy has turned 11. My amazing boy has survived the odds of being a micro-preemie, he is now almost as tall as me, he is smarter than me, definitely cuter than me and has a much more forgiving and compassionate heart. While he also has anxiety issues with school, frustrates me daily, and being a typical 11 year old, is now completely fearful that his grandparents and his dad will embarass him in front of his friends (this just started recently)...he is still my miracle baby. I am grateful for every day that we have with him. Yes, I still get fearful on a weekly basis for his happiness, for his physical troubles, what will his future be like...I'm a mom, I can't help it.

And I'm not necessarily grateful that he could potentially be driving in 5 years....YIKES!

So Happy Birthday, my incredible J! You are the light of our lives here on earth :)

A much needed holiday reminder...

You know, after hearing about the whole "not calling a Christmas tree a Christmas tree" thing w/the White House this year, I just didn't think it was as a big of a deal as others seem to make it. Then I received this from my father-in-law today and it put into words what I was thinking (written much more eloquently than my thoughts, though!)...as Believers, we sometimes get our undies in a bunch over the most ridiculous things, we need to remember that our God is SO MUCH BIGGER than these things and all of us!

Letter from Jesus about Christmas --
It has come to my attention that many of you are upset that folks are taking My name out of the season. How I personally feel about this celebration can probably be most easily understood by those of you who have been blessed with children of your own. I don't care what you call the day. If you want to celebrate My birth, just GET ALONG AND LOVE ONE ANOTHER.

Now, having said that let Me go on. If it bothers you that the town in which you live doesn't allow a scene depicting My birth, then just get rid of a couple of Santas and snowmen and put in a small Nativity scene on your own front lawn. If all My followers did that there wouldn't be any need for such a scene on the town square because there would be many of them all around town. Stop worrying about the fact that people are calling the tree a holiday tree, instead of a Christmas tree. It was I who made all trees. You can remember Me anytime you see any tree. Decorate a grape vine if you wish: I actually spoke of that one in a teaching, explaining who I am in relation to you and what each of our tasks were. If you have forgotten that one, look up John 15: 1 - 8.

If you want to give Me a present in remembrance of My birth here is my wish list. Choose something from it:
1. Instead of writing protest letters objecting to the way My birthday is being celebrated, write letters of love and hope to soldiers away from home. They are terribly afraid and lonely this time of year. I know, they tell Me all the time.
2. Visit someone in a nursing home. You don't have to know them personally. They just need to know that someone cares about them.
3. Instead of writing the President complaining about the wording on the cards his staff sent out this year, why don't you write and tell him that you'll be praying for him and his family this year. Then follow up... It will be nice hearing from you again.
4. Instead of giving your children a lot of gifts you can't afford and they don't need, spend time with them. Tell them the story of My birth,and why I came to live with you down here. Hold them in your arms and remind them that I love them.
5. Pick someone that has hurt you in the past and forgive him or her.
6. Did you know that someone in your town will attempt to take their own life this season because they feel so alone and hopeless? Since you don't know who that person is, try giving everyone you meet a warm smile; it could make the difference.
7. Instead of nit picking about what the retailer in your town calls the holiday, be patient with the people who work there. Give them a warm smile and a kind word. Even if they aren't allowed to wish you a"Merry Christmas" that doesn't keep you from wishing them one. Then stop shopping there on Sunday. If the store didn't make so much moneyon that day they'd close and let their employees spend the day at home with their families
8. If you really want to make a difference, support a missionary--especially one who takes My love and Good News to those who have never heard My name.
9. Here's a good one. There are individuals and whole families in your town who not only will have no "Christmas" tree, but neither will they have any presents to give or receive. If you don't know them, buy some food and a few gifts and give them to the Salvation Army or some other charity which believes in Me and they will make the delivery for you.
10. Finally, if you want to make a statement about your belief in and loyalty to Me, then behave like a Christian. Don't do things in secret that you wouldn't do in My presence. Let people know by your actions that you are one of mine.

Don't forget; I am God and can take care of Myself. Just love Me and do what I have told you to do.. I'll take care of all the rest. Check out the list above and get to work; time is short. I'll help you, but the ball is now in your court.

And do have a most blessed Christmas with all those whom you love and remember:
I LOVE YOU,
Jesus