Many years ago

This August Robby will turn twelve years old. Though he is a still smaller than most his age, he has made great strides as he has grown. A few years back we met a Pulminologist who has been able to prescribe medications that have healed his lungs from the damage that his acid reflux, which was present from birth, did to them. Though this problem still exists Robby has also been taking a medication to stop it. These medications have changed his life for the better in so many ways. One big one is that now that he has healthy lungs he has energy which is enabling him to gain strength . This new strength is showing in his study of Shoto kan karate. For years Robby has attended class and tried which has earned him up to an orange belt but now that he is gaining strength he is really transforming. His stances are starting to look better and his moves are starting to show power behind them.

Robby also has many other things going for him. He is a caring fifth grader with a 4.0 GPA who thinks he wants a job designing video games when he gets older.

The reason that Robby and his accomplishments are on my mind today is that about a year ago A Catholic Nun, in Spokane Washington, Sr. Patricia Proctor announced that she was writing a new book in her series. This book was to be entitled "101 inspirational stories of the Power of Prayer" Sister Patricia asked for stories of answered prayer to be submitted to her for consideration of publishing. It took me awhile but I E mailed her the story of Robby's rocky start to life just one year and five days after his sister Caitlyn had been stillborn. I told of how ,during prayer,God had promised me Robby would live even though many doctors gave up on him and were preparing me for his death. I could go on but will stop here because yesterday, I received notice that this true story of answered prayer will be published in the book. I am excited that so many who never even heard of me or Robby will read of the wonderful miracle that God has Granted not only my family but everyone who has ever met Robby. Thanks Be to God, for using me in a way that can bring truth and even hope to so many. Mom always said " God works in mysterious ways" and she is right !

A Monkey Graduation ?

The new Oriental Trading catalogue , with Graduation decorations, came yesterday. As Cindy flipped through she made a request for certain decorations. For table centerpieces she wants Plush Class Of “2008” Monkey Bean Bags - Graduation, In addition she has requested a Jumbo Inflatable Monkey Graduate - Graduation to stand by the door or gift table, or both. Now as I mentioned before she is already deviated from the norm and is having a Graduation Breakfast party in place of the traditional Open House . I actually love the Breakfast idea because, though it will be more expensive than a traditional party, it is at the local Dutch House so I only have to take care of decorations and they will do the rest for me. I guess that when it comes down to it Cindy is not your typical graduate no more than Mike and I are your typical parents.( not saying that this is necessarily all good or bad just how it is ) Honestly, though who is a cookie cutter graduate? Why should there be a standard cookie cutter party? This is a celebration of Cindy's completion of High school and transition into the next phase of her life, why shouldn't she have fun with it ? This being said should I really order a cake just because all Graduation parties have one? Of course I should,who hasn't had a piece of cake for breakfast from time to time ? I wonder if they can decorate a graduation cake with a monkey wearing a mortarboard ? I'll have to call them in the morning and see !

No longer Car - Less

All worked out for Mike and I to purchase and Bring home Our (Cindy's) Used 1995 White Cavalier.

Though it is a base model car ( no power windows, key less entry, etc. ) That used to be a commercial car for the New Jersey Gas company. Cindy seems quite pleased. There was a mix up over tires so after a quick drive to the parts store to buy new floor mats, an angel air freshener ( it didn't really need the air freshener but an Angel is needed in any car, especially one drove by a seventeen year old ), and get a few spare keys made we have parked it for a few days. Mike has made arrangements to get the tires switched off for another set with the man who sold us the car so it should be being driven very soon.

In an interesting turn of events, while checking out the car and purchasing it Mike got to talking to the Seller who shares the same occupation as Mike. They seemed to hit it off quite well and Mike was asked to join the Fraternal order of Eagles, which this guy is a member of. I'll admit that , though I have an uncle who is a member, I don't know much about the Eagles but they are a Christian based charity organization which sponsors many family events. We plan on looking more into things and just may decide to join. Sometimes it is amazing how God gets us where he wants us isn't it ?

I think it is said differently in the Bible but Thought this was cute.( Thanks Suzy)

To all of my Dearest Friends

.

.

GOD saw you in the dark

so created Light.

God Saw you hungry

so he created

McDonalds, Burger King, and Arby's

He saw you thirsty

so he created

Diet Coke, Diet Pepsi Max, Diet Dr. Pepper ,and cherry Water.

GOD saw you without a Good looking , adorable, Friend........

So He created

ME

( Yes for everything there is a reason :-)

Oh NOOOOOO......... :-O

I do not at this point have an answer on the car situation. Mike tried to call the guy who owns the dealership yesterday morning but got no call back until much later. By the time he got a return call everything was closed so it wouldn't have been possible to get the title changed and a thirty day tag bought anyway. Because of this Mike told him we would meet with him this afternoon .

What freaked me out was when we were talking about fitting Cindy's test in soon and realized that Michael will be fifteen next month and can legally get his permit in less than seven months. At what used cars are costing now a days he and Cindy may just have to share .

Can all of you believe that Mike and My " Babies" are this old already?

Where did time go ???

Getting closer

Since Summer Mike and I have been looking for a car that is safe enough for Cindy to drive and affordable enough for us to pay cash so that it doesn't require full coverage insurance. ( My insurance lady informed me that "We could not afford what it would cost to fully insure any car that a seventeen year old is the primary driver on" )I did ask if she could just be a secondary driver on all of our cars and primary on none but am told that it doesn't work that way. Anyway we have been looking and looking and looking to no avail. We started with what we found to be a low budget and have had to slowly up the budget at least five times now.It is unbelievable what people are asking for these used cars that I would have honestly sent to the scrap yard by now. Anyway after months of looking at and risking our lives test driving cars that had no breaks( yea the salesman probably should have mentioned this before he OK ed a test drive )were rusted out so bad there was a breeze as you drove, had almost three hundred thousand miles on them , or various other problems, we may just have found a lead or two.One car is a nice cavalier.( the perfect car for someone like Cindy in my opinion )It is an older model but extremely low miles and seems to be mechanically sound. Plus Mike and I had the five years older model for years and loved it. ( this is also the same style so Mike can do almost any work that needs done). The second is a Malibu with twenty thousand more miles that the Cavalier but still low miles. Though these are both slightly over budget ,with Cindy's small contribution either is doable. God willing we are planning on making an offer on the Cavalier, this morning. I am not holding my breath but rather put things in God's hands and am awaiting his word. Either way we hope to schedule Cindy's driver's test this month or next depending on her work schedule and around some of the many things that she has on the calendar these next two months. Prayers , as always, are appreciated. I'll let ya know what happens :-)

Being one( on my soap box again)

This July Mike and I will Celebrate our nineteenth Anniversary. Though we have definitely had a lot of for better and our share of for worse I can honestly say that I love him every bit as much , if not more than the day we married. Mike and I are frequently blessed to spend some time with other married couples. Some our age ( We are usually the ones in this age group married longest) but many much older than we are. One thing that I have noticed a lot lately is how that little fact that marriage turns two in to one doesn't seem to exist anymore. For almost nineteen year Mike and I have lived as one. We have tried to spend as much time as possible together, we only go out together, we only vacation together, and so on. In nineteen years Mike and I have never went more than twenty four hours away from each other with the exception of the time I went with Cindy and a group of women from church for one and a half days to a woman of faith conference.Even during this trip I spend quite a bit of time on my Cell phone with Mike as I missed him terribly. When I gave birth by C section which once kept me in the hospital five days due to complications and when Mike has been in the hospital on a couple instances we both made an effort to be with each other if only for a couple hours. We have also made our children number one in our lives and include them in as much as possible.
Totally opposite to this most couples that we know can't seem to get enough time away from each other. Mike is constantly asked to join other Married men at men only outings. I am also asked to join women only outings from time to time such as shopping trips and such. Doctors and Emergency room visits have also posed a problem from time to time. One Exception is that Mike and I have agreed that he would attend Father / son things such as camp outs with our boys and I would attend Mother/ Daughter things , such as women of faith, with Cindy.
This makes me wonder, are we normal ? I thought that the whole unity candle thing at our wedding ( where he took his candle which was lit by his Mother and I took mine which my Mom lit and together we lit the unity candle and then extinguished our individual candles ) went along with the Bible Readings that this whole ceremony was to join us as one.
I am told that we are "old school " and should get with it but I know that i don't want to change and Mike said that he feels the same.
Now I am not here to judge anyone as you and your spouse have the right to have whatever type of marriage that works for you ,but are Mike and I not also entitled to the same ? This has bothered me for awhile but has recently for reasons that I do not want to go into, has come to a head. I understand that in today's culture many people are living in ways that I would never deem appropriate ( again it is not up to me to judge) but I still wish to live in the way that I was raised and by the vows that Mike and I took many years ago. As far as we are concerned, we are one. So please everyone out there, how about respecting us( with the exception of men only or women only events and then accept when we decline) when we request that each other be present even if the other is only there for silent moral support . We are only trying to live in accordance to our marriage vows.