Bible Readthrough Schedule for the Spring

I have been reading through the Bible with a group of ladies and we started this January. So it will take us a little over a year to finish the Bible but it has been awesome. I thought I would post our Spring schedule on here and say that anyone who would like to join us is welcome. Just send me an email and let me know you want to come and I can give you all the details. moehend@yahoo.com

Tuesday, January 5th – 1 Corinthians
Tuesday, January 12th – 2 Corinthians
Tuesday, January 26th – Galatians and Ephesians
Tuesday, February 2nd – Phillipians and Colossians
Tuesday, February 9th – 1 and 2 Thessalonians
Tuesday, February 23rd – 1 and 2 Timothy
Tuesday, March 2nd – Titus, Philemon and Hebrews
Tuesday, March 9th – James, 1 and 2 Peter
Tuesday, March 16th – 1, 2 and 3 John and Jude
Tuesday, March 23rd – Revelation 1-10
Tuesday, March 30th – Revelation 11-22

"Hand" made Tree Skirt

My boys are growing so fast and it seems like there are all kinds of crafts you can do to memoralize their little hand or feet prints. I have done many of them but never an ongoing one. I found this idea online last year and decided we had to make one.
A Handprint Tree Skirt. So I bought a plain felt tree skirt and used white acrylic paint to put each of the kids print on it. Simon was only a month old so I had to use his foot and it is so sweet! This year we added their new prints and I added bric brac to the edges of the skirt to decorate it a little more. I loved looking at how much their hands had grown! I know that every year when we get this out it will be so neat to watch their growth around our tree.

Acorn Art

I found this idea on another blog and tried it with the kids on Monday. They had fun picking the acorns and then painting with them. All that I had to do was cut out the giant acorn stencil. I think I am going to cut them into placemat size and laminate them.

Thanksgiving

I am thankful for:

1.) My Saviour
2.) My Country
3.) My Husband
4.) My Children
5.) My Family
6.) My Church
7.) My Friends
8.) My Mistakes
9.) My Freedom
10.) My 24

:)
What are you thankful for this Thanksgiving?

November is Adoption Awarness Month

I have to admit that until Troy and I went through the adoption process and finally got Joshua, I had a very limited understanding of adoption and all that it meant. I think I imagined that adoption was something a person did out of the kindness of their heart. Like a good deed. For example, a couple might say "Let's adopt one of those starving kids in Africa." That does happen, of course, but it was a little naive of me to think of it just that way. I didn't know that most adoptions are undertaken with a purely selfish desire. The desire to have children. Raise children. At least that was how it happened for us.

Troy and I tried to get pregnant for a couple of years and tried intro-uterine insemination 3 times with no positive outcome. Then we looked at international adoption and realized that financially we were not in a place to fund that. So we looked at several domestic adoption agencies and decided to attend an information meeting about a new agency here in our hometown. After the meeting we signed up with them and began the mountains of paperwork that were required of us. We completed a home study and submitted a Life Book. (A Life Book is a compilation of pictures and information about the adoptive family. The birthparents can look through these books and choose a family to meet and then from there choose them to adopt the child.) Somewhere in all this process I began to really be okay with creating a family this way. God worked in our lives and in our marriage to bring us to a peace about our infertility and the decision to adopt. Anyway, we had a match while we were with this agency but it fell through. It was very hard and we were sad for some time. Then we switched agencies and with this one we had another failed match. However, this failed match was a little harder. We had the little boy in our home for 5 days and then we had to hand him back to his Mother. We were hurt, confused and really just devastated. But God is good! Within 2 months of this event we were contacted by our agency with another match. "Would we like to come pick up a baby boy tomorrow?" So we welcomed Joshua into our family when he was 2 days old and he was our baby, a perfect fit...the child I had been praying for out of my selfish desire to see my husband be a father and for me to be a mother.

We brought Joshua home in January of 2005 and in November of 2005 we had our 2nd son, Caleb. Since then we have had another son, Simon, who just turned 1 year old. So our infertility was short lived and I believe that God planned it just that way. He knew exactly when Joshua would come and that Joshua would need to be the big brother. I am so thankful that God loves us and has a plan for us.

I don't know if there will be more brothers (or sisters) but I trust in God and His plan for my life. It's exciting to imagine what He might have in store for us.

Who are we speaking for?

I have been reading in the book of John this past week and came across several scriptures that really spoke to me. One of them was John 7:18, "He who speaks from himself seeks his own glory; but He who is seeking the One who sent Him, He is true and there is no unrighteousness in Him." (NASB) Now in this passage Jesus is speaking and basically, if I am understanding it correctly based on other references (8:50 and 8:54), he is saying that he is not seeking glory for himself. He is speaking and doing things that God has given him to say and do, thus glorifying God in all he does. According to John 8:54 "Jesus answered, "If I glorify myself, My glory is nothing; it is My Father who glorifies Me, of whom you say, 'He is our God':" I think this could get confusing if you try to think about it too much, just because of the whole Trinity aspect. They are all one but yet all different.
Anyways I was thinking that if you could apply that to your life and ask yourself "Who am I speaking for? Myself or God? Am I thinking God's thoughts and treating others the way Jesus would? Who am I seeking glory for?" It could be heart-changing! To really analyze your every thought, word and action before the throne of God! Christians, we are set apart and called to a higher purpose...not for ourselves. We've done nothing to deserve all that God has done for us. (Ephesians 1:3-14) Holy is He!

Our Day Out with Thomas

This past Saturday we traveled to Rusk to ride Thomas the Tank Engine! Caleb turns 4 on the 12th of November and that was his birthday present. Several family members went with us and even though it was hard to keep track of everyone we had a great time! The ride up there was beautiful and the boys did so well traveling in the car. We got there about an hour or more before the train ride so we were able to play at the park there, get temporary tattoos, play with the trains on train tables, jump in bouncy houses, pet animals in the petting zoo and watch Thomas come in and out of the station. Finally our turn came and we all made it on board just in time! The ride was about 30 minutes and the kids loved looking out the windows and were really tired of all of us trying to take their picture. After we got off, we were able to get a picture of all the kids with Thomas and then Sir Topham Hat. It was a great experience and the kids talked about it all the way home and kept saying they wanted to go back and ride Thomas again.

Simon and B-ball

Recently took some new video of Simon playing basketball! Enjoy!

Josh's First Soccer Game

The first soccer game was Saturday, September the 19th. I don't think Josh was nervous at all but I was a little bit for him. All the little guys did so well and it is great to see how much they are learning. They tried really hard and I don't know what the score was because I didn't keep track and we don't keep score at this age anyway. He is the number 5 and he says "That's how old I'm gonna be.". I love seeing him out there having fun. We ask Josh and Caleb, "What was your favorite part of the day?", at dinnertime. On the days Josh has played soccer he says "Playing soccer." So I know that he is enjoying it and having a great time. Troy is helping with the coaching and he is liking that.

Winnie The Pooh Cake

I hadn't made a cake since the Frog cake so I volunteered to make the cake for a friend's baby shower. The theme was Winnie the Pooh so I looked online for some ideas but then just decided to do my own thing. This was the result...not too bad but not that great either. I would love to do this cake decorating thing to make some extra money. So if you or anyone you know in the B/CS area would like a cake, for any occasion, (and at a low price) then please give them my information. I really enjoy it and would love to have excuses to make more cakes.

First Soccer Practice

I can't believe my little Joshua is now old enough to play soccer! He had been looking forward to this all week and couldn't wait to wear his soccer shoes. He was so cute out there dribbling the ball and it was hilarious to watch all the kids. Tonight they got their uniforms and decided on a team name...Purple Thunder! The first game is this Saturday and then every Saturday until November 7th they have a game! I hope that he enjoys himself and learns a lot.

Family

I realize that I am extremely blessed to have such a great family. We know how to have fun together and we know how to love one another. The Parrish side of the family got together on Labor day to celebrate the 25th birthdays of 4 of our family members. My sister, my brother-in-law, and two of my cousins all turned 25 this year. So we had a party where 25 was kind of the theme. It was fun and it was great to see some family that I hadn't seen since last Christmas. Here are some pictures of our time together. See if you notice any family resemblance...

Meeting a New Family Member

We (Troy, the boys and I) had the pleasure of meeting Ruthie Mei Karen Henderson today! Ruthie is the new daughter of Trent and Ginny (Brother and Sis In-Law)who they recently adopted from China. Their story is amazing and if you would like to read about it Ginny has documented it all at her blog 4uruthie.blogspot.com.
We spent some time with Ginny, Sam and Ruthie at a McDonalds here in town. They were traveling back home after a little trip and stopped to visit with us for a bit. Ruthie is such a sweetie and I wish we had been able to spend more time with her. She let me help her climb up and go down the little slide on the playground. She seemed to really enjoy it and wanted to do it over and over again. Hopefully we will get to visit more in September.
I'm so happy for Trent and Ginny; and I am amazed by the beauty of this little gift from God!


Ruthie and Simon meet


Giving Mama a kiss


Sweet Girl


Going Down the Slide (with Aunt Moe behind)


Sliding Is Fun!


Cousins (serious pose)


Cousins (funny face pose)

High Expectations

Have you ever felt overwhelmed as a Mom? I know I have. I have beaten myself up over and over for all the things that I haven't been able to find time to do. You know like have a clean house (all the time), be completely caught up in my scrapbooking, why haven't I hung those pictures yet? and lots of other things!

I have decided that I am going to cut myself some slack! I mean I am not a perfect person and I never ever thought I was. So why did I think I could be the perfect MOM?! Don't get me wrong, I'm not throwing away all my responsibility and expectations for parenthood. I'm just not going to flagellate my self for not having superhuman powers. I can not do 10 loads of laundry (fold and putaway), teach Josh the ABC's, organize the hallway closet, play with playdough, make a homemade lunch and dinner, workout, etc, etc, etc... all in one day! I am going to prioritize and some things that I had on my to-do list are just not going to be there any longer. With a 4 and 3 year old and a 9 month old, I have more important things to do then stress over my house being "dirty", or that I still haven't watched the last 2 episodes of 24 this past season!

My children need me to play with them and teach them about the important things. They need to know that I love them unconditionally and that loving others is the most important thing. I have been praying about where God would want me to go with my children to teach them about service and helping others. I know that God can bring opportunities into my life, but I feel like I should be looking for some also. If anyone has any ideas for things that would be age appropriate for my gang then please share.

I have a saying that has hung on the wall of each of my babies rooms (Thanks Aunt Audra!) that I repeat to myself from time to time. It goes like this:
"Cleaning and scrubbing can wait till tomorrow. For babies grow up, we learn to our sorrow. So quiet down cobwebs and dust go to sleep. I'm rocking my baby and babies don't keep."

I found another one online that I really love too.
"Mother, oh Mother, come shake out your cloth,
Empty the dustpan, poison the moth,
Hang out the washing and butter the bread,
Sew on a button and make up a bed.
Where is the mother whose house is so shocking?
She's up in the nursery, blissfully rocking.
Oh, I've grown shiftless as Little Boy Blue
(Lullaby, rockaby, lullaby loo).
Dishes are waiting and bills are past due
(Pat-a-cake, darling, and peek, peekaboo).
The shopping's not done and there's nothing for stew
And out in the yard there's a hullabaloo
But I'm playing Kanga and this is my Roo.
Look! Aren't her eyes the most wonderful hue?
(Lullaby, rockaby, lullaby loo).
The cleaning and scrubbing will wait till tomorrow,
For children grow up, as I've learned to my sorrow.
So quiet down, cobwebs. Dust go to sleep.
I'm rocking my baby and babies don't keep."

New videos on My Youtube Channel

I have uploaded some new videos that were taken in July. I think they are all of Simon...oppppssss! I will try to include Josh and Caleb in the future videos. I think they are just mostly of Simon because he is doing so many new and funny things right now. He will be 9 months on Monday and I can not believe it! My babies are growing way to fast!

Melissa's Youtube Channel

I'm a New Avon Rep!

Melissa's Avon Website

Fun With "Old" Friends

I had so much fun this past weekend hanging out with some girlfriends that I grew up with. We have all known eachother for pretty much our entire lives. I am the only one that has moved away but we all still manage to keep in touch. This month my friend Misti will turn 30! The first of this group to do so. We just couldn't let this milestone go by without a celebrations so several months ago we (Rachel, Stephanie and I) decided to surprise Misti with a weekend away. The husband was informed and plans were made.
We drove up to her house Friday and boy was she surprised to see all of us and even more so when we told here that we were there to kidnap her! We had her pack a bag and then we headed out. We didn't tell her where we were going until we got close and I think she was really excited. We stayed in a hotel in The Woodlands and did a lot of shopping in the Mall. We ate at The Olive Garden and had cheesecake from The Cheesecake Factory. We stayed up late talking and it was great to catch up. It is so funny to see how these women have changed but then to still recognize some of the same person they were 15 and 20 years ago! I will always stay in touch with these women and I love them so much!

Beards in a Bubble Bath

I loved taking bubble baths when I was growing up! Oh wait, I still do. It is fun to see my boys enjoy theirs so much. I love that I can teach them things to do with the bubbles, but then to watch what they come up with on their own is priceless. These guys bring me so much joy and I enjoy every minute with them. Even the ones when they are driving me crazy!!!

Moving Past My Miscarriage

I've been wanting to write this post for a couple of weeks but didn't feel like I could put my miscarriage experience into words, until now. I had to heal a little and really think about why I would want to share this with anybody. My prayer is that by putting my story "out there" someone will realize that they are not alone in their loss and that someone else might acknowledge that life begins at conception.

I found out I was pregnant on Sunday, April 26th when I took a home pregnancy test. I began to be suspiscious when I felt nauseated on Thursday and then again on Saturday night. So Sunday I made Troy run to CVS and get me a pregnancy test before he took the boys to church...I wasn't going because I was "sick". Anyway, the result was positive! I was excited and happy...maybe a tad bit surprised! So we waited for a while to tell our news but we did end up sharing it with quite a few people. We had Simon dedicated on Mother's Day and our friends Ray and Janell dedicated their baby girl Olivia at the same time. It was a great day and I was excited and happy to be a Mom and so excited and happy about having another child!

I continued to feel bloated, nauseated and all the other fun hormonal changes that pregnancy brings. My fist doctor's appointment was on the 22nd of May and I saw the Midwife at S&W. She had me undress from the waist down and then examined me. She said everything felt like it should. Then we did an ultrasound and that is when it all turned sour. She kept looking at the gestational sac and even I could see that it didn't look right. There was no embryo inside, that we could see. She asked if I could be off in counting the days of my cycle and I told her I didn't think so. Then she measured the sac and it showed to be a little under 8 weeks which was about right. She explained to me that sometimes they just can't see them on the ultrasound because they are not big enough for the machine to pick up yet. I didn't really understand though because with Caleb we had an ultrasound at 6 weeks and we could definitely see him! She then said that she thought that maybe I had what is called a blighted ovum. Apparantly the embryo can stop thriving very early on but the gestational sac can keep growing, which can make you continue to feel pregnant. She thought that I should wait a week and see my Doctor who would do another ultrasound and then if there was still no growth a D&C would be done.

Troy and I were very sad and very confused. I didn't understand how if there was nothing there, how could there be something there later. I mean either it's there are it's not, right?! I went home and really struggled but felt like I had to hope that everything would be alright the next week...that for whatever reason this little baby was just small and behind in it's growth. I looked up everything I could about blighted ovums. This was a website that really helped me out.

http://www.americanpregnancy.org/pregnancycomplications/blightedovum.html

So on the 28th of May, Troy and I went to see the Doctor where she did the 2nd ultrasound. Again the sac was empty. I was heartbroken. The Doctor explained that the sac had grown more and that she thought it looked healthy. She said she did not recommend doing a D&C because they had been surprised before by other babies who had not appeared to be there but then later were picked up by the ultrasound. This was really upsetting to hear because it was just like being in limbo. I didn't know if I was pregnant or not and I just wanted an outcome. I told her, "Well, I don't want to have an abortion." So she said we need to wait. She wanted to see us in another week and that if something happened before than and I bled too much to go to the hospital. If I had any questions then to call the 800 number to talk to a nurse.

Well, I went home and I prayed. I just wanted to go ahead and miscarry if there wasn't a live baby in my womb. I knew prolonging it for the week would be agonizing. So he answered my prayer and on Friday afternoon I started spotting and by Saturday evening it was finished. My body had successfully done what a body should do in that situation. It was not enjoyable, I was very sad, and I am a little bit traumatized by it. Part of me wishes that I had been able to have the D&C so that I could have avoided the honesty of it all. I am so thankful that I have a wonderful husband who was there to comfort me and pray for me, for us. I rested for the next several days but then things returned to normal, for the most part. I still wish I were pregnant...I'd have been 17 weeks this Friday.

I still get sad about it from time to time but I think that is okay. I have 3 wonderful boys who keep me busy and I am so thankful for each one of them. I don't know why I miscarred. I do know that God loves me and that he has a plan for my life and I believe for the life that was there. It frustrates me when someone would say..."So you weren't really pregnant?" or "So there wasn't a baby there?". There was a baby there....it just died when it was really small....too small for the ultrasound to see. Life starts at conception!

I was pregnant and I am grieving over the loss of my child. A child that I started loving and praying for as soon as I found out I was pregnant.

Deep Water Aerobics and A Big Storm

Tonight I went to try deep water aerobics with some friends at Aerofit. It was a great workout but I didn't like the way it made my toes and fingers feel all water logged. I know, waaa!waaa!waaa! It was a lot harder than I thought it would be but I really feel like I had a total body workout.
The water was 15 feet deep and so we would use a noodle to do most of the excersises or these water weights (bouys). The instructor had us kicking and punching all over that pool! Anywho, it was a great experience and we were able to finish up before it started raining. As we are putting all the stuff away it starts and so by the time I finish cleaning myself up a bit and Troy and I get the kids out of childcare, it is pouring down.
We hurry out to the car, but still got soaked. (Good thing my hair was already wet!) I have this great idea that we should just go through the drive thru at Freebirds and take home burritos for supper. So off we go to Freebirds and the rain is coming down harder. We get to Freebirds and Troy says that he will just run in because going through the drive thru would get too much water in the car. The wind has picked up quite a bit by this time and there are little pieces of hail coming down with the rain. So Troy bravely runs in and picks up a Freebird's trashcan that had fallen over on the way, good samaritan that he is, never mind that it was blown over again less than a minute later.
So the boys and I are sitting in the car and Josh informs me that he has to potty! Ohhh, the timing! It has started to rain more and hail more and so I tell Josh that he will have to hold it until we got home. I'm so mean, I know.
I call Troy at this point and tell him that if he hasn't already ordered to forget it and let's just go home to eat because Josh also has to go to the bathroom. But he was paying already and so he suggested we just all come in and eat. I said alright since it was looking pretty scary outside and I was already thinking it would not be too smart to get on the road anyway. So Troy comes out and we all make it inside Freebirds. We sit down to eat and then the wind REALLY picks up and the hail REALLY starts to fall (about dime sized pieces).
I really love storms...when I am at home where I feel all safe and cozy. I am thinking there is about to be a tornado though...I do NOT love those. So we all move away from the windows, us and everyone else in the restaurant, and watched as the hail pinged off our cars and the wind blew the shrubs over to touch the ground. We settled the kids down and had them start eating but I was too excited and anxious to eat. So I held Simon while Troy ate and tried to find out info about the storm from friends who had television or internet. We were told that the most serious part of the storm was close to our house...I was imagining the worst, since what we were seeing was pretty durn serious. Apparently there were several funnel clouds but no actual tornados touched down, Thank you Lord!
We waited until the rain slacked a little and then decided not to head home just yet since we were getting reports that it was still bad in that area. So we headed across the parking lot to Home Depot, but there was no close parking and parking further out was flooded. So we drove up the parking lot to higher ground, where Pet Smart is. We stayed in Pet Smart for a while and I am sure that the kids really enjoyed watching the gerbils and hamsters, however, I just wanted to go home. Finally we got a caller that said the storm was dying down and so we finally left to go home.
We saw some some areas without electricity on the way, but we got home and everything looked fine. There was nothing blown around in the backyard at all! We've had storms before where all the yard toys and furniture were blown about but it seems that our house did not get all the "fun" we had at Freebirds! What a night! I'm so tired but I think my adrenaline has been going and keeping me up. Storms are envigorating. I'm so thankful for all the rain and I am so thankful that we were kept safe at Freebirds!

The Rain Has Come

We have been without rain for weeks at our house. Today it is raining...praise the Lord! I heard it on the window and immediately hollared for the boys to run to the backyard where we all ran around in the rain and got a little wet. I stopped to go inside and get the camera so I could record them. It's been so long since we've had rain and it has been so hot. This rain is the refreshment that has been needed! Enjoy the rain!

Women of Faith Giveaway!

I just thought I would share to all my blog readers (hahahaha)that Women of Faith will be in Houston, TX on November 13 and 14 of this year. I went in 2006 and it was so much fun, I was really blessed by it. I would love to go this year and I would love to go with some other sisters. I have entered a giveaway for 4 tickets to this conference and you can too! Just visit mommysnacks.net and follow the directions for the giveaway. You have to take me with you if you win!

Independence Day Parade at Parkway

Church on Sunday night was just a fun fellowship. We had hotdogs and snowcones for dinner! You can't beat that. Josh decorated his bike with a little help from Ms. Cilena and I. He also wanted a star "tattoo" on each cheek and one on his arm. We made Simon a hat with a feather stuck in it. We said it was his Yankee Doodle Dandy hat! He was so cute in it, but he figured out how to take it off. Ms. Cilena further decorated Simon by putting American Flag sweatbands on his ankles. The kids rode their bikes around the front yard of the church and I pushed Simon around a time or two. We had fun visiting with friends and letting the kids play.

Caleb was not there because he is spending some quality time with his Doc and Nana! He says he is having fun and he is getting to practice lots of swimming at Doc and Nana's community pool. God Bless Doc and Nana!

Happy 4th of July

Happy 4th of July everyone! We are having a relaxing day today! Yesterday evening we had quite a bit of church family over to celebrate. We had a lot of food and the kids played some games in the back yard. We ended our evening with a sing-a-long. Troy and Bob played their guitars and we sang different hymns. I really enjoyed it! I love my church family! Here are some pictures of the event!