Happy Father's Day

Happy Father's Day to all you dad's out there! Thanks for all you do, for all you teach your sons and daughters.

And to all you ladies who are reading this blog today-call your dad or hug your dad - go do it. Set aside your differences, and tell your dad that you love him, that you are glad he's YOUR dad.

And to my Daddy in heaven - I love you, I miss you... thanks for being a WONDERFUL father.

What's Your Sleep Number???

My sweetest friend on the planet, On Fire for Him, posted about her AWESOME score of a freebie. Well, I must admit, that I am most impressed. I love that the Lord not only provides our needs, but He also goes above and beyond - many times providing us with things we haven't even asked for!


Well, I have definitely been known to say, "If it's free, it's for me". And Stretch and I have been extraordinarily blessed with awesome things. So, after two of my dear blogger friends have suggested, I thought I would share my newest blessing with you:

That's right baby! I was blessed with a BRAND NEW - ORDERED IT MYSELF - Sleep Number, Select Comfort 5000 Queen Size bed. Ahhh - it feels so good.

If you haven't tried one of these beds, and you are in the market for a new bed - you've gotta go to one of their stores and try it. You may THINK you know what kind of bed you like - soft, hard, somewhere in the middle. But I honestly think you don't know what you like until you've got it in your room and you've slept on it a few nights. And chances are that if you like a soft bed, then your husband likes a hard bed. This bed has airchambers that you adjust by a remote control until you are comfortable. And when you are sick and want a bit of a softer bed, you just adjust the number down. When you are pregnant and need a firmer bed you just adjust the number up. It's amazing.

Our bed was old. Older than old - the last time Stretch and I flipped it, we noticed the date of purchase tag read 1989. Hello!?! I was 13 when this bed was purchased!!! (quick, I know you are doing the math) We were blessed with this bed from my grandmother when we got married (which truly was a blessing, because we were three weeks out of college and broke). She said the bed was just a few years old and she didn't need such a big bed anymore. Just a few years old??? When she gave it to us it was already 9 years old - and we've slept on it for 9 more years. In the last year or so, I've been in alot of pain, sleeping horribly, and waking up feeling like I hadn't slept.

Until now. It took a few nights to figure out that I didn't like a soft bed like I thought. But now that I've found where I'm most comfortable, I'm not tossing and turning. I'm not waking up with a headache (which happened on a regular basis in my old bed). And I feel rested. Really rested.

So, go to your nearest store and check one out. Find out your Sleep Number. I'm a 75. How about you?

Miracle on Dickinson Ave

Dickinson Avenue is always a bustling place - with 24 kids on our block (that is NOT a typo) there is always action. Nothing unusally exciting or out of the ordinary - just 24 kids running from house to house: a popsicle at one house, badmitton at another, wiffle ball across the street, then over to the trampoline, then back over to our side of the street to the slip 'n slide to get unsticky from the popsicle, and then to our backyard to the play fort. Like I said, exciting, but nothing unusual.


Until Monday. While talking on the phone about who knows what with Mom In Action I saw an ambulance with its lights on pull up in front of my house. And since there was no emergency in my house I ran outside to see which one of my neighbors called for an ambulance. As I walked outside, I saw a woman I did not know laying flat out in my next door neighbors lawn. As I watched the woman's friend give her chest compressions and then the paramedics use the paddles, the kids came outside to see what the commotion was, and I knew I had to take them inside and explain what was happening. And then we prayed.

(God is really stretching me in this area - praying for healing. Why does He heal some people and then choose to not heal others, even though I prayed so intently, and for so long? What if the kids and I pray and He lets her die - what then do I tell my kids? It's been a constant battle in my brain and spirit).

So, I thought to myself, "here goes nothin' " and went for it. The kids and I prayed fervently for God to breathe His breath of life back into her body (because by this time, she had no pulse). When we went back outside and sat on the stoop, I just began to sing a quiet prayer to the Lord. I questioned the Lord, "is it her time to go"? Should I be praying that you heal her? Everyone is saying that she's dead. Did she have family? Did she know Jesus? So, still in a singing kinda prayer I prayed for those things. Ella sat with me and listened. And watched.

The paramedics seemed to be moving slower. Two men opened the ambulance doors and they slowly lifted her body onto a stretcher and loaded back up into the ambulance. They left for the hospital, no lights, no sirens, no nothing. I went back into the house and said to the kids that I thought she had died. I tried my best to explain the very thing I struggle with - "why". And what I love about my kids is that they seemed unshaken by the news and said, "now she's with Jesus... and Pop Pop". Yep, it's seems so easy when you're 6 and 4.

An hour later our neighbor came over to our house and relayed to us the most wonderful news - the woman made it. She's alive! After four minutes, FOUR MINUTES, having no pulse, NO PULSE! SHE - IS - ALIVE! The paramedics said that if her friend hadn't done chest compressions on her before the ambulance arrived, she would have never made it.

Thank you Lord for doing a miracle on Dickinson Avenue - and allowing me and my children to be a part of it.

And The "Mother of the Year" Award Goes To...

Not me. Maybe not even you. Who would actually get one of these awards anyway? Now, don't get me wrong, I have wonderful mommy moments with my kids that get me a nomination... but I always lose my chance in the running for the "Mother of the Year" Award.

I say this phrase more often than I'd like to admit. It helps me to lighten up the fact that I've just done something or didn't do something that will land my kids in therapy as adults. The laughter helps... helps mask the tears that I've totally screwed up.

So, here's how I lost my chance in the running for the "Mother of the Year" Award:

I was on the phone with a "mommy friend". If you don't know what a mommy friend, it is someone you most likely wouldn't be friends with except that your kids are in the same class at school and so you rely on each other through the year. You don't necessarily call them to hang out (unless of course you have the kids with you).

Anyhoo - I was on the phone and in a fairly deep conversation that shouldn't be interrupted - and I kept hearing Pumpkin Pie's muffled voice yelling my name and pounding. I thought she was upstairs with the kids and her door was shut and she was unable to get the door open. (ok, now I'm lying - actually I thought one of the other kids had shut her into a closet and she couldn't get out, but really - does that detail matter? maybe a little). And since I was talking to a friend about her marriage, I thought it was inappropriate to interrupt her and therefore felt it was appropriate to ignore my screaming two year old for just a few more minutes - after all she wasn't crying.

About ten minutes later (even as I write that, I realize I ignored Pumpkin Pie WAY to long), I see my "neighbor friend" (similar to a "mommy friend" just met in different circumstances) walking across the street. Thinking she was just coming for a visit, I run over to the door and stretch to open it, still clutching my corded kitchen phone (trying not to interrupt my conversation) to welcome her in. And there I find her, Pumpkin Pie -standing on the front steps ALONE, in a diaper and high heels. That's right ladies, my two year old had been outside by herself on the front steps banging on the door to let her in for at least ten minutes. My neighbor friend saw her and heard her from across the street and thought she'd rescue her. Thanks Pam.

If only Pumpkin Pie knew how important the phone call was, she would have tried opening the stinkin' door herself. ha ha

Ah, so much for the Mom of the Year Award - I guess I'll have to relinquish it to someone far more worthy. Any of you have a great mommy moment that get you a nomination? Anyone lose the nomination before it was announced?

We Love T-Ball...

We love our borough's T-Ball program. It has been such a wonderful experience for Huckleberry. Stretch has really enjoyed assistant coaching and it's hard to believe that The Tigers last game is on Saturday. Here are some great pics from the season:

Awaiting his turn at bat

Ready to field a ground ball

Huckleberry loves to tell people how he can hit a double!

Is there anything sexier than watching your husband coach your son?

The Tigers Cheering Section - Chicken Nugget & her dear friend wearing last year's jerseys

Bubble Fun

If your kids are like mine - we go through alot of bubble solution. Most of it ends up on my driveway. Here's a fun recipe you can make at home with the kids:

2 1/2 cups of water

1/4 cup of dish detergent

1/8 cup of corn syrup

Stir well and enjoy!

Happy Belated Mother's Day...

Happy Belated Mother's Day to all you mothers out there. Especially my own.

I had big plans to write a wonderful tribute to my mother and post it yesterday. I'll explain why it never happened.

My Mother's Day morning started out well. The kids came in at 6:30 because they were so excited to wish me a Happy Mother's Day... I thanked them graciously and then sweetly explained that a real treat for Mommy today would be that I get to sleep in. They surprisingly agreed. Great.

I awoke to presents from each of the kids and my husband and then a egg, cheese, and bacon bagel sandwich for breakfast. Still going great.

My husband took our Milton Hershey boys to chapel at 9 and the kids and I hung out until they came home a little after ten. Then I did a little laundry from our apartment at MHS and then I was heading out to Hersheypark for a few hours with some of our MHS boys. I met a few of my girlfriends there (RB scored free day passes to Hersheypark for moms) and we rode rides together for a few hours. Still a great day.

And then it happened. While standing in line for the front seats of the Great Bear (my alltime favorite ride) I started feeling one of my typical, weekly headaches coming on. But it was getting intense quickly. Then I noticed that the lower area of my right eye was getting blurry. At first I thought it was just a smudge on my glasses, but no. I was getting a full fledged migraine. We rode the Great Bear, twice. And after the second time, I was done. I excused myself from my friends and started towards the front gates when I realized I wasn't going to make it - I was going to either pass out on the trek, or throw up. I took a detour and headed to the First Aid station (which happened to NOT be as close as I would have liked), all the while holding my vomit back. I kept thinking - I do not want to throw up around all these people, I do not want to throw up in those bushes, I do not want to throw up in that garbage can.

Phew. I made it to the First Aid station. Laid down for about 15 minutes until I felt my stomache subside a bit. Then realized, I had to meet my MHS boys back at the van at 5:00 and it was pushing 4:30, and I knew I would need the entire half an hour to get there. So, off I left. By the time I made it to the van, I thought I was going to die. Literally. I stood hunched over next to the van just waiting for the vomit to hit - but I'll be darned, it just wouldn't come out.

The whole ride home I kept thinking, well if it hits me now, I'll pull over next to that restaurant. If it hits me on the next block, I'll pull of into that patch of grass. Ugh... what a miserable ride home. I made it back to our student home just in time, to puke my guts up for an hour and then lie in bed until 9 pm praying whatever was causing so much pain in my head wouldn't explode, while my sweet husband held down the fort - making dinner, packing our things, and taking 13 high school boys, and our own three young children to a mandatory softball game. He was awesome.

I'm feeling remarkably better this morning, but definitely feel like I spent yesterday in sheer agony. I'm calling the doctor, the chiropractor AND the massage therapist today.

So, I'm sorry mom that I never got to your tribute. It would have been beautiful, just like you.