Shutterfly Christmas Cards

So for all of you not doing out Dolcetto Designs Christmas Card Fundraiser, over at Malot's Hope, here is another review of Christmas Cards. Please bear with me as a do a little "blog whoring" in order to get free Christmas Cards for our family. 50 or so dollars(about what we will save from getting 5x7 fold over cards for FREE!) will be making its way to our adoption fund from this!

So back to Shutterfly. We use them all of the time, they often have great print deals, and we stock up, and will use them for already designed 4x6 prints (Such as those from Dolcetto Designs :)). Of course they have the traditional "flat" photo cards, but they are also getting "fancier" every year. They also have Christmas Card Birth Announcements, perfect for those of you who want to combine announcing your newest addition with your Christmas Card!

Interested? Head on over to Shutterfly and check them out further, for a limited time all cards will be 20% off!

Have a blog and want to do a little "whoring" of your own? Here's the link to get in on the deal. ;)

Malot's Hope

Our heart is Africa, and our kids. So kids and Africa, pretty much sums it up. It is only fitting that we would adopt.

And the time is now :)

I don't want to be redundant, so just go check out our new adoption blog. This one will still be here for family updates, recipes(look for more of these as I am back GF/CF/ and Sugar free), and the like. But check out Malot's Hope for info about our process and how our fundraising is going, as well as ways you can help. Oh an check out our Malot's Hope Independent Shaklee Shop while you are at it, proceeds benefit Malot's Hope/ Adoption fund!

I dare say the sun is coming out!

Heaven Stands

There have been some pretty powerful songs speaking to me recently. (Ah, you've caught me, I've been listening to the dreaded "bloop bloop" station!) The one from the title is one. Such an amazing song(It's actually called Your Hands...). It's one of those songs that had it been popular 3 months ago I would not have been ready to accept it as truth. Most likely I would have laughed and changed the station, thinking some snyd cynical remark. You tube, itunes, do whatever you do to check out songs because I'm done talking about it, but it is definitely worth your time!

The piece De resistance (I am sure I butchered that...whoops!) of music selections is Yet, by Switchfoot. Now I'm not a huge Switchfoot fan, I like their "mild" stuff, but it gets a little loud and bangy, and headachy quite frequently. Currently it is the only CD in our car, so for lack of other options I have been listening. The end of this song is so perfect for where I am.

If it doesn't break your heart it isn't love.

If it doesn't break your heart it's not enough.

'Cause when you're breaking down, with your insides looking out,

It's when you find out what your hearts made of.

But You haven't lost me yet.

Seriously, how great is that? I often think why me, why us, blah blah blah, let's throw a pity party. I'm not immune. My heart has been broke. I have new respect for so many walks of life. I have learned so very much about life, love, and healing. I have gone from what was a circumstance driven faith(not that I realized, nor would have fessed up to that fact), to one that, while shaky at times, is rooted and unwavering. We have had dreams, goals, and vision ripped from our view. This is not where we pictured ourselves.

He hasn't lost us yet. And it wasn't much after I had that realization (while driving in an unbelievable stinky RAV- 4 toting 22 chickens to their death) that I started to dream again. See the new button, I'm sure we can all guess where this is going.

He hasn't lost me yet.

Busy like a bee!

As some of you who know me "IRL" know we are about to have the hammer come down on our ability to leave the house. Basically we aren't. Ever. (Okay a slight exaggeration, certain outside only activities will still continue to be "okay"). Pup is having some immunity issues, and that combined with his brain injury leaves us with a laundry list of "not pretty" . As in, if he catches one "it won't be pretty". Anyways, lots is changing in our house gearing up for our winter of lock down. We are redoing our upstairs. I have been scraping paint (worst job EVER!) in hopes of revamping all of our furniture. Fish just got a "big girl bed" in hopes of finally giving pup the crib, and a "gym" will soon be installed in their room. (swings, ropes, trampoline... you get the idea :))

But I may just be most excited about the young college lady I am meeting tomorrow. We are hiring a part-time nanny! This means I(without children, or with only one) will be able to leave the house! Wohooo!

New ride

Where have you been all of my life double jogging stroller. Seriously, I'm in love. Pushes and steers like a dream, and even has a built in "bubble" for Noah! (all joking aside, it does have a pretty sweet zip out rain/wind shield) We have had lots of adventures with it so far, but out first was the zoo! We headed out, just the kids and I, while daddy was working. It was, well a zoo! So busy, but being the first really nice cool weekend (not to mention a holiday weekend) what was I to expect!

The little man on the way out, so tired!

The sign of a successful trip!

I love my new stroller mom!


"Let's count them mommy- Uno, doz, twez, catcho, sinko..."
Thank you Dora, for teaching my child Spanish :)

So this just made the cut because the lighting was AMAZING on the flamingos! I realize most don't get as jazzed about lighting as I, but it looked so cool!

D-TaP, shmee-tap

There is huge controversy over vaccines. Big, friendship ending, up in arms controversy. This is not the place for that. This is a place for a story about our little Fish, and her first vaccine in nearly two years.

We stopped vaccinating our little Fish (after previously doing a delay schedule which was our pediatrician's recommendation) around 6 months old. This was the time we were trialing her on food, and she was a mess with allergies. I think back to what life was like in the Clorox wipe filled days, and I can hardly fathom it! We stopped in hope of letting her little tummy heal itself(vaccines, as well as allergies, are drains on the immune system), and had all intention of starting back up once she was "out of the woods".

So she went for her good old 2 year well check, brave as can be, and got her "poke". Not a big deal right, every other kid does it too. The big deal came after. The past two weeks we have watched our little Fish have slow changes in front of our eyes. Less interacting with friends, more sensory seeking, and the thing that made me take notice, hour or more long tantrums on almost a daily basis. I don't care what you say, that is not normal!

I feel like both camps of the vaccine debate can agree on one thing, there is some part of the population that cannot get rid of the junk in vaccines. They harbor it somehow and it sends them into a funk. (I know I am sooooo scientific!) Quite frankly I don't care why, in our house we are more worried with "how to fix it".

So that is what we did(or tried...) today. Off to see good old Dr. Cheryl, both kids in tow, to get the girl and the boy straightened out(she was *hopefully* straitening out seizure triggers for him). It gets a little "black magic" from there, but we should know in 24-48 hours if we have our "old" Fishy back. I sure hope so, because the current one has been breaking my heart!

Pup the Kitchen Elf

The Chicken Post!

Sometimes I wonder what it would be like to have the simple life of a (laying) chicken. I have no desire to be a meat chicken... all know how their short lives end!

Our Little Puppy keeping himself entertained while we were doing our "chicken chores", feeding, watering, and collecting eggs!

Fish "helping" feed the baby chicks.

Baby chicks... 50 in all! I dare say they will be delicious this winter!

The outside pen.

Dancing

I was scouring the Internet earlier, doing what I do best, researching the boy, what we can do for him now, what to expect as he gets older. Oh and being constantly plagued by the image of the girl last night and her "not normal" tantrum. (I shudder to think of our lot with her had we not been turned on to slightly alternative care early on...) Anyways, I came across a quote that I dare say may become my motto.

It's not about getting to the other side of the storm, it's about learning to dance in the rain.

Somehow my lot in life has become stormy, and for the next however long I'm looking at, I would say that I will be in the storm more than in the sun. So I better learn to dance in the rain. That's what I'm trying to do. Look at the blessings I have as opposed to the hindrances. (I mean he is living right? By all accounts he shouldn't even be with us right now.)

But life will be bleak if I am blinded by the storm. Because as much as we want to say things will improve, you can't grow out of a significant brain injury. Gains will be made, he will continue to astound us all, but almost always a new storm will be lurking around the corner.

So I'm getting my umbrella, and putting on my dancing shoes.

Just Have to Laugh...

Pup has mastered the art of torturing his sister. On the way home this evening Fish was very distraught. The type of distraught that is generally the result of massive amounts of gluten, and would make any passer-by assume that she was not the very typical happy-go-lucky type of girl that she is. She was mad that she threw her DVD player on the ground and could no longer watch Dora, whoops!

Anyways as she is screaming I start hearing a mimic scream coming from the opposite side of the car. Followed by laughing.

Fish Screams (so mad, angry, very serious, tears rolling down her face...).

Mimic scream. More laughing.

Every time she screamed or got mad, he copied her and then laughed. The whole way home. Then I started cracking up. You have never seen a two year old scorned as much as she was at that minute.

To bad there was no gluten today... but there was cheesecake. Happy birthday to me.

SERIOUSLY???

We met with Pup's pediatrician today and guess what we learned? Anything that causes a kid to go "wonky" can cause a seizure. Allergies really make the boy go wonky. The whole is allergy theory with seizures is one that is controversial... but, hey, what do we subscribe to with our kid's care that isn't?

Off to see Cheryl again in hopes of straightening him back out. He may just eat banana, avocado, and Elecare for the rest of his life. Seems better than the alternative.

Have I said before I love his doctors? (okay well Dr. Carine and Dr. Cheryl... I could do without the others).

A little parched...

Here at the zoo we are currently in the desert. The middle of the freakin' Sahara if you will. (I really need to stop the use of freaking as an adjective, as Fish so eloquently pointed out by repeating, "are you freaking serious?"... But I digress) It is dry, it is dirty, and it is UGLY. We need rain, we need rest. I need rest.

But we have appointments. You see, Puppy had a seizure on Friday. It wasn't "long" in terms of seizures, lasting roughly a minute total, but in terms of making my heart stop it was about a minute too long. I'll spare the visual but if your really curious you tube grand mal seizure in infant, I'm sure you'll find many disturbing images. So he has started meds, and we have his emergency "stop seizure" meds (kinda like an epi pen for allergies) if one lasts too long, and my all time favorite, more appointments with specialists.

I am thankful for his specialists, for his pediatrician (who talked to me many times during our squad/ ER adventure Friday night), but I wonder when it will stop. Will we have "hiccups" every few months for his entire life? And if so, what is the next? And where is the rain in the midst?

Because life in the Sahara isn't very much fun...

Happy Birthday Fish?

Oh man, so I just realized I failed to post on the wee girls birthday. Whoops. The Internet issues went back that far! She had such a great little party with her friends and a little celebration with my parents after my dad "rang the bell" for his last radiation treatment. June 25 really was a great day!

And I'm BACK!

Where you ask have I been, blissfully living in the dark ages! After months of fighting with our Internet company, and about two weeks of paying for Internet that NEVER worked, I finally called up said company (cough cough... Time Warner), and cancelled our Internet. This is where most people would just call up and get another company out. I guess I'm not most people, because we just got it back, a month later. Oh well!

So just an update on our summer...

The kiddos are great, growing and changing. Our Fish, well she is as rotten and adorable as ever. She has some impressive "moves" that she shares with us constantly. Between that and her nonstop chatter (complete with teenage angst) I am fearful for what our teenage years will bring!



Pup is more of a miracle boy with every day that passes. He has been achieving new milestones with each passing week! He is crawling UP on all fours (as opposed to army crawl), and is pulling up on everything. He is also a pro at sitting to crawling and crawling to sitting. These things take tremendous trunk (core) strength, so HUGE deals for our little man. We (okay well his team of docs) have also started rooting out the reason why his stokes happened in the first place. He had two rare clotting antibodies, and currently still has one. The fact that he has these and survived at all is a miracle in itself! I love when we go to appointments with new doctors and they say, "He's doing really well". My usual response is , "Yeah, he's doing pretty good." They generally stop and look at me amazed, "No, he's doing REALLY well!" Anyways I feel pretty blessed to have such a precious boy, thank you all for your prayers all throughout his life!



Besides the kids I have been busy canning and freezing goodies, and raising (and killing) chickens. But not growing said goodies, I failed at home gardening. I much prefer to beg, borrow, or steal! Oh and the pool, I have a couple water babies! Look for more fun summer happenings to come soon, I promise!

Last night on the news I heard Ohio is trying to pass that crazy Arizona Immigration Law.

Disgusted.

Completely Disgusted.

One can only guess who's at the head of it all... which makes it that much worse.

Gotta love a pediatrician who answers their cell, knows your name, can recite your children's medical history off the top of their head, will see you at 8 pm, and buckle your kiddos in their car seat.

Almost makes the boy having croup bearable. Almost.

Scenery Deprived

We live in Ohio, land of the flat, humid, and grey. Don't get me wrong, I do love it here. It is, however, more for WHO is here, than WHERE here is.

But the Pacific North- West. They have the market on beauty. Ocean, Mountains, rain... oh wait, the rain isn't a plus...

I have been away for far too long, but mainly in part because of a trip to the land of all glory. The zookeeper and I trekked across the continent with Fish and Pup in tow, and headed to meet with the zookeepers family on an island off the coast of Seattle. We will one day live there.

We will.

Our little island home!

Here Mommy

She.

Pooped.

In.

The.

Tub.

Chickens!

I can hardly contain my excitement! Tomorrow afternoon we are adding new (temporary) members to our family.

25 White Cornish Rock hens! (or meat chickens to those who don't speak chicken).

We have issues with the way meat is made, but seriously, have you checked out the price of pasture raised chicken, let alone local pasture raised chicken? Well I have, how about 3.99 a lb? Oh and you buy it by the whole chicken. Eek! Talk about an expensive chicken!

Lucky for me I have this friend who has the perfect yard for our little cluck (gaggle? mob?...) of urban chickens, and she is crazy enough to have had the same idea at the same time.

So tomorrow Fish, Pup, Kanga, and Roo will have 25 little white pets, I would venture to say one may even be named Biote.

Deep Thoughts

I've been thinking a lot lately about food, and stuff, and food some more. The way we shop and consume both are well ...wrong.

A dear friend of mine surprised me at a recent visit (long overdue too!) by saying she had stopped eating meat. She is not the vegetarian type, as much as she is the social justice type. And that is what a lot of our food and stuff dilemma break down to, social justice. Why is it that someone else should put their life into harms way, making minimum wage, just so we can buy ground beef for 1.50 a pound? She is voting with her dollar.

This subject is hard. I get it. It's hard for me. Consumption. I shudder at the thought of confronting the demons lurking there. Do I eat fast food? Yup. But only organic, grass fed meat? Not in the slightest. Do I get giddy in the prospect of a shopping trip to Target? You Betcha!

But because something is the social norm(even inside your chosen faith or "sub-culture"), does not make it right. Oh yea, I said it.

So now I must act. I must change how we live, how we consume. And I must do it on relatively the same amount of money. Change is hard. But, if we are to progress as a society and as a family, change is necessary.

Check out Food Inc. and the Story of Stuff. Think about change. Consider this journey with me. I will never be perfect. I will most likely always fall into the "hypocrite" category. But at least I will be moving forward.

Let's try voting with our dollar. Let's make a difference.

Ode to the Road Rager

Oh Shirtless guy driving down Wilson, How cool you really are.
You and all of your tattoos, and your proficient use of the middle finger.
Getting out and yelling obscenities at a family of four was really a nice touch.
If only we knew what we did to make you so angry.
Hats off to you though for being an upstanding citizen,
I sure hope my children grow up to be just like you one day.

6 Months Ago...

Our Puppy was born. October 20,2009 will forever be scorched into my brain. It was, however, one of the best, and the worst days of my life. The memories are not as sharp (or as harsh) as they once were, but I figure I should record it now before all but the most important parts are forgotten. So here, my faithful readers, is Puppy's Birth story. Bits and pieces have come out, but never the whole thing. Bear with me as it is a bit rough, but rest assured there is a happy ending!

My pregnancy was wildly uneventful, and in fact most of it is a blur as I had another baby (FISH!) at home and needed me to take care of her every need. Contractions came and went for the last few weeks, but nothing major. Around 3 AM I was awoken to contractions. I called the zoo keeper who as working night shift and that got the ball rolling. By the time we dropped fish of at my parents it was already 5:30, and we were still looking at a 30 minute drive to the hospital. I was triaged and then sent to a room... and progressing FAST. I could tell the nurses were watching the monitors, but nobody was freaking out, so I wasn't that bothered. Puppy's heart rate was dropping after contractions. During contractions was normal for minor cord issues, but after is a bit scarier (although I still am a bit fuzzy on the why). I was given an oxygen mask and told to lay on my left side with as little movement as possible, and to breath calmly... with no pain meds during transition :). I was not trying to be a hero, I was just going too fast. The nurses started calling franticly for anesthesia. They were hoping pain meds would calm me down, and would help Puppy's heart rate, or at least that is what we were told. Looking back my guess is they wanted to be prepared in case an emergency C-section needed to happen. I bypassed an epidural since I was so close to pushing and was just given a spinal, which only lasts for roughly 30 minutes. My water was broke once my midwife arrived with a significant amount of Meconioum. (Not our first time at the meconium carnival... fish had it too.) Shortly after it was time to push (it was like 10 minutes or something crazy like that. I think it was 9ish). NICU nurses were in the room in case he had aspirated meconium as standard procedure (again had it with fish), but it was a pretty calm situation. He 7 pushes or so later he was out. It was until push 5 or so I realized something really wasn't right. She had me push with no contraction, and keep pushing until he was out. She flooped him onto my belly cut the cord and wisked him away. He was "dusky"... but really he just looked dead. A greyish color I will never forget. He wasn't moving, wasn't breathing, just a few of his left fingers were jerking.

Even through all of this I still wasn't that worried. Yes, he was being worked on, but my midwife kept reassuring me that lots of little boys had breathing issues at birth. "Whimpy white boy syndrome" is what it is called. A few hours in the NICU and he would be all ours. I was left in the recovery room and the entire entourage needed to keep my son alive, as well as his daddy, went upstairs. It was another hour and a half before I would see them again. Once I finally got upstairs I was not prepared for what I was about to see. Machine upon machine hooked up to my little bot, heat lamps and blood drawls, all in his first hour of life. Within five minutes we were approached by the St. Ann's NICU Doctor who informed us that Puppy had suffered from extensive oxygen depravation, and that he would benifit from a new cooling technology offered at Nationwide Childrens Hospital. The transport team was on thier way as there was a very short window in which the treatment could be started. I would have to say good bye to my baby boy only minutes after first really meeting him. Transport came, loaded him up and wisked him away, with Daddy trailing behind. I am so thankful for the friends who came to visit me that day at the hospital. I wouldn't wish staying on a Post partum floor without an infant on anyone. But that is what I did. Sat and waited patiently for text updates or phone calls from the Zoo Keeper from the hospital acroos town.

The next couple weeks are a blur of Hospital, and news, some of it good, most of it bad. We learned that he had also suffered a stroke in the womb about a month prior to birth. We were told he may never walk, may never sit (cough cough... HE CAN!), that his trunk muscles may never develop. We were prepared for the worst. And while when we think about him today we try to keep out expectations low, we know that God is watching over our little miracle. That he is destined for greatness. Yes, October 20th was a day that I will never desire to relive. But October 20th has brought me to a place I never though I would ever reach. A place of compassion and patience. A place that can say that I am a special needs parent, and I am surviving... maybe even thriving. We have a bumps (okay mountians) to climb over, and I am sure there are plenty more to come as he grows. But he is our Miricle. Our little boy who shouldn't be. And to the God who allows me to hold him in my arms and watch him exceed our wildest expectations, I am forever greatful.

kinda boring

I'm boring, I know. Sorry. I've been reading, researching, and processing. I'm kinda smart sometimes according to the zoo keeper.

But smart leaves no room for non boring blogging. My brain is full of theology and chickens.

But I can't leave you without a Fish story.

Driving home from the zoo earlier today, I'm drinking one of the $1 frappes from McD's...

"MOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAAACCCCCCCCCCHHHHHHHHHHHHAAAAAAAAAA"

(10 minutes of screaming later she is given a sip...)

"MMMMMMMMMM... mocha" (it was caramel... but who keeping track)

I fear we have created a monster.

The brain is full of theology, chickens, and mocha... (one of these things is not like the others...)

Stories of a Pound Puppy

Remember those toys? Maybe I'm dating myself, really young to some, and (gasp!) old to others. Moving on now as those toys have absolutely nothing to do with this post!

Puppy is getting so very big, and with his " big" some exciting things are starting to happen. A first haircut was had. (He beat his sister to the punch!) He looks like such a little man with his short hair and tan skin(courtesy of a few gloriously sunny days!).

But most exciting is what he is doing in the cute shot, while showing off his manly good looks. Sitting up, all by himself! I cannot explain the joy and relief each milestone hit brings to the zoo keeper and I. Yes, we celebrated Fish sitting up when she first did, but, we knew she would sit up. Pup, well there was no guarantee he EVER would sit up. And he IS! At 5 1/2 months!

So if this post seems like it's only purpose is to boast about the boy, it is! We are so proud of how far our little man has come!

Jesus' Special Day

How do you explain the power and sacrifice that is Easter to an almost 2 year old... well you don't. So in our house Sunday was a special Jesus day. So here it is, Jesus' special day, in pictures.

a quick note to say...

Welcome home Allie! Fish and Puppy are glad to have their "aunty" home! Can't wait to see your face!

(okay I know the majority of you are sitting there scratching your heads. Who's Aunty Allie? She is one of the most treasured people here at the zoo, and she has sadly been missing from our lives way too much for the past couple years while she ate bon-bons and jet setted around Europe. Really she was over in Amsterdam helping out with a church plant! )

To the powers that be...

She's not two yet. But the terrible has started. Why?

Take said not quite 2 year old swimming (who by all accounts LOVES swimming). She screams. And screams. Laughs at brother kicking around. "Pup-py swimming". Screams some more.

Wants her life jacket on, wants her life jacket off. The screaming continues.

Kanga has something that she at least thinks is hers, "NOOOOO MIIIIYYYYNNNEEEE". Kanga looks at me and shrugs. Kanga is over the two's, she's about three...

Oh, and clothing choice, ouch! She has some style, and has an off day if she doesn't get to share her style with the world. Too bad her style is best suited for 80 and sunny. Sun dresses and cold just don't go to well together.

Maybe it's time to buck up and accept that my baby is no longer a baby, and has begun "asserting her independence". I just may hate independence.

10 ways to be an Irrelevant Christian

Recently we have started going to a new church. (Covenant Church... check it out, come Easter!) Pretty cool place, meets at a movie theater, pretty much the least "churchy" you can be. A bunch of 20 and 30 somethings(along with a few "old people") attempting at making an impact on a community. Good stuff. Anyways, the pastor is a pretty straight forward, tell it like it is kinda guy, with a smidge of humor thrown in there. I wish I could take credit for the following, I really do. But I couldn't not pass it on. Its just too amusing (and TRUE!).

Now you can know for sure if you fit into this wonderful category of irrelevant christians…..

#10- LEAVE A TRACK AS A TIP IN A RESTAURANT INSTEAD OF LEAVING ANY MONEY

Why would you leave someone serving you any money? Just make sure and leave them a track! Leaving a track say’s, “Hey, i’m cheap AND irritating.”

#9- PURCHASE TEN CHRISTIAN BUMPER STICKERS, PLACE THEM ON YOUR CAR, AND THEN DRIVE LIKE AN IDIOT

Nothing say’s God loves you more than a wwjd sticker wearing Volvo cutting you off and then pumping the brakes almost causing you to crash. Make sure and find the right stickers to reach the full capacity of irritation. You know, the “Jesus is my co-pilot” and the “In case of rapture, car will be unmanned” or how about the “I'm under the influence….of God!.” With these stickers, and your reckless driving, your testimony is sure to shine.

#8- ONLY SPEAK IN THE OLD ENGLISH WHEN TALKING TO PEOPLE, ESPECIALLY PEOPLE WHO DON’T GO TO CHURCH

Heareth you who haveth ears to hear. Thine best option is that thou woudst talk in such a manner as to shun all who would take offense to thou speaking in such tones. Thou shalt be most relevant in thine culture of today, when thee speaketh in a manner which shalt confuse everyone.

#7-LEARN CHRISTIANEASE AND SPEAK IT FLUENTLY

When speaking to an unbeliever make sure and use words such as…..propitiation, providence, sanctification, and depravity. Also be sure to include phrases such as…… "are you saved?”, “does Jesus live in your heart?”, “are you filled with the Ghost?”. These words and phrases are sure to confuse even the best of your non-christian friends.

#6- MAKE JESUS SEEM AS WEIRD AS POSSIBLE

Make sure and describe Jesus to people as a very pale skinny white guy with blue eyes, a huge beard and long hair. Also, don't forget that Jesus wore a purple beauty pageant sash and floated from one place to the next. Make sure to include in conversation that Jesus is secretly watching every move they make 24 hours a day. Also if you want to drive the point home, you can follow up this conversation by singing the Hymn, “There is a fountain filled with blood.” That should help to really get the point across.

#5- MAKE SURE YOU ALIENATE A GENERATION FOR NOT LISTENING TO THE ORGAN AS THEIR PRIMARY SOURCE OF MUSIC

Everyone knows that organ music is on the billboard top 100 charts year after year. So of course it makes sense that we would only play songs led by an organ in church. Also make sure to call into question someones walk with Christ when they ask why their church doesn’t use guitars or drums on stage, but they can be found in every backing track the local southern gospel singers use when they sing on Sunday mornings.

#4- DON’T TALK TO YOUR NEIGHBORS.

EVER!

#3- MAKE SURE YOU PICKET ANYONE AND EVERYTHING

If you are looking for irrelevancy, here is your chance! Go to the local planned parenthood and yell at the people as they walk out, make sure to target the youngest of girls with your jeers, as these will leave the deepest of impressions about Christianity. Go to the local bar and yell at them as they walk out, also tell them that God doesn’t allow drunkards into the kingdom. Also picket all things gay. Make sure to make signs with sharpies that read, “God hates queers”, “God hates you”, “I hate you”, and “We hate you.”

#2- ONLY WATCH TBN

Quality programming for sure! Purchase some holy water from Benny Hinn, sprinkle it on your prayer cloth, and then pray that God will take care of the bills that you’ve racked up in credit card debt buying holy water and prayer cloths.

and the number one way to make sure that you are an irrelevant Christian is…………

1#- NEVER STUDY CULTURE

Dont watch t.v., ‘ read the paper, don’t use the internet, don’t read books that aren’t written by Christians, don’t listen to secular music, don’t go to the movies. Maybe this is a better way to say it……only watch Bibleman and McGee and Me, only subscribe to Christian Living Magazine, when you get online only look at TBN.com, only read the Left Behind Books, only listen to Phil Keggy and/or Geoff Moore, and only go to see movies that have Kirk Cameron as the lead actor.

If you carefully follow all of these rules you will not only re-enforce the stigma that people have about Christians, but you will also join the ranks of being an irrelevant one!

There you go, a laugh for the day. Or maybe a shaking of the head. Oh well, I found it funny!

GF/CF on a shoe: Flourless Chocolate Cake

This is quite possibly one of the easiest things I have made and it is so delicious. Not by gluten free standards either. My new fail safe, go to dessert! Sorryfor the lack of picture, one day I will get the whole post recipe/ have picture thing down!

Ingredients

8 oz ounces semi-sweet (CF/GF) chocolate chips
1 cup (2 sticks) CF Margarine (such as earth balance... butter would work too if that's an option!)
1 1/4 cups sugar
6 eggs
1 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

Method

Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease a 9-inch cake pan, then line the bottom with a circle of parchment paper. Grease the paper, too, then set the pan aside.

Place the chocolate and 1 cup (2 sticks) of the butter in a medium microwave safe bowl. Microwave and stir in 30 second increments until all is creamy and smooth, do not over cook for fear of burnt chocolate! Add sugar and mix well. Add eggs one at a time, whisking well after each addition. Sift cocoa into bowl and stir until just blended.

Pour batter into prepared pan and bake for 35 to 40 minutes, or until cake has risen and top has formed a thin crust. The cake should be just firm in the center when done. Cool for 10 minutes, then invert onto a plate. Remove and discard parchment paper and set cake aside to cool. Dust with powdered sugar for a yummy touch!

Sunny Days

Today we headed off to the park with the zookeeper and friends. The park is pretty cool, and has a space theme. Miss Amber was there along with her kiddos and their daddy, and well, she is a photography nerd like me. She took the time to shoot my kiddos because in her words, they are much easier targets than her kids because they will stay still! So here is yet another photo heavy post of the Puppy and Fish, courtesy of Miss Amber!








Can we even start to get over how OLD fish looks in this picture? What happened to my little girl?

Franklin Park

Earlier this week we went to Franklin Park Conservatory and met up with some friends. The place is seriously cool and has a room of butterflies right now! Pup and Fish had fun exploring, and we all enjoyed some time as a whole family!

Knocking

God has gently been pulling me from the abyss that has been my life for the past half a year or so. Knocking, calling... TRUST my child. Trust that I am good. Trust my plan. My plan for you and for your family.

Remember my child, the passions I once gave you. The fullness of the Kingdom you once knew. They are still there.

Still waiting.

They have not been lost. You have not been lost.

Jump. Leap.

Walk on water.

But you see, knocking is scary stuff. Knocking requires action. You either answer, or you ignore. And answering I fear may radically change my life, our lives. Sitting and talking about knocking means dookie(which is a nicer way of saying crap... which is really a nicer way of saying... well you know). Change, well change is good, right?

So that's where I am. Staring at the door, preparing to answer. Waiting with baited breath for what is on the other side.

Could Have Been

We were out to lunch about a week ago, Pup, Fish, the Zookeeper, and I. On our way out the was a middle aged man walking in with a cane, with a significant limp. Now this wasn't your run of the mill "I twisted my ankle" limp. It was more along the lines of his leg may have never worked properly for whatever reason. The Zookeeper went out of his way to get the door for him (he was still about a minute from the door when we were leaving).

He met back up with Fish and I at the car and said, "That could be Puppy one day."

That sentence is often said or thought when we are out and about with our daily lives. People who we normally would have not taken a second glance at, we now notice and empathize with. It could have been, or could be Puppy. He is doing incredibly well compared to his scans, surprising doctors at his progress at every turn. But what if he wasn't born in 2009, in a large city with a great Children's hospital. One of only a few hospitals in the country that preforms whole body cooling on infants (go read the article... short and sweet. For reference Pup had the dreaded 1 APGAR too.) We will never know, but it has changed how we think.

So next time you are out and you see someone in a wheelchair, stop and smile. When you see a person with a funny twitch or someone not able to speak properly, don't avert your eyes and walk by. Recognize them for who they are. Someone who has fought their entire life to make the progress and the gains that they have achieved. They are not the ones to be forgotten.

Because after all, "It could have been Pup."

Don't Quit

So some people are really good at the whole blogging thing. One post, daily. Consistent series. Heck, some people even post at the same time every day. I'm not one of those people. I blog when the mood hits, and I am quite okay with that. So here you go, post #2 for today. Soak it up, you never know when I will go away for a few days!

When I first met with one of Puppy's billion social workers, they handed me a "Care journal". It has places for all things medical, but honestly I never use it. Maybe if I was a bit more type A than I am, I would use it at every appointment for every detail, but I don't. Instead on quiet evenings I will pull it out and read one of the poems or articles meant to encourage. So that is what I bring you. Because while it's original intent is for parents in the thick of raising a child with medical needs, it is really applicable to us all. We all have things pressing down on us, stressing us out, dragging us into the pit.

Don't Quit

When things go wrong as they sometimes will,

When the road you are trudging seems all up hill,

When the funds are low and the debts are high

And you want to smile but you have to sigh,

When care is pressing you down a bit,

Rest if you must but don't you quit.

Life is queer with its twists and turns,

As everyone of us sometimes learns,

And many a failure turns about

When he might have won had he stuck it out;

Don't give up though the pace seems slow-

You may succeed with another blow.

Success is failure turned inside out-

The silver tint of the clouds of doubt,

And you never can tell how close you are,

It may be near when it seems so far;

So stick to the fight when your hardest hit-

It's when things seem worst that you must not quit.

-Author unknown

So stick to the fight when your hardest hit- It's when things seem worst that you must not quit. Never have I read a more applicable line. You see I have another secret, and sadly this one is not as fun as a housekeeper. My dad has cancer, stage 4.

So I will stick to the fight when I'm hardest hit, because it is when things seem the worst that we must not quit.

Training Games

Let me preface this by saying I strongly dislike running.

I am in training, training I just started today, for a 5K. Why you ask? Some very persuasive people convinced me it would be fun. So here I go training for a 5K... and you know what if just may turn out to be not that bad!

I am doing the Couch to 5K training plan with some friends of mine, preparing for the Race for the Cure in May. So if you are in Columbus, come and join our team! The Real Housewives of West Columbus.

We may even make shirts. Yes, I said shirts.

BFFs

Our Fish is growing up and developing her own tastes in friends. She, I fear has her first BFF... or best friend forever for those who don't speak tween text. Little Roo and her are becoming quite the duo... I am fearful for what the years ahead will bring!

Some days you're on...

And others you are not. Today was one of those "not" days. We loaded up the kids in their cute spring outfits and headed to Homestead... only to discover MUD. Yes, yes, I know we had a record breaking snowfall in the month of February. And yes, yes, I know that it has only just started melting in the past week. But a girl can hope right? So I shot away, trying to get the elusive picture of the Pup and Fish together. Poor guy was woken up to be tortured! Oh well, there is always next week!