Random/ Camera Dump

Before I upload more pics onto my computer, I wanted to use these last few pics that didnt seem to fit into a post of their own :-)

Jeff does the announcing for Archer Varsity Basketball. We like to go listen to him and watch the game when our schedule lets us. I'll admit that the first game I took the kids to this year, I was worried about how Mack was going to do with going to the game. He tends to like to run and play... So I was pretty impressed (and it made Jeff and I giggle) when he sat perfectly still and just watched the game. God forbid that the ball come close to us, though... he wanted to HOLD the ball and would start yelling "ball! ball! ont Ball!" and have a few minutes of disappointment when it had to go back into the game ;-) But overall, both kids were awesome! So we attended a few games this year!

Rhyan likes to watch the game a little bit, but she also enjoys climbing the stands and typically brings a babydoll to feed and pamper.

Our little spud! See?! He does still get some love around here!!!

Here, my babies were (once again) on the back of the couch. So i put them in time out together ;-) I know, not effective in terms of discipline... but I thought it was cute! Mack looks so sad! haha

Our fridge/freezer has been SO MUCH TROUBLE this year! Luckily, we have a friend who is a retired fridge repair man! So he's helped us out a ton this year! (Poor Bob!). The latest thing, we decided to not call him about. The water line started to leak. And our floor caught the water for us :-( SO glad its under the fridge... and just surface damage. We caught it early. Unfortunately, Jeff hasnt fixed it yet so I'm buying BAGS of ice to keep in the "ice maker". Hmmmm....

Our girl LOVES her bike!!! She rides it almost every day! And shes GREAT about wearing her helmet, too! Which is great b/c when we ride as a family, she's the only one with one one. We really SHOULD set a good example, but its so hard to get used to wearing one!

Hopefully i'll upload some more pics soon and keep going on my attempt to catch up!

Random!

I came across a couple of pics to finish off 2012! 

Mack loves to be carried around in a Rubbermaid container! Its so sweet to me that he's short enough to fit... for now. Obviously, these days will be short lived!

 Rhyan and I always like to talk about the pretty pink clouds at sunset if we are outside. This evening she wanted me to take a picture of the pretty clouds. So I obliged :-)

 How many blog posts and fb pics have we seen with this little fella on the back of my couch?! Heres the thing, our couch was expensive. And the cushions are removable and therefore they can become misshapen if you lay on it... THATS why I dont allow it. And clearly, he doesnt care what is "allowed" ;-)

 Rhyan LOVES her bike! And she's even been really good about wearing her "hat". The only thing is that she tends to stop every few minutes and rest on the curb because her "legs hurt". Mine too, baby... looks like both Ford girls could use some working out! LOL

 This was actually new years eve!!! We went for mexican for dinner. And thats about all the excitement for that night... seriously. Mack was BAD at dinner and Jeff and I were both exhausted and we were grateful for bedtime for us all!

 This might be from Jan. but regardless... Rhyan got her first nosebleed! At naptime! And it didnt even scare her! She was at tracy's house and just came out of her room and said she needed a tissue. When tracy went to investigate, she was amazed... it looked pretty gruesome... and this was AFTER tracy had cleaned it up some!! YIKES! Helpful hint... hydrogen peroxide takes blood (if fresh and not washed already) out of anything! I used about 1/2 a bottle on this mess but its completely white now! Beware though that the process actually smells pretty bad. As the peroxide lifts the blood out of the material, you can smell it and it honestly really bothered me :-( Just a heads up... 

But doesnt she look proud?! HAHA!!

 And one last one of Rhyan in a sweater and pants her Aunt Gaye gave her for Christmas... so sweet! She loved this shirt because it was purple!!! :-)

And just like that! ITs only April and already we're finally to 2013 on the blog! HA!

Refined (cont...)

Satan has many different tools that he uses. Lies that he tells.

And we have different "buttons" that can be pushed and affect us one way or another.

Because of the timing of the miscarriage, I didnt not have very many people to talk to. The holidays are busy and our small group from church wasn't getting together until the new year. I didnt want to be a debbie downer and randomly call up friends to talk to... but really, I thought that it wasnt that big of a deal (not the miscarriage itself, but the not having people to talk to). I have, after all, been through this twice before and "know" how to handle it. Right?

Wrong.

The thing is, even after dealing with this for 3 times now, I dont think that there is ever any getting used to it or knowing how to handle it. I dont know if this will make sense, but there are just new thoughts and emotions that come each time. Yes, some of the same issues that the Lord brought me through and taught me 4 years ago are lessons that I learned fairly well and could look back on and be reminded of Gods faithfulness. But then, there were some new issues that came up through this situation... hence, the continued refinement.

Does anyone else think its interesting that the SAME type circumstance can be used over and over and teach new things each time? I find it a tad annoying, personally (no offense, God!). I would much prefer to deal with a circumstance once, learn all there is to learn, and never  deal with it again. But then, when do we ever learn all there is to learn by experiencing something just once? Yeah, exactly. :-( This is true of losing a loved one, dealing with sickness, job loss, conflict at work, friendships, etc... we learn new things each time as our Refiner digs deeper into our hearts.

In our first loss, God dealt with me on my lack of submission and control freak nature. And while this all stems from pride, it was some of the symptoms of that pride which God dealt with in my heart.

The second loss taught me that i can trust God. I went into it determined to not make the same mistakes and to look back on my past experience and to know that Gods timing is perfect and that I can trust Him. I guess I dealt with the second loss the best.

And honestly, I was pretty proud that I didnt lose it the second go round. I had learned and applied, I thought...

In this situation, I learned something that I already knew but saw the manifestations of in a whole new way.

I am prideful. I know, nothing new, right? But my pride leads me to avoid others. To not want to depend on others. To want to just deal with things myself and never need anyone.

This is something God made me aware of YEARS ago and continues to deal with me on.

The biggest problem with this is that it keeps me from opening up and having intimate conversations with my husband. Now, in all honesty, he's probably been kind of grateful for that ;-) You know, men dont particularly enjoy touchy feely conversations. Well, lucky for him, neither do I. Because, again, I dont like to admit that things bother me and that I may need a shoulder to cry on. Because that would show weakness. Gasp.

And normally I would have a couple of convo's with a friend or two over the phone to discuss my feelings. Youknow the advantage (for someone like me) to a phone conversation is that you dont have to look in someones eyes and get to the heart of the matter. You can hold back tears and only go so deep and the person on the other line never knows that there is more. In person, they can sense that by seeing your facial expression... see you hold back the hurt or anger or tears. In a world where texting, facebooking, blogging, IMing and the rare phone conversation are as intimate as it gets, we have forgotten just how telling it is to look into someones eyes and on their face.

So, I convinced myself that it didnt matter that we werent having small group. That I shouldnt call and burden my BFF's. That this was a happy time of year and that I should just keep busy and join in the fun and everything would be fine.

But weeks passed and I felt myself feeling more alone than ever. I had isolated myself. Built protective little walls around my heart so that no one could see that I was hurting. And the worst part? I had convinced myself that I should be proud of myself for doing so! (more pride...). But in reality, I had quite effectively kept out those who love me. The Lord. My friends. My husband.

Instead, I turned to staying up late and just surfing on the internet or watching tv. Anything mindless that would keep my heart from being engaged in a conversation. I avoided reading Gods Word. Avoided praying. Avoided anything past a superficial conversation with anyone. And my sleep deprivation made me testy and impatient with my children, yet I continued to pursue mindless entertainment.  

Until one day when my friend Emily and I were instant messaging and I could just feel everything starting to come out. Its easy to type how you feel, youknow. Thats why there are so many of us bloggers out there... its cathartic to write out how we feel. I might mention here, however, that a prayer journal is a MUCH more effective tool to not only write out how we feel, but to pursue an intimate relationship with God, as to where blogging just makes us temporarily feel better ;-) (preaching to the choir).

I knew that I needed to open up to the Lord and my husband. But lie #2 started to sink in: its too awkward to talk about it out of the blue.

Fact: it is awkward. Another Fact: it is worth it.

I found myself in the situation of so many others that I've counseled who have said "I just dont know where to begin".  My advice has always been to encourage them to start off with "i feel kind of awkward talking... i know i've been avoiding talking some things over with you...". Just start somewhere.

So, I had to take my own advice.

First, I had to open up to the Lord and confess my pridefulness. Hard as that was, it was such a relief. Knowing that there is something between you and the Lord is an extremely stressful place to be. Same with my hubby. He knew that there was something "off" and as much as we both didnt want to talk about it, we both knew it needed to happen.

I'll spare the details, but what is amazing is the closeness I've enjoyed since with both the Lord and Jeff. It was humbling to have to 1. have a conversation 2. admit that i was hurting 3. admit that i had been prideful.
But God tells us over and over that it is not a sacrifice that he desires but obedience. And in this case, the step of obedience that I needed to take was to lay down my pride.

So, I'd love to say that I've learned all there is to learn and that it would be fruitless for the Lord to allow me to go through another miscarriage. But I'm sure that's not the case. And as much as I dread these trials and would never choose to go through them, I also wouldnt trade the growth, spiritually.

² My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, ³ knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. ⁴ But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing. ⁵ If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him..  -James 1: 2-5

This experience brought us to more life decisions, as well, which I'll talk about next...

Randomness

Oh my goodness... my next post will be CHRISTMAS!!! Halleujah, we are almost into 2013 on my blog!

   But before I can get to Christmas, I have to share these few random pics

 from December... Mack, after a bath

The "Christmas" rice krispie treats that Rhyan and I made!

The sweet gift that my friend, Emily Parker, sent me after I had been going through a rough time

 (post coming). Pajamas,  Brownies!!! And a sweet card! So thankful for her friendship!

And my man got his diploma for his MASTERS DEGREE!!! My hottie is officially a smartie pants!

We had dinner at the Kunis's house one evening and I snapped a couple of pics... fyi, the Kunis family and Jeff's family have been BFF's for FOREVER. Andy and "Uncle" Bob worked together for a lifetime at lucent technologies (and retired together and went to work as real estate agents together post retirement with "Aunt" Kay at Centry 21) AND they all lived across the street from one another for years, too! So each year theres a get together with the Kunis's, Ford's and Hayes families (i dont remember how the hayes know everyone?! I think Ronni and Judy taught together?!). And we come for the free food! kidding... sort of!

I could NOT get a good pic of these sweet girl cousins! :-(

Mack was a BOOGER that night, so I actually took the kids home early and Jeff stayed for a while to visit. He and Robbie (kunis) were BFF's growing up but dont get to spend much time together these days so I was grateful that my in-laws were willing to bring Jeff home so he could stay and hang out!!

Then, this is from when Rhyan and I went shopping  2 days before Christmas, doing our best to find Mommie a small table for her living room. We literally went to about 5 different stores and ended up back at Hobby Lobby where we intended to buy this pretty table...

But when we walked in (the 2nd time) I saw THIS table in the foyer  so I took all of their promotional stuff off and bought it! It was the perfect size! And she loved it :-) Shew! What a relief!

And THAT, good friends, brings us to CHRISTMAS!!!
Coming up... tomorrow :-) I mean, who doesnt love a good Christmas post on St Patricks day?!! ;-)

Randomness

After all the sickness our kiddos went through in October and November, I finally broke down one night and literally soaked or scrubbed EVERY single toy in our house with bleach water. It took a couple of hours but Jeff jumped in and helped... we were both pretty desperate to rid our home of germs!

Watch our little people! You're going for a swim!

And after all the fevers and ear infections, Mack finally started to get well and we finally got a smile! (well, kind of a weird one...)

And this is what our little Tasmanian devil was up to this day...

LOL is about all I can say... Those babies...

Ok, now this is classic Mack...

And here is my sweet girl playing dress up in a strange combo :-)

As always... trying to get caught up. As in, getting into 2013 would be a great goal! HA!

More Randomness found in my iPhone

Have I mentioned yet that I entered this century in October? Its true. I FINALLY moved up from my 1900's flip phone to an iPhone. None other than the iPhone FIVE! Heck yeah! :-) I also switched from ATT to Verizon. That has been a nightmare in itself, but now that we've gotten things straightened out, I'm pleased. And I'm seriously addicted to my phone! :-)

So, for a looooong time, this was Rhyan's favorite book. The book she chose every night for reading at bedtime. O. M. G. Its soooo long! And WAY above her level! So it got "lost". Ahhh.... much better ;-)

I am NOT a crafty person and pretty much hate messes and choose cleanliness over crafting. BUT, this craft seemed easy enough to do ;-) So I cut all the pieces and let Rhyan use stick glue to put it together. She loved it! And it really was fun. Next year, I think we'll make several and hang them from trees ;-)

Remember my shopping trip on my girls weekend where I scored Rhyan some big girl bedding? Well, here it is! On her BIG girl bed! I love it! Its not baby-ish and can grow with her for years! And she loves it, too!!

On a visit to petsmart where rhyan was eying the red-bellied frog that she tells me she wants every time we go... yeah, not happening! Reading about Rachael's experience with frog ownership is enough for me!

Hmmm... Daddy "watching" the kids after school. Yes, I came home to find this supervised neglect ;-) While the kids watched tv.... somebody needs some SPARK! haha

Gah... i love this boy! This was yet another trip to the Dr for yet another ear infection. SO sad!

DATE NIGHT!!! Out with our small group from church at Oyster Bay in downtown Lawrenceville. I'm not quite sure why Jeff's head looks elongated like we're in a fun house mirror... lol!

Chillin' in the waiting room at the pediatricians office... AGAIN... for another ear infection. Boooo

But even sick, he's so stinkin cute ;-) I mean, i might be a little biased???? hahahah

On election day! I got up early and got in line with a few hundred of Harbin's finest at 6:20am. I finally got to vote at 7:15am. Hmmmm.... I heard that after work people were in and out in less than 5 minutes. Geesh.

Another trip to petsmart where the kids decided they wanted to bring this fella home... NOT happening. I'm allergic to cats, plus, they're too fickle for me and they kinda scare me! HA! Jeff says its his greatest sacrifice in life that he's married to a woman who required him to give up cats... so sacrificial, he is...

And this was my very depressing ride to work one morning. SO much rain, so many cars. YUCK.

 We're into November, people!!! HA!

Randomness...

These pics dont really have a post for themselves; they are pretty random :-) So, I'm putting them all here!

Mack's "bad face" continues to make us laugh! Sorry about the pink bib, buddy!

Out of the last 7 weeks, Mack has had an ear infection for close to 5 of those weeks and is currently dealing with a virus that we are pretty sure is leading to yet another ear infection :-( He went through a phase of HATING to take medicine, but who can blame him with all of this!?!?! Ibuprofen for fever/pain. Antibiotic for infection. Benedryl at night to clear congestion. Numbing ear drops. Vicks vapor rub for his cough. Saline spray to help dry congestion. Oh my!

I also recently did an Advocare 24 day challenge. I have been eating healthier and Im pretty pumped to say that I am now BELOW pre Rhyan weight and back into ALL my old pre-pregnancy clothes! Most of which I got rid of last winter because I had resided to the idea of never losing the baby weight. Bummer! 

I'll do a full post on the challenge soon, but I'll say that I was pretty pleased with the products.... enough so that I decided to become a distributor (so I could get a discount). LOVE IT!

Before my sister in law went back to work from maternity leave, we met up a couple of times for lunch... and I got to spend time with my precious niece! Avery Elizabeth, you are a DOLL BABY!!!!!

I love that my hubby is such a great daddy :-) He plays with our kids and is so imaginative/fun! Good thing, because I'm all about cooking/cleaning/doing baths/reading/singing... in other words, things that dont require an imagination! They need him!

My sweet friend, Karen, turned 40 this year! Doesnt she look FABULOUS!?!?!

I love that my Mommie has been doing better and that Mack is getting to spend time getting to know his Mayer! What a sweet blessing!

And of course he loves spending time with his Grammy!