whine juice

so i read on a friend's blog about whine juice. (mixture of water and vinegar) when your kids whine or sass you spray it in their mouth. so, i thought this was a pretty good idea. the following are responses...

rylee didn't like it.....good
kade thought about it and decided he didn't like it.....good
lily asked for more......bad

this is so typical lily. she is a stubborn little toot! :)

an unexpected phone call...

the phone rang around 2:30pm yesterday afternoon. the name didn't come up on the caller id, but i answered it anyway. a female's voice immediately said..."this is................" it was the twins previous foster mother. i was actually glad to hear her voice. my heart has hurt for her from the beginning of this whole thing and she always handled herself very politely and respectfully during the whole process.

we began talking and she told me how afraid she was to call because she didn't know how i would react. she was relieved that i didn't hang up on her. i caught her up on the twins and she was thrilled to hear that they are doing so well. she apologized for putting our family through the court fiasco and accepted full responsibility for their fault in losing the twins. i was able to tell her that we did not think bad about them and that we understood that they had to do everything they could to keep them and that we probably would have done the same thing. she expressed how glad she was that they are with us.

it was a very positive conversation for both of us. we were two mothers who have mothers hearts for the twins and we agreed that ultimately God has a plan for them and it was with us. she said that she still grieves them and that the holidays are very difficult which i could understand. i got her email address and sent some pictures which she was thrilled to get and said that she was happy to see them so happy. i told her i had wanted to send her pictures but didn't know if it would be more painful than helpful. she said she understood that, but that seeing them happy and growing would help her. so, i told her i would keep her updated and send pictures every once in a while. she continually expressed her gratefulness.

she and her husband have been in couseling and she said they have worked through a lot and are doing well. i was glad to hear that. anyway, sorry so wordy, but it's easier writing here than repeating the story several times :)

on a lighter note......my camera should be here friday......that is only two days!!!!!!! woo-hoo!

we're all sick and miserable. if you are reading this...please say a quick prayer. it is very difficult to take care of three toddlers when you don't feel good and they don't feel good.

on a positive note...i ordered my camera last night. my nikon d200 should be here in 4-6 days. i cannot wait. so be prepared to start seeing lots of pictures on my blog. i have also named my little photography adventure...moments by mary-michele. i want to focus on portraiture, mainly families, children, senior pictures etc. outside. i'm not sure about an indoor studio...that will be later on. definitely no weddings....i don't want that stress :) i do hope to do some engagement and bridal portraits, however. anyway, as you can see, i'm still extremely excited!!! i also still have soooo much to learn!!!

i sign off coughing, sneezing, aching and miserable with hopes of feeling better very soon :)

photography bliss...

i went with linda to two shoots today. i loved every minute of it. it just confirmed that this is definitely something i want to pursue. i've been researching cameras and i think i know which one i want, but kyle and i are going to look at it tomorrow. i'm hoping to get my camera in the next couple of weeks. i've told kyle it can be my christmas/birthday/anniversary/valentine etc. present for the next two years :) he likes that he'll be off the hook :) anyway, i am really excited and already learned so much from linda, just by helping and watching today.

rylee is feeling better. the twins are running a low-grade fever. not sure if they have what rylee had. i guess we'll find out. i have been fighting congestion for the last couple of days. i'm coughing and miserable at night. ughhhh. anyway, hopefully it will pass soon and be on its way.

thanksgiving, jack-in-the-box and a super mom-in-law!

well, thanksgiving was a little different this year. i noticed some white spots on rylee's tongue on wednesday night but she said they didn't hurt so i didn't think too much about it. as we were packing and getting ready to head to waco yesterday, around 3:45pm, i noticed that rylee had fever. took her temp and sure enough...almost 103. so, i took her to the doctor and she has cocksackie virus (also known as hand, foot and mouth disease...not to be confused with hoof and mouth disease, rylee is not a cow :) basically, you run fever and can get spots in your mouth, hands and feet. anyway, we couldn't go to waco and expose everyone, so we stayed in corsicana.

we went to jack in the box for lunch and then to walmart to get christmas lights. kyle has turned into clark griswald this year. he's going all out with lights outside this year. :) anyway, then my sweet mother-in-law came around 3pm and brought leftovers (Yeah!!!!) so, we decorated for christmas, had turkey and the whole spread for dinner with Judy and she left around 7pm to head back to waco. it was soooo nice of her to come down and bring us thanksgiving dinner.

so, it definately was different, but i was with my family and we truly had a great day! hope your thanksgiving was wonderful too!!!

by the way, i got some paints at walmart yesterday. learned and practiced some strokes and painted my first rose. it turned out pretty good. our scanner/printer is broken, otherwise i would post it....bummer.

so call me crazy...:)

i think i'm going to get into professional photography. i have always loved pictures and i LOVE professional pictures. we just did family pictures today and we use an awesome photographer named Linda. she learned everything she knows from following a photographer around and i'm going to do the same thing. i'm going to go with her for a while and see if this is really something i want to do. i'm really excited.

i think i'm coming to a point in my life where i realize there are certain things i have always wanted to do but haven't done. so many excuses...lack of time, lack of money etc. two things i have always wanted to do were photography and painting. my grandmother paints (and taught herself).... anyway, we'll see. one thing at a time. i'm glad that i'm at least going to go for it and see what happens!!! :) life is too short not to go for it!

from a full heart...

today a couple of really important things happened. kade said, "i love you" for the first time. lily has been saying it for a while but for some reason kade wouldn't. anyway, i was pumped. there's nothing quite like hearing your kids tell you they love you. the other significant thing that happened was rylee's prayer at dinner. usually when she prays, she says the typical "thank you for this food" etc. tonight, my precious little three yr old spoke to God from her heart. she prayed a several sentence prayer that included thanking Him for our food and family. kyle and i both looked at each other with the "awwww" face. (you know the one) :) it was a moment. i'm constantly reminded that we as parents have so much influence on our children. i know that i will never be the perfect parent, mainly because they don't exist, but more than anything i desire to raise children that know my Lord intimately and choose to follow after Him. i look forward to seeing my children grow and take steps toward owning their faith!!!

what a day!
my son verbalized his love for me...
my daughter talked to God from her heart...
my heart is full...

Rest Within His Sanctuary...

Why, in this, a time of trouble,
do I sing a song of peace?
Why, with all man's strife and struggle,
do I thank God for release?

Why? Because I know He loves me,
and by faith I enter in
To the safety of His refuge,
where He saves me from my sin.

He brings comfort to the suffering,
strength to those lost and alone;
For He offers an asylum,
calling us to be His own.

Listen, you can hear Him calling
from the cross and empty grave,
"Enter in My sanctuary;
all who enter I will save."

Rest within his sanctuary;
there is shelter from the storm.
You are safe within His refuge
till He comes to take you home.

Soon the young and old will gather
in that city filled with song.
Walled about by His salvation,
Christ the Lord has made it strong.

See the city gates are open;
enter in while time remains.
There is room for all who trust Him;
death to lose and life to gain.

-Dan Whittemore-

celebrate recovery...

wow....what a day! a small group from our church went to a seminar in Dallas today for Celebrate Recovery. it is an amazing program designed for churches to minister to people with issues. and let's face it...we all got'em!!!!!! :) anyway, it is a 15 yr old ministry that started at Saddleback in California. for more information go to http://www.pastors.com/pcom/recovery/
if you don't have this program at your church, i highly recommend you looking into it. God is using this biblically based 12 step program to radically transform and heal broken lives and people with "hurts, hang-ups and habits".

i'm really excited about bringing this program to our church body. our churches are full of hurting people who put on their pretty masks Sunday after Sunday and act like everything is fine and dandy. church needs to be a safe place for people to share their struggles and let's face it....for most it falls very short!!! we are all sinners, each of us struggling with our particular issues. if you think you don't have any...you're either in denial or just arrogant. we will not be rid of our flesh until the day we meet Him face to face. until then......that means issues.... however, we can work at becoming more and more like Christ. i believe that one way to do that is to admit our struggles...not only to ourselves but to others whom God has placed in our lives to help us along in this journey. (i don't just believe it...it's in God's word)

ok, enough rambling for one entry. it has been a great day...i'm really tired...

blessings!!!

what the heck?

so, i must admit that i am somewhat of a political idiot. i'm not exaggerating :) i try to be informed enough to vote...which i do and so should you!!! it's my blog...i can throw out my opinions :) anyway, as i understand it...the senate and house of rep's has now been taken over by the democrats. what confuses me the most is how upset some christians seem to be. to here some of them talk, it is the end of the world and america is going to hell in a handbasket.

now, personally, i don't really understand what the upset is about because here is the bottom line.........is God any less God than He was yesterday? where is our faith, people? do we honestly have more faith in politicians than we do the Creator of the universe? it just seems so ridiculous to me!!!

there you have it....my soap box for the week.

awesome weekend...

well, the winter youth retreat went really, really well! brian rayburn (graduated from umhb) spoke and was incredible. God has gifted him with the gift of communication. he had the kids attention the entire time and spoke God's truth the entire weekend. he talked about passion and i know God did a lot of work on the adults hearts also.

he started off talking about things that rob us of our passion for Christ. sin, busyness and selfishness. yeah, pretty much right between the eyes for any Christian. i looked up passion in the dictionary and this was my favorite definition:

passion - something that is desired intensely

what would happen if we as followers of Christ could or would desire him intensely?

Lord, show me what it truly means to desire you intensely!!!

a little catching up to do......

i was waiting to post until i could download pics of the kids in their costumes, but oh well. i'll get those up soon. they had a great halloween. rylee was "the little mermaid", kade was "peter pan" and lily was "tinkerbell". they were soooooo adorable! it's always so much fun dressing them up and they love it!!! my parents came down for fall festival and we all had a great time.

wed. night i started feeling bad and ended up puking all night. (i know, lovely, your welcome) :) anyway, i was sick all night and worthless on thurs. so, i called my teachers and told them i wouldn't be at work and got everything squared away and stayed in bed. i did not get out of bed until 4:30 that afternoon. i was that weak and miserable. upon getting up, i couldn't stay up and went back to bed. i was siiiicccckkkk. ugh. my dear husband worked from home and took care of the kids for me. he also made me soup and brought anything i needed. he's so sweet....... :)

i got a call from a friend's neighbor who i have met before at church. anyway, she was in a bind with her kids. she had taken her kids out of a certain daycare (don't know why) and had found a spot for her three year old but not her four almost five year old. she was calling me to see if i knew of anyone that could watch him after preschool at 11am. well, she had already had to take two days off from work and i felt bad for her. so, i agreed to help her out until she could find something permanent. so, it helps her out so she can go back to work and i will get some extra christmas money. worked out pretty well, i think. we go and pick him up at 11am today, so we'll see how it goes. i know the kids will enjoy someone new to play with.

tonight i take the kids to my parents and kyle and i are spending tonight and tomorrow at "winter retreat" for the youth. i'm excited about getting to spend some extended time with my girls! pray that we will have safe travel (going to sky ranch) and that God would move this weekend in our kids.

thanks for reading my murmurings :) have a great weekend!!!!!