Making Lemonade out of Lemons

Well, it's Spring Break and we are going camping tomorrow through Sunday. The bummer is that is has gotten colder again and it's going to rain as much as it's going to be sunny! We're still going to go because the kids are so looking forward to it and we really need a getaway! On the days that it's too bad to get out, we might drive north to Branson for the day. We took Luke to the Dixie Stampede when Sara was a baby and he's always wanted to go back. And since the girls have never been (you can't count Sara, she was only 3 months old!), we need to take them!

So, we're praying that it doesn't get severe. And that it doesn't get too cold. The kids keep asking, "are we going camping today?" We're asking the Lord to give us some better weather than is predicted, but plan to have fun no matter what!

Oh, and we went to Wal-Mart tonight to get all our groceries for the week and while we were there, Luke and Sara both had to go to the bathroom. I took Sara and discovered that the men's bathroom was being cleaned, so Lance couldn't take Luke. So I went back to the women's bathroom with him. I was waiting at the sink for him to take care of business. He obviously was done, but hadn't flushed the toilet or come out of the stall. I told him to hurry up and here's what I heard. "Waiting for the Grand Finale! Here it comes, here it comes!" I about died laughing! That boy!

Just the Girls!

My Mom has taken Luke and Sara both to Build a Bear Workshop when they were 2 to get a bear. We have Batbear and Teresabear, and now we have Sarahbear. Today was Hope's turn. Sara and I went along. We had a blast. We went to Build a Bear first and Hope picked out her bear, named it Sarahbear (because "Sarah is a nice name"), picked out an outfit and shoes for it and got a bow for her hair. She loved it. Sara did great about not complaining that she wasn't getting a bear. She did get some new shoes and panties for Teresabear.

Hope making Sarahbear

Then we rode on a new train at the Promenade. The girls LOVED that! The train is new and the guys running it were very nice and it wasn't that expensive. The normal price will be $3 but because they just opened this week they are only charging $2 per person. That's not too much. As a mom of 4, $12 wouldn't be too much for all my kids to have fun for a splurge like that.

Riding the train with Sarahbear

Then we had ice cream at the food court. The girls and Mom and I had so much fun. I told Mom today that this is why I want them to be here. So we can have so many more days like this!

It's Official!!!

My parents are moving here!!!!! They took a final walk through the house that they made and offer on today, measured rooms, got word that all the bank issues between buyer and seller are settled and they are buying the house!!!! Yea!

The kids are so excited. Mom has been telling them today all the different plans they have for fun things to do with them when they get here. It is going to be so nice to have them here for all the kids activities and the kids are going to LOVE being able to spend the night at Mom and Poppa's!

Finally!

Woo Hoo! Emma is eating baby food! Seriously, she is 7 months old and has yet to eat a whole jar of food. Heck, not even half a jar! All of my other kids have started eating cereal at 4 months, veggies at 5 months, and fruit at 6 months. Being number 4 and all, we didn't get quite as good of a start with her. I think we tried cereal at 5 months. She didn't eat it. No biggie. We'll just keep trying! So here we are 2 months later and she just ate her first jar of food. I have been worried about it and I am so relieved not to have to worry anymore! I know that she wasn't going to be on milk until she was 5, but I'm so glad to be over this hump! It was so cute, too. She looked like a little bird wanting food. And she is really reaching for stuff. So just about every bite I was having to hold her hands down so she wouldn't grab the spoon and spill the pears.

Luke took a picture of the big event!

Funny, Funny Girl!

Hope is the comedian in our family. Even when she not trying to be! Her funny thing lately (which we can't laugh at!) is to call someone "poopie" when she's mad at them. It's absolutely hysterical, but we totally can't laugh and encourage her. I have to turn my head and chuckle before I turn back to get on to her. She did it today to Sara, but it brought back to my mind a few weeks ago when her Daddy was getting on to her.

Lance and the kids were playing in the living room (probably wrestling) and she did something that got her in big trouble and Lance sent her to her room for time out. She started wailing and refused to go. So then he got really stern and she cried as she started walking out of the room. But as she walked past the coffee table, she stopped and turned around and yelled at him, "you're poopie!!" Oh man, was that a mistake. She got a spanking then. After Lance walked her to her room, he walked back into the living room and I told him, "You just got cussed out by a 2 year old!" Once again, hysterical, but just couldn't laugh at her!

Happy St. Paddy's Day!

Today was "Lucky Leprechaun Day" at Luke's school. I have made it to all of his parties this year, which is quite a feat as far as I'm concerned! The main problem is always finding someone to watch the girls. Luckily, the party was on a Tuesday this time instead of Friday and Lance was able to come home early to watch them. Luke had fun. They made it a birthday party for everyone in the class, so there was a birthday cake and then we went outside to do sidewalk chalk and bubbles. Luke loved it. Anything different to the norm is always welcome!

Luke with Mrs. Garner

Tonight we had Luke's Upward Basketball Award Celebration. He was excited and very proud to get a new Upward backpack! The ceremony was a little long. (holy cow! it was an hour and a half!) The girls started getting really bored. They managed to keep themselves entertained, though!

Hope doing her "extercises" :)

Sara drawing while Lance reads a hymnal!

Hoping for Our Miracle!

Sara had a follow up appointment with the dermatologist today. They looked at her back and and found another skin allergy. It is lanolin. Which is in all lotions, chapstick, lip gloss. The nurse started going through a list of stuff asking me if we used any of it. Besides lip gloss (which was sad because Sara LOVES lip gloss) I kept saying no, no, no. Then she said the word that made me happy and sad all in the same moment: eucerin. I looked right at her and said, "we lather her in it every night." She high fived me and said, "we found it!" and walked out of the room. While she was gone, I started crying. When she came back in, she saw I was crying and said, "oh, honey, you didn't know!" I had to explain to her that I wasn't crying because I felt guilty, but because I was so happy. To finally know what might be causing her eczema to be so bad is such a relief. I told her we have been praying for her to be healed for so long. She said that she was going to add her to her prayer list, because she is wanting a miracle for Sara.

I have hope! The love Sara at the office. They all are so impressed with how mature she is. I have been so proud of her the past couple of weeks. She has been such a trooper. She didn't even complain when I told her we couldn't use lip gloss for a couple of weeks. She is ready for some relief!

One more thing from Sara. She was talking to me this morning on the way to MDO. Just carrying on a conversation with me like a big girl. Asking me about when I was a little girl. She couldn't believe I didn't like girl toys and hated dresses! :) Then she said the cutest thing. Sara: It's a good thing that God didn't make just all boys. Me: Why? Sara: Because they would shoot all the animals." Man, I love that girl!

We Survived!

One Upward Basketball game, 3 birthday parties, and 1 wedding shower later, I'm done with this day! It was fun, but busy. After Luke's ball game, the girls and I went to the birthday parties while Lance and Luke went and looked at guns. (for Lance, not Luke!) Then Lance came and got the girls and I went to a shower for a friend's son. One of the birthday parties was at Gymboree and the girls had a BLAST! I'm toying with the idea of signing the girls up in the fall. They loved it so much.

Tonight, we watched Dancing With the Stars. It is a favorite show in the Faddis house. For Sara especially. While we were watching it, she and Hope went to their room and came out with 2 of their princess gowns and started dancing with the show. It was soooo cute!

They argued over who was the girl and who was the boy!

Notice the TV!

Another Day

Today was a CRAZY day! Luke and Sara are feeling much better. Which means, they were bouncing off the wall after being cooped up in the house for a couple days and laying around. I was about to pull my hair out today! I'm glad they are feeling better, but holy cow! I'm ready for warmer weather so the kids can get outside!


Sara had another appointment today with the dermatologist for the 1st reading on her skin test. She was such a trooper. Her back was covered in stickers and tape and she didn't say a word when they pulled it all off and then they wrote in sharpie marker on her back to mark all the spots. We go back Mon for the second reading. I am so proud of her. She is so mature. They don't even do testing on children her age and when the nurse was taking the tape and stickers off, she said Sara was doing better than some adults they have. I was a very proud Momma today. We went to a local boutiquey toy store that my good friend's daughter works at and she got to spend $10 as a reward for being so good.

The aftermath of Sara's testing

Tonight, after Emma's bath, I was drying her off on the couch and started playing peek-a-boo with her towel. I was putting it over her face and then jerking it off while saying "where's Emma? There she is!" Then she grabbed the towel and started putting it over her face and jerking it off when I said "where's Emma?" I was amazed!!!! She's only 6 months. She shouldn't be able to do that yet! I called Lance into the room so he could see it, too. I wanted a witness! It was soooo cute! I tried to get video of it, but she quit because she was fixated on the camera. :(

Here We Go Again!

So, last night could have been worse. At least Hope stayed in bed all night! Luke came in around 3:00 and said his throat was really hurting. We took his temp and it was 101. After Tylenol, he laid down on the floor of our room. At 4:00, Emma woke up congested having trouble breathing with the paci in her mouth. So she came into our room to sleep with us. While we were getting settled, here came Sara. She and Luke were sleeping together and Emma's crying woke her up. She came looking for Luke. I told her to go on back to bed, but as she was leaving, I called her back and took her temp; 103.7. So after more Tylenol, she laid down on the other side of our bed!

This morning we took a trip to Daddy's office. Wanna guess? Luke and Sara have strep and Emma has an ear infection. Yippee! After tearing up a little in the pharmacy, I've been fine. It's a little overwhelming to think of 3 sick kids and 10 days of antibiotics again, but oh well. We'll get through it. And with regards to yesterday's post. I'm telling you, starting your day in prayer makes all the difference in the world!

On the funnier side...today the kids were watching Mary Poppins. (we watched a lot of movies today!) I was on the computer at the kitchen table. When I looked up, I saw Hope's little hiney shining as she was dancing around the living room floor. When I asked her what in the world she was doing, she said, "but Momma, he's doing it!" while pointing at the tv. I looked at the tv and then died laughing as I told her to pull up her pants. It was the part in the movie where Dick Van Dyke is dancing with the penguins and he special effects pulls his pants down to look like a penguin. It was hilarious!

The Benefits of Spending Time With the Lord

My main question in life is: Why, seriously, why, do I not start everyday of my life in prayer and Bible study? It has been a while since I started my day that way. I do talk to the Lord most days throughout the day. But, taking the time to actually start my day in prayer and read His Word, that doesn't happen very often these days. I've made a renewed commitment to do that every morning. I've done it the past 2 days. (I know, woo hoo. Pitiful isn't it?!) Anyway, the past two mornings, I've gotten up earlier than usual, and spent time just reading a small passage and placing my day before the Lord. It is amazing to me what a difference it makes in my day!

Yesterday was a much busier day than I had planned, I was worn out, but I didn't yell at the kids like I normally do when I am tired. Today, I was gone all morning when I had wanted to spend the whole day at home. Sara had another doctor's appointment and when we went to Wal-Mart after, she wanted to lay down in the cart. Very unusual for her. We ate lunch with Lance and then went home for nap time. After that, she was laying on me and I felt something was wrong. Took her temp and: 100.1.

Luke woke us up at 5:45 this morning saying that his throat hurt. I gave him some Tylenol and he went on to school later. When he got home, he was still saying his throat was hurting and later he wanted some medicine and for me to take his temp. What do you know? 100.3 Woo Hoo!

But the great thing is. We've been sick for over 2 months and you would think that this would have put me over the edge, but actually, it's been a good day. I haven't gotten upset with the kids. The house is a MESS, but I don't care. It's all about perspective. It amazes me what God will do for us and our emotions, attitude, responses, views when we turn our days over to Him and ask Him for His direction and guidance.

Will I ever learn?

Faddis Family Theater

Thanks to our good friend Phillip (and Rebecca for coming over under the guise of dessert, knowing it was to have Phillip help us!) for helping up set up our new surround sound system tonight! We bought a new flat screen tv at Thanksgiving and now we have the surround sound system to go with it to truly make it a movie theater experience! Lance can do all that stuff, but Phillip is an IT guy and having him help makes the process go a lot faster and smoother!

The guys doing their thing!

Their daughter, Ashlyn, came with them and the girls LOVE playing with her. She's a little skittish around our kids, God bless her! She's not used to the chaos of all of our kids and bless her heart, she looks at them like they're crazy half the time! It's so cute!

Ashlyn holding Emma while Rebecca tries to keep Hope off of them!

We are excited to have everything set up now and can't wait to have our first movie night! The kids are excited too! Now just to decide what movie to watch!

Spring Fever!!!!!

We've had a busy weekend. We've had a Global Impact Conference (GIC) at our church since Wed. We had a big kick off service that night. Then Friday night the Children of the World concert. That was amazing. The kids loved it. It was funny though, when the kids stopped singing so their sponsor could tell us about their ministry, Sara looked at me and said, "Can I go to a class? This is boring." I totally understood her, but when the kids started singing again, she was loving it all over again. It was such an emotional experience for me. Lance and I have felt in the past that we are called to adopt an older child at some point in our life, and when I saw those orphans, I felt a connection. Who knows what the future holds, but we are open to God's leading.

Children of the World

Then Sat, we had Luke's Upward game and then the girl's and I left immediately for the church again for a Women's luncheon. Sara's choir sang for us. It was soooooo cute! We got home that afternoon and just stayed in the house. We were tired!

Sara singing at lunch

Then back to church today. Then after church off to see my friend's daughter, Catie Beth, dance in a competition. All the kids loved that. Then lunch, home for a visit from Gigi, Paw Paw, and Clayton. After they left, we went outside for a while. That's when Spring Fever hit. We opened up the camper to look at what we needed to do before Spring Break and I just relaxed being in the camper! I LOVE our camper!!!!! The kids were wanting to watch a movie, eat snacks in the camper, play board games, and get in their beds. They love the camper, also. We're taking it camping on Spring Break and can't wait! We are sooooo looking forward getting outside and doing some hiking, campfires, and fishing! Woo Hoo!

About Me As Told by My Kids

OK, so I'm addicted to Facebook. This is something that is going around facebook. I did it today with all the kids and I want to always remember what they said, so this is my post for today!

Luke (6 1/2)
1. What is something mom always says to you? get a green card
2. What makes mom happy? getting a green card
3. What makes mom sad? putting in a sad face
4 How does your mom make you laugh? she tickles me
5. What did your mom like to do when she was a child? loved to hang out with her brother
6. How old is your mom? 35
7. How tall is your mom? about, my calculations, 100
8. What is her favorite thing to watch on TV? Dr. Phil (seriously, haven't watched him since last year!)
9. What does your mom do when you're not around? picks up the house
10. If your mom becomes famous, what will it be for? becoming president and I get to be her servant
11. What is your mom really good at? singing "boomin' out the stereo system" (toby mac)
12. What is your mom not very good at? cheering up Emma
13. What does your mom do for her job? stays at the house
14. What is your mom's favorite food? smokin' joes
15. What makes you proud of your mom? she has the most beautiful voice
16. If your mom were a cartoon character, who would she be? (after much thought) Mrs. Pepper from Blue's Clues
17. What do you and your mom do together? used to dance, play the Wii
18. How are you and your mom the same? we look like each other, we look like we're twins
19. How are you and your mom different? she's 35 and I'm 6 1/2
20. How do you know your mom loves you? she tells me
21. What does your mom like most about your dad? she likes him about singing
22. . Where is your mom's favorite place to go? Wal-Mart

Sara (4)
1. What is something mom always says to you? no
2. What makes mom happy? obeying
3. What makes mom sad? disobedience
4 How does your mom make you laugh? saying funny words
5. What did your mom like to do when she was a child? i don't know, play?
6. How old is your mom? 50
7. How tall is your mom? this tall (stretching her hands high and low!)
8. What is her favorite thing to watch on TV? Dr. Phil (which I haven't watched all year)
9. What does your mom do when you're not around? buy stuff
10. If your mom becomes famous, what will it be for? what does famous mean?
11. What is your mom really good at? buckling Emma and Hopie
12. What is your mom not very good at? I've got one, remembering to buckle me up in the car
13. What does your mom do for her job? clean dishes
14. What is your mom's favorite food? spaghetti
15. What makes you proud of your mom? cleaning up while I'm at school (mother's day out)
16. If your mom were a cartoon character, who would she be? phineas and ferb's sister (she's never watched the show)
17. What do you and your mom do together? go shopping
18. How are you and your mom the same? hair
19. How are you and your mom different? my eczema (bless her heart)
20. How do you know your mom loves you? cleaning up the living room
21. What does your mom like most about your dad? that he's nice
22. . Where is your mom's favorite place to go? Smokin' Joe's (bbq restaraunt)

Hope (2 1/2)
1. What is something mom always says to you? pick up us room
2. What makes mom happy? Emma
3. What makes mom sad? me
4 How does your mom make you laugh? like Daddy
5. What did your mom like to do when she was a child? her picked up her room up
6. How old is your mom? no know (don't know)
7. How tall is your mom? like Daddy
8. What is her favorite thing to watch on TV? Elmo
9. What does your mom do when you're not around? pick up my room
10. If your mom becomes famous, what will it be for? pick us room up (guess what she just did!) 11. What is your mom really good at? Daddy (NO comments!!!)
12. What is your mom not very good at? laughing at me
13. What does your mom do for her job? pick up my room up!
14. What is your mom's favorite food? rolls (we had wraps for lunch!)
15. What makes you proud of your mom? laugh
16. If your mom were a cartoon character, who would she be? woman
17. What do you and your mom do together? laugh
18. How are you and your mom the same? Dora makeup
19. How are you and your mom different? her poopie (have no idea)
20. How do you know your mom loves you? a much
21. What does your mom like most about your dad? Daddy's a poopie man
22. . Where is your mom's favorite place to go? church

What a Weekend!

Whew! The weekend is over! It was a busy one. Lance had minor surgery on Friday, so my whole weekend was consumed with taking care of 5 people! Holy Cow! My house is an absolute disaster! Emma is sick again. Lance thinks she has RSV even though she tested neg for it. She is wheezing and coughing and snotty. So she's been a fulltime job herself. Then add a husband who is down and out and 3 other kids trapped in the house because of a late snow and 20 degree temps. Man, thank goodness for Monday!

I had planned on staying home today after dropping the girls off at MDO and cleaning up. But I forgot about a huge consignment sale that I was planning on putting my maternity clothes and Luke's last year summer clothes in. I had to get all of my items prepared last night and then take them to the sale to drop off today. That ended up taking all my morning and then I had to take Emma to one of Lance's partners to have him take a look at her. Lance gave her a breathing treatment this morning at his office, but he wanted his partner to make sure he wasn't missing anything. She's ok, but my day was shot!

We did get out tonight and go get something to eat. The house is such a mess, I didn't want to stay in it. It drives me crazy to sit in a messy house. It is so bad right now, that I just wanted to get out of it! Needless to say, tomorrow I will be spending all day picking up the Faddis Dump!