Emotional Day

First of all, let me get something out of the way. I cannot believe how many people have been reading this. It actually blows Lance's mind! Ha! I'm no Kelly'sKorner (love ya Kelly!) but I've been having close to or over 200 people read this everyday. Crazy! I appreciate everyone who has left comments encouraging me through the past week. Now here's the thing...I have no idea how to respond to you! I'm muddle my way through technology. I'm not totally illiterate, but I'm not too computer savvy. I have tried to respond to each and every comment, but I found out from a friend that they haven't gone through. So I want to tell everyone who has commented, THANK YOU!!! You're words have been such a comfort to me this past week. (and if anyone can tell me how to respond to comments, then I would greatly appreciate it!)


Now, on to my day! :)


We went to church today. I almost didn't, but John was going to call live from Haiti and I didn't know if I would be able to see Lance (if they did Skype) or at least hear him, and I didn't want to miss that opportunity. Plus, I haven't left my house since Thursday afternoon. Two words...CABIN FEVER!!!


I'm so glad we went. John just called and talked to our pastor while they showed pics from Haiti. It was very emotional. It's the most I've teared up this whole week. John got emotional because he was at an orphanage and the conditions are just so horrible. He told me later in a text that the average 9 year old weighed 25-30 pounds and was only 3 feet tall. My heart breaks. Those are pre-earthquake conditions. And he said that all of them had intestinal worms. I just cannot fathom.


Lance worked at the shanty village today. John told me in a text that it was a very difficult place. I didn't have much time to talk to Lance about it today. I'll process that with him when he gets back. He did say when I talked to him tonight that he is amazed by the Haitians cleanliness. There is a creek that they have been driving past everyday and everyone in the community bathes in it together. He said it was a strange sight, but there's just a bunch of naked people taking a big bath together! And they wash what little clothing they have everyday. Their driver is obsessed with keeping his car clean. They take pride in what pitiful amount they have. So humbling. I sit here looking around my house at the piles of laundry just thrown on the floor. How do I justify that? I can't even put into words my emotions.

Lance briefly told me about the worship service they participated in today at the church were they did clinic yesterday. He said he was amazed at how the people dressed. They showed up in suits and tie, and dresses and high heels. When he was telling me that, I thought of a conversation I had with Sara recently. She asked me why we dress up for church. I don't want to offend anyone here, but these are my feelings on the matter and what I told Sara. In the Bible the people brought their best to the Lord. We are commanded to give our firstfruits, not our leftovers. I explained to Sara that God wants our best. So how is Sunday different than any other day if we don't dress our best for the Lord? You can take that too far and say, well why not formal attire, but that is missing the point and getting pretty legalistic and sassy if you ask me. I'm just not one for jeans and shorts for church. (And I'm not legalistic about that! I wore jeans today actually because of the weather. ha!) I just feel that we should make Sundays special.

And to hear that the Haitian people have that reverence for God despite their circumstances and lack of all that we have. Humbling.

I cried some at church today. How could I not? It's the most emotional I've gotten. But when John was speaking about the orphanage and the abject poverty, his voice cracked and everyone in the room started crying. God is developing a burden and love in my heart for the people of Haiti. I cannot wait to get down there and share His love.

Oooops!

Well, I goofed. I forgot to blog last night! I got in bed at midnight and was laying there and realized I forgot to. Since I got to bed before 1, I decided against getting back up and blogging and I'll just do it twice today!

When I talked to Lance last night, he was exhausted. It had been a very emotional day. They saw over 300 families yesterday. I think the thing that got to them all the most were the children. There was one little 24 month old boy whose back was broken when his house fell on him. He'll never walk again. And 9 year old orphans came to the clinic by themselves, they had lost their parents. Heartbreaking.

I just think about the 300 people who received medical care that wouldn't have if Lance hadn't answered God's calling. And the hundreds that they will see today. Humbling. It makes me get outside myself. I'm struggling with the feelings of guilt as I sit on my couch, watching my big screen tv, typing on my laptop when people in the world are hurting so much. I know that God has put me in this place and His plan is different for all people, but how can I not feel some sort of sadness and guilt?

On a lighter note. My dear friend Sarah and her family came and got the big kids yesterday and took them sledding. They had a blast! I was so thankful to her. One, so the kids could have some fun and get out of the house. And two, the kids got out of the house for a while and I had a little quite. Emma didn't make too much noise!

Luke and Carter trying to break the speed record!

The girls and Catie Beth

Holy Cow the Snow!

This is the view out our front door! I took it this afternoon and it hasn't stopped snowing since I took it. I think we've gotten around 6 inches. It has snowed all day. I'm going to try and get out with the kids tomorrow. My only disappointment is that Lance can't be here to see it and make a snowman with the kids.

John twittered several times today and posted some pics of their progress through the day. A huge praise that it only took them 7 hours to get from Santo Domingo to Port Au Prince. Much less than the up to 15 that we had heard it could take. I was able to talk to Lance a couple times today. Once when they were at the Haiti border and then again tonight when the were back at their camp.

They are camped out at the end of the Port Au Prince airport runway. He said that there are C130's flying over them constantly, and that they are LOUD! Bless their hearts. I don't know how they are going to sleep.

He already sounded so tired. They toured PAP today. They were driven through downtown and saw so much of the devastation. And they saw what's left of the presidential palace. The one thing that really struck him were the children. He said he saw so many cute children running through the streets and around the country side playing. He wishes he had more goodies to give them. They took ribbons, stuff animals, and candy, but he knows they don't have enough. That's going to be hard for him.

They treated a few people today, but he said it isn't what he was expecting. Some broken bones, but nothing as traumatic as he thought he would see. But who knows what tomorrow will bring. They are going to plan on setting up 2 clinics. One at the church they had originally planned on and one at an orphanage hopefully.

I can't imagine how hard tomorrow is going to be for them. I just got off the phone with John's wife Leslie and she said John told her the smell was awful. That is horrible. There is death everywhere. But despite that, there is hope. The children playing show hope! And tomorrow, Lance and the team will get to share the Hope of Jesus to the hurting people of Haiti by taking care of their physical needs.

Touchdown!

They are there. Uneventful flights. Wonderful! They actually left on an earlier flight this morning. We are experiencing an ice storm right now. It didn't hit until early evening, but the airport was trying to get as many people on earlier flights to open up space so more people could get out. That was good. They had about 45 more minutes in Dallas to grab something to eat.

I talked to Lance in Dallas, and in Miami and then twice when they got to Santo Domingo. We heard that AT&T wasn't charging for cell calls from Haiti. I called immediately and talked to a rep. It is true!!!!!! At first she said she hadn't heard that and then she said, "wait." My heart skipped. She read a memo while on the phone with me and said it was true! They are comping calls to and from Haiti for relief workers until Feb. 28th! I started crying. I told her thank you so much and she thanked me for Lance going. She said she has family in Haiti. So that made me cry even more.

This is a picture of most of the nearly 2,000 pounds of medical supplies that landed safely in the Dominican Republic. Amazing. I was praying that all of the supplies would get there without any problems. They did. Praise the Lord!

Lance said they are good. The hotel is nice. So they will get a good night's sleep before they are sleeping on the ground. If they can fall asleep. I'm sure the adrenaline is pumping right now!

The kids and I had a great night. I can so feel everyone's prayers. This is one of the few times in my life that I have actually felt prayers that are being lifted on my behalf. When I drove Lance to the airport this morning, I started tearing up. I looked at him and warned him that I was going to cry at the airport. But I didn't. By the grace of God, I didn't. I have had so many friends call to check on me today. And I have honestly been fine.

The kids played so well together tonight. No arguing. I let them pick what was for dinner. (hot dogs!) And they read books in their rooms for about 20 min before they went to sleep. I called Lance into Sara and Hope's room to pray for Lance. I plan on doing that every night that he is gone.

Here is a snippet of their prayers...

Sara: Please keep Daddy safe. Help him help the kids. Please help Momma not to yell at us. (hahaha!!! That made me laugh! What does that say about me? So convicting.)

Hope: Help the children who don't have parents.

Luke: Keep Daddy safe. Keep us safe in the ice storm. Put Your arms around us. Please let there not be enough ice that we can't go to the Terrazes' to spend the night. Please let there be enough ice that I don't have to go to school. (haha! Some dear friends of ours invited the kids to spend the night Sat. I know! Crazy! They are wonderful. The kids are so excited, but the way it looks right now, it's not going to happen. So much ice.)

It's late and I'm still up. Midnight. I always have trouble going to sleep when Lance isn't here. It's incredibly hard with him where he is. I know I have to. I'm on my own with 4 kids in an ice storm! Holy cow!

T - 9 hours!

Lance leaves in the morning. Wow. All the anticipation of the past week and here we are. As I type this, he is reading through the instructions of his water purifier. I can't imagine being somewhere where there is no clean water. I mean I've been to countries where you couldn't drink the tap water, but there was always bottled water. Not only is there no bottled water in Haiti, there is no running water.

We had a low key night at the house tonight. Really didn't do anything special with the kids. I kind of had it built up in my mind that it would be this awesome night of the kids telling their Daddy how much they love him and us praying for him and the people of Haiti, and playing games together. Well, you know the saying, "the best laid plans of mice and men?" I know all too well what that means! Lance had to get onto Luke tonight, the girls were clamouring all over Lance and yelling in his ears and he had to get onto them. Dinner was chaos and we just got them in the shower and threw them in the bed! Ha! So much for my awesome family time.

But I thought later, that is was probably for the best. God had a plan in tonight. It was just another usual night in the Faddis house. Nothing special. And if we had made a big deal of Daddy leaving, then it might have made the kids nervous.

Sara asked to pray at dinner. It was so sweet. She thanked God for the food, and asked him to keep her Daddy safe and the people in Haiti safe.

So now, Lance is all packed. Bags waiting in the living room, and we are about to get into bed. This is going to be hard. Neither one of us sleep well when the other one isn't in bed. I know he will fall onto his sleeping mat exhausted every night, but I won't. I'll be here missing him.

But, I am so excited for what he is going to do. We talked with another person tonight who just got back from Haiti on Sat. She gave him several names of locals that she knows that might be of great assistance to the team. That is exciting!

Now to try to go to sleep!

Almost Here

Lance leaves in 34 hours. Wow. In some ways this has been the longest week of my life. In other ways, it has flown. We spent a lot of time this afternoon packing last minute supplies, cashing checks (they have to take a lot of cash with them to buy more supplies in Santa Domingo and pay for the van they are renting to drive across the border into Haiti), buying last minute personal items and dropping off the tents they all will be sleeping in at our friend John's house. He is the pastor from our church that is going.

The girls and I were with Lance this afternoon for some of the last minute packing. We went to the church and when we got into the conference room where the supplies are, Hope asked, "Is this Haiti?" Bless her heart. How do you explain?

After Lance got home, we all went out to eat. The kids behaved so awesome (trying to eat with 4 kids, seven and under has it's moments!) It was a great family time. They are all asking so many questions about Haiti. We are trying to answer them honestly, but age appropriately. That is hard. This whole experience has affected our entire family. I told someone today, my heart is in Haiti and Lance hasn't even left yet.

We are hearing more and more out of Haiti. I am connecting everyday with different people and learning about things "on the ground" there. It is horrific. Absolutely heartbreaking.

If you are reading this (and I am amazed at the fact that anyone but my friends and family are!)
then here are some specific prayer requests to pray for...

1) The place where Lance and the team will be has had no medical assistance whatsoever.

2) There are orphanages who have not had any assistance since the earthquake. At one of these, the only survivors were children.

3) There is a Atlanta minister on the ground and has witnessed child trafficking out of a hospital!! He has brought it to the media's attention and is fighting to stop it. PRAY!!! My mind had not even conceived the evil that happens after something like this!

4) Finally, on a more personal note. I covet your prayers for my husband, me and my children. I told Lance at dinner tonight that the reality is setting in that he is leaving and we will be here. We have never been apart for as many days as he will be gone. And we have never not experienced something this big together. I told him tonight that I expect him to journal something every night. No matter how short. I want to "live" this with him.

Blessed

Have I said how blessed I am? There are too many ways that the Lord has blessed me to ever mention. Especially in one blog post. But here are 3 reasons why I am thinking about that tonight.

This morning when I was picking the girls up from MDO, Hope saw a bunch of Dum Dum suckers that I picked up from someone who called the house and wanted to give something for the trip. She told Lance she was on her way to Sam's and he told her that the kids (and adults) love the suckers. I told Hope that someone had given them for Daddy to give to the kids who didn't have parents and who were hurt. She then asked, "Why can't you and Daddy be their parents?"

This afternoon, I was changing Emma's diaper on the couch and Sara told me she needed to tell me a secret. She leaned over and whispered in my ear, "um, when are we going to get a kid from Haiti." And tonight she prayed for her Daddy to be safe in Haiti and for the kids that were hurt to be ok.

And Luke prayed tonight for the children of Haiti and that his Daddy would be able to help them.

See what I mean? I am blessed.

Packing

The team to Haiti packed most of the rest of the cases tonight. We have a new addition as of today. An orthopaedic surgeon. Wonderful! Luke thought he was big stuff because he got to go in the room where they were packing for about 20 min. and he "helped." ha!

We found out just a few minutes ago that the UN has donated a 20 person field tent and cots for the team to use. That is HUGE! Lance's observations were...1) That means they aren't expecting people to just walk in and walk out. They are expecting the team to see injuries that will require more long term care. And 2) He might need to stay longer until one of his partners gets there on the 6th. wow. I can't even process my emotions.

I totally want him to stay. That was my first thought. Second thought: That's over a week of me with the kids by myself. Doable, but long. Third thought: I wonder if he'll meet a child, while he's there, that we will adopt.

So many emotions running through me right now. Pride. I've never been prouder of my husband. And my kids. Amazing! They are asking Lance to find them a brother. We have never even mentioned that as a possibility to them. And they are so concerned, as much as they can comprehend at their ages, for the people of Haiti.

And humility. How honored I am that God has chosen to use my husband to do such a great and mighty thing for His kingdom. Lance is so burdened for the Haitian people. And I have been able to have a small role in helping him prepare for this trip.

The kicker is, I know I haven't even scratched the surface of emotions this trip will expose. He hasn't even left yet.

Pure Innocent Sweetness

Today was a hard day for me. I think the adrenaline is starting to lessen and I'm crashing emotionally a little. It has been an adrenaline filled week cram packed with a lot of emotions that I haven't had time to process because of the pace that we have been keeping. As I write this, Lance is packing his personal carry on bag and we're washing his clothes. I just cut yards of ribbon for him to take to tie in any little girl's hair that he comes in contact with. (Before you think awww how sweet of you, it wasn't my idea. Someone we've been talking to who was there when the earthquake happened suggested it. Great idea isn't it?)

Lance spent all day organizing supplies and packing trunks and suitcases. It is AMAZING how much people have given! And his hometown has raised $6000!!! In just 3 days! This is a town of 2500 people. I am overwhelmed. Seriously overwhelmed. God is good.

Tonight, when Lance got home, he was showing me the backpack and other personal supplies he bought for the trip. The kids were playing around us. Hope and Emma were climbing all over us. They were enthralled with an USA flag/bandanna that he bought to take. Hope was folding it and then looked up at Lance and this is what came out of her precious little mouth..."Daddy, when I get to be a teenager, can I go to Haiti and help God and you?"

There is no more to say. How can I top that? Precious child of mine.

Praise Be to God!

Where do I start??? There are so many things that have happened in the past 48 hours that I don't know where to begin!

Lance and I were interviewed along with our friend John (who is the missions pastor at our church) yesterday for one of the local news stations. It was a great report. It got the word out on what is going on with the Haiti trip. They interviewed me to give the other side of the story of a wife whose husband is going to such a devastated area in time of crisis. They showed a picture of the kids and I wish I had had a camera on the kids faces when they saw it. Priceless!!

We have had money pouring in for the trip. It is amazing. Several people in Lance's hometown (which is just 45 min from us) saw the interview last night (which they ran at 5, 6 and again this morning!) and called his mom and wanted to bring money to her. She has had people bring $20, $100 and all kinds of amounts! His parents Sunday School class had just recently taken up money to donate to a ministry and had given the money to the person in charge of that ministry. They saw the interview and called his mom today and said they were giving all $850 dollars back to her to give to Lance for Haiti!

Lance's aunt works for a bank in their town and she sent an email to all the NWA bank employees telling about Lance's trip and she's collecting money. We'll hear how much Monday. Then she called the resource officer at Prairie Grove Schools (Lance's alma mater) and each grade (I think elementary) are taking up medical supply donations. Each grade is responsible for one item; gauze, med. tape, etc. People are bringing crutches and braces and all kinds of other things to his mom's flower shop! It's AMAZING!!!!

A friend of Lance's from the years he spent as a Kannakuk counselor got in touch with me asking how he can help. Friends of friends are bringing the kids and I dinner while he is gone. More friends are having the kids over for a sleepover. And yet more friends who own Cold Stone Creamery are setting us up for ice cream while he is gone! (You rock Dawn and Jimmy!) I had a friend call tonight on our way to a birthday party and say they were going to bring me $500 and people are still emailing, texting, and facebooking me asking how they can help. I stand in AWE at God's provisions!

I just laughed a little at myself, because I thought about Field of Dreams. "If you build it, he will come." If HE calls you, HE will provide!!! Hallelujah! What a Savior!

Today, Lance and John were interviewed by another local TV station. And then the local paper did a telephone interview with them and then called me to get my perspective on my husband going. Way to go publicity!

This trip is just the first of many. There is already a second one in the works for the week that Lance and his team get back. And plans for more in the next 2-3 months. What an AWESOME God we serve!

The Mighty Hand of God

It's been a wild 3 days. I don't usually post about world events because I started this blog as a way to remember what's going on in our family. But, the 2 have collided at lighting speed in the Faddis Family this week. There was a devastating earthquake in Haiti on the 12th, 8 days ago. The estimates are anywhere from 50,000 - 100,000 dead. Thousands upon thousands are injured and thousands of children orphaned. I have to be honest when I say that I haven't wanted to know what is going on there. I know it sounds horrible, but 5 years ago when a tsunami hit Indonesia, I was heartbroken. It was horrible devastation and it was so hard for me to take in all the hurting people. So I haven't wanted to go there with this tragedy. It is so heartbreaking.

But that all changed Monday with a phone call from Lance. I was standing in the checkout line at Old Navy when my phone rang and Lance told me he had talked to a good friend of ours who is the Missions Pastor at our church. He then said that they were thinking about going to Haiti. I told him that I could not discuss it right then and that we could talk later that night.

I had assumed that John and called Lance about going, so I was surprised when Lance told me that he had called John. I was upset mostly because I was fearful. It is so unstable there right now. And there are tens of thousands of doctors around the world. My husband didn't need to go into such a dangerous situation. But God's plans don't necessarily line up with our plans. And there is no denying the hand of God on this trip.

Lance and John talked Mon. Tuesday they had contacted a missionary in Port Au Prince, had a place to set up a "clinic", have a place to stay and have secured a flight into Port Au Prince. And now here we are at Wednesday and there are 12 people going. All doctors, nurses and 2 pastors.

They will be staying at a church on a hill overlooking Port Au Prince. They are going to be sleeping on the ground in sleeping bags behind a locked gate in the courtyard of the church. There is no running water, no toilets, no food. They are taking tents, sleeping bags, water purifiers, protein "gu", dehydrated food, and medical supplies.

It is going to be rough. And that's an understatement. I am so proud of Lance. God called and he answered. In 36 hours, he has mobilized doctors, gotten medicines donated from 3 hospitals, and made contact with military personnel that are helping in Haiti. Those things weren't done by him, but by God, through him and I'm so proud that he has listened to His call.

Now I have to say in all honesty, that I'm scared. It is literally like a warzone there. Today there was a 6.1 magnitude aftershock. There are looters in downtown Port Au Prince. It is just unsafe. But I know that God has called and He has a plan. I have no choice but to trust Him. So, I will pray (a lot) over the next 2 weeks. (He leaves on the 28th and returns on the 2nd.) And I will lean on my Father knowing that He has my husband in His hand and He will protect him and use him to minister to the hurting people of Haiti.

So if you're reading this somewhere out in the "blogosphere", :) I covet your prayers for Lance and the team as they minister in Haiti. And for all of the other workers who are there and who will be going. We cannot imagine the devastation that the people of Haiti are living through. The only hope they have are in the Lord.

Love and Marriage

So Hope knows how to love, but bless her heart, we've got to work on understanding the whole marriage thing!

Tonight while we were eating dinner, Hope announced that she was going to marry Luke. I told her she couldn't marry her brother. When she asked why, Sara answered, "because they will arrest you if you do." (Ha!) I told her that she would marry her boyfriend. And she wanted to know who her boyfriend was. I told her that God would have a man for her to marry.

Then she said that she was going to marry Daddy. Lance looked at her and told her he couldn't because he was already married. I told her I had a problem with that idea and then she said the absolute cutest thing! "Momma, we could share." As innocent and sweet as can be!

Future Gymnast!

This is short, but really cute. Emma can do a somersault! She is 16 months old and can do a true somersault! It is the cutest thing. She's done it a couple times the past couple weeks, but tonight all the girls and I were playing in Emma's room while Lance helped Luke with some math problems. She started doing them and we kept clapping for her she wouldn't stop. She would do one and then clap for herself and then do it again. It was a lot of fun. She did probably 20 of them. Fun memory!

Strike!

Tonight was a Cub Scout outing to earn their bowling belt loops. Families were invited, so we left Emma with my Mom and Dad and Hope, Sara, and I went along. It was so much fun! Lance and I bowled with some of the other parents and took turns helping the kids in the lanes beside us. The girls and Luke all scored 74! It was hysterical! What are the odds of that?! Lance and I were talking on the way home and decided that when Emma is older, bowling would be a great family activity to do on a regular basis!

Look at that form!

Thud!

Talk about form! Ha!

Luke had great form until he let go of the ball a little late and it went up and then down on his head! From then on he had kinda a side arm throw!

When we picked Emma up from Mom and Dad's on the way home, I walked in and she was sitting on the couch beside Mom. She didn't see me walk in so I started whistling trying to get her attention. She didn't turn. She kept looking at the tv. Then I started calling her name, but she kept talking at the tv, thinking that was what was calling her name! So cute! Finally, I stepped more into the room and called her name one last time and she turned and saw me and her face lit up like fireworks! I don't often get that reaction from her. Her Daddy, on the other hand, does. It felt good!

Oh, and one more thing before I forget! Hope has been tired all day. Even her teachers at MDO commented to me that she seemed tired. So when we got home, I told her she had to take a nap. There is nothing like a 3 1/2 year old fit! She would not stop crying. I finally quit trying to convince her that she was, indeed, tired. I just told her she had to take a nap whether she was tired or not. That's when, between wails, she cried out, "Momma, I not happy at you!!" Too cute even in the midst of the struggle!

Night with my Honey!

Lance's mom called yesterday morning and wanted us to bring ALL (yes ALL) the kids down to spend the night. Woo Hoo!! An unexpected date night. We dropped the kids off and got adventuresome! Lance had heard of a Mediterranean food restaurant in Fayetteville so off we went! We NEVER do anything quite that out of the box for dining out. (or in for that matter!) I'm so glad we did.

It was a great restaurant, reasonably priced, and had a great ambiance. We had the best time. I loved the babakanoosh and hummas. Our kebobs were wonderful, but they were out of creme brulee. Lance was bummed. He loves it, so that just means we have to go back!

Then we went to the mall and just walked around without any pressure to hurry and after that, we met his sister and bro-in-law at the movies. It was a great evening. The most stressfree I've felt in a while.

Tomorrow starts our routine all over again. Praise the Lord! School is back in! The girls have MDO, and I'm going to lunch with a friend. I'm glad to back in to the swing of things. The past 3 weeks have been fun with the kids, but with it being sooooo cold, there's just so much you can do inside. Everyone is ready to get out of the house!

Back on the Blog Bandwaggon!

OK, so I have gotten bad about not blogging every day or at least every couple of days and I have figured out why, and I'm am changing my ways. One of my friends blogged the past day or two that the same thing has happened to her. I don't think I can blog without having some cute pictures to go along with the blog. I have been missing writing about some cute things the kids have said or fun things we've done because I either didn't have a picture, or I was too tired to get up and find my adapter to upload the pictures.

But that all changes tonight. I started this blog to remember what the kids are saying and how our family is changing and having fun. So that's what I'm doing! If I have a picture, then Great! If not, then, oh well!

So the thing I have to write about tonight is absolutely hysterical!!! We've been couped up in the house all week because of the cold and snow. Lance got home early, so we went and picked out fabric for the new couch we've ordered and then we met Mom and Dad for dinner at a Chinese food restaurant that we love to go to!

Lance was sitting by Emma and playing with her by taking off her hat and handing it back to her. While he was doing that an older gentleman walked past and started talking to Emma. He smiled and looked at her and said, "Does grandpa have your hat?" Totally talking about Lance! Hahahahahahaha!!!!! It was all I could do to keep from bursting out laughing right in front of the man! It was hysterical!!!! Poor Lance. Time for some Just For Men!! Ha!

Wow! Snow!

It has REALLY snowed this week. We had a White Christmas. Then had some flurries a couple days later and then 2 days ago, it snowed 3 inches!!!! It's not the best snow for snowmen and snowballs, but it's great for sledding!

Here's our house with the snow.

We went out to our land to sled. Hope HATES the snow so she and Lance and Emma were content to just play in the snow sitting down so it didn't get in her face.


Luke and Sara on the other hand LOVED sledding!

Luke did all he could do to spill when he came down the hill and then right himself again before he hit the bottom. And I was so proud of Sara. She sledded by herself and went fast and loved it! She has a little daredevil in her and I couldn't be prouder!

Love, but Don't Miss My Kids!!!

So, on Wednesday night, the girls spent the night with Leah and Jeremy. Tonight is Luke's turn with Uncle Jeremy and Aunt Leah. When they came to pick him up, Hope had a rough time. Bless her heart! She wailed! It was hard for her to understand that she couldn't go, too. She was still crying 10 minutes after they left, so I asked her if she wanted to call Poppa and Mom. We called them and she was telling Poppa how sad she was and why and then she asked if she could have a sleepover at his house. He put Mom on the phone and she asked her and Mom said yes. Hope got so excited and yelled, "Sara, get your bag!!!" It was hysterical!

I'm so glad Mom and Dad live so close just for spontaneous moments like that!

Dad called me a little bit ago to tell me something else funny Hope said. Evidently she called Poppa stupid tonight. She did that to me this afternoon and she got a spanking for it and I hugged her and told her we don't talk like that. She kept telling me she was sorry. Poppa got on to her also tonight when she did it to him. They were saying prayers when they were going to bed and she told God she was sorry for saying "stupid, and pee, and potty water, and poop." I about died laughing! She asked for forgiveness for all the bad words she knows!