on tour

Tomorrow is the realtors' tour. They are stopping at our house around lunchtime. Our realtor is grilling hamburgers for everyone. Praying that one of the realtors through these doors tomorrow has just the right person in mind for this house. So wanting to get it sold quickly--or even show it for that matter!

Weekend closer

So the weekend is coming to a close. I am 'somewhat' prepared for the upcoming week. It will prove to be a hectic one with some crazy scheduling going on.

It's been an emotionally up and down weekend. Friday was just a day I won't ever forget with many ups and downs. And then the excitement learning of Greg's promotion. Today was a good day of working around here with a little relaxing (not much) too.

This morning I attempted to share the story of what happened on Friday with my small group. (They don't blog much--so they hadn't heard:). During prayer requests I said I had two big praises--one being Greg's job and then I fell silent. I couldn't even share it. It just brought tears to my eyes and I couldn't say it. I just wanted to say how thankful I am that God takes care of all the details in every little facet of our lives.

After the initial shock wore off and I really thought about what happened Friday morning the more I am in awe of how big our God really is. He had that specific moment in time worked out so perfectly that He kept my children and husband protected a mere 20 ft. from a deadly lightning bolt. And our horse was strategically standing so that the metal fence absorbed most of the shock and he miraculously lived. How awesome is that??

The thought that I could have lost them all at that very second still has not left my mind. I hugged them all a little tighter and told them I loved them a little more often all weekend.

Sometimes I just credit God with the 'big stuff'. And I just go to Him with the 'big stuff'. And I thank him for answers to prayers for the 'big stuff'. Sometimes I find myself praying for only the big things and wanting to control the little details myself. How thankful I am that God is in complete control of even the littlest, tiniest details and that I don't have to be. What a great reminder that I just need to trust.

Just so, so, so thankful for the opportunity to serve such a mighty, awesome and powerful God.

Going into this week with a positive attitude and a very thankful heart.

Not feeling 100%

Normally, Blaze is not a 'lay down' horse. Rarely does he ever actually lay down and stay down. Once in awhile he gets down and rolls on his back but gets right back up. Today he spent a lot of time laying in his stall (a rarity). He also laid all the way down with his head on the ground this morning and stayed that way for some time. I had Greg check on him--I was too scared. But, he popped his head up and got up to eat some oats from Colby. So, I would say he is not feeling the best, but that is to be expected....

Many thanks

Our many thanks go out to everyone who reached out to us yesterday. Thanks for your comments, your emails, the phone calls, everything. We are so thankful for EVERY ONE of you!

Thanks for understanding and knowing that our horse is such a huge part of our family and that we love him like no other.

So glad for the way this story ended.

A praise

About 9 months ago Greg made the jump from working at GPC to MP&W. That in itself was a huge answer to a million prayers. His work life improved 100% although he still worked a lot of long days, some nights and every other weekend.

He recently interviewed for a promotion amongst many others who had more seniority. So we really weren't expecting him to be selected although we were thankful for the opportunity for him to interview. Yesterday he was notified that he was selected and will start his new position sometime in mid-May.

We really won't know what to do with Greg home every night and every weekend. It will be a whole new way of life for us. Looking forward to learning what it is like to have a husband and dad that we will see EVERY day! Something we have never known.

Congratulations Greg!

God is so good.

What a day....

The day started out with the stress of the horse situation. Then the regular work day stressors. Then the weather situation. So, I called a friend to go out for a few beverages after work :) Left the cell phone in the car on purpose. When I got to the car I had 19 missed calls. One work call and 18 from the kids. No messages so I called Colby to see what the urgency was. All I got through the tears was, "I'm sick and I'm throwing up". Great. Just what I was looking forward to this weekend. Hopefully a quick bug that doesn't make the rounds. Happy day. Glad this one is OVER! Tomorrow has to be better. BTW - I LOVED pulling in and seeing Blaze standing in his pen alert. Prayers were answered today despite all the junk.

Vet Leon

I just talked to our horse vet. He seems to think that Blaze will be ok with the exception of heart damage. He thought that maybe the fence absorbed most of the power of the lightning bolt and that the jolt Blaze got would not take his life. Although he was sure that it was enough to damage his heart--to what extent we won't know. So he'll never be a work or race horse--we can deal with that.

After that call, I'm kind of walking on air this afternoon.....a safe family and a living horse.

Thanks be to God

More info.

Greg seemed to think that Blaze could hear and see. Many times equine lightning strikes, if not deadly, will cause them the be deaf and blind.

Also, they basically burn from the inside out. So we don't know the extent of what is going on inside.

Hoping for the best, trying not to anticipate the worst.....

Blaze Update

He seems to be doing OK! I was so dreading Greg's phone call. He called from the road before he actually got in to look at him. But, he was grazing. That's good. Still could be some internal damage, but for now he is alive. A lot of emotions and thoughts went through my mind this morning.

Very thankful that the kids and Greg are ok. The 'what could have happened' thoughts are racing.

Still potential damage, but it will be a wait and see game for awhile.

Our 'Storm'

Day to day. We just never know what our life 'storm' may be. This morning, our beloved horse Blaze, was hit by lightning. It didn't kill him instantly, but we don't know the outcome yet. He was stumbling and confused and trying to go down. The kids saw it happen. Greg was taking Colby to school and taking Creighton to kindergarten visit. As they backed out of the garage the kids rolled down their windows as they always do to yell 'Bye Blaze!'. At that moment the lightning hit him on his back end. There was a big flash and a sonic BOOM. Greg went out to assess Blaze, but had only a few minutes to get where they needed to go. The kids called me BAWLING from the car. That is all I know for now.

Very scary. My children and husband were 20 feet away from the strike. I could have lost my whole family in an instant this morning. But, I didn't. Thank you, God.

I am at work. Greg is on his way home. Hopefully, he will call me soon and let me know...

Poor guy!

This poor man stands at the gate and begs to be let out. When he sees us out, he wants to be near. He stands at the gate and rattles the chain and pushes on it with his nose. Last weekend he was bound and determined he was getting out. He can be somewhat of an escape artist, but I outsmarted him with some plywood panels against the fence he was trying to paw at to knock down. Funny little man he is!

Colby

Colby had Hawaiian day at school. Luckily this dress we bought her in Jamaica still fits--barely. This is her AFTER school hence the hair-do looking a little rough. Somehow the super cute morning hair NEVER lasts until she gets home! But, she's beautiful nonetheless. Little Miss Colby also is getting into photography. Not a day goes by that she doesn't grab my camera and head outside with it. Today she took pictures of me and the cats. Lovely, I know (ugh). Colby's photos are great. Unfortunately, her subjects aren't too photogenic :)

It's OFF-- He's CASTLESS!

Creighton got his cast off tonight. These are the before and after shots. It was disgustingly dirty, smelly and duct taped:) Greg and I used our very advanced medical tools to take it off--scissors, snippers, a little hacksaw and pliers :) Worked like a charm. It's very weak and he just kind of 'dangles' it. Hopefully, it will be back to full strength in no time!

Looks like it might take a few days in the sun for his cast arm to catch up with the rest of his tan.

Creighton has kindergarten visit tomorrow and was very glad that 'the kids won't even know that I had a cast'. He really didn't like any attention and got shy and embarrassed every time someone asked what happened.

A Lucky Girl

How lucky am I to have a friend that would send these BEAUTIFUL flowers and friendship angel to me for no reason other than I had a bad day on Sunday?

So Sunday was a rough day for me. It started out with the message at church feeling like daggers stabbing at my heart. It was good, but sometimes truth can be so very painful. Then I got home at noon to a house that needed cleaned, mounds of laundry to be done, an empty refrigerator, a BIG yard that needed mowed, kids that desparately deserved more attention than I could give, a tired husband who had worked WAY too many hours on little to no sleep, a horse that the kids were begging to ride and many things that needed preparation for the upcoming work/school week, etc, etc. So, a little overwhelmed, I found myself sitting outside on the kids' time-out bench with my head in my hands, a pounding headache and having absolutely no idea where to start. I just sort of 'spun my wheels' all afternoon and accomplished NOTHING. I felt torn in a million different directions and had no idea which way to go. It pretty much just sucked. I felt like my life was completely out of control and I was on a sinking ship. I soooo needed a day to regroup and refocus. I didn't sleep at all Sunday night and when I went to work on Monday I did something I had never done before. I pretty much went in and said that I would stay to get everyone through the lunch hours and then I had to leave. I felt like I was totally letting my team down because this time of year is NOT the time to show up at work and say 'sorry, gotta go'. But, I am so thankful to have such an understanding boss and co-workers. They understand the need for our personal lives to be in order so that our work lives are more productive and that sometimes the needs at home can be much greater and a higher priority than those at work. I went home and in 4 hours had restored complete order and then felt ready to tackle the work week. Whew...sometimes I just have to take a day to catch up so I can keep my head above water. This was just one of the tough days in the life of a 'full-time working outside the home' mom.

Wasted effort

So today I took the afternoon off. Had to come home clean the house, get all of the weekend's laundry folded and put away, mow the lawn and make sure everything was in perfect order. Because Tuesday is the tour of realtors. Ummm yeah....it's NEXT Tuesday. Oops.

Four Wheelin' Weather

Creighton loves to ride the four wheeler. This weather is wearing him out! At the end of the day I have two very tired and very dirty kiddos. Lovin' it!

The pro bowling tour hits Tipton, IA

More bowling pics

Bowling

Creighton has been wanting to go bowling. Colby hasn't. Since she was gone overnight Creighton, Jay, Maddie and I went bowling. We ended up in Tipton since the one in Muscatine doesn't open til 6pm on Sat. We were the only ones bowling and it was a good thing. Seemed that balls were going down the wrong lane and I believe there was even an overhand throw. That made quite a thud :) Two hours of fun for all. Creighton would have stayed for another two hours if we let him. (He is left handed so the cast didn't affect his bowling. Also, note the black duct tape on his cast keeping it together around his thumb. Yes, sometimes we are true rednecks out here :)

Just because she is so cute

Girls

Colby and several of her classmates went to Moline to stay in a hotel to celebrate Leah's birthday. Glad she got to go, also glad I wasn't the parent who stayed with them. Sounds like they had a good time, not a lot of sleeping went on, and Colby is crashed on the couch this afternoon. (Colby is in the hat)

I got the sack :)

Last Sunday Greg came home from work bearing 'gifts' for the kids. Creighton (very excitedly)said, "Mom, Dad bought me a new baseball bat, and he got Colby a Webkinz!" I said, "Wow, your dad is so sweet to you guys. What did he get mommy?" (It was a joke. I already knew the answer :) Creighton got a puzzled look on his face and stopped. Dead silence. Then after he thought for a minute he said "I know! You can have the sack!". Thanks Creighton--he is always looking out for mom :)

Delicious

I was going through some old posts and came across this. Loved it then, love it today....still very applicable...

"I wanted a perfect ending. Now I've learned, the hard way, that some poems don't rhyme, and some stories don't have a clear beginning, middle, and end. Life is about not knowing, having to change, taking the moment and making the best of it, without knowing what's going to happen next. Delicious Ambiguity."Gilda Radner

It's official.....

Coupons

I am not a big coupon user. I find them to be quite a hassel. But, someone sent me this website today. I scanned through it and it looks like there are quite a few businesses in the Muscatine area that participate and there are some good deals. Check it out here Scroll down to the 'sudden values' and check out the bargains.

Cookies

I can't tell you the last time we baked cookies that didn't come from a tube or better yet the ones already cut into nice little squares. Colby begged to make cookies today. I was raking the yard and really wanted to keep working outside, but we got in the car, drove to the grocery store in West Liberty and came home to make cookies. For me, it was PAINFUL. I hate cooking, I don't like baking, it made lots of dishes and now we have a couple dozen fattening cookies staring at me every time I walk into the kitchen. The kids liked it. I would have much rather continued to rake....
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