More Songs

Again, for my boys. May you grow to be the men of God He has called you to be...


I Am by Mark Shultz

I am the maker of the Heavens
I am the bright and morning star
I am the breath of all Creation
Who always was
And is to come

I am the One who walked on water
I am the One who calmed the seas
I am the miracles and wonders
So come and see
And follow me
You will know

Chorus:
I am the fount of living water
The risen Son of man
The healer of the broken
And when you cry
I am your savior and redeemer
Who bore the sins of man
The author and perfecter
Beginning and the end
I am

I am the spirit deep inside you
I am the word upon your heart
I am the One who even knew you
Before your birth
Before you were

Chorus:

Before the Earth (I am)
The universe (I am)
In every heart (I am)
Oh, where you are (I am)
The Lord of love (I am)
The King of Kings (I am)
The Holy lamb (I am)
Above all things

Chorus:

Yes, I am almighty God your father
The risen son of man
The healer of the broken
And when you cry
I am your savior and redeemer
Who bore the sins of man
The author and perfecter
Beginning and the end
I am



The Words I  Would Say by Sidewalk Prophets

Three in the morning and I’m still awake
So I picked up a pen and a page
And I started writing just what I’d say
If we were face to face
I’d tell you just what you mean to me
I’d tell you these simple truths
Be strong in the Lord and never give up hope
You’re going to do great things, I already know
God’s got His hand on you so don’t live life in fear
Forgive and forget, but don’t forget why you’re here
Take your time and pray
These are the words I would say
Last time we spoke, you said you were hurting
And I felt your pain in my heart
I want to tell you that I keep on praying
Love will find you where you are
I know cause I’ve already been there
So please hear these simple truths
From one simple life to another
I will say come find peace in the Father
Be strong in the Lord and never give up hope
You’re going to do great things, I already know
God’s got His hand on you so don’t live life in fear
Forgive and forget, but don’t forget why you’re here
Take your time and pray, thank God for each day
His love will find a way
These are the words I would say

My Jonathan

Every day I am thankful for my boys. They are both amazing! I feel so blessed to have the opportunity to be their mother.

My Andrew is confident, daring, and silly. He also has a tender side that peeks through.

My Jonathan is intelligent, intuitive, and strong. Sure, he believes he's he strongest and fastest boy ever, but I'm talking about a different kind of strong.

My Jonathan has had to use an inhaler for his asthma for many years. Every night he takes two puffs. He also struggles with itchy skin. Tonight, while scratching his back, I saw little red bumps. Itchy bumps. Poor guy! Because of these two things, my heart already aches for him. But recently, my aching heart has hurt a little more. I'd like to take this opportunity to tell you what he's been dealing with lately.

Jonathan has always had a cross bite and an under bite. This summer, we decided to trust the doctor and have an appliance put in his mouth. It is cemented onto his upper molars on both sides. The cemented portions are attached by a metal expander that we have to crank every night. Just today he added  head gear to the contraption. Thankfully, he does not have to wear the head gear in public, but it is recommended that he wear it for 12 - 14 hours each night.

Besides some discomfort voiced after each crank, my Jonathan does not complain about his appliance or head gear. His speech is slurred, food gets trapped, he can't eat certain things, he drools more, it's hard for him to control how much food gets on his face, and his sleeping patterns are changed. He does not complain about these inconveniences. He has such a positive outlook. He knows that his current situation is temporary and that he's enduring it for the awesome results.

I have cried while watching him sleep. While hearing him talk. While watching him eat. I fear for what he will have to face once school starts again. But my Jonathan is strong. He only focuses on the positive. I admire him. I am so proud of him.

I love you Buddy!

Jonathan's Field Trip to MUC Nature Center and Butterfly Garden

Jonathan's class headed to the MUC Nature Center and the Beech Creek Butterfly Garden for one of their first field trips of the year. You can be certain that I had someone (my mom) accompany him. Truth be told, someone accompanied both of my boys on each field trip this year. NICE!!!

After each field trip the kids get to play on the playground for a while.

Jack-O-Lanterns

I forgot to post pictures from the boys carving their pumpkins this year. They actually carved pumpkins with my Mom at my parent's house. I'm secretly happy about not having to clean up the mess this year!

Friends, Food, and Swine Flu

We headed down to visit the Trasks around Thanksgiving. Unfortunately, it was a super short trip. Jonathan started getting sick our first night there and we ended up going home the next day after brunch. I'm pretty sure he had Swine Flu. So...I'm not sure Becki will ever invite us down again...

Although it was short, I really enjoyed spending time with Becki. I miss her so much...

Happy Birthday Beth!

We had a mini celebration for Chris's sister's birthday this year. Chris tried to find a tasty cake and had it decorated... This is what we ended up with.

Notice the Happy Birthday in a sort of rainbow frosting (that is if you consider rainbow yellow, orange, and green.) Also notice Beth? It's harder to see. Find the black frosting on the right hand side and you have to squint to make out 'Beth.' Nice.

In addition to being ugly, the cake was freezer burnt and inedible.

Poor Beth. Not sure anyone has had a worse birthday cake. Poor Chris. He sure did pick the wrong cake! We thought about submitting this to Cake Wrecks but I couldn't get it to load. Hmm. Maybe I'll try again!

Happy Halloween 2009

Jonathan chose to be Megatron and Drew chose to be Wolverine this year for Halloween. Both boys had school parties at the same time so Chris and I both took off work, took the boys out to lunch (to change into their costumes,) then Chris went with Jonathan and I went with Drew. I thought for sure I sent a camera with Chris but maybe I was wrong. If I find them, I'll post them later.

Allen R. is Drew's good buddy in kindergarten.

Update... I found Jonathan's pictures...

While I was with Drew I took the opportunity to photograph some of his 'works of art.'

Trick or Treat is always interesting in Alliance. Not in a good way, either. After I witnessed a 50+ year old man say 'trick or treat' to my husband and hold out a Wal-mart bag (without a costume) I vowed that my children would never again trick or treat in Alliance. Ever. We ran inside, closed the curtains, and checked their candy for foul play. Once beggar's night was over we headed out to eat with Chris's mom and stepfather. Good times.